« | 2 Chronicles 3 | » |
1 And Solomon began to buylde the house of the Lorde at Hierusalem in mount Moria where the Lorde appeared vnto Dauid his father, euen in the place that Dauid prepared in the thresshing floore of Ornan the Iebusite.
2 And he began to buylde in the seconde day of the seconde moneth, the fourth yere of his raigne.
3 And these are the patternes whereby Solomon was instruct to buylde the house of God: The length was threescore cubites after the olde measure, and the breadth twentie cubites.
4 And the porche that was before the length in the front, according to the breadth of the house, was twentie cubites, and the heyght was an hundred and twentie cubites: and he ouerlayed it on the inner syde with pure golde.
5 And the greater house he seeled with firre tree, whiche he ouerlayed with the best golde, and graued thereto paulme trees and chaynes.
6 And he ouerlayed the house with precious stone beautyfully: And the golde was golde of Paruaim.
7 The house [I say] the beames, postes, walles, and doores therof, ouerlayed he with golde, and graued Cherubs on the walles.
8 And he made the house most holy: whose length was twentie cubites like to the breadth of the house, and the breadth therof was also twentie cubites: and he ouerlayed it with good golde, euen with sixe hundred talentes.
9 And the wayght of the nayles of golde was fiftie sicles: and he ouerlayed the vpper chambers with golde.
10 And in the house most holy he made two Cherubims of image worke, like children, and ouerlayed them with gold.
11 And the wynges of the Cherubs were twentie cubites long: The one wyng was fiue cubites, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wyng was likewise fiue cubites, reaching to the wyng of the other Cherub.
12 And euen so the one wyng of the other Cherub was fiue cubites, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wyng was fiue cubites also, and reached to the wyng of the other Cherub.
13 So that the wynges of the sayde Cherubs were stretched out twentie cubites: and they stoode on their feete, and loked inwardes.
14 And he made a fore hanging of yelow silke, purple, crymosin, and fine white, & caused the pictures of Cherubs to be brodred theron.
15 And he made before the house two pillers of thirtie and fiue cubites high, and the head that was aboue on the top of euery one of them was fiue cubites,
16 And he made chaynes of wreathe worke for the quier, & put them on the heades of the pillers: and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chaynes.
17 And he reared vp the pillers before the temple, one on the right hande, and the other on the left: and called the right Iachin, and the left Boaz.
The Bishop’s Bible (BB)
The Bishop’s Bible (BB) is a significant English translation of the Bible that was first published in 1568 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It was commissioned by the Church of England as a revision of the Great Bible and as a response to the Geneva Bible, which was popular among the Puritans but contained marginal notes that were considered politically and theologically contentious by the Anglican establishment. The primary goal of the Bishop’ s Bible was to create a translation that would be more acceptable to the ecclesiastical authorities and suitable for use in Anglican churches.
One of the distinguishing features of the Bishop’s Bible is its effort to maintain a high level of accuracy and scholarly integrity while also ensuring that the language used was dignified and appropriate for public reading. The translation was undertaken by a team of bishops and other scholars, hence its name. The translators aimed to preserve the poetic and literary qualities of the original texts, drawing on previous translations such as the Tyndale Bible, the Coverdale Bible, and the Great Bible, while also incorporating their scholarly insights and linguistic refinements.
The Bishop’s Bible was notable for its large, folio format, which was designed to be read from the pulpit. It included extensive marginal notes, though these were more restrained and less controversial than those found in the Geneva Bible. The translation also featured elaborate illustrations and maps, as well as a comprehensive introduction and various prefaces that provided context and guidance for readers. Despite its grandeur and scholarly merit, the Bishop’s Bible did not achieve the widespread popularity of the Geneva Bible among the general populace.
Although the Bishop’s Bible played an essential role in the religious and cultural life of Elizabethan England, it was eventually overshadowed by the King James Version (KJV), which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611. The KJV drew heavily on the Bishop’ s Bible, as well as other earlier translations, but ultimately surpassed it in both scholarly rigor and literary quality. Nonetheless, the Bishop’s Bible remains an important milestone in the history of English Bible translations, reflecting the theological and political currents of its time and contributing to the development of subsequent translations.