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1 And it fortuned, that after twentie yeres, when Solomon had buylt the house of the Lorde and his owne house:
2 He buylt the cities that Hiram gaue hym, and put of the children of Israel in them.
3 And Solomon went to Hamath Zoba, and strengthed it.
4 And he buylt Thadmor in the wildernesse, & repaired all the store cities which were in Hamath.
5 And he buylt Bethhoron the vpper, and Bethhoron the neather, strong cities, hauing walles, gates, and barres:
6 And Baalah, and al the store cities that Solomon had, and all the charet cities, and the cities of the horsmen, and euery pleasaunt place that Solomon had last to buyld in Hierusalem & Libanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.
7 And all the people that were left of the Hethites, Amorites, Pherezites, Heuites and Iebusites, whiche were not of the children of Israel,
8 But were the children of them whiche were left after them in the lande, and were not consumed of the children of Israel, them dyd Solomon make to pay tribute, vntill this day.
9 But of the children of Israel dyd Solomon make no bondemen for his worke: but they were men of warre, and rulers, and great lordes with him, and captaynes ouer his charets and horsemen.
10 And king Solomons officers that ouersawe and ruled the people, were two hundred and fiftie.
11 And Solomon brought the daughter of Pharao out of the citie of Dauid, into the house that he had buylded for her: For he sayde, My wyfe shall not dwel in the house of Dauid king of Israel, for it is holy, because that the arke of the Lorde is come vnto it.
12 Then Solomon offred burnt offringes vnto the Lorde on the aulter of the Lorde, whiche he had buylt before the porche:
13 Doyng euery thing in his due time, and offering according to the commaundemet of Moyses, in the Sabbathes, new moones, and solempne feastes, three times in the yere, [that is to say] in the feast of sweete bread, in the feast of weekes, and in the feast of tabernacles.
14 And Solomon set the sortes of priestes to their offices as Dauid his father had ordered them, and the Leuites in their watches, for to prayse and minister before the priestes day by day, and the porters by course at euery gate: for so had Dauid the man of God commaunded.
15 And they omitted not the commaundement of the king vnto the priestes and Leuites, concerning any maner of thing, and concerning the treasures.
16 For Solomon made prouision for the charges, from the first day that the foundation of the house of the Lorde was layed, till it was finished, that the house of the Lorde was perfect.
17 Then went king Solomon to Ezion Gaber, and to Eloth at the sea side in the lande of Edom.
18 And Hiram sent hym by the handes of his seruauntes, shippes, and seruauntes that had knowledge of the sea: and they went with the seruauntes of Solomon to Ophir, and caryed thence foure hundred and fyftie talentes of golde, and brought it to king Solomon.
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.