« | 2 Kings 11 | » |
1 And Athalia ye mother of Ahaziahu, when she saw that her sonne was dead, she arose, and destroyed all the kinges seede.
2 But Iehosaba the daughter of king Ioram and syster of Ahaziahu, toke Ioas the sonne of Ahaziahu, and stale him from among the kinges sonnes that were slayne, and his nurse with him in the bedde chamber: and hyd him from Athalia, that he was not slayne.
3 And he was with her hyd in the house of the Lord sixe yeres: And Athalia dyd raigne ouer the lande.
4 And the seuenth yere Iehoiada sent and set the rulers ouer hundredes, with the captaynes and them of the garde, and toke them to him into the house of the Lorde, & made a bonde with them, and toke an oth of them in the house of the Lorde, and shewed them the kinges sonne.
5 And he commaunded them, saying, This is it that ye must do: One third part of you, whose duetie is to come in on the Sabbath day, shall keepe the watch of the kinges house:
6 And another third part shal keepe the gate of Sur: And another third part shall keepe the gate which is behinde them of the garde: and so shall ye keepe the watch of the house of Messah.
7 And two partes of you, that is, al that go out on the Sabbath day, shall keepe the watch of the house of the Lorde about the king.
8 And ye shall compasse the king round about, & euery man shall haue his weapon in his hand: And whosoeuer commeth within ye ranges, let him be slaine: And see that ye be with the king as he goeth out and in.
9 And the captaynes ouer the hundredes did according to all thinges that Iehoiada the priest commaunded: and they toke euery man his men that were to come in on the Sabbath day, with them that should go out on the Sabbath, and came to Iehoiada the priest.
10 And to the captaynes ouer hundredes, did the priest geue king Dauids speares and shieldes, that were in the temple.
11 And they of the garde stoode, and euery man had his weapon in his hande rounde about the king, from the ryght corner of the temple to the left, along by the aulter and the temple.
12 And he brought out the kinges sonne, and put the crowne vpon him, and delyuered him the witnesse, & made him king, & annoynted him: And they clapt their handes, and saide: God saue the king.
13 And when Athalia heard the noyse of the running of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the Lorde.
14 And whe she looked, behold, the king stoode by a piller as the maner was, & the singers & the trumpets by the king, and all the people of the land reioysed, and blew with trumpets: And Athalia rent her clothes & cryed, treason, treason.
15 But Iehoiada the priest commaunded the captaines of the hundredes that had the rule of the hoast, and saide vnto them: Haue her foorth of the ranges, & if any folowe her, kill him with the sword. For the priest had saide: she may not be slaine in the house of the Lorde.
16 And they layde handes on her, till she came into the way by the which the horses went in to the kinges palace, and there was she slaine.
17 And Iehoiada made a bond betweene the Lorde and the king and the people, that they should be the Lordes people, and also betweene the king and the people.
18 And all the people of the lande went into the house of Baal, and destroyed it, his aulters also, and his images brake they downe lustylie, and slue Mathan the priest of Baal before the aulters: And the priest set watch ouer the house of the Lorde.
19 And toke the rulers ouer hundredes, the captaines, and them of the gard, and all the people of the lande, and they brought the king from the house of the Lorde, and came by the way of the gate of them of the gard to the kings palace, and he sat him downe on the seate of the kinges.
20 And all the people of the lande reioyced, and the citie was in quiet: And they slue Athalia with the sword, beside the kinges palace.
21 Seuen yeres olde was Iehoas when he began to raigne.
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.