2 Samuel 1 | » |
1 After the death of Saul, when Dauid was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and had ben two daies in Ziklag:
2 Beholde, there came a man the thirde day out of the hoast from Saul, with his clothes rent, & earth vpon his head: And when he came to Dauid, he fell to the earth, and did obeysaunce.
3 Dauid sayde vnto him: whence comest thou? He sayde vnto him: Out of the hoast of Israel I am escaped.
4 And Dauid sayde vnto him: And what is done I pray thee? tell me. He sayde: The people is fled from the battell, and many of the people are ouerthrowen and dead, and Saul and Ionathan his sonne are dead also.
5 And Dauid sayd vnto the young man that tolde it him: Howe knowest thou that Saul and Ionathan his sonne be dead?
6 The young man that tolde him, aunswered: As I came vnaduisedly to mount Gilboa, beholde Saul leaned vpon his speare: and lo, the charettes and horsemen folowed hard after him.
7 And when he loked backe, he sawe me, and called me. And I aunswered: here am I.
8 And he sayde vnto me: Who art thou? I aunswered him: I am an Amalekite.
9 He sayde vnto me agayne: I pray thee come vpon me, and slea me: For anguyshe is come vpon me, because my life is yet whole in me.
10 And so I stoode vpon him, and slue him, and because I was sure that he coulde not liue after that he had fallen, I toke the crowne that was vpon his head, and the braselet that was on his arme, and haue brought them hyther vnto my lorde.
11 Then Dauid toke holde on his clothes, and rent them, and so did all the men that were with him.
12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted vntil euen for Saul and Ionathan his sonne, & for the people of the Lorde, and for the house of Israel, because they were ouerthrowen with the sworde.
13 And Dauid sayd vnto the young man that brought him these tidings: Whence art thou? He aunswered: I am the sonne of an aliaunt, an Amakelite.
14 And Dauid sayde vnto him: Howe is it that thou wast not afrayde to lay thyne hande on the lordes annoynted, to destroy him?
15 And Dauid called one of his young me, and sayd: Go to, and fall vpon him. And he smote him, that he died.
16 Then said Dauid vnto him, Thy blood be vpon thyne owne head: For thyne owne mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I haue slayne the lordes annoynted.
17 And Dauid mourned with this lamentation ouer Saul and ouer Ionathan his sonne,
18 (Also he bad them teache the children of Iuda the vse of the bowe: And beholde, it is written in the booke of the righteous:)
19 O noble Israel, he is slaine vpon thy hie places: howe are the mightie ouerthrowen?
20 Tell it not in Gath, nor publishe it in the streates of Askalon: lest the daughters of the Philistines reioyce, and lest the daughters of the vncircumcised triumph.
21 Ye mountaynes of Gilboa, vpon you be neither deawe nor raine, nor fieldes of offeringes: For there the shield of the mightie is cast downe, the shielde of Saul, as though he had not ben annoynted with oyle.
22 The bowe of Ionathan neuer turned backe, neither did the sword of Saul returne emptie fro the blood of the slayne, and from the fat of the mightie.
23 Saul and Ionathan were louely and pleasaunt in their lyues, and in their deathes they were not deuided: They were swyfter then Egles, and stronger then Lions.
24 Ye daughters of Israel weepe ouer Saul, which clothed you in scarlet with pleasures, and hanged ornamentes of golde vpon your apparell.
25 Howe were the mightie slayne in the middest of the battel? O Ionathan thou wast slayne in thyne hye places.
26 Wo is me for thee my brother Ionathan, very kinde hast thou ben vnto me: Thy loue to me was wonderful, passing the loue of women.
27 O how are the mightie ouerthrowen, and the weapons of warre destroyed?
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.