« | Deuteronomy 20 | » |
1 When thou goest out to battayle agaynst thine enemies, & seest horses, and charettes, and people, mo then thou, be not afrayde of them: for the Lorde thy God is with thee, which brought thee out of the lande of Egypt.
2 And when ye are come nye vnto battayle, ye priest shall come foorth to speake vnto the people,
3 And shall say vnto them: Heare O Israel, you are come this day vnto battayle agaynst your enemies, let not your heartes faynt, neither feare, nor be amazed, nor a dread of them:
4 For the Lord your God goeth with you, to fyght for you agaynst your enemies, and to saue you.
5 And let the officers speake vnto the people, saying: If any man haue built a newe house, and haue not dedicate it: let hym go and returne to his house, lest he dye in the battayle, and another man dedicate it.
6 And if any man haue planted a vineyarde, and haue not made it comon: let hym go and returne agayne vnto his house, lest he dye in the battayle, and another make it common,
7 And if any man be betrouthed vnto a wyfe, and haue not taken her: let hym go and returne agayne vnto his house, lest he dye in the battayle, and another man take her.
8 And let the officers speake further vnto the people, and say: If any man feare and be faynt hearted, let hym go & returne vnto his house, lest he make his brothers heart faynt as well as his.
9 And when the officers haue made an ende of speakyng vnto the people, they shall make captaynes of the armie to gouerne the people.
10 When thou commest nye vnto a citie to fyght agaynst it, offer them peace.
11 And if they aunswere thee agayne peaceably, and open vnto thee, then let all the people that is founde therin, be tributaries vnto thee, and serue thee.
12 And if they wyll make no peace with thee, but make warre agaynst thee, thou shalt besiege it.
13 And when the Lorde thy God hath deliuered it into thine handes, thou shalt smyte all the males therof with the edge of the sworde:
14 But the women, and the children, and the cattell, and all that is in the citie, and all the spoyle therof shalt thou take vnto thy selfe, and eate the spoyle of thine enemies, which the Lorde thy God hath geuen thee.
15 Thus shalt thou do vnto all the cities which are a great way of from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16 But of the cities of these nations which the Lorde thy God shall geue thee to inherite, thou shalt saue alyue nothyng that breatheth:
17 But shalt destroy them without redemption, namely the Hethites, the Amorites, the Chanaanites, the Pherezites, the Heuites, and the Iebusites, as the Lorde thy God hath commaunded thee:
18 That they teache you not to do after all their abhominations which they haue done vnto their Gods, and so ye shoulde sinne agaynst the Lorde your God.
19 When thou hast besieged a citie long tyme, and made warre agaynst it to take it, destroy not the trees therof, that thou wouldest thrust an axe vnto them: but eate of them, and cut them not downe to further thee in thy siege: for the tree of the fielde is mans life.
20 Only those trees which thou knowest to be vnfruitfull, those shalt thou destroy & cut downe, and make bulworkes agaynst the citie that maketh warre with thee, vntyll thou subdue it.
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.