« | Deuteronomy 25 | » |
1 If there be strife betweene men, they shall come vnto the lawe, and let the Iudges geue sentence betwene them: and iustifie the righteous, & condemne the vngodly.
2 And if any man be vngodly, and worthy of strypes, then let the Iudge cause him to lye downe and to be beaten before his face, accordyng to his trespasse, vnto a certayne number.
3 Fourtie stripes he shall geue hym, and not passe: lest if he shoulde exceede, and beate hym aboue that with many stripes, thy brother should appeare despised and vile before thyne eyes.
4 Thou shalt not moosell the oxe that treadeth out the corne.
5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them dye, and haue no chylde, the wyfe of the dead shall not marry without vnto a straunger: but his kinsman shall go in vnto her, & take her to wife, and occupie the rowme of his kinsman.
6 And the eldest sonne whiche she beareth, shall succeede in the name of his brother whiche is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
7 And if the man wyll not take his kinswoman, then let her go vp to the gate vnto the elders, and say: My kinsman refuseth to stirre vp vnto his brother a name in Israel, neither wyll he marry me.
8 Then the elders of his citie shall call hym, and commune with hym: and if he stande and say, I wyll not take her:
9 Then shall his kinswoman come vnto hym in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe of his foote, and spit in his face, and aunswere, and say: So shal it be done vnto that man, that doth not buylde vp his brothers house.
10 And his name shalbe called in Israel, the vnshodhouse.
11 If when men striue together one with another, the wife of the one drawe neare for to ryd her husbande out of the handes of hym that smyteth hym, and put foorth her hande and take hym by the secretes:
12 Thou shalt cut of her hande, and let not thyne eye pitie her.
13 Thou shalt not haue in thy bagge two maner of wayghtes, a great and a small:
14 Neither shalt thou haue in thine house diuers measures, a great and a small.
15 But thou shalt haue a right and iust waight, and a perfect and a iust measure shalt thou haue: that thy dayes may be lengthed in the lande which the Lorde thy God geueth thee.
16 For all that do such thynges, and all that do vnright, are abhomination vnto the Lorde thy God.
17 Remember what Amalech dyd vnto thee by the way, when ye were come out of Egypt.
18 Howe he met thee by the way, and smote the hyndmost of you, all that were feeble and came behynde, when thou wast faynted and weerie, and he feared not God.
19 Therfore when the Lorde thy God hath geuen thee rest from all thine enemies rounde about, in the lande which the Lord thy God geueth thee to inherite and possesse: see that thou put out the remembraunce of Amalech from vnder heauen, and forget not.
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.