« | Exodus 17 | » |
1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel went on theyr iourneys fro the wyldernesse of Sin, after the commaundement of the Lorde, and pitched in Raphidim, there was no water for the people to drinke.
2 And ye people dyd chyde with Moyses, and sayde: geue vs water to drinke. Moyses said vnto them: why chyde you with me? wherfore do ye tempt ye Lord?
3 There the people thirsted for water, and ye people murmured agaynst Moyses, and saide: wherefore hast thou thus brought vs vp out of Egypt, to kil me, & my children, and my cattell with thyrst?
4 And Moyses cryed vnto the Lorde, saying: What shall I do vnto this people, they be almost redy to stone me?
5 And the Lorde said vnto Moyses: Go before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel: & thy rod wherewith thou smotest the ryuer take in thine hande, and go.
6 Beholde, I stande before thee vpon the rocke that is in Horeb, & thou shalt smyte the rocke, and there shall come water out thereof, that the people may drinke. And Moyses dyd euen so before the eyes of the elders of Israel.
7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lorde, saying: Is the Lorde amongest vs, or not?
8 Then came Amelec and fought with Israel in Raphidim.
9 And Moyses sayde vnto Iosua: Chose vs out men, and go fight with Amelec, and to morowe I will stande on the toppe of the hill, and the rodde of God shalbe in my hande.
10 Iosua did as Moyses bad hym, and fought with Amelec: and Moyses and Aaron, and Hur, went vp to the toppe of the hyll.
11 And it came to passe, that when Moyses helde vp his hande, Israel had the better: and when he let his hande downe, Amelec had the better.
12 But Moyses hands were heauie, and therfore they toke a stone and put it vnder him, and he sat downe theron: and Aaron and Hur stayed vp his handes, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side: And his handes remayned stedye, vntill the goyng downe of the sunne.
13 And Iosua discomforted Amelec and his people with the edge of the sworde.
14 And the Lorde sayde vnto Moyses: Wryte this for a remembraunce in a booke, and commit it into the eares of Iosua, for I will vtterly put out the remembraunce of Amelec from vnder heauen.
15 And Moyses made an aulter, and called the name of it: The Lorde is he that worketh miracles for me.
16 For he said: the hande is on the seate of God, the Lord wil haue warre with Amalec fro generation to generation.
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.