« | Exodus 2 | » |
1 And there went a man out of the house of Leui, and toke to wyfe a daughter of Leui.
2 And the wyfe conceaued and bare a sonne: and when she sawe that it was a proper childe, she hyd him three monethes.
3 And when she coulde no longer hyde hym, she toke a basket [made] of bull russhes, and dawbed it with slyme and pitche, and layed the chylde therein, and put it in the flagges by the riuers brinke
4 And his sister stoode a farre of, to wit what woulde come of it.
5 And the daughter of Pharao came downe to wasshe her selfe in the ryuer, and her maydens walked along by the ryuers syde: And when she sawe the basket among the flagges, she sent her mayde to fetch it.
6 And when she had opened it, she sawe it was a chylde: and beholde, the babe wept. And she had compassion on it, and sayde: it is one of the Hebrues chyldren.
7 Then sayde his sister to Pharaos daughter: shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrues women, to nurse thee the chylde?
8 Pharaos daughter aunswered her: go. And the mayde ranne and called the chyldes mother.
9 To whom Pharaos daughter sayde: Take this chylde away, and nurse it for me, and I wyll rewarde thee. And the woman toke the chylde, & nursed it vp.
10 The chylde grewe, and she brought it vnto Pharaos daughter, and it was made her sonne. And she called ye name of it Moyses: because [sayde she] I toke hym out of the water.
11 And in those dayes, when Moyses was waxed great, he went out vnto his brethren, & loked on their burdens, and spyed an Egyptian smytyng an Hebrue which was one of his brethren.
12 And he loked rounde about, and when he sawe no man by, he slewe the Egyptian, and hyd hym in the sande.
13 And when he was gone out another day, beholde, two men of the Hebrues stroue together: And he saide vnto him that dyd the wrong, Wherefore smytest thou thy felowe?
14 He aunswered: Who made thee a man of aucthoritie and a iudge ouer vs? intendest thou to kyll me, as thou kylledst the Egyptian? And Moyses feared and sayde: Of a suretie this thyng is knowen.
15 And Pharao heard of it, and went about to slaye Moyses. And Moyses fleyng from the face of Pharao, dwelt in the lande of Madian: and he sate downe by the welles syde.
16 The priest of Madian had vij. daughters, which came and drewe [water] and filled the troughes for to water their fathers sheepe.
17 And the shepheardes came and droue them away: but Moyses stoode vp and helped them, and watred their sheepe.
18 And when they came to Raguel their father, he sayde: Howe came it to passe that ye are come so soone to day?
19 And they aunswered: A man of Egypt deliuered vs from the handes of the shepheardes, and so drewe vs water, and watered the sheepe.
20 He saide vnto his daughters: & where is he? why haue ye so left the man? Call hym, that he may eate bread.
21 And Moyses was content to dwell with the man: & he gaue Moyses Sephora his daughter:
22 Which bare him a sonne, and he called his name Gershom: For he saide, I haue ben a straunger in a straunge land.
23 And in processe of tyme the kyng of Egypt dyed, and the chyldren of Israel syghed by the reason of bondage, and cryed.
24 And their complaynt came vp vnto God from the bondage: and God heard their mone, and God remembred his couenaunt with Abraham, Isahac, and Iacob.
25 And God loked vpon the chyldren of Israel, and God had respecte vnto them.
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.