Galatians 1 | » |
1 Paul an Apostle, not of men, neither by man: but by Iesus Christe, and by God the father, which raysed hym vp from death:
2 And all the brethren which are with me. Unto ye Churches of Galacia:
3 Grace [be] with you, and peace from God the father, and from our Lorde Iesus Christe:
4 Which gaue hym selfe for our sinnes, to deliuer vs from this present euyll worlde, accordyng to the wyll of God, and our father:
5 To whom be glory for euer and euer. Amen.
6 I maruayle, that ye are so soone turned from him that had called you in the grace of Christe, vnto another Gospell:
7 Which is not another [Gospel] but that there be some which trouble you, and intende to peruert the Gospel of Christ.
8 Neuerthelesse, though we, or an Angel from heauen, preache any other Gospel vnto you, then that which we haue preached vnto you, let hym be accursed.
9 As we sayde before, so say I nowe agayne, yf any man preache any other Gospell vnto you, then that ye haue receaued, let hym be accursed.
10 Do I nowe perswade men, or God? Other do I seke to please men? For yf I shoulde yet please men, I were not the seruaunt of Christe.
11 I certifie you brethren, that the Gospell which was preached of me, was not after man.
12 For I neither receaued it of man, neither was I taught [it] but by the reuelation of Iesus Christe.
13 For ye haue hearde of my conuersation in tyme past in the Iewes religion, howe that beyonde measure I persecuted the Churche of God, & spoyled it:
14 And profited in the Iewes religion, aboue many of my companions in mine owne nation, beyng a very feruent maynteyner of the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, which seperated me from my mothers wombe, & called [me] by his grace,
16 To reueale his sonne by me, that I shoulde by the Gospell preache hym among the Heathen: immediatly I communed not with fleshe and blood:
17 Neither returned to Hierusalem, to them which were Apostles before me: but went my wayes into Arabia, and came agayne vnto Damascus.
18 Then after three yeres, I returned to Hierusale to see Peter, and abode with hym fyfteene dayes.
19 But other of the Apostles sawe I none, saue Iames the Lordes brother.
20 The thynges therfore which I write vnto you, beholde, before God I lie not.
21 Afterwarde, I came into the coastes of Syria & Cilicia,
22 (1:21) and was vnknowen in face vnto the Churches of Iurie, which were in Christe.
23 (1:22) But they had hearde only, that he which persecuted vs in tyme past, nowe preacheth the fayth, which before he destroyed.
24 (1:23) And they glorified God in me.
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.