« | Genesis 13 | » |
1 And so Abram gat hym vp out of Egypt, he and his wife, and al that he had, and Lot with hym, toward the South.
2 And Abram was very ryche in cattell, in siluer, and in golde.
3 And he went foorth on his iourney, from the south towarde Bethel, vnto the place where his tent had ben at the begynnyng, betwene Bethel and Hai:
4 Euen vnto the place of the aulter whiche he had made there at the first, and there Abram called on the name of the Lorde.
5 Lot also whiche went with Abram, had sheepe, cattell, and tentes.
6 And the lande was not able to beare them, that they might dwell together: for theyr substaunce was great, so that they coulde not dwell together.
7 And there fell a stryfe betwene the heardmen of Abrams cattell, and the heardmen of Lottes cattell: Moreouer, the Chanaanites, and Pherisites dwelled at that tyme in the lande.
8 Then sayde Abram vnto Lot: let there be no strife I pray thee betweene thee and me, and betweene my heardmen and thyne, for we be brethren.
9 Is not the whole lande before thee? Seperate thy selfe I pray thee from me: yf thou wilt take the left hande, I wyll go to the ryght: or yf thou depart to the ryght hande, I wyll go to the left.
10 And so Lot lyftyng vp his eyes, behelde all the countrey of Iordane, whiche was well watred euery where before the Lorde destroyed Sodome and Gomorrh, euen as the garden of the Lorde, lyke the lande of Egypt as thou commest vnto Soar.
11 Then Lot chose all the playne of Iordane, and toke his iourney from the east, and so departed the one [brother] from the other.
12 Abram dwelled in the lande of Chanaan, and Lot abode in the cities of the playne, and pitched his tent vntill Sodome.
13 But the men of Sodome [were] wicked, and exceedyng sinners agaynst the Lorde.
14 And the Lorde saide vnto Abram, after that Lot was departed fro hym: Lyft vp thyne eyes nowe, and loke fro the place where thou art, northwarde, southward, eastwarde, and westward:
15 For all the lande whiche thou seest, wyll I geue vnto thee, and to thy seede for euer.
16 And I wyl make thy seede as the dust of the earth: so that yf a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seede also be numbred.
17 Arise, and walke about in the lande, after the length of it, & after the breadth of it: for I wyll geue it vnto thee.
18 Then Abram taking downe his tent, came and dwelled in the playne of Mamre, which is in Hebron, & buylded there an aulter vnto the Lorde.
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.