« | Genesis 2 | » |
1 The heauens also & the earth were finisshed, & all the hoast of them.
2 And in the seuenth day God ended his worke whiche he had made. And the seueth day he rested from all his worke which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seuenth daye, & sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his worke whiche God ordeyned to make.
4 These are the generations of the heauens and of the earth when they were created, in the day when the Lord God made the earth and the heauens.
5 And euery plant of the fielde before it was in the earth, and euery hearbe of the fielde before it grewe. For the Lord God had not [yet] caused it to rayne vppon the earth, neither [was there] a man to tyll the grounde.
6 But there went vp a miste from the earth, & watered the whole face of the grounde.
7 The Lorde God also dyd shape man, [euen] dust fro of the grounde, & breathed into his nosethrylles the breath of lyfe, and man was a lyuyng soule.
8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastwarde in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had shapen.
9 Moreouer, out of the grounde made the Lorde God to growe euery tree, that was fayre to syght, and pleasaunt to eate: The tree of lyfe in the myddest of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and euyll.
10 And out of Eden there went foorth a flood to water the garden, and from thence it was deuided, and became into foure heades.
11 The name of ye first is Pison, the same is it that compasseth the whole lande of Hauilah, where there is golde:
12 And the golde of the lande is very good. There is also Bdellium, and the Onix stone.
13 The name of the seconde riuer is Gyhon: the same is it that compasseth the whole lande of Ethiopia.
14 The name of ye thirde ryuer is Hidekel, & it goeth toward the east side of Assiria: & the fourth ryuer is Euphrates.
15 And the Lord God toke the man, and put hym in the garden of Eden, that he myght worke it, and kepe it.
16 And the Lorde God commaunded the man, saying: eating, thou shalt eate of euery tree of the garden:
17 But as touching the tree of knowlege of good and euyll thou shalt not eate of it: For in what daye so euer thou eatest therof, thou shalt dye the death.
18 And the Lord God sayde: It is not good yt the man should be alone, I wyll make hym an helpe lyke vnto hym.
19 And so out of the grounde the Lorde God had shapen euery beast of the field, and euery foule of the ayre, and brought it vnto man, that he myght see howe he woulde call it. For lykewyse as man hym selfe named euery lyuyng thyng, euen so was the name therof.
20 And the man gaue names to all cattell, and foule of the ayre, & euery beast of the fielde: but for man founde he not an helpe lyke vnto hym.
21 The Lord God caused a deepe sleepe to fall vpon Adam, and he slept, and he toke one of his ribbes, and closed vp the place with fleshe in steade therof.
22 And the ribbe which the lord god had taken from man, made he a woman, & brought her vnto the man.
23 And man saide: this is nowe bone of my bones, and fleshe of my fleshe, she shalbe called woman, because she was taken out of man.
24 For this cause shall man leaue his father and his mother, and shalbe ioyned with his wyfe: and they shall become one fleshe.
25 And they were both naked the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
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.