« | Genesis 22 | » |
1 After these sayinges, god did tempt Abraham, and sayde vnto him Abraham. Which answered, here I am.
2 And he saide: take thy sonne, thyne onlye sonne Isahac whom thou louest, & get thee vnto the lande Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering vpon one of the mountaines which I wyl shewe thee.
3 Then Abraham rose vp early in the mornyng, and sadled his Asse, and toke two of his young men with hym, and Isahac his sonne, and cloue wood for the burnt offering, and rose vp, and got hym to the place whiche God had appointed hym.
4 The thirde day Abraham lyft vp his eyes, and sawe the place a farre of:
5 And sayde vnto his young men, byde here with the Asse, I and the lad will go yonder & worship, and come agayne to you.
6 And Abraham toke the wood of the burnt offeryng, and layde it vpon Isahac his sonne: but he him selfe toke fire in his hande and a knyfe, and they went both of them together.
7 Then spake Isahac vnto Abraham his father, and sayd, my father. And he aunswered, here am I, my sonne. He sayde, see here is fyre and wood, but where is the beast for burnt sacrifice?
8 Abraham aunswered: My God wyll prouide a beast for burnt sacrifice: and so they went both together.
9 And when they came to ye place which God had shewed him, Abraham buylt an aulter there, and dressed the wood, and bound Isahac his sonne, and layde him on the aulter aboue vpo the wood.
10 And Abraham stretchyng foorth his hande, toke the knyfe to haue killed his sonne.
11 And the angell of the Lord called vnto him from heauen, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he sayd, here [am] I:
12 And he sayde: lay not thy hande vpon the chylde, neyther do any thyng vnto hym, for nowe I knowe that thou fearest God, & hast for my sake not spared [yea] thine onlye sonne.
13 And Abraham lifting vp his eyes, looked: and beholde, behynde [hym] there was a Ramme caught by the hornes in a thicket: and Abraham went & tooke the Ramme, and offered hym vp for a burnt offering in the steade of his sonne.
14 And Abraham called ye name of the place, the Lorde wyll see. As it is sayde this day, in the mounte will the Lorde be seene.
15 And the angell of the Lorde cryed vnto Abraham from heauen the seconde tyme,
16 And sayd: by my selfe haue I sworne, sayeth the Lorde, because thou hast done this thyng, and hast not spared yea thyne onlye sonne,
17 That in blessing I wyll blesse thee, and in multiplying I wyll multiplie thy seede as the starres of heauen, and as the sande which is vpon the sea side, and thy seede shall possesse the gates of his enemies.
18 And in thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast hearde my voyce.
19 So turned Abraham againe vnto his young men: and they rose vp, and went together to Beer seba, and Abraham dwelt at Beer seba.
20 And after these thynges, one tolde Abraham, saying: beholde Milcha, she hath also borne chyldren vnto thy brother Nachor,
21 Hus his eldest sonne, and Buz his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians,
22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Iidlaph, and Bethuel.
23 And Bethuel begat Rebecca. These eyght did Milcha beare to Nachor Abrahams brother.
24 And his concubine called Reumah, she bare also Tebah, & Gaham, Thahas, and Maacha.
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.