« | Genesis 33 | » |
1 Iacob lyftyng vp his eyes, looked, and beholde Esau came, hauyng with hym foure hundred men: and he deuided the childre vnto Lea, and vnto Rachel, and vnto the two handmaydens.
2 And he put the handmaydens & theyr chyldren formost, and Lea and her children after, and Rachel and Ioseph hindermost.
3 And he went before them, and bowed him selfe to the grounde seuen tymes, vntill he came to his brother.
4 Esau ranne to meete hym, and imbraced him, and fel on his necke, and kissed him, and they wept.
5 And he lyft vp his eyes, and sawe the women & the children, and said: whence hast thou these? And he aunswered: they are the children which god hath geuen thy seruaunt.
6 Then came the handmaydens foorth, and their chyldren, and dyd their obeysaunce.
7 Lea also with her children, came and dyd their obeysaunce? And last of all came Ioseph and Rachel, and dyd theyr obeysaunce.
8 And he sayde: what is all the droue whiche I met? He aunswered: that I may finde grace in the sight of my lorde.
9 And Esau saide: I haue inough my brother, kepe that thou hast vnto thy selfe.
10 And Iacob answered: Nay I pray thee, but if I haue founde grace in thy sight, receaue I pray thee my present of my hande: for I haue seene thy face, as though I had seene the face of God, and so thou hast receaued me to grace.
11 Oh take my blessyng that is brought thee: for God hath had mercy on me, and I haue inough. And so he compelled him, and he toke it,
12 And he saide: let vs take our iourney, and go, I wyll go before thee.
13 Iacob aunswered him: my lord, thou knowest that the chyldren are tender, and the small and great cattell with young vnder my handes, which if men should ouerdryue but euen one day, all the flocke wyll dye.
14 Oh let my Lorde go before his seruaunt, and I wyll dryue fayre and softly, according as the cattell that goeth before me, and the chyldren be able to endure, vntill I come vnto my Lord vnto Seir.
15 And Esau sayd: I will leaue some of my folke with thee. And he aunswered: what needeth it? I shall finde grace in the sight of my Lorde.
16 So Esau went his way agayne that same day vnto Seir.
17 And Iacob toke his iourney towarde Suchoth, and buylt him an house, and made boothes for his cattell: and therefore is it, that the name of the place is called Suchoth.
18 And Iacob came to Sale, a citie of Sichem, whiche is in the lande of Chanaan, after that he was come from Mesopotamia, and pitched before the citie.
19 And bought a parcell of grounde, where he pitched his tent, of the chyldren of Hemor Sichems father, for an hundreth peeces of money.
20 And he made there an aulter, and called it, the mightie God of Israel.
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.