« | Genesis 50 |
1 And Ioseph fell vpon his fathers face, and wept vpon him, and kyssed hym.
2 And Ioseph comaunded his seruauntes the phisitians to imbawme his father. And the phisitians enbawmed Israel.
3 And fourtie dayes were continued (for so long doth the imbawmyng last) and the Egyptians mourned for him thre score and ten dayes.
4 And when the dayes of mournyng were ended, Ioseph spake vnto ye house of Pharao, saying: If I haue founde fauour in your eyes, speake I pray you in the eares of Pharao, saying:
5 My father made me sweare, & sayde, Lo I dye, bury me in the graue which I haue made me in the lande of Chanaan. Nowe therfore let me go vp I pray thee, and bury my father, and then wyl I come agayne.
6 And Pharao sayde: Go vp, and bury thy father, accordyng as he made thee sweare.
7 And Ioseph went vp to bury his father, and with hym went all the seruautes of Pharao that were the elders of his house, and all the elders of the lande of Egypt:
8 And all the house of Ioseph and his brethren, and his fathers house: onlye their chyldren, and their sheepe, & their cattell, left they behynde in the lande of Gosen.
9 And there went with hym also charrettes and horsemen: and it was an exceedyng great companie.
10 And they came to the corne floore of Atad, which is beyonde Iordane, and there they made a great and exceedyng sore lamentation: and he mourned for his father seuen dayes.
11 And when the inhabiters of the lande [euen] the Chananites, sawe the mournyng in the corne floore of Atad, they sayde: This is a great mournyng vnto the Egyptians. Wherefore the name of the place is called, The mournyng of the Egyptians, & it is beyond Iordane.
12 And his sonnes dyd vnto hym accordyng as he had commaunded them.
13 For his sonnes caryed hym into the lande of Chanaan, & buryed hym in the caue of the fielde Machpelah, whiche fielde Abraham bought to be a place to bury in of Ephron the Hethite, before Mamre.
14 And Ioseph returned into Egypt agayne, he and his brethren, and all that went vp with hym to bury his father, assoone as he had buryed hym.
15 And when Iosephes brethren sawe that their father was dead, they saide: Ioseph may peraduenture hate vs, & rewarde vs againe all the euyll whiche we dyd vnto hym.
16 And they dyd sende a message vnto Ioseph, saying: Thy father dyd commaunde before he dyed, saying:
17 This wyse shall ye say vnto Ioseph, Forgeue [I pray thee] the trespasse of thy brethren, and their sinne: for they rewarded thee euyll. And nowe we praye thee forgeue the trespasse of the seruauntes of the God of thy father. And Ioseph wept when they spake vnto hym.
18 Also his brethren came vnto hym, and fell flat before his face, saying: beholde, we be thy seruauntes.
19 To whom Ioseph sayde: Feare not, am I God?
20 Ye thought euil against me, but God turned it vnto good, to bryng to passe as it is this day, and to saue muche people alyue.
21 Feare not therefore, nowe I wyll noryshe you and your chyldren. And he comforted them, and spake kyndly vnto them.
22 Ioseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his fathers house: and Ioseph lyued an hundred and ten yeres.
23 And Ioseph sawe Ephraims children euen vnto the thirde generation: and vnto Machir the sonne of Manasses, were chyldren borne on Iosephes knees.
24 And Ioseph sayde vnto his brethren, I dye, & God wyll surely visite you, and bryng you out of this lande, vnto the lande whiche he sware vnto Abraham, Isahac, and Iacob.
25 And Ioseph toke an othe of the chyldren of Israel, saying: God wyll not fayle but visite you, and ye shall cary my bones hence.
26 And so Ioseph dyed when he was an hundred and ten yeres olde: And they imbawmed hym with spyces, puttyng hym in a chest in Egypt.
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.