« | Genesis 8 | » |
1 And God remebred Noah and euery beast, and all the cattell that was with hym in the arke: and God made a wynde to passe vpon the earth, and the waters ceassed.
2 The fountaynes also of the deepe, and the windowes of heauen were stopped, and the rayne from heauen was restrayned.
3 And the waters from the earth returned, goyng and comming agayne: and after the ende of the hundreth and fiftith day, the waters were abated.
4 And in the seuen moneth, in the seuenteenth day of ye moneth, the arke rested vpon the mountaynes of Armenia.
5 And the waters were goyng and decreasing vntyll the tenth moneth: In the tenth moneth, and in the first day of the same moneth, were the toppes of the mountaynes seene.
6 And after the ende of the fourtith day, it came to passe [that] Noah opened the wyndowe of the arke which he had made,
7 And he sent foorth a Rauen, whiche went out, goyng foorth, and returnyng, vntyll the waters were dryed vp vpon the earth.
8 And agayne he sent foort a Doue from him, that he myght see yf the waters were abated from the vpper face of the grounde.
9 And the Doue founde no rest for the sole of her foote, and she returned vnto him into the arke, for the waters [were] in the vpper face of the whole earth, Then he put foorth his hande, & tooke her, and pulled her to him into the arke.
10 And he abode yet other seuen dayes, and agayne he sent foorth the Doue out of the arke:
11 And the Doue came to hym in the euentide, and loe, in her mouth was an Oliue leafe that she had pluct, wherby Noah dyd knowe that the waters were abated vpon the earth.
12 And he abode yet other seuen dayes, and sent foorth the Doue, whiche returned not vnto him any more.
13 And it came to passe, in the sixe hundreth and one yere, in ye first moneth, the first [day] of the moneth, the waters were dryed vp from the earth, and Noah remoued the coueryng of the arke, and looked, and beholde, the vpper face of the grounde was dryed vp.
14 And in the seconde moneth, in the seuen and twentie day of the moneth was the earth dryed.
15 And God spake vnto Noah, saying:
16 Go foorth of the arke, thou, and thy wife, thy sonnes, and thy sonnes wiues with thee.
17 And bryng foorth with thee euery beast that is with thee, of all fleshe, both foule and cattell, and euery worme that crepeth vpon the earth, that they may breede in the earth, and bring foorth fruite, and multiplie vpon earth.
18 And so Noah came foorth, and his sonnes, his wyfe, and his sonnes wiues with hym:
19 Euery beast also, and euery worme, euery foule, and whatsoeuer crepeth vpon the earth after their kyndes, went out of the arke.
20 And Noah builded an aulter vnto ye Lorde, and tooke of euery cleane beast, and of euery cleane foule, & offred burnt offering on the aulter
21 And the Lorde smelled a sweete [or quiet] sauour, and the Lord sayde in his heart: I wyll not hencefoorth curse the grounde any more for mans sake, for the imagination of mans heart is euyll [euen] from his youth: neyther wyll I smyte any more euery thyng lyuyng, as I haue done.
22 Yet therefore shall not sowyng tyme and haruest, colde and heate, sommer and wynter, day and nyght, ceasse all the dayes of the earth.
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.