« | Hebrews 3 | » |
1 Therfore holy brethren, partakers of the celestiall callyng, consider the apostle and hye priest of our profession Christe Iesus,
2 Beyng faythfull to hym that appoynted hym, as also [was] Moyses in all his house.
3 For this [man] is counted worthy of more glorie then Moyses, inasmuch as he which hath buylded the house, hath more honour then the house.
4 For euery house is buylded of some man: But he that buylded all thynges, is God.
5 And Moyses veryly [was] faythfull in al his house, as a minister, for a witnesse of those thynges whiche were to be spoken after:
6 But Christe as a sonne [hath rule] ouer his owne house, whose house are we, yf we holde fast the confidence and the reioycyng of that hope vnto the ende.
7 Wherfore, as the holy ghost saith: Today yf ye wyll heare his voyce,
8 Harden not your heartes, as in the prouokyng, in the day of the temptation in the wyldernesse,
9 Where your fathers tempted me, proued me, and sawe my workes 40 yeres.
10 Wherfore I was greeued with that generation, and sayde: they do alway erre in heart, they veryly haue not knowen my wayes.
11 So that I sware in my wrath, yf they shall enter into my rest.
12 Take heede brethren, lest at any tyme there be in you an euyll heart of vnbeliefe, to depart from the lyuyng God:
13 But exhort ye one another dayly, whyle it is called to day, lest any of you be hardened, through the deceytfulnesse of sinne.
14 For we are made partakers of Christe, yf we kepe sure vnto the ende the begynnyng of the substaunce,
15 So long as it is said: to day yf ye wyll heare his voyce, harden not your heartes, as in the prouokyng.
16 For some when they had hearde, dyd prouoke: howe be it, not all that came out of Egypt by Moyses.
17 But with whom was he displeased fourtie yeres? Not with them that had sinned, whose carkases fell in the desert?
18 And to who sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but vnto them that were not obedient?
19 And we see that they coulde not enter in, because of vnbeliefe.
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.