« | Job 2 | » |
1 And on a day the children of God came and stoode before the Lorde, and Satan came also among the, and stoode before the Lorde.
2 And the Lorde sayde vnto Satan: From whence commest thou? Satan aunswered the Lorde, and sayd: I haue gone about the lande, walked thorow it.
3 And the Lorde sayde vnto Satan: Hast thou not considered my seruaunt Iob? howe there is none like vnto hym in the earth, a perfect and a iust man? one that feareth God, and eschueth euil, & continueth still in his vprightnesse, although thou mouedst me against hym, to destroy him without cause.
4 And Satan aunswered the Lord, and sayd, Skinne for skinne, yea a man wil geue al that euer he hath for his life.
5 But lay thyne hande nowe vpon hym, and touch [once] his bone and his fleshe, and he shall curse thee to thy face.
6 And the Lord sayde vnto Satan: Lo, he is in thyne hand, but saue his lyfe.
7 So went Satan foorth from the presence of the Lorde, and smote Iob with sore byles, from the sole of his foote vnto his crowne.
8 And he toke a potsharde to scrape hym: and he sat downe among the asshes.
9 Then sayd his wyfe vnto him: Doest thou continue yet in thy perfectnesse? curse God, and dye.
10 But he sayde vnto her, Thou speakest like a foolish woman: shal we receaue good at the hande of God, and not receaue euyll? In all these thinges did not Iob sinne with his lippes.
11 Nowe when Iobs three friendes heard of all the trouble that came vpon him, they came euery one fro his owne place [namely] Eliphas the Themanite, Bildad the Suhite, and Zophad the Naamathite: for they were agreed together to come to shewe their compassion vpon him, and to comfort hym.
12 So when they lift vp their eyes a farre of, they knew him not: then they cryed and wept, and euery one of them rent his clothes, and sprinckled dust vpon their heades in the ayre.
13 They sate them downe by him also vpon the grounde seuen dayes & seuen nightes, and none spake a worde vnto him: for they sawe that his greefe was very great.
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.