« | Jonah 4 |
1 And this displeased Ionas greatly, and he was angrye [within him selfe.]
2 And he prayed vnto the Lorde, and saide: I pray thee O Lorde, was not this my saying when I was yet in my countrey? therfore I hasted to flee into Tharsis: For I knewe that thou art a gratious God, and mercifull, long suffering, and of great kindnesse, and repentest thee of euill.
3 And nowe O Lorde, take I beseche thee my lyfe from me: for it is better for me to dye, then to lyue.
4 Then saide the Lord, Doest thou wel to be angry?
5 And Ionas went out of the citie, and sate him downe on the east side thereof, and there made him a boothe, and sate vnder it in the shadowe, till he might see what should be done in the citie.
6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it spring vp ouer Ionas, that it might be a shadowe ouer his head, to deliuer him from his griefe: So Ionas was exceeding glad of the gourde.
7 But God prepared a worme, when the morning rose the next day, which smote the gourde, that it withered.
8 And when the sunne rose, God prepared a seruent east winde, and the sunne beat vpon the head of Ionas that he fainted: and wished vnto his soule, that he might dye, and saide, It is better for me to dye, then to lyue.
9 And the Lord saide vnto Ionas: Doest thou well to be so angry within thy selfe for the gourde? And he saide: I do well to be angry euen vnto death.
10 Then saide the Lorde, Thou hast had compassion on the gourde about the which thou bestowedst no labour, neither madest it growe: which came vp in a night, and perished in a night:
11 And shall not I spare Niniue that great citie, in the which are more then sixscore thousand persons that knowe not their right hand and their left, and also much cattaile?
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.