« | Joshua 5 | » |
1 And whe al the kinges of ye Amorites which are beyonde Iordane westwarde, and al the kynges of the Chanaanites which were by the sea, heard howe ye Lorde had dried vp the waters of Iordane before the chyldren of Israel vntill they were gone ouer, their heartes faynted for feare, and there was no spirite in them any more for the presence of the children of Israel.
2 That same time the Lorde saide vnto Iosuah: Make thee sharp kniues, and go to agayne and circumcise the children of Israel the seconde time.
3 And Iosuah made him sharpe kniues, and circumcised the children of Israel in the hill of the foreskinnes.
4 And this is the cause why Iosuah circumcised all the people, euen the males that came out of Egypt: because that al the men of warre died in the wildernes by ye way, after they came out of Egypt.
5 For all the people that came out, were circumcised: but al the people that were borne in the wildernes by the way after they came out of Egypt were not circumcised.
6 For the chyldren of Israel walked fourtie yeres in the wildernesse, till al ye people of ye men of warre that came out of Egypt were consumed, because they hearkened not vnto the voyce of the Lorde: Unto whom the Lorde sware, that he woulde not shewe them ye lande which the Lorde sware vnto their fathers that he woulde geue vs, euen a lande that floweth with mylke & hony.
7 And their children whom he set vp in their steede, them Iosuah circumcised, for they were vncircumcised: because they circumcised them not by the way.
8 And when they had circumcised al the people, they abode in their places in the campe tyll they were whole.
9 And the Lorde sayde vnto Iosuah: This day haue I taken away the shame of Egypt from you: wherefore the name of the same place is called Gilgal, vnto this day.
10 And the children of Israel abode in Gilgal, and helde the feast of Passouer the fourteenth day of the moneth at euen, in the playne of Iericho.
11 And they did eate of the corne of the lande on the morowe after the Passouer sweete cakes and parched corne, in the selfe same day.
12 For the Manna ceassed on the morowe after they had begun to eate of the corne of the lande, neither had the chyldren of Israel Manna any more, but did eate of the fruite of the lande of Chanaan that yere.
13 And when Iosuah was nye to Iericho, he lift vp his eyes and loked: and behold, there stoode a man against him, hauing a sworde drawen in his hande: And Iosuah went vnto him, and sayde vnto him, Art thou on our syde, or on our aduersaries?
14 And he sayde, Naie: but as a captaine of the hoast of the Lord am I nowe come. And Iosuah fell on his face to ye earth, and did worship, and sayde vnto him: What saith my Lord vnto his seruaunt?
15 And the captaine of the Lordes hoast sayde vnto Iosuah: Do thy shoe of thy foote, for the place wheron thou standest, is holy. And Iosuah did so.
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.