« | Judges 13 | » |
1 And the children of Israel began agayne to comitte wickednesse in the sight of the lord, and the Lorde deliuered them into the handes of the Philistines fourtie yeres.
2 And there was a man in Zaraah of the kinred of Dan, named Manoah, whose wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angell of the Lord appeared vnto the woman, & sayde vnto her: Beholde, nowe thou art barren, & bearest not, but thou shalt conceaue, and beare a sonne.
4 And nowe therfore beware that thou drinke no wyne, nor strong drinke, neither eate any vncleane thing:
5 For lo, thou shalt conceaue and beare a sonne, And ther may no rasor come on his head, for ye ladde shalbe a Nazarite vnto God euen from his byrth: And he shal beginne to saue Israel out of the handes of the Philistines.
6 Then the wife came, & tolde her husbande, saying: A man of God came vnto me, and the fashion of him was lyke the fashion of an angell of God, exceeding fearful: But I asked him not whence he was, neither tolde he me his name:
7 But sayde vnto me, behold, thou shalt be with childe and beare a sonne, & now drinke no wyne nor strong drinke, neither eate any vncleane thing, for the ladde shalbe an abstayner to God, euen from his byrth to the day of his death.
8 Then Manoah made intercession to the Lorde, and sayde: I pray thee my Lorde, let the man of God whiche thou sendedst, come agayne vnto vs, & teache vs what we shal do vnto the ladde whe he is borne.
9 And God heard the voyce of Manoah: and the angel of God came agayne vnto the wife as she sate in the felde: but Manoah her husbad was not with her.
10 And the wife made haste, and ranne & shewed her husbande, & sayde vnto him: behold, the man appeared vnto me that came vnto me to day.
11 And Manoah arose & went after his wife, and came to the man, and sayde vnto him: Art thou the ma that spakest vnto the woman? And he sayde: I am.
12 Manoah sayde, Nowe let thy saying come to passe: Howe shall we order the childe, and do vnto him?
13 And the angell of the Lord sayd vnto Manoah: The woman must absteyne from all that I sayde vnto her:
14 She may eate of nothing that cometh of the vine tree, nor drinke wine or strong drinke, nor eate any vncleane thing: but must obserue all that I bad her.
15 Manoah sayde vuto the angell of the Lorde: I pray thee let vs retayne thee vntill we haue made redy a kyd before thee.
16 And the angel of the Lord sayde vnto Manoah: Though thou make me abide, I wil not eate of thy bread: And if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it vnto the Lorde. For Manoah wist not that it was an angell of the Lorde.
17 And Manoah sayde agayne vnto the angell of the Lord: What is thy name, that when thy saying is come to passe, we may do thee worshippe?
18 And the angel of the Lorde sayde vnto him: Why askest thou thus after my name, which is secrete?
19 And so Manoah toke a kyd, with a meat offring, and offred it vpon a rocke vnto the Lorde: And the angell did wonderously, Manoah and his wife lokyng vpon.
20 And whe the flambe came vp toward heauen from the aulter, the angell of the Lorde ascended vp in the flambe of the aulter: And Manoah and his wyfe loked vpon it, and fell on their faces vnto the grounde.
21 (But the angel of the Lord did no more appeare vnto Manoah and his wyfe:) And then Manoah knewe that it was an angel of the Lorde,
22 And sayd vnto his wyfe: We shal surely dye, because we haue seene God.
23 But his wyfe sayde vnto him: Yf the Lord would kyll vs, he would not haue receaued a burnt offering and a meate offering of our handes, neither woulde he haue shewed vs al these thinges, nor woulde nowe haue tolde vs any suche.
24 And the wyfe bare a sonne, and called his name Samson: And ye ladde grewe, and the Lorde blessed him.
25 And the spirite of the Lorde began to strengthen him in the hoast of Dan, betweene Zaraah and Esthaol.
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.