« | Judges 21 |
1 And the men of Israel sware in Mispah, saying: Ther shal none of vs geue his daughter vnto any of Beniamin to wife.
2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till euen, before God, & lift vp their voyces, and wept sore,
3 And sayde: O Lorde God of Israel, why is this come to passe in Israel, that there shoulde be this day one tribe lacking in Israel?
4 And on the morowe the people rose vp betyme, and made there an aulter, and offered burnt offeringes and peace offeringes.
5 And the children of Israel sayd: Who is he among al the tribes of Israel, that came not vp with the congregation vnto the Lorde? for they had made a great othe concerning him that came not vp to the Lord to Mispah, saying: He shall surely dye.
6 And the children of Israel had pitie on Beniamin their brethren, and sayde: There is one tribe cut of from Israel this day:
7 What shall we do vnto the remnaunt of them, that they may haue wiues? we haue sworne by the Lorde, that we wyl not geue the of our daughters to wiues.
8 And they sayde: Is there any of the tribes of Israel, that came not vp to Mispah to the Lord? And behold, there came none of Iabes Gilead vnto the hoaste and congregation.
9 For the people were viewed, and beholde there were none of the inhabitauntes of Iabes Gilead there.
10 And the congregation sent thyther twelue thousand men of the strongest, and commaunded them, saying: Go, and smyte the inhabitauntes of Iabes Gilead with the edge of the sworde, both women and children.
11 And this is it that ye shall do: ye shall vtterly destroy all the males, and al the women that haue lyen by men.
12 And they found among the inhabitautes of Iabes Gilead foure hundred damoselles, virgins, yt had knowne no man, by lyeng with any male: And they brought them vnto the hoast to Silo, whiche is in the lande of Chanaan.
13 And the whole congregation sent and spake with the children of Beniamin that were in the rocke of Rimmon, and called peaceably vnto them.
14 And Beniamin came againe at that time, and they gaue them wyues which they had saued alyue of the woman of Iabes Gilead: But they suffised them not.
15 And the people were sory for Beniamin, because that the Lord had made a breache in the tribes of Israel.
16 And then the elders of the congregation, sayd: What shall we do to the remnaunt of them, to get them wiues? seyng all the women of Beniamin are destroyed?
17 And they sayde: There must be an inheritaunce for them that be escaped of Beniamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
18 Howbeit, we may not geue the wyues of our daughters. For the children of Israel had sworne, saying: Cursed be he that geueth a wyfe to Beniamin.
19 Then they sayde: Behold, there is a feast of ye Lorde yerely in Silo, which is on the northside of Bethel, & on the cast side of the way that goeth from Bethel to Sichem, and south from Libanon.
20 Therfore they commaunded the children of Beniamin, saying: Go, and lye in wayte in the vineyardes.
21 And when ye see that the daughters of Silo come out to daunce in daunces, the come ye out of the vineyardes & catche you euery man a wyfe of the daughters of Silo, & go to the lande of Beniamin.
22 And when their fathers or brethren come vnto vs to complayne, we will say vnto them, Haue pitie on vs for their sakes: because we reserued not to eche man his wyfe in tyme of warre, neither haue ye geuen vnto them, that ye should sinne at this time.
23 And the children of Beniamin did eue so, and toke them wyues according to the numbre of them that dauced, whom they caught: and they went, and returned vnto their inheritaunce, and repayred the cities, and dwelt in them.
24 And the children of Israel departed thence at that tyme, & went euery man to his tribe, and to his kinred, and went out from thence euery man to his inheritaunce.
25 In those dayes there was no king in Israel: but euery man dyd that whiche seemed right in his owne eyes.
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.