Nehemiah 1 | » |
1 The wordes of Nehemiah the sonne of Hachalia. In the moneth Chisleu, in the twentie yere, as I was in the castell at Susan,
2 Came Hanani, one of my brethren, he and the men of Iuda: and I asked them howe the Iewes dyd that were deliuered and escaped from the captiuitie, and howe it went at Hierusalem.
3 And they sayde vnto me: The remnaunt that are left of the captiuitie there in the lande, are in great affliction and rebuke: the wall of Hierusalem also is broken downe, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire.
4 And when I hearde these wordes, I sat downe and wept, and mourned certayne dayes, and fasted and prayed before the God of heauen,
5 And sayde: O Lorde God of heauen, thou great and terrible God, thou that kepest couenaunt and mercie for them that loue thee & obserue thy commaundementes:
6 Let thyne eares hearken I beseche thee, and let thyne eyes be open, that thou mayest heare the prayer of thy seruaunt, whiche I pray nowe before thee day and night for the children of Israel thy seruauntes, and knowledge the sinnes of the children of Israel which we haue sinned against thee: I and my fathers house haue sinned,
7 We haue greeuously sinned against thee, and haue not kept thy commaundementes, statutes, and iudgementes, whiche thou commaundedst thy seruaunt Moyses.
8 I beseche thee call to remembraunce the worde that thou commaundedst thy seruaunt Moyses, and saydest, Ye will transgresse, and I will scatter you abrode among the nations:
9 But if ye turne vnto me, and kepe my commaundementes, & do them: though ye were cast out vnto the vttermost part of heauen, yet wil I gather you from thence, and will bring you vnto the place that I haue chosen, to set my name there.
10 They are thy seruauntes and thy people, whom thou hast deliuered through thy great power, and in thy mightie hande.
11 O Lorde I besech thee, let thyne eare hearken to the prayer of thy seruaunt, and to the prayer of thy seruauntes, whose desire is to feare thy name: and let thy seruaunt prosper this day, and graunt him mercie in the sight of this man. For I was the kinges butler.
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.