« | Psalm 29 | » |
1 A tribute vnto God O ye sonnes of princes: attribute vnto God glory and strength.
2 Geue to God glory [due] vnto his name: worship God with holy honour.
3 The voyce of God is aboue waters: it is the Lorde of glory that thundreth, it is God that ruleth the sea.
4 The voyce of God is with power: the voyce of God is with honour.
5 The voyce of God breaketh the Cedar trees: yea God breaketh the Cedars of Libanus.
6 And he maketh them to skip like a calfe: Libanus also and Sirion like a young vnicorne.
7 The voyce of God casteth out flambes of fire:
8 (29:7) the voyce of God maketh the wyldernesse to tremble, God maketh the wyldernesse of Cades to tremble.
9 (29:8) The voyce of God maketh Hindes to cast their calfe, and maketh woods to be bare: therefore euery man setteth foorth his glory in his temple.
10 (29:9) God sitteth in the flud: and God wil sit king for euer.
11 (29:10) God wyll geue strength vnto his people: God wyll blesse his people in peace.
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.