« | Song of Solomon 7 | » |
1 O howe pleasaunt are thy treadynges with thy shoes, thou princes daughter? the ioyntes of thy thighes are like a faire iewell, which is wrought by a cunnyng workemaister.
2 Thy nauell is lyke a rounde goblet, which is neuer without drynke. (7:3) Thy wombe is like a heape of wheate that is set about with lilies.
3 (7:4) Thy two breastes are lyke two twinnes of young roes.
4 (7:5) Thy necke is as it were a towre of iuorie: thine eyes also are lyke the water pooles that are in Hesebon, beside the port of Bathrabbim, thy nose is lyke the towre of Libanus, which loketh towarde Damascus.
5 (7:6) That head that standeth vpon thee is lyke Carmel: and the heere of thy head is like purple, and like a kyng dwellyng among many water conduites.
6 (7:7) O Howe faire and louely art thou my dearlyng in pleasures?
7 (7:8) Thy stature is lyke a paulme tree, and thy breastes lyke the grapes.
8 (7:9) I sayde, I wyll climbe vp into the paulme tree, and take holde of his hye braunches. (7:10) Thy breastes also shalbe as the wine clusters, the smell of thy nosethrilles like as the smell of apples.
9 (7:11) And thy rooffe of thy mouth lyke the best wine, which is meete for my best beloued, pleasaunt for his lippes, and for his teeth to chawe.
10 (7:12) I am my beloueds, and he shall turne hym vnto me.
11 (7:13) O come on my loue, we wyll go foorth into the fielde, and take our lodgyng in the villages.
12 (7:14) In the mornyng wyll we go see the vineyarde, we wyll see yf the vine be sprong foorth, yf the grapes be growen, and yf the pomegranates be shot out. (7:15) There will I geue thee my brestes:
13 (7:15) the Mandragoras geue their sweete smell, and besyde our doores are all maner of pleasaunt fruites both newe and olde, which I haue kept for thee O my beloued.
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.