« | Zechariah 2 | » |
1 I Lyft vp myne eyes agayne and loked: and beholde a man, with a measure lyne in his hande.
2 Then saide I: whyther goest thou? And he said vnto me: To measure Hierusalem, that I may see how long and how broade it is.
3 And behold, the angel that talked with me, went his way foorth: Then went there out another angel to meete him,
4 And saide vnto him, Runne, speake to this young man, and say: Hierusalem shalbe inhabited without any wall for the very multitude of people and cattaile that shalbe therein.
5 For I my selfe, saith the Lorde, wyl be vnto her a wall of fire rounde about, & wyl be the glory in the middest of her.
6 O get you foorth, O flee from the land of the north, saith the Lorde: for I haue scattred you into the foure windes of the heauen, saith the Lorde.
7 Saue thy selfe O Sion, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon:
8 For thus saith the Lorde of hoastes, After this glory hath he sent me out to the heathen which spoyled you: for who so toucheth you, shal touche the apple of his owne eye.
9 Beholde, I wyll lyft vp myne hande ouer them, so that they shall be spoyled of those which afore serued them: and ye shall knowe that the Lorde of hoastes hath sent me.
10 Be glad and reioyce O daughter Sion: for lo, I am come to dwell in the middest of thee, saith the Lorde.
11 At the same time there shal many heathen cleaue to the lord, & shalbe my people: Thus wyll I dwell in the middest of thee, and thou shalt knowe that the lorde of hoastes hath sent me vnto thee.
12 The Lorde shall haue Iuda in possession for his part in the holy lande, and shall choose Hierusalem yet againe.
13 Let all fleshe be still before the Lorde: for he is raysed vp out of his holy place.
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.