B I B 



\^'. E. for William, bilhopof Exeter, wlioff allotment ended 

 rl^ere; at the end of Ruth, R. M. for Richard Mcnev- 

 fiifis, or bifhop of St. David's, to whom pertained the 

 fecond allotment ; and fo of the reft. But it Hill remains 

 uncertain, wlio, and whether one or more, revifed the reft of 

 the N. T. JL'i'^ht of tlie pcrfuiis employed were bifliops ; 

 whence the book was called the " Bifliop's Bible," and the 

 " Great Enfrlifii Bible." The archbifp.op employed other 

 critics to compare this Bible with the original languages, 

 and with the former tranflalions; one of whom was Laurence, 

 a man famous in thofe times for his knowledge of Greek, 

 V hofecalligatioHS tiie bilhop's Bible followed exaftly. His 

 grace alfo fent inftruitions concerning the method which 

 his tranllators were to ohferve ; and recommended the ad- 

 ditioii of fome (hort marginal notes, for the ilhillration or 

 correftion of the text. But the particulars of thefe infti no- 

 tions are not known. The archbifliop, however, direfled, 

 reviewed, and finiftied the whole ; which was printed and 

 publilhed in 1568, in a large folio fr/.e, and with a beautiful 

 Englifh letter, on royal paper; and tmbellillied with fevcral 

 cats of the moft remarkable things in the O. and N. T. and 

 Apocrypha, maps cut in wood, and other draughts engraven 

 ou copper. It has many marginal references and notes, and 

 many ufcful tables. It has numerous inlertions between 

 brackets, and in a fmaller charaftcr ; which are equivalent 

 to the italics afterwards ufed by Jam-js's tranllators. Dr. 

 Geddes is of opinion, (Letter to the Bifhop of London, 

 p. 33.) that italic fupplemcnts were firft ufed by Arias 

 Montanus, who died in 159S. The feveral additions from 

 the vulgar Latin, inferted in the " Great Bible," are omitted ; 

 and verfe 7 of 1 John v, which was before diftinguiftied by 

 its being printed in a different letter, is here printed without 

 any dillindlion ; and the chapters are divided into verfes. 

 In the following year, 1569, it was agaiti.pubhihed in large 

 Rvo. for the ufe of private families. This Bible was re- 

 printed in 1572, in large folio, with feveral correftions and 

 amendments, and fevtral prolegomena ; this is called " Mat- 

 thew Packer's Bible." With regard to this Bible, Lewis 

 (p. 61.) obftrves, that the editions of it are mollly in folio 

 and 4to., and that he never heard but of one in 8vo. ; for 

 which he fuppofes this to be the reafon, that it was princi- 

 pally defigned for the ufe of churches. In the convocation 

 of the province of Canterbury, which met in April, 1571, 

 a canon was made, enjoiniiig the church-wardens to fee, that 

 the Holy Bible be in every church in the largeft volumes, 

 if convenient ; and it was likewil'e ordered, that every arch- 

 bilhop and billiop, every dean and chief relidentiary, and 

 every archdeacon, {hould have one of thefe Bibles in their 

 cathedrals and families. This tranflation was ufed in the 

 churches for forty years ; though the Geneva Bible was 

 more read in private houfes. For king James's opinion of 

 it, fee King jama's Bidle. 



Bible, Rhiniyh. — Aix.cT the tranflation of the Bible by 

 the bifhops, two other private verfions had been m.ids of 

 the New Teftament ; the firft by Laur. Tomfon, undcr- 

 fccretary to fir Francis Walfingham, made from Bez.a's 

 Latin edition, together with the notes of Beza, publillied 

 in 1576, in 8vo. and afterwards in 1599, varying very little 

 from the Geneva Bible ; the fecom', by the papifts at 

 Rheims, in 1582, in 410. called the " Rhemilli Bible," or 

 " Rhemilh Teftament." Thefe finding it impofiible to 

 keep the people from having the fcriptures in the vulgar 

 tongue, refolvedto give a verfion of their own, as favourable 

 to their caufc as might be. It was printed ou a large paper, 

 with a fair letter and margin. One complaint againft it 

 was, its being tranflated from the vulgate Latin, and retain- 

 inu a multitude of Hcbrcvy and Greek words untranflated, 



for want, as the editors cxprefs it, of proper and adequate 



terms in the Englifli to render them by ; 33 the words rtcymr.f, 

 tunike, rational, holocaujl, prepuce, paj'chc, c^c. whence Fuller 

 called it, in his quaint manner, " a tranflation which needed 

 to be tranflated," and Fuller fays that " by all means they 

 laboured to fupprefs the light of truth under one pretence 

 or other." Tiiey added large annotation", to fliew, as they 

 fay, the iludious reader, in moft places pertaining to the con- 

 troverfies of thofe times, both the heretical corruptions, and 

 faUe deduftions, and alfo the apoftolic traditions, the cxpo- 

 fitions of the holy fathers, the decrees of the C itliolic chuich, 

 and moft ancient councils. Some have faid, that it was 

 printed in a moft coftly manner, in order to put it out of the 

 power of common people to purchafe it ; but if any of the 

 laity fecretly procured one of thefe Rhcmifh Teftaments, 

 he dnrft not own that he had read it, without prcvioully ob- 

 taining from his fuperior a licence for this purpofe. Many 

 of the cocies were fciz:d by the queen's fcarchers, and con- 

 fifcatcd; and Th. Cartwright was folicited by fecretary 

 Wallingham to refute it ; but, after a good progrefs made 

 therein, archbifliop Whitgift prohibited his farther proceed- 

 ings therein, as judging it im.propcr the dodtrine of the 

 church of England Ihould be committed to the defence of 

 a puritan, and appointed Dr. Ftdk in his place, who refu- 

 ted the Rheimiltswjth great fpiritand learning. Cartwright's 

 refutation was alfo afterwards publifhcd in 1 61 8, under arcfi- 

 liifnop Abbot, together witii the Riiemifh tranflation. This 

 procedure was much more agreeable to the true fpirit of 

 proteftantifm, than the aft of feizing and burning the 

 copies ; " argument being the only weapon (fays the truly ex- 

 cellent primate Nevvcome), which fhoidd be wielded to defend 

 Clirillianity, or any mode of prolefling it." Other editions 

 were printed at Antwerp, in 1600, and in i2mo. at the fame 

 place, in 1630, and at Paris, in 4to. in 1633. Within 3a 

 years after their New Teftament, the Romun Catholics pub- 

 lifhed a tranflation of the Old, at Doway, hence called the 

 " Doway Bible," in two 410. volumes, the former in 1609, 

 the other in ifiic, from the Vulgate, with annotations. 

 It is faid that the tranflators were Williain Allyn, after- 

 terwards cardinal, Gregory Martin, and Richard Briftow ; 

 and that the annotator was Thomas Worthington. But 

 foine (Le Long. 418.) afcribe the verfion of the New Tefta- 

 ment chiefly to William Raynold. 



Bible, King James's.— !")L\\t laft Englifh Bible was that 

 which proceeded from the Hampton-court conference, in 

 1603, where many exceptions being made to the Bifhop's 

 Bible, king James gave order for a new one ; not as the 

 preface eripreffes it, tor a tranflation altogether new, nor yet 

 to make of a bad one a good one, but to make a good one 

 better, or of many good one beft. On the fecond day of 

 this conference, Dr. Reynold?, the fpeaker of the Puritans, 

 moved his majefty, that a new tranflation of the Bible might 

 be undertaken ; becaufe thofe which were allowed in the 

 reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. Were corrupt, and 

 fuch verfions as were extant were not anfu'crable to the 

 truth of the original. It has been obfcrved by learned men 

 with regard to the tranflators in the reign of Henry VIII. 

 that they followed Erafmus and Sebaftian Munfter too 

 clofely ; of the Geneva verfion, that it was formed too faith- 

 fully on the model of Bcza ; and of the BiQiop's Bible, that 

 it was not fufSciently exaft, but full of errors, becaufe its 

 conduftors departed from the Hebrew, and trod too exactly 

 in the foot-fieps of the Greek. In reply to Dr. Reynolds, 

 the king faid, that he had never yet fecn a Bible well Uanf- 

 latcd into Englifli ; though he confidered the Geneva trnnf- 

 lations as the worft. On the fuggeftion of Bancroft, bifhop 

 ot London, he forbad marginal notes j fome of the Geneva 



notes 



