Geneva Bible
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1560 Defined Geneva Bible With Modern Spelling New Testament
$50.00Add to cartThe entire Geneva Bible was released in 1560. It was innovative in both text and format, and quickly became the household Bible of English speaking people. It was the first English Bible to have modern verse divisions as well as modern chapter divisions. It was the first Bible to use italics to indicate words not in the original language and the first Bible to change the values of ancient coins into English pound sterling equivalents. It was also the first to use plain Roman type, which was more readable than the old Gothic type, and it was in a handy quarto size for easy use. With prologues before each book, extensive marginal notes, and a brief concordance, the Geneva Bible was in fact the first English “study Bible.”
Between the Geneva Bible’s first edition of 1560 and its last edition in 1644, 160 editions, totaling around a half million Bibles, were produced. And for the first time common people could not only understand the words in the Bible, they could actually own one. Its widespread use first solidified the English language among the common people, not the 1611 King James Bible as many assume. Actually, the King James Bible required decades to surpass the popularity of the Geneva and supplant it from the hearts of the English speaking world. In fact, the Geneva Bible was the principal English Bible initially brought to American soil, making it the Bible that shaped early American life and impacted Colonial culture more than any other.
In this edition we have chosen not to include any commentary and simply allow the strength of the translation to come through to the reader. Yet because 450 plus years have elapsed since the original Geneva Bible, we have modernized the spelling of words. We have also bracketed and defined words and terms which are no longer commonly used or are so altered in their meaning as to be unfamiliar today.
Further, this work is not intended to replace the King James Bible, but to show how close the Geneva translation is to the King James Bible. These two Bibles are translated from the same Traditional Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek Texts. So, why was the King James Bible needed? It was because the marginal notes were “very partial,” King James said. And they were. They were completely Calvinistic and many considered the notes as a part of divine revelation, which they are not. On January 17, 1604, the motion was made and carried ..”.that a translation be made of the whole Bible, as consonant as can be to the original H
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Geneva Bible 1560 Edition
$69.95Add to cartSixteenth century English Protestant scholars were determined to make the scriptures understandable to common people, so that, as William Tyndale famously put it, “the boy that driveth the plough should know more of the scriptures” than the educated man.
However, Queen Mary’s (1553-1558) persecution of her Protestant subjects caused many to flee to the continent to avoid imprisonment or execution. Geneva, Switzerland soon became a center for Protestant biblical scholarship. It was there that a group of the movement’s leading lights gathered to undertake a fresh translation of the scriptures into English, beginning in 1556.
Published in 1560, the Geneva Bible’s popularity kept it in print until 1644-long after the advent of the Authorized Version (a.k.a. King James Version). It was an English Bible that met the needs of both clergy and laity. Perhaps the Geneva Bible’s greatest contribution was its commentary, which under girded the emerging practice of sermonizing and helped foster scripture literacy. The Geneva Bible was the first to feature many innovations in the field of Bible publishing:
* Text printed in readable roman type; 7 pt. type
* Smyth sewn
* Division of the text into numbered verses
* Italic type used for words not in the original languages
* Marks placed over the accented syllables to aid in pronouncing proper names
* Extensive textual and explanatory commentary placed in the margins
* Words/phrases displayed at the heads of pages to promote scripture memorization
* Maps and woodcuts illustrating biblical scenes included
* Sold in a variety of sizes so many people could afford a household BibleThe Geneva Bible accompanied English settlers voyaging to the new world. It is probable that the Geneva Bible came to America in 1607 and was used in the Jamestown colony. Thirteen years later the Pilgrims brought it with them on the Mayflower’s perilous voyage to religious freedom. The Geneva Bible stands as a landmark in the history of English Bible translation. Hendrickson’s facsimile reproduces one of the finest existing copies of the 1560 Geneva Bible. Using quality materials and crafted to last, Bible collectors and anyone interested in the history of the English Bible will treasure this volume.