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Whittingham's New Testament (1557).
William Whittingham, et. al. The Newe Testament of our Lord Iesus
Christ, conferred diligently with the Greke and best approued
translations. With the arguments as wel before the chapters, as for
euery Boke and Epistle, also diuersities of readings, and most
proffitable annotations of all harde places: whereunto is added a
copious Table. Geneva: Conrad Badius, 1557.
Mainly a revision of
Matthew's
Bible on the basis of
Estienne 1550. The phrase "also diversities of readings" in the
title refers to marginal readings translated from Estienne's margin. The
text was printed in roman type (rather than the traditional "black
letter") and was divided into verses as in Estienne 1551. Supplied words
were set in italic type.
Reprints
- Bagster's English Hexapla (see
Bagster 1841).
- The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. A
fac-simile reprint of the celebrated Genevan Testament, M.D.LVII.
With the marginal annotations and references, the initial and other
wood cuts, prefaces and index. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons,
1842
The Geneva Bible (1560). William
Whittingham, et al., The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the
Olde and Newe Testament, translated according to the Ebrue and Greke,
and conferred with the best translations in divers languages, with moste
profitable annotations upon all the hard places, and other things of
great importance as may appear in the epistle to the reader. Geneva:
Rovland Hall, 1560.
The New Testament portion of this version, commonly
called the "Geneva Bible" is mainly a revision of
Tyndale 1535
on the basis of
Estienne 1550. The translation was made by a group of Calvinistic
English exiles living in Geneva, probably including Miles Coverdale,
Christopher Goodman, Anthony Gilby, Thomas Sampson, and William Cole,
along with William Whittingham, who probably was responsible for most of
the New Testament and for the general editing. Later editions of the
Geneva Bible usually substituted a revision of the New Testament done by
Laurence Tomson (see below). The Geneva Bibe became the most widely used
version in England and Scotland until the appearance of the King James
version.
Reprints
- Weigle's New Testament Octapla (see
Weigle 1962).
- Lloyd E. Berry, ed., The Geneva Bible, a Facsimile of the
1560 edition, with an Introduction by Lloyd E. Berry (Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1969).
Tomson's New Testament (1576).
Laurence Tomson, ed., The New Testament of our Lord Iesvs Christ,
translated out of the Greeke by Theod. Beza. Whereunto are adjoyned
briefe Summeries of doctrine vpon the Euangelistes and Actes of the
Apostles, together with the methode of the Epistles of the Apostles, by
the said Theod. Beza. And also short expositions on the phrases and hard
places, taken ovt of the large annotations of foresayd Author and Joach.
Camerarius, by P. Loseler Villerius. Englished by L. Tomson. Imprinted
at London by Christopher Barkar dwelling in Poules churchyeard at the
sign of the Tigres head. 1576. Cum privilegio.
This was the New Testament of the Geneva Bible (1560)
revised by Laurence Tomson on the basis of Beza's Greek text with Latin
version and commentary, published in 1565 (see
Beza 1565).
In Geneva Bibles printed from the year 1587 it was generally substituted
for the Geneva New Testament of 1560.
"In 1576, a revised form of the Geneva Bible was
produced by Lawrence Tomson, Secretary to Sir Francis Walsingham (then
Elizabeth's Secretary of State) and formerly lecturer in Hebrew at
Geneva. This contains a few changes in the translation, the most
characteristic being Tomson's pedantic rendering of the Greek definite
article by "that" (e.g. Matt. 16.16, "Thou art that Christ"); but the
chief difference is the introduction of an English translation of
Theodore Beza's summaries of doctrine and exposition of phrases in
Beza's Latin Bible. In 1598, the annotations on the Book of Revelation
by Francis Junius, a Huguenot divine, were introduced into the Geneva
Bible." —Metzger
Reprints
- Gerald T. Sheppard, ed., The Geneva Bible (the annotated New
Testament, 1602 edition). New York: Pilgrim Press, 1989. A
facsimile reprint of the 1602 edition printed by Robert Barker. "The
present volume provides a beautifully printed facsimile of a copy of
the London 1607 printing of the 1602 edition of the Geneva Bible,
containing Beza's and Junius's materials. Introductory essays by
Sheppard and other contributors discuss the hermeneutics of the
scholarship embodied in the annotations. The volume, therefore,
makes available a tool for research in English Protestant and
Puritan social and religious history as well the history of biblical
exegesis." — Metzger
- Michael H. Brown, ed., The Geneva Bible: a facsimile of the
1599 edition with undated Sternhold & Hopkins Psalms. Buena
Park, California: Geneva Publishing Company, 1991. Reprinted Ozark,
Mo.: L.L. Brown Publishing, 1990.
- David McKitterick, ed., The Cambridge Geneva Bible of 1591: a
facsimile reprint marking 400 years of Bible production by the
world's oldest Bible printer and publisher. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1992.
Literature
- Charles Eason, The Genevan Bible: Notes on its Production and
Distribution (Dublin: Eason and Son, and London: T. French
Downie, 1937)
- Lewis Lupton, A History of the Genevan Bible (25 vols.
London: Faulkonberg Press, 1967-1994.)
- Lloyd E. Berry, "Introduction" (24 pages) in The Geneva
Bible: A facsimile of the 1560 edition, with an introduction
(Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969).
- Mary A.E. Green, ed., The Life of Mr. William Whittingham
(London, 1870).
- Christina Hallowell Garrett, The Marian Exiles
(Cambridge, 1938).
- Irena Dorota Backus, The Reformed Roots of the English New
Testament: The Influence of Theodore Beza on the English New
Testament (Pittsburgh: Pickwick Press, 1980).
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 he
Geneva Bible is a critical, yet almost completely forgotten part of the
Protestant Reformation. Driven out of England by the persecutions of
Bloody Mary, several future leaders of the Reformation came to Geneva to
create a pure and accurate translation of the Holy Writ. Concerned about
the influence that the Catholic Church had on the existing
 translations
of the Bible from the Latin, these men turned to the original Hebrew and
Greek texts to produce the Geneva Bible. This made the Geneva Bible the
first complete Bible to be translated into English from the original
Hebrew and Greek texts.
The creation of the Geneva Bible was a substantial undertaking. Its
authors spent over two years, working diligently day and night by
candlelight, to finish the translation and the commentaries. The entire
project was funded by the exiled English congregation in Geneva, making
the translation a work supported by the people and not by an
authoritarian church or monarch.
All the marginal commentaries were finished by 1599, making the 1599
edition of the Geneva Bible t he
most complete study aide for Biblical scholars and students. This editon
does contain the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha’s notes are minimal or absent
in other editions. Additional highlights of this edition include maps of
the Exodus route and Joshua’s distribution of land, a name and subject
index, and Psalms sung by the English congregation in Geneva.
The greatest
distinction of the Geneva Bible, however, is the extensive collection of
marginal notes that it contains. Prominent Reformation leaders such as
John Calvin, John Knox, Miles Coverdale, William Whittingham, Theodore
Beza, and Anthony Gilby wrote the majority of these notes in order to
explain and interpret the scriptures. The notes comprise nearly 300,000
words, or nearly one-third the length of the Bible itself, and they are
justifiably considered the most complete source of Protestant religious
thought available.
Owing
to the marginal notes and the superior quality of the translation, the
Geneva Bible became the most widely read and influential English Bible
of the 16th and 17th centuries. It was continually printed from 1560 to
1644 in over 200 different editions. It was the Bible of choice for many
of the greatest writers, thinkers, and historical figures of the
Reformation era. William Shakespeare’s plays and the writings of John
Milton and John Bunyan were clearly influenced by the Geneva Bible.
Oliver Cromwell issued a pamphlet containing excerpts from the Geneva
Bible to his troops during the English Civil War. When the Pilgrims set
sail on the Mayflower they took with them exclusively the Geneva Bible.
 The
marginal notes of the Geneva Bible enraged the Catholic Church, since
the notes deemed the act of confession to men – the Catholic Bishops –
as unjustified by Holy Script. Man should confess to God only; man’s
private life was man’s private life. The notes also infuriated King
James, since they allowed disobedience to tyrannical kings. King James
went so far as to make ownership of the Geneva Bible a felony. He then
proceeded to make his own version of the Bible, but without the marginal
notes that had so disturbed him. Consequently, during King James’s
reign, and into the reign of Charles I, the Geneva Bible was gradually
replaced by the King James Bible.
Because of the print size, this facsimile reproduction is
more difficult for some readers. A magnifying glass is often necessary
for the marginal notes. On some of the printing the marginal notes are
not entirely clear. Also, some adjustment is required to get accustomed
to the interchanged I and J, u and v, and f and s in the old print
style. L. L. Brown Publishing is proud to offer the Geneva Bible to
Christians serious about understanding the Bible. A wealth of
information that has been left to us by the Leaders of the Protestant
Reformation is now available after four centuries of being out of print. |
