Posted on 12/25/2019 12:30:10 AM PST by UnwashedPeasant
Bruce Metzger and F. F. Bruce have observed several characteristics that set the GB apart.[8] (1) It pioneered several innovations in content and translation. For example, it used the word “church” when rendering the Greek ekklesia instead of Tyndale’s and Coverdale’s “congregation.” Also, Paul is not named the author of Hebrews and James, Peter, 1 John and Jude are for the first time called “General Epistles” rather than the usual “Catholic Epistles” which earlier translations used in the tradition of the Vulgate (cf. the KJV and RV).[9] More significantly still, the OT translation is a “thorough revision of the Great Bible, especially in those books which Tyndale had not translated.”[10] Such books had never been directly translated from the Hebrew (or Aramaic) into English. “Now the existing version of the prophetical books and the poetical and wisdom literature of the Old Testament was carefully brought into line with the Hebrew text, and even with the Hebrew idiom.”[11] (2) The GB changed several aesthetic appearances. It used readable Roman typeface rather than the obscure Gothic black typeface. It was the first to use numbered verses, each of which began a new paragraph. It was printed in small (6 ½ by 9 ¾) quarto editions and was sold at an affordable price. Also, it was the first to use italics for words added by the translators, which were designed to make the text more comprehendible to English readers. (3) The GB was in a real sense the first “study” Bible. It provided annotations in the margins of the text, explaining, commenting, and interpreting the meaning of the text for the reader. These brief annotations were designed to help the reader with “all the hard places” and aid one with “words as are obscure.” Also, the GB included prefaces to books of the Bible, chronological charts, maps, illustrations (over 33 of them), and a dictionary of over nine hundred and fifty proper names at the end. While such innovations are common to Bible readers today, in the sixteenth century they were unprecedented. But more to the point, these innovations were grounded in the theological agenda of the Reformation, namely, to accommodate God’s Word for God’s people. No where was this more obvious than in its illustrations, prefaces, annotations, and marginal notes.
Barrett goes on, "In his estimate, the GB was the worst on the market, as he made clear at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 (“I think that of all, that of Geneva is the worst.”). Of course, his comments were not directed towards the translation as they were towards the marginal annotations. According to King James I, he saw these notes as “very partial, untrue, seditious, and savoring too much of dangerous and traitorous conceits.”[32]
James’ rejection of the GB’s annotations was rooted in his anti-Puritan, anti-Presbyterian ecclesiology. For King James, his authority should be dependent upon the bishops. No bishops, no king![33] Scottish Presbyterianism had no bishops. For King James, this was egalitarianism and republicanism at its worst, as exemplified in Calvin’s Geneva. Therefore, King James “preferred an Episcopal system, not least because of its more positive associations with the monarchy.” Consequently, episcopacy was the “safeguard to the monarchy.”[34]
But it was not just that the GB came from the republican, Presbyterian city of Geneva. It was much more. For King James, such an ecclesiology was evident in the annotations of the GB itself. McGrath has led the way in this regard, giving several examples of annotations upon texts King James disapproved of.[35] The annotations challenged the “divine right of kings,” a doctrine advocated by King James (cf. True Law of Free Monarchies of 1598; Basilikon Doron of 1598). As he says in Basilikon Doron, “God gives not Kings the style of Gods in vain, For on his throne his Sceptre do they sway; And as their subject ought them to obey, So Kings should fear and serve their God again.” The divine right of kings was foundational to monarchy. However, certain texts and annotations in the GB, which we must consider, undermined such a doctrine.
(1) Daniel 6:22 is an example of Daniel disobeying the King and being approved by God in so doing. The text states, “My just cause and uprightness in this thing in which I was charged, is approved by God.” The GB comments, “For he disobeyed the king’s wicked commandment in order to obey God, and so he did no injury to the king, who ought to command nothing by which God would be dishonoured.”
One may wish to read more on the topic at https://founders.org/2011/10/12/the-geneva-bible-and-its-influence-on-the-king-james-bible/>https://founders.org/2011/10/12/the-geneva-bible-and-its-influence-on-the-king-james-bible/
Barrett'sConclusion
To conclude, Bruce Metzger fittingly revels in the enormous impact the GB had on Protestantism. “In short, it was chiefly owing to the dissemination of copies of the Geneva version of 1560 that a sturdy and articulate Protestantism was created in Britain, a Protestantism which made a permanent impact upon Anglo-American culture.”[55] As we have seen, not only was its impact cultural, but its impact continued to be felt on other translations including the KJV. Though the translation of the GB may not be used extensively today, its method and its theology as found in its study notes continue to have an impact. Today we enjoy The Reformation Study Bible and the ESV Study Bible, both of which carry on the legacy of the GB both in its form and in its Reformed theology. As he did with the GB, may the Lord continue to give his church capable translators and commentators so that his people will understand those “hard places” in Scripture.
For the record, I am not a Calvinist.
“In his (King James’s) estimate, the GB was the worst on the market,
The Geneva Bible contains books that are not part of the canon of the KJV Bible. Would you like to discuss this difference?
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