« | Genesis 40 | » |
1 And it came to passe after these thynges, that the butler of ye king of Egypt and his baker, had offended their lorde the kyng of Egypt.
2 And Pharao was angry agaynst his two officers, agaynst the chiefe butler and the chiefe baker.
3 And put them in warde in his chiefe stewardes house, euen in the prison and place where Ioseph was bounde.
4 And the chiefe steward gaue Ioseph a charge with them, & he serued them: and they continued a season in warde.
5 And they dreamed eyther of them in one night, both the butler and the baker of the kyng of Egypt, whiche were bounde in the pryson house, eyther of them his dreame, & eche mans dreame of a sundry interpretation.
6 When Ioseph came in vnto them in the mornyng, and loked vpon them, beholde they were sadde.
7 And he asked Pharaos chiefe officers that were with hym in his maisters warde, saying: Wherfore loke ye so sadlye to day?
8 They aunswered him: We haue dreamed a dreame, and haue no man to declare it. And Ioseph sayde vnto them: do not interpretinges belong to God? tell me I pray you.
9 And the chiefe butler tolde his dreame to Ioseph, and saide vnto him: In my dreame, me thought there stoode a vine before me,
10 And in the vine [were] three braunches, and it was as though it budded, & her blossomes shot foorth: and the clusters therof brought foorth rype grapes.
11 And I had Pharaos cup in my hand, and toke of the grapes and pressed them in Pharaos cuppe, and deliuered Pharaos cuppe into his hande.
12 And Ioseph sayde vnto hym, this is the interpretatio of it. The three braunches are three dayes.
13 For within three dayes shall Pharao lyft vp thine head, and restore thee into thine office agayne, and thou shalt deliuer Pharaos cup into his hande after the olde maner when thou wast his butler.
14 But thynke on me when thou art in good case, and shewe mercy [I praye thee] vnto me, and make mention of me to Pharao, & bring me out of this house:
15 For I was priuily by stealth taken away out of the lande of the Hebrewes: and here also haue I done nothyng at all wherfore they shoulde haue put me into this dungeon.
16 When the chiefe baker sawe that the interpretatio was good, he sayd vnto Ioseph: me thought also in my dreame that I had three whyte wycker baskettes on my head,
17 And in the vppermost basket there was of all maner bake meates for Pharao, and the birdes dyd eate them out of the basket that was vpon my head.
18 And Ioseph aunswered and saide: this is the interpretation thereof. The three baskettes, are three dayes:
19 (40:18) For within three dayes shall Pharao take thy head from thee, and shall hang thee on a tree, and the birdes shall eate thy fleshe from of thee.
20 (40:19) And it came to passe the thirde day, which was Pharaos birth day, that he made a feast vnto all his seruauntes: and he lyfted vp the head of the chiefe butler, and of the chiefe baker among his seruauntes:
21 (40:20) And restored the chiefe butler vnto his butlership agayne, whiche also reached the cuppe into Pharaos hande.
22 (40:21) But he hanged the chiefe baker, euen as Ioseph had interpreted vnto him.
23 (40:22) Neither dyd the chiefe butler remember Ioseph, but forgat hym.
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.