The Geneva Bible, sometimes known by the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...

Breeches Bible, is one of the most historically significant

translations Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into English, preceding the

Douay Rheims Bible Douay is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Abel Douay (1809–1870), French general * Félix Douay (1816–1879), French general and brother of Abel Douay See also * Douay–Rheims Bible, an English translation of the Bible, c ...

by 22 years, and the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th-century English

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and was used by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

and others. It was one of the Bibles taken to America on the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

'' (

Pilgrim Hall Museum The Pilgrim Hall Museum at 75 Court Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts is the oldest public museum in the United States in continuous operation, having opened in 1824. History The Pilgrim Society, established in 1820, runs the museum. The museum ...

has collected several Bibles of ''Mayflower'' passengers), and its frontispiece inspired

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

's design for the first

Great Seal of the United States The Great Seal is the seal of the United States. The phrase is used both for the Seal (emblem), impression device itself, which is kept by the United States secretary of state, and more generally for the impression it produces. The Obverse and r ...

. The Geneva Bible was used by many

English Dissenters English Dissenters or English Separatists were Protestants who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries. English Dissenters opposed state interference in religious matters and founded their own churches, educationa ...

, and it was still respected by Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the time of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, in the booklet ''

The Souldiers Pocket Bible ''The Souldiers Pocket Bible'' (aka ''Cromwell's Soldiers' Pocket Bible'', ''The Soldier's Pocket Bible, Cromwell's Soldier's Bible'') was a pamphlet version of the Protestant Bible that was carried by the soldiers of Oliver Cromwell's New Model A ...

''. Because the language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous, most readers strongly preferred this version to the

Great Bible The Great Bible of 1539 was the first authorized edition of the Bible in English, authorized by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England; it precedes the more renowned Authorized Version (AV) co ...

. In the words of Cleland Boyd McAfee, "it drove the Great Bible off the field by sheer power of excellence".

History

The Geneva Bible followed the

of 1539, the first authorized Bible in English, which was the authorized Bible of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. During the reign of

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

(1553–1558), who restored Catholicism and outlawed Protestantism in England, a number of English Protestant scholars fled to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, which was then a

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

in which

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

and, later,

Theodore Beza Theodore Beza (; or ''de Besze''; 24 June 1519 – 13 October 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformation. He was a disciple of John Calvin and lived most ...

, provided the primary spiritual and theological leadership. Among these scholars was

William Whittingham William Whittingham (c. 1524–1579) was an English Puritan, a Marian exile, and a translator of the Geneva Bible. He was well connected to the circles around John Knox, Heinrich Bullinger and John Calvin, and firmly resisted the continuance o ...

who supervised the translation now known as the Geneva Bible, in collaboration with

Myles Coverdale Myles Coverdale, first name also spelt Miles ( – 20 January 1569), was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher, hymnist and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551–1553). In 1535, Coverdale produced the fi ...

Christopher Goodman Christopher Goodman BD (1520–1603) was an English reforming clergyman and writer. He was a Marian exile, who left England to escape persecution during the Counter-Reformation in the reign of Queen Mary I of England. He was the author of a work ...

Anthony Gilby Anthony Gilby (c.1510–1585) was an English clergyman, known as a radical Puritan and translator of the Geneva Bible, the first English Bible available to the general public. He was born in Lincolnshire, and was educated at Christ's College, ...

Thomas Sampson Thomas Sampson (c. 1517–1589) was an English Puritan theologian. A Marian exile, he was one of the Geneva Bible translators. On his return to England, he had trouble with conformity to the Anglican practices. With Laurence Humphrey, he ...

, and William Cole. Whittingham was directly responsible for the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, which was complete and published in 1557,. while Gilby oversaw the Old Testament. Several members of this group would later become prominent figures in the

Vestments controversy The vestments controversy or vestarian controversy arose in the English Reformation, ostensibly concerning vestments or clerical dress. Initiated by John Hooper (bishop), John Hooper's rejection of clergy, clerical vestments in the Church of En ...

. The first full edition of this Bible, which included a revised New Testament, appeared in 1560, and was published by Sir Rowland Hill of

Soulton Soulton Hall is a Tudor architecture, Tudor country house near Wem, England. It was a 16th century architectural project of Rowland Hill (MP), Sir Rowland Hill, publisher of the Geneva Bible. Hill was a statesman, polymath and philanthropist, ...

, but it was not printed in England until 1575 (New Testament) and 1576 (complete Bible). Over 150 editions were issued; the last probably in 1644. The first Bible printed in Scotland was a Geneva Bible, which was first issued in 1579. In fact, the involvement of Knox (1514–1572) and Calvin (1509–1564) in the creation of the Geneva Bible made it especially appealing in Scotland, where in 1579 a law was passed requiring every household of sufficient means to buy a copy. Some editions from 1576 onwards included

Laurence Tomson Laurence Tomson (1539 – 29 March 1608) was an English politician, author, and translator. He acted as the personal secretary of Sir Francis Walsingham, the secretary of state to Elizabeth I of England. Tomson revised both the text and the ...

's revisions of the New Testament. Some editions from 1599 onwards used a new "Junius" version of the Book of Revelation, in which the notes were translated from a new Latin commentary by Franciscus Junius. The annotations, a significant part of the Geneva Bible, were

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

and

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

in character, and as such were disliked by the ruling pro-government Anglicans of the

, as well as by

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

, who commissioned the "Authorized Version", or

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

, in order to replace it. The Geneva Bible had also motivated the earlier production of the

Bishops' Bible The Bishops' Bible is an English edition of the Bible which was produced under the authority of the established Church of England in 1568. It was substantially revised in 1572, and the 1602 edition was prescribed as the base text for the King Ja ...

under

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

for the same reason, and the later Rheims–Douai edition by the Catholic community. The Geneva Bible nevertheless remained popular among

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

and was in widespread use until after the

. The last edition was printed in 1644. The Geneva Bible acquired the sobriquet "Breeches Bible" because it describes

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

and

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

as having made “breeches” to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:7). The Geneva notes were surprisingly included in a few editions of the King James Version, as late as 1715. Benjamin Franklin is understood to have been inspired by the frontispiece of the Geneva Bible in his design proposal for the first

Great Seal A great seal is a seal used by a head of state, or someone authorised to do so on their behalf, to confirm formal documents, such as laws, treaties, appointments and letters of dispatch. It was and is used as a guarantee of the authenticity of ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

FirstCommitteeGreatSealReverseLossingDrawing

Translation and format

The Geneva Bible was the first English version to be translated entirely from the original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Though the text is principally just a revision of

William Tyndale William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – October 1536) was an English Biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestantism, Protestant Reformation in the year ...

's earlier work of 1534, Tyndale had only fully translated the New Testament; he had translated the Old Testament through 2 Chronicles before he was imprisoned. The English refugees living in Geneva completed the first translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew to English. The work was led by William Whittingham.

Textual basis

The Geneva Bible was translated from scholarly editions of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

New Testament and the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Scriptures that comprise the Old Testament. The English rendering was substantially based on the earlier translations by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale (the Geneva Bible relies significantly upon Tyndale).

Format

Size

The Geneva Bible was also issued in more convenient and affordable sizes than earlier versions. The 1560 Bible was in

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

format (218 × 139 mm type area), but pocket-size

octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

editions were also issued, and a few large folio editions. The New Testament was issued at various times in sizes from quarto down to 32º (the smallest, 70×39 mm type area).

Breeches Bible

Here are both the Geneva, Tyndale and the King James versions of Genesis 3:7 with original spelling (not modernized):

King James I and the Geneva Bible

Title Page Geneva Bible Dated 1599 But Actually Circa 1616-1625

King James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

's distaste for the Geneva Bible was not caused by the translation of the text into English, but rather the annotations in the margins. He felt strongly that many of the annotations were "very partial, untrue, seditious, and savoring too much of dangerous and traitorous conceits". In all likelihood, he saw the Geneva's interpretations of some biblical passages as

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue, political participation, harms of corruption, positives of mixed constitution, rule of law, and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self ...

", which could imply church hierarchy was unnecessary. Other passages appeared particularly seditious, most notably references to monarchs as "tyrants". Examples of the commentary in conflict with the monarchy in the Geneva Bible (modern spelling) include:
Daniel 6:22
– "For he

Daniel Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

] 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."
Daniel 11:36
– "So long the tyrants will prevail as God has appointed to punish his people: but he shows that it is but for a time."
Exodus 1:19
– To the Hebrew midwives lying to their leaders, "Their disobedience herein was lawful, but their dissembling evil."
2 Chronicles 15:15-17
– King Asa "showed that he lacked zeal, for she should have died both by the covenant and by the law of God, but he gave place to foolish pity and would also seem after a sort to satisfy the law." When toward the end of the conference two Puritans suggested that a new translation of the Bible be produced to better unify the Anglican Church in England and Scotland, James embraced the idea. He would not only be rid of those inconvenient annotations but have greater influence on the translation of the Bible as a whole. He commissioned and chartered a new translation of the Bible which would eventually become the most famous version of the Bible in the history of the English language. Officially known as the ''Authorized Version'' to be read in churches, the new Bible would come to bear his name as the so-called

or King James Version (KJV) elsewhere or casually. The first and early editions of the King James Bible from 1611 and the first few decades thereafter lack annotations, unlike nearly all editions of the Geneva Bible up until that time. Embarkation of the Pilgrims

Initially, the King James Version did not sell well and competed with the Geneva Bible. Shortly after the first edition of the KJV, King James

banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

the printing of new editions of the Geneva Bible to further entrench his version. However,

Robert Barker Robert Barker may refer to: Politicians * Robert Barker (MP for Ipswich) (died 1571), English MP for Ipswich * Robert Barker (MP for Thetford), English MP for Thetford * Robert Barker (MP for Colchester) (1563–1618), English MP for Colchester ...

continued to print Geneva Bibles even after the ban, placing the spurious date of 1599 on new copies of Genevas which were actually printed between about 1616 and 1625.

Legacy

Although the King James Version was intended to replace the Geneva Bible, the King James translators relied heavily upon this version. Bruce Metzger, in Theology Today 1960, observes the inevitable reliance the KJV had on the Geneva Bible. Some estimate that twenty percent of the former came directly from the latter. He further revels in the enormous impact the Geneva Bible 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." The Puritan Separatists or

Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who travelled to North America on the ship ''Mayflower'' and established the Plymouth Colony at what now is Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. John Smith had named ...

aboard the ''Mayflower'' in 1620 brought to North America copies of the Geneva Bible. German historian Leopold von Ranke observed that "Calvin was virtually the founder of America."

References

External links

;Text *Scanned copy of th
original 1560 Geneva BibleGeneva Bible
(1599)
Geneva Bible online
(1599)

* ;Articles

: article by

Bruce Metzger Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of th ...

originally printed in ''Theology Today''
Online version of Sir Frederic G. Kenyon's article
in ''

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible ''Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible'' was a five-volume Biblical encyclopaedia published 1898–1904. First edition The full title was ''A Dictionary of the Bible, dealing with the Language, Literature and Contents, including the Biblical Theology ...

'', 1909 ;Editions currently in print
''1560 First Edition''
Facsimile Reproduction

Reduced size Facsimile Reproduction by Hendrickson
''1599 Edition''
Modern Spelling and Typesetting from ''The 1599 Geneva Bible Restoration Project'' (no illustrations) {{English Bible translation navbox 1557 books 1560 books Early printed Bibles English Reformation History of Christianity in the United Kingdom History of the Church of England 16th-century Christian texts Bible translations into English Reformation in Switzerland Scottish Reformation Study Bibles Church of Scotland