The Bishops’ Bible

Bible, 1568. Matthew Parker et al., The holie Bible, conteynyng the Olde Testament and the newe, Imprinted at London in povvles Curch-yarde, by Richard Jugge, printer to the Queenes Maiestie. Cum privilegio Regiae Maiestatis. London, 1568.

The “Bishops’ Bible” was a revision of the Great Bible done by several bishops of the Church of England under the direction of Queen Elizabeth’s Archbishop, Matthew Parker. The project was undertaken as an attempt to create an official version that could compete with the Geneva Bible. The Geneva Bible was generally acknowledged to be the most accurate version, and it had become far more popular than the officially sanctioned Great Bible, but it was unacceptable to the bishops on account of its anti-episcopal notes. The Bishops’ Bible failed to achieve its purpose, however, as the Geneva Bible continued to be the most popular version in England.

Reprints

• Weigle’s New Testament Octapla (see Weigle 1962).

Literature

• John Strype, The Life and Acts of Matthew Parker: The First Archbishop of Canterbury in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth: To Which is Added an Appendix, Containing Various Transcripts of Records, Letters, Instruments, and other Papers, for the Asserting or Illustrating the Foregoing History. 3 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1831.