Dr. Naomi Wolf: My Mind Blown by 1560 Geneva Bible
I was searching for the earliest English translation of the Bible from the Hebrew — because, of course, I am seeking guidance and comfort in a time of chaos and crisis. The Great Bible is the earliest translation. But the 1560 Geneva Bible, which I have been reading, has completely astonished me.
It was compiled by Protestant dissidents who had fled England under Queen Mary Tudor’s (“Bloody Mary’s”) reign — seeking to avoid martyrdom. They put together this translation from the Hebrew while gathered in Switzerland. They wrote it so that anyone literate could understand it — and added, for the first time, cross-references and marginal notes, and even maps.
This version is the one used by William Shakespeare, John Donne, John Milton — but also by the Puritans, and by our own Founders.
As I read it, I understood why the Geneva Bible was banned by King James, who commissioned the official — beautiful but state-sanctioned — King James Version. The Geneva Bible is incredibly subversive and liberating, and awe-inspiring, just as the original Hebrew is transformational and liberating and awe-inspiring. Reading it, I understood why the Puritans would give up everything and sail across unknown seas to create a sacred community in the wilderness. I understood what gave our Founders the courage to challenge the greatest Empire on earth at that time.
I also saw that many mistranslations appeared in later editions of the Bible (I read Hebrew, a skill set I never thought I would use again) — I call attention to some here in the 1966 Jerusalem Bible. Stunning mistranslations, most of which tend to serve to remove people from intimacy with God and to foreground the need for institutions and intermediaries.
I never felt compelled by the Hebrew Bible before, when reading other translations; it was hard to feel connected to the Being that seemed Quixotic, distant and even irrational. But in this version, the Geneva Bible, we have a God who longs for a communion with humans, and we have a much less lonely, much less punitive set of circumstances in which human development is meant to unfold. In later translations, God is made much more abstract, and much more rigidly judgmental; and priests and religious institutions are foregrounded. In this early version (and in the Hebrew), it is a heart-wrenching, challenging love story between the Lord and his creation, human beings. A very very serious relationship; but very very intimate and tender.
I’ll be reading it right through, on audio, as it is hard to find on audio and it is hard to read directly if you don’t happen to have been trained in Elizabethan typography (oddly enough, I had to take that class to get my Oxford MPhil. Like my Hebrew familiarity, I never thought I would use that skill set again; but life is funny that way.)
-End-
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You continue to surprize and impress. When I look at your resume.. education…etc….then I look at what you are up to.
I do not get it….but am thrilled about you being a representative of so much good. God bless you.
I agree with these statements Guy. It is perplexing. It leaves some questions hanging.
Interesting. If you grew up on “The Scriptures: According to the Masorietic Texts” (A new translation_ (The Jewsish Publication Society of America,1957), the 1599-1560 “translation” is at best “interesting”. I am “amused” by the differences (additions). I had a hebrew (recent) text at the time, which I studied with some care and my memory is that the my reading of that hebrew text and the JPCA translation were fairly congruent. And quite different from the Geneva Bible’s.
Happy to discuss.
You might be interested in “English Versions Of The Bible” by Hugh Pope. It’s out of print, but available on sites like addall.com.
There is also “Errata” by Thomas Ward. As Msgr. Ronald Knox said, all translations are wrong. I think that was in the introduction to his translation of the Bible.
I LOVE the Geneva Bible. I learned about it 16 years ago, and it is the one I carry with me to church each week. The version I have, by Tolle Lege Press, has modernized spellings and Tyndale’s NT notes. There is a US half dollar from 1920 depicting William Bradford carrying the Geneva under his arm, possibly the only circulated coin with a Bible on it. May our Lord bless the reading of His Word, and you as you read it to others!
Congratulations Dr Wolf on your defence of fundamental freedoms & inalienable rights of all people. On the subject of different translations of the Holy Bible, there is a good exposition by Professor Walter Veith,
The History of Bible Translations: Battle of the Bibles & What is the Best Bible Translation? Changing the Word
I enjoyed your article, Have the Ancient Gods Returned? which is best answered by, Is There a War Between Good and Evil?, in which evidence of the war between good and evil, Christ and Satan, has been brewing for millennia. In particular it examines the evidence how has this spiritual battle has manifested itself on the physical scene of history. For example, the rise of evolution (negating Gods creation of humanity), the persecution of all who believed the Bible in the Middle Ages (the Inquisition), the rise of a One World Religion . & the most recent example – the beta test run of the Plandemic for the ultimate enslavement of humanity via; 1.Mandatory Digital Identity; 2. the replacement of physical fiat currency with Central Bank digital currency; 3. the removal of personal identity through transhumanism – merging the synthetic with the biological to erase forever the unique nature of human creation by God.