Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 5:1 | I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I gathered my myrrhe with my spice: I ate mine hony combe with mine hony, I dranke my wine with my milke: eate, O friends, drinke, and make you merie, O welbeloued. |
| 5:2 | I sleepe, but mine heart waketh, it is the voyce of my welbeloued that knocketh, saying, Open vnto mee, my sister, my loue, my doue, my vndefiled: for mine head is full of dewe, and my lockes with the droppes of the night. |
| 5:3 | I haue put off my coate, howe shall I put it on? I haue washed my feete, howe shall I defile them? |
| 5:4 | My welbeloued put in his hand by the hole of the doore, and mine heart was affectioned toward him. |
| 5:5 | I rose vp to open to my welbeloued, and mine hands did drop downe myrrhe, and my fingers pure myrrhe vpon the handels of the barre. |
| 5:6 | I opened to my welbeloued: but my welbeloued was gone, and past: mine heart was gone when hee did speake: I sought him, but I coulde not finde him: I called him, but hee answered mee not. |
| 5:7 | The watchmen that went about the citie, founde me: they smote me and wounded me: the watchmen of the walles tooke away my vaile from me. |
| 5:8 | I charge you, O daughters of Ierusalem, if you finde my welbeloued, that you tell him that I am sicke of loue. |
| 5:9 | O the fairest among women, what is thy welbeloued more then other welbeloued? what is thy welbeloued more then another louer, that thou doest so charge vs? |
| 5:10 | My welbeloued is white and ruddie, the chiefest of ten thousand. |
| 5:11 | His head is as fine golde, his lockes curled, and blacke as a rauen. |
| 5:12 | His eyes are like doues vpon the riuers of waters, which are washt with milke, and remaine by the full vessels. |
| 5:13 | His cheekes are as a bedde of spices, and as sweete flowres, and his lippes like lilies dropping downe pure myrrhe. |
| 5:14 | His hands as rings of gold set with the chrysolite, his belly like white yuorie couered with saphirs. |
| 5:15 | His legges are as pillars of marble, set vpon sockets of fine golde: his countenance as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. |
| 5:16 | His mouth is as sweete thinges, and hee is wholy delectable: this is my welbeloued, and this is my louer, O daughters of Ierusalem. (Song of Solomon : ) O the fairest among women, whither is thy welbeloued gone? whither is thy welbeloued turned aside, that we may seeke him with thee? |
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
The Geneva Bible is one of the most influential and historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th century Protestantism and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan. The language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous and because of this, most readers strongly preferred this version at the time.
The Geneva Bible was produced by a group of English scholars who, fleeing from the reign of Queen Mary, had found refuge in Switzerland. During the reign of Queen Mary, no Bibles were printed in England, the English Bible was no longer used in churches and English Bibles already in churches were removed and burned. Mary was determined to return Britain to Roman Catholicism.
The first English Protestant to die during Mary's turbulent reign was John Rogers in 1555, who had been the editor of the Matthews Bible. At this time, hundreds of Protestants left England and headed for Geneva, a city which under the leadership of Calvin, had become the intellectual and spiritual capital of European Protestants.
One of these exiles was William Whittingham, a fellow of Christ Church at Oxford University, who had been a diplomat, a courtier, was much traveled and skilled in many languages including Greek and Hebrew. He eventually succeeded John Knox as the minister of the English congregation in Geneva. Whittingham went on to publish the 1560 Geneva Bible.
This version is significant because, it came with a variety of scriptural study guides and aids, which included verse citations that allow the reader to cross-reference one verse with numerous relevant verses in the rest of the Bible, introductions to each book of the Bible that acted to summarize all of the material that each book would cover, maps, tables, woodcut illustrations, indices, as well as other included features, all of which would eventually lead to the reputation of the Geneva Bible as history's very first study Bible.