Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 11:1 | Then Nahash the Ammonite came vp, and besieged Iabesh Gilead: and all the men of Iabesh saide vnto Nahash, Make a couenant with vs, and we will be thy seruants. |
| 11:2 | And Nahash ye Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a couenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eies, and bring that shame vpon all Israel. |
| 11:3 | To whome the Elders of Iabesh said, Giue vs seuen daies respet, that we may sende messengers vnto all the coastes of Israel: and then if no man deliuer vs, we will come out to thee. |
| 11:4 | Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and tolde these tidings in the eares of the people: and all the people lift vp their voices and wept. |
| 11:5 | And behold, Saul came following the cattell out of the fielde, and Saul saide, What aileth this people, that they weepe? And they tolde him the tidings of the men of Iabesh. |
| 11:6 | Then the Spirit of God came vpon Saul, when he heard those tidings, and he was exceeding angrie, |
| 11:7 | And tooke a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coastes of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoeuer commeth not foorth after Saul, and after Samuel, so shall his oxen be serued. And the feare of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. |
| 11:8 | And when he nombred them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundreth thousande men: and the men of Iudah thirtie thousand. |
| 11:9 | Then they saide vnto the messengers that came, So say vnto the men of Iabesh Gilead, To morowe by then the sunne be hote, ye shall haue helpe. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Iabesh, which were glad. |
| 11:10 | Therefore the men of Iabesh sayde, To morowe we will come out vnto you, and yee shall doe with vs all that pleaseth you. |
| 11:11 | And when the morowe was come, Saul put the people in three bandes, and they came in vpon the hoste in the morning watche, and slewe the Ammonites vntill the heate of the day: and they that remained, were scattered, so that two of them were not left together. |
| 11:12 | Then the people said vnto Samuel, Who is he that saide, Shall Saul reigne ouer vs? bring those men that we may slaie them. |
| 11:13 | But Saul said, There shall no man die this day: for to day the Lord hath saued Israel. |
| 11:14 | Then saide Samuel vnto ye people, Come, that we may goe to Gilgal, and renue the kingdome there. |
| 11:15 | So all the people went to Gilgal, and made Saul King there before the Lord in Gilgal: and there they offered peace offerings before the Lord: and there Saul and all the men of Israel reioyced exceedingly. |
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.