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{{Short description|Early English translation of the Bible}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Bible translation infobox | translation_title= Geneva Bible
| full_name= Geneva Bible
| image = Geneva Bible.jpg
| caption = Geneva Bible 1560 edition
| other_names=Breeches Bible
| NT_published=1557
| OT_published=
| complete_bible_published=1560
| author_info=
| textual_basis = [[Textus Receptus]] (New Testament)<br>[[Masoretic Text]] and influence from [[Tyndale Bible|Tyndale]] and [[Coverdale Bible|Coverdale]] (Old Testament)
| translation_type =
| version_revised=
| publisher=[[Rowland Hill (MP)|Sir Rowland Hill]] of [[Soulton Hall|Soulton]]
| copyright=
| copies_printed=
| religious_affiliation= [[Protestant]] ([[Calvinism|Reformed]])
| online_address=
| genesis_1:1-3=In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without forme and voyde, and darkeness was upon the depe, and the Spirit of God moved upon the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light" and there was light.
| john_3:16=For God so loved the world, that he hath given his only be gotten Son, that whosoever beleveth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.||derived_from=[[Tyndale Bible]]}}
{{BibleHistory}}
The '''Geneva Bible''', sometimes known by the [[sobriquet]] '''Breeches Bible''',<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Geneva Bible {{!}} Description, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Geneva-Bible |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> is one of the most historically significant [[Bible translations|translations]] of the [[Bible]] into English, preceding the [[Douay Rheims Bible]] by 22 years, and the [[King James Version]] by 51 years.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Metzger|first=Bruce|title=The Geneva Bible of 1560|journal=Theology Today|date=1 October 1960|volume=17|issue=3|pages=339–352|doi=10.1177/004057366001700308|s2cid=170946047 }}</ref> It was the primary Bible of 16th-century English [[Protestantism]] and was used by [[William Shakespeare]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ackroyd|first1=Peter|title=Shakespeare: The Biography|date=2006|publisher=Anchor Books|isbn=978-1400075980|page=54|edition=First Anchor Books}}</ref> [[Oliver Cromwell]], [[John Knox]], [[John Donne]] and others. It was one of the Bibles taken to America on the ''[[Mayflower]]'' ([[Pilgrim Hall Museum]] has collected several Bibles of [[List of Mayflower passengers|''Mayflower'' passengers]]), and its frontispiece inspired [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s design for the first [[Great Seal of the United States]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bible in American History: Creating a Great Seal for the New Nation|url=https://academic.oup.com/book/12706/chapter-abstract/162751703?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=academic.oup.com| date=5 January 2017 | doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199987931.003.0006 | isbn=978-0-19-998793-1 }}</ref>

The Geneva Bible was used by many [[English Dissenters]], and it was still respected by Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the time of the [[English Civil War]], in the booklet ''[[The Souldiers Pocket Bible]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Metzger|first=Bruce|title=The Geneva Bible of 1560|journal=Theology Today|date=1 October 1960|volume=17|issue=3|pages=351|doi=10.1177/004057366001700308|s2cid=170946047 }}</ref>

Because the language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous, most readers strongly preferred this version to the [[Great Bible]]. In the words of [[Cleland Boyd McAfee]], "it drove the Great Bible off the field by sheer power of excellence".<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=39625&pageno=24 | title = Study of the King James Bible | first = Cleland Boyd | last = McAfee | publisher = Project Gutenberg}}.</ref>

==History==
The Geneva Bible followed the [[Great Bible]] of 1539, the first authorized Bible in English, which was the authorized Bible of the [[Church of England]].

During the reign of [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] (1553–1558), who restored Catholicism and outlawed Protestantism in England, a number of English Protestant scholars [[English Congregation in Geneva|fled]] to [[Calvin's Geneva|Geneva]], which was then a [[republic]] in which [[John Calvin]] and, later, [[Theodore Beza]], provided the primary spiritual and theological leadership.<ref name=":1" /> Among these scholars was [[William Whittingham]] who supervised the translation now known as the Geneva Bible, in collaboration with [[Myles Coverdale]], [[Christopher Goodman]], [[Anthony Gilby]], [[Thomas Sampson]], and [[William Cole (Puritan)|William Cole]].  Whittingham was directly responsible for the [[New Testament]], which was complete and published in 1557,<ref name="Herbert">{{Citation | first = AS | last = Herbert | title = Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of the English Bible 1525–1961 | place = London, New York | publisher = British and Foreign Bible Society, American Bible Society | year = 1968 | id = SBN 564-00130-9}}.</ref> while Gilby oversaw the Old Testament. Several members of this group would later become prominent figures in the [[Vestments controversy]].

{{multiple image
| width             = 120
| image1            = British (English) School - Sir Rowland Hill (1492^–1561) - 609006 - National Trust.jpg
| alt1              = Sir Rowland Hill
| image2            = East front of Soulton Hall.jpg
| alt2              = Soulton Hall, Hill's House in Shropshire
| footer            = Sir Rowland Hill, publisher of the Geneva Bible, and his residence in Shropshire
| align             = 
| direction         = 
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}}
The first full edition of this Bible appeared in 1560. While the physical printing took place in Geneva, its introduction to England was facilitated by [[Rowland Hill (MP)|Sir Rowland Hill]] of [[Soulton Hall|Soulton]]. Hill is traditionally identified as the project's publisher; however, modern scholarship emphasizes his role as a high-level patron and legal protector. As a Commissioner for Ecclesiastical Causes under Elizabeth I, Hill held the authority to oversee "seditious books," a position that allowed him to authorize the circulation of the Geneva Bible during the volatile Elizabethan Settlement. The distribution was managed through a short-lived London printing business (often associated with the name Rowland Hall) that functioned specifically to handle the Bible and related humanistic texts, closing abruptly following the probate of Hill's estate in 1561.<ref name="Herbert" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gregory |first=Olinthus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IQU6AAAAcAAJ&dq=geneva+bible+rowland+hill&pg=PA117 |title=Memoirs of the life, writings and character of the later John Mason Good |date=1833 |publisher=Fisher |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xX4aAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22william+Whittingham%22+%22rowland+hill%22&pg=PA472 |title=The Biblical Repository and Classical Review |date=1835 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yzxfAAAAcAAJ&dq=%22rowland+hill%22+%22geneva+bible%22&pg=PP27 |title=The Holy Bible ... With a General Introduction and Short Explanatory Notes, by B. Boothroyd |date=1836 |publisher=James Duncan |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KswJDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22the+1560+%27Geneva+Bible%27%2C+which+appeared+some+six+years+after+the+later+of%22&pg=PA44 |title=Staging Scripture: Biblical Drama, 1350–1600 |date=2016-04-18 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-31395-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Beenham.) |first=Thomas STACKHOUSE (Vicar of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qehUAAAAcAAJ&dq=%22rowland+hill%22+%22geneva+bible%22&pg=PR26 |title=A New History of the Holy Bible, from the beginning of the world to the establishment of Christianity. L.P. |date=1838 |language=en}}</ref> 

It was not printed in England until 1575 (New Testament<ref name="Herbert" />) and 1576 (complete Bible<ref name="Herbert" />). Over 150 editions were issued; the last probably in 1644.<ref name="Herbert" /> The first Bible printed in Scotland was a Geneva Bible, which was first issued in 1579.<ref name="Herbert" /> 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.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.bible-researcher.com/history2.html | title = A Chronology of the English Bible | publisher = Bible researcher}}.</ref>

Some editions from 1576 onwards<ref name= "Herbert" /> included [[Laurence Tomson]]'s revisions of the New Testament. Some editions from 1599 onwards<ref name= "Herbert" /> 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 elder)|Franciscus Junius]]. 

The annotations, a significant part of the Geneva Bible, were [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] and [[Puritan]] in character, and as such were disliked by the ruling pro-government Anglicans of the [[Church of England]], as well as by [[James I of England|James I]], who commissioned the "Authorized Version", or [[Authorized King James Version|King James Bible]], in order to replace it. The Geneva Bible had also motivated the earlier production of the [[Bishops' Bible]] under [[Elizabeth I]] for the same reason, and the later [[Douay–Rheims Bible|Douay–Rheims]] edition by the [[recusancy|Catholic community]]. The Geneva Bible nevertheless remained popular among [[Puritans]] and was in widespread use until after the [[English Civil War]]. The last edition was printed in 1644.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Reformed Reader introduction to the geneva bible for the historic Baptist faith. |url=https://www.reformedreader.org/gbn/igb.htm |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=www.reformedreader.org}}</ref>

The Geneva Bible acquired the sobriquet "Breeches Bible" because it describes [[Adam]] and [[Eve]] as having made “breeches” to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:7).<ref name=":1" />

[[File:FirstCommitteeGreatSealReverseLossingDrawing.jpg|thumb|Franklin's first design for the Great Seal of America, inspired by the frontispiece of the Geneva Bible]]
The Geneva notes were surprisingly included in a few editions of the King James Version, as late as 1715.<ref name="Herbert" /> Benjamin Franklin is understood to have been inspired by the frontispiece of the Geneva Bible in his design proposal for the first [[Great seal|Great Seal]] of the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=dseverance |date=2019-10-15 |title=The Geneva Bible: The First English Study Bible {{!}} Houston Christian University |url=https://hc.edu/museums/dunham-bible-museum/tour-of-the-museum/past-exhibits/from-geneva-the-first-english-study-bible/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=hc.edu |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Translation and format==
{{Calvinism}}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]]'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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The History of the Geneva Bible|url=https://modernizedgenevabible.com/blogs/news/about-the-mgb|access-date=2022-12-04|website=Modernized Geneva Bible|date=16 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Textual basis ===
The Geneva Bible was translated from scholarly editions of the [[Koine Greek|Greek]] New Testament and the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] 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).<ref>Daniell, David (2003) ''The Bible in English: history and influence''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press {{ISBN|0-300-09930-4}}, p. 300.</ref>

=== Format ===
[[File:Blackletter_and_Roman_font.png|thumb|upright=1.4|(a–b) Characteristics of Blackletter and Roman font; (c–d) corresponding text snippets]]

==== Size ====
[[File:Geneva Bible Title Page 1589.jpg|thumb|Geneva Bible title page 1589]]

The Geneva Bible was also issued in more convenient and affordable sizes than earlier versions. The 1560 Bible was in [[quarto]] format (218 × 139&nbsp;mm type area), but pocket-size [[octavo (book)|octavo]] 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&nbsp;mm type area).<ref name="Herbert" />

==Breeches Bible==
Here are both the Geneva, Tyndale and the King James versions of Genesis 3:7 with original spelling (not modernized):<ref>{{cite web | url=https://biblehub.com/parallel/genesis/3-7.htm | title=Genesis 3:7 Parallel: And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"

|'''Tyndale Bible'''

: And the eyes of both them were opened that they vnderstode how that they were naked. Than they sowed fygge leves togedder and made them apurns.

|'''Geneva Bible'''

: Then the ''eies'' of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed figge tree leaves together, and made themselves ''breeches''.
|'''King James Bible'''

: Then the ''eyes'' of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed figge tree leaves together, and made themselves ''aprons''.
|}

==King James I and the Geneva Bible==
[[File:Title Page Geneva Bible Dated 1599 But Actually Circa 1616-1625.jpg|thumb|Title page of a New Testament from the Geneva Bible, dated 1599 but probably printed circa 1616–1625]]

[[James VI and I|King James I]]'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]] "[[republicanism]]", which could imply church hierarchy was unnecessary. Other passages appeared particularly seditious, most notably references to monarchs as "tyrants".<ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Ipgrave
| first1 = Julia
| author-link1 = 
| title = Adam in Seventeenth Century Political Writing in England and New England
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FCMlDwAAQBAJ
| location = London
| publisher = Taylor & Francis
| date = 2017
| page = 14
| isbn = 9781317185598
| access-date = 2018-10-27
| quote = The Geneva Bible encouraged a political reading of the Scriptures. It famously incorporated in its notes and its translation elements that were considered seditious by James I and that were deliberately excluded from the new Authorised Version of 1611. In particular there were margin notes that appeared to suggest the legitimacy of resistance to overweening rulers, and there was the frequent use of the language of tyrant (a word expressly disallowed in James' Bible) and slave.
}}
</ref>

Examples of the commentary in conflict with the monarchy in the Geneva Bible (modern spelling) include:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barrett |first=Matthew |date=2011-10-12 |title=The Geneva Bible and Its Influence on the King James Bible |url=https://founders.org/2011/10/12/the-geneva-bible-and-its-influence-on-the-king-james-bible/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=[[Founders Ministries]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

* [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+6&version=GNV Daniel 6:22] – "For he [<nowiki/>[[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]]] 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."
* [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+11&version=GNV 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."
* [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+1&version=GNV Exodus 1:19] – To the Hebrew midwives lying to their leaders, "Their disobedience herein was lawful, but their dissembling evil."
* [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+15&version=GNV 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'' as it was ordered to be read in churches, the new version would commonly be called the [[King James Version]] (KJV). 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://founders.org/journals/kjv-400-years-issue-86-fall-2011/|title=KJV: 400 Years (Issue 86) Fall 2011|access-date=18 May 2020|archive-date=9 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209055555/https://founders.org/journals/kjv-400-years-issue-86-fall-2011/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
[[File:Embarkation of the Pilgrims.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Puritans bringing the Geneva Bible to the New World]]
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 [[Censorship of the Bible|banned]] the printing of new editions of the Geneva Bible to further entrench his version. However, [[Robert Barker (printer)|Robert Barker]] continued to print Geneva Bibles even after the ban, placing the fictitious date of 1599 on new copies of Genevas which were actually printed between about 1616 and 1625.<ref>
Nicolson, Adam. ''God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible'' (HarperCollins, 2003)
</ref>

== Legacy ==
Although the King James Version was intended to replace the Geneva Bible, the King James translators relied heavily upon this version.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Geneva Bible {{!}} Description, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Geneva-Bible |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Metzger |first=Bruce M. |date=October 1960 |title=The Geneva Bible of 1560 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/004057366001700308 |journal=Theology Today |language=en |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=339–352 |doi=10.1177/004057366001700308 |s2cid=170946047 |issn=0040-5736|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The Puritan Separatists or [[Pilgrim Fathers]] aboard the ''Mayflower'' in 1620 brought to North America copies of the Geneva Bible.<ref>
{{cite book
| title = The Geneva Bible: A Facsimile of the 1560 Edition
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2DwA0f6cXgoC
| others = Lloyd E. Berry
| series = Hendrickson Bibles
| publisher = Hendrickson Publishers
| date = 2007
| isbn = 9781598562125
| access-date = 2018-10-30
| quote = The Pilgrims brought the Geneva Bible with them on the ''Mayflower'' to Plymouth in 1620. In fact, the religious writings and sermons published by the members of the Plymouth colony suggest that the Geneva Bible was used exclusively by them.
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite journal
| year                  = 2007
| url                   = https://books.google.com/books?id=X3cjAQAAMAAJ
| journal               = The Mayflower Quarterly
| publisher             = General Society of Mayflower Descendants
| volume                = 73
| page                  = 29
| access-date           = 2018-10-30
| quote                 = This Geneva Bible, one of the Mayflower's precious books, belonged to William Bradford.
|title = The Mayflower Quarterly}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Greider
| first1 = John C.
| year = 2008
| title = The English Bible Translations and History: Millennium Edition
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hbj5AAAAQBAJ
| edition = revised
| publisher = Xlibris Corporation
| publication-date = 2013
| page = 
| isbn = 9781477180518
| access-date = 2018-10-30
| quote = Pilgrims aboard the ''Mayflower'' [...] brought with them copies of the ''Geneva Bible'' of 1560; printed in Geneva by Roland Hall.
}}
</ref> German historian Leopold von Ranke observed that "Calvin was virtually the founder of America."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calvin's Influence in America |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1975/october-24/calvins-influence-in-america.html |access-date=2022-12-09 |website=ChristianityToday.com |date=24 October 1975 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Religion|Bible|Judaism|Christianity}}
* [[Tyndale Bible]] (1526)
* [[Coverdale Bible]] (1535)
* [[Matthew Bible]] (1537)
* [[Taverner's Bible]] (1539)
* [[Great Bible]] (1539)
* [[Bishops' Bible]] (1568)
* [[Douay–Rheims Bible]] (1582)
* [[King James Version|King James Bible]] (1611)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
;Text
*Scanned copy of the [https://archive.org/details/1560-geneva-bible original 1560 Geneva Bible]
*[https://bolls.life/GNV/1/1 Geneva Bible] (1599)
*[http://www.reformedreader.org/gbn/en.htm Geneva Bible Footnotes]
*[http://studybible.info/version/Geneva Geneva Bible online] (1599)
*[http://www.genevabible.org/Geneva.html Modern Spelling Geneva Bible with Footnotes for the Gospels]
* {{Internet Archive author |search=( "Geneva Bible" )}}

;Articles
*[http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/oct1960/v17-3-article6.htm ''The Geneva Bible of 1560''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051028092625/http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/oct1960/v17-3-article6.htm |date=28 October 2005 }}: article by [[Bruce Metzger]] originally printed in ''Theology Today''
*[http://www.bible-researcher.com/geneva6.html Online version of Sir Frederic G. Kenyon's article] in ''[[Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]]'', 1909

;Editions currently in print
*[http://www.greatsite.com/facsimile-reproductions/geneva-1560.html ''1560 First Edition'']: Facsimile Reproduction
*[http://www.hendrickson.com/html/product/562125.trade.html?category=all ''1560 First Edition''] Reduced size Facsimile Reproduction by Hendrickson
*[http://www.genevabible.com ''1599 Edition'']: Modern Spelling and Typesetting from ''The 1599 Geneva Bible Restoration Project'' (no illustrations)

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