Geneva Bible

NEW *** NEW *** NEW

Being greatly encouraged by my friend Jim, It is my hope that by the Grace of God this year, 2010, I will be enabled to read through the 1599 Geneva Bible. So far the process has been very enjoyable. I intend to not only reading the biblical text itself but also all the associated notes. As I have already begun to read, what I am finding in the notes is both explanation of the text, Christ-centered comments, personal application, and much doctrine (truths upon which we build our lives). Some comments I readily agree with, others I don't, while others cause me to think, meditate, contemplate, or file away for future reflection. So in addition to blog posts on the study my girls and I are making through Pilgrim's Progress, our on-going notes in the Keyword Study through Romans, and the occasional spontaneous article, I hope to post those notes that I find interesting either for the new insight they provide, the encouragement I receive, or something quite out of the ordinary. I have been some what prepared for this project through recently reading Gerald Hammond's, The Making of the English Bible, in which, the author made numerous commendable observations concerning the Geneva Translations faithfulness to the original Hebrew.

As I read thru the Geneva, I'm underlining text, marking up the comments and making marginal notes. My intention is to bring the more noteworthy markings to our attention in this blog.

My read-thru-the-bible plan is simple. I took the total number of pages, 1340 divided by 365 days in a year which equates to 3.67 pages a day. Rounding up I determined that if I generally read about five pages a day, I can read the whole bible in one year in a plan that allows me to miss one day a week or 4 days a month. Kind of a slacker plan but it works for me. (I always try after reading five pages to read to the end of a chapter. But if I'm so inclined I may even read more than five pages. So it's a pretty loose read-thru-the-bible-method.)

Enough of the prefatory explanation and on to the NOTES OF INTEREST:

GENESIS CHAPTERS ONE-THREE:

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Which note confirms a precious truth and explanation concerning what it means to be made in the image of God:
"This image and likeness of God in man is expounded in (Eph_4:24) where it is written that man was created after God in righteousness and true holiness meaning by these two words, all perfection, as wisdom, truth, innocency, power, etc. "

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely (m) die.

(m) By death he means the separation of man from God, who is our life and chief happiness: and also that our disobedience is the cause of it.


Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a (o) woman, and brought her unto the man.

(o) Signifying that mankind was perfect, when the woman was created, who before was like an imperfect building.

Gen 2:23 Then the man said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shalbe called (1) woman, because she was taken out of man.

(1) Or, Manness, because she cometh of man: for in Hebrew Ish is man, and Ishah the woman.

Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: (s) cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;

(s) The transgression of God's commandment was the reason that both mankind and all other creatures were subject to the curse.

I kind of started out slow in my underlining and margin making. Sometimes in the Geneva notes are references to a more literal understanding of the Hebrew as appears in the note for Gen 3:4 where we read in Geneva "Ye shall not die at all." and in the note "Hebrew, die the death." This was of especial interest to me because in the KJV in Gen 2:17 we read "shalt surely die." and in Gen 3:4 the serpent saying "Ye shall not surely die." Which reminds me of something Gerald Hammond wrote in his book that the AV translators very often use "surely" as an adverbial intensifier. Instead of the literal "dying thou shalt die," the translators wishing to translate the effect of the Hebrew phrase into English give us "shalt surely die."

Though I didn't underline the following because they were familiar to me, yet I set them forth here. To show the Christ-Centeredness of the Geneva notes:

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between (o) thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy (p) head, and thou shalt (q) bruise his heel.

(o) He chiefly means Satan, by whose action and deceit the serpent deceived the woman.

(p) That is, the power of sin and death.

(q) Satan shall sting Christ and his members, but not overcome them.


Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy (r) sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

(r) The Lord comforts Adam by the promise of the blessed seed, and also punishes the body for the sin which the soul should have been punished for; that the spirit having conceived hope of forgiveness might live by faith. (1Co_14:34).