the english translation of the king james bible called the great bible was published in 1602.
the english translation of the king james bible called the great bible was published in 1602.
when was the english translation of the king james bible called the great bible published?
1602
although this phrase is often used to describe or allude to esau's bargain, the phrase itself does not appear in the "text" of any english version of genesis. its first attested use, already associated with esau's bargain, is in the english summary of one of john capgrave's sermons, c1452, "[jacob] supplanted his broþir, bying his fader blessing for a mese of potage." in the sixteenth century it continues its association with esau, appearing in bonde's "pylgrimage of perfection" (1526) and in the english versions of two influential works by erasmus, the "enchiridion" (1533) and the "paraphrase upon the new testament" (1548): "th'enherytaunce of the elder brother solde for a messe of potage". it can be found here and there throughout the sixteenth century, e.g. in johan carion's "thre bokes of cronicles" (1550) and at least three times in roger edgeworth's collected sermons (1557). within the tradition of english biblical translations, it appears first in the summary at the beginning of chapter 25 of the book of genesis in the so-called matthew bible of 1537 (in this section otherwise a reprint of the pentateuch translation of william tyndale), "esau selleth his byrthright for a messe of potage"; thence in the 1539 great bible and in the geneva bible published by english protestants in geneva in 1560. according to the oed, coverdale (1535) "does not use the phrase, either in the text or the chapter heading..., but he has it in 1 chronicles 16:3 and proverbs 15:7." miles smith used the same phrase in "the translators to the reader," the lengthy preface to the 1611 king james bible, but by the seventeenth century the phrase had become very widespread indeed and had clearly achieved the status of a fixed phrase with allusive, quasi-proverbial, force.
mess of pottage
the bishops' bible was first published in 1568, but was then re-issued in an extensively revised form in 1572. in the revision a number of switches were made to the new testament in the direction of more "ecclesiastical" language (e.g. introducing the term "charity" into i corinthians 13), but otherwise to bring the text more into line with that found in the geneva bible; and in the old testament, the psalms from the great bible were printed alongside those in the new translation, which had proved impossible to sing. from 1577 the new psalm translation was dropped altogether; while further incremental changes were made to the text of the new testament in subsequent editions. the bible had the authority of the royal warrant, and was the second version appointed to be read aloud in church services (cf. great bible, king james bible). it failed to displace the geneva bible as a domestic bible to be read at home, but that was not its intended purpose. the intention was for it to be used in church as what would today be termed a "pulpit bible". the version was more grandiloquent than the geneva bible. the first edition was exceptionally large and included 124 full-page illustrations. the second and subsequent editions were rather smaller, around the same size as the first printing of the king james bible, and mostly lacked illustrations other than frontispieces and maps. the text lacked most of the notes and cross-references in the geneva bible, which contained much controversial theology, but which were helpful to people among whom the bible was just beginning to circulate in the vernacular. the last edition of the complete bible was issued in 1602, but the new testament was reissued until at least 1617. william fulke published several parallel editions up to 1633, with the new testament of the bishops' bible alongside the rheims new testament, specifically to controvert the latter's polemical annotations. the bishops' bible or its new testament went through over 50 editions, whereas the geneva bible was reprinted more than 150 times.
bishops' bible