Old Treasure on a Shelf

There were treasures and treasures at the recent book fair. But treasures cost and so the hunt halted abruptly for me.

The hunt ended with a bang for JC. He discovered the book that caused him to have goose bumps just by taking it down the shelf—the 1560 Geneva Bible!

It cost him an arm and a leg but he bought it anyway. For years, he'd been wanting to buy one, and thanks to book fairs, it came within spitting distance, urging, “Here I am now, buy me.”

When JC let me hold his purchase at home, it was my turn to have goose bumps. My gut reaction was, “Let me pay for it and give it to you on Christmas as your present.”

That would give me a chance to partly read it; Christmas is two months away.

It isn't an easy read, though; it's more challenging than its successor 51 years later, the KJV. The spelling of words and fonts are way beyond my limited vision and comprehension.

Just to jog your memory, the Geneva Bible was the first Bible translated to English from the original Greek and Hebrew Biblical texts. It was also the first Bible to divide the scriptures into numbered verses. Its extensive marginal notes (one third the length of the whole Bible!) interpreted the scriptures for the common people.

The notes infuriated King James I, who made it a crime to own one. He particularly raged about the notes perceived to be against the monarchy. He then introduced the King James Version (that drew largely from the Geneva Bible, minus the marginal notes).

The Geneva Bible is considered by many as the first study Bible and the most historically significant English translation. In the 16th century, it was used by literary giants: William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan. It was one of the Bibles taken to America by the pilgrims on the Mayflower.

Cradling in my arms the treasure that is God's Word, its essence unchanged for thousands of years, I felt like I was holding the very Bible that early Christians read with fervor despite threats of being punished as common criminals.

The Word can be read today in over 450 English versions. It is my prayer that many will appreciate how it came to us through historical detours, read it with reverence, and discover the grace waiting to be mined from every chapter.