1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

Version Information

All but forgotten today, the Geneva Bible was the most widely read and influential English Bible of the 16th and 17th centuries. It was one of the Bibles taken to America on the Mayflower.

Mary I was Queen of England and Ireland from 1553 until her death in 1558. Her executions of Protestants caused her opponents to give her the sobriquet "Bloody Mary." It was her persecution that caused the Marian Exile which drove 800 English scholars to the European continent, where a number of them gathered in Geneva, Switzerland. There a team of scholars led by William Whittingham, and assisted by Miles Coverdale, Christopher Goodman, Anthony Gilby, John Knox, and Thomas Sampson, produced The Geneva Bible, based on Greek and Hebrew manuscripts and a revision of William Tyndale's New Testament, which first appeared in 1526. The Geneva Bible New Testament was published in 1557, with the complete Bible appearing in 1560.

A superb translation, it was the product of the best Protestant scholars of the day and became the Bible of choice for many of the greatest writers and thinkers of that time. Men such as William Shakespeare, John Bunyan, and John Milton used the Geneva Bible in their writings.

The Geneva Bible is unique among all other Bibles. It was the first Bible to use chapters and numbered verses and became the most popular version of its time because of its extensive marginal notes. These notes, written by Reformation leaders including John Calvin and others, were intended to help explain and interpret the Scriptures for the average reader.

With its variety of scriptural study guides and aids—which included cross-reference verse citations, introductions to each book of the Bible, maps, tables, woodcut illustrations, indexes, and other features—the Geneva Bible is regarded as history's first study Bible.

In 2006, Tolle Lege Press released a version of the 1599 Geneva Bible with modern spellings as part of its 1599 Geneva Bible restoration project. The original cross references were retained as well as the study notes by the Protestant Reformation leaders. In addition, the Old English glossary was included in the updated version.

You Might Also Like:

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Version Information The Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV) is an authorized revision of the American Standard Version, published in 1901, which was a revision of the King James Version, published in 1611. The King James Version has with good reason been termed "the noblest monument of Engli...
Read More

Modern English Version (MEV)

Version Information The Modern English Version (MEV) heralds a new day for Bibles with the most modern translation ever produced in the King James tradition, providing fresh clarity for Bible readers everywhere with an updated language that doesn’t compromise the truth of the original texts. The MEV...
Read More

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Version Information A WORD ABOUT THE NIRV God has always spoken so people would know what he meant. When God first gave the Bible to his people, he used their languages. They could understand what they read. God wants us to understand the Bible today too. So we have worked hard to make the New Inte...
Read More

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Version Information You deserve a Bible that brings God's saving truths to life for today’s world. When you choose the GOD’S WORD Translation (GW), you can trust that the words you read are true to their meaning in the ancient texts. This is the Bible that speaks in today’s English so people of all ...
Read More

New Testament for Everyone (NTE)

Version Information Why another translation of the New Testament? As Tom Wright points out in his Preface: ‘Translating the New Testament is something that each generation ought to be doing. Just as Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread, we can never simply live on yesterday’s bread, on the in...
Read More

Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament (MOUNCE)

Version Information The Mounce Reverse Interlinear™ New Testament was originally created for a series of Greek-English interlinears published by Zondervan. The translation philosophy was to be sufficiently formal so it could function as an interlinear, but also as dynamic as possible to show student...
Read More

New Matthew Bible (NMB)

Version Information The New Matthew Bible (NMB) is a gentle update of the 1537-1549 Matthew Bible, which was an important Bible of the English Reformation. It contained the Scripture translations of two men, William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale. The New Matthew Bible is not a new translation, but is ...
Read More

Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB)

Version Information In the Jubilee Bible 2000, the usage and context tends to define each key word so you won’t need to depend on theological dictionaries or reference materials. Careful attention has been made to properly translate the first usage of each key word, and through to the last occurrenc...
Read More

New Life Version (NLV)

Version Information The NEW LIFE Version, available SINCE 1969 - continues to be the most readable and most understandable Bible without sacrificing accuracy. It is not a paraphrase, or man's idea of what the Bible says. Truths expressed in the original are in no way violated. Leading clergy from mo...
Read More

Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

Version Information The Orthodox Jewish Bible, completed by Phillip Goble in 2002, is an English language version that applies Yiddish and Hasidic cultural expressions to the Messianic Bible. ...
Read More

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Version Information The Christian Standard Bible aims to draw readers into a deeper, more meaningful relationship with God. By translating Scripture into the clearest possible modern English, the CSB allows readers to experience God’s Word at its fullest. Developed by 100 scholars from 17 denominat...
Read More

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

Version Information The Amplified Bible Classic Edition (AMPC) was the first Bible project of The Lockman Foundation. It attempts to take both word meaning and context into account to accurately translate the original text from one language into another. The AMPC does this through the use of explan...
Read More

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Version Information The NASB does not attempt to interpret Scripture through translation. Instead, the NASB adheres to the principles of a formal equivalence translation. This is the most exacting and demanding method of translation, striving for the most readable word-for-word translation that is b...
Read More

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

Version Information What is the Evangelical Heritage Version? Our translation is called Evangelical because its highest goal is to proclaim the good news of the gospel of salvation through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, God’s eternal Son. Though there are many topics in the Bible, all of...
Read More

Revised Geneva Translation (RGT)

Version Information The Revised Geneva Translation (based on Shakespeare's favorite Bible translation) is a 21st Century update of the very first widely-distributed version of the Holy Bible in English, The Geneva Bible. It is specifically designed to be SPOKEN and HEARD, repeatedly, and is built on...
Read More

Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

Version Information The Bible text designated YLT is from the 1898 Young's Literal Translation by Robert Young who also compiled Young's Analytical Concordance. This is an extremely literal translation that attempts to preserve the tense and word usage as found in the original Greek and Hebrew writi...
Read More

World English Bible (WEB)

Version Information The World English Bible (WEB) is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible. That means that you may freely copy it in any form, including electronic and print formats. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy ...
Read More