Geneva Bible Scans (page 1/3)

Some scans from a 1581 copy of the Geneva Bible.

These images are large files!

You can see the outside of the book here.

The first version of this translation was made in Geneva, in Switzerland, because the Roman Catholic Church had been so afraid of what would happen if ordinary people had access to the Bible without going through the priests that they had arranged for translating the Bible into modern local languages was punishable by death. The Roman Catholic Church still uses services in Latin in some parts of the world. Such is the power of knowledge and the fear of those in charge of losing that power.

This Bible is also known as the Breeches Bible because, in the story of the Fall from Grace, instead of sewing loin-cloths out of fig leaves, Adam and Eve are described as making breeches (trousers, or, in the US, pants) out of fig leaves, a fairly major sewing project!

My copy is dated 1581, and is rather late. By that time the Reformation had taken hold in England and the text could be printed in English.