This crackdown caused profound resentment among many peoples of the Empire. In 166 BCE, young Jewish men rose up under the leadership of Judas Maccabaeus. Guerrilla fighters for religious freedom, they inflicted major reversals on Antiochus’ forces. In 165 BCE, they took back control of Jerusalem with its Temple (an event commemorated to this day in the festival of Hannukah), although finally they were to be cruelly put down.
The First and Second Books of the Maccabees describe these events – albeit with a positive spin, their narrative stopping short before the suppression of the rising. There are also a Third and Fourth book, though, anachronistically, the former describes a much earlier revolt against Seleucid rule, while the latter – more spiritual in its focus – takes the martyrdom of the Maccabees as a starting point for a much more spiritual exploration of what it is to live and die in faith.
‘And the temple of Dagon, with them that were fled into it, he burned with fire’ (1 Maccabees 10, 84). The Maccabean rebels saw their fight as a holy war – as much against Middle Eastern paganism as against the occupying Greeks.
Vulgate vs Vernacular
Rome, however, was the centre of the world – hence its importance to Saints Peter and Paul, both of whom were to die there. It seemed only natural for the papacy to be established in the world’s metropolis – and to preside over a Latin-speaking Church. By 200 AD, Hebrew texts were being translated for what was later to be known as the Vetus Latina (‘Old Latin’), to distinguish it from the fourth-century Vulgate, translated by St Jerome from 382 AD.
‘The jewel of the clergy has become the toy of the laity,’ conservative critics complained, when Wycliffe’s English Bible first appeared in 1382. In this illuminated version, the new text is prestigiously presented itself – its real threat lay in its empowering of the poor.
The Church’s hostility to the translation of the Bible can be overstated. Complete or partial vernacular versions of the scripture appeared in several languages in the Middle Ages, with the blessing of the Church.
These would not have been widely available to ordinary people, though: the Church’s crackdowns on translations (as with Wycliffe’s Bible in fourteenth-century England) came when senior clergy feared that they formed part of wider democratizing movements.
The real hardening of attitudes came with the Counter-Reformation, when the Catholic Church sought to fight Protestant passion with a reforming fire of its own. In reaction to the Protestants’ translation-drive, Rome relaunched the Latin liturgy and scripture in all their ancient mystique: what they lacked in clarity they made up for in authority and force. Accordingly it was at the Council of Trent (1545–63) – over 1000 years after its first publication – that the Vulgate was formally adopted as the official Bible of the Church.
Exit England
By that time it was too late – for English Catholics, at least. Henry VIII had broken with the Roman Church. The annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon refused, he had quarrelled with the Catholic hierarchy and, in 1534, set himself up as head of the Church of England. It was, to begin with at least, a change only in management: in its theological content, church teaching stayed the same. Brief as it was, though, the reign of Henry’s sickly young son was long enough to allow a major shift towards Protestantism: Edward VI was a serious thinker and a fearless reformer.
The Tiburtine Sibyl tells Augustus of the imminent coming of Christ. A sceptical-looking Emperor gazes skyward. Some early Christians were as quick as their enemies to confuse Christ’s message and see their Saviour as a ruler for this earth.
THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES
THE ORIGINAL SIBYLS lived in ancient Greece: old wise women, they interpreted the oracles that came issuing from the earth at shrines like Delphi. One Sibyl appears in Virgil’s Roman epic, the Aeneid: she guides the hero Aeneas to an entrance into the Underworld when he ventures down among the dead to meet his departed father Anchises.
Like the shamans of later tribal religions, the Sibyls became possessed by the deities who spoke through them: they prophesied in a trance, speaking in a stream of riddles. Hence the title, The Sibylline Oracles, bestowed on a later work, dating from about the second century AD onwards, and written in Greek, although comprising a strange stew of ancient pagan, classical Christian and Jewish lore. All are obscure, to a greater or lesser degree, although some appear to offer commentary on passages from the Bible – including some resembling verses from the Book of Revelation.
His successor, Mary I, was ruthless in her attempts to turn the clock back to Catholicism, but ‘Bloody Mary’ faced a fight in a country that had left its former faith behind. And her failure to produce an heir opened the door to Elizabeth, her half-sister. The daughter of Anne Boleyn, for whom Mary’s mother had been put aside, she owed her existence to her father’s break with Rome.
‘The reign of Henry’s sickly young son was long enough to allow a major shift towards Protestantism’.
Elizabeth too died childless, making way for James VI of Scotland to reign as James I. Although his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, had been a committed Catholic, she had been compelled to accept that her son be brought up a Protestant.
The King James Bible
Despite the suspicions of some in England, James was staunchly Protestant in his views. He listened to complaints from puritans that the Anglican Bibles of Henry and Elizabeth’s reigns had continued to be tainted with Romish tones. In 1604, King James called together representatives of the country’s clergy for a conference at Hampton Court where it was agreed that a new translation would be taken in hand.
All 47 scholars who worked on the King James Bible were members of the Church of England: they worked collaboratively, in little committees in which both ‘high’ (more Catholic) and ‘low’ (more Protestant-puritanical) traditions were represented. The Catholic Vulgate was kept on hand for help with particularly knotty cruces, but the translators worked, where possible, directly from ancient Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic sources.
‘Heed not the alien minister,/Nor his creed without reason or faith:/For the foundation stone of his temple/Is the bollocks of Henry VIII.’ A harsh assessment from the Irish poet. The English king sends Catherine of Aragon packing.
The English text they came up with has been acclaimed in the centuries since as one of the greatest works of literature in the language – a language changed irrevocably by this Bible, its vocabulary and its rhythms. While this wasn’t the translators’ primary intention, they certainly did intend the text to have a special dignity, and so it’s proved. Time and again, it turns out, they favoured slight archaisms against contemporary idioms, to achieve an augustness of tone; they selected more sonorous words where lighter, more prosaic ones were available. The same went for syntax, more elaborate Latinate forms being chosen where more straightforward, English-sounding phrases would have done the job. All in all, they looked for forms of words that would do full justice to the ‘Word’. Few would dispute that they found them.
An impressive frontispiece for an important tome. The King James Bible was a religious, a political and a patriotic project, commissioned by the King to embody and articulate an English Christianity for an established English Church.
INDEX
A
Aaron 80, 81–84, 82, 89, 99, 99
Abel 29, 31, 32
Abijah 145
Abimelech 8, 9, 116, 116
Abraham (Abram) 45–55, 50
Absalom 139, 139
Acts of the Apostles
the Ascension 189
Saul, on the road to Damascus 190–191
Adah 31
Adam 20–29, 25, 26
Adonijah 142
adultery
John 182
Leviticus 103
Samuel 9, 135–136
Ahasuerus 171–175, 173
Ahaziah 146
alcohol 40
Alexander the Great 214
Alphabet of Ben Sira 23
Amalekites, the 128
> Ammonites, the 119, 128, 135
Amnon 138, 138–140
‘Antichrist,’ the 198, 199, 201
Apocalypse, the 193–204, 195
Ararat, Mount 39, 39
ark, the 32, 34, 34–39, 37, 39
Ark of the Covenant 98, 101, 124–127, 126, 128
Armageddon 202
Asa 145
Ashdod 124, 127, 128
Ashurnasirpal II, King of Assyria 155
Assur 154
Assyrians, the 147, 147, 149, 150, 152, 153–157, 156, 175–177
B
Baal 111, 112, 145, 146, 147
Babel 42, 43, 43
Babylonians, the 22, 152, 153, 154, 156, 157, 157–168, 201
Bacchiacca, Francesco 29 Balmud Bavli 23
Barak 114–115, 116, 116
Barnabas, Gospel of 210
barrenness see infertility
Bathsheba 9, 135, 135–136, 141
Beast, the 198, 199
Benjamin 70, 71–73, 73
Benjamites, the 122–124
bestiality 31
Beth-shemesh 127
Bethel 49
Bianchini, Vittorio 57
bigamy 31, 50
Bilhah 63
black propaganda see racism
Bloch, Carl 111
boils, plague of 87–88
Brassey Hole, William 60
Brugghen, Hendrick ter 62
Burning Bush, the 79, 79–81
C
Cain 29–31, 31, 32, 32
Cainan 31–32
Calvin, John 210
Canaan 47, 49–50, 57, 57, 63, 70, 107–108, 111–131, 150
Canterbury Cathedral 16
Cazin, John Charles 53
childlessness see infertility
Christ see Jesus Christ
Chronicles, Book of 160
circumcision
Exodus 81
Genesis 50, 65
Ciseri, Antonio 187
civil war 122–124, 124
Cleve, Hendrick van 43
coat of many colours, Joseph 64, 66, 69
conception 29, 31
contradictions 12–13
Cranach the Elder, Lucas 92
Creation, the 19, 19–31, 20
Crespi, Giuseppi Maria 75
curse, the 28
‘Curse, The’, (Holbein) 27
Cyrus II, Emperor of Persia 164, 164, 170
D
Daniel, Book of 12, 153, 165, 166–170, 211
Daniel and the Lion’s Den 170, 171
Darius the Mede 168–169
darkness and light 19, 37
David 9, 133, 133–141, 134, 139, 140–142
and Goliath 128–131, 129, 131
Dead Sea Scrolls, the 211–212, 212
Deborah 114, 115, 116
Delilah 121–122, 122
Deucalion 36
Deuteronomy, Book of 12, 152
death of Moses 107
Dinah 63, 65
Doré, Gustave 101, 121
dreams, Joseph 64, 64, 69–70, 71
droughts 82–84
drunkenness 40
Dürer, Albrecht 195
E
Edomites, the 128
Edward VI, King of England 217
Eglon, King of Maob 113, 114, 114
Egypt 47–49, 66–73, 77–95, 149–150, 159–161, 214
Ekron 125–126
El Greco 181
Elisha 145, 145
empires of oppression 149–177
Enlightenment, the 208
Enoch 32
Enoch, Book of 212
Enos 31
Epic of Gilgamesh 36
Esau 16, 57–58, 58, 59–60, 60, 63
Esau Ceding his Birthright to Jacob (Solofra) 58
Esther 153
Esther, Book of 171–175, 211
massacre 175
Eucharist, the 179
Eve 20, 20, 22, 23, 25, 25–29
Eve with Cain and Abel (Bacciacca) 29
Exodus, Book of 12, 13, 75–101, 152
circumcision 81
droughts 82–84
infanticide 75–77, 76, 88–89, 89, 90
murder 77–79, 79
paganism 99
plagues 82–89
slavery 75, 79, 82
Ezekiel 149
Ezekiel, Book of 163
F
famine 47, 70, 70
Flavistsky, Konstantin 66
Flinck, Govert 59
Flood, the 34–39, 37, 39
forbidden fruit 25–27, 27
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 196, 196–198
fratricide 29–31, 31
frogs, plagues of 83–84
G
Gaal 116
gang rape 123
Garden of Eden 20, 25–27, 31
Garden of Gethsemane 184
Gath 125
genealogy 16, 16, 31, 31–32, 42
Genesis 12, 19–43, 45–73, 152
bestiality 31
bigamy 31, 50
circumcision 50, 65
conception 29, 31
drunkenness 40
famine 47, 70, 70
fratricide 29–31
genealogy 16, 16, 31, 31–32, 42
homosexuality 54
human sacrifice 53–55, 56
incest 32, 34–39
infertility 45, 50–53, 57, 63
jealousy 64–66
longevity 17, 31–32
masturbation 9
menstruation 28
murder 65
misogyny 28
plagues 49
polygamy 60
punishment 25–26, 28, 34–39, 49
racism 41
rape 41, 65
slavery 64–66, 65, 66
Gershom 79, 81, 81
Gibeah 122
Gideon 116
‘Golden Age,’ the 22
Goliath 128–131, 131
Greek mythology 36, 42
Gutenberg Bible, the 7
H
Hagar 50, 50, 53
Ham 39–42, 40
Hamor, Prince 65
‘Hanging Gardens of Babylon’ 158
Hannukah 214
Haran 45–47
Henry VIII, King of England 215–217, 218
Herod, King 179–180, 180, 182
Hesiod 14, 22
Hinduism 22, 27
Hittites, the 14, 152
Holbein, Hans 27
homosexuality
Genesis 54
Leviticus 102
Samuel 134
Hosea, Book of 153, 165
human sacrifice 53–55, 56
I
Idolatry 8
Illustrated Bible (Merian) 84
incest 7
Genesis 32, 34–39, 42
Samuel 138, 140
infanticide
Exodus 75–77, 76, 88–89, 89, 90
Matthew 180
infertility
Genesis 45, 50–53, 57, 63
Judges 119
infidelity see adultery
Isaac 50, 53, 55, 56, 57, 57, 58–60, 59
Isaiah, Book of 12, 153
Iscariot, Judas 182–184, 184, 185
Ishmael 50, 50, 53
Islam 27, 53, 138
Islamic Bibles 10
J
Jabin, King of Canaan 114, 116
Jacob 16, 57–66, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 69, 70, 71
Jacobs Ladder 44
Jael 115, 115, 116
James I, King of England 217
Japheth 39, 41
jealousy 64–66
Jehoiakim 161
Jehoram 146
Jehosophat 145
Jehu 146
Jephthah 119, 119
Jeremiah, Book of 12, 12, 153, 179
Jericho 107, 108, 108
Jerusalem 149, 153, 154, 161, 163, 181, 203, 214
Jesus Christ 179, 179–189, 187, 194, 195, 205
Jews
Abraham, father of the 45–55
enemy empires 149–177
Hannukah 214
infanticide, by the Egyptians 75–77
led out of captivity 10, 75, 80–107
in Mesopotamia 164
origins of Passover 90
paganism and 99, 111–112, 112, 114, 144, 146, 147
the ‘Promised Land’ 104
and the Ten Commandments 96, 97–106
Jezebel 146, 147, 195
Joab 142
Joel, Book of 177
John, Gospel of 10, 181, 187, 205, 205–207, 207, 210
adultery 182
death of Jesus 187–189
John the Baptist 182, 182
Jonah, Book of 175–176, 176, 177
Jonah and the Whale 175, 175
Jonathan 133–134, 134
Joseph 63–73, 64, 66, 71
Joshua, Book of 9, 13
God speaks to 107
murder 108
Josiah, King of Judah 159, 159–160
Jotham 116
Jubilees, Book of 212
Judah 66, 73, 73, 161, 163
Judas, Gospel of 210
Judas Iscariot 182–184, 184, 185
Judges, Book of 111–124
civil war 122–124, 124
massacre 113–114
murder 8, 9, 115, 116, 116
paganism 111, 112, 112, 114
rape 123, 124, 124
suicide 9
Judith 160, 161
K
Keturah 55
killing see murder
King James Bible 153, 160, 217–218, 218
Kings, Book of 141–147, 149, 152, 153–154, 161, 163
massacre 146–147
murder 146
paganism 144, 146, 147
polygamy 142–144
the story of Jezebel 146, 147
Krita Yuga 22
L
Laban 60–62
Lamb of God, the 196, 198
Lamech 31
Lamentations, Book of 163
Last Judgement, the 203, 203
Last Supper, the 179, 184, 185
Leah 61, 62, 62, 63
leprosy 9
Levi 65, 65
Leviticus, Book of 7, 12, 13, 152
Dark History of the Bible Page 18
