The Social Universe of the English Bible

Transcription

1 The Social Universe of the English Bible How can we explain the immense popularity of the English Bible? argues that the vernacular Bible became so influential in early modern English society and culture not only because it was deeply revered, widely propagated, and resonant, but also because it was at least in some ways Anglicised. She focuses in particular on the rendering into English of biblical terms of social description and demonstrates the emergence of a social universe through the processes of translation from ancient and medieval texts to successive and inter-related English versions. She investigates the dissemination of these terms in early modern society and culture, focusing on community ties, gender and labour relations, and offices of state. The result is an important contribution to the history of the English Bible, biblical translations, and to early modern English history more generally. NAOMI TADMOR is Professor of History at Lancaster University. Her publications include Family and Friends in Eighteenth- Century England : Household, Kinship, and Patronage (Cambridge, 2001).

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3 The Social Universe of the English Bible Scripture, Society, and Culture in

4 cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York Information on this title: / This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2010 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Tadmor, Naomi. The social universe of the English Bible : scripture, society, and culture in early modern England /. p. cm. isbn (hardback) 1. Bible Influence. 2. Bible. English. 3. England Social conditions. I. Title. BS538.7.T dc isbn Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Information regarding prices, travel timetables, and other factual information given in this work is correct at the time of first printing but Cambridge University Press does not guarantee the accuracy of such information thereafter.

5 To Nathan and Daniel

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7 Contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements List of abbreviations page viii xi xiii Introduction 1 1 Friends and neighbours in early modern England: biblical translations and social norms 23 2 Women and wives: the language of marriage in early modern English biblical translations 50 3 Slaves and servants: a Bible for freeborn Englishmen 82 4 Prince, captain, lord, duke, and eunuch: the making of the English biblical polity 119 Conclusion 165 Select bibliography 172 Index 200 vii

8 Illustrations 1 We came unto the lande whyther thou sendedst us & surely it floweth with milke and hony (Bishops Bible, London, 1568, at Num. 13) (reproduced by permission of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California) page 2 2 Title page of the Great Bible (London, 1540) (reproduced by permission of the British Library) 5 3 Knoweth the way of the righteous: and the way of the ungodly shall perish (Bishops Bible, 1568, opening of the Book of Psalms) (reproduced by permission of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California) 24 4 The word friend crossed out and neighbour inserted in preparation for the King James Bible (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Bib. Eng b. 1, p. 223, at Prov. 27:10) 32 5 An illustration from the ballad The story of David and Berseba to a pleasant new tune (London, 1635, 2nd edn), based on the story of King David and Bathsheba, 2 Sam. 11. (reproduced by permission of the British Library) 51 6 The word wife crossed out in preparation for the King James Bible, leaving the word concubine (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Bib. Eng b. 1, p. 96, at Judges 19) 63 7 Hagar and Ishmael in seventeenth-century dress (a detail from A panel with biblical vignettes, canvas worked with wool, silk, and beads, 1667, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ) ( Photo SCALA, Florence, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009) 80 8 The opening page of the first treatise in William Gouge, Of domesticall duties (London, 1622) (by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library) 83 viii

9 List of illustrations ix 9 Rebekha offers a drink to Abraham s servant from an urn on which the date 1667 is embroidered (a detail from A panel with biblical vignettes, canvas worked with wool, silk, and beads, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ) ( Photo SCALA, Florence, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009) The word bond crossed out and homeborne slave inserted, in preparation for the King James Bible (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Bib. Eng b. 1, p. 250, at Jer. 2:14) The Covenant following the deluge (Bishops Bible, London, 1568, at Gen. 9) (reproduced by permission of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California) Moses, Aaron, and the elders of Israel, witnessing Korah and his people tumble into the ground (Coverdale s Bible, Southwark? 1535, at Num. 16) (reproduced with the kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Libary) The word lords crossed out and princes inserted, in preparation for the King James Bible (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Bib. Eng b. 1, p. 100, at 1 Sam. 18:30) A queen, accompanied by her gentlewomen in rich contemporary attire, kneeling before an oriental-looking king (Bishops Bible, London, 1568, employed once to describe the Queen of Sheba at 1 Kgs. 10 and once to describe Queen Esther at Esther 5) (reproduced by permission of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California) Potiphar s description as Captaine of the guard inserted and his previous designation removed, with a scribal note describing him as Eunoche of Pharaoh (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Bib. Eng b. 1, p. 15, at Gen. 37, 39) The three princes (Anon., The ioyfull peace (London, 1613)) (reproduced by permission of the Pepys Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge) Joseph escaping from Potiphar s wife (N. Fontaine, The history of the Old and New Testament extracted out of sacred Scripture and writings of the fathers (London, 1699)) (Courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign; image published with permission of ProQuest LCC) 154

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11 Acknowledgements This book has taken me on a scholarly and personal journey. Having focused on late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century history, I turned to earlier times in English history and to yet more ancient cultures and texts. While doing so, I was fortunate to benefit from the kindness, learning, and constancy of many friends and colleagues. I owe an immense debt of gratitude to Steve Hindle, David Smith, and Nili Wazana, who have read the entire manuscript prior to publication. Trevor Burnard, Brian Cummings, David Feldman, Adam Fox, Mark Goldie, Diana Lipton, Hazel Mills, Clarissa Campbell Orr, Miri Rubin, and Moshe Sluhovsky have all read substantial drafts over the years and have given me a great deal of help and constructive criticism. I am grateful to Bernard Jackson for his comments on the second and third chapters and for generously letting me consult his unpublished work. Thanks are also due to Hagit Aharoni, Jennifer Davis, Laura Gowing, Michael Heyd, Sara Japhet, Scott Mandelbrote, Eyal Poleg, Lyndal Roper, Richard Smith, Alex Sheppard, Johann Sommerville, Amanda Vickery, Christopher Whittick, and Keith Wrightson for very helpful comments and suggestions. It was thanks to the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the generosity of the University of Sussex that I was able to enjoy research leave to write and complete the book manuscript. I am very grateful to my colleagues and students for many fruitful discussions along the years. In the last stages of the work, I was privileged to benefit from the intellectual stimulation and hospitality of the Departments of History and Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where I stayed as a Visiting Professor and Lady Davis Fellow. As this book was making its way through the press, I was appointed to a position in the History Department at Lancaster University. I am grateful to colleagues there for their generous endorsement of my work. Parts of this project were presented in conferences and seminars held at the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Haifa, Jerusalem, Lancaster, London, Oxford, Perth, Sussex, and Warwick. xi

12 xii Acknowledgements Librarians at the Bodleian Library, the British Library, Cambridge University Library, the National Library in Jerusalem, the library of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and the University of Sussex Library have all provided helpful assistance. Ruth Clements, Guy Darshan and Shira Golani of the Hebrew University helped in preparing the Hebrew, Latin, and Greek apparatus and checking notes. In the last stages James Brown and Amanda McKeever lent a hand. Illustrations are reproduced with kind permission of the Huntington Library, the British Library, the Bodleian Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Folger Shakespeare Library, Cambridge University Library, Pepys Library, and the Library of the University of Illinois (at Urbana-Champaign). The second chapter appeared in 2006 in History Workshop Journal ; I would like to thank the Journal and Oxford University Press for enabling me to re-use it. Not only the living merit thanks, but also the dead. The first chapter of this book was composed for a conference in memory of Alan Bray and first appeared in a book dedicated to his scholarly contribution: Friends and neighbours in early modern England: biblical translations and social norms, in L. Gowing, M. Hunter, and M. Rubin (eds.), Love, friendship, and faith in Europe, (Basingstoke and New York, 2005 ), pp An edited version is reproduced here with permission of Palgrave Macmillan. My colleague, the late Mary Dove, was very helpful in discussing this project and assisted me in particular with regard to the first chapter. Special thanks are due to my friend, the late Patricia Crawford, who read this book in draft and sadly passed away as it was about to be sent to press. My deepest thanks are due to my father, the late Hayim Tadmor, who taught me to love the Hebrew Bible and study its ancient language and text. It was thanks to his faith in this project that I was inspired to develop the book. In December 2005, when he was extremely ill, it made him happy to know that I would complete it. My beloved mother, Miriam Tadmor, who always stood by my side, had also read this book in draft and given me a great deal of scholarly advice, but sadly died while the typescript was in the process of production. My only regret is that my parents did not live to see this book in its finished form. And so, this book marks a step in more than one journey. I travelled from Jerusalem to study English History. Twenty years later, I returned there to prepare this book for press. In the meantime, I had been greatly enriched not only with the love, scholarship, and generosity of family, friends, and colleagues, but with the love of my sons, Nathan and Daniel, to whom I dedicate this book.

13 Abbreviations NT OT New Testament Old Testament SELECT BIBLICAL REFERENCES Biblical versions: The Bible in English database, Chadwyck Healey Literature Collections (ProQuest Information and Learning Co., 2009) last accessed 2009 Wyc. John Wycliffe (Earlier Version (EV) c. 1384, Later Version (LV) c. 1395): machine-readable transcripts Based on: The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments, with the Apocryphal Books, in the earliest English versions made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his followers, ed. J. Forshall and F. Madden (Oxford, 1850) Tyn. William Tyndale (Pentateuch, Jonah, and NT), : machine-readable transcripts Based on: Tyndale s Bible: Pentateuch, Jonah, and NT The Pentateuch (Antwerp, 1530) The prophete Ionas with an introduccio before teachinge to vnderstode him and the right vse also of all the scripture (Antwerp, 1531) The Newe Testament dylygently corrected and compared with the Greke by Willyam Tindale (Antwerp, 1534) Cov. Miles Coverdale, 1535: a machine-readable transcript Based on: Biblia: the Bible that is, the Holy Scripture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully and truly translated out of Douche and Latyn in to Englishe (Cologne, 1535) TM Thomas Matthew, 1549: a machine-readable transcript Based on: The Byble, that is to say all the Holy Scripture: In whych are co[n]tayned the Olde and New Testamente, truely & purely traslated into English, & nowe lately with greate industry & xiii

14 xiv GB Geneva Bish. RD KJV List of abbreviations dilige[n]ce recognized [ed. Edmund Becke] ( London, 1549; 1st edn 1537) Great Bible, 1540: a machine-readable transcript Based on: The Byble in Englyshe, that is to saye the conte[n]t of al the Holy Scrypture both of ye Olde, and Newe Testame[n]t, with a prologe therinto, made by the reuerende father in God, Thomas Archbysshop of Cantorbury. This is the Byble apoynted to the vse of the churches (London, 1540) Geneva Bible, 1587: a machine-readable transcript Based on: The Bible: that is, the Holy Scriptvres conteined in the Olde and Newe Testament. Translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke, and conferred with the best translations in diuers languages. With most profitable annotations vpon all the hard places, and other things of great importance (London, 1587) Bishops Bible, 1568: a machine-readable transcript Based on: The Holie Bible conteynyng the Olde Testament and the Newe (London, 1568) Rheims Douai, : a machine-readable transcript Based on: The Holie Bible faithfully translated into English out of the avthentical Latin. Diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greeke, and other editions in diuers languages. With argvments of the bookes, and chapters: annotations: Tables: and other helpes, for better vnderstanding of the text: for discouerie of corrvptions in some late translations: and for clearing controversies in Religion. By the English College of Doway (Douai, ) Based on: The New Testament of Iesvs Christ, translated faithfully into English out of the authentical Latin, according to the best corrected copies of the same, diligently conferred vvith the Greeke and other editions in diuers languages: vvith argvments of bookes and chapters, annotations, and other necessarie helpes, for the better vnderstanding of the text, and specially for the discouerie of the corrvptions of diuers late translations, and for cleering the controversies in religion, of these daies: in the English College of Rhemes (Rheims, 1582) King James Bible, 1611: a machine-readable transcript

15 List of abbreviations xv Based on: The Holy Bible, conteyning the Old Testament, And the New: newly translated out of the originall tongues: & with the former translations diligently compared and reuised by his maiesties speciall comandement appointed to be read in churches (London, 1611) SELECT DICTIONARIES, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS, JOURNALS, AND SERIES ABD Anchor Bible dictionary, ed. D. N. Freedman et al., 6 vols. (New York, 1992) BDB A Hebrew and English lexicon of the Old Testament, ed. F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs (Oxford, 1906; repr. 1939) DNB Oxford dictionary of national biography (on line), ed. L. Goldman, January 2009 edition (Oxford, ) DOB A dictionary of the Bible, ed. J. Hastings et al., 5 vol. (Edinburgh, ) EB Encyclopaedia biblica, thesaurus rerum biblicarum, 9 vols. (Jerusalem, ) (in Hebrew) Econ. Hist. Rev. Economic History Review Encyclopaedia biblica Encyclopaedia biblica : a critical dictionary of the literary, political and religious history, the archaeology, geography, and natural history of the Bible, ed. T. K. Cheyne and J. S. Black (London, 1914) HALOT The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament, ed. L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, and J. J. Stamm, translated and edited under the supervision of M. E. J. Richardson, 4 vols. (Leiden, ) HJ Historical Journal HSS Harvard Semitic Studies ICC International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies

16 xvi List of abbreviations JSOTSup JSSSup OED P&P Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement Series Oxford English dictionary online, chief ed. J. Simpson Past and Present