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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Geneva Bible

Geneva \Ge*ne"va\, prop. n. The chief city of Switzerland.

Geneva Bible, a translation of the Bible into English, made and published by English refugees in Geneva (Geneva, 1560; London, 1576). It was the first English Bible printed in Roman type instead of the ancient black letter, the first which recognized the division into verses, and the first which omitted the Apocrypha. In form it was a small quarto, and soon superseded the large folio of Cranmer's translation. Called also Genevan Bible.

Geneva convention (Mil.), an agreement made by representatives of the great continental powers at Geneva and signed in 1864, establishing new and more humane regulation regarding the treatment of the sick and wounded and the status of those who minister to them in war. Ambulances and military hospitals are made neutral, and this condition affects physicians, chaplains, nurses, and the ambulance corps. Great Britain signed the convention in 1865.

Geneva cross (Mil.), a red Greek cross on a white ground; -- the flag and badge adopted in the Geneva convention.

Geneva Bible

Bible \Bi"ble\ (b[imac]"b'l), n. [F. bible, L. biblia, pl., fr. Gr. bibli`a, pl. of bibli`on, dim. of bi`blos, by`blos, book, prop. Egyptian papyrus.]

  1. A book. [Obs.]
    --Chaucer.

  2. The Book by way of eminence, -- that is, the book which is made up of the writings accepted by Christians as of divine origin and authority, whether such writings be in the original language, or translated; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; -- sometimes in a restricted sense, the Old Testament; as, King James's Bible; Douay Bible; Luther's Bible. Also, the book which is made up of writings similarly accepted by the Jews; as, a rabbinical Bible.

  3. A book containing the sacred writings belonging to any religion; as, the Koran is often called the Mohammedan Bible.

  4. (Fig.) a book with an authoritative exposition of some topic, respected by many who are experts in the field.

    Bible Society, an association for securing the multiplication and wide distribution of the Bible.

    Douay Bible. See Douay Bible.

    Geneva Bible. See under Geneva.

Wikipedia
Geneva Bible

The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th century English Protestantism and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare , Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress (1678). It was one of the Bibles taken to America on the Mayflower ( Pilgrim Hall Museum and Dr. Jiang have collected several bibles of Mayflower passengers). The Geneva Bible was used by many English Dissenters, and it was still respected by Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the time of the English Civil War, in the booklet " Cromwell's Soldiers' Pocket Bible".

This version of the Bible is significant because, for the very first time, a mechanically printed, mass-produced Bible was made available directly to the general public which came with a variety of scriptural study guides and aids (collectively called an apparatus), which included verse citations that allow the reader to cross-reference one verse with numerous relevant verses in the rest of the Bible, introductions to each book of the Bible that acted to summarize all of the material that each book would cover, maps, tables, woodcut illustrations, indices, as well as other included features — all of which would eventually lead to the reputation of the Geneva Bible as history's very first study Bible.

Because the language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous, most readers strongly preferred this version to the Great Bible. In the words of Cleland Boyd McAfee, "it drove the Great Bible off the field by sheer power of excellence".

Usage examples of "geneva bible".

Like so many English-speaking people I could not conceive of the words of Christ in any language but my own, but as we worked through Le Nouveau Testament in her chunky old Geneva Bible, there they were, coloured quite differently.