Editing Geneva Bible (section)

==King James I and the Geneva Bible==
[[File:Title Page Geneva Bible Dated 1599 But Actually Circa 1616-1625.jpg|thumb|Title page of a New Testament from the Geneva Bible, dated 1599 but probably printed circa 1616–1625]]

[[James VI and I|King James I]]'s distaste for the Geneva Bible was not caused by the translation of the text into English, but rather the annotations in the margins. He felt strongly that many of the annotations were "very partial, untrue, seditious, and savoring too much of dangerous and traitorous conceits". In all likelihood, he saw the Geneva's interpretations of some biblical passages as [[anti-clerical]] "[[republicanism]]", which could imply church hierarchy was unnecessary. Other passages appeared particularly seditious, most notably references to monarchs as "tyrants".<ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Ipgrave
| first1 = Julia
| author-link1 = 
| title = Adam in Seventeenth Century Political Writing in England and New England
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FCMlDwAAQBAJ
| location = London
| publisher = Taylor & Francis
| date = 2017
| page = 14
| isbn = 9781317185598
| access-date = 2018-10-27
| quote = The Geneva Bible encouraged a political reading of the Scriptures. It famously incorporated in its notes and its translation elements that were considered seditious by James I and that were deliberately excluded from the new Authorised Version of 1611. In particular there were margin notes that appeared to suggest the legitimacy of resistance to overweening rulers, and there was the frequent use of the language of tyrant (a word expressly disallowed in James' Bible) and slave.
}}
</ref>

Examples of the commentary in conflict with the monarchy in the Geneva Bible (modern spelling) include:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barrett |first=Matthew |date=2011-10-12 |title=The Geneva Bible and Its Influence on the King James Bible |url=https://founders.org/2011/10/12/the-geneva-bible-and-its-influence-on-the-king-james-bible/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=[[Founders Ministries]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

* [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+6&version=GNV Daniel 6:22] – "For he [<nowiki/>[[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]]] disobeyed the king’s wicked commandment in order to obey God, and so he did no injury to the king, who ought to command nothing by which God would be dishonoured."
* [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+11&version=GNV Daniel 11:36] – "So long the tyrants will prevail as God has appointed to punish his people: but he shows that it is but for a time."
* [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+1&version=GNV Exodus 1:19] – To the Hebrew midwives lying to their leaders, "Their disobedience herein was lawful, but their dissembling evil."
* [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+15&version=GNV 2 Chronicles 15:15-17] – King Asa "showed that he lacked zeal, for she should have died both by the covenant and by the law of God, but he gave place to foolish pity and would also seem after a sort to satisfy the law."

When toward the end of the conference two Puritans suggested that a new translation of the Bible be produced to better unify the Anglican Church in England and Scotland, James embraced the idea. He would not only be rid of those inconvenient annotations but have greater influence on the translation of the Bible as a whole. He commissioned and chartered a new translation of the Bible which would eventually become the most famous version of the Bible in the history of the English language. Officially known as the ''Authorized Version'' to be read in churches, the new Bible would come to bear his name as the so-called [[King James Bible]] or King James Version (KJV) elsewhere or casually. The first and early editions of the King James Bible from 1611 and the first few decades thereafter lack annotations, unlike nearly all editions of the Geneva Bible up until that time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://founders.org/journals/kjv-400-years-issue-86-fall-2011/|title=KJV: 400 Years (Issue 86) Fall 2011|access-date=18 May 2020|archive-date=9 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209055555/https://founders.org/journals/kjv-400-years-issue-86-fall-2011/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
[[File:Embarkation of the Pilgrims.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Puritans bringing the Geneva Bible to the New World]]
Initially, the King James Version did not sell well and competed with the Geneva Bible. Shortly after the first edition of the KJV, King James [[Censorship of the Bible|banned]] the printing of new editions of the Geneva Bible to further entrench his version. However, [[Robert Barker (printer)|Robert Barker]] continued to print Geneva Bibles even after the ban, placing the spurious date of 1599 on new copies of Genevas which were actually printed between about 1616 and 1625.<ref>
Nicolson, Adam. ''God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible'' (HarperCollins, 2003)
</ref>