Forgotten Bible Translation Was Unique, Contentious

How would you like to own a Bible that was comfortable to hold while you looked up easy to find information and with a typeface that was easy to read, unlike copies of the Bible produced with a Gothic typeface trying to imitate handwriting?. If you lived back in 1560 you could have had all of this and more. This translation of the Bible,  translated by William Whitting, was the first in English with numbered verses and running heads across the top of the pages -- much like many modern Bible translations do today

It was very popular not only with the general public but also literary giants such as Shakespeare and Marlowe who took their Biblical quotations from it no doubt not only because it had such features   but also because its editors strove for textual accuracy and clarity. Examples of this include:

• The English words retained the sense of flavor of the original Hebrew.
• God's name, Jehovah, was rendered in a number of places like Exodus 6:3 and Psalm 83:18.
• Explanatory editions were written in Italics.
• Words added for grammatical clarity in English were enclosed by square brackets.
• Marginal notes explaining difficult passages
• Illustrations, maps, and prefaces
• Genealogical tables
• Text summaries

However, it was not a Bible translation liked by many religious leaders because of what they considered radical marginal notes and kings like King James I hated it because some of these notes also challenged the "divine right of kings."

It was eventually replaced by the King James or Authorized version at the instigation of this James I who wanted to promote a Bible version that did not challenge his (and other monarch's) claims to such divine authority , but not before the Geneva Bible had done much to encourage Bible reading.