Following the ascension of Mary I to the English throne, persecution drove thousands of Protestants into exile. Many sought refuge in Geneva, Switzerland. They desired to have a Bible suitable for both corporate and family worship. Up until this time, Bibles had been large folios with hard-to-read Gothic type. The Geneva Bible was the first English Bible printed in a quarto edition and with Roman type. The Geneva Bible was also the first English study Bible, containing numerous marginal notes and study helps. Although chapter divisions had existed in previous Bibles, the Geneva Bible was the first to enumerate verses.
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the Geneva Bible. It was the household Bible of English-speaking Christians for three generations. It was the Bible of the Scottish Reformers and of the English Separatists and Puritans. The great English writers Shakespeare, Milton, and Bunyan quoted from the Geneva Bible, and it was the Scriptures first brought to New England by the Pilgrims.
Ironically, it was the popularity of the Geneva Bible that prompted James I of England to authorize another translation. He felt that the Geneva Bible's study notes encouraged civil disobedience. Consequently, he was more than willing to commission a new English language Bible - one with no study notes.
Although the popularity of the Geneva Bible was eventually surpassed by the Authorized Version of 1611, many of the innovations first seen in the Geneva Bible continue to this day. The Geneva Bible remains one of the most historically significant editions of the Scriptures, and with its recent reprinting, the influence of the Geneva study notes is once again being felt.
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