Abstract
Now followeth in order the seventh trumpet-blowing, or the pure declaration of Christ’s joyful tidings for the last age of the church under the seventh seal-opening, with the wonders and marvels that thereafter ensueth.
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Notes
- 1.
Chapter 12 of Rev typically begins with ‘And there appeared a great wonder in heaven’ (197, below), including in the Coverdale Bible that serves as Bale’s text. It is not clear why he changed it.
- 2.
behoof] Although Christmas renders this word as ‘behalf’, the spelling in the 16th-century texts (‘behoue’) is not an attested spelling of ‘behalf’. The proper word is ‘behoof’, meaning ‘use, benefit, advantage’ (OED 1). The same word occurs in paraphrase 2 of the following section (where Christmas does print ‘behoof’).
- 3.
woodenness = madness.
- 4.
by them] 1545, 1570; up them 1548, 1550, 1550(W).
- 5.
See Isa 28.
- 6.
and] 1545, 1570; om. 1548, 1550, 1550 (W).
- 7.
of = by.
- 8.
‘Do on’ in its contracted form is ‘don’, which is the sense in which the word is used here (OED don v.1, etymology).
- 9.
persecuteth] 1545; persecuted 1548.
- 10.
See Acts 4.6.
- 11.
The 1548 text begins #4 here.
- 12.
4] 1545; 5 1548.
- 13.
copes] 1545, 1548, etc.; cups King.
- 14.
gilt] 1545 (gylte); giltye 1548. If the 1548 reading is correct, Bale might be punning on ‘guilty’.
- 15.
guarded = ornamented, as with lace, braid, embroidery, etc.; trimmed; tricked out (OED 3 a).
- 16.
Terah = the father of Abram and grandfather of Lot (Gen 11.27).
- 17.
hath] 1570; haue 1545 (in the following sentence as well).
- 18.
hath] 1545; had 1548.
- 19.
contraction = adversity.
- 20.
‘Like a roaring lion your adversary the Devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour’ (1 Pet 5.8).
- 21.
prudence] 1545, 1548 (proudence), 1550, 1550(W), 1570, Christmas; proudest King. Traditional meanings of the word ‘prudence’ can only be sarcastic here, though a rare usage of the word refers to gatherings of a group of vicars (OED 4).
- 22.
have] 1570; hath 1545.
- 23.
reigned] 1545; reigneth 1548.
- 24.
waiting = awaiting.
- 25.
engine = artfulness, cunning, trickery (OED 2a, obsolete).
- 26.
letter] 1545, 1570; latter 1548, 1550, 1550(W), Christmas. ‘Letter’ is the more logical reading because Bale’s point is about the discrepancy between the spirit and the letter, connecting Jews such as Herod to the stubborn unbelievers who cling to Old Testament ways.
- 27.
i.e., ever since the time of the apostles.
- 28.
word] 1545; worlde 1548.
- 29.
powers] 1545; power 1548.
- 30.
gotten] 1545; om. 1548.
- 31.
is = which is.
- 32.
Ps 55.
- 33.
after Jeremiah = as it says in the book of Jeremiah.
- 34.
See Ps 23.
- 35.
sixty] 1545 (lx); threescore 1570.
- 36.
none…army = i.e., everyone belongs to one side or the other in this fight.
- 37.
hath] 1570; haue 1545.
- 38.
contemn = to treat as of small value, treat or view with contempt; to despise, disdain, scorn, slight (OED 1).
- 39.
whom = by those whom.
- 40.
prince of this world = Satan.
- 41.
of = by.
- 42.
13] 1548, 1570; 12 1545.
- 43.
Now…preached = Now that the gospel is being openly preached, the power of the Lord is made evident.
- 44.
her = the church’s.
- 45.
increased much,] this edn. All of the 16th-century texts and Christmas place the comma after ‘increased’ rather than ‘much’, but ‘much’ likely modifies ‘increased’ rather than ‘people’.
- 46.
wood = mad.
- 47.
wile] 1545; will 1548, 1550, 1570, Christmas.
- 48.
helped] 1545 (holpe).
- 49.
sea] 1545, 1570; om. 1548.
- 50.
Mahound = a god imagined in the middle ages to be worshipped by Muslims (OED 1, obsolete).
- 51.
you] 1570; ye 1545.
- 52.
Mt 10.23.
- 53.
his = the serpent’s. In the following sentence, the first ‘they’ is the faithful, and the second is the Devil’s angels.
- 54.
cumbrous = cumbersome.
- 55.
avidious = avid.
- 56.
woodness] 1570; wodenesse 1545, 1548.
- 57.
accumber = encumber.
- 58.
that = what.
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Minton, G.E. (2013). The Twelfth Chapter. In: Minton, G. (eds) John Bale’s 'The Image of Both Churches'. Studies in Early Modern Religious Tradition, Culture and Society, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7296-0_15
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