John Bois

John Bois (born January 3, 1560 in Nettlestead , England , † January 14, 1643 in Ely ) is best known as one of the members of the royal commission for the translation of the Bible under King James I , the so-called Authorized Version .

His father was William Bois, his mother Mirable Pooly. He received a very careful upbringing and was able to read the entire Bible in Hebrew by the age of five . When he was 15 he went to St John's College , Cambridge , where he soon learned Greek.

In 1580 he received a teaching post there. In addition, he began to study medicine, but soon gave up because it didn't appeal to him. Instead, he studied theology . At the age of 33 he married the daughter of the "Rector" of Boxworth Francis Holt, a condition that he could take over his position after his death.

In 1604 he was appointed to one of the six committees for translating the Bible. His task was to translate the Apocrypha from the Greek. Six years later, when the finished translations were available, they were edited again by a six-person working group, which again included John Bois. The Bible was published in 1611. His writings were translated into German by Bernardus Ancumanus .

In 1615 he became canon ( prebendary ) at Ely Cathedral , a position he held until his death.

Web links

• English-language biography of John Bois ( Memento from April 26, 2001 in the Internet Archive )