Throughout his education he was well known for "his skill in the biblical languages of Latin, Greek and Hebrew," which proved to be obvious assets to him in the translation of the Geneva Bible.
This is supported by the fact that both his sons were translators of two prominent texts during their time: A Brief and Learned Treatise, Containing a True Description of the Antichrist by Georg Sohn and An Epistle to his Brother Quintus by Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Protestants left not only for their physical safety and right to practise their own forms of worship, but, also because it gave them a chance to keep, define, and conserve their national religion for their eventual return to England.
They originally fled to the Protestant cities of Strasbourg and Frankfurt, but later colonies were established at Emden, Zurich, Wesel, Worms, and Duisburg.
The Marian Exiles wanted to encourage their coreligionists back home, so they produced many works on Protestant doctrine using the continental press, and urging them to flight, martyrdom, or rebellion.
After war broke out in 1557, many of these secular exiles put loyalty before religion and returned home to serve their country in whatever ways they could.
[7] Anthony Gilby was a part of this Marian exile, in Basel, in Frankfurt where he associated with John Foxe and lodged him in 1554,[2][8] and settled in Geneva in 1555.
Whittingham himself gave witness to Gilby’s role in the translation of the Geneva Bible and recorded it in a piece entitled Livre des Anglais.
The key attributes of the Geneva Bible were its print-type and size, the separation into quartos and octavos, the sectioning into verses, and the use of italics to signify the addition of words.
[13] After Mary Tudor's death, Gilby and other Protestant writers wrote a letter to specific English Church congregations in Aarau and Frankfurt, attempting to persuade them to support the restoration of Protestantism.
Huntingdon assured the continuation of the local evangelical tradition, after Gilby's death, by appointing Arthur Hildersham as rector at Ashby in 1587.
[17] Anthony Gilby's writing experience can be placed into three categories, including letters and treaties, the translation of the Geneva Bible and other minor commentaries, and his theological interests before and during the exile.
In November 1555, Anthony Gilby and Christopher Goodman, also a Marian Exile, both became clergymen of the Word of God for the English citizens of Geneva.
After taking this oath, Anthony Gilby's accomplishments were mostly clerical, such as a letter written in 1558 to the English church encouraging uniformity to God after the news of Elizabeth's succession to the throne of England.