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87-616: The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the original King James Version , yet truly updated to enhance its clarity and readability." The text for the New Testament was published in 1979; the Psalms in 1980; and the full Bible in 1982. The project took seven years in total to complete. A minor revision was completed in 1984. The Executive Editor of the NKJV, Arthur L. Farstad, addressed textual concerns in

174-687: A book explaining the NKJV translation philosophy. He defended the Majority Text (also called the Byzantine text-type ) and claimed that the Textus Receptus is inferior to the Majority Text, but he noted (p. 114) that the NKJV references significant discrepancies among text types in its marginal notes: "None of the three [textual] traditions on every page of the New Testament [...] is labeled 'best' or 'most reliable.' The reader

261-583: A descriptive phrase, is found being used as early as 1814. "The King James Version" is found, unequivocally used as a name, in a letter from 1855. The next year King James Bible, with no possessive, appears as a name in a Scottish source. In the United States, the "1611 translation" (actually editions following the standard text of 1769, see below) is generally known as the King James Version today. The followers of John Wycliffe undertook

348-651: A false London imprint. However, few if any genuine Geneva editions appear to have been printed in London after 1616, and in 1637 Archbishop Laud prohibited their printing or importation. In the period of the English Civil War , soldiers of the New Model Army were issued a book of Geneva selections called "The Soldiers' Bible" . In the first half of the 17th century the Authorized Version

435-491: A more intense argument between James and his bishops, but James eventually persuaded them that only ministers should administer baptisms. James then turned his attention to ecclesiastical discipline. Excommunication for "trifles and twelvepenny matters" was to be abolished, and the often hasty trial policies of the commissaries' court were to be reviewed and amended by the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice. For

522-525: A number of other apparatus , including a table for the reading of the Psalms at matins and evensong , and a calendar , an almanac , and a table of holy days and observances. Much of this material became obsolete with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar by Britain and its colonies in 1752, and thus modern editions invariably omit it. So as to make it easier to know a particular passage, each chapter

609-661: A period of five days. The conference set off with a meeting between James and his bishops about some of the Puritan complaints detailed in the Millenary Petition , particularly the complaints about the Catholic terms Absolution and Confirmation. The King, after ending his talks with the bishops, claimed he was "well satisfied", and declared that "the manner might be changed and some things cleared". Private baptism , especially when administered by women, would prove to be

696-581: A qualification that the translators would add no marginal notes (which had been an issue in the Geneva Bible ). King James cited two passages in the Geneva translation where he found the marginal notes offensive to the principles of divinely ordained royal supremacy : Exodus 1:19, where the Geneva Bible notes had commended the example of civil disobedience to the Egyptian Pharaoh showed by

783-548: A revision of the Authorized Version with acceptably Protestant explanatory notes, but the project was abandoned when it became clear that these would nearly double the bulk of the Bible text. After the English Restoration , the Geneva Bible was held to be politically suspect and a reminder of the repudiated Puritan era. Furthermore, disputes over the lucrative rights to print the Authorized Version dragged on through

870-617: A roman typeface, which itself made a political and a religious statement. Like the Great Bible and the Bishops' Bible , the Authorized Version was "appointed to be read in churches". It was a large folio volume meant for public use, not private devotion; the weight of the type—blackletter type was heavy physically as well as visually—mirrored the weight of establishment authority behind it. However, smaller editions and roman-type editions followed rapidly, e.g. quarto roman-type editions of

957-528: A translation of the New Testament. Tyndale's translation was the first printed Bible in English. Over the next ten years, Tyndale revised his New Testament in the light of rapidly advancing biblical scholarship, and embarked on a translation of the Old Testament. Despite some controversial translation choices, and in spite of Tyndale's execution on charges of heresy for having made the translated Bible,

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1044-660: A translation that became known as the Geneva Bible . This translation, dated to 1560, was a revision of Tyndale's Bible and the Great Bible on the basis of the original languages. Soon after Elizabeth I took the throne in 1558, problems with both the Great and Geneva Bibles (namely, that the latter did not "conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and its beliefs about an ordained clergy") became apparent to church authorities. In 1568,

1131-547: Is most commonly referred to as "The Bible without notes", thereby distinguishing it from the Geneva "Bible with notes". There were several printings of the Authorized Version in Amsterdam—one as late as 1715 which combined the Authorized Version translation text with the Geneva marginal notes; one such edition was printed in London in 1649. During the Commonwealth a commission was established by Parliament to recommend

1218-666: Is permitted to make up his or her own mind about the correct reading." The NKJV translation has become one of the best-selling Bibles in the US. As of July 2022 it is listed as the sixth best selling Bible by the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association). An unabridged audiobook version called "The Word of Promise Audio Bible" has been produced by the publisher. It is narrated by celebrities and fully dramatized with music and sound effects. Gideons International , an organization that places Bibles in hotels and hospitals, at one stage used

1305-469: The ' Vulgar Latin ' , and then subsequently as found in the versions he terms "... the English translation made in the beginning of the reign of King James" , and "The Geneva French" (i.e. Olivétan ). Hobbes advances detailed critical arguments why the Vulgate rendering is to be preferred. For most of the 17th century the assumption remained that, while it had been of vital importance to provide

1392-637: The Bishops' Bible would serve as the primary guide for the translators, and the familiar proper names of the biblical characters would all be retained. If the Bishops' Bible was deemed problematic in any situation, the translators were permitted to consult other translations from a pre-approved list: the Tyndale Bible , the Coverdale Bible , Matthew's Bible , the Great Bible , and

1479-658: The Geneva Bible . In addition, later scholars have detected an influence on the Authorized Version from the translations of Taverner's Bible and the New Testament of the Douay–Rheims Bible . It is for this reason that the flyleaf of most printings of the Authorized Version observes that the text had been "translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty's special commandment." As

1566-510: The Authorized Version was published by Robert Barker , the King's Printer, in 1611 as a complete folio Bible. It was sold looseleaf for ten shillings , or bound for twelve. Robert Barker's father, Christopher, had, in 1589, been granted by Elizabeth I the title of royal Printer, with the perpetual Royal Privilege to print Bibles in England. Robert Barker invested very large sums in printing

1653-717: The Christian Bible into the English vernacular, which would be known as the Authorised Version because it alone was authorised to be read in Churches. It is now commonly described as the King James Version . Crucially, the King broadened a base of support, which under his predecessor Elizabeth I had been narrowed through harsh anti-Catholic laws, through his moderate and inclusive approach to

1740-469: The Church of England , including leading English Puritans . The conference resulted in the 1604 Book of Common Prayer and, in 1611, the King James Version of the Bible. While the meeting was originally scheduled for November 1603, an outbreak of plague meant it was postponed until February. The conference was called in response to a series of requests for reform set down in the Millenary Petition by

1827-512: The Great Bible ), 'They were not obedient;' the original being, 'They were not disobedient.' Thirdly, psalm cvi. 30 (also from the Great Bible), 'Then stood up Phinees and prayed,' the Hebrew hath, 'executed judgment.' Instructions were given to the translators that were intended to use formal equivalence and limit the Puritan influence on this new translation. The Bishop of London added

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1914-654: The Hampton Court Conference in January 1604, where a new English version was conceived in response to the problems of the earlier translations perceived by the Puritans , a faction of the Church of England. James gave translators instructions intended to ensure the new version would conform to the ecclesiology , and reflect the episcopal structure, of the Church of England and its belief in an ordained clergy. In common with most other translations of

2001-473: The Hebrew midwives , and also II Chronicles 15:16, where the Geneva Bible had criticized King Asa for not having executed his idolatrous 'mother', Queen Maachah (Maachah had actually been Asa's grandmother, but James considered the Geneva Bible reference as sanctioning the execution of his own mother Mary, Queen of Scots ). Further, the King gave the translators instructions designed to guarantee that

2088-574: The King James Bible ( KJB ) and the Authorized Version ( AV ), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England , which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of King James VI and I . The 80 books of the King James Version include 39 books of the Old Testament , 14 books of Apocrypha , and the 27 books of the New Testament . Noted for its "majesty of style",

2175-569: The Puritan faction of the Church of England. Here are three examples of problems the Puritans perceived with the Bishops and Great Bibles : First, Galatians iv. 25 (from the Bishops' Bible). The Greek word susoichei is not well translated as now it is, bordereth neither expressing the force of the word, nor the apostle's sense, nor the situation of the place. Secondly, psalm cv. 28 (from

2262-514: The historiated initial letters provided for books and chapters – together with the decorative title pages to the Bible itself, and to the New Testament. In the Great Bible, readings derived from the Vulgate but not found in published Hebrew and Greek texts had been distinguished by being printed in smaller roman type . In the Geneva Bible, a distinct typeface had instead been applied to distinguish text supplied by translators, or thought needful for English grammar but not present in

2349-431: The "New Translation" was the only edition on the market. F. F. Bruce reports that the last recorded instance of a Scots parish continuing to use the "Old Translation" (i.e. Geneva) as being in 1674. The Authorized Version ' s acceptance by the general public took longer. The Geneva Bible continued to be popular, and large numbers were imported from Amsterdam, where printing continued up to 1644 in editions carrying

2436-529: The 100 years since the first edition of the Authorized Version, and all printers in the market were introducing continual piecemeal changes to their Bible texts to bring them into line with then current practice—and with public expectations of standardized spelling and grammatical construction. Over the course of the 18th century, the Authorized Version supplanted the Hebrew, Greek and the Latin Vulgate as

2523-590: The 1662 Book of Common Prayer , the text of the Authorized Version finally supplanted that of the Great Bible in the Epistle and Gospel readings —though the Prayer Book Psalter nevertheless continues in the Great Bible version. The case was different in Scotland, where the Geneva Bible had long been the standard church Bible. It was not until 1633 that a Scottish edition of the Authorized Version

2610-455: The 17th and 18th centuries was "our English translation" or "our English version", as can be seen by searching one or other of the major online archives of printed books. In Britain, the 1611 translation is generally known as the "Authorized Version" today. The term is somewhat of a misnomer because the text itself was never formally "authorized", nor were English parish churches ever ordered to procure copies of it. King James' Version, evidently

2697-410: The 17th century, so none of the printers involved saw any commercial advantage in marketing a rival translation. The Authorized Version became the only then current version circulating among English-speaking people. A small minority of critical scholars were slow to accept the latest translation. Hugh Broughton , who was the most highly regarded English Hebraist of his time but had been excluded from

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2784-598: The 18th century, the Authorized Version was effectively unchallenged as the sole English translation in then current use in Protestant churches, and was so dominant that the Catholic Church in England issued in 1750 a revision of the 1610 Douay–Rheims Bible by Richard Challoner that was much closer to the Authorized Version than to the original. However, general standards of spelling, punctuation, typesetting, capitalization and grammar had changed radically in

2871-550: The 19th century, this version of the Bible had become the most widely printed book in history, almost all such printings presenting the standard text of 1769 , and nearly always omitting the books of the Apocrypha. Today the unqualified title "King James Version" usually indicates this Oxford standard text. The title of the first edition of the translation, in Early Modern English , was "THE HOLY BIBLE, Conteyning

2958-420: The 2nd year of our reign of England, France, and of Ireland, and of Scotland xxxvii. The six committees started work towards the end of 1604. The Apocrypha committee finishing first, and all six completed their sections by 1608. From January 1609, a General Committee of Review met at Stationers' Hall, London to review the completed marked texts from each of the committees, and were paid for their attendance by

3045-560: The Authorized King James Version. The English Church initially used the officially sanctioned "Bishops' Bible", which was hardly used by the population. More popular was the named "Geneva Bible", which was created on the basis of the Tyndale translation in Geneva under the direct successor of the reformer John Calvin for his English followers. However, their footnotes represented a Calvinistic Puritanism that

3132-592: The Authorized Version (and indeed the English language) entirely. Walton's reference text throughout is the Vulgate. The Vulgate Latin is also found as the standard text of scripture in Thomas Hobbes 's Leviathan of 1651. Hobbes gives Vulgate chapter and verse numbers (e.g., Job 41:24, not Job 41:33) for his head text. In Chapter 35: ' The Signification in Scripture of Kingdom of God ' , Hobbes discusses Exodus 19:5, first in his own translation of

3219-415: The Authorized Version were notably less careful than the 1611 edition had been—compositors freely varying spelling, capitalization and punctuation —and also, over the years, introducing about 1,500 misprints (some of which, like the omission of "not" from the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery" in the " Wicked Bible ", became notorious). The two Cambridge editions of 1629 and 1638 attempted to restore

3306-565: The Barker and Norton printing dynasties, while each issued rival editions of the whole Bible. In 1629 the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge successfully managed to assert separate and prior royal licences for Bible printing, for their own university presses—and Cambridge University took the opportunity to print revised editions of the Authorized Version in 1629, and 1638. The editors of these editions included John Bois and John Ward from

3393-421: The Bible in 1612. This contrasted with the Geneva Bible, which was the first English Bible printed in a roman typeface (although black-letter editions, particularly in folio format, were issued later). In contrast to the Geneva Bible and the Bishops' Bible , which had both been extensively illustrated, there were no illustrations in the 1611 edition of the Authorized Version, the main form of decoration being

3480-553: The Bible in the Geneva Version, as small editions were available at a relatively low cost. At the same time, there was a substantial clandestine importation of the rival Douay–Rheims New Testament of 1582, undertaken by exiled Catholics. This translation, though still derived from Tyndale, claimed to represent the text of the Latin Vulgate. In May 1601, King James VI of Scotland attended the General Assembly of

3567-503: The Church of England and all except Sir Henry Savile were clergy. The scholars worked in six committees, two based in each of the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and Westminster . The committees included scholars with Puritan sympathies, as well as high churchmen . Forty unbound copies of the 1602 edition of the Bishops' Bible were specially printed so that the agreed changes of each committee could be recorded in

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3654-438: The Church of England responded with the Bishops' Bible , a revision of the Great Bible in the light of the Geneva version. While officially approved, this new version failed to displace the Geneva translation as the most popular English Bible of the age, in part because the full Bible was printed only in lectern editions of prodigious size and at a cost of several pounds. Accordingly, Elizabethan lay people overwhelmingly read

3741-490: The Church of Scotland at Saint Columba's Church in Burntisland , Fife , at which proposals were put forward for a new translation of the Bible into English. Two years later, he ascended to the throne of England as James I. The newly crowned King James convened the Hampton Court Conference in 1604. That gathering proposed a new English version in response to the perceived problems of earlier translations as detected by

3828-531: The Greek or Hebrew; and the original printing of the Authorized Version used roman type for this purpose, albeit sparsely and inconsistently. This results in perhaps the most significant difference between the original printed text of the King James Bible and the current text. When, from the later 17th century onwards, the Authorized Version began to be printed in roman type, the typeface for supplied words

3915-561: The King James Bible without authorization from the Crown. To avert prosecution and detection of an unauthorized printing they would include the royal insignia on the title page, using the same materials in its printing as the authorized version was produced from, which were imported from England. Hampton Court Conference The Hampton Court Conference was a meeting in January 1604, convened at Hampton Court Palace , for discussion between King James I of England and representatives of

4002-482: The King James Version has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English-speaking world. The King James Version remains the preferred translation of many Protestant Christians, and is considered the only valid one by some Evangelicals . It is considered one of the important literary accomplishments of early modern England. The KJV

4089-586: The NKJV translation along with the KJV, offering the KJV as the default translation and offering the NKJV when an organization asked for a Bible in newer English to be used. After HarperCollins ' acquisition of Thomas Nelson, however, the Gideons have chosen to start using the English Standard Version (ESV) instead of the NKJV. King James Version The King James Version ( KJV ), also

4176-678: The Old Teſtament, AND THE NEW: Newly Tranſlated out of the Originall tongues: & with the former Tranſlations diligently compared and reuiſed, by his Maiesties ſpeciall Cõmandement ". The title page carries the words "Appointed to be read in Churches", and F. F. Bruce suggests it was "probably authorised by order in council ", but no record of the authorisation survives "because the Privy Council registers from 1600 to 1613 were destroyed by fire in January 1618/19". For many years it

4263-467: The Puritan complaint that punishment should be enforced by Christ 's own institution, James held the view that bishops should not exercise ecclesiastical discipline solely, though he did not speak of any specific method that he would use to remedy this. All in all, James was pleased, and had good reason to be. With the first meeting, not only had he eloquently reached agreements on many of the Puritan demands, he also avoided any major arguments. Soon after

4350-478: The Puritans, a document which supposedly contained the signatures of 1000 Puritan ministers , including Henry Robinson , Anthony Watson , Tobias Matthew , Thomas Dove , Anthony Rudd , Thomas Bilson , Gervase Babington , Deans Lancelot Andrewes , John Overall , James Montague , William Barlow , Giles Tomson and Thomas Ravis . Also John Rainolds (sometimes written as Reynolds), the president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford . There were three meetings over

4437-609: The Reader , a long and learned essay that defends the undertaking of the new version. It observes the translators' stated goal, that they "never thought from the beginning that [they] should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one, ... but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath been our endeavour, that our mark." They also give their opinion of previous English Bible translations, stating, "We do not deny, nay, we affirm and avow, that

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4524-524: The Stationers' Company. The General Committee included John Bois , Andrew Downes , John Harmar , and others known only by their initials, including "AL" (who may be Arthur Lake ). John Bois prepared a note of their deliberations (in Latin) ;– which has partly survived in two later transcripts. Also surviving of the translators' working papers are a bound set of marked-up corrections to one of

4611-679: The Wycliffe Bible was translated from the Latin Vulgate , and because it also contained no heterodox readings, the ecclesiastical authorities had no practical way to distinguish the banned version. Consequently, many Catholic commentators of the 15th and 16th centuries (such as Thomas More ) took these manuscripts of English Bibles and claimed that they represented an anonymous earlier orthodox translation. In 1525, William Tyndale , an English contemporary of Martin Luther , undertook

4698-419: The bishops of the province of Cant.[erbury] signifying unto them, that we do well and straitly charge everyone of them ... that (all excuses set apart) when a prebend or parsonage ... shall next upon any occasion happen to be void ... we may commend for the same some such of the learned men, as we shall think fit to be preferred unto it ... Given unto our signet at our palace of West.[minister] on 2 and 20 July, in

4785-446: The city", where the second reads "she went into the city"; these are known colloquially as the "He" and "She" Bibles. The original printing was made before English spelling was standardized, and when printers, as a matter of course, expanded and contracted the spelling of the same words in different places, so as to achieve an even column of text. They set v for initial u and v , and u for u and v everywhere else. They used

4872-694: The conference, Archbishop John Whitgift died and the anti-Puritan Richard Bancroft , who had argued against the Puritans at Hampton Court, was appointed to the See of Canterbury , and the King's fears led to demands that Puritan ministers adhere to each of the Thirty-Nine Articles . But the Hampton Court Conference also bore fruit for the Puritans, who, led by Rainolds, insisted that man know God 's word without intermediaries, as it led to James's commissioning of that translation of

4959-411: The early 19th century confirm the widespread use of this name on both sides of the Atlantic: it is found both in a "historical sketch of the English translations of the Bible" published in Massachusetts in 1815 and in an English publication from 1818, which explicitly states that the 1611 version is "generally known by the name of King James's Bible". This name was also found as King James' Bible (without

5046-545: The final "s"): for example in a book review from 1811. The phrase "King James's Bible" is used as far back as 1715, although in this case it is not clear whether this is a name or merely a description. The use of Authorized Version, capitalized and used as a name, is found as early as 1814. For some time before this, descriptive phrases such as "our present, and only publicly authorised version" (1783), "our Authorized version" (1731, 1792 ) and "the authorized version" (1801, uncapitalized) are found. A more common appellation in

5133-411: The first complete English translations of the Christian scriptures in the 14th century. These translations were banned in 1409 due to their association with the Lollards . The Wycliffe Bible pre-dated the printing press but it was circulated very widely in manuscript form, often inscribed with a date which was earlier than 1409 in order to avoid the legal ban. Because the text of the various versions of

5220-404: The forty Bishops' Bibles —covering the Old Testament and Gospels; and also a manuscript translation of the text of the Epistles , excepting those verses where no change was being recommended to the readings in the Bishops' Bible . Archbishop Bancroft insisted on having a final say making fourteen further changes, of which one was the term "bishopricke" at Acts 1:20. The original printing of

5307-404: The long s ( ſ ) for non-final s . The letter or glyph j occurs only after i , as in the final letter in a Roman numeral , such as XIIJ. Punctuation was relatively heavy (frequent) and differed from modern practice. When space needed to be saved, the printers sometimes used ye for the (replacing the Middle English thorn , Þ, with the continental y ), set ã for an or am (in

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5394-412: The margins. The committees worked on certain parts separately and the drafts produced by each committee were then compared and revised for harmony with each other. The scholars were not paid directly for their translation work. Instead, a circular letter was sent to bishops encouraging them to consider the translators for appointment to well-paid livings as these fell vacant. Several were supported by

5481-416: The merits of Tyndale's work and prose style made his translation the ultimate basis for all subsequent renditions into Early Modern English. With these translations lightly edited and adapted by Myles Coverdale , in 1539, Tyndale's New Testament and his incomplete work on the Old Testament became the basis for the Great Bible . This was the first "authorised version" issued by the Church of England during

5568-474: The name "Rhemish Testament" for the Douay–Rheims Bible version. Similarly, a "History of England", whose fifth edition was published in 1775, writes merely that "[a] new translation of the Bible, viz. , that now in Use, was begun in 1607, and published in 1611". King James's Bible is used as the name for the 1611 translation (on a par with the Genevan Bible or the Rhemish Testament) in Charles Butler 's Horae Biblicae (first published 1797). Other works from

5655-640: The new edition, and consequently ran into serious debt, such that he was compelled to sub-lease the privilege to two rival London printers, Bonham Norton and John Bill. It appears that it was initially intended that each printer would print a portion of the text, share printed sheets with the others, and split the proceeds. Bitter financial disputes broke out, as Barker accused Norton and Bill of concealing their profits, while Norton and Bill accused Barker of selling sheets properly due to them as partial Bibles for ready money. There followed decades of continual litigation, and consequent imprisonment for debt for members of

5742-486: The new version would conform to the ecclesiology of the Church of England. Certain Greek and Hebrew words were to be translated in a manner that reflected the traditional usage of the church. For example, old ecclesiastical words such as the word "church" were to be retained and not to be translated as "congregation". The new translation would reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and traditional beliefs about ordained clergy. The source material for

5829-408: The number of 4 and 50, for the translating of the Bible, and in this number, divers of them have either no ecclesiastical preferment at all, or else so very small, as the same is far unmeet for men of their deserts and yet we in ourself in any convenient time cannot well remedy it, therefor we do hereby require you, that presently you write in our name as well to the Archbishop of York, as to the rest of

5916-404: The only English translation used in Anglican and other English Protestant churches, except for the Psalms and some short passages in the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. Over the 18th century, the Authorized Version supplanted the Latin Vulgate as the standard version of scripture for English-speaking scholars. With the development of stereotype printing at the beginning of

6003-424: The original translators. This did not, however, impede the commercial rivalries of the London printers, especially as the Barker family refused to allow any other printers access to the authoritative manuscript of the Authorized Version . Two editions of the whole Bible are recognized as having been produced in 1611, which may be distinguished by their rendering of Ruth 3:15; the first edition reading "he went into

6090-417: The panel of translators because of his utterly uncongenial temperament, issued in 1611 a total condemnation of the new version. He especially criticized the translators' rejection of word-for-word equivalence and stated that "he would rather be torn in pieces by wild horses than that this abominable translation (KJV) should ever be foisted upon the English people". Walton's London Polyglot of 1657 disregards

6177-449: The period, the New Testament was translated from Greek , the Old Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic , and the Apocrypha from Greek and Latin . In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer , the text of the Authorized Version replaced the text of the Great Bible for Epistle and Gospel readings, and as such was authorized by an Act of Parliament. By the first half of the 18th century, the Authorized Version had become effectively unchallenged as

6264-459: The proper text—while introducing over 200 revisions of the original translators' work, chiefly by incorporating into the main text a more literal reading originally presented as a marginal note. A more thoroughly corrected edition was proposed following the Restoration , in conjunction with the revised 1662 Book of Common Prayer , but Parliament then decided against it. By the first half of

6351-478: The reign of King Henry VIII . When Mary I succeeded to the throne in 1553, she returned the Church of England to the communion of the Catholic faith and many English religious reformers fled the country, some establishing an English-speaking community in the Protestant city of Geneva . Under the leadership of John Calvin , Geneva became the chief international centre of Reformed Protestantism and Latin biblical scholarship. These English expatriates undertook

6438-457: The scriptures in the vernacular for ordinary people, nevertheless for those with sufficient education to do so, Biblical study was best undertaken within the international common medium of Latin. It was only in 1700 that modern bilingual Bibles appeared in which the Authorized Version was compared with counterpart Dutch and French Protestant vernacular Bibles. In consequence of the continual disputes over printing privileges, successive printings of

6525-501: The standard version of scripture for English speaking scholars and divines, and indeed came to be regarded by some as an inspired text in itself—so much so that any challenge to its readings or textual base came to be regarded by many as an assault on Holy Scripture. In the 18th century there was a serious shortage of Bibles in the American colonies. To meet the demand various printers , beginning with Samuel Kneeland in 1752, printed

6612-421: The style of scribe's shorthand ), and set & for and . In contrast, on a few occasions, they appear to have inserted these words when they thought a line needed to be padded. Later printings regularized these spellings; the punctuation has also been standardized, but still varies from current usage. As can be seen in the example page on the left, the first printing used a blackletter typeface instead of

6699-633: The translation of the New Testament was the Textus Receptus version of the Greek compiled by Erasmus ; for the Old Testament, the Masoretic text of the Hebrew was used; for some of the apocrypha , the Septuagint Greek text was used, or for apocrypha for which the Greek was unavailable, the Vulgate Latin. James' instructions included several requirements that kept the new translation familiar to its listeners and readers. The text of

6786-420: The various colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, while others were promoted to bishoprics , deaneries and prebends through royal patronage . On 22 July 1604 King James VI and I sent a letter to Archbishop Bancroft asking him to contact all English churchmen requesting that they make donations to his project. Right trusty and well beloved, we greet you well. Whereas we have appointed certain learned men, to

6873-432: The very meanest translation of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession, (for we have seen none of theirs [Catholics] of the whole Bible as yet) containeth the word of God, nay, is the word of God." As with the first preface, some British printings reproduce this, while most non-British printings do not. Almost every printing that includes the second preface also includes the first. The first printing contained

6960-412: The work proceeded, more detailed rules were adopted as to how variant and uncertain readings in the Hebrew and Greek source texts should be indicated, including the requirement that words supplied in English to 'complete the meaning' of the originals should be printed in a different type face. The task of translation was undertaken by 47 scholars, although 54 were originally approved. All were members of

7047-408: Was changed to italics , this application being regularized and greatly expanded. This was intended to de-emphasize the words. The original printing contained two prefatory texts; the first was a formal Epistle Dedicatory to "the most high and mighty Prince" King James. Many British printings reproduce this, while most non-British printings do not. The second preface was called Translators to

7134-553: Was common not to give the translation any specific name. In his Leviathan of 1651, Thomas Hobbes referred to it as "the English Translation made in the beginning of the Reign of King James". A 1761 "Brief Account of the various Translations of the Bible into English" refers to the 1611 version merely as "a new, compleat, and more accurate Translation", despite referring to the Great Bible by its name, and despite using

7221-434: Was headed by a brief précis of its contents with verse numbers. Later editors freely substituted their own chapter summaries, or omitted such material entirely. Pilcrow marks are used to indicate the beginnings of paragraphs except after the book of Acts. The Authorized Version was meant to replace the Bishops' Bible as the official version for readings in the Church of England . No record of its authorization exists; it

7308-598: Was printed—in conjunction with the Scots coronation in that year of Charles I . The inclusion of illustrations in the edition raised accusations of Popery from opponents of the religious policies of Charles and William Laud , Archbishop of Canterbury . However, official policy favoured the Authorized Version, and this favour returned during the Commonwealth —as London printers succeeded in re-asserting their monopoly on Bible printing with support from Oliver Cromwell —and

7395-472: Was probably effected by an order of the Privy Council , but the records for the years 1600 to 1613 were destroyed by fire in January 1618/19, and it is commonly known as the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom. The King's Printer issued no further editions of the Bishops' Bible , so necessarily the Authorized Version replaced it as the standard lectern Bible in parish church use in England. In

7482-470: Was the third translation into English approved by the English Church authorities: The first had been the Great Bible (1535), and the second had been the Bishops' Bible (1568). In Switzerland the first generation of Protestant Reformers had produced the Geneva Bible which was published in 1560 having referred to the original Hebrew and Greek scriptures, which was influential in the writing of

7569-420: Was too radical for James. The translators of the Geneva Bible had translated the word king as tyrant about four hundred times—the word tyrant does not appear once in the KJV. Because of this, it has been assumed King James purposely had the translators of the KJV translate the word tyrant as either "troubling", "oppressor", or some other word to avoid people being critical of his monarchy. James convened

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