The King James or The Authorized Version of the

Bible

A Short History of the BOOK in English up through the 17th Century

A Disclaimer

Timeline of The English Bible Translation

995: Anglo-Saxon (Early Roots of English Language) Translations of The New Testament Produced.

1384: Wycliffe is the First Person to Produce a (Hand-Written) manuscript Copy of the Complete Bible; All 80 Books.

1455: Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press; The First Book Ever Printed is Gutenberg's Bible in Latin.

1516: Erasmus Produces a Greek/Latin Parallel New Testament.

1522: Martin Luther's German New Testament.

1526: William Tyndale's New Testament; The First New Testament printed in the English Language.

1535: Myles Coverdale's Bible; The First Complete Bible printed in the English Language (80 Books: O.T. & N.T. & Apocrypha).

1537: Tyndale-Matthews Bible; The Second Complete Bible printed in English. Done by John "Thomas Matthew" Rogers (80 Books). 1539: The "Great Bible" Printed; The First English Language Bible Authorized for Public Use (80 Books). 1560: The Geneva Bible Printed; The First English Language Bible to add Numbered Verses to Each Chapter (80 Books). 1568: The Bishops Bible Printed; The Bible of which the King James was a Revision (80 Books). 1609: The Douay Old Testament is added to the Rheims New Testament (of 1582) Making the First Complete English Catholic Bible; Translated from the Latin Vulgate (80 Books). 1611: The King James Bible Printed; Originally with All 80 Books. The Apocrypha was Officially Removed in 1885 Leaving Only 66 Books. 1782: Robert Aitken's Bible; The First English Language Bible (KJV) Printed in America. 1791: Isaac Collins and Isaiah Thomas Respectively Produce the First Family Bible and First Illustrated Bible Printed in America. Both were King James Versions, with All 80 Books.

1808: Jane Aitken's Bible (Daughter of Robert Aitken); The First Bible to be Printed by a 1833: Noah Webster's Bible; After Producing his Famous Dictionary, Webster Printed his Own Revision of the King James Bible. 1841: English Hexapla New Testament; an Early Textual Comparison showing the Greek and 6 Famous English Translations in Parallel Columns. 1846: The Illuminated Bible; The Most Lavishly Illustrated Bible printed in America. A King James Version, with All 80 Books.1885 AD: The "English Revised Version" Bible; The First Major English Revision of the KJV. 1901: The "American Standard Version"; The First Major American Revision of the KJV. 1971: The "New American Standard Bible" (NASB) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Word for Word English Translation" of the Bible. 1973: The "New International Version" (NIV) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Phrase for Phrase English Translation" of the Bible. 1982: The "New King James Version" (NKJV) is Published as a "Modern English Version Maintaining the Original Style of the King James.” 2002: The English Standard Version (ESV) is Published as a translation to bridge the gap between the accuracy of the NASB and the readability of the NIV.

Consider the following textual comparison of the earliest English translations of John 3:16

1st Ed. King James (1611): "For God so loued the world, that he gaue his only begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life.”

Rheims (1582): "For so God loued the vvorld, that he gaue his only-begotten sonne: that euery one that beleeueth in him, perish not, but may haue life euerlasting”

Geneva (1560): "For God so loueth the world, that he hath geuen his only begotten Sonne: that none that beleue in him, should peryshe, but haue euerlasting lyfe.”

Great Bible (1539): "For God so loued the worlde, that he gaue his only begotten sonne, that whosoeuer beleueth in him, shulde not perisshe, but haue euerlasting lyfe.”

Tyndale (1534): "For God so loveth the worlde, that he hath geven his only sonne, that none that beleve in him, shuld perisshe: but shuld have everlastinge lyfe.”

Wycliff (1380): "for god loued so the world; that he gaf his oon bigetun sone, that eche man that bileueth in him perisch not: but haue euerlastynge liif,”

Anglo-Saxon Proto-English Manuscripts (995 AD): “God lufode middan-eard swa, dat he seade his an-cennedan sunu, dat nan ne forweorde de on hine gely ac habbe dat ece lif."

Anglo-Saxon Bible ca.990

The Wessex Gospels (also known as the West-Saxon Gospels) are a full translation of the four Gospels from the Latin text. Only seven manuscript copies survive.

The text of Mathew 6:9-13, the Lord’s Prayer, is as follows:

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum, si þin nama gehalgod. To becume þin rice, gewurþe ðin willa, on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg, and forgyf us ure gyltas, swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum. And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge, ac alys us of yfele. Soþlice.[1]

Wyciffe Bible 1384 The First English Manuscript of the Complete Bible with all 80 Books

William Tyndale, d 1536 New Testament 1526

Myles Coverdale 1488-1569 The First Complete Bible printed in the English Language (80

Books: O.T. & N.T. & Apocrypha) 1535

Matthew Bible The Second Complete Bible printed in English. Done by John "Thomas

Matthew" Rogers (80 Books) 1537

The Great or Cranmer’s Bible 1539 The First English Language Bible Authorized for Public Use (80 Books)

Geneva Bible 1560

The First English Language Bible to add Numbered Verses to Each Chapter

(80 Books).

Albion Geneva Bible Gift of Longstreet

The Bishop’s Bible Printed 1568 (80 Books)

Rheims / Douay Bible 1582 The First Complete English Catholic Bible

Timeline for the KJV

1601 - 16 May, a meeting of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland took place in the Parish Church of Burntisland, Fife, attended by King James VI of Scotland. It was at this meeting that the proposal to have a new translation of the Bible was first discussed.

1603 Accession of James 1 and VI.

Puritan petition with 1,000 signatures (millenary petition) presented to King James on route to London.

1604 (January) James assembled Hampton Court Conference on the future of the church and to consider the petition.

Puritan leader John Rainolds on the second day proposed a new translation of the Bible.

Appealed to James despite resistance of Bishops

The Plan for the KJV

James I and Richard Bancroft, Bishop of London, later to become Archbishop of Canterbury, drew up instructions for the translators which would ensure that the new version would conform to the theology of the Church of England.

Six Companies of Translators were established (54 translators):

The First Westminster Company, directed by Lancelot Andrewes (Dean of Westminster then Bishop of Chichester, then Ely, then Winchester; finally Dean of Chapel Royal), translated: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings and II Kings

The Plan continued

The First Cambridge Company, directed by Edward Lively (Regius Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge, prebendary at Peterborough then rector of Purleigh, Essex), translated: I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon

The First Oxford Company, directed by John Harding (Regius Professor of Hebrew, President, Magdalen College, Oxford then Rector of Halsey, Oxfordshire), translated: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai and Malachi

The Plan continued

The Second Cambridge Company, directed by John Duport (rector of Fulham, then precentor of St Paul's, Master of Jesus College, finally prebendary of Ely) translated:The Apocrypha

The Second Oxford Company, directed by Thomas Ravis (Dean of Christ Church then Bishop of Gloucester then London) translated:The Gospels, Acts of the Apostles and Revelation

The Second Westminster Company, directed by William Barlow (prebendary of Westminster, when Lancelot Andrewes was Dean, then Dean of Chester, Bishop of Rochester then Lincoln) translated:the New Testament Epistles

The Rules

There were 15 rules that the companies were charged to follow.

Later these were summarized to 8 rules.

The most important were probably:

1. The ordinary Bible read in the church, commonly called the Bishop’s Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the truth of the original will permit.

No marginal notes except for the explanation of the Hebrew or Greek words.

The translators were not being asked to create a new version of the Bible, but rather to revise the established version, removing any blemishes or inaccuracies.

These translations to be used when they agree better with the text than the Bishop’s Bible: Tyndale’s, Matthew’s, Coverdale’s Whitchurch’s, Geneva.

Timeline continue

1608 - the various sections were finished.

1610 - Meeting to discuss the translation at the Stationers Hall, City of London.

The Bishop of Gloucester, Miles Smith, wrote the Preface, which acknowledged the new translation's debt to its predecessors, but set out the hope that "out of many good ones" there would now be "one principal good one" used by everyone.

1611 - The King James Bible was published, despite considerable problems printing it.

He and She versions of first printing, etc.

The Albion College KJV 1st edition

Provenance A handwritten note from William R. Longstreet, the donor of this volume and of a great many of the other items in the College’s Historical Bible Collection, was found inserted into the middle of this Bible. It identifies this Bible as belonging to the second issue of the first edition of the King James Version, sometimes called “The Great ‘She’ Bible”, since Ruth 3:15 reads (correctly) and she went into the citie instead of the erroneous reading in the first issue of the first edition, which read and he went into the citie. This issue is also sometimes called the “Judas” Bible because in Matthew 26:36 it reads Judas instead of Jesus in the verse: Then cometh Judas with them into a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit yee here, while I goe and pray yonder. Curiously enough, an attempt has been made to erase the word Judas in this copy, but it can still be read. In a continuation of Longstreet’s note, he says: This Bible reached Saginaw from Manchester England in Early Summer 1941 during Second Great War. Longstreet.

Albion copy of 1st ed. cont.

William Longstreet also gave many other historic Bibles.

Including 2 second editions of KJV 1613

First quarto edition of KJV, a She version.

Remained uncataloged until 1990s.

The Frank Frick descriptive catalogue.

Catalogued to OCLC.

Condition is the issue.

Help Save Albion's 1st edition of the

KJV

Broken front board, electrician tape, lacks a title page

What can be done?

Do nothing.

• Leave these as they are and preserve in special boxes as we have done

Sell them.

• Individual pages are selling for $300 to $1,000

• Sell some to help restore others

Restore the 1611

• We have an estimate to restore of $6500 to $7000

A List of Useful Resources

1. Bloom, Harold. The Shadow of a Great Rock, A Literary Appreciation of the King James Bible. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.

2. Brake, Donald L. A Visual History of the English Bible, The Tumultuous Tale of the World’s Bestselling Book. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008.

3. Campbell, Gordon. Bible, The Story of the King James Version 1611-2011. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

4. Frick, Frank. [Descriptive catalog of selected items in the Albion College Bible Collection]

5. Hammond, Gerald. The Making of the English Bible. Manchester, Eng.: Carcanet New Press, 1982.

Thanks

Nicole Garrett, Albion College Archivist; who amidst a busy schedule provided assistance to this project

Marie Baxter, Scholar, Albion alumna, and Schleg Lecturer; thanks for her photographs

Marion Meilander, Coordinator Library Serials; thanks for her encouragement

Frank Frick, Professor of Religious Studies, deceased; whose work with the collection showed it value and importance as a resource