A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE



LECTURE #2

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE

The reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603) was coming to a close, a draft was made up for an act of Parliament for a new version of the Bible:

“An act for the reducing of diversities of bibles now extant in the English tongue to one settled vulgar translated from the original.”

Nothing ever became of this draft during the reign of Elizabeth, who died in 1603. She was succeeded by James I. James at that time was James VI of Scotland, and had been for 37 years.

James I (of England) (1566-1625), king of England (1603-25) and, as James VI, king of Scotland (1567-1625).

Born on June 19, 1566, in Edinburgh Castle, Scotland, James was the only son of Mary, queen of Scots, and her second husband, Lord Darnley. In 1586, by the Treaty of Berwick, James formed an alliance with his cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England, and the following year, after the execution of his mother, he succeeded in reducing the power of the great Roman Catholic nobles. His marriage to Anne of Denmark in 1589 brought him for a time into close relationship with the Protestants.

In 1603 Queen Elizabeth died childless, and James succeeded her as James I, the first Stuart king of England. His severity toward Roman Catholics, led to the abortive Gunpowder Plot in 1605.

The king rejoined that he:

Could never yet see a Bible well translated in English; but I think that, of all, that of Geneva is the worst. I wish some special pains were taken for an uniform translation, which should be done by the best learned men in both Universities, then reviewed by the Bishops, presented to the Privy council, lastly ratified by Royal authority, to be read in the whole Church, and none other.

The crowning product of English scholarship is unquestionably the Authorized, King James Version — a Bible –

1. CONCEIVED by The work of William Tyndale, (the first man to produce a Bible (66 Books in English).

2. DEVELOPED in the womb of the English Reformation for 86 years,

3. PERFECTED with the words of the great INTERNATIONAL, English language and

4. PROVED through its powerful witness in succeeding generations.

I. THE AUTHORIZED, KING JAMES VERSION — ITS HISTORICAL SETTING

William Tyndale's (the first man to translate the entire Bible into English) translation, and the revisions of his work which followed, received much opposition in England from the monarchy and the clergy. Nevertheless, the word of God (and the hunger of the English people for it) prevailed.

A. The Reign of King James I (1603-25 A.D)

James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was proclaimed King James VI of Scotland (as an infant) in 1567 A.D., and raised by the Scottish nobility as a Protestant king. His effective reign began in 1583 A.D.

Upon the death of Elizabeth he became King James I of England, thereby uniting the two realms for the first time.

As a child, James had received instruction in several languages, and was a student of the Bible. He had translated the Psalms and paraphrased The Revelation.

King James was confronted with two religious parties — the Episcopalians and the Puritans — each seeking to dominate the course of the English reformation.

Though raised in Presbyterian Scotland, James preferred the episcopal notion of the “divine right of kings,” a dogma (“No bishop — no king!”) based on Scripture such as Proverbs 16:10. For this reason he despised the Geneva Bible with its republican notes (e.g. a note at Exodus 1:19 commended the Hebrew midwives for their disobedience to Pharaoh).

But it was this conflict between the two religious parties which providentially led to the publication of the King James Version.

B. The Hampton Court Conference

1. Proclaimed by King James, to settle (as he saw it) “things pretended to be amiss in the Church.”

2. Held at Hampton Court (London), January 14-18, 1604 A.D.

3. The members:

a. Four Puritans — chosen by the king.

b. Nine bishops

c. Nine clergymen,

d. Four professors from Cambridge and Oxford. (This conference was “stacked” against the Puritans.)

4. Dr. John Reynolds (1549-1607 A.D.) was the main speaker on behalf of the beleaguered Puritans.

C. The Royal Appointment.

1. July 22, 1604. King James announced he had selected 54 men to translate the new Bible.

2. The main qualification required of these men was that they had "taken pains in their private study of the Scriptures." i.e. that each was a proven Biblical scholar.

3. The work of translation formally began in 1607.

D. Jesuit Attempts To Destroy The Translation.

In 1605 A.D. a Jesuit plot to assassinate the King by blowing up the House of Lords on its opening was uncovered. Eight men, including the traitor Guy Fawkes were captured and executed.

E. The Method of Translation.

1. Of the 54 men chosen for the work, only 47 are positively known. Some died and others may have resigned before the work was completed.

2. The men were divided into six companies—

2 at Westminster,

2 at Oxford,

2 at Cambridge. (Note: Not every man was present all the time.)

3. Each member of a company made his own translation first.

4. The members of each company met to compare one another's work, reading passages out loud while comparing written notes.

5. When each group completed a Book, it was sent to the other 5 groups for their independent assessment.

6. When the complete Bible was translated, it came before a select committee of 12 men, 2 from each company. In 1609 A.D. this group met daily for 9 months at the Stationer's Hall in London. They acted as a “referral committee” in areas of difficulty or disputed passages.

7. Finally, the entire work was assembled and “polished” by a publication committee of two men, before being sent to the Royal Printer.

By this method, each passage in the translation was independently scrutinized a minimum of 14 times!

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