When the King James Bible of 1611 came off the printing press and was distributed, it would go on to transform countless lives, and reform governments and nations. Indeed, it became the most famous Bible translation in history, the words of which were used by William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, the composer Handel, and a host of other writers, artists, composers, politicians, statesmen, activists, and movers and shakers of world history.
When in 1604 King James authorized a new translation of the Bible into English, he aimed to reinstate his belief in the divine right of kings, and yet it would be this book that would cultivate a movement of democracy and human rights, which would eventually overturn the absolutism of our monarchs, bringing a fairer society. As the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, he had been born in Edinburgh castle. He would go on to become the first King of Scotland and England in the Union of Crowns in 1603, itself a significant milestone in our history, but his legacy of authorizing the Bible of 1611 would have global consequences
William Tyndale’s New Testament, which had been translated from the original Greek into English for the first time in 1526, caused such a stir. Copies had to be smuggled from the continent into England and Scotland because it was against the law to possess one. Those caught with copies could be imprisoned, have their properties confiscated, or even be executed. And yet some of these books evaded the vigilance of the soldiers; they were cherished and read out by Scots in their private homes before large audiences, causing God’s light to break out, bringing the Reformation. Soon after Tyndale had been martyred for his faith, King Henry VIII agreed to have an English Bible translated from the Greek. Now, instead of having no English Bible allowed, a number of translations emerged: Tyndale’s; Coverdale’s; Matthews’ (or Rogers’); the Great Bible; the Geneva Bible; and the Bishops’ Bible.
When it was decided in 1604 that there would be one official and unifying translation, a host of the best scholars of England were called in for the task. Of the 54 scholars summoned to translate the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew, many had suffered immensely for their faith during the Reformation, and they were determined to produce the most accurate and readable version they could. The army of translators was split into three groups, in six companies, in Cambridge, Oxford, and Westminster. A portion of the Bible was given to each of the six companies and each scholar had to translate it privately. After this the translations of each scholar in a company would be compared, discussed, and refined, before being sent off to the other companies for their cross-examination. Next, a select committee went carefully through the work again, and lastly two of their number were responsible for the final proof-reading before publication. Not all of them survived to see the final print-run, seven dying before then, but the undertaking was a mammoth task. It has been estimated that 83% of the King James New Testament agrees exactly with Tyndale’s translation, and 76% with his Old Testament version. The King James Bible has been described as ‘the most influential version of the most influential book in the world, in what is now its most influential language,’ and it has been hailed as ‘the most celebrated book in the English-speaking world’.
‘Sanctify them [set them apart] through thy truth: thy word is truth’ (John 17:17, KJV).
Image: King James Bible of 1611, Church of England, Public Domain, Wikipedia Free Commons