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Form analysis 5 forms found in the DOM
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<optgroup label="Afrikaans - (AF)">
<option value="afri">Afrikaans 1953</option>
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<option value="albanian">Albanian</option>
</optgroup>
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<option value="am_amh">መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ</option>
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<option value="chinese_union_simp">Chinese Union (Simplified)</option>
<option value="chinese_union_trad">Chinese Union (Traditional)</option>
<option value="chinese_union_simp_s">Chinese Union Version 和合本 - Simplified with Strong's numbers 简体中文版连史特朗经文滙篇</option>
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<option value="ckjv_sdt">中文英皇欽定本上帝版 Chinese KJV (Traditional) Shang-Di 繁體中文</option>
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<option value="asv">American Standard Version</option>
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<option value="kjv" selected="selected">Authorized King James Version</option>
<option value="bishops">Bishops Bible</option>
<option value="coverdale">Coverdale Bible</option>
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<option value="hcv">Haitian Creole Version</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Hausa - (HA)">
<option value="ha_con">Biblica® Buɗaɗɗen Littafi Mai Tsarki, Sabon Rai Don Kowa™</option>
<option value="ha_lit">Litafi Mai-tsarki</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Hebrew - (HE)">
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<option value="he_modern">תנ ך עברי מודרני</option>
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<option value="irv">Indian Revised Version</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Hungarian - (HU)">
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</optgroup>
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<option value="indo_tb">Terjemahan Baru</option>
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<option value="lv_gluck_8">Glück 8th edition</option>
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<option value="lt_heritage">Tikinčiųjų Paveldo Vertimas</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Maori - (MI)">
<option value="maori">Maori Bible</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Marathi - (MR)">
<option value="mr_irv">इंडियन रीवाइज्ड वर्जन (IRV) - मराठी</option>
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<option value="ne_ulb">अनलक शाब्दिक बाइबल</option>
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<option value="opt">Old Persian Translation</option>
</optgroup>
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<option value="pol_nbg">NOWEJ BIBLII GDANSKIEJ</option>
<option value="polbg">Polska Biblia Gdanska</option>
<option value="pol_ubg">Uwspółcześniona Biblia Gdańska</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Portuguese - (PT)">
<option value="blivre">Biblia Livre</option>
<option value="almeida_ra">Tradução de João Ferreira de Almeida (Versão Revista e Atualizada)</option>
<option value="almeida_rc">Tradução de João Ferreira de Almeida Revista e Corrigida.</option>
</optgroup>
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<option value="pa_irv">ਇੰਡਿਅਨ ਰਿਵਾਇਜ਼ਡ ਵਰਜ਼ਨ (IRV) - ਪੰਜਾਬੀ</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Romanian - (RO)">
<option value="cornilescu">Cornilescu</option>
<option value="fidela">Fidela Biblia în limba română</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Russian - (RU)">
<option value="synodal">Synodal</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Somali - (SO)">
<option value="so_jimale">Kitaabka Quduuska Ah Adan Jim'ale</option>
</optgroup>
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<option value="rv_1858">Reina Valera 1858 NT</option>
<option value="rv_1909">Reina Valera 1909</option>
<option value="rvg">Reina Valera Gómez</option>
<option value="rv_1909_strongs">Reina-Valera 1909 w/Strong's</option>
<option value="sagradas">Sagradas Escrituras</option>
</optgroup>
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<option value="swahili">Swahili NT</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Tagalog - (TL)">
<option value="tagab">Tagalog Ang Biblia</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Tajik - (TG)">
<option value="tg_tgk">Части Библии в таджикском языке Таджикистан</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Tamil - (TA)">
<option value="ta_irv">இண்டியன் ரிவைஸ்டு வெர்ஸன்</option>
<option value="ta_oitce">திறந்தநிலை தமிழ் சமகால பதிப்பு</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Telugu - (TE)">
<option value="te_irv">ఇండియన్ రివైజ్డ్ వెర్షన్ (IRV) - తెలుగు</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Thai - (TH)">
<option value="thaikjv">Thai KJV</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Tibetan - (BO)">
<option value="bo_ntb">དམ་པའི་གསུང་རབ་བོད་འགྱུར་གསར་མ།</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Turkish - (TR)">
<option value="turkish">Turkish</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Uighur, Uyghur - (UG)">
<option value="ug_ara">مۇقېددېس كالام (يەنگى يېزىق )</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Urdu - (UR)">
<option value="ur_geo">کتابِ مقدّس</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Vietnamese - (VI)">
<option value="cadman">Vietnamese Cadman</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Wolof - (WO)">
<option value="wo_kyg">Kàddug Yàlla gi</option>
<option value="wo_wol_nt_2010">Téereb Injiil</option>
</optgroup>
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</form>Text Content
* Home
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* Genesis
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* Poetry and Praise
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* User Submitted
* Submit Prayer
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* Blog
Menu
* Home
* Bible
* Bible Search
* Bible Navigator
* Offline Bible – KJV 1769
* Genesis
* Exodus
* Faith
* Daily Devotion by Max Lucado
* Poetry and Praise
* Faith, Love & Family
* Faith In Jesus
* Questions
* Resources
* Prayer
* Gratitude
* Healing
* Protection
* Self
* Strength
* User Submitted
* Submit Prayer
* Daily Bible Reading Plan
* Blog
* Home
* Bible
* Bible Search
* Bible Navigator
* Offline Bible – KJV 1769
* Genesis
* Exodus
* Faith
* Daily Devotion by Max Lucado
* Poetry and Praise
* Faith, Love & Family
* Faith In Jesus
* Questions
* Resources
* Prayer
* Gratitude
* Healing
* Protection
* Self
* Strength
* User Submitted
* Submit Prayer
* Daily Bible Reading Plan
* Blog
Menu
* Home
* Bible
* Bible Search
* Bible Navigator
* Offline Bible – KJV 1769
* Genesis
* Exodus
* Faith
* Daily Devotion by Max Lucado
* Poetry and Praise
* Faith, Love & Family
* Faith In Jesus
* Questions
* Resources
* Prayer
* Gratitude
* Healing
* Protection
* Self
* Strength
* User Submitted
* Submit Prayer
* Daily Bible Reading Plan
* Blog
THE ALMIGHTY JEHOVAH
AUTHORIZED KING JAMES BIBLE
PROVERB OF THE DAY
[WPCODE ID="3108"]
"All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a
continual feast."
—Proverbs 15:15
Afrikaans 1953Albanianመጽሐፍ ቅዱስSmith Van Dykeইন্ডিয়ান রিভাইজড ভার্সন (IRV) -
বেঙ্গলীမြန်မာကျမ်းစာ Judson 1840Chinese Union (Simplified)Chinese Union
(Traditional)Chinese Union Version 和合本 - Simplified with Strong's numbers
简体中文版连史特朗经文滙篇Chinese Union Version 和合本 - Traditional with Strong's numbers
繁體中文版連史特朗經文滙篇中文英皇欽定本上帝版 Chinese KJV (Traditional) Shang-Di 繁體中文中文英皇钦定本上帝版
Chinese KJV (Simplified) Shang-Di 简体中文Bible KralickaStaten VertalingAmerican
Standard VersionAmerican Standard Version w Strong'sAuthorized King James
VersionBishops BibleCoverdale BibleGeneva BibleKJV with StrongsNET Bible®Tyndale
BibleWorld English BibleFinnish 1776 (Finnish)La Bible de l'ÉpéeLouis Segond
1910MartinOstervaldElberfelder (1871)Elberfelder (1905)Luther BibleLuther Bible
(1912)Schlachter BibelTextus Receptus NTTextus Receptus Parsed NTઇન્ડિયન
રીવાઇઝ્ડ વર્ઝન (IRV) ગુજરાતીHaitian Creole VersionBiblica® Buɗaɗɗen Littafi Mai
Tsarki, Sabon Rai Don Kowa™Litafi Mai-tsarkiWLCתנ ך עברי מודרניIndian Revised
VersionKaroliTerjemahan BaruTerjemahan LamaDiodatiBungo-yaku: Taisho-kaiyaku
(NT) (1950), Meiji-yaku (OT) (1953)Kougo-yakuKitab sutyi prejanjian anyar ing
Basa Jawa Suriname sing gampangKannada KJVಇಂಡಿಯನ್ ರಿವೈಜ್ಡ್ ವರ್ಸನ್ (IRV) -
ಕನ್ನಡKoreanGlück 8th editionLithuanian BibleTikinčiųjų Paveldo VertimasMaori
Bibleइंडियन रीवाइज्ड वर्जन (IRV) - मराठीअनलक शाब्दिक बाइबलOld Persian
TranslationNOWEJ BIBLII GDANSKIEJPolska Biblia GdanskaUwspółcześniona Biblia
GdańskaBiblia LivreTradução de João Ferreira de Almeida (Versão Revista e
Atualizada)Tradução de João Ferreira de Almeida Revista e Corrigida.ਇੰਡਿਅਨ
ਰਿਵਾਇਜ਼ਡ ਵਰਜ਼ਨ (IRV) - ਪੰਜਾਬੀCornilescuFidela Biblia în limba
românăSynodalKitaabka Quduuska Ah Adan Jim'aleReina Valera 1858 NTReina Valera
1909Reina Valera GómezReina-Valera 1909 w/Strong'sSagradas EscriturasSwahili
NTTagalog Ang BibliaЧасти Библии в таджикском языке Таджикистанஇண்டியன் ரிவைஸ்டு
வெர்ஸன்திறந்தநிலை தமிழ் சமகால பதிப்புఇండియన్ రివైజ్డ్ వెర్షన్ (IRV) - తెలుగుThai
KJVདམ་པའི་གསུང་རབ་བོད་འགྱུར་གསར་མ།Turkishمۇقېددېس كالام (يەنگى يېزىق
)کتابِ مقدّسVietnamese CadmanKàddug Yàlla giTéereb Injiil
OLD TESTAMENT
* Genesis
* Exodus
* Leviticus
* Numbers
* Deuteronomy
* Joshua
* Judges
* Ruth
* 1 Samuel
* 2 Samuel
* 1 Kings
* 2 Kings
* 1 Chronicles
* 2 Chronicles
* Ezra
* Nehemiah
* Esther
* Job
* Psalms
* Proverbs
* Ecclesiastes
* Song Of Solomon
* Isaiah
* Jeremiah
* Lamentations
* Ezekiel
* Daniel
* Hosea
* Joel
* Amos
* Obadiah
* Jonah
* Micah
* Nahum
* Habakkuk
* Zephaniah
* Haggai
* Zechariah
* Malachi
NEW TESTAMENT
* Matthew
* Mark
* Luke
* John
* Acts
* Romans
* 1 Corinthians
* 2 Corinthians
* Galatians
* Ephesians
* Philippians
* Colossians
* 1 Thessalonians
* 2 Thessalonians
* 1 Timothy
* 2 Timothy
* Titus
* Philemon
* Hebrews
* James
* 1 Peter
* 2 Peter
* 1 John
* 2 John
* 3 John
* Jude
* Revelation
First name
Email
Devotions by Max Lucado
Poetry and Praise
Faith, Love & Family
I accept the privacy policy
Welcome to The Almighty Jehovah, an Authorized King James Bible website, your
comprehensive resource for accessing all books, chapters, and verses of the
renowned KJV Bible. Our platform is dedicated to providing a user-friendly
experience for individuals seeking to explore the profound wisdom and teachings
contained within this sacred text.
Here, you will find a complete collection of all books, chapters, and verses of
the Authorized King James Bible. Whether you are studying a particular passage
or embarking on a comprehensive exploration of the scriptures, our website
ensures that you have easy access to every aspect of this timeless masterpiece.
In addition to providing the written text of the KJV Bible, we also offer an
enriching audio experience for those who prefer to engage with scripture through
listening. Our bible study audio feature allows you to immerse yourself in the
teachings while going about your daily activities or during focused study
sessions.
We believe that everyone should have access to this treasured source of
spiritual guidance and inspiration. Our mission is to provide a reliable and
accessible platform where individuals can delve into all aspects of the
Authorized King James Bible’s content – from its individual books and chapters
down to every single verse.
THE KING JAMES BIBLE (AV – AUTHORIZED VERSION)
For nearly 2000 years the Bible has remained the most controversial and
contested book of all times. While we, in our modern world, take for granted the
abundance of Bibles and Bible translations, there was a time when men or women
who dared to handle, possess, yes, even read, this sacred Book that, if they
were found out, it would cost them there very life.
Since the crucifixion of Christ, for whom the Gospel record was set forth, it
can be said that the Bible has become the most blood stained book in all of
history.
Men have fought for it; been burned at the stake for it. Believers have been
(and continue to be) imprisoned, beaten, buried alive and killed, just for
reading it. Others have had their bones disinterred, and for faith in the Word
of God and propagating it have been accursed to damnation and eternal fire by
the Roman Catholic Church.
Bible believing Christians have suffered all this and more for daring to share
the powerful words of the Holy Scriptures to a lost and dying world.
Through the centuries there have always been those who, for the love of the
lost, desired to share the life changing Gospel Message and yet there are others
who are determined to destroy that message. Yet, for those who believe, the
Light of God’s Word shines through, even in the darkest of times. (This is an
adaptation of the introduction by Chris Pinto in the documentary A Lamp In The
Dark: The Untold Story of the Bible by www.adullamfilms.com)
THIS IS THE STORY OF OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
John Wycliffe – (about 1320 to December 31, 1384)
The Acts of the Apostles records the birth and spread of the Christian faith in
the first century. At a very early period, likely before the end of the first,
or the beginning of the second century, the books of the New Testament had been
collected into one volume. The New Testament was then repeatedly hand copied and
carried by Christians wherever they went. In fact, for the first five or six
centuries the Bible, and particularly the New Testament, was translated into
various languages. But,
the Church of Rome increasingly usurped the autonomy of the local churches and
dominated the realm of Christendom. With the growth and consolidation of popish
power, the Bible, in the language of the people, declined in importance while
the opinions and judgments of the prelates and priests of Rome became “the law.”
The Bible went from being available in numerous different languages to just one
language, Latin. Why? It was because “the aim of the Romish prelacy was no less,
than the entire monopoly of all ecclesiastical and secular rule” (The English
Bible – History of the Translation of the Holy Scriptures Into the English
Tongue by H. C. Conant; 1856; p.15). The Roman Church intended to rule the
secular and sacred world. In order to accomplish that goal, Rome had to
consolidate her power.
Since knowledge is the vital element of power, the control of knowledge was
paramount. Knowledge of the Word of God, leads to freedom. Our Lord said, “ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32. Therefore,
the Bible had to be taken away from the people, if they were to be controlled.
So, “instead of God’s Word, man’s word was set up. Instead of Christ’s
Testament, the pope’s testament, that is, Canon law” was substituted (The
Ecclesiastical History: Containing The Acts and Monuments…1641 Edition; by John
Foxe, Volume 2, Book 7, p.56).
Gradually, access to biblical knowledge (and secular knowledge for that matter)
was withdrawn from the people and wholly held in the greedy, bloody hands of the
Roman Catholic establishment. Slowly but surely the Bible, in the language of
the people, was taken away. The light of the Word of God was virtually
extinguished all over the Roman dominated world, including Britain. Here is but
one example of the distressing state of biblical knowledge.
“In 1353, three or four young Irish priests came over to England to study
divinity; but were obligated to return home because not a copy of the Bible was
to be found at Oxford.” (The English Bible: History of the Translation of the
Holy Scriptures Into The English Tongue; by H. C. Conant; 1856; p.45). So, how
did the Catholic ecclesiastical establishment view this sad state of affairs?
“It has frequently been made the subject of praise to the papal clergy, that
they alone were the depositaries of learning, at a period when all other classes
of society were sunk into ignorance and barbarism.” (Ibid. p.15)
That is a travesty! If the Roman priesthood would have encouraged and
facilitated the spreading of Bible and secular knowledge it would have been an
age of light! But, instead they hid the light of knowledge within their
cloisters, and history now records this period as “The Dark Ages.” When the
Bible was taken away from the common people, “they lost the charter of their
rights as men.” (Ibid. p.16). As time went on the people became the mere tools
and bond-slaves of the priesthood. They became “the rabble, the vulgar herd, the
mob, to be used or abused without limits or mercy, for the benefit of their
masters.” (Ibid. p.16).
J. C. RYLE CHARACTERIZES THE STATE OF ENGLISH CHRISTIANITY THIS WAY –
“The three centuries immediately preceding our English Reformation…were probably
the darkest period in the history of English Christianity. It was a period when
the Church of this land was thoroughly, entirely, and completely Roman Catholic
– when the Bishop of Rome was the spiritual head of the Church – when Romanism
reined supreme form the Isle of Wright to Berwick-on-Tweed, and from the Land’s
End to the North Foreland, and ministers and people were all alike Papists.
It is no exaggeration to say that for these three centuries before the
Reformation, Christianity in England seems to have been buried under a mass of
ignorance, superstition, priestcraft, and immorality. The likeness between the
religion of this period and that of the apostolic age was so small, that if St.
Paul had risen from the dead he would hardly have called it Christianity at
all.” (Light From Old Times of Protestant Facts and Men; by J. C. Ryle; first
published in 1890; p. 22)
It is into this sad state of affairs that God raised up a man named John
Wycliffe, commonly called “the Morning Star of the Reformation.”
Wycliffe Manuscript New Testament – 1380
Wycliffe Manuscript Old and New Testament – 1382
John Purvy revised Wycliffe’s Bible – 1388
“To Wyclif we owe, more than to any one person who can be mentioned, our English
language, our English Bible, and our reformed religion.” (Professor Montagu
Burrows 1881 lecture series).
He is right. John de Wycliffe was born in the early 1330’s in a small English
village called Wycliffe-on-Tees in Yorkshire, England. “Roman Catholicism was
the religion of the day, and Wycliffe was steeped in its teachings.” (Zion’s
Fire Magazine; March/April, 1991 – Special Edition; p.8). He was educated at
Oxford’s colleges.
He began at Balliol College in 1356 and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at
Merton College. He received his Doctor of Theology degree in 1372. His studies,
typical of medieval scholars, were rooted soundly in Latin. In fact, he became a
Latin scholar. He also served as Master (head teacher) of Balliol College and
Warden (administrative head) of Canterbury Hall.
How were Wycliffe’s Catholic views changed so drastically that he has been
called “The First Protestant” and “The Morning Star of the Reformation”? The
answer is really very simple. He began to diligently study the Bible.
“Wycliffe first denounced the corrupt practices and then the corrupt doctrines
of Romanism leading to those practices.” (History of the Church of God from the
Creation to A.D. 1885 by Cushing Biggs Hassell; p.457). He began preaching,
teaching and writing against the unbiblical doctrines and practices of Roman
Catholicism when he was about 35 to 37 years old.
Wycliffe exposed the errors of transubstantiation, sacramentalism, purgatory,
indulgences, tradition being equal in authority with the Scriptures, the papacy,
infant baptism, praying to the saints, and many other false teaching of Roman
Catholicism. That is why he is called the “Morning Star” of the Reformation
because he believed, taught, wrote and preached doctrines that were not advanced
until 100 years later by the Reformers.
By 1371 he was recognized as the leading theologian and philosopher of the day,
second to none in all of Europe. In point of fact, “the splendour of Wyclif’s
talents, learning and character attracted hosts of students, said to be thirty
thousand, who imbibed his opinions. They made him the hero and idol of the
University.
He was awarded the honorable title of ‘The Gospel Doctor.’ To the intense
chagrin of the ecclesiastics, he was elected and installed its Professor of
Divinity.” (Fighters & Martyrs for the Freedom of Faith by Luke S. Walmsley;
1912; p.28) In 1372 he began a series of lectures as a part of the divinity
course at Oxford. It was not long before the lecture hall was filled to
overflowing.
Many men came to Oxford to sit under his teaching and later followed him to the
Lutterworth parish church. Others like Czech Reformer and martyr John Hus
(martyred July 6, 1415) and Bohemian Reformer and martyr Jerome of Prague
(martyred in 1416) were greatly influenced by Wycliffe’s writings.
“Wycliffe became convinced that everyone had the right and duty to read the
Scriptures in their own language – and that only the Word of God could break the
bondage of Romanism which enslaved the people.” (Zion’s Fire Magazine;
March/April, 1991 – Special Edition; p.8).
HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WYCLIFFE SAID ABOUT THE BIBLE –
* The sacred Scripture [is] to be the property of the people, and one which no
party should be allowed to wrest from them.”
* The priests declare it to be heresy to speak of the Holy Scriptures in
English, such a charge is a condemnation of the Holy Ghost, who first gave
the Scriptures in tongues to the Apostles of Christ, to speak the word in all
languages that were ordained of God under heaven.
* “Those Heretics who pretend that the laity need not know God’s law but that
the knowledge which priests have had imparted to them by word of mouth is
sufficient, do not deserve to be listened to. For Holy Scriptures is the
faith of the Church, and the more widely its true meaning becomes known the
better it will be. Therefore since the laity should know the faith, it should
be taught in whatever language is most easily comprehended…Christ and His
apostles taught the people in the language best known to them.”
With the help of his personal secretary, John Purvey, and likely others,
Wycliffe translated the New Testament from Latin into Middle English in 1380 and
the first English manuscript New Testament appeared. Two years later (1382),
again with the help of Nicholas of Herford and John Purvey the Old Testament was
completed and the entire hand-scribed Bible was issued. The people loved the
Wycliffe translation. For the first time the English people had an opportunity
of reading the Bible in their own language. Up until this time, the Bible had
been a closed book to them.
“The arrival of a Bible in the English tongue was not embraced by all. The
English Catholic Church’s opposition to a vernacular translation was
predictable. The authority of the priests rested solely in the Church. The
Church’s grasp on the laity depended on biblical ignorance. Therefore, they
vehemently opposed Wycliffe’s translation. Any free use of the Bible in worship
and thought signaled a deep threat to the Church’s authority.” (The New
Testament in English – Translated by John Wycliffe – First Exact Facsimile with
introduction by Donald L. Brake; p. xvii)
The English Catholic Church pressured the English Parliament to action. In 1381
A.D. “the English Parliament passed the first English statute against heresy,
enjoining arrest, trial and imprisonment.” (History of the Church of God from
the Creation to A.D. 1885; by Cushing Biggs Hassell; p. 459). Soon after this
law was enacted Archbishop Courtney gathered 47 Bishops, monks and religious
doctors to examine (try for heresy) Wycliffe’s teachings in May of 1382. They
judged 10 of his teachings as heresy and 16 others were ruled erroneous and
ruled that his writings were forbidden to be read in England.
The King called for the imprisonment of all who believed the condemned doctrines
and teachings of Wycliffe. When the ruling was made “a powerful earthquake shook
the city. Huge stones fell out of castle walls and pinnacles toppled.” (Rome and
the Bible; by David W. Cloud; Way of Life Literature; p. 57) David Fountain
reports, “Wycliffe called it a judgment of God and afterwards described the
gathering as the Earthquake Council.” (John Wycliffe: The Dawn of The
Reformation; David Guy Fountain; Mayflower Christians Books; 1984; p. 39)
John Wycliffe was at odds with the Roman Catholic Church nearly all of his life,
but in spite of that he was never excommunicated nor did he leave the Roman
Catholic Church. In fact, he suffered his fatal stroke while conducting Mass at
Lutterworth. He was carried out the door and taken to his parsonage and died at
home in bed on New Year’s Eve 1384 A.D. He was buried in the Lutterworth church
yard soon after. But that was not the end for John Wycliffe.
The English Catholic Church wanted to stamp out the influence Wycliffe had even
after his death. You can see the animosity by reading what Archbishop Arundel
wrote to the Pope in 1411: “This pestilent and wretched John Wyclif, of cursed
memory, that sone of the old serpant…endeavored by doctrine of Holy Church,
devising – to fill up the measure of his malice – the expedient of a new
translation of the Scriptures into the mother tongue”. (The Wycliffite Versions
– The Cambridge History of the Bible; by Henry Hargreaves; Cambridge University
Press – 1969)
Thirty years after Wycliffe’s death the Roman Church finally took official
action at the Council of Constance in 1415. They burned Wycliffe’s disciple,
John Hus, at the stake and condemned John Wycliffe on 260 different counts. They
ordered that his bones be exhumed from the consecrated ground and burned.
Thirteen years after the council, 44 years after Wycliffe’s death his bones were
exhumed and burned along with all the Bibles and books they could find authored
by him. His ashes were thrown into the river Swift.
The Church of Rome thought this would stamp out his influence and stand as a
warning to any future would-be “heretics”. But, as noted historian Thomas Fuller
put it – “They burnt his bones to ashes and cast them into the Swift. This brook
(Swift) has conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the
narrow seas, they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the
emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over.” (Baptist
History: From the Foundation of the Christian Church to the Present Time; by J.
M. Cramp; Elliot Stock – London; 1871; p.98).
WYCLIFFE LIT THE FIRE THAT SPREAD REFORMATION DOCTRINE THROUGHOUT EUROPE
There were three major events which made it possible for the Dark Ages to be
shattered by the light of the Bible to shine throughout the European Continent
and then spread to England. First, Johan Gensfleisch zum Gutenberg invented
moveable type to be used with the printing press.
The second event was the downfall of Constantinople to the Muslims in 1454. The
result was that many Greek scholars had to flee to Europe with their precious
manuscripts, including their Greek New Testament manuscripts. Many of them took
positions in the great European universities and there was a renaissance of
ancient learning, including the teaching of the Greek language. When combined
with the invention of the moveable type printing press, this multiplied the
availability of books.
The third and final event that facilitated releasing the vice grip grasp of the
Roman Church on the world was Erasmus Desiderius Roterodamus’ collecting New
Testament manuscripts and for the first time ever, publishing all 27 of the New
Testament manuscripts in one book in 1516.
In one column is the Greek New Testament text accompanied by Erasmus’ own new
Latin translation, and then this was followed by Erasmus’ notes, giving his
comments on the text. His translation of the Greek into Latin showed just how
corrupt that Latin Vulgate really was. Between the years 1516 and 1535 Erasmus
published five editions of the Greek New Testament.
IT IS FROM ERASMUS’ 1522 GREEK NEW TESTAMENT THAT WILLIAM TYNDALE PRODUCED THE
FIRST PRINTED BIBLE IN ENGLISH.
The Bibles of the Martyrs
William Tyndale – (1492 – Martyred October 6, 1536)
The Cologne Fragment – 1525
First Edition Tyndale New Testament – 1526
Second Revised & Corrected Tyndale New Testament Edition – 1534
Tyndale was born sometime in the 1490’s, probably 1492 or 93. The family
sometimes went by the last name Hutchins as well. In 1512 he entered Oxford. By
1515 he had earned his M.A. He then transferred to Cambridge University for a
time.
It is at Cambridge that he likely picked up his Protestant convictions because
the teachings of Luther were prevalent at Cambridge in the early 1520’s. It
should be noted that Tyndale was a brilliant student. He had mastered seven
languages — Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French and English.
It was said that he spoke each language so fluently that a person was unable to
tell that it was not his mother tongue. In addition, he had a working knowledge
of German which allowed him to translate and interpret the writings of Martin
Luther. In 1521 he left Cambridge and served through 1523 as chaplain and tutor
in the house of Sir John Walsh at Little Sodbury.
Sir John was a man of importance and kept “open house for the abbots and
doctors, who were glad for the entertainment and table discussions”. At one such
occasion Tyndale said to a church official “I defy the Pope and all his laws; if
God spares my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough
shall know more of the Scriptures than thou doest”.
Soon after this encounter Tyndale felt compelled to leave Little Sodbury Manor.
He went to London desiring to try to get ecclesiastical approval from the Bishop
of London, Cuthbert Tunstall, to translate the Bible from Greek into English. It
soon became evident that permission would not be forthcoming. But what Tyndale
did get was backing from Humphrey Manmoth and other merchants to start his
translation work. In 1524 Tyndale sailed for Germany, never to see England
again.
In Hamburg he worked on the New Testament which was ready to be printed the next
year. He found a printer in Cologne. As the pages of Matthew and Mark (most
likely) began to come off the press Tyndale was warned that a raid had been
planned by Johann Dobneck (alias Cochlaeus). Dobneck was a lead opponent of the
Reformation.
Tyndale fled out the back door with the pages that had been printed, just as the
authorities were coming in the front door. These partial New Testaments were
smuggled into England and distributed. Only one 1525 Gospel portion is known to
exist today.
Tyndale moved to Worms to continue his printing. It was a more reformed-minded
city. In 1526 he printed 3,000 (some say 6,000) of these complete New
Testaments. And yet, only two complete Bibles survived and one partial copy
owned by St. Paul’s. The second complete copy was just discovered in November of
1996 in Stuttgart, Germany.
One reason so few survived was because Bishop Tunstall made arrangements to buy
all of them he could get his hands on. He paid top dollar. In 1526 he preached
against the translation and had great numbers of them ceremoniously burned at
St. Paul’s Cross in London.
Tyndale moved to Antwerp, Belgium around 1527 and published several books. In
1530 he published the Pentateuch. In 1531 he published Jonah in pamphlet form.
Between 1530 and 1535 he translated Joshua to 2 Chronicles, but they were not
published until after his death. Finally, in 1534 Tyndale published his revised
edition and they were smuggled into England.
By 1535 orders had been given to hunt down Tyndale and stop him. Several
Englishmen were about that task. It was the devious Henry Phillips who found
Tyndale and set the trap. On about May 21, 1535 two soldiers seized Tyndale as
he left the home of Thomas Poyntz, Tyndale’s friend.
He was imprisoned in the dungeon of the Castle of Vilvoorde which was located
six miles north of Brussels, Belgium. There he was kept for 18 months until
everything was set for his trial. A long list of charges had been drawn up
against him. Here are just of few of the “heresies” he was charged with:
1. He maintained that faith alone justifies.
2. He maintained that to believe in the forgiveness of sins, and to embrace the
mercy offered in the gospel, was enough for salvation.
3. He denied that there is any purgatory.
4. He affirmed that neither the Virgin nor the Saints pray for us in their own
person.
5. He asserted that neither the Virgin nor the Saints should be invoked by us.
Tyndale was condemned as an heretic early in August, 1536. A few days later,
with great pageantry and pomp he was cast out of the Church, defrocked from the
priesthood and turned over to the state for punishment. For some strange reason
he was returned to Vilvoorde Castle for another two months. Finally, early on
the morning of October 6, 1536 Tyndale was led to the stake. His feet were bound
tightly to the stake. He was chained at the waist.
A noose of hemp was threaded through the stake and placed around Tyndale’s neck.
The crowd grew silent. Then, with a loud voice Tyndale prayed, “Lord, open the
King of England’s eyes.” The executioner then snapped down on the noose and
strangled him and then he was burned to ashes.
It should be noted that God did answer Tyndale’s prayer for within a year
afterwards; a Bible was placed in every parish church by the King’s command.
Myles Coverdale (1488-1569)
1535 – Coverdale Bible: The First Complete
Printed English Bible
1537 – Coverdale Revised Edition
Myles Coverdale was born in 1488 probably in “the district of Coverdale in
Richmondshire, from which district it is probable that his family took their
name”. He received his education in the Priory of the Augustines at Cambridge,
of which the celebrated Dr. Barnes was the head.
John Bale (1548) said of Coverdale: “Under the mastership of Robert Barnes he
drank in good learning with a burning thirst. He was a young man of a friendly
and upright nature and a very gentle spirit. He was one of the first to make a
pure profession of Christ…[and] he gave himself wholly to the propagating of the
truth of Jesus Christ’s gospel…”
On three occasions Coverdale had to flee from England because of his Reformation
views. On the first occasion when he left England during the latter part of the
reign of Henry VIII he became acquainted with Tyndale and assisted him in his
translation work. During that absence he began working on his own translation of
the Bible.
Like Wycliffe’s, Coverdale’s version was a translation of a translation. He
“translated from St. Jerome’s fourth-century Latin version, known as the
Vulgate.” He also used Luther’s German Bible and took much of his English
phraseology from Wycliffe and Tyndale.
Coverdale was not so much a translator as a careful editor and compiler. He knew
how to select, modify and use the materials which were at hand, so as to produce
a Bible which would satisfy the people and the Ecclesiastics. Hence, while
William Tyndale was in the Belgian prison, a year before his execution, a Bible
containing both Old and New Testaments was printed either in Zurich or at
Antwerp, bearing the date October 4, 1535, suddenly appeared in England.
It was the Coverdale Bible. It contained notes, but little, if any, contentious
matter. In the introduction Coverdale declared that he “had not changed so much
as one word for the benefit of any sect, but had with a clear conscience purely
and faithfully translated out of the foregoing interpreters, having only before
his eyes the manifest truth of Scripture.” Two things are to be noted about this
Bible. It was the first edition of the entire Bible that was printed in English.
Secondly, Coverdale’s English translation was in one column and the Erasmus
Latin translation was in the other.
The 2nd Edition (1537) was published “with the King’s most gracious license” and
therefore was actually the answer to William Tyndale’s last prayer, “Lord, open
the King of England’s eyes” that had been uttered a year earlier.
Coverdale did not have the learning and the resourcefulness of Tyndale and he
knew it; however, he saw the opportunity and the need and put forth his best
effort. He was a noble man. Though he was not martyred, three times he had to
flee for his life. Three times they confiscated everything he owned. Three times
he gave up everything he had for the Bible and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. He
died in February of 1569 and was buried in St. Bartholomew’s Church.
John Rogers (Born in 1500 — Martyred February 4, 1555)
1537 – First Edition of Matthews Bible
1549 – A Reprint and a Revision
1551 – Four Editions Were Printed
John Rogers was born about 1500 and martyred in 1555. He received his B.A.
degree at Cambridge in 1525. From there he entered the priesthood and went to
Christ Church, then called Cardinal College in Oxford, England. About 1534 he
became chaplain to the Merchant Adventurers at Antwerp. There he met William
Tyndale and Myles Coverdale. These two men witnessed to him and as a result he
came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. John Foxe writes of his conversion –
“In conferring with them the Scriptures, he came to great knowledge in the
Gospel of God, insomuch that he cast off the heavy yoke of popery, perceiving it
to be impure and filthy idolatry….”
John Rogers is the preacher responsible for the so-called Matthews Bible. Before
Tyndale was martyred, he appointed Rogers as his literary executor and left him
his unfinished manuscripts covering Joshua to 2 Chronicles.
Rogers desired a version which would contain all the work his friend Tyndale
translated from the original languages because he knew that Coverdale was not
familiar with the original languages of the Bible. Therefore the Matthews Bible
was a composite of Tyndale’s translation from Genesis to 2 Chronicles,
Coverdale’s from Ezra to Malachi and Tyndale’s New Testament.
The Bible would be more accurately called the Tyndale-Coverdale Bible, yet
Rogers knew that he dare not identify this Bible with Tyndale or it would be
rejected. Yet he did not want to identify it with himself because he was merely
the editor and had not done the translation work. For that reason the pseudonym
Thomas Matthew was used.
1537 Matthews Bible with the huge initials WT
It was probably printed in Antwerp and sent to England to be completed by
Grafton and Whitechurch, London printers. Grafton passed it to Cranmer who
passed it to Cromwell, who gave it to the King and within ten days the King
authorized the sale and reading of the Matthews Bible within his realm. That is
remarkable when you realize that the King despised Tyndale and just eleven years
before, Tyndale’s New Testament was publicly burned! Yet the Matthews Bible,
which he licensed for sale and reading, was clearly two-thirds Tyndale’s work.
It should be noted that this Bible edition includes introductions, summaries of
chapters as well as some very controversial marginal notes. Perhaps the most
controversial was the note associated with 1 Peter 3:7. The note reads –
“He dwelleth with his wyth according to knowledge, that taketh her as a
necessarye healper, and not as a bonde seruaunte or bonde slaue. And yf she be
not obedient and healpfull vnto hym endeueureth to beate the feare of God into
her heade, that therby she maye be compelled to learne her dutie, and to do it.”
John Rogers was a strong, uncompromising Bible preacher. Historian John Foxe
says when “Bloody” Mary came to power “she banished the true religion, and
restored the superstitions of idolatry of the Church of Rome, with all the
horrid cruelties of blood-thirsty Antichrist”. John Rogers refused to compromise
the Gospel and in fact preached it as strongly as ever at Saint Paul’s Cross
outside the cathedral church of St. Paul’s in London. For that he was arrested
and put in prison and on February 4, 1555 he was burned at Smithfield.
The Great Bible
1539 – First Edition Great Bible
1540 – Cranmer Edition was appointed to be read in the churches
1569 – Marks the last of over 30 editions of The Great Bible
This Bible is also known as Cranmer’s, Cromwell’s, Whitechurch’s or the Chained
Bible. It is called the “Great Bible” because it was the largest of all the
English Bibles printed to that time.
Two English Bibles, Coverdale’s and Matthews’, are now being sold with the
authorization of the King. There had been no further decree, however Coverdale’s
Bible was inaccurate in places and was not translated from the originals, and
Matthew’s Bible, the joint Tyndale-Coverdale Bible might cause trouble for its
promoters, if the shrewd Bishop Gardiner and his friends should succeed in
unmasking John Rogers and the Matthew Bible. Cromwell saw these deficiencies and
dangers and he again appealed to Coverdale to prepare another Bible. It must
contain no notes.
The collator and translator of the Great Bible was Myles Coverdale. The Bible is
based upon the Matthew’s Bible and revised to bring it into conformity with the
Hebrew and Latin text of the Complutensian Polyglot.
England was not yet equipped for such beautiful and extensive work as was
desired and permission from the French King (Francis) was secured for the
printing to be done in Paris, by the famous printer Regnault. Coverdale and
Grafton went over to supervise the work. However, the inquisition was on and it
was feared that the work might be stopped. Bishop Bonner was Ambassador at Paris
and as such, might travel without having his baggage inspected and thus the
finished sheets of the printing went to Cromwell via Bonner.
Shortly after an order for confiscation came from the Inquisitor-General, and
the printer was arrested. There was a delay in the execution and “four great dry
vats” of printed matter were sold as waste paper instead of being burned.
Cromwell, by shrewd management, bought from Regnault the type, presses and other
outfit, and transferred them, along with the printer, to England. The First
Edition of this wonderful specimen of the art of printing was ready for
distribution in 1539.
How The Chapter and Verse Divisions Came To Be In Our English Bible
The chapter divisions that we use in our Bibles follow the scheme developed by
Stephen Langton who was the Archbishop of Canterbury between 1207 and 1228 AD.
As for the verse division, we owe them to Robert Stephanus (Latin name) also
known as Robert Estienne (French). He was a Paris printer who printed the
Erasmus Greek New Testament (Latin as well). He printed four Greek editions in
1546, 1549, 1550, and 1551.
His printing of these Greek New Testaments aroused the opposition of the Roman
Catholic Church to such an extent that he was forced to leave Paris and flee to
Lyons. He put his family in the carriage, but he rode on horseback. To occupy
his time he took out one of the small 1549 Greek New Testaments he printed and
marked the place the verse divisions were to be made and numbered them
accordingly.
The verse divisions that we use today are because of the efforts of Stephanus.
They first appeared in his Greek-Latin New Testament of 1551 and then a whole
Latin Bible in 1555, before they appeared in the 1557 Geneva New Testament and
the 1560 Geneva Bible.
The Geneva Bible
1557 – The New Testament
1560 – The Whole Bible
From 1560 to 1644 there were at least 160 Editions
Mary I, the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, took the throne in
England in 1553 and set the stage for the creation of the Geneva Bible. Sixteen
years earlier her father, Henry VIII, had released the first Bible in English
following his separation from the Catholic Church at Rome. However, once Mary
was in power, she immediately began forcing all of England back under the
authority of the Roman Church and suppressing the circulation of the Bible in
the common (English) tongue. Specifically, Mary I issued proclamations in August
1553 forbidding public reading of the Bible and in June 1555 prohibiting the
works of reformers Tyndale, Rogers, Coverdale, Cranmer, and others.
In 1558 a proclamation was issued requiring the delivery of the reformers
writings under penalty of death. A vicious persecution was instituted against
anyone who supported the reformers views or attempted to circulate the scripture
in English. Overall, nearly three hundred people were burned at the stake under
“Bloody” Mary’s reign, and many more were imprisoned, tortured, or otherwise
punished. Reformer John Rogers, who produced the Matthews Bible, was the first
to be burned.
Others who followed the same fate included Bishop Thomas Cranmer, who was
involved with the second and subsequent editions of the Great Bible, Nicolas
Ridley, Hugh Latimer, and John Hooper, who was often referred to as the “Father
of Puritanism.”
It is estimated that during Bloody Mary’s reign as many as eight hundred
reformers fled England to seek shelter on the Continent. Some settled in
Strasburg, some in Zurich, and some in Frankfort. Many settled in Geneva, the
“Holy City of the Alps,” where Protestantism was supreme. The city was under the
control of the famed scholar, John Calvin, with the assistance of Theodore
Beza.
By 1556 a sizeable English-speaking congregation had formed in Geneva with
Scottish reformer John Knox serving as pastor. William Whittingham, a tremendous
scholar who according to tradition married a sister of Calvin’s wife, succeeded
Knox as pastor in 1557.
No new English Bible translations had emerged since the first Great Bible of
1539, and William Whittingham undertook the work of improving the English
versions of the New Testament. First published in Geneva by Conrad Badius in
1557, Whittingham produced a revision of William Tyndale’s New Testament “with
most profitable annotations of all hard places.”
This small, thick octavo edition included an epistle by Calvin himself, which
helped to introduce Protestant views to the English people. In this epistle
Calvin declared, “Christ is the End of the Law.”
Immediately after the release of Whittingham’s 1557 New Testament, the English
exiles entered upon a revision of the whole Bible. Assisted by Beza and possibly
Calvin himself, several English exiles were involved in the translating, but it
is impossible to say how many.
Myles Coverdale, who produced the Coverdale and Great Bibles, resided in Geneva
for a time and may have assisted, and a similar claim may be advanced in favor
of John Knox.
The famed sixteenth-century English historian, John Foxe, was also in refuge in
Switzerland during this time. Yet the chief credit belongs to William
Whittingham, who was probably assisted by Thomas Sampson, Anthony Gilby, and
possibly William Cole, William Kethe, John Baron, John Pullain, and John Bodley.
The Old Testament from Genesis through 2 Chronicles and the New Testament were
merely revisions of Tyndale’s previous monumental efforts. The works of
Coverdale, Rogers, and Cranmer were also consulted, and the English exiles
completed a careful collation of Hebrew and Greek originals. They compared Latin
versions, especially Bezas, and the standard French and German versions as well.
While Coverdale’s, Matthews, and the Great Bible were merely revisions of
Tyndale’s translations from the original Hebrew and Greek, the Geneva Bible
charted new ground. The scholarly English refugees in Geneva completed the
translation of the remainder of the Old Testament directly from Hebrew into
English for the first time.
Tyndale had only translated the Hebrew (Masoretic) text up to 2 Chronicles
before he was imprisoned in 1535, and it was not until this handful of scholars
assembled in refuge in Geneva that there was sufficient familiarity with Hebrew
among reformers to complete the translation of the Old Testament directly from
Hebrew.
Thus, the English scholars who escaped persecution in their native land and
resided in Geneva produced the first English Bible ever completely translated
from the original languages.
The work took over two years, and in 1560 the world witnessed a new Bible in
English, which is now known as the “Geneva Bible.” In a simple prefatory note,
the Geneva Bible was dedicated to “Bloody” Mary’s successor, Queen Elizabeth I,
the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Bolyen.
The Geneva Bible is a Bible of First’s –
* It was the 1st and only Bible published during the reign of Mary I (Bloody
Mary).
* It was the 1st English Bible to be completely translated from the Biblical
languages.
* It was the 1st Study Bible.
* It was the 1st Bible to use the easier to read Roman type style instead of
the Black Letter style.
* It was the 1st English Bible to have verse divisions.
* It was the 1st English Bible to use italicized words where English required
more than a literal Greek or Hebrew rendering.
The Geneva Bible was used by many well known people. It was…
* The Bible of Bunyan
* The Bible of Shakespeare
* The Bible of Jamestown & Pocahontas
* The Bible of the Pilgrims
It is called the “Breeches Bible” because of Genesis 3:7 where they chose the
name “breeches” for the covering of Adam and Eve.
The Bishops Bible
1568 First Edition
1572 Revised Edition
The widespread popularity of the Geneva Bible was undermining the authority of
the Great Bible, and also the power of the Bishops. Puritanism influenced by the
reformers on the European Continent was springing up; non-conformity was in the
air.
Archbishop Parker and the Bishops felt that something should be done in Bible
translations. In 1564 a revision committee containing eight or nine bishops was
formed.
The plan was to follow the Great Bible, except where it varied from the Hebrew
and Greek and to attend to the Latin versions of Munster (often inaccurate) and
Pagmnus, as well as to avoid bitter notes. There were also numerous tables,
calendars, maps and other helps.
The Bishop’s Bible was not popular. Queen Elizabeth took no public notice of it,
nor did she ever give it her formal sanction and authority. The translation was
stiff, formal and difficult.
It was unpopular with the people and could not displace the Geneva Bible. The
whole work is described as “the most unsatisfactory and useless of all the old
translations”. For forty years it was held in ecclesiastical esteem and twenty
editions were issued, the last being in 1606.
1611 — THE KING JAMES BIBLE (ALSO KNOWN AS THE AUTHORIZED VERSION)
Published Continuously for 400 years
According to Vanderbilt University Press, the King James Bible is the best
selling book of all times (Translating for King James by Allen Ward; Vanderbilt
Press, 1969; back cover – by way of Majestic Legacy compiled by Dr. Phil
Stringer; published by The Bible Nation Society, 2011; p. 7). “More than five
billion copies of the King James Bible have been sold over the last 399 years.”
(Majestic Legacy compiled by Dr. Phil Stringer; published by The Bible Nation
Society, 2011; p. 7)
“The King James Version is the crown jewel of English literature.” (A Visual
History of the English Bible; Donald L. Brake; Baker Books 2008; p. 224) “The
King James Bible is the most frequently quoted document in existence.” (History
Channel Magazine – An advertisement by Thomas Nelson Publishers for KJV400
Celebration). In fact, the King James Bible is “the most influential book in the
history of English civilization.” (Compton’s Encyclopedia; 1995 Edition, by way
of Phil Stringer’s book).
HOW THE KING JAMES BIBLE CAME TO BE
James Stuart (1566-1625) was born to Mary Queen of Scots (Mary I or Mary Stuart)
and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley at Edinburgh Castle. He was
baptized Catholic because of his mother’s faith. It was a turbulent time in
Scotland, the Presbyterians prevailing over Catholics for religious domination.
He ascended the throne of Scotland in July 1567, at age 13 months, when his
Roman Catholic mother Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) was forced to abdicate.
His mother Mary left the kingdom on May 16, 1568, and never saw her son again.
The reason Mary was forced to abdicate was James’s father, Henry Stuart, was
murdered in mysterious circumstances shortly after James was born. He was
assassinated and it was rumored that Mary had a part in the crime. There had
developed a rift between Mary and Henry that became public knowledge.
For help, Mary turned to a Scottish nobleman, a very powerful man, the Earl of
Bothwell. He engaged the help of other Scottish noblemen to do whatever they
could to help the queen in her dilemma.
This led to a failed explosion plot and to the strangulation death of Henry Lord
Darnley. A few months later, Mary and the Earl married. This incensed the
populace who suspected Lord Bothwell’s participation in the murder of their
King. Her outraged subjects turned against her.
In July of 1567, at the age of 13 months, James ascended to the throne as King
James the VI of Scotland. Though baptized Catholic, he was brought up under the
influence of reformed Scottish Protestants. His tutor was the historian and poet
George Buchanan who was a positive influence on him. James proved to be a
capable scholar.
A succession of regents ruled Scotland until 1576, when James became nominal
ruler, although he did not actually take control until 1581. He proved to be an
astute ruler who effectively controlled the various religious and political
factions in Scotland.
In 1586, James and Elizabeth I became allies under the Treaty of Berwick. When
his mother, Mary Stuart, was executed by Elizabeth the following year, James did
not protest too loudly because he hoped to be named as Elizabeth’s successor.
Some wonder why Mary was executed. Here is why. Mary fled to England when she
abdicated, seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Queen
Elizabeth I of England.
She hoped to inherit her kingdom. Mary had previously claimed Elizabeth’s throne
as her own and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many
English Catholics, including participants in the Rising of the North in 1569,
the unsuccessful attempt by the Catholic Nobles of Northern England to depose
Elizabeth and make Mary Stuart Queen.
Perceiving her as a threat, Elizabeth had her arrested. After 19 years in
custody in a number of castles and manor houses in England, the 44-year-old
former queen was tried for treason on charges that she was involved in three
plots to assassinate Elizabeth and found guilty. She was beheaded at
Fortheringhay Castle in 1587. Interestingly enough, in 1612 James moved his
mother‘s body to Westminster Abbey, constructing for her a magnificent tomb that
rivaled that of Elizabeth.
In 1589, James married Anne of Denmark. They had eight children, of whom only
three lived beyond infancy: Henry, Prince of Wales (1594-1612), Elizabeth Stuart
(1596-1662), and Charles, who became king upon James’ death (1600-1649).
In March 1603, Elizabeth died and James VI of Scotland became King James I of
England and Ireland in a remarkably smooth transition of power. After 1603 he
only visited Scotland once, in 1617.
James was known as the most educated sovereign in Europe. While he had some good
qualities, he was not very popular. Catholics hatched a plot to kill him and
others on November 5, 1605, in the Gun Powder Plot. Guy Fawkes was caught in the
act of attempting to carry out the deed.
THE DIVISION IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
When James came to the throne all was not well in the Church of England. There
were three Protestant versions of the English Bible in circulation:
1. The Great Bible of 1539 still was used in the Church of England in its Psalm
readings.
2. The Geneva Bible of 1560 was loved by the people because of the verse
divisions and the commentary.
3. The Bishops’ Bible of 1568 was the official Bible of the Church but the
translation was stiff, formal and difficult. It has been described as “the
most unsatisfactory and useless of all the old translations.”
Likewise, the Church of England was very divided. There were 3 factions. The
Romanists wanted to return to the Roman Catholic Church. The Low Church or
Puritan party wanted to “purify” the church of Catholicism and maintain an
evangelical stance in the church.
The Anglo-Catholics or High party was the ritualistic group who wanted an
independent English church but keep many of the Roman Catholic rituals,
doctrines and traditions. King James did not agree with any of these groups.
The Puritan party complained of certain grievances they had with church
officials. James had been proclaimed King on the 24th of March in 1603. It was
not until the May 7th that he entered London to take possession of the throne.
“Between these two dates, and while he was the guest of the Cromwell’s of
Hinchinbrook, near Huntingdon, he was approached by certain of the puritan
clergy who presented him with what is known as the Millenary Petition.” (The
Authorized Version of 1611 formerly found at www.bible4u.com). It was claimed by
the circulators of the petition that 1,000 Puritan ministers hand signed the
petition.
The Puritans objected to the priest’s making the sign of the cross during
Baptism; the use of the ring for marriage which had no biblical basis; the rite
of confirmation; Ministers’ wearing of surplices (robes). They viewed them as
too Catholic, unessential and extra-biblical, if not completely unbiblical.
King James I wanted to bring unity within the Anglican Church, therefore he
called a conference to be held at Hampton Court Palace on January 16th, 1604, at
which representatives of both parties were to have an opportunity of stating
their views to His Majesty.
“The Hampton Court was built by Cardinal Woolsley in 1515 and it pictures the
excesses of the age in which it was built. It took 2500 workmen to build its
1000 rooms.” (Comment by Dr. Ken Connolly in his video – The Story of The
English Bible). It took 500 servants or paid employees to keep it.
“It happens to have 250 tons of lead pipe that brings special water into it
because they would not use the water which came from the River Thames.” (Ibid.)
Hampton Court aptly illustrates the decadence of the prelates of the church.
Remember, the man that built it was the ecclesiastical head of the Church in
England in his day.
I find it ironic that on Monday, January 6, 1604 James I called about 50
prelates (high ranking church officials) of the church together in an effort to
try to straighten out some problems the two factions were having.
On the second day of the proceedings, the Puritan President of Corpus Christi
College in Oxford, Dr. John Rainolds “moved His Majesty that there might be a
new translation of the Bible, because those which were allowed in the reign of
Henry VIII, and Edward VI were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the
original.”
The King, sympathetic to the idea, exerted his royal influence to advance the
project. King James said he “wished that some special pains should be taken in
that behalf for one uniform translation (professing that he could never yet see
a Bible well translated in English, but the worse of all his Majesty through the
Geneva to be),
and this to be done by the best learned in both Universities; after them to be
reviewed by the bishops and the chief learned of the Church; from them to be
presented to the Privy Council; and lastly, to be ratified by his royal
authority…He gave this caveat (upon a word cast out by my Lord of London) that
no marginal notes should be added, having found in them, which are annexed to
the Geneva translation, some notes very partial, untrue, seditious, and
savouring too much of dangerous and traitorous conceits.” (The Printed English
Bible by Richard Lovett; pp.134-135)
THE TRANSLATION
The next step was the actual selection of the men who were to do the translation
work. In July of 1604, King James wrote to Bishop Bancroft that he had
“appointed certain learned men, to the number of four and fifty, for the
translating of the Bible.” These men were the best biblical scholars and
linguists of their day.
In the preface to their completed work it is further stated, “there were many
chosen, that were greater in other men’s eyes than in their own, and that sought
the truth rather than their own praise. Again, they came or were thought to come
to the work, learned, not to learn.” Other men were sought out, according to
James, “so that our said intended translation may have the help and furtherance
of all our principal learned men within this our kingdom.”
Although fifty-four men were nominated, only forty-seven were known to have
taken part in the work of translation. Historians indicate that a number of
these changes were due to death. It should also be noted, as the 11th Edition of
Encyclopedia Britannica says, “It is observable also that they [the translators]
were chosen without reference to party, at least as many of the Puritan clergy
as of the opposite party being placed on the committees.” (Encyclopedia
Britannica – 11th Edition of 1911; Volume III; p.902)
Bishop Lancelot Andrews, who besides having an intimate knowledge of Chaldee,
Hebrew, Greek, and Syriac, was familiar with 10 other languages, chaired the
translating work. The translating team was divided into 6 divisions; two at
Westminster, two at Cambridge, and two at Oxford.
The translation work did not get underway until 1607. When it did, ten at
Westminsterwere assigned Genesis through 2 Kings; the second team of 7 had
Romans through Jude.
At Cambridge, eight worked on 1 Chronicles through Ecclesiastes, while seven
others handled the Apocrypha.
Oxford employed seven to translate Isaiah through Malachi; eight occupied
themselves with the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation.
As each group completed their particular assigned part, it was then subjected to
the other 5 sets of men so that each part of the Bible came from all the learned
men. When they had completed their work, a final committee of six members at
London carefully reviewed it.
These Fifteen general rules were advanced for the guidance of the translators:
* The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called the Bishops’ Bible, to
be followed, and as little altered as the Truth of the original will permit.
* The names of the Prophets, and the Holy Writers, with the other Names of the
Text, to be retained, as nigh as may be, accordingly as they were vulgarly
used.
* The Old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. the Word Church not to be
translated Congregation, etc.
* When a Word hath divers Significations, that to be kept which hath been most
commonly used by the most of the Ancient Fathers, being agreeable to the
Propriety of the Place, and the Analogy of the Faith.
* The Division of the Chapters to be altered, either not at all, or as little
as may be, if Necessity so require.
* No Marginal Notes at all to be affixed, but only for the explanation of the
Hebrew or Greek Words, which cannot without some circumlocution, so briefly
and fitly be expressed in the Text.
* Such Quotations of Places to be marginally set down as shall serve for the
fit Reference of one Scripture to another.
* Every particular Man of each Company, to take the same Chapter or Chapters,
and having translated or amended them severally by himself, where he thinketh
good, all to meet together, confer what they have done, and agree for their
Parts what shall stand.
* As any one Company hath dispatched any one Book in this Manner they shall
send it to the rest, to be considered of seriously and judiciously, for His
Majesty is very careful in this Point.
* If any Company, upon the Review of the Book so sent, doubt or differ upon any
Place, to send them Word thereof; note the Place, and withal send the
Reasons, to which if they consent not, the Difference to be compounded at the
general Meeting, which is to be of the chief Persons of each Company, at the
end of the Work.
* When any Place of special Obscurity is doubted of, Letters to be directed by
Authority, to send to any Learned Man in the Land, for his Judgment of such a
Place.
* Letters to be sent from every Bishop to the rest of his Clergy, admonishing
them of this Translation in hand; and to move and charge as many skillful in
the Tongues; and having taken pains in that kind, to send his particular
Observations to the Company, either at Westminster, Cambridge, or Oxford.
* The Directors in each Company, to be the Deans of Westminster, and Chester
for that Place; and the King’s Professors in the Hebrew or Greek in either
University.
* These translations to be used when they agree better with the Text than the
Bishops’ Bible: Tyndale’s, Matthew’s, Coverdale’s, Whitchurch’s, Geneva.
* Besides the said Directors before mentioned, three or four of the most
Ancient and Grave Divines, in either of the Universities, not employed in
Translating, to be assigned by the vice-Chancellor, upon Conference with the
rest of the Heads, to be Overseers of the Translations as well Hebrew as
Greek, for the better observation of the 4th Rule above specified.
“The execution of the work occupied about three years, and both the length of
time employed and the elaborate mode of procedure adopted indicate the pains
that were taken to make the translation worthy of its high design. In 1611 the
new version was given forth to the public. There seem to have been two
impressions of this first edition, probably due to the impossibility of one
printing office being able to supply in the time allotted the number of copies
required, about 20,000.”
(A Brief Sketch of The History of the Transmission of the Bible Down to the
Revised English Version of 1881-1885 by Henry Guppy; 1936).
Before I move on, I want to clarify Guppy’s statement; there seem to have been
two impressions of this first edition. Here is what he is referring to. There is
the so called “she” Bible and the “he” Bible. The “he” Bible is the rarer of the
two. The way to distinguish between the two is by turning to Ruth 3:15 and if it
reads — “Also he said, Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And
when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and
she went into the city,” it is a “she” Bible.
If, on the other hand, the last part of the verse reads – “he measured six
measures of barley, and laid it on her: and he went into the city,” it is a “he”
Bible. All of the King James Bibles of our time, with the exception of the 1611
Thomas Nelson reprint, are “she” Bibles. There are those who would point to this
as an error on the part of the translators. I’m not so sure. Here’s why. There
are Hebrew manuscripts that include the same variant. Therefore, the problem is
with the Hebrew as it is confusing.
As I come to the end of this booklet on the King James Version of the Bible I
want to note that in England particularly, it is commonly referred to as the
“Authorized Version.”
But strange it was never formally authorized. To date, no evidence has been
produced “to show that the version was ever publicly sanctioned by Convocation,
or by Parliament, or by the Privy Council, or by the King. It was not even
entered at Stationers’ Hall, with the result that it is now impossible to say at
what period of the year 1611 the book was actually published. (Ibid.)
No other translation past or present has been so meticulously done and carefully
reviewed. The superintending hand of God was apparent. As one author put it,
“the result was an edition of the Word of God unrivaled for its simplicity, for
its force, and for its vigor of language. It was, and is to this day, a
compendium of literary excellencies, and much better, has proved itself to be a
faithful and accurate translation of the very Word of God.”
We can readily discern from the instructions given to the translators that our
King James Bible was “Newly translated out of the original tongues and with the
former translations diligently compared and revised.” It was, “Printed by His
Majesty’s special command, and appointed to be read in the churches.” It is to
this day the premier of all English translations, being a most scholarly,
accurate, and faithfully executed witness of the very mind of God.
Bible King James First Second Audio Holy KJV New Proverbs Old Testament Genesis
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