The Making of the King James Bible

"Thus started the greatest writing project the world has ever known, and the greatest achievement of the reign of James I - the making of the English Bible which has ever since borne his name."

For the Old Testament, the King James translators used the traditional Ben Chayyim Masoretic Text. This text was produced under the strict Masoretic rules

The Masorites were Jewish scholars who, like their predecessors the Aaronic Priests, had the sacred task of copying the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures.wrote, over a hundred years ago, concerning the reliability of the copies made by these faithful priests and scribes.

W. Scott wrote: "It is well known that among the Jews it was the profession of the Masorites, or doctors of tradition, to transcribe the scriptures. We know to what extent these indefatigable scholars carried their respect for the letter; and when we read the rules under which their labours were carried on, we understand the use that the providence of God (who had 'confided his oracles to the Jews') They reckoned the number of verses, words, and letters in each book. They tell us, for instance, that the letter A occurs forty-two thousand three hundred and seventy-seven times in the Bible; the letter B thirty-eight thousand two hundred and eighteen times; and so on to the end.. They tell us which is the middle letter of the Pentateuch, as well as of each of the books of which it is composed.

They never allowed themselves to correct their manuscript; and if any mistake escaped them, they rejected the papyrus or the skin which they had blemished, and recommenced upon a fresh one; for they were equally interdicted from even correcting one of their own errors, and from retaining for their sacred volume a single parchment or skin in which an error had been made... "These facts, together with the astonishing preservation of the Hebrew text (1200 years more ancient than that of the Septuagint), plainly tell us how the intervention of the mighty hand of God was needed in the destinies of the sacred book." (Ref:A1)

In his book God Wrote Only One Bible, Jasper James Ray confirms this fact about the faithfulness displayed by these ancient scribes in copying the Scriptures.

He writes: "In making copies of the original manuscripts, the Jewish scribes exercised the greatest possible care. When they wrote the name of God in any form they were to reverently wipe their pen, and wash their whole body before writing "Jehovah " lest that holy name should be tainted even in writing. The new copy was examined and carefully checked with the original almost immediately, and it is said that if only one incorrect letter was discovered the whole copy was rejected . Each new copy had to be made from an approved manuscript, written with a special kind of ink, upon skins made from a 'clean' animal.The writer had to pronounce aloud each word before writing it. In no case was the written word to be written from memory." ( Ref: D1)

For the New Testament, the Protestant translators of the King James Bible used The Received (Majority) Text favoured by the early churches of Christendom (The Greek, Waldensian, Albegensian, Gauls and Celtic churches). not the Minority Text favoured by the Roman Catholic Church which used a Eusebio-Origen type of Bible.

W Scott writes "King James named 54 pious and scholarly persons - and who were empowered to communicate with 'all our principal learned men within this our kingdom,' so that the scholarship of the country was consecrated to the noblest work which could engage the heart, the mind, and the pen of men - the production of our admirable English Bible. Seven of the number, through death and other causes, were unable to serve, so that the list was reduced to 47. There were six committees chosen, two of which sat at Westminster, two at Cambridge, two at Oxford. The whole were presided over by Bishop Andrews, who, besides possessing an intimate knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, Chaldee, and Syriac, was familiar with 16 other languages. As each set or committee of translators finished the particular part assigned to them, it was then subjected to the criticism of the other five sets in order; so that each part of the Bible came before the whole body of the translators. When the 47 finished their work it was then carefully reviewed by the final committee. Dr Miles Smith, Bishop of Gloucester, wrote the preface." (Ref:A8)

Lancelot Andrews: "As a preacher, Bishop Andrews was right famous in his day. He was called the 'star of preachers…Dr Andrews was also known as a great man of prayer…But we are chiefly concerned to know what were his qualifications as a translator of the Bible. He ever bore the character of a 'right godly man,' and a 'prodigious student.' One competent judge speaks of him as 'that great gulf of learning'! It was also said, that 'the world wanted learning to know how learned this man was.' A brave, old chronicler remarks, that such was his skill in all languages, especially the Oriental, that had he been present at the confusion of tongues at Babel, he might have served as the Interpreter-General! In his funeral sermon by Dr. Buckridge, Bishop of Rochester, it is said that Dr. Andrews was conversant with fifteen languages."

* John Overall : He was chosen for his expertise in the writings of the early church fathers. " Dr. Overall was vital to the translation because of his knowledge of quotations of the early church fathers."

* Robert Tighe: " an excellent textuary and profound linguist."

* William Bedwell : " an eminent Oriental scholar. His epitaph mentions that he was 'for the Eastern tongues, as learned a man as most lived in these modern times.'"

* Edward Lively: " One of the best linguists in the world…Much dependence was placed on his surpassing skill in Oriental languages."

* Lawrence Chaderton: " He made himself familiar with the Latin, Greek and Hebrew tongues and was thoroughly skilled in them…Dr Chaderton was a powerful preacher who lived to the age of one hundred and three. A preaching engagement in his later years was described as follows: 'Having addressed his audience for full two hours by the glass, he paused and said, 'I will no longer trespass on your patience.' And now comes the marvel; for the whole congregation cried out with one consent 'For God's sake, go on!' "

* Francis Dillingham : "was so studied in the original languages that he participated in public debates in Greek."

* Thomas Harrison : Vice-Master of Trinity College in Cambridge. "On account of his exquisite skill in the Hebrew and Greek idioms, he was one of the chief examiners in the University of those who sought to be professors of these languages."

* John Harding : "At the time of his appointment to aid in the translation of the Bible, he had been Royal Professor of Hebrew in the University for thirteen years."

* John Reynolds : "Determined to explore the whole field and make himself master of the subject, he devoted himself to the study of the Scriptures in the original languages, and read all the Greek and Latin fathers, and all the ancient records of the Church."

* Dr. Henry Saville : "was known for his Greek and mathematical learning. He was so well known for his education, skilled in languages and knowledge of the Word, that he became Greek and mathematical tutor to Queen Elizabeth during the reign of her father, Henry VIII."

* Dr. Miles Smith : "the man responsible for the preface of the King James Bible. The preface is no longer printed in present copies of the Book. He had a knowledge of Greek and Latin fathers, as well as being an expert in Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. 'Hebrew he had at his finger's end.' And so was the Ethiopic tongue."

"It should be noted that these men were qualified in the readings of the church fathers which prevented them from being 'locked' to the manuscripts, causing earlier readings to be overlooked. This is vastly better than the methods used by modern translators. It should also be recognized that these men did not live in 'ivory towers.' They were men who were just as renowned for their preaching ability as they were for their esteemed education. It is a lesson in humility to see such men of great spiritual stature call themselves 'poor instruments to make God's Holy Truth to be yet more and more known.' "

"The men on the translation committee of the King James Bible were, without dispute, the most learned men of their day and vastly qualified for the job which they undertook. They were overall both academically qualified by their cumulative knowledge and spiritually qualified by their exemplary lives… William John Bois was only five years old, when his father taught him to read Hebrew. By the time he was six, he could not only write the same, but in a fair and elegant character. At age fifteen, he was already a student at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was renowned for corresponding with his superiors in Greek."

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When Queen Elizabeth of England died in 1603, King James VI of Scotland took the throne as King James I. There were at least three popular versions of the Bible at that time: The Geneva Bible, the Great Bible and the Bishop's Bible. In January, 1604 the Puritans asked King James I for a new translation. Work on the new Bible began in 1607 with 47 translators who met twice eachday....The King James writers recognized the translation problems they would encounter. In the King James Bible, ...Readers of the King James Version now and again come upon words printed in italics; that is to say, with slanting letters. Some have supposed, mistakenly, that these words were printed in this fashion for emphasis. This is not the case. The words in italics are words which do not have any equivalents in the Hebrew or Greek text. They are words which have been supplied by the translators in order to make the meaning of the sentence clearer, or in order to make the passage read more smoothly in English. Numerous italicized words are found in the fifth chapter of Matthew, and they occur with almost equal frequency in other parts of the Scriptures.

The Bible is actually a collection of 66 books written by at least 40 human authors. Christianity, which is based on the Bible, is the only religion that claims a resurrected Savior, Christ. The Bible is a work of long compilation since the writings of its books span at least 1500 years. It is an ancient writing in that the last author of any of the books, the Apostle John, died approximately 1900 years ago. The two major divisions are the Old Testament and the New Testament.

 The Old Testament is comprised of 39 books, Genesis to Malachi The books of the Old Testament were written over a period of about 1000 years. The Old Testament can be divided into 4 major subdivisions:

 Genesis to Esther are 17 books which deal with History. The first 5 books are known as the Pentateuch and are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These books are also known as the Mosaic Law because it is generally accepted that Moses was the author of all 5 books or at least the majority of each. The books also cover the pre-Canaan or Promised Land existence of the Israelites. The next 12 books are Joshua to Esther and can be divided into 2 subcategories. The first 9 of these 12 books are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II Kings, I Chronicles and II Chronicles. These books record the experiences in Canaan. The last 3 of these 12 books are Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. These books are the post-exile from Canaan history. The 5 books in the center of the Old Testament are Poetry and Wisdom Literature.

 These books are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. These books contain, respectively, writings of the 5 following subjects: (1) human tragedy and suffering; (2) poetry of praise, prophesy, problems and peace; (3) wisdom for life; (4) the meaninglessness of life apart from God and the futility of autonomous human wisdom; (5) God's gift of the relation of love between men and women, which is actually a foreshadowing of the relationship between Christ and the Church.

 The last 17 books of the Old Testament are the Prophets.These are divided into 2 main categories: the Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets. The Major Prophets are made up of 5 books and are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel.The Minor Prophets are made up of the last 12 books of the Old Testament and are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

 The New Testament is comprised of 27 books, Matthew to Revelation. The books of the New Testament were written over a period of approximately 100 years. The approximate 1500 year span of the writings of the Bible is completed in the roughly 400 years between the last writing of the Old Testament and the first writing of the New Testament. There are four major subdivisions of the New Testament:

 The first 5 books are Historical books which include the Gospels of Jesus Christ and the Book of Acts. The Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Of these, Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the synoptic Gospels, which means they contain much mutual agreement on the life of Christ. Matthew was a Jewish tax collector and his Gospel is written from a Jewish perspective. Mark had served as a missionary with the Apostle Paul and his Gospel was written from a Roman perspective. Church tradition attributes Mark's Gospel to his recording of the Apostle Peter's preaching and teaching. Luke was a physician and his Gospel was written from a Greek perspective. John, who had a fishing business, made it clear that Jesus was God in human form and is recommended reading for new Christians.

 The next book is the Book of Acts and it was written by Luke. Acts deals with the formation and spread of the church, but most importantly, the coming of the Holy Spirit on an individual basis to the believers, which occurred first on the Day of Pentecost. Also, the spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles is an important theme in this book. Acts also deals with the conversion of the Apostle Paul, who was known as Saul of Tarsus. Paul would later go on to write the next 13 of the 27 books canonized in the New Testament.

 The next 13 books are known as the Epistles of Paul. These first 9 of these 13 books are Romans, I Corinthians, II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I Thessalonians and II Thessalonians. These books were written to the various churches that Paul had established for their edification. These books teach the doctrine necessary to establish and maintain a Christian church. Paul wrote the last 4 of these 13 books with the theme of a pastor giving instruction to Christian leaders. These 4 books are I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus and Philemon.

 The next 8 books are known as the General Epistles. These books are Hebrews, James, I Peter, II Peter, I John, II John, III John and Jude. These books are not directly written to Christian churches as such, but are more directed at Christians who were scattered abroad. The last book of the Bible is the Book of Revelation. Revelation was written by the Apostle John who also wrote the Gospel according to John, I, II, and III John. Revelation was written for edification and comfort of Christians who were enduring terrible persecution. This book has an apocalyptic theme throughout, depicting past, present and future events.

Total Chapters in the King James Bible 1,189

Total verses in the King James Bible 31,102

Total Books in the Old Testament 39

Total Chapters in the Old Testament 929

Total verses in the Old Testament 23,145

Total Books in the New Testament 27

Total Chapters in the New Testament 260

Total verses in the New Testament 7,957

Middle Book in the King James Bible None There are 2 Micah & Nahum

Longest Book in the King James Bible Psalms

Shortest Book in the King James Bible 2 John (verses) & 3 John (words)

Middle Chapter in the King James Bible Psalm 117

Longest Chapter in the King James Bible Psalm 119

Shortest Chapter in the King James Bible Psalm 117

Middle verse in the King James Bible None There are 2 Psalm 103:1 & Psalm 103:2

Longest verse in the King James Bible Esther 8:9

Shortest verse in the King James Bible John 11:35

From the preface of this Bible: "The Revised Standard Version Bible committee is a continuing body, holding its meetings at regular intervals. It has become both ecumenical and international, with Protestant and Catholic active members who come from Great Britain, Canada and the United States."

Since most of the citations in the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church, the first update of this catechism in some 400 years, are from the RSV, this translation has virtually become the official version of the Roman Church.