BIBLE VERSIONS

The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of King James VI and I.  The books of the King James Version include 39 book of the Old Testament, an intertestamental section containing 14 books of what protestants consider the Apocrypha, and 27 books of the New Testament.  

The KJV was first printed by John Norton and Robert Barker who both held the post of the King's Printer, and was the third translation into English language approved by the English Church authorities:  The First had been the Great Bible, commissioned in the reign of King Henry VIII (1535), and the second had been the Bishop's Bible, commissioned in the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1568).  In Geneva, Switzerland, the first generation of Protestant Reformers had produced the Geneva Bible of 1560 from the original Hebrew and Greek scriptures, which was influential in the writing of the Authorized King James Version. 

In January 1604, King James convened the Hampton Court Conference, where a new English Version was conceived in response to the problems of the earlier translations perceived by the Puritans, a faction of the Church of England.  (The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices.) 

Textus Receptus - Latin for "received text".  It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denominations.  The Church of God (Seventh Day) used to recommend using the King James Version of the Bible because it was said to be the Textus Receptus, probably the best English translation from Hebrew and Greek.  Many members of the COG7 say that was never taught in their congregations.  I thought that was a General Conference guideline for the local churches as to which version was closest to Hebrew and Greek.  Many do not like the King James Version because it is written in Old English, which uses thee and thou and shalt etc.  They say it is to hard to understand.  In the beginning of the written Word most could not read.  The majority of the people were illiterate.  Only the scholars who were educated could read and write.  So the priest or scholar stood up in front of the congregation and read the Word to the people.  The scholars could read into the Word anything they wanted and the congregation wouldn't know the difference.  The people had to rely on the fact that those scholars were honest.  

King James gave the translators instructions intended to ensure that the new version would reflect the episcopal structure, of the Church of England and its belief in an ordained clergy.  The translation was done by 6 panels of translators (47 men in all, most of whom were leading biblical scholars in England) who had the work divided up between them:  The Old Testament was entrusted to three panels, the New Testament to two, and the Apocrypha to one.  The New Testament was translated from Greek, the Old Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic, and the Apocrypha from Greek and Latin.  

By the first half of the 18th century, the  King James Authorized Version of the Bible had become effectively unchallenged as the English translation used in Anglican and other English Protestant churches, except for the Palms and some short passages in the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England.  Over the course of the 18th century, the Authorized Version supplanted the Latin Vulgate as the standard version of scripture for English-speaking scholars. The standard text of 1769 extensively re-edited by Benjamin Blayney at Oxford, and nearly always omitted the books of the Apocrypha.   Today the unqualified title "King James Version" usually indicates this Oxford standard text.

The followers of John Wycliffe undertook the first complete English translations of the Christian scriptures in the 14th century.  These translations were banned in 1409 due to their association with Lollards.

(Lollardism or Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th century English Reformation.  It was initially led by John Wycliffe.  The Wycliffe Bible predated the printing press but it was circulated very widely in manuscript form, ofte inscribed with a date which was earlier than 1409 in order to avoid the legal ban.  

Because the text of the various versions of the Wycliffe Bible was translated from the Latin Vulgate (The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome of Stridon.  In 382 he was commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Vetus Latina Gospels used by the Roman Church.  Later on on his own initiative, Jerome extended this work of revision and translation to include most of the books of the Bible.) 

Apocrypha books of the Bible were necessary for the King James Version, as readings from these books were included in the daily Old Testament lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.  Protestant Bibles in the 16th century included the books of the Apocrypha, in a separate section between the Old Testament Text --- and there is evidence that these were widely read as popular literature.  I Esdras and 2 Esdras were renamed the Old Testament Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

In 1644 the Long Parliament forbade the reading of the Apocrypha books in churches and in 1666 the first editions of the King James Bible without the Apocrypha books were bound.

With the rise of Biblical Societies, most additions have omitted the whole section of the Apocryphal books.  The British and Foreign Bible Society withdrew subsidies for Bible printing and dissemination in 1826.  The American Bible Society adopted a similar policy.  Both societies reversed these polices in light of the 20th-century ecumenical efforts on translations, the ABS doing so in 1964 and the BFBS in 1966.  (note: other translations, are mostly by one person and not a panel of scholars as used in the original King James Version.  That is why I use that version only, myself.  Other translations tend to change the meaning of verses, leaving out certain words or substituting more common words in the place of the original words, which to me changes the meaning of the verse, even whole verses left off at the end of chapters.) 

The King James Only movement advocates the belief that the King James Version is superior to all other English translations of the Bible.  Most adherents of the movement believe that the Textus Receptus is very close, if not identical, to the original autographs, thereby making it the ideal Greek source for the translation.  They argue that manuscripts such as the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, on which most modern English translations are based, are corrupted New Testament texts.  

The King James Version of 1611 has a long and honorable tradition in our Churches of America.  Professor Orloff used it for his translations at the end of the last century. (note one man's translation, could be flawed).  Isabel Hapgood's Service Book of 1906 and 1922 made it the "official" translation for a whole generation of American Orthodox.  Unfortunately both Orloff and Hapgood used a different version for the Psalms, thereby giving us two translations in the same service. (note-one person translation)  This was rectified in 1949 by the Service Book of the Antiochian Archdiocese, which replaced the Prayer Book Psalms with those from the King James Version and made some other corrections.

I truly believe in letting other translations to be used in the church services causes confusion.  God is not a God of confusion.  His, written Word,  can be understood easily by the most illiterate person, if he is truly seeking the truth and seeks God and His guidance.

*Starlight*