William Tyndale was executed by strangulation and then burned at the stake by Catholic henchmen at Vilvoorde in 1536 because he dared publish a Bible in English.
In 1604, King James commanded a new version of the Bible to be written. Fifty-four of the most knowledgeable and skillful men in translating languages were brought together for this undertaking. Before the task began, seven of the men either declined the work or died, leaving the number who remained at 47.
These men were pre-eminently distinguished for their faith and exceptionally skilled in reading and translating the original languages. The work was divided into six classes.
1. Ten men met at Westminster University to translate from the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Old Testament, to the end of the second Book of Kings.
2. Eight men were assembled at Cambridge University and were to finish the rest of the Historical books and the Hagiographa (this is the third part of the Jewish Scriptures.)
3. Seven men went to Oxford University and were to undertake the four greater prophets, with the Book of Lamentations and the twelve minor prophets.
4. Another group gathered at Oxford to do the four Gospels, Acts, and the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation).
5. Paul’s and the remaining canonical epistles were allotted to seven men at Westminster.
6. The last group went to Cambridge University to translate the Apocryphal books, including the prayers of Manasseh.
Fifteen regulations or rules were established by the King as a guide before it started, and these rules strictly adhered to. Sheldon was the only reporter present; he followed and wrote of the events as they took place.
According to the regulations, each book passed the scrutiny of all translators successively. Each individual translated every book that had been allotted to their division. Secondly, the reading to be adopted was agreed upon by his section. At these meetings, each translator was to read their translation to the entire company. The book, when finished, was sent to a company of twelve men, two from each company. Selden wrote,
“One would read the translation, the rest holding in their hands some Bible, either of the man’s own language, be it French, Spanish, Italian, etc. If they found any fault, they spoke; if not, he read on.” Marginal notes are used to explain the Hebrew and Greek words and to give attention to parallel passages. Words not found in the original but necessary to complete the sense of verse were put in italics as (these words are in italics).
The translators were empowered to call to their assistance any scholar whose studies enabled them to be of service if or when a crisis arose. The translation started in 1607 and completed three years later. After three years, the whole Bible, thus translated and revised, was sent to London. There, a committee of six, two from each University, were sent. They reviewed and polished the whole work. Dr. Smith, the Bishop of Gloucester, then examined them. He and Dr. Belson, Bishop of Winchester, wrote the Preface. This translation of the Bible was first published in folio in 1611. A folio is a book of the largest size, formed by once doubling a sheet of paper.
When one reads the rules established, one can understand the excellent care taken to ensure the integrity of God's word it constantly being held in the highest regard. The following men took part.
1. Lancelot Andrews. This man spoke 15 modern languages fluently, plus Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, and spent more than five hours a day in prayer.
2. John Boys. This man spent 16 hours per day studying Greek.
3. The other 45 men had similar skills, making them all fully qualified for the task. They were not paid, nor did they receive any rewards.
The English of the K.J.B. was not spoken in the 17th century. It is not a type of English that has ever been spoken anywhere or at any time in history. King James Bible English owes its merit to the faithful translation of the original works (manuscripts.) Its’ style captured the style of the original Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament.
I believe that the Spirit of the Lord was with the men who translated the K.J.V., and God’s word was now in the hands of the people. We should receive this work with great thanks, joy, and gladness.
The Jews were commanded to keep and maintain God’s word? Romans 3:2, “Unto them (the Jews) were committed the oracles of God.” The word “oracles” means something uttered or Divine communication.
Example: In Deuteronomy 4:5-8. I will highlight a few verses. Moses is speaking to his people, “Behold I have taught you = (the Jew’s) statues and judgments, even as the LORD your God commanded me,--- Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations,----- And what nation is there so great, = (none) that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?”
Because of the Divine communication to Moses, the prophets, and the people, God’s love and plan for man’s salvation, having been revealed to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. The Scriptures expressing fully God’s word.
The body of the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, was written over approximately 1,400 years. From Moses to the end of the first century, the Holy Spirit inspired the whole of Scripture to those who penned or wrote the text.
The text has come down to us in a remarkable state of preservation. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, written as far back as the second and third centuries B.C., bears witness to this fact. Guidelines have been laid down and defined for us. The word speaks of great men, spirit creatures, enemies of God, friends of God, political and religious history, and future prophesy. After the last book was penned, prophecy was closed, no further announcements coming from God.
Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the language spoken by the Hebrews in Canaan before the Babylonian Captivity, and a few sections of the Old Testament are written in Aramaic. There are no vowels (A, E, I, O, U) in the Hebrew alphabet, only consonants. The Jewish Masoretic scholars invented vowel signs or points in the sixth century.
Although the Bible has been preserved in its’ original meaning, customs, and traditions, the Hebrew language has undergone many changes. The language has gone from the golden age (Adam to Jacob) through silver (Jews in Egypt), bronze (Babylonian and Medo-Persian captivity), and iron (Greek and Roman conquest,) and like our modern English today, it is a far cry from the original.
The keepers of the word, Romans 3:2, “Unto them (the Jews) were committed the oracles of God.”
Except for a few words and sentences, the New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek of the N.T. is identical to the Greek spoken in the Mediterranean in the first century. The New Testament of the K.J.V. is marked strikingly by the Jewish character and colorful language that existed in the days of our Lord. It holds to the idioms, the peculiar language of a group of people or nation. Other dialects of Greek were Aeolic, Boeotic, Doric, Ionic, and especially the dialect of Attic.
The N.T. of the K.J.B. is called the Received text or Textus Receptus. The first-century Apostolic Churches, the Christian Churches in Israel, and the Christian Syrian Church all used the Received text; even a few early heretics used this text. With this history, it would be appropriate for the King James translators to use this text.
Most of the second to fourth-century Christian churches used the Textus Receptus. The Churches of Scotland, Ireland, the Waldensians, and Greek Orthodox Church as did the fifteenth to nineteenth-century Churches. All the Churches of the Reformation, Erasmus Greek New Testament, The Complutensian Polyglot, Martin Luther’s German Bible, Tyndale’s Bible, the French version of Oliveton, the Coverdale Bible, the Matthews Bible, the Taverner’s Bible, the Great Bible, the Stephanus Greek New Testament, the Geneva Bible, The Bishop’s Bible, The Spanish version, the Beza Greek N.T. the Czech Version, The Italian Version, K.J.V. The Elziver Brothers’ Greek N.T., and the list goes on.
The Received text was used totally throughout the educated religious world of every civilized nation and in every language.
In 1604, King James commanded a new version of the Bible to be written. Fifty-four of the most knowledgeable and skillful men in translating languages were brought together for this undertaking. Before the task began, seven of the men either declined the work or died, leaving the number who remained at 47.
These men were pre-eminently distinguished for their faith and exceptionally skilled in reading and translating the original languages. The work was divided into six classes.
1. Ten men met at Westminster University to translate from the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Old Testament, to the end of the second Book of Kings.
2. Eight men were assembled at Cambridge University and were to finish the rest of the Historical books and the Hagiographa (this is the third part of the Jewish Scriptures.)
3. Seven men went to Oxford University and were to undertake the four greater prophets, with the Book of Lamentations and the twelve minor prophets.
4. Another group gathered at Oxford to do the four Gospels, Acts, and the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation).
5. Paul’s and the remaining canonical epistles were allotted to seven men at Westminster.
6. The last group went to Cambridge University to translate the Apocryphal books, including the prayers of Manasseh.
Fifteen regulations or rules were established by the King as a guide before it started, and these rules strictly adhered to. Sheldon was the only reporter present; he followed and wrote of the events as they took place.
According to the regulations, each book passed the scrutiny of all translators successively. Each individual translated every book that had been allotted to their division. Secondly, the reading to be adopted was agreed upon by his section. At these meetings, each translator was to read their translation to the entire company. The book, when finished, was sent to a company of twelve men, two from each company. Selden wrote,
“One would read the translation, the rest holding in their hands some Bible, either of the man’s own language, be it French, Spanish, Italian, etc. If they found any fault, they spoke; if not, he read on.” Marginal notes are used to explain the Hebrew and Greek words and to give attention to parallel passages. Words not found in the original but necessary to complete the sense of verse were put in italics as (these words are in italics).
The translators were empowered to call to their assistance any scholar whose studies enabled them to be of service if or when a crisis arose. The translation started in 1607 and completed three years later. After three years, the whole Bible, thus translated and revised, was sent to London. There, a committee of six, two from each University, were sent. They reviewed and polished the whole work. Dr. Smith, the Bishop of Gloucester, then examined them. He and Dr. Belson, Bishop of Winchester, wrote the Preface. This translation of the Bible was first published in folio in 1611. A folio is a book of the largest size, formed by once doubling a sheet of paper.
When one reads the rules established, one can understand the excellent care taken to ensure the integrity of God's word it constantly being held in the highest regard. The following men took part.
1. Lancelot Andrews. This man spoke 15 modern languages fluently, plus Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, and spent more than five hours a day in prayer.
2. John Boys. This man spent 16 hours per day studying Greek.
3. The other 45 men had similar skills, making them all fully qualified for the task. They were not paid, nor did they receive any rewards.
The English of the K.J.B. was not spoken in the 17th century. It is not a type of English that has ever been spoken anywhere or at any time in history. King James Bible English owes its merit to the faithful translation of the original works (manuscripts.) Its’ style captured the style of the original Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament.
I believe that the Spirit of the Lord was with the men who translated the K.J.V., and God’s word was now in the hands of the people. We should receive this work with great thanks, joy, and gladness.
The Jews were commanded to keep and maintain God’s word? Romans 3:2, “Unto them (the Jews) were committed the oracles of God.” The word “oracles” means something uttered or Divine communication.
Example: In Deuteronomy 4:5-8. I will highlight a few verses. Moses is speaking to his people, “Behold I have taught you = (the Jew’s) statues and judgments, even as the LORD your God commanded me,--- Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations,----- And what nation is there so great, = (none) that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?”
Because of the Divine communication to Moses, the prophets, and the people, God’s love and plan for man’s salvation, having been revealed to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. The Scriptures expressing fully God’s word.
The body of the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, was written over approximately 1,400 years. From Moses to the end of the first century, the Holy Spirit inspired the whole of Scripture to those who penned or wrote the text.
The text has come down to us in a remarkable state of preservation. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, written as far back as the second and third centuries B.C., bears witness to this fact. Guidelines have been laid down and defined for us. The word speaks of great men, spirit creatures, enemies of God, friends of God, political and religious history, and future prophesy. After the last book was penned, prophecy was closed, no further announcements coming from God.
Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the language spoken by the Hebrews in Canaan before the Babylonian Captivity, and a few sections of the Old Testament are written in Aramaic. There are no vowels (A, E, I, O, U) in the Hebrew alphabet, only consonants. The Jewish Masoretic scholars invented vowel signs or points in the sixth century.
Although the Bible has been preserved in its’ original meaning, customs, and traditions, the Hebrew language has undergone many changes. The language has gone from the golden age (Adam to Jacob) through silver (Jews in Egypt), bronze (Babylonian and Medo-Persian captivity), and iron (Greek and Roman conquest,) and like our modern English today, it is a far cry from the original.
The keepers of the word, Romans 3:2, “Unto them (the Jews) were committed the oracles of God.”
Except for a few words and sentences, the New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek of the N.T. is identical to the Greek spoken in the Mediterranean in the first century. The New Testament of the K.J.V. is marked strikingly by the Jewish character and colorful language that existed in the days of our Lord. It holds to the idioms, the peculiar language of a group of people or nation. Other dialects of Greek were Aeolic, Boeotic, Doric, Ionic, and especially the dialect of Attic.
The N.T. of the K.J.B. is called the Received text or Textus Receptus. The first-century Apostolic Churches, the Christian Churches in Israel, and the Christian Syrian Church all used the Received text; even a few early heretics used this text. With this history, it would be appropriate for the King James translators to use this text.
Most of the second to fourth-century Christian churches used the Textus Receptus. The Churches of Scotland, Ireland, the Waldensians, and Greek Orthodox Church as did the fifteenth to nineteenth-century Churches. All the Churches of the Reformation, Erasmus Greek New Testament, The Complutensian Polyglot, Martin Luther’s German Bible, Tyndale’s Bible, the French version of Oliveton, the Coverdale Bible, the Matthews Bible, the Taverner’s Bible, the Great Bible, the Stephanus Greek New Testament, the Geneva Bible, The Bishop’s Bible, The Spanish version, the Beza Greek N.T. the Czech Version, The Italian Version, K.J.V. The Elziver Brothers’ Greek N.T., and the list goes on.
The Received text was used totally throughout the educated religious world of every civilized nation and in every language.
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