Get your own Free Home Page
This translation was begun in 1604 at the command of King James I. He wanted a Bible that all the churches in Britain would use (At that time, churches had been using the Bishops' Bible, Tyndale's, Matthew's, Coverdale's, Whitechurch's or the Geneva Bible [which James didn't like; he felt the footnotes were "savouring too much of dangerous and traiterous conceits"] ).
Forty-seven scholars from Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster participated. They divided themselves into six groups and each group took a different part of the Bible;
Each man on each group would translate every chapter of every book assigned to his group, then they would compare notes. After settling on a text, a completed book would be sent around to the other groups. Disagreements would then be resolved by the group leaders.
The work of the commitees took two years and nine months, with another nine months required to prepare the paperwork for press. No memoir of the proceedings exists save the preface to the release, which reads in part (with the original spelling);
"neither did we disdaine to reuise that which we had done, and to bring back to the anuill that which we had hammered: but hauing and vsing as great helpes as were needfull, and fearing no reproch for slownesse, nor coueting praise for expedition, wee haue at the length, through the good hand of the Lord vpon vs, brought the worke to that passe that you see."
If you like, you can read the King James Bible on-line.
Get your own Free Home Page