This year marks the 400th birthday of the King James bible. I know this post should have been out last week, but I have been very busy trying to get the video blog ready to go which should be ready this week.
In 1604 King James commissioned 47 Church of England Scholars to convert the Hebrew and Greek texts into English and that work was completed on 1611. While this was not the first but the third English version, it is the one that we still have today. The earlier English versions had enough errors and religious slants in it that the Puritans demanded a new version. What makes the King James Bible so special is that many editions today do not go back to the original texts. Instead, they use other English texts and try to modernize the language. I am sure that anyone who has played the telephone game in kindergarten can tell you taking a message from a message is never a good idea. The other thing that makes this version special is that the scholars who translated it were Christian. A very important factor when getting translations done.
One last note to mention is the fact that the scholars that translated this work sent a letter to you, as the reader of the book, stating that they tried their best, but errors are inevitable. Sadly, this letter has been removed from modern printings of the bible. I strongly recommend reading that letter at least once. You can obtain that letter here by signing up for the newsletter.
I know of three podcasts that I am going to listen to on the topic:
