Bible Translations

After Queen Elizabeth’s 45-year reign was over, the state of England announced her successor, which began the new reign of King James, who was already serving Scotland.

He brought the two nations under one ruler. He took the throne at the time that the Puritans were laboring to rid themselves of Roman Catholicism.

The new king listened to the concerns of the Puritans about their views of the corruptions of the Church of England. Finally, the king instead called for uniformity within the church, and from this he made the decision to produce a new translation of the English Bible, one that would express the ancient text in the common vernacular and unite his subjects through their access to scripture.

The king selected 54 scholars who were divided into six translation teams that met separately. These middle aged scholars- mostly members of the Church of England- were chosen for their skill in the ancient languages of the Bible and knowledge of Bible scholarship.

These men spent two years and nine months creating the most accurate translation possible using every resource possible. It was revised nearly three centuries later and published in 1885.

It set the criterion for the English Bible and has been the single best-selling book of all time. The King James Bible was the standard for 300 years, and it has been translated into thousands of languages.

It still is the standard many begin with today for other translations to work from. To have God’s Word in a language for us to understand has come with a great many years of sacrifice.

Don’t take the Bible for granted; it is the most important book one could ever read and certainly ever follow.