THE KING JAMES BIBLE

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THE KING JAMES BIBLE

The King James Version is the most popular translation of the Bible in existence. We shall discuss the history of this book and examine its construction and sequencing.

When Queen Elizabeth of England died in 1603, King James VI of Scotland took the throne as King James I. There were at least three popular versions of the Bible at that time: The Geneva Bible, the Great Bible and the Bishop's Bible. In January, 1604 the Puritans asked King James I for a new translation. Work on the new Bible began in 1607 with 47 translators who met twice each day. The translators worked in 6 groups at 3 major universities. 2 groups worked at Oxford, 2 groups worked at Cambridge and the last 2 groups did their work at Westminster. In 1611, the first version was ready for publication. As with any other publication, revisions were made. The Apocrypha, writings apparently of Christian nature, were at first included in the King James Version. Because of their dubious authenticity, they were eventually eliminated in subsequent revisions. Today's version is quite close to a revision published in 1769. However, there is now available a Revised King James Version which is even more
contemporary.

The King James writers recognized the translation problems they would encounter. In the King James Bible, the italicized words are actually "extra" words inserted to make the meaning clearer; these words are not actually found in the Hebrew or Greek language. Let's look at the appendix in a King James Bible:

Readers of the King James Version now and again come upon words printed in italics; that is to say, with slanting letters. Some have supposed, mistakenly, that these words were printed in this fashion for emphasis. This is not the case. The words in italics are words which do not have any equivalents in the Hebrew or Greek text. They are words which have been supplied by the translators in order to make the meaning of the sentence clearer, or in order to make the passage read more smoothly in English. Numerous italicized words are found in the fifth chapter of Matthew, and they occur with almost equal frequency in other parts of the Scriptures.

The Geneva Bible, which was a pioneer version in many different ways, was the first to use italics in this fashion (4, italicized words mine).

The Bible is actually a collection of 66 books written by at least 40 human authors. Christianity, which is based on the Bible, is the only religion that claims a resurrected Savior, Christ. The Bible is a work of long compilation since the writings of its books span at least 1500 years. It is an ancient writing in that the last author of any of the books, the Apostle John, died approximately 1900 years ago. The two major divisions are the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament is comprised of 39 books, Genesis to Malachi

The books of the Old Testament were written over a period of about 1000 years. The Old Testament can be divided into 4 major subdivisions:

    (A) History: Genesis thru Esther (17 books)
    (B) Poetry/Wisdom Literature: Job thru Song of Solomon (5 books)
    (C) Major Prophets: Isaiah thru Daniel (5 books)
    (D) Minor Prophets: Hosea thru Malachi (12 books)

Genesis to Esther are 17 books which deal with History.

The first 5 books are known as the Pentateuch and are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These books are also known as the Mosaic Law because it is generally accepted that Moses was the author of all 5 books or at least the majority of each. The books also cover the pre-Canaan or Promised Land existence of the Israelites.

The next 12 books are Joshua to Esther and can be divided into to 2 subcategories. The first 9 of these 12 books are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II Kings, I Chronicles and II Chronicles. These books record the experiences in Canaan.

The last 3 of these 12 books are Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. These books are the post-exile from Canaan history.

The 5 books in the center of the Old Testament are Poetry and Wisdom Literature.

These books are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. These books contain, respectively, writings of the 5 following subjects: (1) human tragedy and suffering; (2) poetry of praise, prophesy, problems and peace; (3) wisdom for life; (4) the meaninglessness of life apart from God and the futility of autonomous human wisdom; (5) God's gift of the relation of love between men and women, which is actually a foreshadowing of the relationship between Christ and the Church.

The last 17 books of the Old Testament are the Prophets.

These are divided into 2 main categories: the Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets.

The Major Prophets are made up of 5 books and are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel.

The Minor Prophets are made up of the last 12 books of the Old Testament and are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

The New Testament is comprised of 27 books, Matthew to Revelation.

The books of the New Testament were written over a period of approximately 100 years. The approximate 1500 year span of the writings of the Bible is completed in the roughly 400 years between the last writing of the Old Testament and the first writing of the New Testament. There are four major subdivisions of the New Testament:

    (A) History: 4 Gospels and the Book of Acts (5 books)
    (B) Paul's Epistles: Romans thru Philemon (13 books)
    (C) General Epistles: Hebrews thru Jude (8 books)
    (D) Apocalypse: Revelation (1 book)

The first 5 books are Historical books which include the Gospels of Jesus Christ and the Book of Acts.

The Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Of these, Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the synoptic Gospels, which means they contain much mutual agreement on the life of Christ. Matthew was a Jewish tax collector and his Gospel is written from a Jewish perspective. Mark had served as a missionary with the Apostle Paul and his Gospel was written from a Roman perspective. Church tradition attributes Mark's Gospel to his recording of the Apostle Peter's preaching and teaching. Luke was a physician and his Gospel was written from a Greek perspective. John, who had a fishing business, made it clear that Jesus was God in human form and is recommended reading for new Christians.

The next book is the Book of Acts and it was written by Luke. Acts deals with the formation and spread of the church, but most importantly, the coming of the Holy Spirit on an individual basis to the believers, which occurred first on the Day of Pentecost. Also, the spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles is an important theme in this book. Acts also deals with the conversion of the Apostle Paul, who was known as Saul of Tarsus. Paul would later go on to write the next 13 of the 27 books canonized in the New Testament.

The next 13 books are known as the Epistles of Paul.

These first 9 of these 13 books are Romans, I Corinthians, II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I Thessalonians and II Thessalonians. These books were written to the various churches that Paul had established for their edification. These books teach the doctrine necessary to establish and maintain a Christian church. Paul wrote the last 4 of these 13 books with the theme of a pastor giving instruction to Christian leaders. These 4 books are I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus and Philemon.

The next 8 books are known as the General Epistles.

These books are Hebrews, James, I Peter, II Peter, I John, II John, III John and Jude. These books are not directly written to Christian churches as such, but are more directed at Christians who were scattered abroad.

The last book of the Bible is the Book of Revelation.

Revelation was written by the Apostle John who also wrote the Gospel according to John, I, II, and III John. Revelation was written for edification and comfort of Christians who were enduring terrible persecution. This book has an apocalyptic theme throughout, depicting past, present and future events.

Works Cited

Bible (King James Version). London: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Douglas, J. D. The New Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B Eerdman's Publishing Co., 1973.

The NIV Study Bible (New International Version). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1985.