What is King James Bible?

Question

What's the difference with the normal Bible?

Answer 1

The King James Version Bible (KJV) is an English translation of the Bible that was completed in 1611, under the auspices of King James I of England. It was translated by the best English-language biblical scholars and linguists of the day. Previous to this translation, there were a few different English versions of scripture, and they were all considered substandard (none of them are in use anymore).

The KJV is a reasonably good translation, and is still used today. However, because of the changes in language over the past 400 years, modern people have some difficulty in reading and understanding this version.

To answer your question "what's the difference..." I would like to say that some people objectify this Bible to a great degree. There is a certain strain of Christianity (particularly within the U.S.) where it is heard that the KJV is the only acceptable Bible translation. To these people, this version of the Bible is given by God, and all other versions are false and evil. Such people spend a lot of time arguing over how other Bible versions have improper translations, and missing words and phrases. They even attack the character of the people who worked on new translations.

These criticisms do not take into account that Biblical archeology, history, and linguistics have progressed since the early 17th century. Many new translations take this progress into account, and they are more readable, and still faithful to earlier translations. What is perhaps surprising is how few differences there are between older and newer translations of the Bible.

Moreover, the King-James-only people (as they are sometimes called), suffer from a sort of cultural myopia, in that they don't recognize that other cultures and languages do not have the same interest in the KJV Bible as they do. Are we to believe that God favored only English-speaking people? Such worship of a single Bible version is cultural chauvinism, and bibliolatry at its worst.

Some other good English-language Bible versions worth looking at are the New International Version (NIV) and the New King James Version (NKJV). One can spend some time comparing versions to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for God's word.

Answer 2

The King James Bible is an English translation of the "normal Bible" (the Bible was originally written primarily in Hebrew and Greek), following a literal translation scheme (as opposed to "dynamic equivalence" or paraphrase). It is called "King James" because the translation was commissioned by King James of England. It is the oldest commonly used English translation and because of its age/use of Old English, some modern English speakers have difficulty understanding it, but many other translations are not as accurate.

Answer 3

The Bible went through many changes, starting with the Jews who used to mostly have it memorized, along with a few scrolls and then over the years they wrote some of the verbal stories into scrolls.

Then the Jewsh leaders decided which to keep and use as their collection (bible) known at the Tanakah.

These were originally written in Hebrew.

Then when the Greeks dominated the area these were translated into Greek.

When the disciplies of Jesus, who were Jewish and learned the religon from these books of the Tanakah, then incorporated it into the new church of Jesus along with new writings by the disciples and others. This became the origin of the Old and New.

Then in 300 AD the Pagan Emperor Constantine decided to unify the area with this new religion by blending some Pagan concepts people were used to with some Jewish concepts they weren't used to, into new concepts of Christianity. He also set about having a unified Bible made by calling together all the senior church leaders (Bishops) and having them debate the merits of various books and decide what should stay and what shouldn't.

This became the basis of the Catholic Bible and it was eventually translated into Latin

In the North of Europe in Whales and England there were independet Bible cults and colleges of monks who had Greek translations and they were translating these into local language.

Wycliffe was also doing this in, I believe, France with Bibles he had.

Then King Henry VIII split with the Catholic church over divorce and he started the Church of England (Angelican) and ordered a new Bible be made, which was much like the Catholic Bible but in English.

Then Martin Luther, a Catholic Priest, broke with Rome over payment of money to get out of sins and he started his own religious order based on Piousness and he translated the Latin Catholic Bible into German.

By 1600 there were a variety of different Bibles floating around and King James of England called together his ministers, priests, bishops and scholars to collect all of these Bible and compile a definitive edition.

This became the King James Bible. It removed some Catholic books, restored some books left out by the Catholics, changed some verses here and there.

A second edit was made some years later removing 15 books.

This became the definitive edition used by many Churches in the Protestant movement and the Church of England.

There are still a variety of editions in use that are different. Including the Standard Bible, the Gideon Bible, the Catholic Bible and there are later translations such as the NIV (New International Version). These are considered "new age" bibles with less old English talk.

The Actual origiaal collection that made up the "Bible" it closer to being over 90 or 100 books in length instead of the 66 of the KJV. Some of the original JEwish Torah texts (the early Bible chapters) have more verses to Genesis and Exodus as do the modern Jewish and Modern Christian bibles.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a recent find and some of these text is different or not found in modern Bibles nor in the JEwish Tanakah.

These extra books include the Infacy of Jesus, the books of Josephs brothers, the book of Mary Mageline, the Gospel of Judas, books on dealing with soothsayers, fortune tellers, etc.

Most of these books don't read like the KJV and hence they seem funny. They may fit better into the NIV or RSV or Living Bible, but they are too contrastive for the KJV except for the books deleted between the first and second revision which do fit the motif.

Answer 4

The King James Version was first conceived at the Hampton Court Conference, which the new king convened in January 1604, in response to the problems posed by Puritans in the Millenary Petition. According to an eyewitness account, Dr John Rainolds "moved his majesty that there might be a new translation of the Bible, because those which were allowed in the reign of king Henry the Eight and Edward the Sixth were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the original."

Rainolds offered three examples of problems with existing translations: "First, Galatians iv. 25. The Greek word susoichei is not well translated as now it is, bordereth neither expressing the force of the word, nor the apostles sense, nor the situation of the place. Secondly, psalm cv. 28, ‘They were not obedient;’ the original being, ‘They were not disobedient.’ Thirdly, psalm cvi. 30, ‘Then stood up Phinees and prayed,’ the Hebrew hath, ‘executed judgment.’"

King James proposed that a new translation be commissioned to settle the controversies; he hoped a new translation would replace the Geneva Bible and its offensive notes in the popular esteem. After the Bishop of London added a qualification that no marginal notes were to be added to Rainold’s new Bible, the king cited two passages in the Geneva translation where he found the notes offensive. King James gave the translators instructions, which were designed to discourage polemical notes, and to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology of the Church of England. Eventually five different editions of the King James Version were produced in 1611,1629, 1638, 1762, and 1769. It is the 1769 edition which is most commonly cited as the King James Version (KJV).

King James' instructions included requirements that:

1. The ordinary Bible, read in the church, commonly called the Bishops' Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the original will permit....
2. The old ecclesiastical words to be kept; as the word church, not to be translated congregation, &c.
3. When any word hath divers significations, that to be kept which has been most commonly used by the most eminent fathers, being agreeable to the propriety of the place, and the analogy of the faith....
4. No marginal notes at all to be affixed, but only for the explanation of the Hebrew or Greek words, which cannot, without some circumlocution, so briefly and fitly be expressed in the text.
5. Such quotations of places to be marginally set down, as shall serve for the fit references of one scripture to another....
6. These translations to be used when they agree better with the text than the Bishops' Bible, viz. Tyndale's, Coverdale's, Matthew Bible, Whitchurch, Geneva.
King James's instructions made it clear that he wanted the resulting translation to contain a minimum of controversial notes and apparatus, and that he wanted the episcopal structure of the Established Church, and traditional beliefs about an ordained clergy to be reflected in the new translation. His order directed the translators to revise the Bishop's Bible, comparing other named English versions. It is for this reason that the flyleaves of most printings of the King James Bible observe that the text had been "translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised (by His Majesty's special command.)"

At least 80% of the King James New Testament is unaltered from Tyndale's translation.

The King James Version was translated by 47 scholars (although 54 were originally contracted) working in six committees, two based in each of the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and Westminster. They worked on certain parts separately; then the drafts produced by each committee were compared and revised for harmony with each other. The scholars were not paid for their translation work, but were required to support themselves as best they could. Many were supported by the various colleges at Oxford and Cambridge.

Answer 5

King James is just a different translation(its really hard to read, and full of "thee"s and "thou"s). There are some other translations (or versions) too, like the New International Version, or the New Living Translation. A fun one is The Message. It just depends on your preference. If you're wanting to start reading and studying the Bible, I'd suggest the New International Version. It's easy to read, but doesn't make you feel stupid reading it.

Even though they all have different words they all say the same basic thing. They are translated from Hebrew or Greek or sometimes Septuagint and they try as hard as they can to make them accurate, but some of the words in say, Hebrew we don't have in English.

Answer 6

The King James Version of the Bible, or Authorized Version, first published in 1611, has had a profound impact on English literature. The works of famous authors such as John Bunyan, John Milton, Herman Melville, John Dryden, and William Wordsworth are replete with inspiration derived from the King James Version. The term King James Version (KJV) is more commonly used in the USA, whilst the term Authorized Version (AV) is more commonly used in the UK, although both terms are generally understood to mean the same book.

The New Testament of the King James Version was translated from the Received Text (Textus Receptus), called so because most extant texts of the time were in agreement with it. The Old Testament of the King James Version is translated from the Masoretic Hebrew Text.

Modern English Bibles such as the New American Standard Bible and the English Standard Version derive their authority from a completely different set of New Testament manuscripts (earlier Egyptian Minority Texts as opposed to the later Byzantine Majority Texts).

Although it is often referred to as the King James Version, the only active part King James took in the translation was lifting the criminal (death) penalty attached to its translation and setting very reasonable guidelines for the translation process (such as prohibiting partisan scholarship


The difference between bibles is the version it is written in.

Hope this helps

Answer 7

The original Bible is written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. The KJV is a translation of those texts. I personally don't read the ancient languages. I relay on translations. Personally I like the later translations more than the King James. I prefer the New American Standard. But it to is just a translation... Jim

Answer 8

I grew up interpreting the King James version and that i have the recent King James version (alongside with 20 different variations) in my library. My generic commentary on most of the recent Bible variations that attempt to revise the King James version -- the recent King James version, the recent Revised version, the recent American established version, the Revised English Bible, and so on. -- is that their chief function is eliminating God's own call from his own e book. i have not quite got here upon a lot of value interior the variations suggested above, except for that: the eliminating of God's call. and then I really might want to invite, If God positioned it there, by what authority does guy get rid of it? fortuitously, no longer all Bibles have gotten rid of the call. yet you may want to bypass previous the traditional ones, or a minimum of those pushed by non secular bookstores, to discover an quite good Bible.

Answer 9

The origional bible was not in english. King James is a Protestant Bible ...one of the first i think.

the catholic bible has The Apocrypha which is not considered by most christians to be holy scriptures.

there's a lot of other bibles out there as well.

Answer 10

Well...please understand first that the King James Version is a "normal" Bible.

Several different translations of the Bible exist in English. They are called "versions". The King James Version (KJV) is one English translation of the Bible. It is one of the oldest (dates to 1611) and one of the most popular English translations of the Bible.

The KJV uses archaic wording from the perspective of modern readers. For example, compare:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exo%2020%3A8-17&version=NASB;KJV