This lesson was created with the help of The King James Bible Course by James L. Melton.
Psalms 12:6-7- The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
There are professing Christians out there who think that God could not preserve His word. They say that the originals were inspired, but that there is no translation available today that isn't infallible.
How could an Almighty God not be able to preserve His word as an infallible book? And, if there is an infallible translation available today, which one is it?
First, we need to take a closer look at inspiration. According to Webster's 1828 dictionary, inspiration is the act of drawing air into the lungs; the inhaling of air; a branch of respiration, and opposed to expiration. Isn't that interesting. We think of inspiration as something that causes a creative spark, but it's connected to breathing.
2 Timothy 3:16-17- All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
God inspired His word. He literally breathed it. You know something else that has God's breath in it? You!
Genesis 2:7- And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
When God made man, He breathed into him the breath of life. He only had to do this once. This life giving breath has been passed down to each subsequent human born. If His breath has been preserved with living creation, why can't it work that way with Scripture?
2 Peter 1:21- For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
God told the writers of Scripture what to write. If He is the author, then He should also be able to preserve His words since He is eternal. He promised that His word would be here forever.
Matthew 24:35- Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
So, if God has preserved the Scriptures, then which version would it be? It can't be all of them, because each translation is different. Sometimes they even contradict each other and God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33).
If we say that all translations are God's word, even though they differ, we are now faced with the opportunity for less scrupulous men to tell us which of these readings are more accurate, and that would move a man into the position of authority, rather than God.
This is a bad position to be in because mankind is fickle and sinful.
Psalms 39:5- Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
Romans 3:23- For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
So, let's look at a few reasons why the King James Version is the infallible, inspired word of God.
First, it was translated under a king by a group of highly educated men. That matters.
Ecclesiastes 8:4a- Where the word of a king is, there is power:
The new versions have been translated by committees, not a monarch. God's form of government is a theocratic monarchy- this is how Christ will rule during the millennium. In fact, four books of the Bible are written about kings ruling their kingdom.
"James" is the English word for "Jacob". Remember that God renamed Jacob in the Old Testament to "Israel" and that is the name His people are known by. So, why not name His Words following the same idea?
The translators of the King James Bible believed they were handling the very words of God. They weren't in this for money. Their scholarship far exceeded that of modern version translators, yet they remained humble and allowed God to use them. They didn't set out to "correct" the Scriptures, their sole purpose was to translate God's word for the English speaking people.
How did they go about this task? The men were divided into six companies (2 at Westminster, 2 at Oxford, and 2 at Cambridge).Each member of the company made his own translation first. The members would then meet to compare one another's work. When each group completed a book, it was sent to the other five groups for their independent assessment.
When the complete Bible was translated, it came before a select committee of 12 men, who met daily for nine months. The complete process ensured that each passage was scrutinized a minimum of fourteen times!
Now, let's take a look at just a few of the men who were chosen to translate:
John Boise could read Hebrew at 5 years old. At 14, he became a student at St. Johns College. While there, he was well known for corresponding with his superiors in Greek.
Lancelot Andrews possessed knowledge of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Chaldean, Syriac, and Arabic. He was conversant in fifteen languages. He was called a "walking library" and was said to be covetous of nothing but books.
John Reynolds entered Oxford at 13. It was said that he was most prodigiously seen in all kinds of learning and most excellent in all tongues.
That's just three of the 47 men who from 1604 to 1611 made it their life's work to translate the Scriptures. All of the men chosen were academically excellent in many different areas of knowledge.
These men made certain that they translated honestly. There are some who make a big deal out of the italicized words in the King James Bible. You can look at any new version and see there are no italicized words. So, why does the KJV have them?
The italic words in the King James Bible are there to shown when the translators added to the text. This is necessary when translating from one language to another so that the context of the translation makes sense. They put these in even when there was enough evidence that it wasn't needed.
Example:
2 Samuel 21:19- And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
I Chronicles 20:5- And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver's beam.
In the passage in 2 Samuel, the translators added "the brother of" because it wasn't in the originals. It would have created confusion had they left these important words out because everyone knows that David killed Goliath. The words are present in the original story as told in I Chronicles. They didn't need to italicize those words because they were present in another portion of Scripture that was a retelling of the same story. However, because they were honest, they wanted to show that they had added these words.
They even included the apocrypha in the original version. Note that apocrypha means "doubtful writings". No one in any other part of the Bible ever quotes anything in the apocrypha. The apocryphal books aren't written in Hebrew like the rest of the Old Testament, excluding Daniel. And, they contained statements which contradicted other Scriptures.
The King James Bible translators primarily used the Hebrew Masoretic Text for the Old Testament, the Greek Textus Receptus for the New Testament, and the Greek Septuagint for the Apocrypha. They also consulted other manuscripts in various languages, previously translated works, and Scriptural commentaries during their translation process.
When people find new portions of Scripture, like the Dead Sea scrolls, they agree with the King James translation showing even more proof that God was behind their endeavor.
The King James Bible has no copyright. No one will get in trouble for printing, reciting, or using this translation. The new versions all have a copyright, and it's not God who gets the royalties.
Some people will say that the original version had a crown copyright of the 1611, but it was only copyrighted then for the purpose of allowing the printer to finance the publication. They were not making merchandise off God's words.
There are some King James Version Bibles today that hold copyrights, but that does not include the words. Those copyrights are on the publisher's maps and notes. No one needs to request permission or pay royalties to another for the Scripture text of a King James Version Bible.
The King James Bible has benefits that the original Greek and Hebrew did not have. First, it's all compiled together in one volume! The originals were multiple scrolls or letters that had to be copied meticulously to keep from being destroyed through use.
Next, God isn't against translations. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, with the exception of Daniel, which was written in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek. There are many passages in the New Testament that are quotes from the Old Testament, but these quotes have been translated into Greek.
Why, then, did God not choose to use on of the English Bibles translated prior to 1611? I can't give a definitive answer, but we can make an educated guess.
The English language was still being developed prior to the 17th Century. And, being unstable would have made it difficult to get an accurate translation. God chose English because He knew it would become the next universal language due to the expansion of the British Empire.
The previous versions were generally translated by just one man- Tyndale, Luther, etc. And these translations sometimes had doctrinal or personal opinion associated with them. God wanted His words to be without man's opinion.
2 Peter 1:20- Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
A final point, the King James Translators used "old" English because it was the only way to to maintain precise grammatical distinctions. This was not contemporary speech in the 17th Century. The "old" English was able to show the formal difference between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person.
Example:
1st person- I write
2nd person- Thou writest
3rd person- He writeth
There are other words in the "old" English that show when an audience is being addressed or whether a person is being addressed. Thou, thy, and thee are singular and indicate one person being addressed, whereas ye, you, and yours are plural and indicated more than one person is being addressed.
Example:
John 3:7- Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus- thee (singular).
But what He says next is for everyone- ye (plural).
In our modern English we would have translated both as "you" and we would have lost the distinction.
God has a reason for everything! And the above shows us His reason for choosing the language and the time period of the King James Version for His words to be translated for us today.
