This Day in History: The King James Bible was published on this day in 1611. Also known as the Authourized Version or the Common Bible, it has cemented its place as a monument in English literature. It was based on the best available Hebrew and Greek texts at the time, though about 100 years later it was discovered (by John Mill) that recently found older manuscripts had discrepancies...about 30,000 of them. This caused quite a stir at the time and eventually this has led to many revisions (official and unofficial). The first major revision was in 1881 with the English Revised Version and a few years later with the American Standard Version. Though these were great efforts, the public largely snubbed them. Another major revision, the Revised Standard Version was released in the early 1950's. The initial reception was harsh, in fact, in 1952 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina people congregated to burn copies of the RSV. However, the RSV was better received elsewhere, especially with Catholics many of whom still regard it higher than their own Catholic Bibles. This was updated in 1989 as the New Revised Standard Version and conservative Christians who were uneasy with some readings in the Revised Standard Version came out with the English Standard Version in 2001.
One of the textual differences (discrepancies) can be seen even in the Lord's Prayer. In the King James Version it ends with "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." Other Bibles that are based on older Greek Testament texts do not have this verse.
See also Rare Olde English Bibles on DVDrom (Tyndale, Matthews, Coverdale, AV1611 ) and The King James Version Bible Companion: 100 Books on DVD and The History of the English Bible - 125 Books on DVDrom - For a list of all of my ebooks (DVD and Amazon) click here
See also Over 60 Different Editions of the King James Bible on DVDROM
No comments:
Post a Comment