Ward Allen's Translating for King James: Notes Made by a Translator of King James's Bible is a fascinating look at how the best-selling book of all time took shape and sound. The recovery of thirty-nine amazingly legible pages of John Bois's private notes reveals how a committee of scholarly translators urged and argued, bickered and shouted into being the most glorious document in the history of the English language. Book jacket.

The King James Version has shaped the church, our worship, and our mother tongue for over 400 years. But what should we do with it today? The KJV beautifully rendered the Scriptures into the language of turn-of-the-seventeenth-century England. Even today the King James is the most widely read Bible in the United States. The rich cadence of its Elizabethan English is recognized even by non-Christians. But English has changed a great deal over the last 400 years—and in subtle ways that very few modern readers will recognize. In Authorized Mark L. Ward, Jr. shows what exclusive readers of the KJV are missing as they read God's word.#In their introduction to the King James Bible, the translators tell us that Christians must "heare CHRIST speaking unto them in their mother tongue." In Authorized Mark Ward builds a case for the KJV translators' view that English Bible translations should be readable by what they called "the very vulgar"—and what we would call "the man on the street."

In this collection of essays, thirty scholars from diverse disciplines offer their unique perspectives on the genius of the King James Version, a translation whose 400th anniversary was recently celebrated throughout the English-speaking world. While avoiding nostalgia and hagiography, each author clearly appreciates the monumental, formative role the KJV has had on religious and civil life on both sides of the Atlantic (and beyond) as well as on the English language itself. In part 1 the essayists look at the KJV in its historical contexts—the politics and rapid language growth of the era, the emerging printing and travel industries, and the way women are depicted in the text (and later feminist responses to such depictions). Part 2 takes a closer look at the KJV as a translation and the powerful precedents it set for all translations to follow, with the essayists exploring the translators’ principles and processes (with close examinations of “Bancroft’s Rules” and the Prefaces), assessing later revisions of the text, and reviewing the translation’s influence on the English language, textual criticism, and the practice of translation in Jewish and Chinese contexts. Part 3 looks at the various ways the KJV has impacted the English language and literature, the practice of religion (including within the African American and Eastern Orthodox churches), and the broader culture. The contributors are Robert Alter, C. Clifton Black, David G. Burke, Richard A. Burridge, David J. A. Clines, Simon Crisp, David J. Davis, James D. G. Dunn, Lori Anne Ferrell, Leonard J. Greenspoon, Robin Griffith-Jones, Malcolm Guite, Andrew E. Hill, John F. Kutsko, Seth Lerer, Barbara K. Lewalski, Jacobus A. Naudé, David Norton, Jon Pahl, Kuo-Wei Peng, Deborah W. Rooke, Rodney Sadler Jr., Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, Harold Scanlin, Naomi Seidman, Christopher Southgate, R. S. Sugirtharajah, Joan Taylor, Graham Tomlin, Philip H. Towner, David Trobisch, and N. T. Wright.

What motivated the men who gave us our Bible in English? Much of the answer lies in the turbulent religious history of the era, but there are clues which can be found in the prefaces published with each new edition. This collection of the prefaces to the main translations of the Bible into English between 1525 and 1611 has been prepared to coincide with the four-hundredth anniversary of the fi rst edition of the Authorised or King James Version. An introductory chapter delineates the key events, and this is followed by each of the texts, with notes indicating the sources of the various quotations and allusions. This collection therefore provides the historical and theological ancestry of a much loved translation, and readers can hardly fail to be challenged by the spiritual concerns of the translators. Gerald Bray is Director of Research for the Latimer Trust. Prior to this appointment he taught church history and historical theology at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University from 1993, having previously served as lecturer in theology and philosophy at Oak Hill College in London.

In celebration of the work of the translators of the King James Bible and the fruit of their labors, the authors of this volume, representing a wide range of disciplines and perspectives, examine the cultural and religious monument that is the King James Bible. After David G. Burkes introduction to the volume, Alister McGrath, Benson Bobrick, Lynne Long, and John R. Kohlenberger III explore in part 1 The World of Bible Translation before the King James Version. In part 2, A. Kenneth Curtis, Barclay M. Newman and Charles Houser, and Jack Lewis investigate The Making of the King James Bible. In part 3 Leonard J. Greenspoon, Cheryl J. Sanders, Lamin Sanneh, David Lyle Jeffrey, and James R. White review The World of Bible Translation after the King James Bible. Paperback. 296 pages.

David Norton re-edited the King James Bible for Cambridge, and this 2005 book arose from his intensive work on that project. Here he shows how the text of the most important Bible in the English language was made, and how, for better and for worse, it changed in the hands of printers and editors until, in 1769, it became the text we know today. Using evidence as diverse as the manuscript work of the original translators, and the results of extensive computer collation of electronically held texts, Norton has produced a scholarly edition of the King James Bible for the new century that will restore the authority of the 1611 translation. This book describes this fascinating background, explains Norton's editorial principles and provides substantial lists and tables of variant readings. It will be indispensable to scholars of the English Bible, literature, and publishing history.

Honors the 400th anniversary of the book's publication by telling its dramatic story and exploring its inherent literary excellence and unparalleled influence on English and American culture.

The King James Version (KJV) has been a gift of God to the Body of Christ. It has been the standard of truth and inspiration which has stabilized the Protestant Church and blessed millions of people. Still, someone needs to say it: the KJV is an inferior translation. In these pages, Dr. Harold R. Eberle clearly shows the errors and biases of the KJV, hoping that you will consider the advantages of more modern translations.

Guthrie presents a layperson's guide to understanding how to read the Bible in context so that its teachings are illuminated and can be fully applied to every facet of daily life.