The Legacy Of A Monarch's Majestic Translation: The Kings James Bible The Remarkable Relevance of a Seventeenth-Century Book to the Twenty-First Century

By Donald Brake

Donald L. Brake quantifies the legacy of this remarkable tome's unique place in history. The 1611 King James Version is the cornerstone and linchpin for all subsequent English translations. He vividly portrays the quality of this seventeenth-century translation as that of precision, enchantment, and passion of a sacred book that has shaped human history for more than two thousand years. He recounts details that emphasize its use of a metric style and rhythm generating a lyrical masterpiece with a compelling resonance for public reading. The KJV's mastery of English expression and its seemingly endless staying power is unparalleled among modern versions. Using thorough comparisons of editions and versions, the author has researched the KJV with the goal of an honest and reasoned approach to the ever-debated value of the popular, but outdated Authorized Version. Brake's study prompted him to do a worldwide census of surviving 1611 "He" Bibles (identified from Ruth 3:15: ". . . and he went into the city."). His purpose was to establish a pedigree of sorts by recording for each copy an exhaustive description eliminating much of the risk of confusion in identifying the nearly 200 extant copies. He cautions that the value of any original KJV depends on a positive identification of authenticity. Brake's work confirms the premise that the literary merits and conscientious translation of a seventeenth-century book has profound twenty-first century relevance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781640797468

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A Monarch’s Majestic Translation: The King James Bible

The remarkable relevance of a seventeenth-century book to the twenty-first century

Includes updated worldwide census of extant 1611 He Bibles

Donald L. Brake, Sr., PhD

ISBN 978-1-64079-745-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64079-746-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2017 by Donald L. Brake, Sr., PhD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Making of a Worldwide Bestseller (1604-1611)

Publishing a Royal Monument of English Prose

The Original Tongues (1516-1598)

God’s Secretaries at Work

Literary Beauty in the Golden Age of the English Language

Revising the King’s English: First Epistle of Peter

A Worldwide Census of Inestimable Treasures

Brake-Hellstern Census (BHC) of He Bibles (2017 edition)71

Appendix 1: Glossary of Common Terms and Abbreviations Used in Descriptions of Bibles

Selected Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Notes

About the Author

I would that England had one uniform translation.

—James I

Psalms Chapter 23 Original 1611 Bible Scan

If the words are arranged in this way, the statement will be more majestic.

—Andrew Downs, KJV translator

Introduction

Great and manifold were the blessings…when first He sent Your Majesty to rule over us.

—Dedication to James, KJV

Who but our cousin of Scotland should sit on my throne?

—Queen Elizabeth I

The stakes were high. The most powerful and influential kingdom in Europe faced uncertainties. Elizabeth, the hero of the English Protestant cause and the ruler of a golden age, completed forty-six years of turbulent rule. She defeated the great Spanish power, but now her body was weak from the weight of old age, failing health, and unrelenting fatigue. The years of anguish, physical inactivity, and the lingering effects of costly wars had left the once wealthy nation broke and a kingdom hanging on to survival.

Who would succeed the most successful monarch in English history? Who would inherit the English scepter? While historians have argued over legal succession of the period, some claims seem obvious. Once the surviving line of the legitimate descendants of Henry VIII (Elizabeth I died childless in 1603) was extinct, the line passed from Henry VIII’s father Henry VII’s daughter Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s oldest sister. This would make Margaret’s great grandson James VI of Scotland in the direct line of succession. James’s sons, Henry and Charles, and daughter Elizabeth had a legitimate claim if their father, James, were to die. Through her second husband, Lady Arabella Stuart, descended from Margaret Tudor, warranted a potential claim as well.

As early as 1602, Thomas Winter, with the encouragement of Pope Clement VII, was negotiating with Spain for support to get the throne to pass to a Roman Catholic. Catholic hope seemed best channeled through either James’s daughter Elizabeth or his niece, Arabella, if she should marry a Catholic.

When the English privy council declared James VI of Scotland, to now be James I of England the new monarch, not all hopes vanished immediately. The Puritans, Anglicans, and Catholics hoped for influence under James. As king of Protestant Scotland, the Protestants believed he would continue the policies of Elizabeth. Because James’s mother was a strict Catholic, the Papists believed he would tolerate Catholicism. It was not long before he disappointed all parties.

James soon endeared himself to most in the kingdom. One of his first acts on foreign policy was to end the long Spanish War. The twenty years of treasury drain ended. The respite from war soon brought the financial coffers into a positive position.

I would that England had one uniform translation.

—King James I of England

Just over four hundred years ago, inside a Northumberland print shop, hand presses began printing the large folio Bible that would become the English world’s bestselling book. Printer Robert Barker often had his presses pounding out Bible leaves. He printed many editions of the Geneva Bible and at least one Bishops’ Bible.

Queen Elizabeth awarded Christopher Barker the exclusive patent as the royal printer in 1577. The grant assured Barker a virtual monopoly in the production of the expensive books. Upon the death of Christopher (1599), his son, Robert, continued as the official royal printer under James I. With the Bible market monopoly, Robert confidently paid what seemed at that time a huge sum, the amount of £3,500 to print the newly translated Bible.

As most citizens enmeshed in the activities of daily life, London residents were oblivious to the king’s history-making printing venture. Over the next four centuries, however, nearly every household in the English-speaking world came to possess a copy of this printed book.

The Scriptures should be written and spoken…in all languages.

—John Wycliffe

Even among the sophisticated twenty-first century populace, the King James Version is still king. Children memorize it; pastors quote it at weddings and cite it at funerals; its words resound from pulpits on a global scale. Presidents swear their allegiance on it and courts use it as the standard for truth telling. Most agree its beauty of expression is unequaled.

Modern English speakers associate the beautiful language in the King James Bible with the very words of God. Some even speak of the seventeenth-century treasures as a time when God spoke English. The posting of biblical phrases on the walls at schools, public buildings, quoted by public officials in speeches, or sung in hymns are most likely from the King James Bible. At times, public quotes use the KJV but substitutes modern words for the more archaic speech to avoid expressions like thee, thou or verbs like bringeth, thirsteth, etc.

Even in light of 400 years of Bible scholarship, new translations, and the discovery of hundreds of ancient Greek manuscripts hailed by scholars as better than the ones used in the King James Version, it is still an English-language bestseller. Four hundred years has entrenched it in modern English culture and language. In spite of modern scholarship that would relegate it to the dusty shelves of time, it is alive and well resting comfortably on many bookshelves or resting conveniently on night stands in hotels.

The KJV stands as a translation of unparalleled influence; it is the Crown Jewel of English literature and, as such, it is worthy of the value it holds in English history and culture.

Today, a version of this four-hundred-year-old icon can be purchased in shopping malls or over the Internet; selected in deluxe leather or recyclable bindings; or be read on Kindle, disc, iPhone, iPad, or simply as a conventional book.

The King James Version weaves its majestic speech into the fabric of our personal stories and the wider stories of faith communities. The cadence and rhythms of the King James Version have drawn the world to its sheer literary beauty. While many see it as an archaic book written four centuries ago with no relevance today, many cling to it as a standard among the plethora of Bible versions. The truth embodied in this ancient book has instilled courage in martyrs; brought comfort to the dying, graced victims with forgiveness; and guided prodigals home. It has counseled both commoners and kings with an unchanging message of grace and love through the ages.¹

Scanning the pages of the 1611 King James Bible, one can see that the beauty of expressions have come to symbolize our language heritage. Many expressions share a beauty that so often is associated with the language of this golden age of literature: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters (Ps. 23:1) or expressions like

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. (Ps. 63:1)

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. (Ps. 42:1)

Be still, and know that I am God. (Ps. 46:10)

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Ps 119:105).

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts. (Ps. 139:23)

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. (Isa 55:1)

Many phrases are integrated into the language of our everyday speech: to fall flat on his face (Num. 22:31); a man after his own heart (1 Sam. 13:14); the land of the living (Job 28:13): to pour out one’s heart (Ps. 62:8); sour grapes (Ezek. 18:2); pride goes before a fall (Prov. 16:18); like a lamb to the slaughter (Isa. 53:7); the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13); a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7); to give up the ghost (John 19:30); and the powers that be (Rom. 13:1).

The Hebrew language of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New Testament are supremely translatable because of their simplicity, clarity, directness, and universal appeal. The English vocabulary possesses the same qualities and is capable of translating the Hebrew and Greek on equal terms. Seventeenth-century Jacobean English language was at its apex during the reign of King James I.

The vivid, fresh, and flexible vocabulary saturated the language of the day. Its diction allowed for concreteness and picturesque expressions that made the language stately and majestic. Modern linguistics tends to simplify language for the sake of clarity and readability for audiences with high school educational skills. As someone has said, it is amazing that such a wonderful product could come from a committee of fifty-four. The result is that modern Bible readers love its vibrant expressions and the air of authority behind its message.

The story and influence of the King James Version is not limited to the seventeenth-century nor did it give way to the first major revision in 1881-85 (English Revised Version) nor even to modern translations, arguably using better Greek manuscripts and sophisticated translation skills. The original printing of the 1611 King James Version still exists today in museums, libraries, and private collections. These artifacts represent a period known today as the golden age of English literature.

1

The Making of a Worldwide Bestseller (1604-1611)

I walke into the pleasant fields of the Holy Scripture where I plucke the goodiesome herbs.

—Queen Elizabeth I

The bleak spring of 1603 promised little hope for England—the economy in shambles and inflation paralyzing the market place. The Spanish wars had dragged on for decades, and England was drawing restless. The queen’s unsuccessful reforms and her persecution of non-Anglican forces depressed the Puritans and Roman Catholics. Elizabeth’s illness, mood swings, and unpredictable outbursts led to inactivity and a paralyzed House of Commons. The relationship between the queen and the House of Commons became contentious.

Yet hope floated just below the surface. Once the old was out, the new could blossom. It took only one small transformation—the queen’s death and a new youthful monarch—to lead the burgeoning country to greater heights. While the promise of hope filled the air, only time would disappoint everyone concerned.

Upon hearing the news of Elizabeth’s death on March 22, 1603, at Richmond Palace, an official summoned the Privy Council to clarify the succession to the throne. Their decision followed the wishes, expressed or assumed, of the queen. Elizabeth’s illness had left the kingdom in a state of turmoil and impotency. That morning, the Privy Council proclaimed James of Scotland king of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland. The throne of England passed from the House of Tudor to the House of Stuart. From Henry VII (the first of the Tudors) through the Virgin Queen Elizabeth I (the last Tudor), the House of Tudor had maintained a very powerful monarchy.

The dashing Sir Robert Carey rode day and night from London to Edinburgh to bring the news to a James who was readying himself for a pleasant night’s rest. Carey arrived March 26, 1603, just seventy hours after the death of Queen Elizabeth.

James’s classical education in the Scottish reformed faith brought a reign that would confuse the relation between the church and state. Declared head of the Scottish church and of state in 1584, James soon began a history of interference. His enthusiastic claim of divine right to rule over both civil and spiritual matters ultimately brought his reign into conflict.

The colorful sixteenth-century ended with Elizabeth’s death. Her long and successful reign ended, and the eager and capable James was crowned. His first tasks pressed him to reconcile the various religious parties who had differences over various church polities. Uncompromising views on the use of the ring in weddings, bowing at the sign of the cross at baptism, and reading the Apocrypha in services seemed irreconcilable. Serious problems even surfaced over Bible versions. The Bishops’ and Great Bibles were in the pulpits, but people were buying the more compact and easier-to-read note-infested Geneva Bible. Churchmen puzzled over just where James’s loyalties lie on these divisive issues. Would he follow the Scottish church who favored the theology of the Geneva Bible or the theology of the Anglican church represented in the Bishops’ Bible?

Mystery at Hampton Court

Sixteenth-century Bibles had marked the landscape of England’s religious practice for more than eighty years. The kingdom braced for what was to come. The Anglican clergy and the Puritans disagreed on which translation was sufficient. However, the motive for a new translation surfaced because of conflict in church polity rather than a felt need for a new translation. The Puritans, complaining about issues they perceived Elizabeth ignored, presented a petition signed by one thousand Puritan clergymen to the newly enthroned James. The petition found immediate connection with James who had a critical attitude toward the role of kingship as expressed in both the Roman Church and the Puritan Geneva Bible. Interestingly, the Bassadyne Bible, a Geneva translation, was dedicated to James while he was king in Scotland. In 1604, James I responded by calling a conference at Hampton Court to discuss church practices and to consider the complaints of the Puritans.

To investigate the issues and to seek a resolution to the many church problems, James called a conference at Hampton Court in 1604. The ravaging plague in London forced the conference to convene a few miles outside the city to avoid the dangers befalling the city. While Elizabeth preferred living in the Palace at Richmond on the Thames River, the newly-crowned James settled on life at the Hampton Court Palace.

The anti-Puritan tenor of the conference soon became apparent. John Rainolds, a Puritan representative, made a bold move when he suggested a new translation. While his suggestion may have risen out of a motive to encourage ratification of the Geneva Bible (1560) over the Bishops’ Bible (1568), James quickly pounced on the idea and gave the order to appoint translators for the task. His version would eliminate the objectionable notes and support the divine right of the monarch.²

Some have accused James of being a closet Roman Catholic. Such assertion seems highly unlikely even though his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was Catholic. While England awaited Elizabeth to name her successor to the throne, Pope Clement VIII was working to get the crown passed on to an English Catholic. While still in Scotland, James had promised Thomas Perch, an English Catholic that Catholics would receive favored status. After the crowning of James, religious parties seemed full of hope and saw a clear promise for the future.

James found it impossible to keep his promises of toleration with his pro-Elizabethan Privy Council and expressly anti-Catholic. In addition, unlike Scottish Catholics, James saw a diminished power among English Catholics. The straw that seems to have broken the camel’s back was the rumor that the Pope sent Queen Anne a Catholic rosary. Three days later, he ordered all Catholic priests to leave England and imposed stiff fines for refusing to comply.

James’s anti-Catholic feeling emboldened Puritans and Anglicans when he send an ominous warning to Roman Catholics pardoning all prisoners except papists and murderers. In addition, he incarcerated a priest for a simple petition to remove the anti-Catholic laws. James’s anti-Catholic intolerance backfired. Assasination plots dotted his early reign.

The most infamous plot, the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, stained his entire reign. James’s aggressive actions in reforming the church and active anti-Catholic actions led to an elaborate assassination plot. This Roman Catholic plan sought to blow up the House of Lords by concealing in the cellars beneath Parliament more than a ton and a half of gunpowder in thirty-six barrels. These carefully placed explosives were hidden under loads of coal and bundled branches. An informant who had only recently become James’s loyal subject foiled the plot.

The plots did not cease. James feared that in retaliation for his treatment of Catholics, the Pope would commission more attempts for his overly zealous negative attitude. Assassinations were commonplace against Protestant rulers across Europe and England. These assasinations included plans to poison Elizabeth I. James’s fear was real.

The boiling pot of descent continued. Lancelot Andrews became embroiled in a controversy over loyalty to the crown. James insisted his subjects adhere to the oath that read, I [name] swear that I do from my heart abhor, detest, and abjure as impious and heretical, this damnable doctrine and position, that princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the pope may be deposed or murdered by their subjects or any others whatsoever.

When Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (under the alias Matthaeus Tortus) attacked the oath, Lancelot Andrews wrote a vigorous rebuttal entitled Tortura Tori, gaining James’s great favor over his support of the oath. The controversy subsided, and the church world acknowledged Andrews’ scholarly piety and adherence to the Scriptures.

The king’s scholars at work

Previous translations in the sixteenth century were primarily the work of individuals or a few independent scholars with a common goal. James set out to use the finest scholars in England to assure the success of his new version. He appointed fifty-four highly qualified translators and organized them into six groups—two from Westminster (Genesis through 2 Kings and Romans through Jude), two from Cambridge (1 Chronicles through Song of Solomon and the Apocrypha), and two from Oxford (Isaiah through Malachi, Matthew through Acts, and Revelation).

Upon completion of the initial translation of their assigned chapter(s), each group met to produce a common text. The chair then sent the work to an equally represented committee of twelve to revise the result. After each committee had argued, discussed, and agreed which reading was their best effort; it circulated among the other companies, resulting in more revisions. If necessary, the committee circulated the revisions among other learned scholars who were not among the official translators. After completing the revisions and corrections, they sent a final manuscript to London. Miles Smith edited the entire manuscript and wrote the preface. Thomas Bilson, bishop of Winchester, added the references and prefixed each chapter with a summary of its contents.

The Sum and Substance, the official record of the conference and work of translation records in