BIBLE TRANSLATION HISTORY • 1611

King James Version KJV

Translation familyChurch of England / English literary tradition

ApproachCommittee revision emphasizing formal correspondence and continuity

Status hereFull text in Bible Study Center

Rightspublic domain in the United States; Crown rights apply in some jurisdictions

Who made it?

Commissioned by King James I in 1604; produced by companies of roughly fifty scholars working at Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge.

Why was it made?

To create an authorized church Bible without the Geneva Bible’s partisan notes and to revise earlier English Bibles.

How did it develop?

Work began after the 1604 Hampton Court Conference. The translators were organized into six companies and instructed to revise the Bishops’ Bible while consulting earlier English translations and the biblical languages. The first edition appeared in 1611. Later spelling, punctuation and printing revisions produced the familiar modern KJV text.

What source texts did it use?

Masoretic Hebrew tradition; printed Greek Textus Receptus tradition; earlier English Bibles

Read it in the Bible Study Center

Sources & publisher/history references

https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667585/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/King-James-Version