Calvin Synod Herald, 2011 (112. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)
2011-03-01 / 3-4. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HF.RALD 9 King James Version of Bible 400th Anniversary of Printing Some Hungarian immigrants to America were welcomed by old line churches, and on their pulpits or lectums were not the familiar Karoly Gáspár bibles, but large English bibles in the King James Version. By the time of the mass Hungarian exodus from their homeland to the New World, this version already was old and by popular usage had crowded out most other translations in the English language. It did so for over three hundred years. First printed in London, in 1611 A. D., it was the culmination of work by 47 scholars, all members of the Church of England, and all but one ordained clergy. Although it is commonly called thq Authorized Version, it was never granted special authorization by the Church or King James I. Four hundred years later it is still in use in many churches - some will use no other - because many are endeared by its classical Elizabethan language and style. It has had an ageless effect upon poetry, prose and drama not only in England but in America as well. Even later contemporary translations often reflect its euphony and tone, because of its marked influence over the years on literature and music. Early Versions While it certainly holds the record for the most number of copies ever printed, and nothing else comes close, the KJV was not the first in English. Just as ancient efforts to produce a Bible in the language of the people led to the scrolls in Hebrew, the Septuagint in Greek and the Vulgate in Latin, the first English translation by the followers of John Wycliffe was written before 1409, in manuscript form. William Tyndale translated the New Testament in 1525, and it was the first printed Bible in English. He began work on it, but never completed translation of the Old Testament. After some further work and editing by Myles Coverdale, it became the basis for the Great Bible, which was authorized by the Church of England. Upon the accession to the throne by Mary I, many reformers fled to Geneva, John Calvin’s new center for biblical studies and Reformed theology. The English emigres, in 1560, produced the Geneva Bible. It soon became the most popular version of its time, and was brought to America by the Puritans. Its printing was subsequently prohibited in England, in 1637. Official discontent with both of these efforts, because they did not “conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the Episcopal structure of the Church of England and its beliefs about an ordained clergy,” brought about a revision of the Great Bible in 1568, called the Bishops ’Bible, which was officially authorized. As a result of the Reformers’ emphasis on biblical accuracy, the obvious problems with these earlier translations resulted in yet another effort to arrive at a better translation. Martin Luther had labored to give the Bible to his German countrymen, in the 1455 historic Gutenberg printing. Karoly Gáspár translated the Bible into Hungarian, printed in Visoly in 1590. The winds of change were at work across the channel. The KJV 1611 King James IV of Scotland attended the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1601, and heard suggestions that a better translation was needed. He was crowned sovereign of all England in 1603, as King James I. The next year he convened a conference and six committees began their work. In addition to Greek and Hebrew, with the Bishops' Bible to be their primary resource, they were also authorized to consult these previous translations. Some scholars assert much of Tyndale’s efforts can be seen in the final product, about 83 percent in the New and 75 percent in the Old Testaments. In 1535 he had been tried for heresy, strangled and burned at the stake. It appears that two editions were printed in 1611 (Ruth 3:15 says “he went into the city” in one account, and “she went into the city” in the other). Since they were made of sheets printed by different shops, assembled into complete Bibles, there was a marked difference from the outset. Black letter typeface was used in the first edition, and roman typeface to indicate words that were added for clarity or grammar by the translators. Later editions using roman typeface would resort to italics in these circumstances. While the Geneva Bible and Bishop 's Bible had used numerous illustrations, these were omitted, but books and chapters commenced with fanciful historiated initial letters, as well as decorative title pages for the Bible, and to introduce each of the Old and New Testaments. As it turned out, it really was not a final version. Careless as Continued on page 10
