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King James Version of the Bible
1611· Council, creed or writing· Books & writings
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
The English Bible commissioned by King James I and published in 1611, for centuries the Bible of the English-speaking world.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
At the Hampton Court Conference (1604) the Puritan John Rainolds asked for a new translation. James agreed, partly to replace the popular Geneva Bible, whose margin notes questioned royal power. About 47 scholars in six teams at Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge worked from the Hebrew and Greek, officially revising the Bishops' Bible (1568) but drawing above all on Tyndale. It appeared in 1611 with 80 books, including the Apocrypha. Most modern copies follow the 1769 Oxford revision, with updated spelling.
Why it matters
Its phrases, 'the salt of the earth', 'labour of love', 'the powers that be', shaped the English language, and surveys find it is still the translation American Bible readers use most.
Sources and history
About 200 copies of the 1611 first printing survive, and translators' working notes, such as John Bois's, show their method. Text comparisons show most of its New Testament wording comes from Tyndale.
Questions and debates
Its English already sounded somewhat old-fashioned in 1611; scholars debate how much of its famous style was deliberate and how much simply inherited.
Inside this (1)
Connections (2)
▸Henry VIII and the Church of England later produced King James Version of the BibleHistorical record
The connection
The Church of England, needing an authoritative English Bible, had issued the Great Bible (1539) and the Bishops' Bible (1568). James I, as its supreme governor, commissioned a new translation in 1604 and set rules: keep traditional church words ('church', not 'congregation') and add no partisan notes. The result, 'appointed to be read in churches', served Anglican worship for centuries.
When and where
Hampton Court Palace, January 1604; about 47 scholars translated it in 1604–1611; Robert Barker, the King's Printer, published it in London in 1611.
Historical evidence
Archbishop Bancroft's 15 rules for the translators survive, as do the 1611 title page and the translators' preface explaining their aims.
Questions and debates
No formal act authorizing it survives, so the name 'Authorized Version' arose later; the relevant Privy Council records may have been lost in a 1619 fire.
▸William Tyndale's English New Testament supplied much of the wording of King James Version of the BibleHistorical record
The connection
Tyndale translated the New Testament (1526) and much of the Old from Hebrew and Greek, coining phrases such as 'the powers that be' and 'let there be light'. The King James translators were told to revise earlier English Bibles, all descended from Tyndale's, so his wording survived: one study credits him with about 83% of the King James New Testament.
When and where
Tyndale worked in exile in Germany and the Low Countries, 1524–1536, and was strangled and burned near Brussels in 1536; the King James team worked 1604–1611.
Historical evidence
Side-by-side comparison of the texts shows the overlap; a 1998 study by Jon Nielson and Royal Skousen calculated the 83% figure.
Questions and debates
The percentages vary with method, and some scholars credit Miles Coverdale and the Geneva Bible's revisers with part of the wording usually called Tyndale's.