How We Got Our Bible: The King James You Read Is From 1769

Two facts about the King James Version that are easy to miss, and both are worth having.
The first is scale. It was not the work of one or two scholars. Around fifty scholars were involved in producing it. Whatever else it is, it is a committee translation, with all the cross-checking that implies.
The second is the one that surprises people. The King James underwent serious revisions after it first appeared in 1611. There were revisions in 1629, in 1638, in 1762, and then in 1769 - and that last date matters, because King James editions used today are normally based on that 1769 revision.
So the translation has a long history in and of itself. When someone appeals to the 1611 King James, they are almost never holding a 1611 King James. They are holding a revision made a hundred and fifty-eight years later.
None of which is a strike against it. It is a serious translation with a remarkable legacy. It simply has a history, like every other Bible in this series - and knowing that history is better than defending a version of it that never existed.
Scripture links:
- 2 Timothy 3:16 - all Scripture is breathed out by God.
- Luke 1:1-4 - a careful, orderly account.
- Psalm 119:160 - the sum of your word is truth.
Fifty scholars, four revisions, and the one you read is normally the 1769.