King James Bible Anniversary!

Celebrate the Book that has Changed the World.

For 400 years, the King James Bible has impacted millions of people, influenced culture, and transcended numerous generations.

With more than 6 billion copies published, the Bible is the most popular book in the world, and the King James Bible is the most published Bible translation. Its inspired words has brought peace, joy, and hope to millions of people and is regarded today as one of the most accurate translations.

Bible Facts

• The Bible is the best selling and most distributed book of all time. Estimated more than 6 billion copies published¹
• Originally written in 3 languages: Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic²
• Written over a span of 1,000 or more years³
• Written by more than 40 authors, including kings, prophets, poets, musicians, and fisherman⁴
• Books include letters, poetry, songs, legal documentation, eyewitness accounts, biographies, historical literature and documents⁵
• Translated into 2,454 languages of the world's estimated 6,500 total languages⁶
• It is commonly believed that the writing of the Old and New Testament was inspired by God

References:
1. Bible Society 1992 survey (http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-the-bible/what-is-the-bible/what-is-the-bible-2/ also http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/bestsellerFARQ.html)
2. http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/200-languages-of-the-bible
3. Bible Society (http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-the-bible/what-is-the-bible/what-is-the-bible-2/)
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. United Bible Societies (http://www.unitedbiblesocieties.org/?page_id=2)

King James Bible Facts

• The most popular Bible translation; an estimated 1 billion or more copies have been published¹
• The translation was brought upon by King James I of England²
• First published in 1611 A.D. (some believe between May 2nd - May 5th)³
• More than 169 original 1611 King James Bibles are in existance today⁴
• Gothic text and Jacobean spelling was used in the original 1611 version, which is noticeably different than 21st Century English⁵
• 80 books were included (39 in Old Testament, 14 in Apocrypha, and 27 in New Testament)⁶
• Contains 788,258 total words, of which 14,565 are unique⁷
• The title was not originally called the "King James Version", but "THE HOLY BIBLE, Containing the Old Testament, AND THE NEW: Newly Translated out of the Original tongues: & with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesties special Commandment"⁸
• 1814 A.D. is the earliest recorded date of it being called "King James Version" or "Authorized Version"⁹
• The original book was very large: approximately 17" tall, 30" wide when opened, and it weighed up to 30 pounds¹⁰
• The first 1611 Bibles were expensive and were chained to the front pulpit of churches, to prevent from being stolen¹¹
• Prior to the 1611 King James Bible, most churches did not have Bibles¹²
• The King James Bible is the first English Bible ever printed in the United States- first printed by the King's Printer in England, then printing and distribution spread throughout the world¹³
• Public officials on all levels of United States government, including presidents, have taken their oath of office with the King James Bible¹⁴
• A committee of 54 translators worked for 7 years to complete the King James translation¹⁵

References:
1. http://www.kingjamesbibletrust.org/files/kjbt-booklet.pdf
2. Ibid.
3. http://kjv400.co.uk/ and http://www.squidoo.com/king-james-bible-400th-birthday
4. Donald Brake, PhD, A Royal Monument of English Literature: The King James Bible 1611, Credo House Publishers, 2011, http://www.credocommunications.net/KJV
5. http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjworkes.htm and http://www.angelfire.com/la2/prophet1/holybiblepictures.html
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_of_the_Authorized_King_James_Version
7. ../Popular-Bible-Words.php
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorized_King_James_Version
9. Ibid.
10. http://www.greatsite.com/facsimile-reproductions/kingjames-1611.html
11. http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/
12. Ibid.
13. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.CON.RES.38:
14. Ibid.
15. http://www.npr.org/2011/04/18/135437890/king-james-bible-now-400-still-echoes-voice-of-god

Quotes about the King James Bible

"That book [King James Bible], sir, is the rock upon which our republic rests."

- Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States

"The King James Version is a Magna Carta for the Poor and Oppressed: the most democratic book in the world."

- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

"Indeed, it is an incontrovertible fact that all the complex and horrendous questions confronting us at home and worldwide have their answer in that single book [King James Bible]."

- Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States

"The scholars who produced this masterpiece [King James Bible] are mostly unknown and unremembered. But they forged an enduring link, literary and religious, between the English-speaking people of the world."

- Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of UK

"There is no doubt in my mind that the King James Bible not Shakespeare set this language on its path to become a universal language on a scale unprecedented before or since."

- Melvyn Bragg, British Broadcaster and Author

"The King James Bible is a cornerstone of our culture and our language. Whatever our faith, whatever we believe, we have to recognise that the rhetorical power of this book, and in particular its power to fuse history with poetry, connects at the most fundamental level with our own history and poetry."

- Andrew Motion, British Author and Poet Laureate

"The translation was extraordinarily well done because to the translators what they were translating was not merely a curious collection of ancient books written by different authors in different stages of culture, but the word of God divinely revealed through His chosen and expressly inspired scribes. In this conviction they carried out their work with boundless reverence and care and achieved a beautifully artistic result...they made a translation so magnificent that to this day the common human Britisher or citizen of the United States of North America accepts and worships it as a single book by a single author, the book being the Book of Books and the author being God."

- George Bernard Shaw, Irish Author, Nobel Peace Prize Winner

"Over the past several centuries it's been the single book in most households, an enormous force in shaping the development of the English language. Carried around the world by missionaries, it provided the base by which English is about to become the lingua franca of the world in the next century. Exploring it during this shoot [Ten Commandments] was one of the most rewarding creative experiences of my life."

- Charlton Heston, American Actor

Bible Translation Timeline

• 1400 B.C.: Ten Commandment tablets given to Moses by God.
• 500 B.C.: Old Testament Hebrew manuscripts completed.
• 200 B.C.: Old Testament and Apocrypha Greek manuscripts completed.
• 100 A.D.: New Testament completed.
• 382 A.D.: Latin Vulgate manuscripts produced.
• 1384 A.D.: First complete Bible ever reproduced. By John Wycliffe. A handwritten copy of all 80 books: the 66 old and new testaments, plus apocrypha.
  
• 1456 A.D.: First printed Bible, the Gutenberg Bible. It used independently placed characters called movable type, which revolutionized book publishing.
  
• 1560 A.D.: The first Bible in English, the Geneva Bible.
  
• 1611 A.D.: The first King James Bible, commissioned by King James I of England.
  
• 1769 A.D.: The English is edited and updated to reflect the evolving language.
• 1885 A.D.: Apocrypha was removed, leaving 66 books.
• 1947 A.D.: Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered which helped validate the accuracy of the Bible.
• 1982 A.D.: New King James Version published to modernize the English.

Bible translation timeline of key accomplishments. See Media and Press Kit to download in high resolution or as an editable, layered Photoshop file. Usage is permitted with a live link to: www.kingjamesbibleonline.org

More Information

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