King James Scholarship

I, like most, never planned on becoming old. On one occasion, I was in the supermarket checkout line when a child, speaking to his father, referred to “the old man over there,” gesturing in my direction. I looked around for the old man, and it was me. At that time, I was in my thirties, and decades have passed since then. But that event was just like yesterday. James 4:14: “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Our lives are like the morning mist, like the steam ascending from a boiling pot of water. Psalms 90:9-10:

9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Once upon a time lived you. The men inspired to pen the scriptures noted have been gone for thousands of years.

What I do with my story is continually in my hand. Psalms 119:109:

My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.

Your soul is in your hand and the choices you make here dictate how your life will be lived on earth and where you will spend eternity. It’s your choice. The Word of God instructs Israel in Deuteronomy 30:19:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Jesus speaks of His commission in John 14:6:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Have you found the way? Have you been born again? Are you ready to choose life and live? GodSaidManSaid has magnificent news for you. Today is your day of salvation. Click onto Further With Jesus for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. Do it right now. We will wait for you here. Now for today’s subject.

GOD SAID, Genesis 3:1-5:

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 4:2:

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

GOD SAID, Revelation 22:18-19:

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

GOD SAID, Proverbs 24:21:

My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:

GOD SAID, I Corinthians 14:33:

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

GOD SAID, Psalms 12:6:

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

MAN SAID: The Authorized King James Version of the Bible founded on the majority text is outdated and hard to read. There are newer and better translations based on better scholarship and older manuscripts.

Now THE RECORD. There is nothing more important than our copy of the Word of God. Its credentials must be impeccable, its veracity unassailable. Our eternal lives depend on it, and remember, where there is doubt, the mountains won't move. How central and supremely foundational is this verse in Revelation 19:13that speaks of Christ and His returning at the soon to come battle of Armageddon:

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

His name is “The Word of God.” Allegiance to the Word of God is allegiance to Christ. The students of the scriptures know that tampering with the Word of God is not an option and that wickedness, death, and the destruction of this world began with the addition of one word and a question mark. In Genesis 3:1, Satan engages Eve, the mother of all living, and says, “yea, hath God said?” Remove the word “hath” and the question mark, and it would have read, “yea, God said” Eve, in an act of unbelief and disobedience, followed Satan, the second voice in the garden of Eden. That very day, she died spiritually and Paradise was lost. Adding and subtracting from the Word of God is disaster and is known in Psalms 19:13 as “the great transgression.”

This is GodSaidManSaid feature article 585. These features are archived here in text and streaming audio. They establish the supernatural inerrancy of the Bible, and every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one. Welcome. We're glad you’re here. May God's face shine upon you with Light and Truth.

Numerous features on GodSaidManSaid address the issue of Bible translations. At the end of this, the first of a two part series on Biblical scholarship and manuscripts, we will list those features for your examination. There is nothing more important that the accuracy of your copy of the Word of God and GodSaidManSaid contends that, in the English language, the authority is the Authorized King James Version.

Dr. D.L. Brake’s 284-page book, A Visual History of the King James Bible, goes into much detail on the behind-the-scenes labor and mechanisms used by the KJV translators. Brake published a profile of each of the 54 translators selected to labor in the effort. I have chosen one of each from the 12 translating committees for your consideration. This feature highlights the first six.

First Westminster Company (Genesis through II Kings)

The first appointed company of translators met in an edifice worthy of a major translation project: the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster Abbey in London. At this time in history, Westminster Abbey was a center of administration where court proceedings meted out justice to British citizens.

Lancelot Andrews

: director of the First Westminster Company, dean of Westminster (1601), bishop of Ely (1609), bishop of Winchester (1618).

Educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge University, Andrews became closely connected with Queen Elizabeth and preached at her funeral. He also became aligned with King James and held the lead translation role.

One of the most able preachers of his day, Andrews was called “an angel in the pulpit.” Conversant in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldean, Syriac, Arabic, and nine other languages, he was the most able linguist in Christendom. At his funeral, he was remembered as follows: “He was, as all our English world knows, a singular preacher, and a most famous writer.”

First Cambridge Company

(

I Chronicles

through

Song of Solomon

)

Among the most prestigious universities in Britain, Cambridge chose its greatest scholars to translate I Chronicles through Song of Solomon. The First Cambridge Company scholars were a Hebrew language group.

Edward Lively

: director of the First Cambridge Company and Regius Professor of Hebrew at Trinity College, Cambridge University.

After teaching Hebrew for thirty years, Lively, considered one of the greatest of EnglandѺs linguists, died before the King James translation was complete. His method for discovering meaning in a text was to collate all verses that used the same phrase. He then evaluated the contexts and drew conclusions about meaning.

First Oxford Company

(

Isaiah

through

Malachi

)

All of the translators were fellows of colleges, four were heads of colleges, four were experts in oriental languages, and three held the title Regius Professor of Hebrew.

Richard Kilby

: Regius Professor of Hebrew and rector of Lincoln College, Oxford.

In addition to his scholarly abilities in debating and his language expertise in Hebrew and Latin, Kilby was an able preacher known for his spiritual sensitivity. He became the official director of the company following Harding’s death in 1610.

Second Cambridge Company

(

the Apocrypha

)

John Bois

: fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, and dean of Canterbury.

An extraordinary scholar and student of Andrew Downes, Bois excelled in advanced Greek. He soon distinguished himself as a notable Greek scholar with disciplined study habits, often awakening at 4:00 a.m. and studying until 8:00 p.m. Bois, an editor of the King James Version, has become well known because he recorded notes in the margins of his Bishop's Bible that give a glimpse into his thinking during the translation process.

Second Oxford Company

(

Matthew

through

Acts

and

Revelation

)

The Second Oxford Company was perhaps the most prestigious of the translation groups. The four deans, two future bishops, and one archbishop were experts in the Greek language, and they were working on perhaps the most important portion of the Scriptures.

Sir Henry Savile

: warden of Merton College, provost of Eton College.

Entering Brasenose College, University of Oxford, at the age of merely twelve years, Savile was appointed fellow of Merton College when he was sixteen. By age twenty-one, he had firmly established himself as a leading scholar. He was widely published in the writings of the Greek fathers, and his knowledge of the Greek language went unquestioned. Queen Elizabeth used him as a Greek tutor, and he was later elected warden of Merton College.

Second Westminster Company

(

Romans

through

Jude

)

William Barlow

: director of the Second Westminster Company, dean of Chester, and bishop of Rochester.

Barlow was the writer of the official report from the Hampton Court Conference, The Summe and Substance of the Conference

.

In his capacity as chaplain to Archbishop Whitgift, Barlow was asked to comfort the Earl of Essex while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. In a sermon the following Sunday at St. Paul’s Cross, Barlow reported the Earl of Essex had acknowledged his guilt and repented of his treason. As a result, Barlow found great favor with both Queen Elizabeth and King James. [End of quote]

Men of unsurpassed credentials were chosen to translate the Authorized King James Version of the Bible. These men were the English-speaking world's authorities on Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Keep in mind that language is a finite discipline with a fixed number of letters in its alphabet and a fixed number of words in its lexicon. The knowledge is fixed and does not grow with increased technology, for example. The language does not grow in knowledge but can become modified by adding letters to the alphabet or words to the lexicon. The source of the knowledge in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek rested with the authorities in the field of that day. When you hear the Bible expositor tell you that, in the original Hebrew or Greek, it says such and such, and that information is different from that which you find in the pages of your King James Bible, that expositor is wrong.

The scholarship cannot be improved on and you will see as we proceed that neither can the manuscripts. Today’s modern English translations have made thousands of additions and deletions. Major doctrines have been affected and doubt and confusion has been sown. Nothing is more important than your copy of the Word of God, and the Authorized King James Version is a sure foundation.

GOD SAID, Genesis 3:1:

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 4:2:

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

GOD SAID, Revelation 22:18-19:

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

GOD SAID, Proverbs 24:21:

My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:

GOD SAID, I Corinthians 14:33:

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

GOD SAID, Psalms 12:6:

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

MAN SAID: The Authorized King James Version of the Bible founded on the majority text is outdated and hard to read. There are newer and better translations based on better scholarship and older manuscripts.

Now you have THE RECORD.




References:
Authorized King James Version

Brake, D. L., A Visual History of the King James Bible, Baker Books, 2011, p 97, 99- 101, 103-104, 107-108

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