KJV Translation

To answer this question requires the consideration of other underlying questions. The first one is, What necessitated the development of the King James Bible? Contrary to what some may think, it was not the lack of an English Bible but due to the fact that there were several English versions in use. In England, the Church of England was the established state church, and the king was its head, even as he is today. 

Among the versions being used was the Tyndale New Testament, translated in A.D. 1525. Unfortunately, William Tyndale was put to death in A.D. 1536. At the time of his death, he had only translated fifteen of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, and it had to be finished by others. 

Tyndale's translation was included in the Coverdale Bible (1535), the Matthew's Bible (1537), the Great Bible (1539), the Geneva Bible (1560), and the Bishop's Bible (1568). Using these various versions in the Church of England became an issue because of the lack of uniformity in the various congregations throughout the realm. Therefore, King James I was approached about having an "Authorized Version" to provide uniformity. At the front of many older Bibles is a copy of the authorization to show that they were an "authorized version." Certainly, there is much more detail, but these were the predominant facts. 

The scholars commissioned to translate by King James I produced what we term as the King James Version. They relied greatly on the Tyndale Version. Tyndale used both the ancient copies and the Vulgate Version. The King James translators also utilized the Bishop's Bible and the Geneva Bible, which were popular at that time. Thus, the King James translators used a combination of these various renderings. 

I believe the Lord inspired the production of this version and that it is the best English version. It has proven itself to be effective over the centuries in producing the saving of multiplied thousands of souls and in bringing a people to "the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4).

I believe the King James Version should be our mainstay, or standard. The Apostle Paul penned in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God," and that is so. However, the Scriptures were not originally written in English. Many words (especially Greek words) have several definitions. Unfortunately, the translators did not always translate every word correctly. Thus, it behooves us to "study" (2 Timothy 2:15) so "the Spirit of truth" (John 16:13) can enable us to be "rightly dividing the word of truth." 

The Strong's Exhaustive Concordance assigns a number to the Hebrew and Greek words. Then defined therein are the accurate words from the Greek and Hebrew. These may have originally been translated from the Bishop's or Geneva Bibles (or others), and then placed in the King James Version. It picks up, as the origin, those Greek and Hebrew words. I feel the numbers assigned and the definitions are accurate and dependable

Earl R. Borders

From the April 2026 issue of The Gospel Trumpeter