THE KING JAMES BIBLE TRANSLATORS

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by David W. Daniels

Question: Who were the translators of the King James Bible?

Answer: God brought together over 54 of the finest Bible translators English has ever known, to translate the King James Bible.

Researching the Translators
For twenty years (the late 1830s to the late 1850s) researcher Alexander McClure pored over records to learn all he could about who translated the King James Bible. His resulting book, Translators Revived: Biographical Notes on the King James Version Translators, stands as a monument to these dedicated Christian men. It may be read online at www.books.google.com. I highly recommend it.

A Few Short Examples
Here are some of the qualified translators of the King James Bible.

John Harman, M.A., New College, Oxford.
In 1585 he had been appointed King’s Professor of Greek. He had published Latin translations of Calvin’s and Beza’s sermons, and was also adept in Greek. He was a member of the New Testament group that met at Oxford.

John Spencer
At 19 years of age he had been elected Greek lecturer for Corpus Christi College in Oxford University. It was written of him, “Of his eminent scholarship there can be no question.” He was a member of the New Testament group (Romans through Jude) that met at Westminster.

Thomas Bilson
McClure wrote that he was “so complete in divinity, so well skilled in languages, so read in the Fathers and Schoolmen, so judicious in making use of his readings, that at length he was found to be no longer a soldier, but commander in chief in the spiritual warfare” (Translators Revived, pp. 214-416).

Dr. George Abbot, B.D., D.D.
Dr. Abbot started at Oxford in 1578, getting his B.D. in 1593 and at 35 years of age both received his doctorate and became first Master of University College, and later Vice Chancellor. He became Bishop of Lichfield in 1609 and Archbishop of Canterbury in 1611. He was regarded as “the head of the Puritans within the Church of England.” He was in the Oxford New Testament group.

Sir Henry Saville
In 1565 Sir Saville was Fellow of Merton College and Warden in 1585. By 1596 he was Provost of Eton College and tutor to Queen Elizabeth I. He founded the Savillian professorships of Mathematics and Astronomy at Oxford. His many works include an 8-volume set of the writings of Chrysostom.⁽¹⁾ He also worked in the New Testament group at Oxford.

Lancelot Andrewes
From Terence H. Brown, (Secretary of the Trinitarian Bible Society, London, England) comes this description of Westminster committee member Lancelot Andrewes:

He “… had his early education at Coopers Free School and Merchant Taylors School, where his rapid progress in the study of the ancient languages was brought to the notice of Dr. Watts, the founder of some scholarships at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. Andrewes was sent to that College, where he took his B.A. degree and soon afterward was elected Fellow. He then took his Master’s degree and began to study divinity and achieved great distinction as a lecturer. He was raised to several positions of influence in the Church of England and distinguished himself as a diligent and excellent preacher, and became Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth I. King James I promoted him to be Bishop of Chester in 1605 and also gave him the influential position of Lord Almoner. He later became Bishop of Ely and Privy Counsellor. Toward the end of his life he was made Bishop of Winchester.

“It is recorded that Andrewes was a man of deep piety and that King James had such great respect for him that in his presence he refrained from the levity in which he indulged at other times. A sermon preached at Andrewes’ funeral in 1626 paid tribute to his great scholarship:

‘His knowledge in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac and Arabic, besides fifteen modern languages was so advanced that he may be ranked as one of the rarest linguists in Christendom. A great part of five hours every day he spent in prayer, and in his last illness he spent all his time in prayer — and when both voice and eyes and hands failed in their office, his countenance showed that he still prayed and praised God in his heart, until it pleased God to receive his blessed soul to Himself.'”

Transcending Their Human Limits

Gustavus S. Paine, author of The Men Behind the King James Version, made this assessment about the work of the combined translators:

“Though we may challenge the idea of word-by-word inspiration, we surely must conclude that these were men able, in their profound moods, to transcend their human limits. In their own words, they spake as no other men spake because they were filled with the Holy Ghost. Or, in the clumsier language of our time, they so adjusted themselves to each other and to the work as to achieve a unique coordination and balance, functioning thereafter as an organic entity–no mere mechanism equal to the sum of its parts, but a whole greater than all of them.” ⁽²⁾

While these scholars were perfectly suited for the task of translation individually, they still had to agree on every single word of the Bible. That meant man’s mere opinion could not be allowed to stand in the text.

The One Who Started It All

But these translators were standing on the shoulders of great men and Christians who went before them. And one man did more for the English Bible than any single person before or since: William Tyndale. He was ordained a priest around his late teens, in 1502. By 1515 he had earned his M.A. at Oxford and later transferred to Cambridge. It was there that he came upon the preserved Greek New Testament of Erasmus, and at the same time as Martin Luther, he came to understand the truth of the gospel. Tyndale began preaching and teaching the gospel message, which made the Roman Catholics angry with him, branding him a heretic. One day, while proving a “learned” Roman Catholic scholar wrong, the papist cried out, “It were better for us to be without God’s laws, than without the Pope’s!” To which Tyndale prophetically replied,

“I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture than you do!”

This changed Tyndale forever. He wrote about this incident,

“Which thing only moved me to translate the New Testament. Because I had perceived by experience, how that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scriptures were plainly laid before their eyes in the mother tongue” (Translators Revived, p. 23).

Tyndale was well suited to his task. Spalatin, a friend of Martin Luther, wrote this in his diary of what professor Herman Buschius told him about Tyndale and his New Testament:

“The work was translated by an Englishman staying there with two others,–a man so skilled in the seven languages, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, English, and French, that which-ever he spake, you would suppose it his native tongue” (Translators Revived, pp. 27-28)

By the time Tyndale was betrayed by his friend, imprisoned and nearly frozen during a cold winter in his cell, he had translated the New Testament into English, along with some Old Testament books, and had trained at least two others to carry on his work. But he wasn’t finished, even when burnt at the stake on October 6, 1536, he cried out prophetically:

“Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes” (Dr. William Grady, Final Authority, p. 137)

That very day a copy of Tyndale’s New Testament was being printed by the King’s own printer!

Conclusion
Tyndale’s work of translation was so excellent, that easily 70% of the words of the Bible are Tyndale’s. God had set the standard. Over the next century, God’s preserved words were translated and revised by many scholars, a great many “good translations.” These, along with God’s preserved words in Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch and other languages were all “good translations.” But the goal of the king’s translators of 1604-1611 was not to write a new Bible from scratch, nor was it to make a translation from the Roman Catholic perversions:

“Truly, good Christian Reader, we never thought from the beginning that we should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one; … but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath been our endeavor, that our mark” (The Translators to the Reader, 1611 KJV, ninth page).

And that is exactly what God did. Throughout history God preserved His words. And, culminating with over 54 dedicated, learned Christian men, God put His words in English in its perfection in one final translation: The King James Bible.

May God bless you as you read His preserved words in English, the King James Bible.

Footnotes

Chrysostom was a 4th century Greek-speaking minister and writer.
Gustavus Paine, The Men Behind the King James Version, p. 173, quoted in Crowned With Glory: The Bible from Ancient Text to Authorized Version by Thomas Holland, p. 90 (Emphasis mine).

Abiding

Mary hath Chosen that Good Part [podcast]

Luke 10:38-42

Mary = loving relationship with Jesus, not just being busy with doing, with labor, with performing works such as what Martha was doing. First and foremost, Jesus saved us for relationship with Him and the Father (John 17:3). And here our Savior expresses that knowing, loving, adoring, and listening to Him are at a divine premium, they are most important to God. That’s what God desires – for us to delight ourselves in Him (Psalms 37:4).

“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalms 37:4

David’s brothers looked the part but they couldn’t and wouldn’t even face Goliath, much less slay him. David though, was spending time alone with the LORD, listening to His voice and tending to the sheep. He who is the only man God ever said was “a man after mine own heart,” was used mightily of God to slay the giant (Acts 13:22; 1 Samuel 17).

Isn’t this how we are with our children? Wouldn’t every parent rather their precious children sit in their mom or dad’s lap telling their parent how much they (the child) loves them (the parent)? That’s the biggest heart melt we know, right?

Like David, the most powerfully used warriors are first worshippers.

Our real, our genuine relationship with the LORD is that place out of which His power and grace (divine enablement) will flow. Like David, we must be primarily, and first and foremost worshippers. Out of that rich communion with the Savior will flow the warrior anointing of the LORD who is “a man of war” (Exodus 15:3).

Many who sense the call of God on their lives to minister go to seminary. Sad. We must go to God ourselves – in prayer, a life of prayer, relentlessly seeking His holy face in His Word for ourselves.

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:6

Private prayer with the LORD precedes God using us. Those who seek God in “secret” will be “openly” rewarded by Him.

“The little estimate we put on prayer is evidence from the little time we give to it.” EM Bounds

“A sinning man stops praying. A praying man stops sinning.” – Leonard Ravenhill

Luke 10

38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

“Mary hath Chosen that Good Part”

The “good part” Mary chose consists of…

Mary made the only wise choice “Mary hath chosen.”
Mary put Jesus first. She put the Savior first, not herself or her idea of what it meant to serve Him.
Jesus says here that choosing to put and keep Him first is the “one thing [that] is needful” or most necessary (v39, 42).
Sitting before Jesus Himself and not searching for God outside of God Himself, primarily that is. All other learning is supplemental and subservient to that which the LORD tells us specifically, in His Word.

Worshippers become the most powerful workers God uses!

Like many today who are shallow rooted, Martha was a worker but not first and foremost a worshipper. Mary was a worshipper who loved to spend time with Jesus. Therefore she was empowered by God Himself via that fellowship with Him to walk in His holy compassion and to do His works with His power and for His glory (1 Corinthians 15:10).

When our works are not fruitful as they should be, perhaps it can be traced back to our lack of fellowship with our LORD. As we fellowship with Him, putting Him first and not ourselves, our vessel, our cup will run over with His goodness…. it will spill over onto others! (See Psalms 23:5.) That’s when our labor will carry His eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17).

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” Psalms 23:5

When Jesus came, it was God bringing Heaven to the people – to forgive their sins and make them whole (Matthew 9:6). This was the foretold fulfillment of His kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

When Jesus came, He went to the people, to heal, to save, to make whole (Matthew 9:35-38; Acts 10:38, etc.).

As we go, Jesus is with us, “even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20).

Daily, our LORD is using His people to bring Heaven to the people. As the Holy Spirit fills our lives, His blessed presence and fruit in our lives is going to over overflow onto others.

A sister in Christ once told me that “The best Marthas are first Marys.” Think about that one in light of what we read in this passage when Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). Those who sit at Jesus’ feet to hear His holy counsel, are changed into His image and become reservoirs for His blessed glory. Their cups run over onto others!

“Prayer is of transcendent importance. Prayer is the mightiest agent to advance God’s work. Praying hearts and hands only can do God’s work. Prayer succeeds when all else fails.” E.M. Bounds

When worshiping Jesus is our first priority, the work He uses us to do WILL carry His unction and bring fruit to bear for His eternal glory.

Rote obedience to minister to others, while not anchored in intimacy with our LORD, will not yield an abundant harvest, fruit. In contrast, we can be blessed to have God’s power and grace to do His work and that happens as we are truly communing, fellowshipping in the construct of that oneness relationship He made us for (John 15; 17).

Knowing God’s Word and obeying Him is not an automatic progression (John 8:31-36). One can know the Bible and not its Author. Or, one can know the Bible well and not know the Author well (Job 22:21-28). Obeying God’s Word requires knowing Him, abiding in an intimate fellowship with Him, thereby enabling that saint the grace (divine enablement) to obey Him (John 5:39-40; 7:17; 14:21-23; 15:1-16, etc.).

Martha “received him.” Many of us have “received” Jesus, have been saved by Him (John 1:12), yet like Martha we aren’t sitting at His holy feet, listening to Him speak through His Word. Like Martha, we also are “cumbered about much serving.”

It should be understood that our work can exceed our worship, our hospitality can exceed our holiness, our serving can exceed our sanctification, etc. That would be defined as imbalance (Proverbs 11:1).

In Luke 10:38-42, notice that Mary sat directly at Jesus’ feet and no other. When we arise in the morning to commune with the LORD, such is to be direct communication between you and Him, alone (Matthew 6:6). That would mean perhaps that when you arise in the morning you aren’t reading some other book about God or turning on a podcast or TV program to find and commune with the LORD. No, those things involve others. We must directly commune with the LORD in prayer and in HIS Word. How else shall we be able to discern the “MANY false prophets” Jesus warned us “shall deceive many”? (Read Matthew 24:11; 1 John 4:1.) How can we know the counterfeit if we don’t know the real? We can’t.

In principle, Martha is a person like Cain, a person who chose to do things their own way, not God’s – because they are not truly submitted to God. Does that describe your life friend? Jesus calls us home to Himself (Matthew 11:28-30).

Are we attempting to serve the LORD on our own terms or are we sitting before Him, hearing His voice as we are worshipfully, joyfully submitted to Him on His stated terms?

“The men who have done mighty things for God have always been mighty in prayer, have well understood the possibilities of prayer, and made the most of these possibilities. The Son of God, the first of all and the mightiest of all, has shown us the all-potent and far reaching possibilities of prayer. Paul was mighty for because he knew, how to use, and how to get others to use, the mighty spiritual forces of prayer.” EM Bounds, The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer, P. 341

When we are brought to the point of true repentance it will be obvious in that we will do things God’s way and no longer our own. Like Mary, we will be settled at His feet, hearing His Word, His voice. The Mary person is in love with and submitted to the LORD and Savior she so joyfully worships.

“Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray. To know how to speak to God is more than knowing how to speak to people. Power with God is the first thing, not power with people. Christ loves to teach us how to pray.” –Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, pp. xxiii-xxiv

At His Feet [podcast]

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” Job 13:15 Job had just lost all of his children and yet held fast his integrity toward the LORD. He would not allow his wife, his friends, or any other circumstance or entity sway his thoughts. This was a man with a real relationship with the living God – one not based on circumstance. First, foremost, and separate from all else, Job loved and worshipped the LORD with his whole heart. We must come to the place where our LORD alone […]

The First Love of the True Disciple [podcast]

The words “disciple”/“disciples” are found 273 times in the Bible, all in the New Testament canon with the exception of 1 appearance in the Old Testament (Isaiah 8:16). “Disciple” is married to the word discipline. An un-disciplined life reveals a gross lack of respect and rooting in the Person, the Word, and the cause of Christ and is an un-fruitful life. “And have NO ROOT in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.” Mark 4:17 “They on the rock are they, which, when they […]

Our Sin Should Lay us at His Feet [podcast]

“Sin lieth at the door.” Genesis 4:7 One writer takes a shot at this in the following words: “Jesus died for our sins. He is the sin offering for all humanity: past, present, and future. So the offerings in the Old Testament represent the Cross. So in short, if you reject the offering, meaning Christ and the Cross, ‘then sin lieth at the door.’ This means sin will DOMINATE you if any other method is used.” “Sin lieth at the door” – Temptation to sin presents itself perpetually and this is why prayer, abiding communion, perpetual communication with the Savior, command central, is […]

Apostasy

Modern Day Frauds and How They Operate [RADIO]

THIS is so very important! Please listen and share to help others (Ezekiel 44:23).

“And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Ezekiel 44:23

The Conquering Cross of Christ [podcast]

The LORD is Holy. He will not compete or coexist with any idol – beginning with the idol of self. “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” Isaiah 42:8 The LORD Almighty is above all and greater than any idol. “God, the mighty Creator, now addresses the Messiah and tells what He proposes to accomplish through this One whom He has called . . . in righteousness. God will not share His glory with another, and least of all with carved images.” Believer’s […]

Sin: Man’s Core Problem [podcast]

People don’t have a “mental health” problem, they have a SIN problem and sin is what gives way, gives full access to Satan! “When people hear voices telling them to harm themselves or others, that’s not a chemical imbalance, it’s demon possession.” Rachel Gould “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 Jesus taught us that man’s sin comes out of his “desperately wicked” heart (Jeremiah 17:9). “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed […]

Dominating the Devil! [podcast]

Dominating sin and satan only comes to those willing to die and be buried “with Christ.” (Romans 6; Galatians 2:20) The result is His glorious resurrection in their lives and consequent victory over sin and satan! IS JESUS not the Answer? Yes He is….. let’s give the world around us that answer to man’s core dilemma – sin! Jesus is the only Solution! It’s the stated will of God that we walk in His victory – in the victory He provided through Christ. “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians […]

Abiding

Putting God First [podcast]

If God’s Word isn’t important to you, it’s because He isn’t important to you.

If anything comes before the LORD in your day, you are an idolater.

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3

GOD’s WORD cannot get into you if you aren’t into it.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

Jesus commanded:

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

As you seek God, putting Him first, you are not going to be able to prevent, to stop His blessings coming upon your life. 100%

Memorize this promise from your Savior, today.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

What putting Christ first looks like:

Prayer.

“Early will I seek thee.” Psalms 63:1

Read. Study.

“Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Job 23:12

The Bible is far from just amazing information (Psalms 119:98-100; 2 Peter 1:3-4, etc.). More important than vital information coming from our Maker, God’s Word is your spiritual food and without it, without daily ingesting it, you will famish, fall, and ultimately perish.

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” 1 Peter 2:2

Read that again: The only way to “grow” is to “desire” and to devour the Word of your great God and King Jesus. He made you to know Him (John 17:3).

The only way to keep, to guard your heart before the LORD, is to keep it full of God’s Word.

“Keep (guard, till the soil of) thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

In fact, like Job, we must make the spiritual food of God’s Word more important than the food that fuels and keeps healthy our physical body.

“Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” Job 23:12

“He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart RETAIN my words: keep my commandments, and live.” Proverbs 4:4

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalms 1

Find. Eat. Rejoice.

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16

YOUR PRAYER: Father please unite my heart to fear Thy name. Forgive my sins of spiritual adultery, of self-idolatry. Here and now I renounce my own ownership on my life. It’s Your life LORD. Reign on the throne of this heart and cut away, circumcise any and everything of iniquity in my heart and life. You must increase but I must decrease, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

“Be Ready in the Morning" [podcast]

MUST-READ: IF YOU don’t wake up swinging, you’re going to get knocked out. You’re going to lose. As God’s child, YOU are in a FIGHT, A WAR – like it or not. A war is raging over your life, for your eternal soul. And you are losing if you don’t get up swinging, every day. Set your life up for success by hard-scheduling Christ into the first waking moments of your day – in prayer and His Word (Matthew 6:6; Mark 1:35; 2 Timothy 2:15). Build your days upon the Rock – the only immoveable platform, destined to victory! ANY […]

Nourished Up and Enduring to the End [podcast]

Recently a dear brother in Christ related this testimony to me of our LORD’s work in his life: “I had a ‘back to Jesus’ moment after the election. As I was horribly disappointed in our country and the dividing of even my own friends, I was praying: ‘I’ve lost faith in my country, I’ve lost faith in my friends…’ then it hit me… I had put my faith in the wrong things. It’s so easy to depend on others. But now I am trusting only in my Lord and Savior.” “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose […]

Acquainted and Nourished [podcast]

“Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.” Job 22:21nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine “If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, , whereunto thou hast attained.” 1 Timothy 4:6 Support | STORE | Podcasts | Because You Care Page | The Greatest of these is Charity | Be Ready in the Morning [podcast] | The Sure Mercies of David [podcast] | That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be Preached [podcast] | At His Feet | Prepared to be Used […]

Ready for the Return of Christ [podcast]

God Made and Redeemed Man for a Relationship “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3 Jesus created you and came and died and rose again in order to procure a relationship with you. Your relationship with Him is predicated upon your own adherence to Him, to what He stated concerning that relationship. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great […]