
The Translators of the King James Bible Brief Summary
At the Hampton Court Conference, convened by King James I in 1603, John Reynolds, the head of the Puritan Church in England, proposed a new English translation of the Scriptures that would unite the churches and the people of England. Reynold’s goal was one universal authority or standard for all English-speaking Christians. There was division and strife between the churches and the people over the two primary English translations of the time the Bishops’ Bible and the Geneva translation. The Bishops’ Bible, published in 1568 by leaders in the Church of England by the authority of Queen Elizabeth, was the official Bible for usage in the churches. The Geneva Bible, produced in 1560 by exiled Protestant leaders in Geneva, Switzerland, had been adopted and embraced as the beloved Bible of the common people. Although both translations were made from the same textual foundation the Textus Receptus Greek and the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew in many places the English renderings differed, resulting in strife and confusion between pulpit and pew. King James received Reynold’s proposal gladly, and was anxious for work on a new English Bible translation to begin.
A list of the names of fifty-four men was forwarded to the king, who approved the proposed list of translators submitted by the Dean of Westminster and the Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
The next three years were set aside by the select group of translators for time in private research, prayer, fasting and preparation for the task that lay ahead. The King James translation team was comprised of fifty-four godly men, and arguably the most scholarly men ever assembled for any similar endeavor.
The company met together in 1607 to commence work on the translation and divided themselves into six committees: two met at Oxford, two at Cambridge, and two at Westminster Abbey. The whole of the Bible was distributed in six portions among the various committees: John Reynolds and Miles Smith chaired the committee responsible for the Books of Isaiah through Malachi; Bishop George Abbott oversaw the committee working on the Gospels, Acts and the Book of Revelation; Edward Lively headed the committee which translated I Chronicles through the Song of Solomon;
John Bois’ company worked on the translation of the Apocryphal books; Genesis through II Kings were assigned to Lancelot Andrewes and his group; and the New Testament Epistles were translated by a committee led by Dr. William Bedwell.
The conditions for translation work for a project of the magnitude of the entire English Bible were ideal in the early seventeenth century in England. The translators operated with the blessing and the financial aid of the king himself. All of the scholarship and resources of Cambridge University, Oxford University and Westminster Abbey were at the translators’ disposal. An invitation was extended to “all principal learned men of the kingdom” to participate as consultants or advisors. Historians concur that during this era the English language had “ripened to its full perfection” (from Alexander McClure’s The Translators Revived). McClure also stated that “the study of Greek, and of the oriental languages, and of rabbinical lore, had been carried to a greater extent in England than ever before or since.” The character and credentials of the translators were impeccable. Lancelot Andrewes, while a young student at Cambridge, learned a new language each year during Easter break. After several years, he had mastered most of the languages of Europe. Andrewes spoke Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic and at least fifteen other languages. It was said of him that he could have been “interpreter general” at the Tower of Babel! He was also reputed to have spent an average of five hours each day in prayer. Among the Christians of his day he was known as “the star of preachers.” It was said that “those who stole his sermons could never steal his preaching.” Andrewes had the privilege of being selected, from among all the preachers in the land, to deliver the annual Christmas Day sermon for the royal family, beginning with Queen Elizabeth and continuing for many years during the reign of King James.
William Bedwell produced translations of the Scriptures into Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee and Arabic. He produced a Persian dictionary and a three-volume Arabic lexicon. He was a master of the Semitic languages, which shed much light on Hebrew words and phrases, most importantly those Hebrew words and phrases that found their way into the Greek language of the New Testament.
John Bois read through the Hebrew Bible by age five, and by age six was writing Hebrew legibly. He was often found studying Greek at the Cambridge library from four a.m. until 8 p.m. (sixteen hours a day!). Bois tutored many of his fellow students at the University in Greek, and his class was also attended by many of his Greek professors! John Bois served as pastor of St. John’s Church before, during, and after his work as Bible translator. He preached without notes, but not without much prayer and study. He had the entire Greek New Testament committed to memory. He practiced fasting twice a week, and often gave to help the poor until he had no more to give himself. Among Bois’ writings was a commentary in Latin on the Gospels and Acts. Even after his retirement, he spent eight hours a day in study, mostly reading and correcting the ancient authors.
Dr. Miles Smith was known as “a walking library.” He was called by his contemporaries “an incomparable theologist.” He had studied all of the writings of the Latin and Greek church fathers, and was as well versed in Arabic, Chaldee and Syriac as he was in English. It was said of Smith that he “had Hebrew at his fingers’ ends.” He was chosen by the other translators to write the Preface to the King James Bible, The Translators to the Reader. Concerning his fellow translators, he wrote: “There were many chosen who were greater in other men’s eyes than their own, and who sought the truth rather than their own praise.” Miles Smith served as the final editor on the King James translation, perusing the entire text of the Bible before it went to press in 1611.
At age 23, John Reynolds was made a Greek lecturer at Corpus Christi College. He gave himself to the study of the Scriptures in the original languages, and was an “able and successful preacher of God’s Word.” He had read all the Greek and Latin fathers, and all the records of the ancient church. He was known as “a living library” and “a third university” (Oxford, Cambridge, and John Reynolds!). These are a few observations of Reynolds contemporaries: “As to virtue, integrity, piety, and sanctity of life, he was so eminent and conspicuous, that to name Reynolds is to commend virtue itself.” “He alone was a well-furnished library, full of all faculties, all studies, and all learning. The memory and reading of that man were near to a miracle.” “He was most excellent in all tongues useful or ornamental to a divine. He was so well skilled in all arts and sciences, as if he had spent his whole life in each of them.”
Of the fifty-four translators, four were college presidents, six were bishops, five were deans, thirty held PhD’s, thirty-nine held Masters degrees, there were forty-one university professors, thirteen were masters of the Hebrew language, and ten had mastered Greek. Every man involved in the King James Bible translation believed in the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, all believed in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and all were men of prayer. Many were not only Biblical scholars and master linguists, but also God-called, Spirit-filled preachers. Yet the translators considered themselves “poor instruments to make God s holy truth to be yet more and more known unto the people.”
A look at some of the statements of the translators themselves reveals the depth of their convictions concerning the eternal Word of God. They spoke of the Scriptures as “that inestimable treasure which excelleth all the riches of the earth.” They acknowledged the Bible as being “so full and so perfect,” “a fountain of most pure water, springing up into everlasting life.” They believed “the original (Scriptures were) from heaven, not earth; the author being God, not men; the penmen, such as were sanctified from the womb and endued with a principal portion of God’s Spirit.” They referred to the Bible as “God’s Word,” “God s Truth,” “God’s testimony,” “the Word of salvation.” Study of the Scriptures brought “light of understanding, stableness of persuasion, repentance from dead works, newness of life, holiness, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost, fellowship with the saints, participation of the heavenly nature, fruition of an inheritance immortal, undefiled, and that shall never fade away.” From the translators Epistle Dedicatory, the dedication letter of their Bible translation to King James I:
“Among all our joys, there was not one that more filled our hearts, than the blessed continuance of the preaching of God s sacred Word among us.”
Some closing comments from The Translators to the Reader: Gentle Reader, we commend thee to God, and to the Spirit of His grace. He removeth the scales from our eyes, the veil from our hearts, opening our wits that we may understand His Word, enlarging our hearts, yea correcting our affections, that we may love it above gold and silver, yea that we may love it to the end. Ye are brought unto fountains of living water which ye digged not. Others have labored, and you may enter into their labors; O receive not so great things in vain, O despise not so great salvation! It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; but a blessed thing it is, and will bring us to everlasting blsessedness in the end, when God speaketh unto us, to hearken; when He setteth His Word before us, to read it; when He stretcheth out His hand and calleth, to answer, Here am I, here we are to do thy will O God.”
In the final analysis, the translators of the King James Bible believed that what they had spent nearly seven years of their lives producing was an “exact translation of the holy Scriptures into the English tongue.”
By Bill Bradley, Professor of Bible and History,
Landmark Baptist College,
The Land Mark Anchor
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Articles
Exhort One Another Daily [podcast]

“But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:13
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:22-25
Saints, let’s always remember that other disciples have the SAME exact iniquitous flesh to deal with daily as we do (Genesis 6:5, 12; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3, etc.). They are just like us – absolutely wicked and depraved without the present working of the saving grace of our God at work in us! (Romans 7) Each of Christ’s followers are like us, working out their own salvation with fear and trembling as the LORD works in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).
“We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” Romans 15:1
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1-2
Let’s lift up our LORD’s disciples instead of wrongly judging them in our attitudes, etc. Seeing and treating them with God’s love is important ( 1 Peter 4:7-8; 1 John 4:7-8, 16-18; 5:1, etc.).
“And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.” Zechariah 7:10
“Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” Romans 14:19
“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
DOES the Bible tell us to “Go make disciples” OR to “Teach others God’s Word”? Interesting. Does the Bible Ever Say “Go Make Disciples”?
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Apostasy
“Shall I not visit for these things?” [podcast]

Widespread Corruption – Evidence of God’s Judgment on a Nation
IMPORTANT: Read Matthew 24 and Luke 21 this week. Jesus foretold this would all be happening right before He returns! Jesus is coming. Get ready.
A cursory introduction to Jeremiah 5-7. God’s people were in rebellion to Him and reaping what they’d been sowing (Galatians 6:7-8). Read, pour prayerfully over these chapters this week beloved. This message is designed to launch the God fearing saint to pour over this passage as they examine their hearts, their lives before Him honestly.
“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. 29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” Jeremiah 5:25-31
Judgment on America for the Rebellion of those who Falsely Claim to be Saved
“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Revelation 6:9-10
The LORD blesses those who are with Him. Anyone who forsakes Him will be forsaken by Him.
“The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and IF ye seek him, he will be found of you; but IF ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” 2 Chronicles 15:2
The word “if” in God’s Word denotes a choice that will be made.
The LORD is not with you if you are not with Him – doing life on HIS stated terms. That’s exactly why He gave you His recorded Word in tangible form. Read John 14-16.
Notice “IF ye seek him” and not if you go to church or just claim to be His. Are you seeking His holy face “continually”?
“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” 1 Chronicles 16:11
“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” Joel 2:12-13
“O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.” Hosea 14:1-2
Notice here in the verse below how setting, allowing wicked things into our eye gates leads to turning aside, departing from Christ, backsliding. Notice how the psalmist views backsliding as a plague. And it sure is. Millions irrevocably occupy the bowels of eternal damnation right this moment and forever who made one bad decision which led to their backsliding. It’s time to read God as if our eternal souls depended on it – because they do. safeguardyoursoul.com
“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” Psalms 101:3
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please break me, make me to be poor in spirit and pure in heart. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Abiding
Tried. Trusted. Blessed. [podcast]

CAN God Trust You?
WHO is God going to bless? WHO is going to “abound with blessings”?
“A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.” Proverbs 28:20
Beloved of God, let us always remember that God only rewards and promotes those who are faithful right where they are with whatever they have in their possession to use for His glory. This is the truth we see throughout Holy Scripture, including in Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25. May God bless each of us to serve Him by serving others—right where we are, right now, with whatever we have—taking no thought for tomorrow but rather trusting Him to provide all (Matthew 6:33-34).
Christ’s Parable of the Talents: What is our LORD Teaching us here?
Trustworthy Faithful ABRAHAM—Faithfulness
“Always remember that God is looking to see if we will be faithful in the small things before He puts us in charge of much.” Frank Telford
Read Hebrews 11 this weekend. See what the heroes of the faith endured and yet remained faithful to the LORD. God remains faithful, even when men do not remain faithful to Him. Yet He’s faithful to Himself — not to those who deny Him. “He cannot deny himself” and yet He will deny those who deny Him the place of reigning in their personal lives (Revelation 2:4-5).
“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 1 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13
The lives of the patriarchs and apostles make it clear that none of us could possibly come to know and to trust the LORD deeply until we walk with Him, love, worship, serve, and obey Him by faith as He leads us through this life—through seasons of thick and thin, little and much. Faith is forged in fiery trials and not in fairy tales of false faith by those who recline on fancy furniture instead of fighting ferocious foes. Jesus Christ is KING—and we can’t know Him closely until we begin to suffer with Him.
“The goodness of God! Wow! Love it! I have never seen Gods goodness more than I have in the last few months! It makes me cry whenever I realize all He has done for me. I have been blessed beyond measure. I am so blown away that God has met me in the deep valleys.” Karen Cochran
“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:5-9
Might you choose to pray as did the apostles? – “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).
Not only should we ask God to “Increase our faith” but also to teach us to be faithful to Him. God will bless those who are faithful to Him—those who are loyal and serve Him obediently through thick or thin, in riches or poverty, through sunshine or rain.
WHERE are God’s eyes and blessings focused?
“Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.” Psalms 101:6
Does this verse above remind us of the words of 2 Chronicles 16:9?
WHO wants God’s gaze, gifts, and blessings upon them?
I do!
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
Are you presently blessable beloved of God?
The LORD could trust Abraham. Can He trust us? Can the LORD trust me? Am I faithful to Him?
Even before God tested Abraham to see if he would offer his only and promised son, the LORD says this of Abraham:
“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” Genesis 18:19
Of the heroes of the faith who’ve gone before us, God’s testimony of them is that they “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Remember beloved of God, like them, we are passing THROUGH this life on earth. We are not here to stay.
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country (heavenly New Jerusalem), that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:13-16
Abraham’s willingness to offer his beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice to God is a type, a foreshadowing of the Father offering up Christ to be crucified, buried, and raised again to pay the ultimate redemption price for the sins of mankind (Genesis 22).
“By faith Abraham, when he was tried (tested), offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,” Hebrews 11:17
Investing in Christ’s eternal kingdom while on earth. This is what Jesus instructed us to do.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
“God commands obedience first and foremost! Abraham obeyed the Lord God’s call on his life when he was told to go and leave the country he was in and leave all behind for a destination unknown. He had to completely follow and depend on the Lord. A test of his faith. We know he did obey the word of the Lord, packed up his family and left all behind for a land unknown to him. Genesis 12.” Karen Cochran
The LORD is always faithful. He has never failed one of His children, ever. Dare we stop here to reminisce how He found and saved us?
Liza Young writes: “At first, life seems to be at a dead end, then we make our way to the SAVIOR, realizing we dare not go forward without the assurance of HIS presence. As we completely trust in HIM, HE helps us face the future by walking with us each step of the way. GOD ‘S wonderful promise in Isaiah 41:10.”
Heavenly Father, please grant Your people to have clean, clear, pure hearts and consciences. Right this moment, I re-turn to You now, afresh dear LORD—bringing words of repentance and confession of all and any sin. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.” Hosea 14:1-2

“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James 1:25
Get saved.
Continue. Abide. Or perish (John 15:1-6).
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15
Are We Blessable?
Or, are we…..
out of Bible order
and
out of Bible blessings?
God will bless no man who doesn’t love Him enough to obey Him.
God doesn’t need us.
God’s Testimony of Abraham
WE CAN TRUST GOD BUT CAN GOD TRUST US? The LORD could trust Abraham, our example of faith (Romans 4). Can He trust you? Are you trustworthy? What do you do when no man is looking? God sees all, right?
“And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” Genesis 18:17-19
What did God know about Abraham? Shall we review?
“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” Joshua 24:15
There are conditions to receiving God’s blessings. One must meet those conditions to walk in God’s blessings. The LORD reveals to us here that He is going to bring His full blessings on Abraham because He could trust Abraham to trust Him and obey Him. Note that God could trust Abraham because Abraham was obedient to Him and also notice that the promises the LORD made to Abraham were contingent upon Abraham continuing to obey the God. They were conditional.
“And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: 12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Hebrews 6:11-12
“He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich“ (Proverbs 10:4). If you will be rich you must diligently seek the LORD…
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
Who is Going to be Blessed?
“A FAITHFUL MAN shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.” Proverbs 28:20
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please unite my heart to fear Thy name, to number my short days upon the earth, and to bless my life to be fruitful for Your eternal glory this day, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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