I have been recently using a reprint of the original 1611 King James Bible in my daily reading. New versions of the Bible are always claiming to be nothing more than “updates” of the old, poetic, Elizabethan English King James Version of 1611. In their sales pitches they often refer to the fact that the 1611 KJB went through four “revisions” to get to what we hold in our hands today. So, they claim, we aren’t using a 1611 King James Bible but a 1769 King James Bible. Here are some things I’ve found in reading an “original” 1611:
1. I have had no problem reading the 1611 translation. Yes, the words are spelled differently, and the type set is different, but the variations are not enough to hinder easy reading.
2. No words have been updated /modernized from 1611 to 1769, neither have any words been left out.
3. No verses have been shortened or omitted through the “revisions”.
So in the 158 years from 1611 to 1769 the only changes are spelling, type set (from Gothic to Roman) and some capitalization (most notably the word “Church” [1611] to “church” [1769]). In fact, the four “revisions” (more correctly called “editions”) of the 1611 King James Bible could be briefly described as thus:
1. 1629 correction of earlier printing errors
2. 1638 same as above
3. 1762 standardization of spelling
4. 1769 same as #3
When you look at the dates you see that this is actually just two “revisions” not four. The correction of printing errors took two efforts to complete as did the standardization of spelling. So then from 1769 to present (240 years), with the above corrections of printing errors and standardization of spelling, there have been no changes whatsoever.
Compare this to the multiple versions from the Revised Version of 1881 (the first English translation after the King James), to the American Standard Version of 1901, to the Revised Standard Version of 1951, to the New American Standard Version of 1971, to the New International Version of 1977, to the English Standard Version of 2001, to The Message (an irreverent and blasphemous 2002 translation), and many others. In them, words are drastically changed, and/or phrases are completely omitted (i.e. “through his blood”-Eph 1:7), and in some, sixteen verses completely disappear (Matt 17:21,18:11, 23:14; Mark 7:16, 9:44,46; 11:26, 15:28; Luke 17:36, 23:17; John 5:4; Acts 8:37, 15:34, 24:7, 28:29; Romans 16:24). That’s not revision, its robbery!