same Chapter or Chapters, and having translated or amended
them severally by himself, where he thinketh good, all to
meet together, confer what they have done, and agree for
their Parts what shall stand."
"9. As any one Company hath dispatched any one Book
in this Manner they shall send it to the rest, to be consider' d
of seriously and judiciously, for His Majesty is very careful
in this Point."
" 10. If any Company, upon the Review of the Book so
sent, doubt or differ upon any Place, to send them Word
thereof; note the Place, and withal send the Reasons, to
which if they consent not, the Difference to be compounded
396 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
at the General Meeting, which is to be of the chief Persons
of each Company, at the end of the Work."
"11. When any Place of special Obscurity is doubted of
Letters to be directed by Authority, to send to any Learned
Man in the Land, for his Judgement of such a Place."
"12. Letters to be sent from every Bishop to the rest of
his Clergy, admonishing them of this Translation in hand;
and to move and charge as many as being skilful in the
Tongues; and having taken pains in that kind, to send his
particular Observations to the Company, either at West-
minster, Cambridge, or Oxford"
"13. The Directors in each Company, to be the Deans of
Westminster, and Chester for that Place; and the King's Pro-
fessors in the Hebrew or Greek in either University."
"14. These translations to I ,i ,
be used when they agree better \ p _. , ,
with the Text than the Bishops ) „™ V . r , a , , T ~ „.. . ,
R mi v I Whitchurch s [Great Bible]
DiDie. I /-^ >>
\ Geneva.
"15. Besides the said Directors before mentioned, three or
four of the most Ancient and Grave Divines, in either of the
Universities, not employed in Translating, to be assigned by
the Vice-Chancellor, upon Conference with the rest of the
Heads, to be Overseers of the Translations as well Hebrew
as Greek, for the better Observation of the 4th Rule above
specified." x
Rules 1, 3 and 6 reflect the religious controversies of
the time, which were more than theological, and were
concerned almost as much with matters of polity in
Church and State, as with articles of faith.
The successive versions of the English Bible were
1 A. W. Pollard, Records of the English Bible, pp. 53-55.
THE ENGLISH VERSIONS l6ll-l88l 397
based in almost every instance on the best available
translations and original sources. We find that the
King James translators used two new Latin versions,
one the Old Testament by Arias Montanus given in the
Antwerp Polyglot of 1569-72, the other the Old and
New Testaments by Tremellius, 1580 and 1584, with
Apocrypha by Franciscus Junius. Beza's Greek Testa-
ment, based on that of Stephanus, had appeared in
1565 and was followed by four other editions in 1576,
1582, 1589 and 1598. The Greek text of the 1589
edition was the one usually followed in the 161 1 version
of the English Bible. John Selden gives in his Table
Talk an account of the deliberations of the board of
review and says: —
"They met together, and one read the translation, the
rest holding in their hands some Bible, either of the learned
tongues, or of French, Spanish, Italian, etc."
There were new versions in French, 1587-8, Geneva,
Italian, 1607, by Diodati, and Spanish, 1602, by Ci-
priano de Valera. The translators in their Preface
mention the "Spanish, French, Italian," and "Dutch"
translators and commentators as well as the "Chaldee,
Hebrewe, Syrian, Greeke" and "Latin."
Although the Rheims Version is ignored in the di-
rections to the translators of the King James Version,
as the Geneva Version had been ignored in the direc-
tions to the translators of the Bishops' Bible, yet in
each case the translators were influenced by the ver-
sion that had not been mentioned. The title-page of
the new version reads: —
"The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and
the New: Newly translated out of the Originall tongues:
398 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
and with the former Translations diligently compared and
revised, by his Majesties speciall Commandement. Ap-
pointed to be read in Churches. Imprinted at London by
Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majestic
Anno Dom. 1611."
In copies of the title-page of the King James Bible,
as printed in England, appear the words "Appointed
to be read in Churches," and the version is commonly
known as the "Authorized Version," perhaps from
that fact. We have no record of any special action of
Church, or Parliament, or King, which would justify
that title. In 1881, June 3d, Lord Chancellor Selborne
wrote to the London Times, expressing the opinion
that the words on the title-page would probably not
have been used without official sanction, and suggest-
ing that they were authorized by an Order in Council
the record of which is no longer extant, because "all
the Council books and registers from the year 1600-
161 3, inclusive, were destroyed by a fire at Whitehall,
on the 12th of January, 1618 (O. S.)." This is possible,
but, as Mr. Pollard says, "As far as I know it has
never been contended that there was any Order in
Council passed in 1584 or 1585 to justify" the placing
of the words ' Authorized and Appointed to be read
in Churches' on the title-page of the Bishops' Bible,
where they appeared for the 'first time in 1585, so prob-
ably the words "Appointed to be read in Churches"
on the version of 161 1 "literally expressed the facts
that this Bible was printed by the King's printer
with the approval of the King and the Bishops
for use in churches, and that no competing edi-
tion 'of the largest volume' was allowed to be pub-
lished." >
1 A. W. Pollard, Records of the English Bible, p. 60.
THE ENGLISH VERSIONS l6ll-l88l 399
The average reader probably thinks that we have in
our modern copies of the King James Bible, -the identi-
cal version that was issued in 161 1. As a matter of
fact, there was one notable difference between two
issues of that version, both bearing the date 161 1, which
caused them to be known respectively as the "Great
He Bible" and the "Great She Bible." In Ruth 3:15,
one reads "he went" and the other "she went." Be-
tween these two issues of the same date are several
thousand differences in text. It is believed by some
that the "Great He Bible" is the first issue of the
King James Version, although other critics, among
them Dr. Scrivener, accord that honor to the "Great
She Bible." 1
Many changes have been made silently in the text
in subsequent issues. They have usually been im-
provements. Illustrations of these are, "Thou art the
Christ," Matthew 16:16, and "The Servant is not
greater than his lord," John 15:20. The King James
Version of 161 1 reads "Thou art Christ" and "The
Servant is not greater than the Lord." These readings
appeared first in 1762, in an edition by Dr. Thomas
Paris of Cambridge. 2 In 1769 another edition with
further changes appeared by Dr. Benjamin Blayney
of Oxford. 3
In 1701 the marginal dates were placed in an edition
of the King James Version by Bishop Lloyd. These
dates are from Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti,
1650-54 by Archbishop Ussher, and are in many in-
1 For a discussion of this see F. H. A. Scrivener, The Authorized Edition of
the English Bible, 1611, Cambridge, 1884; or, A. W. Pollard, The Holy Bible
an exact reprint of the Authorized Version, 161 1, Oxford, 191 1. Introduction.
Also, the same author's, Records of the English Bible, pp. 65-73.
2 The Holy Bible, edited by Thomas Paris, Cambridge, 1762.
8 The Holy Bible, corrected and edited by Benjamin Blayney, Oxford,
1769.
400 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
stances incorrect, as fuller knowledge of ancient history-
has shown. The date of Creation was fixed at 4004
B. c. The King James Version did not immediately
attain the position which for more than three centuries
it has held, for many, even among the clergy of the
Church of England, preferred the Geneva Version,
which for some years continued to be printed. From
161 1 to 1881 no general authoritative revision of
the English Bible appeared, although many changes
had found their way into the text through the editions
of 1629, printed at Cambridge by Thomas and John
Buck; 1638, printed at Cambridge by Thomas Buck
and Roger Daniel, as well as through the Paris, Blayney
and Lloyd versions mentioned. These editions all
differed. 1 The King's printers issued an edition in
1 63 1, for which they were fined £300, because they
omitted the word "not" from the seventh Command-
ment. In 1716 an edition, printed by Baskett contained
many errors, among them "Vinegar" for "Vineyard,"
in the headline to Luke, ch. 20, hence this edition is
known as the "Vinegar Bible," and there are other
editions with nicknames.
In 1833, tne Oxford press published a line for line
reprint of the "Great He Bible" of 161 1. In 191 1 the
161 1 version was reprinted page for page with an
Introduction by Mr. A. W. Pollard. In 1851-52 the
American Bible Society published an edition to which
all subsequent editions of the Society conform. It was
intended to be an accurate reprint of 161 1. The vari-
ations found in six different editions of the King James
Bible by the Committee on Versions of the American
1 All changes from the text of 161 1 are indicated in the margin in the
Parallel Bible A. V. and R. V., 1885, Oxford, and in appendix A of The Cam-
bridge Paragraph Bible, 1873.
THE ENGLISH VERSIONS l6ll-l88l 4OI
Bible Society (1851) were about twenty-four thousand
in number.
VERSIONS OF INDIVIDUAL SCHOLARS
There were many translations of the whole, or parts,
of the Bible made by individuals, but these had no
authority other than that of the translators. It is
interesting to find that in the eighteenth century, as
in the nineteenth and twentieth, there were some who
were not satisfied with the English of the King James
Version because, they thought, for one reason or an-
other, that it did not come close enough to the language
of everyday life. Two interesting translations of the
New Testament are The New Testament, by William
Mace, London, 1729, and A Liberal Translation by
Dr. Edward Harwood, London, 1768. In the first
of these we read: —
"When ye fast don't put on a dismal air as the hypocrites
do." Matthew 6:16.
"And the domestics slapt him on the cheeks." Mark 14:65.
"If you should respectfully say to the suit of fine clothes,
Sit you there, that's for quality." James 2:3.
From A Liberal Translation we learn that the author
desired "to diffuse over the sacred page the elegance
of modern English." 1
1 Benjamin Franklin thought that the style of the King James Version was
obsolete and suggested that as a reason for the neglect of reading of the
Bible. He gave specimens of what he thought would be desirable changes in
the language: —
Part of the First Chapter of Job Modernized
Verse 6. "And it being levee day in heaven, all God's nobility came to
court, to present themselves before him; and Satan also appeared in the
circle, as one of the ministry."
Verse 7. "And God said to Satan: You have been a long time absent;
402 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
Dr. Johnson's special praise of Dryden was that he
had enriched and improved the English language.
From the days of Lucian down attempts have been
made to create forms of speech, which, by their supe-
rior grace, should commend themselves to the usage
of the refined and cultivated. Dr. Harwood's effort
belongs perhaps in this category. This is a specimen of
his work: —
"The daughter of Herodias ... a young lady who
danced with inimitable grace and elegance." Matthew 14:6.
"A gentleman of splendid family and opulent fortune had
two sons." Matthew 21 128.
"My soul with reverence adores my Creator, and all my
faculties with transport join in celebrating the goodness of
God, my Saviour, who hath in so signal a manner conde-
scended to regard my poor and humble station." Luke 1:
46-48.
"We shall not all pay the common debt of nature, but we
shall by a soft transition be changed from mortality to
immortality." I Corinthians 15:51.
There were many other contributions to the trans-
lation of the Bible in the eighteenth century, as may
be seen by any one who will consult the printed cata-
logue of the British Museum, or such books as Orme's
where were you? And Satan answered: I have been at my country seat, and
in different places visiting my friends."
Verse 9. "And Satan answered; does your Majesty imagine that his
[Job's] good conduct is the effect of mere personal attachment and affection."
Verse 11. "Try him; only withdraw your favor, turn him out of his places,
and withhold his pensions, and you will find him in the opposition."
The Works of Benjamin Franklin, New York, 1888, ed. John Bigelow,
vol. 6, p. 287.
THE ENGLISH VERSIONS l6ll-l88l 4O3
Biliotheca Biblica, Edinburgh, 1824; and Home's Man-
ual of Biblical Bibliography, London, 1839.
Many of the efforts were directed at the translation
of the New Testament, and some of these are repre-
sentative of special theological or denominational
views, such as the Quaker Bible of Anthony Purver,
1764, the Wakefield New Testament, 1792, which was
Unitarian, and the Scarlett version, 1798, which was
Universalist. The translation of particular words or
passages to prove, or to accord with, certain theological
views is the characteristic of versions of this class,
which is a somewhat large one. Scholarly though
some of these individual versions of books or portions
of the Bible were, they did not affect in any way the
circulation of the King James Version.
EARLY AMERICAN VERSIONS AND EDITIONS
The mention of any considerable number of these
special versions would be apart from the purpose of
this sketch, but there is one little-known translation
of the whole Bible that richly deserves far more atten-
tion than it has ever received. It is the scholarly
English version, translated throughout from the Greek,
and published in Philadelphia in 1808 in four volumes.
The title-page reads: —
"The Holy Bible containing The Old and New Covenant,
commonly called The Old and New Testament: Translated
from the Greek. By Charles Thomson, Late Secretary to
the Congress of the United States. Philadelphia. Printed
by Jane Aitken, No. 71, North Third Street. 1808."
So far as the present writer is aware, this is the first
complete translation of the Bible into English by an
404 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
American scholar. Charles Thomson had been a
tutor, 1750-55, in the College of Philadelphia, after-
wards the University of Pennsylvania, from which he
received the degree A. M. From 1775-83 he was the
able Secretary of the Continental Congress. Concern-
ing his version of the New Testament it is interesting
to know that the American Revision Committee
referred to it several times, and always with great re-
spect. Of the whole work Mr. A. J. Edmunds wrote: —
"Neither Roman nor Genevan, neither High Church nor
Low, of no sect and of no prejudice, whether of unbelief or
of overbelief, this American patriot of the Continen-
tal Congress, who lived to be ninety-four and spent
a glorious old age in his home near Bryn Mawr, translating
the records of our faith, ought to stand among us once more
in the form of a newer and more accessible edition of his
great work, 'The Old and New Covenants.' " *
Of Bibles in America the first printed was the Indian
Bible, translated by John Eliot, and issued, the New
Testament, 1661, and the Old and the New Testaments,
in 1663, in Cambridge. The first book printed in
America was The Bay Psalm Book, 1640, with the
title:—
"The whole Booke of Psalmes, Faithfully Translated into
English Metre."
This was the work of Richard Mather, Thomas
Welde and John Eliot.
The first English Bible printed in America was what
is known, from the name of its publisher, as the "Ait-
ken Bible," which bore the following title pages : —
*A. J. Edmunds, "Charles Thomson's New Testament," in The Penn-
sylvania Magazine of History and Biography y vol. 15, 1891, p. 335.
THE ENGLISH VERSIONS l6ll-l88l 405
"The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testa-
ments: Newly translated out of the Original Tongues; And
with the former Translations Diligently compared and re-
vised. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by R. Aitken, at
Pope's Head, Three Doors above the Coffee House, in
Market Street, m.dcc.lxxxii.
"The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ; Newly Translated out of the Original Greek; And
with the former Translations Diligently compared and re-
vised. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by R. Aitken,
Bookseller, Opposite the Coffee-House, Front Street.
M.DCC.LXXXI."
Earlier than the complete Bible were three editions
of the New Testament printed by Aitken in 1777, 1778
and 1779 respectively, with a fourth in 178 1, which was
bound with the Old Testament of 1782. The third
edition, that of 1779, was for the use of schools. The
first edition bore the title-page : —
"The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ; Newly Translated out of the Original Greek; And
with the former Translations Diligently compared and re-
vised. Appointed to be read in Churches. Philadelphia:
Printed and sold by R. Aitken, Printer and Bookseller,
Front Street. 1777. Spectamur agendo."
The words "Appointed to be read in Churches" do
not appear on the title-pages in the complete Bible.
Cotton Mather, as a result of fifteen years' labor, pre-
pared an annotated Bible, which he announced in 1710.
His efforts to have it printed were unsuccessful, and
the manuscript is now the property of the Massachu-
setts Historical Society. A second effort to print an
English Bible in America, was made, like Mather's, in
406 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
Boston, in 1770 by John Fleming. This too was un-
successful.
The break with Great Britain prevented the im-
portation of Bibles, and so important was this that the
Reverend Dr. Patrick Alison, Chaplain of Congress,
joined with others in memorializing Congress, calling
attention to the lack of suitable types and paper for
printing the Bible in America, and asking that the sum
of £10272,108., be advanced to pay for importing them,
or that Congress order the importation of 20,000 Bibles
from Holland, Scotland or elsewhere. The latter sugges-
tion prevailed. The minute, in the Journal of Congress
for 1777-78, in which this information is given, states
further, that "New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and
Georgia voted in the affirmative, and New York, Del-
aware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South
Carolina in the negative."
It was at this time that Robert Aitken of Philadelphia
proceeded, in spite of the apparent lack of suitable type
and paper, to put forth his New Testament of 1777, and
a little later, 1782, his complete Bible, the paper for
which was made in Pennsylvania.
The Aitken Bible has the distinction not only of be-
ing the first English Bible printed in America, 1 but
also of having been produced under such conditions as
called forth concerning it the following expressions,
the first a Resolution of Congress September 12, 1782: —
"Resolved, That the United States in Congress assembled,
highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr.
x The statement is made that in 1752 there was printed in America sur-
reptitiously an English Bible bearing a false imprint, "Mark Baskett, Lon-
don." See article "Versions" (English), by J. H. Lupton, in the Extra
Volume of Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. P. 257.
THE ENGLISH VERSIONS l6ll-l88l 407
Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion as well as
the progress of the arts in this country, and being satisfied
from the above report, 1 of his care and accuracy in the
execution of the work, they recommend this edition of the
Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby
authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner
he shall think proper."
The second expression, which we shall quote, is from
a contributor to the Freeman's Journal^ November 26,
1782:—
"I can hardly express the feelings I experienced when I
found that a complete edition of the Holy Scriptures, in our
vernacular tongue, has been printed among us. The circum-
stances attending this arduous task are so extraordinary
that the faithful historian cannot fail to rank it, both in its
design and execution, amongst the most remarkable civil
events of the present Revolution. What may we not ex-
pect from the abilities of this country in respect to literary
undertakings, when we consider that this design has been
executed in the midst, as it were, of conflagration, murder,
brutality, and a general destruction of the works of nature
and art?"
"This edition of the Holy Scriptures is the only one that
was ever undertaken in America at the expense of an in-
dividual, unless we except the German Bible, printed some
years ago by Mr. Sower, at a time when this country en-
joyed a profound peace. As to Mr. Eliot's Tndian Bible,'
printed many years ago in New England, it is well known
that the whole expense was borne by the corporation for
promoting the Gospel in New England. How greatly then
are the public indebted to Mr. Aitken, who, at the most
imminent risque of his private fortune, with very little sup-
1 A report to Congress made by Messrs. Duane, McKean and Wither-
spoon, who consulted with the Reverend William White and the Reverend
George Duffield, Chaplains of Congress. See The Journals of the Conti-
nental Congress, Washington 19 14, vol. xxxiii, pp. 572-74.
408 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
port and patronage, and actuated by a generous zeal for the
advancement of the moral interests of mankind, engaged
solely in this very expensive and laborious task. What
discouraging prospects for the completion of his work must
the editor have had from time to time in the course of this
cruel and desolating war?"
Philadelphia has played an important part in the
history of the Bible in America. The first Bible printed
in America, except Eliot's Indian Bible, 1661-63, was
the German Bible printed in Germantown by Chris-
topher Saur in 1743. The first American edition of the
Rheims-Douay Bible was printed in Philadelphia and
bore the following title: —
"The Holy Bible, Translated from the Latin Vulgate:
diligently compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and other
Editions, in divers Languages; and First Published by the
English College at Doway, Anno, 1609. Newly revised,
and corrected, according to the Clementine Edition of the
Scriptures. With Annotations for Elucidating the Principal
Difficulties of Holy Writ. Haurietis aquas in gaudio de
fontibus Salvatoris. Isaiae xii.3. Philadelphia: Printed and
Sold by Carey, Stewart, and Co., MDCCXC. ,,
This was the first American quarto Bible, a fact re-
garded as worthy of note by James Mease, M. D., who
in his Picture of Philadelphia, 181 1, p. 86, says: —
"The Quarto Bible, set up by Mathew Carey, in Phila-
delphia was the first standing Bible, of that size, in
the world, and is even now the only one of separate
types. These were cast by Binney and Ronaldson, of
Philadelphia. ,,
The first American edition of the Hebrew Scriptures
had this title: —
" Biblia Hebraica, Secundum Ultimam Editionem Jos.
THE ENGLISH VERSIONS l6ll-l88l 4OO,
Athiae, a Johanne Leusden, denuo recognitam, Recensita
variisque notis Latinis Illustrata ab Everardo Van der
Hooght, V. D. M. Editio Prima Americana, sine punctis
Masorethicis. Philadelphiae: cura et impensis Thomae
Dobson, Edita ex Aedibus Lapideis. Typis Gulielmi Fry.
MDCCCXIV."
The New Testament in Greek was first printed in
America at Worcester, with this title: —
H KAINH AIA0HKH. Novum Testamentum. Juxta
Examplar Joannis Millii accuratissime impressum. Editio
Prima Americana, Wigorniae, Massachusettensi: Excudebat
Isaias Thomas, Jun. Singulatim et numerose eo vendita
officinae suae. April, 1800.
The first translation of the "Scriptures" into English
by a Jewish scholar in America was that of Isaac Leeser
of Philadelphia in 1853, and the first English version
prepared by a group of Jewish scholars is that of the
Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia,
1917. One of the most important and widely used
revisions of the Rheims-Douay Version was that of
Archbishop Kenrick of Philadelphia, 185 1-62. 1
1 Reliable information about American editions will be found in Early
Bibles in America by Rev. John Wright, 3d. ed. New York, 1894.