THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE
👑 1604–1769 and beyond

The King James Story

A translation commissioned by a king, executed by scholars, shaped by printers, and standardized by later editors.

1604

Commissioned

King James I authorizes a new translation after the Hampton Court Conference.

1611

Published

The original KJV prints Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament.

1769

Standardized

Benjamin Blayney’s Oxford revision becomes the basis of most KJV Bibles today.

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Who did what?

King James I

Authorized the project

He did not personally translate the Bible. His role was royal authorization and political sponsorship.
Six companies of scholars

Translated and reviewed

Teams at Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster worked from Hebrew, Greek, and earlier English translations under detailed rules.
Royal printers

Produced editions—and mistakes

Early print culture created variants such as the “He” and “She” Bibles and the notorious 1631 “Wicked Bible.”
F. S. Parris, 1762

Cambridge editorial standardization

Spelling, punctuation, italics, and other features were regularized.
Benjamin Blayney, 1769

Oxford revision

His edition heavily shaped the KJV wording and presentation familiar today.
What happened to the Apocrypha?It was present in the 1611 KJV, but Protestant theology, printing economics, Puritan influence, and the 1826 Bible Society funding decision made 66-book editions dominant.

Quick check

Did King James personally remove Enoch and Jubilees from an Ethiopian Bible?