Supplemental Reference Library

Essential dates

300–100 BC: Septuagint develops
c. 250–150 BC: Enoch and Jubilees circulate
1st–4th c. AD: Christian canon develops

c. 330–340: Christianity in Aksum
late 4th c.: Jerome and Vulgate
1442: Florence
1546: Trent

1522–1534: Luther Bible
1604: KJV commissioned
1611: KJV printed
1762/1769: major KJV revisions

1773: James Bruce and Ethiopic Enoch
1947 onward: Dead Sea Scrolls

1646: Westminster Confession
1782: Aitken Bible
1826: Bible Society funding decision

1881–85: RV
1901: ASV
1952: RSV
1978: NIV
1979–82: NKJV
1989: NRSV
2021–22: NRSVue

Protestant term often used for books printed between the Testaments but not treated as canonical.

Catholic term for Old Testament books affirmed as canonical but disputed in some traditions.

The ancient Greek translation tradition of Jewish Scriptures.

The medieval Hebrew textual tradition foundational to most modern Old Testament translations.

A printed Greek New Testament tradition associated with the KJV textual base.

A scholarly reconstruction based on comparison of many manuscripts and ancient witnesses.

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church — official canon descriptions and tradition-specific explanations.

British Library and university special collections — KJV first editions, printing history, and manuscript exhibits.

Israel Museum / Shrine of the Book — Dead Sea Scrolls context and manuscript evidence.

Oxford and Cambridge scholarship — canon history, translation history, and critical editions.

Conciliar documents — Florence, Trent, Westminster, and other formal canon statements.

Modern Bible prefaces — official translation philosophy, committees, and textual notes.