-300 to -100ancient
Septuagint develops
Jewish translators render Hebrew Scriptures into Greek over generations; additional Jewish writings circulate with Greek scriptural collections.
c. 250–150 BCancient
Enoch and Jubilees circulate
These works emerge in Second Temple Judaism. Their later Dead Sea Scroll fragments confirm their antiquity.
1st–4th c. ADchurch
Christian canon develops
Churches use Israel’s Scriptures and gradually recognize the 27-book New Testament, while Old Testament boundaries remain regionally diverse.
c. AD 330–340ethiopia
Christianity established in Aksum
The Ethiopian Christian tradition takes root under King Ezana; biblical and liturgical texts are translated into Geʽez.
4th–7th c.ethiopia
Garima Gospels
Ancient Geʽez Gospel manuscripts demonstrate the depth of Ethiopia’s early Christian manuscript tradition.
late 4th c.western
Jerome and the Vulgate
Jerome translates and revises Latin biblical texts, favoring Hebrew books for the Old Testament while wider books continue in Latin use.
1442western
Council of Florence
The Roman Catholic Church lists its scriptural books in conciliar form.
1450swestern
Gutenberg Bible
Movable-type printing transforms the scale and consistency of Bible production in Europe.
1522–1534reformation
Luther Bible
Luther places the Apocrypha between the Testaments and questions—but retains—several New Testament books.
1546western
Council of Trent
The Catholic Church definitively reaffirms its canon during the Reformation era.
1604kjv
KJV commissioned
King James I authorizes a new English translation after the Hampton Court Conference.
1611kjv
Original KJV published
The first edition prints Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament.
1611kjv
“He” and “She” Bibles
Early printings differ at Ruth 3:15, creating famous edition nicknames.
1631kjv
“Wicked Bible”
A printer omits “not” from the adultery commandment; authorities punish the printers.
1646reformation
Westminster Confession
Puritan theology explicitly rejects the Apocrypha as canonical Scripture.
1762kjv
F. S. Parris revision
Cambridge standardizes spelling, punctuation, italics, and other editorial features.
1769kjv
Benjamin Blayney revision
Oxford edition becomes the basis of most modern KJV printings.
1773discovery
James Bruce returns with Ethiopic Enoch
The complete Ethiopic form of 1 Enoch re-enters European scholarly awareness; Ethiopia had preserved it for centuries.
1782printing
Aitken Bible in America
An early American English Bible is printed without the Apocrypha.
1826printing
Bible Society funding decision
The British and Foreign Bible Society stops funding Bibles containing the Apocrypha, accelerating the 66-book Protestant format.
1881–1885modern
English Revised Version
Scholars revise the KJV using older manuscripts and advances in Hebrew and Greek study.
1901modern
American Standard Version
American editors adapt the Revised Version.
1947 onwarddiscovery
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered
Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic fragments of Enoch, Jubilees, and biblical books confirm the antiquity of these works and illuminate textual history.
1952modern
Revised Standard Version
A major modern revision in the KJV–RV–ASV tradition.
1971modern
NASB
A formal-equivalence translation using modern critical texts.
1978modern
NIV
An international committee produces a fresh modern-English translation.
1979–1982modern
New King James Version
Thomas Nelson and a large scholarly team modernize KJV language while retaining the traditional New Testament textual base in the main text.
1989modern
NRSV
An ecumenical revision appears in multiple canonical editions.
2001modern
ESV
A conservative revision of the RSV tradition.
2011modern
NIV revision
Language and translation decisions are updated.
2020modern
NASB 2020
A modern-language revision of the NASB.
2021–2022modern
NRSVue
The NRSV is updated using current textual and linguistic scholarship.