This episode focuses on the translators themselves, all of whom excelled both in scholarship and piety. Andrew Lancelot spoke 15 languages, was called the "Interpreter 'General of the Tower of Babel, AND he prayed 5 hours a day. The committee that produced the KJV was very likely the most qualified and holistically balanced group of translators ever to translate the Bible. The translators didn't just know Greek and Hebrew--they spoke it. Regarding the final product, the translators considered how their work sounded to its hearers, many of whom were illiterate. The KJV is consequently a faithful and poetic translation that drips with the majesty of God. The episode closes with a call to all Christians to draw on the piety and scholarship of devoted well-rounded saints in history who lived what they learned.
The KJV: Just the Bible, Ditch the Commentary
This episode initially addresses the challenge of literal word-for word translations of the Bible. Literal word-for-word translations don't always convey connotations and nuances behind the words themselves. For this reason, students of the Word should ideally use both literal translations and thought-to-thought translations. The episode also addresses King James' instruction that the KJV include no marginal notes outside of explanatory notes on the Greek and Hebrew. This requirement was obviously a swipe at the Geneva Bible, which had lots of antimonarchical and anti-ecclesiastical comments. King James went so far as to ban the Geneva Bible in 1616. James was nevertheless fair with Puritans (who had produced the Geneva Bible), including them on the translation committees so that the KJV was NOT a sectarian "establishment" translation of the Scriptures. By 1660 the KJV eclipsed the Geneva Bible in popularity, and for the next 200 years quoting from the Bible presupposed the KJV.
The preferment of “church” to “congregation” in the KJV
This episode addresses the translation of "ekklesia" in the KJV into "church" in Matthew 16:18. King James, who was understandably partial to the "established" Church of England which he led, insisted that translators use the word "church" instead of "congregation." The dispute is less over the literal meaning of "ekklesia" than over the connotations of the word in seventeenth century England. Both "church" and "congregation" accurately convey the meaning of "ekklesia," which literally means "those called out of." Yet one connotation of "church," which is still true today, points to the building and the establishment behind the structure. "Organized religion" embodies this connotation, on top of the literal meaning. James, who headed the established Church of England, insisted that "church" be the word translated from "ekklesia." Significantly, 4 previous English translations used the word "congregation," including the Great Bible and the Bishop's Bible. Ironically, the Geneva Bible, produced by Marian exiles who most resisted the "established" church, opted for "church" over "congregation, " largely in deference to John Calvin's high ecclesiology.
The Conservative Approach of KJV Translation
This episode spells out the conservative approach of the translators of the King James Bible and demonstrates that the KJV relied heavily on previous translations. One word study found that 83.7% of the KJV was identical to William Tyndale's New Testament. Translators were instructed to methodically go through the Bishop's Bible and make any modifications based on the Hebrew or Greek texts. The translators relied on relatively late copies of both testaments, drawing from the Masoretic Text for the Hebrew (11th century). With respect to the New Testament, translators mostly relied on Erasmus' compilation of Greek texts (3rd to 5th editions), as well as collections of Stephanus and Theodore Beza. Together these copies make up the Textus Receptus, or Majority Text. The Majority Text depends on relatively late manuscripts (12th century) but is nevertheless very reliable when compared to modern translations, which depend on manuscripts as old as the second and third centuries.
“No Bishop, No KIng!”
This episode describes the confrontation between Puritans and King James just prior to the new monarch's ascension to power in 1603. A Puritan delegation headed by John Reynolds petitioned the king to share ecclesiastical power with lay elders and install presbyterian church government throughout England. This radical change in church polity would undermine the authority of bishops, and James adamantly responded, "No bishop, no king!" James reaction underscores the church-state fusion that predominated in Europe in which bishops were, in effect, delegates of the king. Presbyterian church government threatened to undermine royal authority. The confrontation nevertheless bore positive fruit when King James agreed to Reynold's suggestion that a new English translation of the Bible be sanctioned by the king.
“It Helps to Know the Greek”
This episode contrasts the Bishop's Bible with the Geneva Bible, particularly over readability, accuracy, and overall lay-friendliness. The Geneva Bible is far superior. Roughly half of the episode highlights how more literal translations, coupled with word-studies on the original languages, are ultimately more rewarding. Matthew 5:48 commands us "to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect." The Greek is in the passive, so the translation should read "be ye made perfect.." This nuance is often lost in English translations and has significant implications on whether we try to fix ourselves or simply be available for God to complete us. Additionally "perfect," coming from "teleos," also means complete or mature. Knowledge of these nuances of the Greek greatly enhances comprehension of the text.
The Empire Strikes Back: the Bishop’s Bible
This episode further explains objections to the Geneva Bible by both bishops and monarchs, and analyzes the Bishop's Bible, the "establishment's" response. The commentary throughout the Geneva Bible advocated a presbyterian form of church government where a group of elders presided over the church. Bishops in England naturally opposed this arrangement, for it undermined the singular authority of the bishop. Monarchs also found presbyterian government objectionable, as the close fusion of church and state potentially undercut the monarch's role in governing the Anglican Church. In response, the "establishment" produced the Bishop's Bible in 1668 (revised in 1672). While it was a direct translation from Hebrew/Greek to English, the final work lacked cohesiveness since individual bishops translated passages of the Bible (instead of committee), and no uniform translation methodology governed the process. The Bishop's Bible was consequently not as popular as the Geneva Bible.
“Power Corrupts”: the Legacy of the Geneva Bible
This episode expands on the legacy of the Geneva Bible, which is not shaped by the translation itself but by commentary in the margins. The editors of the Geneva Bible had fled the reign of "bloody" Mary, the Catholic queen who zealously martyred many Protestants. The margin study notes reflect a consistent preoccupation with the concentration of secular power in the monarch and ecclesiastical power in the bishop, where tyranny is a likely result. Of course, with the fusion of church and state, in which the monarch also presides over the church, abuse is more likely. The "republican" tradition, captured by the maxim, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" is largely derived from Calvinist emphasis on total depravity. Puritans, who relied on the Geneva Bible for the next century, often pushed back against the monarch and the bishop when abuses were evident. In the case of the latter, Puritans advocated a "presbyterian" form of church government, where power is shared among elders of the church. The English monarch who presided over both church and state was seen by many Puritans as the corrupt Protestant version of the pope, who had significant power in both arenas as well. The legacy of the Geneva Bible, via notes in commentaries, is a distrust of concentrations of power in both church and state, and this sentiment would later undergird "republican" ideology on the eve of the American Revolution.
The Geneva Bible: the First Direct English Translation
This episode mostly addresses the Geneva Bible, the first direct English translation of both Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. The Great Bible, the official bible of the Anglican Church, was a direct translation of the Greek NT but depended on the Latin Vulgate for translation into English. It was understandably less reliable. The Geneva Bible was published in 1560 in Geneva by Marian exiles, Calvinist Christians who fled persecution under queen Mary (1553-58) It was the first Bible translated by committee and incorporated verse distinctions. Commentary in the margins went beyond explicating meaning of words and cross references: it included anti-monarchical, anti-establishment, and anti-Catholic interpretations/applications. At least 2 of the 3 biases would be problematic to English monarchs, who headed up both church and state. King James not surprisingly despised the Geneva Bible.
Henry VIII: When the Wicked Falls into his Own Trap
This episode follows the history of Bible translation amidst the stormy political swings of 16th century England. William Tyndale translated the New Testament into English in 1526, and his continued work on translating the Old Testament led to his execution in 1536 as a heretic by Henry VIII. Tyndale's protege Miles Cloverdale nevertheless managed to convince the king to authorize "The Great Bible" in 1539, the first officially sanctioned English Bible of the Anglican church. Why the sudden reversal? In his dispute with the papacy over separation of the Church of England from the Roman church, Henry VIII found an English translation to be a politically expedient tool to uphold his power. The English Bible, as opposed to the Latin Vulgate, was much more amenable to the nationalism that he was promoting, particularly one in which he was actually head of both the church and the state. The irony here is that the Great Bible, unbeknownst to Henry, depended on Tyndale's NT! The episode traces the close church-state relationship as it developed, highlighting England's return to Catholicism under "bloody Mary" (1553-58) and the subsequent compromise reached under Elizabeth in the "Elizabethan Settlement" of 1577.