American Bible Society 1851 KJV

In another thread, Ed Edwards referred to:

"(American Bible Society, 1851)
KJV1851 Edition?
(but no clue that it is KJV???)
(it belonged to my Grandmother
and her Mother before her.)"

In 1851 the American Bible Society produced a revised edition of the KJV that was published in 1852 as their standard edition. Darlow and Moule noted: "It is not generally known that in the middle of the nineteenth century the American Bible Society carried out a careful revision of the current text of the 'Authorised' Version" (Historical Catalogue, p. 362). After some of the Society's supporters objected to it, the publishing of this standard edition was stopped in 1858. Perhaps this is also the edition published in 1853 by Silas Andrus and Son with the subtitle: "The text corrected according to the standard of the American Bible Society." Peter Ruckman wrote: "At this writing, it is the Standard Edition, Octavo Reference Bible of 1852, as established by Gardiner Spring, Thomas Cook, Samuel H. Turner, Edward Robinson, Thomas Vermilye, John McClintock, and Richard S. Storrs, Jr." (Differences in KJV Editions, p. 19). Pastor Gardiner Spring was the author of a book entitled The Bible Not of Man. KJV-only author E. W. Whitten asserted that in 1852 “the Octavo Reference Bible was published” and that “it is the standard Authorized Version King James Bible in use today” (Truth, pp. 111-112).

Your ABS 1851 Bible may have been printed just before the American Bible Society printed this new standard KJV edition. In case you want to check to see if it would be in agreement with the standard 1852 ABS KJV edition, here are some example renderings in it. I have a copy of this edition that was printed in 1853.

Darlow and Moule observed that in the 1851-52 edition "the 's' has been dropped in the case of Hebrew plurals; thus cherubim for cherubims (Historical Catalogue, p. 362). This ABS Standard edition as found in an 1853 edition had “cherubim” (Gen. 3:24), “Rephaim” (Gen. 14:5), “Zuzim“ (Gen. 14:5), “Emim” (Gen. 14:5), “Anakim” (Deut. 1:28), “Horim“ (Deut. 2:12), “Zamzummim“ (Deut. 2:20), “Avim“ (Deut. 2:23), “Caphtorim“ (Deut. 2:23), “Nethinim” (1 Chron. 9:2), “Lubim“ (2 Chron. 12:3), “Sukkiim“ (2 Chron. 12:3), “Mehunim“ (2 Chron. 26:7), “seraphim” (Isa. 6:2), “cherubim’s” (Ezek. 10:5), “Cherethim“ (Ezek. 25:16), "Gammadim" (Ezek. 27:11), and “Chemarim“ (Zeph. 1:4). There were also some variations or changes in the 1851-52 edition that are not found in the present ABS edition. For example, the 1851-52 edition had "in the judgment" instead "in judgment" at Matthew 12:41. The ABS’s Committee on Versions maintained that “this is required by the Greek; and the same Greek phrase, in verse 42, is so rendered by the translators” (Statements, p. 6). It had “victuals“ instead of “victual“ (Exod. 12:39), “Aijalon“ instead of “Ajalon“ (Josh. 10:12, 19:42), “Ashkelon“ instead of “Askelon“ (Jud. 1:18), “he went” instead of “she went” (Ruth 3:15), “sackcloth” instead of “sackclothes” (Neh. 9:1), “Kishon“ instead of “Kison“ (Ps. 83:9), “she please” instead of “he please” (Song of Solomon 2:7, 3:5, 8:4), “John the Baptist“ instead of “John Baptist“ (Luke 7:20), “aware” instead of “ware” (Acts 14:6), and “horses’ bridles” instead of “horse bridles” (Rev. 14:20). Darlow and Moule pointed out the brackets and italics in the latter clause of 1 John 2:23 were dropped in this 1852 edition (p. 362). Concerning 1 John 2:23, the Committee noted “as there is no question of its genuineness, both the brackets and the italics have been dropped” (Statements, p. 9).

 

Since your 1851 ABS KJV may not have been printed early enough to be the 1851-52 standard ABS edition, it would likely have a text in agreement with the 1846 ABS edition that I examined. Below are some of the variations between the 1846 ABS KJV edition compared to the present Oxford KJV edition in the Scofield Reference Bible.

This 1846 KJV edition has "subtile" for "subtil" (Gen. 3:1), "Spirit" for "spirit" (Gen. 6:3), "assuaged" for "asswaged" (Gen. 8:1), "a husbandman" for "an husbandman" (Gen. 9:20), "mortar" for "morter" (Gen. 11:3), “lifted“ for “lift“ (Gen. 14:22), “a horror“ for “an horror“ (Gen. 15:12), “In that“ for “In the“ (Gen. 15:18), “fetched“ for “fetcht“ (Gen. 18:7), “have borne“ for “have born“ (Gen. 30:20), "grizzled" for "grisled" (Gen. 31:10), "aught" for "ought" (Gen. 39:6), "raven" for "ravin" (Gen. 49:27), "loathe" for "lothe" (Exod. 7:18), "rye" for "rie" (Exod. 9:32), “sanctuary, O LORD“ for “Sanctuary, O Lord“ (Exod. 15:17), "clothes" for "cloths" (Exod. 31:10, 35:19, 39:1, 39:41), "strewed" for "strawed" (Exod. 32:20), "cleft" for "clift" (Exod. 33:22), “a hole“ for “an hole“ (Exod. 39:23), "cuckoo" for "cuckow" (Lev. 11:16), "plaster" for "plaister" (Lev. 14:42), "plastered" for "plaistered" (Lev. 14:43), "brazen" for "brasen" (Num. 16:39), “awl“ for “aul“ (Deut. 15:17), "or Sheba" for "and Sheba" (Jos. 19:2), "prancings" for "pransings" (Jud. 5:22), “mother-in-law“ for “mother in law“ (Ruth 1:14), "steadfastly" for "stedfastly" (Ruth 1:18), “priest‘s custom“ for “priests‘ custom“ (1 Sam. 2:13), “hasted“ for “hastened“ (1 Sam. 17:48), “And he made“ for “And made“ (2 Sam. 2:9), "word" for "words" (1 Kings 3:12), “basins“ for “basons“ (1 Kings 7:50), “the LORD“ for “the Lord“ (1 Kings 8:56), "three pounds" for "three pound" (1 Kings 10:17), “the LORD“ for “the Lord“ (2 Kings 7:6), “all the tribes“ for “all tribes“ (2 Kings 21:7), "five thousand pounds" for "five thousand pound" (Ezra 2:69), “in the dust“ for “in dust“ (Job 39:14), "Most High" for "most High" (Ps. 21:7), "Holy Spirit" for "holy spirit" (Ps. 51:11), "steadfast" for "stedfast" (Ps. 78:8), "paid" for "payed" (Prov. 7:14), "inquiry" for "enquiry" (Prov. 20:25), “yea further“ for “yea farther“ (Eccl. 8:17), "wash ye" for "wash you" (Isa. 1:16), "Spirit of the LORD" for "spirit of the LORD" (Isa. 11:2), “a hungry“ for “an hungry“ (Isa. 29:8), “a hill“ for “an hill“ (Isa. 30:17), "Mighty One" for "mighty One" (Isa. 49:26), "inflaming" for "Enflaming" (Isa. 57:5), "Holy Spirit" for "holy Spirit" (Isa. 63:10), "astonished" for "astonied" (Jer. 14:9), "neither … nor daughters" for "neither … or daughters" (Jer. 16:2), "afterwards" for "afterward" (Jer. 34:11), “The word which“ for “The word that“ (Jer. 40:1), "portray" for "pourtray" (Ezek. 4:1), "loathed" for "lothed" (Ezek. 16:45), "since" for "sith" (Ezek. 35:6), "outer" for "utter" (Ezek. 40:31, 37), "music" for "musick" (Dan. 6:18), “a harlot“ for “an harlot“ (Joel 3:3), "prized" for "prised" (Zech. 11:13), "public" for "publick" (Matt. 1:19), "Spirit" for "spirit" (Matt. 4:1), "cloak" for "cloke" (Matt. 5:40), "lunatic" for "lunatick" (Matt. 17:15), "sponge" for "spunge" (Matt. 27:48), “further“ for “farther“ (Mark 1:19), "lifted" for "lift" (Luke 16:23), "sycamore" for "sycomore" (Luke 19:4), "others" for "other" (Luke 23:32), "sergeants" for "serjeants" (Acts 16:35), "publicly" for "publickly" (Acts 18:28), "fleshly" for "fleshy" (2 Cor. 3:3), "those who" for "these who" (Gal. 2:6), "sometime" for "sometimes" (Eph. 5:8), "always" for "alway" (Phil. 4:4), "steadfastness" for "stedfastness" (Col. 2:5), "Holy Spirit" for "holy Spirit" (1 Thess. 4:8), "broidered" for "broided" (1 Timothy 2:9), "thoroughly" for "throughly" (2 Tim. 3:16), "heretic" for "heretick" (Tit. 3:10), and "chrysolite" for "chrysolyte" (Rev. 21:20).


This 1846 ABS edition also has some renderings not in present ABS editions such as “Heman“ instead of “Hemam“ (Gen. 36:22), “LORD God“ instead of “Lord GOD“ (Exod. 23:17), "nor scales" instead of "and scales" (Lev. 11:10), “an house“ for “a house“ (Lev. 14:55), "walls" instead of "wall" (Lev. 25:31), "an whole" instead of "a whole" (Num. 10:2), "thy hand" instead of "thine hand" (Deut. 2:24), "thy heart" instead of "thine heart" (Deut. 15:7), “coasts“ instead of “coast“ (Deut. 16:4), “thy handmaidens“ instead of “thine handmaidens“ (Ruth 2:13), “thine house“ instead of “thy house“ (Ruth 4:12), “God“ instead of “GOD“ (2 Sam. 12:22), "the LORD" instead of "the Lord" (1 Kings 3:10), “the LORD“ instead of “the Lord“ (1 Kings 22:6), “rulers over“ instead of “rulers of“ (1 Chron. 29:6), “sin“ instead of “sins“ (2 Chron. 33:19), "mend" instead of "amend" (2 Chron. 34:10), “O LORD“ instead of “O Lord“ (Neh. 1:11), "thine eyes" instead of "thy eyes" (Job 15:12), “my hands“ instead of “mine hands“ (Job 31:7), "thy companions" instead of "the companions" (Job 41:6), "the LORD" instead of "the Lord" (Ps. 2:4), “and who“ instead of “or who“ (Ps. 24:3), "thy handmaid" instead of "thine handmaid" (Ps. 116:16), "snare" instead of "snares" (Ps. 141:9), "him that soweth" instead of "he that soweth" (Prov. 6:19), "the LORD" instead of "the Lord" (Isa. 7:14), “Get ye“ instead of “Get you“ (Isa. 30:11), “strip ye“ instead of “strip you“ (Isa. 32:11), "mine uncle's" instead of "my uncle's" (Jer. 32:9), "the LORD" instead of "the Lord" (Ezek. 18:25), "Lord GOD" instead of "Lord God" (Dan. 9:3), “flieth“ instead of “fleeth“ (Nah. 3:16), "Get ye" instead of "Get you" (Zech. 6:7), “Cesar‘s“ instead of “Caesar‘s“ (Mark 12:17), “and he cried out“ instead of “and cried out“ (Luke 4:33), "Mine head" instead of "My head" (Luke 7:46), "any" instead of "any man" (John 10:28), "none" instead of "no man" (John 10:29), "and the truth" instead of "the truth (John 14:6), and "an one" for "a one" (2 Cor. 2:7). Like the 1804 Oxford, this 1846 ABS edition makes more use of hyphens than does the present Oxford edition. For example, the 1846 edition has “son-in-law“ (Gen. 19:12), “to-day“ (Gen. 21:26), “back-side” (Exod. 26:12), “stiff-necked” (Exod. 33:5), “four-square” (Exod. 38:1), and “to-night“ (Josh. 2:2).