Hebrew/Greek KEY WORD study Bible

YEs, there is a difference in Bibles
that say "Authorized Version" (AV) and
those which say just "King James Version" (KJV).

Those KJVs that say AV say AV.
THose KJVs that say not AV say not AV.
And that is the ONLY difference.
I.E. it is a meaningless phrase.

There appear to me to be three main
editions of the KJV that I can find
in book stores and on the internet.

The KJV1873
the KJV1769
the KJV1611.
Usually the KJV1769 is marked "AV"
but doesn't tell which edition it is.
The commercial KJV1873 tells inside
that it is the KJV1873 edition.
Reprint KJV1611s (from Nelson
and from Henderson have "1611 edition"
on the spine.

King James I of England authorized
the KJV1611. He was dead and gone
by the time of the KJV1769 edition,
so King James could not have authorized
the KJV1769. Some head of the Anglican
(Church of England) authorized the KJV1769.
Though i've seen some KJVOs (not present
on our board) who say that God authorized
the KJV1769. When not said, this
AV viewpoint that God authorized, is
implied.

 

Ed is correct. I'll add a little bit on the "AV" name.

Authorized Version was a term used not for readers or the Bible itself, but for "printers". When King James had the original translated and first printed in 1611 there was "what we today would call a copyright", on the new translation. The king ONLY allowed certain printers to print it.

The pilgrims brought a Geneva Bible to the United States because they were searching for religious freedom and didn't want to have anything to do with King James or England. After the states declared independence (and before) printers in the US started printing the KJV. Because of this, true printers who were authorized by the Church of England (as backed by the royalty) started placing the words "Authorized Version" in their Bibles to show that they were indeed a legal and authorized version (by English decree). It is simply the same as a book stating a copyright and making it clear that permission has been granted to the "printer" to make copies of the book.

The interesting thing is that many KJVo people complain that new MVs have copyrights on them. They claim the KJV doesn't. THey are correct, only up to a point. I don't know the exact date the KJV went into public domain, but England had a grip on the Bible far longer than any copyright of an MV has been in effect. There is a good reason for a copyright. Two reasons come to mind:

1) There is a lot of money put into a translation. Usually, as Skan says, a translation with a larger committee tends to be more accurate (at least I think he was the one who said that). For that reason alone, it is very, very expensive to hire good scholars to translate and then edit those translations. Without a copyright the company could not maintain control long enough to return their investment.
2) A copyright is just a good idea to make sure that no changes are made to a Bible. For example, if the NIV were to place their Bible into the public domain, there would be little to stop someone from altering the version and selling it as an NIV or slightly revised NIV. This could cause all sorts of problems to the consumer.

Summary: The AV mark is nothing more than a printer telling their customers that they have been Authorized by the country of England to print and distribute their KJV. If you will notice the dates when the AV mark came into being, it was around the same time America was declaring and fighting for its independence; or at least within a certain time-frame around that period of time. Today, the KJVo groups would like you to believe that "Authorized Version" has something to do with God. It is no more than a "printer's stamp of authority".

 

Robert Aitken printed the first King James Bible printed in America in 1782

The KJV is still under a "Crown Patent in Perpetuity" which will not expire until either the Queen or one of her descendants releases the patent, or the British Crown falls. It applies only to the United Kingdom and does not fall under International Copyright rules.

 

Thanks Skan, I had heard something to that effect, but thought maybe that it was only a rumor so I didn't want to repeat it. Thanks for the info.

 

I have the NASB flavor of this edition of the Keyword study Bible. It has some excellent tools in it.

 

j_barner2000,

I have come close to buying the NASB version a couple of times. I think I just might buy it the next time I get the chance. I already have the KJV, thanks to a much-beloved deacon.

In Christ,
Trotter