The Bible KJV

England

Version Information.

In 1604, King James I of England authorized that a new translation of the Bible into English be started. It was finished in 1611, just 85 years after the first translation of the New Testament into English appeared (Tyndale, 1526).

The Authorized Version, or King James Version, quickly became the standard for English-speaking Protestants. Its flowing language and prose rhythm has had a profound influence on the literature of the past 300 years. The King James Version present on the Bible Gateway matches the 1987 printing.

The KJV is public domain in the United States.

Holland

Version information

The Statenvertaling (Dutch for States Translation) or Statenbijbel (Dutch for States Bible) is the first Bible translation from the original Hebrew and Greek languages to the Dutch language, ordered by the government of the Protestant Dutch Republic first published in 1637.

The first complete Dutch Bible was printed in Antwerp in 1526 by Jacob van Liesvelt.

This translation and other existing Dutch Bibles were merely translations of other translations. Furthermore, the translation from Martin Luther was widely used, but it had a Lutheran interpretation.

At the Synod of Dort in 1618/19, it was therefore deemed necessary to have a new translation, accurately based on the original languages in imitation of the King James Bible from 1611.

The synod requested the States-General of the Netherlands to commission it. In 1626 the States-General accepted the request from the Synod and the translation started. It was completed in 1635 and authorized by the States-General in 1637.

From then until 1657 half-a-million copies were printed. This translation remained authoritative in Protestant churches well into the 20th century. The source material for the Old Testament of the Statenvertaling was the Masoretic Text. The New Testament was translated from the Textus Receptus.