English Bibles

I found an interesting summary of English Bible History. I'm somewhat familiar with the general story but I discovered some new details. For example:

• The King James Bible in general use today, dated as 1611, is actually based on the 1769 Baskerville revisions of wording and spelling, despite the inclusion of the 1611 Preface at the front.
• On the other hand, the KJV itself is textually 95% the same as the Geneva Bible of 1560, which itself retained over 90% of William Tyndale's original English translations dating to 1525.
• The first Bible printed in America (in 1633) was done in Algonquin, not English.
• Up until the 1880s, all Protestant Bibles included the Apocrypha. The Bibles Joseph Smith used, both as a youth and later as the head of the Church, thus had the Apocrypha in them, which is rather interesting. Here's a link to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism article on the Apocrypha and, of course, D&C 91. The following verse from the Apocrypha might ring a bell, for example: "And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing: but many men call it Nephi" (2 Maccabees 1:36).
• The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is the best word-for-word or formal equivalent translation in English, while the popular New International Version (NIV) Bible is a dynamic equivalent translation, easier to read but less favored by serious students of the Bible.

Comments

[Justin]

From what I've read elsewhere, I believe the website's statement about the inclusion of the Apocrypha in Protestant Bibles until the 1880s is in error. BYU's Kent Jackson wrote an article several years ago on Joseph Smith's Phinney Bible (purchased in October 1829) for BYU Studies, and he stated therein that approximately 2/3s of the Phinney Bibles included the Apocrypha (it was printed on its own signatures in a smaller font with separate pagination so that it could be inserted into the Bible depending on the model). Another popular Bible at the time, the Collins's Bible, was available with or without the Apocrypha. Jackson says that the Apocrypha was included in most Bibles in the early United States.

[Bill Logan]

A great book on this subject is David Daniell's "The Bible in English: Its History and Influence." It's quite lengthy, but very readable and engaging.

[Dave]

Bill, nice reference, here's the Amazon link to The Bible in English.

Justin, have you checked your email lately? Send me an updated address if it has changed.

[Justin]

It's the same. I replied just now (at least I think I did).