A stunning work of scholarship, the Norton Critical Edition of The English Bible, King James Version, is the most accessible edition available. In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, these long-awaited volumes bring together succinct introductions to each biblical book, detailed explanatory annotations, and a wealth of contextual and critical materials. Archaic words are explained, textual problems are lucidly discussed, and stylistic features of the original texts are highlighted. For the New Testament and the Apocrypha, the introductions and annotations by Austin Busch and Gerald Hammond provide necessary historical and cultural background, while illuminating the complexity of the original texts. Supporting materials are divided into five sections. “Historical Contexts” excerpts Greek, Roman, and Jewish sources, such as Josephus, Philo, Tacitus, Pliny, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Selections from Papias, Marcion, and Valentinus, among others, provide insight into the diversity of early Christianity. “Exegesis” explores classic New Testament commentary from Origen and Augustine to Strauss, Nietzsche, Wrede, and Schweitzer, who focus on the Gospels’ vexing relationship to history. Essays by contemporary scholars and critics complete the section by exemplifying a range of interdisciplinary approaches to New Testament literature. The New Testament’s powerful language and images have inspired some of the finest poems in the English language. This volume collects a wide selection of lyric poems, hymns and spirituals, and epics, from the Dream of the Rood to works by Countee Cullen, Elizabeth Bishop, and Anthony Hecht. Case studies designed to stimulate classroom discussion trace the development of Pontius Pilate as a character in post-biblical literature, follow the centuries-long exegetical debate about Romans 7, and survey competing hermeneutical approaches to Revelation. A final section samples fifteen translations of 1 Corinthians 13, from Wycliffe to contemporary versions.

This book traces the work of Tyndale and his successors, examining the translators' manuscript work and the KJB's textual and printing history.

A primary publication exploring the handwritten annotations made by the Oxford New Testament Company as members completed Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, this collation is a resource for all students of the Bible and English language.

The King James Version (KJV), commonly known as the Authorized Version (AV) or King James Bible (KJB), is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. First printed by the King's Printer Robert Barker, this was the third translation into English to be approved by the English Church authorities. The first was the Great Bible commissioned in the reign of King Henry VIII, and the second was the Bishops' Bible of 1568. In January 1604, King James I convened the Hampton Court Conference where a new English version was conceived in response to the perceived problems of the earlier translations as detected by the Puritans, a faction within the Church of England. James gave the translators instructions intended to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and its belief in an ordained clergy. The translation was done by 47 scholars, all of whom were members of the Church of England. In common with most other translations of the period, the New Testament was translated from Greek, the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew text, while the Apocrypha were translated from the Greek and Latin. In the Book of Common Prayer (1662), the text of the Authorized Version replaced the text of the Great Bible – for Epistle and Gospel readings – and as such was authorized by Act of Parliament. By the first half of the 18th century, the Authorized Version was effectively unchallenged as the English translation used in Anglican and Protestant churches. Over the course of the 18th century, the Authorized Version supplanted the Latin Vulgate as the standard version of scripture for English speaking scholars. Today, the most used edition of the King James Bible, and often identified as plainly the King James Version, especially in the United States, closely follows the standard text of 1769, edited by Benjamin Blayney at Oxford.

David Norton re-edited the King James Bible for Cambridge, and this 2005 book arose from his intensive work on that project. Here he shows how the text of the most important Bible in the English language was made, and how, for better and for worse, it changed in the hands of printers and editors until, in 1769, it became the text we know today. Using evidence as diverse as the manuscript work of the original translators, and the results of extensive computer collation of electronically held texts, Norton has produced a scholarly edition of the King James Bible for the new century that will restore the authority of the 1611 translation. This book describes this fascinating background, explains Norton's editorial principles and provides substantial lists and tables of variant readings. It will be indispensable to scholars of the English Bible, literature, and publishing history.

World Scripture is a guidebook to the primary source materials of the classical, living religions of the world. It is a guidebook which innovatively blends critical and interpretative tools with sacred symbols and stories of Ultimacy.