Bill Text: MS HR76 | 2012 | Regular Session | Engrossed

Mississippi House Resolution 76 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: King James Bible; commemorate 401st anniversary of writing of.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2012-03-27 - Enrolled Bill Signed [HR76 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2012-HR76-Engrossed.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2012 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representatives Smith (39th), Reynolds, Upshaw

House Resolution 76

(As Adopted by House)

A RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING THE 401ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE HOLY BIBLE.

WHEREAS, in this year, 2012, the King James Version of the Holy Bible is being celebrated during the 401st Anniversary of its original printing; and

WHEREAS, the original King James Version of the Bible was compiled by 47 scholars and linguists over a period of seven years, and it was published in 1611 in its entirety by the King's Printer, Robert Barker; and

WHEREAS, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of the House of Tudor, the queen desired to reduce the many diversities of the Bible that had been published in the English tongue and to settle on one common translation for the people; and

WHEREAS, throughout the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the future King of England was King James VI of Scotland for 37 years, and he succeeded Elizabeth I in the year 1603 as King James I of the House of Stuart; and

WHEREAS, one of the first tasks that the new king undertook was the calling of the Hampton Court Conference in January 1604 to examine and explore the allegations of wrongdoings that were rampant in the church during that time, and although revision of the Bible was not on the agenda, Puritan president of Corpus Christi College, John Reynolds, suggested that a new translation of the Bible be undertaken to correct the spoiling of the previous translations under the rule of Henry VIII and Edward VI; and

WHEREAS, agreeing with Reynolds, King James I resolved, "That a translation be made of the whole Bible, as consonant as can be to the original Hebrew and Greek; and this to be set out and printed, without any marginal notes, and only to be used in all churches of England in time of divine service."; and

WHEREAS, King James I appointed 54 learned men for the translating of the Bible, and these men were the most gifted biblical scholars and linguists of their day, many of those chosen believed they were inferior scholars to their fellow translators, but all sought truth rather than praise for their talents and education; and

WHEREAS, the scholars were divided among six working groups: 17 were assigned to Westminster, 10 working on the books of Genesis through II Kings and seven working on the books of Romans through Jude; 15 were assigned to Cambridge, eight working on the books of I Chronicles through Ecclesiastes and seven working on the Apocrypha; and 15 were assigned to Oxford, seven working on the books of Isaiah through Malachi and eight working on the books of the Gospels, Acts and Revelation; and

WHEREAS, there were 15 general rules advanced for the guidance of the translators, including: the following of the Bishop's Bible and to be altered as little as possible; the names of prophets and holy writers with other names of the text were to be retained; old ecclesiastical words were to be kept and not translated; words with diverse significations were to be kept in the most common form of the usage of the time of authorization, being agreeable to the propriety of the place and the analogy of the Christian faith; only little alteration to the division of the chapters was permitted; no marginal notes were to be affixed, as they had been in the Geneva Bible; quotations of other verses was to be marginally set down to serve as a reference of one scripture to another; each scholar was to translate all of his assigned chapters and then come together in common accord on the final translation; as one particular book was compiled among a group of translators, it was to be dispatched to the other groups; upon receipt and review of a compilation of a book from another group, notes of doubt or difference in the translation were to be sent as a reply to the group from where the translation originated; letters were sent from every bishop to his clergy to alert them of the translation from the groups, soliciting objections or accordance with the new translations, the same to be responded to the translators; the directors in each group were to be the deans of Westminster, the chester for Westminster and the King's professors in Hebrew or Greek in the universities; translations of Tyndale, Matthew, Coverdale, Whitchurch or Geneva was to be used when the translation agreed better with the text; and three or four of the most ancient and grave divines in the universities were to be overseers of the translations when there was a dispute among the better word for the same usage that was at question; and

WHEREAS, the work steadily progressed from 1604 to 1611, the translators drawing from a multitude of sources, from commentators, prose of linguists and translations of other languages; and

WHEREAS, the first four years of translation were spent on the preliminary translation by the six groups, the translators exacting and meticulous in their work, which ended with a

nine-month session of review and revision at Stationers' Hall in London by two men from each group; and

WHEREAS, the final revision was subsequently completed by Myles Smith and Thomas Bilson, the preface of this revision being authored by Smith; and

WHEREAS, the first edition of the King James Version of the Holy Bible was significantly larger than the Geneva Bible, and it was printed in black letter with small italicized Roman type to represent the words that were not in the original languages; and

WHEREAS, included in the newly printed Bible was a dedicatory epistle to King James I which recalled the King's desire that there be a uniform translation of the scriptures into the English tongue; and

WHEREAS, this new version of the Bible came to be known as the "Authorized Version" after it had undergone several editions and revisions, the most notable of which were in 1629 and 1638, both printed at Cambridge and assisted in revision by John Bois and Samuel Ward, two of the original translators; and

WHEREAS, in 1632, John Down-ham authored one of the earliest concordances to the new Bible, and in 1657, the British Parliament considered another revision, but decided against this revision in the end; and

WHEREAS, the most important editions were revisions by Thomas Paris of Cambridge in 1762 and Benjamin Blayney of Oxford in 1769; and

WHEREAS, the Geneva Bible was last printed in 1644, and after its last printing, the Geneva notes continued to be published with the text of the King James Bible; and

WHEREAS, since the middle of the seventeenth century, the King James Bible has been acknowledged as the Bible of English-speaking nations throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to commemorate monumental occasions of faith, such as the 401st Anniversary of the King James Version of the Holy Bible, that have immensely influenced the great minds of the founders and protectors of our homes, communities and this great state and nation:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commemorate the 401st Anniversary of the King James Version of the Holy Bible, and reflect fondly upon the years of dedication and hard work that aided in the significant translation that has been of the utmost benefit since its first publication.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.