The Story of Our King James Bible

1. The Story of Our King James Bible The First Edition

2. Robert Barker • The son of Queen Elizabeth’s printer • The only authorized printer • Paid £4000.00 • At a time that £20 per year was a good income • So, about 200 years worth of good income • Helped pay for it by selling shares of his business to 2 other printers

3. 2 large (11X16) editions were printed in 1611 • They became known as the “he” and “she” Bibles • Based upon Ruth 3.15 • The Hebrew says, “…he went into the city.” • The context suggests “…she went into the city.” • The first edition said “he,” and the second edition said “she.”

4. Words that are italicized in our edition were actually a smaller font in 1611 • They used the Old English “thorn” (y—but has the “th” sound), which is actually used to contract words (it’s why we say “Ye old ice cream shop”) • It contained 36 pages of genealogies, maps, and an almanac

5. There were some printing errors • About 350 in total • “And” appears as “aud” 28 times • The second edition (“she bible” also printed Judas instead of Jesus in Matthew 26.36 (so it’s also called “the Judas Bible”).

6. Only Barker and his 2 partners printed the KJV until 1629 • The Geneva Bible was printed until 1616, and the Bishop’s Bible until 1619 • Barker’s financial mismanagement caused him to surrender his rights to his 2 partners (1617-1619) • He tried to recover a portion of his rights (1619) • By 1630 one partner had died and the other been imprisoned

7. In 1631, disaster struck: • Exodus 20.14 omitted the word “not,” thus giving us the “adulterers bible,” or “wicked bible.” • And the same edition (deliberately?) misprinted Deuteronomy 5.24 • Barker was arrested, and heavily fined • All copies were ordered destroyed • Barker spent the rest of his life in debtors prison

8. These errors were the result of • Primitive printing methods • Haste • Possible sabotage by printing competitors