The Epistle Dedicatory to The Holy Bible, aka The King James Bible, and Its Analysis (1/3)
The Epistle Dedicatory to The Holy Bible,
aka The King James Bible, and Its Analysis (1/3)
As the King James Bible went to the press in 1611, Thomas Bilson wrote a dedication, and Miles Smith wrote an admonition to the reader. These two works in combination show the intention of the translators in their work, and explain various principles in their laboring of the word of God.
In time, with the rise of modernistic thinking, which rejects the superiority of the King James Bible, some have deliberately tried to use the translators’ words against themselves, or to use their ideas to try to counteract the argument that the King James Bible is not only superior but is inerrant. Some have even exhibited spite against the King James Bible and its supporters.
It is rare to find the following Dedicatory in any of the King James Bibles on the market today. And for good reason—it is politically and religiously incorrect. Those who want to maintain power over their captives do so by covering up the truth, which involves destroying or corrupting the King James Bible.
- ¶ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
- And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The evidence of God’s hand in the making of the King James Bible, and the judgment on Antichrist’s power was manifest in the thwarted Gunpowder Plot. On November 5, 1605, the Providence of God exposed a conspiracy of Roman Catholics to blow up the government of England. Not only was King James and the Parliament saved, but also the lives of those translators who were members of the House of Lords.
The master plan of the Jesuits was to put a new Catholic government into place in England, which would have ended the translation of the King James Bible. One of the translators, Lancelot Andrewes, said that this day was “ours,” that it was a day of God’s making, that what was done was the Lord’s doing, and that it was to be held in perpetual memory throughout all generations. It was something to remember even four hundred years later, that true Christianity was triumphing over everything that opposed it.
The translators of the King James Bible wrote this as an open letter to King James the First; language is eloquent throughout, as befitting a king.
According to the doctrine of “divine representation,” the king or chief magistrate was a representative of God upon the earth, set up by God, and responsible to Him.
- LET every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
- Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
- For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
- For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
- Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
- For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
- Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
- Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
- Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
- This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
A ruler, such as a king, is responsible to God. If he is evil, he is subject to perishing. Righteousness in the stead of wickedness always justifies its establishment. However, there was no reason for King James to be overthrown, because he was, in God’s eyes, a king who did good.
- When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase.
- ¶ And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
- This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
- TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
- PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
The “prince” in “Prince James,” describes the state of being first, or principal, as the children of Heth also called Abraham a “prince.”
- ¶ And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
- I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
- And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
- Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
- And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
The name “James” is the Greek form of “Jacob,” which appears in the New Testament as the name of the half-brother of Jesus, who led the Jerusalem Church, and of the apostle, the brother of John. King James was the first king of England by that name. Originally, he was king of Scotland, and ruled on the throne of England from 1603 to 1625, the year he died. His most famous attribute besides his Bible version was that he advocated the divine right of kings. It was not by man, but by God’s grace and providence that James was king of England.
- For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
- But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
It was providential that James was the king, and from this position, he curbed the excesses of Calvinism and kept England free from the rule and terror of Romanism.
Pope Leo the Tenth gave the title “Defender of the Faith” from Jude verse 3 to Henry the Eighth for his attack on Martin Luther, which King Henry’s parliament ratified in 1544. However, the “faith” which King James contended for was not Romanism, but Protestantism.
- Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
The translators were godly men, and their language here reflected the style of the Pauline Pastoral Epistles in their will for grace, mercy and peace.
- Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
- o Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
- To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
The translators also showed that the witness of the Holy Ghost was present, since no one could say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Spirit.
- Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Thus, the translators were true and genuine Christians, and that King James himself was also a Christian.
England at the time was in danger of falling back to Romanism.
- Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
King James kept Britain from falling back to a state of Romanism. This was the mercy of God at work.
- Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
Such a state led to great thanksgiving to God for His work.
- Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.
- BEHOLD, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
- And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence,
- We accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.
The rule was the authority, the royal power and administration, while the reign was the period and time in which the rule worked out. King James both ruled and reigned.
The translators well understood not only the Bible, but also the times and seasons, that is, the signs around them. They knew that God was blessing England for a purpose, namely, for the propagation of the Bible throughout the world. These words foreshow that one day, the greatest blessing of all, the word of God, would be — by God’s grace and favour — put forth in its most purified form all over the world.
English translations of the Bible by John Wycliffe and his followers circulated widely in manuscript form, but Archbishop Arundel condemned them in 1407. Translating the Bible into English was still illegal when William Tyndale, classical and Hebrew scholar, wanted to make a new translation. In 1524, after failing to enlist episcopal support, Tyndale left England for Germany. He printed his New Testament at Worms in 1526, and copies were smuggled into England in large numbers, only to have them suppressed and burnt with only three surviving copies. A revised version appeared in 1534. Tyndale’s translation of the first five Old Testament books from the Hebrew appeared in 1530. Arrested in 1535 while translating the prophets in Antwerp, the Catholic Church tried Tyndale for heresy, and burned him at the stake in 1536. Miles Coverdale, a Cambridge graduate and priest, tried reforming the Church in the late 1520s, whereupon the Catholic Church forced him abroad. By 1534, he was making his own translation. He modified Tyndale’s New Testament, and collated translations of the Old Testament by Tyndale and others. Published in 1535, his was the first printing of the whole Bible in English. [3]