The Makings of History / King James and his bible

James Charles Stuart, King of England, won eternal glory by commissioning the biggest best seller in history: The King James Bible.

By Tom Segev
James Charles Stuart was one of the colorful kings worthy of the BBC’s wonderful historical series. He was crowned king when he was 13 months old. His mother was Mary, Queen of Scots, who was executed by Elizabeth I, the queen of England. James succeeded Elizabeth too, and became the first king of Scotland, England and Ireland together. He was a great wastrel, got entangled in unnecessary wars, and considered Parliament a nuisance. He occasionally ordered his political rivals to be hanged. He had at least half a dozen male lovers, but also a wife and six children.

All of this might not have been enough for him to be remembered, but he won eternal glory by commissioning the biggest best seller in history: The King James Bible, one volume containing the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and several of the Apocrypha – 788,258 words in all.

Four hundred years later, it is still considered the most authoritative English version of the holy book. Festivities are under way to mark the anniversary; Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled to participate. Christian fundamentalist organizations in America, too, are investing a sizable effort in publicizing the occasion. Over the past 400 years, an estimated 1 billion copies of the book have been sold.

To date, the Bible has been translated into an estimated 2,500 of mankind’s 6,000 languages. Before the King (restul aici)

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