"Who Wrote the King James Version?"
[posted prior to 10/12/02]
Question:
Do you know how many books in the King James bible were written by women? If so, would you also name the women for me? Thank you.
Response:
The Old Testament of the Bible was originally written in Hebrew, the New Testament in Greek (with smatterings of Aramaic in each). The King James is one of (if not the) most famous English translation of the Bible. The King James version was accomplished by teams of scholars working anonymously (mostly at Oxford and Cambridge) in the seventeenth century (long after the Bible was written: 16 centuries or so after the NT, many more for the OT). Since the translation was anonymously done (a convention that has been continued by many more modern versions, in particular the RSV, NASB, and NIV), we cannot say for certain that no women were involved, but, given the composition of faculties at that time, it would not be at all surprising to learn that the KJV had been an entirely male enterprise.
The Bible itself was written exclusively by Jewish men who had been commissioned by God and led by His Spirit to write the Holy scriptures (cf. 1Pet.1:20), starting with Moses (the first five books, or Pentateuch) and ending with the apostle John (the book of Revelation). There is more information at the website in the study "The Satanic Rebellion part 5" under "the Uniqueness of Israel" (just click this link).
That is not to say that women have made no contribution. For example, Luke records Mary's stirring words (Lk.1:46-55), and Samuel gives us the beautiful song of Hannah (1Sam.2:1-10). But both these books themselves, along with all the other canonical books, were written by Jewish men with the gift of prophecy who were commissioned and directed by God for this special task.
Hope this helps,
Yours in Christ,
Bob Luginbill
