The Authorized Version uses one-third of Tyndale’s wording (and its New Testament up to 90 per cent).
King James I abolished the death penalty for English Bible translation.
A petition presented to James I by the Puritans, a section of the Church of England that wanted further reaching reformation of Roman Catholic practices, prompted the King to call a conference at Hampton Court in 1604. Perceived problems picked up by the Puritans in earlier translations resulted in the commissioning of a version using the best available translations and sources, with no biased footnotes and commentaries.
The work of around fifty Anglican scholars from Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster, not all of the Puritan’s wishes were met (e.g., use of ‘congregation’ rather than the word ‘church’).
The King James Bible remains the most widely-published and appreciated literary work in the English language.
