This is recent, (I usually leave a fair bit of time before reprinting peoples articles) but this is so good I thought I'd share it. As Bill Grady would say its quite the COINKY-DINK!
By Geoffrey Grider, proprietor of NTEB
As of this writing here in 2022, you have the King James Bible up against over 250 modern translations, all who compare themselves against the King James, with millions in marketing trying in vain to convince you they are 'more accurate' and 'closer to the original languages' than the King James Bible. Who's kidding who?
When you look at the amazing facts surrounding the printing of the King James Bible, it becomes clear pretty quick that this is where God has preserved His word.
Let me say from the outset that King James I of England was just a man like any other man, and he needed salvation in Jesus Christ like any other person does. I am doing my best to not make more of him as a person than he ought to be, we are all sinners guilty before a pure and holy God. Amen? Good, with that let me just show you a couple of things that are really quite fascinating where you think about it, and in doing so, I believe your faith in the King James Authorized Version Holy Bible will increase mightily after you hear them.
"Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?" Ecclesiastes 8:4 (KJB)
To start with, King James was a different type of king, he was the king over two kingdoms. As James the VI, he was the king of Scotland, and as James I, he was the king of England. That's pretty unusual, isn't it? King James was a dual-king over two separate kingdoms. Jesus Christ is a King, He is the KING OF KINGS, and as such, Jesus is a King over the Kingdom of Heaven, and a King over the Kingdom of God. That's two Kingdoms, separate and distinct from each other. The Kingdom of Heaven is a literal, visible and physical kingdom, and the Jews will receive it in the Millennium. The Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, and for those of us who are born again, we are in it right now.
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Revelation 11:15 (KJB)
Secondly, when God took on a human body and came to this earth to be born of a virgin, that virgin's name was Mary. Mary is not the 'mother of God' as some would erroneously say, for God has no mother, but Mary was indeed the mother of the earthly Jesus in His humanity. King James had a mother, and his mother was also named Mary. As far as coincidences go, that's a pretty good one. Please note that while both mothers shared the same name, the similarities stop there. The biblical Mary was not a queen, James' mother was. James was the only son of his mother, Mary in the Bible has 6 other children as we see in Mark 6:3.
"I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you." John 8:37 (KJB)
Jesus said to the people that they sought to kill Him because His word had no place in them, so it was His word that so greatly offended them. Indeed it offends to this day, as it should. The people of King James time sought to kill him also, why? Because when the Catholic Church heard that he had authorized an official translation of the Bible in English, they desperately wanted to stop that from happening. We call this the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
(BBT NOTE - This was such a big deal at a time, that the English people still celebrate it yearly in November, and other countries used to)
They attempted to assassinate King James over the words of the Book he was preparing to print, because the words in that Book had no place in them, just as the words of Jesus in the first century had no place in the hearts of the men who sought His life.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." Luke 21:33 (KJB)
Jesus said that His word would never pass away, and would remain forever no matter what else happened. The Bible also tells us that His word would be purified seven times, and after that, preserved for all time, against all opposition of men and angels. With that in mind, take a look at this amazing 'coincidence' concerning the King James Bible.
The Aramaic Received Text: 603 – 515 BC
The Hebrew Received Text: 1780 – 400 BC
The Greek Received Text: 35 – 96 AD
The Syriac Received Text: 120 – 180 AD
The Latin Received Text: 140 – 500 AD
The German Received Text: 1520 – 1600 AD
The English Received Text: 1525 – 1611 AD and the King James Bible.
"The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." Psalm 12:6,7 (KJB)
King James was a king with the numbers VI and I attached to his two kingdoms, six plus one is seven. God preserved His word in seven world languages, ending in English with the King James Bible in 1611. Just coincidentally, there are seven whole note on the musical scale, seven days of the week, seven years for the time of Jacob’s trouble, seven men of honest report, seven days to bring down the walls at Jericho, Paul wrote to seven churches, John wrote to seven churches, Revelation shows us seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, seven angels, and a few hundred more examples besides all these. Very simple truths, and when you apply them to the preservation of the Bible, it shows you some astounding things, like this:
There are 9 fruits of the Spirit, and just coincidentally, 1+6+1+1 equals 9. There are 9 letters in 'King James', there are 9 letters in 'Holy Bible'. 9 times 3 is 27, and 2 plus 7 is 9.
Is it possible to make a better translation of the word of God than the King James Bible? Sure it is, but let me ask you this, why haven’t they done it? Why can’t they do it? The certainly didn’t do it with the NIV, which erases the deity and blood of Jesus Christ. They absolutely didn’t do it with the ESV, which tells you that the wicked prosper, and downgrades Jesus from the Messiah to a generic ‘anointed one’. Lucifer was an anointed one, but certainly not the Messiah. How about The Message, Cepher, or any one of over 250 different attempts? All misses, every single one of them. Why is that, haven’t you ever asked yourself why they can’t do it? As of this writing here in 2022, you have the King James Bible up against over 250 modern translations, all who compare themselves against the King James, with millions in marketing trying in vain to convince you they are 'more accurate' and 'closer to the original languages' than the King James Bible. Who's kidding who? Go kid your grandma.
"The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it." Psalm 68:11 (KJB)
In conclusion, let me just say that, in an amazing coincidence, the best-selling book of all time, bar none, is the King James Bible, with nothing in what you could rightly call a 'second place'. The King James Bible has produced billions and billions of copies, what comes close to that? Nothing. The 'Harry Potter' series sold 500 million, that's not bad, but it took an entire series of books to hit that number. Not only that, the King James Bible has no copyright, anyone can download it and publish a copy. NTEB could print our own King James study bible, and pay no copyright at all because the King James Bible is free to use. Just try printing your own NIV sometime, and your mailbox will be filled with 'cease and desist' letters from the Zondervan lawyers faster than you can blink. Why is that? Because the NIV was written by man, and those men want to be paid for the copyright. God doesn't need your money, and gives us His word at no charge see Isaiah 55:1. Besides all that, I can do something with my King James Bible that you cannot do with your modern version, whichever one it is you use. I can defend my King James Bible as the preserved word of God, and I can prove to you it is free of all error and contradiction. You can't. Why? Because I have the word of the king, and you don't.
More on Geoffrey's work here
As its on topic, Ill include a note of my upcoming commentary:
Psalm 49.13 -
Some examples of this include:
“King James didn't know how to make a bible!!” (pro tip: he didn't - he got translators to do it)
“The KJB is just an Anglican bible! EEEEE!” (helpful hint: its pre-trib book layout, its pre-millennial ordering <yes both are found in the ordering of the canon> and choice of non-infant baptism wording, not to mention the fact its dedicated it to Prince James, (Gen 32.28) not king James prove it's certainly not)
"The KJB is just a reliable translation!!" (If this 'copy' isn't scripture, then was Jesus holding the 'verbally inspired originals' in Luke 4:20-21? Was timothy SOOO unbelievably old that as a child he had the 'original Greek' in 2 Tim 3.15? Thought so.)