After 1611
Meanwhile, there were other lesser known versions between the
1611 and the 1870 initiation of the Revised Version. These include
Edward Harwood's New Testament (1768), Charles Thomson's Bible
in America (1808), Noah Webster's Bible (1833) and Julia E. Smith's
Bible (1876).
The English Revised Version was initiated in 1870 with the King
James Version as the basis instead of the Bishop's Bible. American
scholars were invited to contribute but were subordinate to the
English scholars. The New Testament was published in 1881 in England.
The Old Testament appeared in 1885 and the Apocrypha in 1895.
This became the fourth Authorized Version in English (1539, 1568,
1611 and 1895). Spurgeon described it as strong in Greek, but
weak in English. It often retained the Greek word order thus inverting
the English order. The English committee disbanded in 1885, but
the American committee continued.
In 1901 the American committee issued the American Standard Version
of the Bible which had more substitutions based on tastefulness.
It also changed Holy Ghost to Holy Spirit. It updated the spelling
of proper names and dropped archaic wording. Neither of these
versions overtook the popularity of the King James Version. While
these formal Revised Versions were not enthusiastically embraced,
they did open the door for additional English speaking attempts.
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Texts
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After
1611