Rumor Heard on 2 May Regarding Phase Out of KJV Publication

I just looked at the copyright information for the KJV and my thoughts were correct. This is public domain so I would think that that there are several publishers. Maybe just some publishers have decided to cancel publishing?

With as many people who use the KJV as their primary/only version I would think that a company would continue publishing simply for the profit. Thinking from a business perspective: Less publishers + same amount of people desiring the version = higher price = higher profit margin.

The KJV will be published for centuries to come.  The market for it remains huge.  It is still one of the best sellers in any Christian book store.  Too many other resources are tied to it.

Not to worry. 

Isn't this the best-selling book ever? Why would any publisher want to drop it?

Some publisher(s) might want to drop it but there is at least one church that does their own publishing that will keep going it as it is the official Bible of the church.

painfree said:

I heard a rumor on Monday

Monday was the 400th anniversary of the publication of the KJV.  Funny rumor. (As they said about handguns in Oklahoma, they can say about the KJV; "They can have my King James Bible when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers!" [8o|] )

Seriously though, Many publishers have dropped the KJV from their Bible lines. At my local Mardel's (Christian book store) the Bible salesman said most publishers have severely cut back on their KJV offerings. I bought a KJV Nelson Signature Bible in calfskin with a lifetime warranty. The pages separated from the binding. When I inquired to replace it I discovered they don't offer KJV anymore. (So much for the warranty!)

I suppose if you own the copyright to the NIV (or other modern translation) you would not want to have the beautiful KJV around competing for readership. In pioneering America it mattered little how beautiful a bride-to-be was so long as she was the only eligible girl in town.  [:D]

The KJV is the #2 selling Bible, see link below.

http://www.cbaonline.org/nm/documents/bsls/bible_translations.pdf

Edwin Bowden said:

http://www.bibledesignblog.com/

I would love to have some of the beautifes described in this blog.

Thanks Edwin. There is just something wrong about coveting a Bible! [6]    My Nelson Signature in calfskin is another of those "delicious" bindings. Sorry I mislead anyone, Nelson just did not have any more KJVs in that specific binding. I could settle for a pew Bible. [:D]

Matthew C Jones said:

I bought a KJV Nelson Signature Bible in calfskin with a lifetime warranty. The pages separated from the binding. When I inquired to replace it I discovered they don't offer KJV anymore. (So much for the warranty!)

Reminds me of a friend that bought a lifetime membership at a gymn. When it closed up, he realized that "lifetime", in that case was their lifetime, not his. [:(]

BTW--you might contact Nelson directly and see if that offer some other solution to your problem.

Matthew C Jones said:

Going digital in Logos, my Bible will now outlive me & my grand kids.  (I just wish it were thumb-indexed)

(I just wish it were thumb-indexed)

Nice!

Matthew C Jones said:

All joking aside, I would like to present a plea to all churches to welcome digital Bibles in the worship service. I have a terrible time turning those India paper pages with no feeling in my hands. And if I get there before the Pastor is finished reading the verse, I have to fumble for my bifocals to read it in the dimly lit sanctuary.

Have been using my laptop to take notes on the sermon for years - insert all Scripture reading into the text - BLOW THE TEXT SIZE UP and share with those around.  Also have some of the same texts that the speaker uses and insert / share those also.  One of our younger members has read the Scripture reading off his phone.  After church the pastor has referred people to me that used different versions and got lost. [it sometimes takes awhile to show that they all say the same (most of the time)]   

[{have to fumble for my bifocals to read it in the dimly lit sanctuary - lighted magnifiers help - try google}]

MJ. Smith said:

some churches emphasize the spoken word not the written word in worship services - all those computer generated voices would be a cacophony of distraction.

In responsive readings having computer voices reading in 22 different versions would sound like Acts 2, wouldn't it? [:O]

Matthew C Jones said:

MJ. Smith said:

some churches emphasize the spoken word not the written word in worship services - all those computer generated voices would be a cacophony of distraction.

In responsive readings having computer voices reading in 22 different versions would sound like Acts 2, wouldn't it?

rotfl

Not really changing the subject, but the latest issue of Christianity Today has a great article by Mark Noll entitled "A World Without the KJV." Well written and well worth reading.  The new management at Christian History Magazine sent me Issue #100 not long ago on the topic of the 400 years that the KJV has been around.

Enjoy!

{charley}

Gee, since there isn't any widespread use of a single translation anymore, perhaps someone could write a program that allowed us to scroll through the text comparison tool and pick the verses we wanted to include in our personal translation and then produce it with the new PBB tools.  Then we could maintain the beauty of KJV in key passages, the clarity from the ESV in certain passages and the cultural relevance from certain passages in the Message Bible. 

Dr. Charles A. Wootten said:

"A World Without the KJV." Well written and well worth reading.

Thank you for the link. Interesting article but it has an almost revisionist agenda. Certain conclusions are attributed to the KJV that have other causes,

ie:  "Defenders of slavery were expert at quoting passages that showed Abraham holding slaves, Paul sending Onesimus back to his owner Philemon, and many more. These passages regularly trumped efforts to use biblical reasoning"  - p4  2nd paragraph under Problems Across the Atlantic

• Slavery is recorded in the Bible no matter what version you read. (So is polygamy, homosexuality, human sacrifice and idol worship.)
• If Abrahm was merely a CEO of his tribe I doubt he could persuade all his male "servants" to be circumcised. 
• The Portuguese were the biggest slave traders of the time and they did not read the KJV.
• Slave trade continued in South America (Does the Vulgate or Douay-Rheims condone slavery?)
• Yes there were Memluks during Bible times  And there were Semitic slaves and so on. All races need redemption.

ie: "When nativist groups twisted his request into a charge that the pope wanted Scripture removed from Philadelphia schools, rioting broke out and lasted off and on for almost two months." -top of p5

• Notice his request had to be "twisted" to incite the public outrage. Proof that the issue was not over versions but banning Bible reading in general.
• Hatred is not a "version" issue, it is a sin problem  Even Martin Luther and several Popes harbored hatred for the Jews

. ie: "In 1859...  An assistant to the principal bloodied Whall's hands with a rattan stick.."

• in 1859 rebellion to authority would result in corporal punishment regardless of whether the school was Catholic or Protestant. 

 [:P]My first knee-jerk, reactionary impulse to the article's title, "A World Without the KJV" was to quip, "Don't worry, when Jesus comes back for his church, he will take his Bible with him."[:P]    --  for those who don't recognize it, this line is a bad joke.

Peace to my Logos Forums Brothers and Sisters!

                                    And AlwaysJoy in the Lord!

Hopefully you won’t mind my posting this on this thread.  *smile*

Logos has just released The Complete Works of Shakespeare.  I am very grateful to Logos for this and indeed relish this resource.

            As I was perusing this thread, I remembered that one of the interesting things about Psalm 46 to me is about the possibility that William Shakespeare was one of the translators of the original Hebrew into King James English.  

Here it is in the KJV:  The secret code is that "Shake" is 46 words from the beginning and "spear" is 46 words from the end...  Whether this is really so – in fact! -- we do not and will never know for sure!   *smile*

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ² Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; ³Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. ⁴There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. ⁵ God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

⁶ The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. ⁷ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. ⁸ Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. ⁹ He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. ¹⁰ Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. ¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Found this on the web:  (from an author who disputes this)  Amazing! Incredible! Unbelievable! William Shakespeare left his mark on the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. At least that is the rumor going around. According to a host of Websites and books, William Shakespeare was called upon to add his artistic touch to the English translation of the Bible done at the behest of King James, which was finished in 1611. As proof for this idea, proponents point to Psalm 46, and allege that Shakespeare slipped his name into the text. Here is how the story goes. Since Shakespeare was born in the year 1564, then he would have been 46 years old during 1610 when the finishing touches were being put on the KJV. In the King James Version, if you count down 46 words from the top (not counting the title) you read the word “shake,” then, if you omit the word “selah” and count 46 words from the bottom you find the word “spear.” Voilà! Shakespeare must have tinkered with the text and subtly added his signature. How else could one account for all of these 46s to work out so well? To top it all off, William Shakespeare is an anagram of “Here was I, like a psalm.”