How We Got the Bible: Ancient Manuscripts to the King James Version

The history of the English Bible is an amazing story. Explore with us "How We Got the Bible!" This is a celebration of the inspired work and sacrifice of faithful people that has allowed us to have this sacred book.
Time codes:
00:00 Welcome
Aramic to Latin
1:06 - Intro
2:24 - The Targum
4:38 - What is the Bible?
6:32 - The Septuagint
10:44 - The Christian Bible
13:02 - New Technology: The Book
15:30 - Origen’s Hexapla
17:24 - The Shift to Latin
21:50 - Preserving the Hebrew
23:19 - The Great Schism
23:55 - The Beginnings of a Printed Bible
The English Translations
26:52 - The First English Bible: Wycliffe
34:19 - Guttenberg Press
39:52 - Tyndale Bible
49:23 - Greek over Latin
51:46 - Coverdale Bible
56:02 - Matthew Bible
59:16 - Great Bible (1539)
1:04:45 - The Bible Gets Verses
1:08:08 - Geneva Bible (1560)
1:14:46 - Catholic English Bible (1582)
1:17:32 - Bishop’s Bible (1568)
1:22:12 - King James Bible (1611)
The Secrets to Reading Early English Bibles
1:34:14: Reading Early English Bible

Bible Samples:
Highly recommend this documentary for even more information on the story of the King James Bible - "Fires of Faith."
Here is the main list of References used in the video which I recommend.
Brake, D. L. (2008). "A Visual History of the English Bible." Baker Books.
Campbell, G. (2010). "Bible: The Story of the King James Version." Oxford University Press.
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. HarperCollins.
Houston, K. (2013). "Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols and Other Typographical Marks." W. W. Norton & Company.
Jackson, K.P. (Ed). (2011). The King James Bible and the Restoration, BYU Religious Studies Center.
Johnson, T. (2006). "The Story of the Bible," The Teaching Company.
Labriola, A. C. and Smeltz, J. W. (1990). "The Bible of the Poor: A Facsimile Edition of the British Library Blockbook C.9 d.2." Duquesne University Press, Pittsburgh, PA.
MacCulloch, D. (2011). Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Penguin Publishing Group.
Norton, D. (2011). "The King James Bible: A Short History from Tyndale to Today." Cambridge University Press.
Tyndale, W. (Trans). (2008). "The New Testament: 1526 Edition." The British Library.
Wilson, M. (2021, May 07) James or Jacob in the Bible? Biblical Archaeology.
Zerby, C. (2002). "The Devil's Details: A History of Footnotes." Invisible Cities Press, Montpelier, Vermont.

Bible Samples:

Music Credits:

[lilacbunches]

I learned more about how the Bible came about with this video than I have ever known in my entire life. This is one of those that will have to be watched many times. So much information in these words.

[BibleBrainTeaser-zzoe]

No matter how challenging the path may seem, have faith that God is guiding your steps. With Him leading the way, you can overcome any obstacle that lies ahead. Amen.

[scarletletter]

What is so telling, is the effort to preserve and convey the truth vs the effort to deny and shut it down. If the Bible did not contain God's word, there would be no fight against it.

[fellowshipmusiccambodia]

I’m Lima Orn, a Christian in Cambodia 🇰🇭. I appreciate your help so much. I really want your transcript of this video to help me more understanding so that I can help the others understand the Bible’s history better.
Blessings 🙏

[svarghese]

Praise and thanking God for those dedicated people worked and gave us the word of God as it is today in many languages

[matthewcalabresi]

This was absolutely fascinating. Great work, very well-organized, articulated, and thorough.

[TheDYNAMITE]

*"THE GRASS WITHERS, THE FLOWER FADES. BUT THE WORD OF OUR GOD WILL STAND FOREVER"*

ISAIAH 40:8

[auntiejen]

I had absolutely no idea how complicated the whole process was! It gives me a new perspective that I will remember each time I pick up a Bible.

[sigtorres]

This is such a great job thank you .
We could see God throughout history using people on different ages continents languages and eras to bring his message to humanity.Having the Bible in our hands today and be able to read it is such a miracle by itself.

[johnbytheway]

What a wonderful gift! I cannot imagine the time and research that went into this presentation. I'm going to have to watch it again and again! I love the KJV of the Bible, and this will help me appreciate it even more. Thank you.

[charleshewitt]

You have calmed a restless spirit...comforted a frightened child. You are immensely appreciated

[arukahvideo]

This is the most comprehensive video I've ever watched about the history of the Bible. Ìt is truly a blessing and has helped me to appreciate my Bible a whole lot more. The bit at the end about the symbols etc was a real eye opener. Thank you very much for all your effort in putting together this invaluable information. God bless you richly.

[loridavis]

I lived in northern Italy and Sicily in 1981. I think it was in Sicily that I was told by Catholic women that the church didn’t allow them to read the Bible themselves. They also had to buy things from the church in celebration of different holidays or they’d lose their salvation. It took years for young couples to save up to be married in the Catholic Church b/c even a simple ceremony was so expensive & the people in this area were poor. I’m not trying to criticize the Catholic Church; I imagine it’s changed by now (and I doubt it was like that in other countries and areas back then). But the mention, in this video, of how common ppl weren’t allowed to read the Bible brought these memories back.

[pumpkintown]

I cannot overstate how well done this video is! A labour of love! May the Lord bless you and this video. Thank you so much

[seniorsurveyor]

Having spent some time working with linguist as a missionary with native Amazonian tribes in Colombia and Venezuela, I can appreciate the effort involed in Bible translation and word/phrase selection. This documentary helps us understand the immense investment of time and energy, the scholarship and research, required to bring faithful translations of the Bible into the vernacular language of a people. Good job!

[rebeccawright]

Wonderful job of concisely presenting a very long and sometimes complicated history.
What a great gift to all mankind the Bible is! Truly we have it--
bathed in blood and tears!

[johannamartin]

I had no idea how much opposition the printing of the Bible has had for public use. What an effort by so many determined and chosen people. And Thanku for all your preparation to open my understanding. Love it 💞

[sr-vvbs]

I have been studying this area a long time. You really did an EXCELLENT job!!
Thank you!!
Great resources!!
Great format!!
By the way years ago I did buy the Thomas Matthew Bible from the site you referenced.
They did a great job on this Bible. I felt blessed to have one.
I believe that seeing all these Bibles come forth answers the question, "....as long as it is translated correctly."
Years ago I used to wonder how that statement could be made. So I studied it.
Thank you Brother!

[francinelarsen]

This was fabulous. It makes me cry to think of how blessed we are, among all the people of history, to have the scriptures at our fingertips. My 10th great grandfather, John Robinson (1575-1625) was a theologian (and father of the Pilgrims) who studied the scriptures extensively. He believed the Lord had more to say to mankind, and that it would be given in America. Your lesson has made me appreciate the text he studied.

[Dino]

I think of the scriptures like a masterpiece painting. If you look up really close to the painting, you just see splotches and blobs of paint, but if you stand back you see the beautiful masterpiece. If you look really close at the words of the bible, you might 'splotches and blobs' of words, mistakes or miss-translations, but when you stand back and look at the scriptures as a whole, you just see a beautiful image of Jesus.