400th Anniversary of the King James Bible

Regardless of your religious affiliation or beliefs, you simply must admit that the Bible, for better or for worse, is easily one of the most influential books in human history. In 2011, we celebrate the 400th anniversary of this book. Here's some info about this book. This post will grow over time, so don't try to read it all the way through. Just scroll through and hopefully you'll find something interesting. Also, if you have some information not listed here, let me know and it may be included.

KJV Facts

1. The most popular Bible translation; an estimated 1 billion or more copies have been published.
2. The translation was brought upon by King James I of England.
3. First published in 1611 A.D. (some believe between May 2nd - May 5th).
4. More than 169 original 1611 King James Bibles are in existance today.
5. Gothic text and Jacobean spelling was used in the original 1611 version, which is noticeably different than 21st Century English.
6. 80 books were included (39 in Old Testament, 14 in Apocrypha, and 27 in New Testament).
7. Contains 788,258 total words, of which 14,565 are unique.
8. The title was not originally called the "King James Version", but "THE HOLY BIBLE, Containing the Old Testament, AND THE NEW: Newly Translated out of the Original tongues: & with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesties special Commandment".
9. 1814 A.D. is the earliest recorded date of it being called "King James Version" or "Authorized Version".
10. The original book was very large: approximately 17" tall, 30" wide when opened, and it weighed up to 30 pounds.
11. The first 1611 Bibles were expensive and were chained to the front pulpit of churches, to prevent from being stolen.
12. Prior to the 1611 King James Bible, most churches did not have Bibles.
13. The King James Bible is the first English Bible ever printed in the United States- first printed by the King's Printer in England, then printing and distribution spread throughout the world.
14. Public officials on all levels of United States government, including presidents, have taken their oath of office with the King James Bible.
15. A committee of 54 translators worked for 7 years to complete the King James translation.
16. The system of chapters was introduced in A.D. 1238 by Cardinal Hugo de
    S. Caro, while the verse notations were added in 1551 by Robertus
    Stephanus, after the advent of printing. 
17. A Bible in the University of Gottingen is written on 2,470 palm leaves.
18. According to statistics from Wycliffe International, the Society of
    Gideons, and the International Bible Society, the number of new Bibles
    that are sold, given away, or otherwise distributed in the United
    States is about 168,000 per day.
19. The Bible can be read aloud in 70 hours.
20. There are 8,674 different Hebrew words in the Bible, 5,624 different
    Greek words, and 12,143 different English words in the King James Version.
21. A number of verses in the Bible (KJV) contain all but 1 letter of the
    alphabet: Ezra 7:21 contains all but the letter j; Joshua 7:24,
    1 Kings 1:9, 1 Chronicles 12:40, 2 Chronicles 36:10, Ezekiel 28:13,
    Daniel 4:37, and Haggai 1:1 contain all but q; 2 Kings 16:15 and
    1 Chronicles 4:10 contain all but x; and Galatians 1:14 contains all
    but k.
22. The Bible is the best selling and most distributed book of all time. Estimated more than 6 billion copies published.
23. Originally written in 3 languages: Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic.
24. Written over a span of 1,000 or more years.
25. Written by more than 40 authors, including kings, prophets, poets, musicians, and fisherman.
26. Books include letters, poetry, songs, legal documentation, eyewitness accounts, biographies, historical literature and documents.
27. Translated into 2,454 languages of the world's estimated 6,500 total languages.
28. It is commonly believed that the writing of the Old and New Testament was inspired by God.
    
    
    
    Bible Translation Timeline
    
    
    1400 B.C.: Ten Commandment tablets given to Moses by God.
    
    500 B.C.: Old Testament Hebrew manuscripts completed.
    
    200 B.C.: Old Testament and Apocrypha Greek manuscripts completed.
    
    100 A.D.: New Testament completed.
    
    382 A.D.: Latin Vulgate manuscripts produced.
    
    1384 A.D.: First complete Bible ever reproduced. By John Wycliffe. A handwritten copy of all 80 books: the 66 old and new testaments, plus apocrypha.
    
    1456 A.D.: First printed Bible, the Gutenberg Bible. It used independently placed characters called movable type, which revolutionized book publishing.
    
    1560 A.D.: The first Bible in English, the Geneva Bible.
    
    1611 A.D.: The first King James Bible, commissioned by King James I of England.
    
    1769 A.D.: The English is edited and updated to reflect the evolving language.
    
    1885 A.D.: Apocrypha was removed, leaving 66 books.
    
    1947 A.D.: Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered which helped validate the accuracy of the Bible.
    
    1982 A.D.: New King James Version published to modernize the English.
    
    
    
    
    
    Statistics
    

    BIBLE STATISTICS (King James Authorized):

    Number of books in the Bible: 66

    Chapters: 1,189

    Verses: 31,102

    Words: 783,137

    Letters: 3,116,480

    Number of promises given in the Bible: 1,260

    Commands: 6,468

    Predictions: over 8,000

    Fulfilled prophecy: 3,268 verses

    Unfulfilled prophecy: 3,140

    Number of questions: 3,294

    Longest name: Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:1)

    Longest verse: Esther 8:9 (78 words)

    Shortest verse: John 11:35 (2 words: "Jesus wept"). This is the King James Bible. Some Bibles might be Job 3:2 (Job said.) but King James has that as "Job answered" which is longer than Jesus wept.

    Middle books: Micah and Nahum

    Middle verse: Psalm 103:2-3

    Middle chapter: Psalm 117

    Shortest chapter (by number of words): Psalm 117 (by number of words)

    Longest book: Psalms (150 chapters)

    Shortest book (by number of words): 3 John

    Longest chapter: Psalm 119 (176 verses)

    Number of times the word "God" appears: 4,094

    Number of times the word "Lord" appears: 6,781

    Number of different authors: 40

    Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: over 1,200

    
    

    OLD TESTAMENT STATISTICS:

    Number of books: 39

    Chapters: 929

    Verses: 23,145

    Words: 602,585

    Letters: 2,278,100

    Middle book: Proverbs

    Middle chapter: Job 20

    Middle verses: 2 Chronicles 20:17,18

    Smallest book: Obadiah

    Shortest verse: 1 Chronicles 1:25

    Longest verse: Esther 8:9

    Longest chapter: Psalms 119

    Largest book: Psalms

    
    

    NEW TESTAMENT STATISTICS:

    Number of books: 27

    Chapters: 260

    Verses: 7,957

    Words: 180,552

    Letters: 838,380

    Middle book: 2 Thessalonians

    Middle chapters: Romans 8, 9

    Middle verse: Acts 27:17

    Smallest book: 3 John

    Shortest verse: John 11:35

    Longest verse: Revelation 20:4

    Longest chapter: Luke 1

    Largest book: Luke

    
    
    
    Notable Quotes
    
    
    "That book [King James Bible], sir, is the rock upon which our republic rests."
    - Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States
    
    
    "The King James Version is a Magna Carta for the Poor and Oppressed: the most democratic book in the world."
    - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
    
    
    "Indeed, it is an incontrovertible fact that all the complex and horrendous questions confronting us at home and worldwide have their answer in that single book [King James Bible]."
    - Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States
    
    
    "The scholars who produced this masterpiece [King James Bible] are mostly unknown and unremembered. But they forged an enduring link, literary and religious, between the English-speaking people of the world."
    - Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of UK
    
    
    "There is no doubt in my mind that the King James Bible not Shakespeare set this language on its path to become a universal language on a scale unprecedented before or since."
    - Melvyn Bragg, British Broadcaster and Author
    
    
    "The King James Bible is a cornerstone of our culture and our language. Whatever our faith, whatever we believe, we have to recognise that the rhetorical power of this book, and in particular its power to fuse history with poetry, connects at the most fundamental level with our own history and poetry."
    - Andrew Motion, British Author and Poet Laureate
    
    
    "The translation was extraordinarily well done because to the translators what they were translating was not merely a curious collection of ancient books written by different authors in different stages of culture, but the word of God divinely revealed through His chosen and expressly inspired scribes. In this conviction they carried out their work with boundless reverence and care and achieved a beautifully artistic result...they made a translation so magnificent that to this day the common human Britisher or citizen of the United States of North America accepts and worships it as a single book by a single author, the book being the Book of Books and the author being God."
    - George Bernard Shaw, Irish Author, Nobel Peace Prize Winner
    
    
    "Over the past several centuries it's been the single book in most households, an enormous force in shaping the development of the English language. Carried around the world by missionaries, it provided the base by which English is about to become the lingua franca of the world in the next century. Exploring it during this shoot [Ten Commandments] was one of the most rewarding creative experiences of my life."
    - Charlton Heston, American Actor