In the summer of 1604 fifty-four of the top Hebrew and Greek scholars in England gathered at Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster Abbey. Their purpose: to begin work on the book that has since become known as "the noblest monument of English prose"—the King James Bible.
Little information remains to tell us what actually went on in the translation committee rooms. But, piecing together the reports we do have, we can answer certain basic questions. How soon did the teams begin their work? How closely did they follow the "Rules" that King James had laid down? How democratic were the translation committees? What were their priorities—fidelity to the original Hebrew and Greek wording, loyalty to the English Crown and Church, or literary beauty?
No one knows just when the translators began and ended their work. Some scholars think that the work began shortly after James appointed the translators and issued the "Rules" they were to follow—in July of 1604. Others feel the committees didn't start meeting until 1607, after prolonged research. Some feel the teams worked just two years on the project; others, that they labored for more than six years.
