Differences in KJV editions

Among the criticisms against the KJV is the assertion that numerous revisions of the text have made the modern KJV completely different from the original 1611. Considering Matthew 24:35, obviously this cannot be true.  Actually, there were several editions, not revisions, of the KJV text printed from 1611 to 1769. Unlike new version editions, all of the KJV editions read the same way. The only changes made were in typeface, spelling, and grammar.

The typeface for the 1611 was originally Gothic, but even back then it was difficult for most people to read in Gothic. So the KJV font was converted to Roman which is perfectly easy to read. However, as a result the Gothic “J” looked like a Roman “I” and the Gothic “U” like a Roman “V”, thus Jesus name appears in 1611 Roman typeface facsimiles as “Iesvus”.

This prompted the next update to the KJV text which was the spelling. As previously mentioned, 17th century printers had difficulty converting Gothic letters to Roman accurately. The words in the KJV were then updated to reflect the correct spelling.

Lastly, the grammar was standardized as well. The KJV’s 17th century grammar was updated in 1769 to reflect correct grammar such as adding commas or semicolons where needed.

All this was an effort to update the KJV without changing one word, which God oversaw. The process began at Cambridge in 1762 and was finalized at Oxford in 1769. Today the edition which is most commonly printed is the 1769. Yet, even within the KJV-camp, some radicals believe that the 1762 Cambridge is “purer” than the 1769 Oxford, and some hold to the 1611 edition as the only pure KJV edition. Whether you use a Gothic 1611, or the modern 1769, you can be sure that God has preserved His words in English for anyone to read.