Response to request for information about The AV7 Bible.
The purpose of this message is to respond to several comments posted in this forum recently about The AV7 Bible and to try to set the record straight on what seem to be some misunderstandings.
The original poster who started this discussion wrote:
> I would like to know a little more about this new
> AV7 Bible and its translation/revision committee.
> I like the way it was translated or revised from the KJV.
> Is the organization behind the New Authorized Version, KJV/TR-only?
Some others subsequently wrote messages in this forum that intermingled comments about the TMB/NAV and other texts published by Deuel Enterprises that have been marketed under several different names
To set the record straight, "AV7 - The New Authorized Version of the Bible in Present-Day English" is not related in any way to the various publications that have been compiled and marketed by Deuel Enterprises. Those products were compiled by individuals employed by Deuel Enteprises who are identified on their website only as: "The Updating Staff."
By comparison and contrast, AV7 does not have an unidentified "updating staff" nor a "translation/revision committee." Instead AV7 is compiled by a computerized system that uses a comprehensive array of translation tables to perform translation directly from Greek and Hebrew source texts to literally accurate, word-for-word and phrase-by-phrase, direct-equivalent (not "dynamic equivalent") English words and phrases. This computerized system then continues through seven levels of processing to produce the AV7 present-day English presentation. AV7 begins with the Textus Receptus Greek and the Masoretic Hebrew source texts.
The end result closely corresponds to the 1611-1769 English text that has been commonly (but erroneously) identified as the "King James Version" or "KJV."
However, AV7 incorporates corrections to numerous well-documented errors in the 1611-1769 texts. And, unlike any previous presentation of the Bible, AV7 is supported by exhaustive documentation that identifies and explain every detail of translation word-for-word and phrase-by-phrase. All of that documentation will eventually be published and available on CD-ROM.
Several posters in this forum asked: "Who authorized it?" apparently referring to both AV7 and to other Bible editions such as the TMB et.al.
There is apparently no published record of any individual, organization, or other entity ever having formally "authorized" (per se) *any* previous compilation, version, or presentation of the Bible. One of the many unique attributes of The AV7 Bible, though, is that in its copyright notice, it is, in fact, specifically "authorized" by its compilers, publishers, and copyright holders to be freely copied in whole or in part for any non-commercial purpose as long as no change is made in its contents.
Further information in this regard is printed on pages 314-317 of the first edition of The AV7 Bible and that information is also reproduced in part at this web link:
http://www.av7.org/pdfs/howcomp.pdf
Someone wrote:
> The KJ was called the "authorized version" because
> the king "authorized it" not because God did.
Someone else then wrote:
> I have read at multiple sources that there are historical
> reasons to doubt that King James actually approved
> (authorized) the finished translation of 1611..."
This is a very important point. The fact is that neither King James nor anyone else ever officially "authorized" the text that has erroneously come to be called the "King James Version."
An excellent research work entitled "The Men Behind the [so-called] King James Bible" provides an abundance of evidence that King James had almost nothing to do with it, other than to specify certain things that he wanted and did not want to be included for his own reasons and political purposes. He did not sponsor it. He did not financially support it. And he never did "authorize" it in any sense, either before, during, or after it was published. The simple fact is, that text was never "authorized" by anyone -- not by King James, nor by the Church of England, nor by any other entity.
Another little understood fact is that the so-called "KJV" is not in the public domain, as many people incorrectly assume. Rather, it is under a restrictive copyright, and all publishing rights to it are claimed by the British Crown.
This, of course, is ludicrous. Not only is it ludicrious for anyone to claim exclusive "All Rights Reserved" ownership or copyright to *any* version of God's Bible, but it is equally ludicrous for *any* presentation of God's Bible to be identified by any mere human's name. Neither King James' name, nor any other human person's name, should ever be used as part of the title of *any* Bible.
If anyone ever read King James' biography and knew all about his personal character and morality, etc., it is incomprehensible that they would ever identify themselves with or even refer to any Bible as a "King James Bible."
One poster commented that there are various groups of people who identify themselves as, or who are identified by others as, "King James Version Only-ists." That is a very curious irony, since there is actually no such thing as a "King James Bible."
Even more astounding and ludicrous is the notion that some KJVO-ists have proposed and claimed that "God authorized the Authorized Version of the KJV." That, of course, is purely a speculative notion and personal bias that has absolutly no historical or factual basis.
In conclusion:
The AV7 Bible represents an effort to bring forward the "golden threads" of the pioneering work that was begun by Wycliffe, was brought forward and improved by Tyndale, was further brought forward in the 1611 revision/compilation, and then was brought even further forward through many additional revisions until the 1769 presentation that has continued to be a valuable benchmark for more than two centuries.
Now, The AV7 Bible endeavors to retain the "golden threads" while incorporating many refinements and unique attributes that are unprecedented. View a brief list of AV7 features and benefits at this link:
http://www.AV7.org
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