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In comparison with the original text, is the English translation of King James Bible accurate or not? I would appreciate it if you let me know your opinion on that.

The translation of the Bible into the English language coincided with the invention of the printing press and the period of Reformation (15th-16th centuries). Before this time the use of the Bible in the West was forbidden in any language other than Latin. The Latin translation, from the original Hebrew and Greek, was done by St. Jerome in the fourth century. This was the authoritative Bible for the Western Church and was 'known as the Vulgate.

In 1523 William Tyndale printed the first translation of the Bible into English from the original languages, Hebrew and Greek. Tyndale's English translation of the entire Bible was the basis for the many other English translations that followed. The subsequent English versions are Coverdale's Bible, 1535; Thomas Mathew's Bible, 1537; the Great Bible,1539; the Geneva Bible,1560, and the Bishop's Bible, 1568. Also the Rheims-Duae's in 1582, was translated from the Latin Vulgate. Within approximately fifty years from the time of Tyndale's first printed translations, the above six translations were done. However, none of these English translations was accepted as an authorized English version; because of general dissatisfaction with them and the many mistakes found in them.

In 1604, King James I of England, authorized a committee of about fifty scholars to prepare a revision of earlier English translations of the Bible (Bishop and Geneva). The scholars were divided into six committees of nine members each. The members were laymen as well as Anglican (Church of England) and Puritan clergy and included ranking Oriental and Greek scholars of the time. Two of the committees were at Oxford, two at Cambridge, and two at Westminster. They drew on all of the previously published English translations, some Latin versions, and even on Luther's German translation and consulted Hebrew and Greek texts available to them. The work was greatly influenced by William Tyndale's New Testament. One third of the text was carried over from Tyndale's translation. The King James Bible took seven years to complete and was published in 1611. It was known as the King James (or Authorized) Version (KJV), and it became the most widely used translation in the English-speaking world. The King James Version was the only version, that bore the royal authority and was "appointed to be read in churches". It is characterized as "the noblest monument of English prose". The King James Version has played a prominent role in forming the personal character of the church and institutions of the English-speaking people.

Yet, even this King James Version was not well-received nor free of criticism by some. Nevertheless, it has prevailed through the centuries and is still held in great esteem today, both by preachers and lay people, despite its defects, which were, noted more clearly in the mid-nineteenth century, and more so today. The Greek and Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible possessed today were unknown to the 54 scholars of the King James Version. The manuscripts of the Bible which were found later pointed out more clearly the defects of the King James Version. This fact convinced the Church of England in 1870 to make a revision of the King James translation. This revision was published in 1881 (N.T.), 1885 (O.T.) and was known as the English Revised, Version of the Bible. This version was not accepted by the vast majority of local churches and people, who cherished the King James Version.

The dissatisfaction with the new English Revised Version led scholars in America to once again attempt to issue another English translation based on this English Revised Version. The American scholars, who cooperated with the English revisers, made amendments into the English Revised Version and published it in 1901, calling it the American Standard Version. Again due to an unhappy lack of agreement on an English translation acceptable to all, the task of a new English translation was undertaken by the International Council of Religious Education in 1937. This Council appointed a committee of scholars to study The American Standard Version for further revision. The committee studied this question for two years and concluded that there was need for a thorough revision of the American Version of 1901, using the Tyndale Version as well as the King James Version in light of today's knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek texts and their meaning, and using present understanding of the English language. The Council thereupon authorized an English revision of the Holy Bible.

The discovery of many ancient Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, especially after 1931, provided the committee of scholars with important new sources, including the information, which recent discoveries have provided for a better understanding of the vocabulary and idioms of the Greek New Testament language. Since 1870, when the official undertaking of the revision of the King James Version took place, an enormous number of papyri have been unearthed in Egypt, containing private letters, official reports, petitions, business accounts and various other records of the activities of the first centuries. These findings were thoroughly studied and proved that many of the Greek words of the New Testament were used in the everyday life of the people of the first centuries and were not special words, which belonged to, what was considered Biblical Greek. These discoveries provided the committee of scholars of the 'Revised Standard Version' with valuable material not available to previous translators. Another factor promoting the decision to revise the King James Version was that its archaic form of expression of English was not clearly understood by contemporary people. The use of such words as "thou", "thee", "thy" and "thine" and the verb endings, "est", edst", "eth" and "th", made it difficult for most people to understand it. More than 300 words in the King James Version are misleading in light of today's understanding. This was one of the reasons that led the Council to revise the King James Version. It must be noted that the 'Revised Standard Version is not a new translation, nor is it a paraphrase of the English language; it is a revision of the King James Version.