Are There Other Bibles from Its Time
That Are Still Widely Read Today?
The King James Bible was one of several major Bible translations into modern, vernacular languages during the Reformation. Some of these early Bibles are no longer read, except by academic researchers. Others, much like the King James Bible, are still in active use, although often in revised or updated form.
Martin Luther’s German Bible was not the first translation of the Bible into German, but it is without question the most significant—a religious and literary milestone that helped to establish the modern German language. Luther’s Bible remains in general use today.
The first printed Spanish Bible, published in Basel in 1569, was translated by the reformer Casiodoro de Reina. In 1602, it was significantly revised by Cipriano de Valera. The Reina-Valera Bible, which has since gone through several major revisions, is still popular with Spanish-speaking Protestants.
The Douai-Rheims Bible, produced during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I by English Catholics living overseas, was completed in 1610, a year before the King James Bible was published. In 1749–52, the English Roman Catholic Bishop Richard Challoner produced a major revision, also referred to as the Douai-Rheims Bible, which is the basis of many Douai-Rheims editions today. In 1963, John F. Kennedy was sworn in as president on his family Bible (shown here), a Douai-Rheims edition printed in London in 1850.
Learn more about early Bibles in different languages: Early Bibles
Learn more about King James Bibles in presidential inaugurations: Historic American Bibles
Fitzgerald family Bible. Bible. English. Douai. London, 1850. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library/National Archives and Record Administration.
