James I, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, gathered about 54 scholars to develop a new translation of the Bible for the Anglican Church. It appeared in 1611. The King James Version is one of the masterpieces of the English language, filled with beautiful prose and colorful words that reflect the level of the English language at that time, sometimes at the expense of technical linguistic accuracy. By today's standards its Shakespearean and Spencerian English makes the King James Version beautiful though obsolete for many contemporary readers. How this is achieved is no simple task.
Languages differ in structure, content, number of words, and usage.
A people's culture poses other problems for a translator. Some linguists think that translators should use the nearest equivalent within a language. Other linguists claim this practice leads to inaccuracies. A translation should be approachable, understandable, and engaging in its new language form. At times this is done by translating ideas rather than words.