According to this (intro)
King James authorization was necessary for the bible to be published in England. Thus, it’s authorization is a political one for the country of England (and the Church of England) only (assuming this statement is accurate). According to the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, the King James Version (KJV) was “never formally authorized by King or Parliament”.

According to the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, the “first authorized Bible was published in 1537, the so-called Thomas Matthew Bible”. The “Bishop’s Bible” was authorized by “the Convocation of Canterbury” in 1570. The Revised Version was was authorized by the Church of England in 1870. The Revised Standard Version was “authorized in 1937 by the International Council of Religious Education”.

The Church of England approves several versions for use today (unfortunately, I did not save my link to the official site. Anyone still have that?)

So, the *actuality* of the authorization appears to be suspect, despite the contention in Wikipedia that it was authorized by Parliament.

Jim,

King James.
A little reading in the area of church/political history will show why there was a need for a standard Bible. The Great Bible was actually more popular than the KJ at first, and had been the one most widely used- I think I would be debated on that point- but it was primarily to settle matters.
Some say (not without possibility) that God moved the men to do this work.

God

the 1611 version of the kjv, The latin vulgate and the greek septuigent along with some aramaic texts were translated into english under the supervision of some 70 scholars and authorized but the king of England King James.

…now don’t get mad… King James. (He was the boss at the time when “they” translated it for the masses)

That would be King James. That is why it is called the King James Bible and not just the Bible or Bob’s Bible.

King James VI and I commissioned it. He had a group of about 4 dozen translators. These were people who KNEW the languages…not the equivalent of someone who had Hebrew 2 or Greek 4 in high school.

king james

King James. It was commissioned by him, he actually had no other input into it other than the name. His advisors however…

King James of England, so we wouldn’t have to read the Bible in Hebrew.