The scholars who translated the King James Bible in the 1600s (or rather, edited and revised the translation started by
William Tyndale) were careful to keep themselves anonymous. ("
deliberately cultivated anonymity" is how one author puts it) Their identities, along with some interesting details about the translation process, were finally revealed in
1958 when thirty-nine pages of their working notes were found in
Oxford's
Bodleian Library.
How big a difference does good editing make? Consider this first draft of famous scripture:
I understood, I cared as a child, I had a child's mind, I imagined as a child, I was affected as a child.*
And how big a difference can
translation make in the final meaning? Well, the word
ekklesia being translated as "
congregation" instead of "
church" is widely credited with giving people the idea that
holy communion could happen anywhere, not just in a
cathedral. And when
presbyteros means "elder" and not "priest" you've just paved the way for the
Reformation.
* For the unfamiliar, the final copy reads "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child." Reads better, doesn't it?