Which KJV is better, 1611 or 1769...later revision or NKJV?

The choice depends on your priorities regarding readability versus textual basis.

The 1769 edition differs significantly from the 1611 edition[1], primarily due to language standardization. By the time the 1762 Cambridge and 1769 Oxford editions were printed, English spelling was standardized, with nearly 24,000 changes from the 1611 editions.[2] While advocates argue that only punctuation, spelling, and printer errors changed, the 24,000 alterations included around 1,500 significant changes.[2] The 1769 version reads more naturally to modern eyes without archaic language like “thee,” “thou,” and ”-eth” verb forms.

However, the KJV translators used only about a half dozen very late Greek manuscripts for the New Testament, whereas today scholars can translate from a Greek text drawing on almost six thousand manuscripts, some dating to the second century.[1] This textual limitation affects both the 1611 and 1769 editions equally.

The NKJV addresses both concerns more effectively. The NKJV’s translation process was “very similar to the one which produced the beloved 1611 King James Version, but today’s technology allowed for higher levels of accuracy and easier communication among the scholars.”[3] The NKJV’s stylists were careful to eliminate archaic English while deliberately keeping the good things about the KJV’s style and manner.[3] Notably, the NKJV is one of the few modern translations still based on the “Byzantine” manuscript tradition[3], preserving the textual philosophy of the KJV while updating its language.

For practical study, the 1769 KJV works if you prefer traditional KJV language, but the NKJV offers superior readability and marginally better textual support without abandoning the KJV’s translation philosophy.

[1] Karen H. Jobes, “The Septuagint,” in The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, ed. J. Daniel. Hays and J. Scott Duvall (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 1052.
[2] Ray E. Clendenen and David K. Stabnow, HCSB - Bible Translation: Navigating the Horizons in Bible Translations (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2013). [See here, here.]
[3] Jessica Parks, “New King James Version,” in Major English Bible Translations, Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2022). [See here, here, here.]