...the KJV’s overall superiority...derives in part from its being the product of a historical period in which the Bible’s divinely revealed character and literal truth, every word of which was assumed to matter supremely because it was God’s, were still taken for granted by most people, including the King James’s highly cultivated and sophisticated translators.
Indeed, the KJV’s archaic language, often cited as a point against it, strikes me as one more argument in its behalf. The language of the Hebrew Bible, after all, is archaic, too; it is precisely this that makes us feel when reading it that we are in contact with an age more wondrous and fervent than our own. The same holds true of the KJV. We should not want the Bible to sound modern. Of modernity we have more than enough; the Bible needs to be read against modernity’s grain. I’ll stick with the King James.
Philologos, a renowned Jewish-language columnist, answering why he quotes the King James translation rather than Jewish English translations
I read Philologus' entire post about the KJV. It was worth reading. Thank you for your research and writing!
ReplyDeleteE. T. Chapman
Thanks. I agree that his entire post in worthwhile and interesting. I hope all readers will click and read the entire statement.
ReplyDeleteHope all is well with you all.
There is nothing more adequate for someone to gain a command and understanding of the English language than the Authorized King James Bible. As for the many other versions, through adequate research, we find the only driving force behind their publication was…. money.
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