The KJV is written in what linguists call Early Modern English. It is a distinct language in the family of English languages. The others are Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. If you’ve tried to read or listen to Old English, you know it sounds more like German than English. Middle English almost seems like “English,” but if you read Chaucer in college, it was probably in translation.I like the bit at the end explaining how the King James Bible is ideal for American patriots. It was written in England and published in England in 1611. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful work. But lol. https://t.co/pqmyMsryOP
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) January 2, 2023
Early Modern English is the language of Shakespeare. Similar to our English, but the difference is not just the vocabulary. We assume a lot of Shakespeare is poetic, when it’s actually just the grammar of his language, which isn’t exactly ours. There’s a lot of discussion (or was when I was paying attention there was) about “translating” Shakespeare, as our English moves further and further from his.
The irony here is the KJV was the product of a drive to put the Bible in the hands of people in the language they read and spoke. Again, we think of the KJV as “elevated,” but that’s only because we struggle to understand it. It is a brilliant literary work, but what we learn from it is holy scripture is supposed to be “grand” and ponderous. And not quite in everyday language.
The irony of that is the Hebrew Scriptures were written in Hebrew when people spoke Hebrew. The New Testament was written in koine Greek, the tongue of the working class. Then it was all translated into Greek (the Septuagint), and later still into Latin (the Vulgate). Latin ceased being a common tongue as the vestiges of the empire eroded. However, Latin remained the language of the church, and the language of scripture. With the Protestant Reformation, translations into other languages appeared for people to read . Like the KJV; which is hardly in a common tongue anymore.
Which makes it a weird thing to promote as a “Patriot Bible.” Except it’s a translation in the public domain.
And that explains everything.
Christians, as a group, may be the Americans most in need of conversion to Christianity. I wonder how trad-Catholics would take such a notion. When I was a kid the KJV was what the Gideons were allowed to hand out in school and Catholics weren't supposed to have anything to do with it (pre-Vatican 2). I remember getting flack for refusing to take one. The poor old Gideon guy looked like he couldn't imagine such a thing happening. I much prefer a modern language translation. Maybe I should post the piece I wrote while I had covid the second time about bible translations, I wonder if I kept it.
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