The King James Bible (1611) is widely considered one of the most significant books in world history. It permanently impacted the English language, the Church of England, and the societal development of the United States. Learning about the history of the King James Bible is thus critical to understanding the English language.
King James Bible History
To understand the history of the King James Bible, it is helpful to know about the history of the Bible. The Bible is the holy scripture of Christianity. Scholars believe that the original Bible stories were passed down orally and eventually recorded on manuscripts. The book is split into two parts: the Old and New Testaments. The Hebrew manuscripts that make up the Old Testament date back to around 500 B.C.E. The New Testament is about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, dating back to the first century C.E. The structure of the Bible was revised many times. Today it comprises 66 books written by over 40 authors, dating back to around 400 C.E.
For years, the Bible was always handwritten in Latin. But in the 1450s, the invention of the printing press changed everything. The printer Johannes Gutenberg printed the first complete book of the Bible in 1455. The printing press made it possible to mass produce this text and spread it around the West. The Gutenberg Bible was printed in Latin, in 42-line columns.
Fig. 1 - It was long forbidden to produce the Bible in English.
Latin is the traditional language of the church, so the idea of an English-language Bible was considered scandalous for a long time. In fact, creating an English-language Bible was actually illegal in England because it was forbidden to translate the Bible into any vernacular language. However, many English-speaking people could not speak Latin, which made the Bible inaccessible. The English linguist William Tyndale believed that the Bible should be made more accessible, so in 1526 he printed around 3,000 copies of an English version. He was executed for this crime, and the English authorities destroyed most copies. Today, there are only three known copies of Tyndale's Bible.
The Torah, the holy scripture of Judaism, is the same text as the Old Testament. Judaism teaches the same history before Jesus Christ but does not teach that Jesus Christ was the son of God. Those who practice Judaism thus do not believe the New Testament is holy scripture.
King James Bible Origin
Meanwhile, England was facing tumultuous religious times. In 1517, the monk Martin Luther criticized Christianity in his 95 Theses, sparking a societal split into Catholics and multiple sects of Protestants. In 1534, King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife Catherine (which the Catholic Church didn't allow), so he replaced the pope as the head of the Church of England. In 1538, Henry approved the publication of an English translation of the Bible called the Great Bible. Although it was incomplete and not very accurate, it was the first authorized English Bible and the only one approved for Anglican worship, one of the branches of Protestantism.
Fig. 2 - King Henry VIII made history when he took over the Church of England.
Henry VIII's Protestant son Edward VI ruled the throne after him. Queen Mary I, a Catholic, followed Edward. While Mary was in power, several Protestant scholars fled to Geneva, Switzerland, and published the Geneva Bible (1560). The Geneva Bible was another incomplete yet significant English translation of the Bible, notable for its Calvinistic annotations and numbered verses.
Many Anglicans, like the Archbishop of Canterbury, objected to the Geneva Bible and responded to it by replacing the Great Bible with an extensively revised version called the Bishop's Bible (1568). By the time King James I took the throne in 1603, people were reading the Calvinistic Geneva Bible at home and hearing the Bishop's Bible at church.
In 1604, King James presided over the Hampton Court Conference, a meeting devoted to religious issues. At the conference, he spoke out against the Geneva Bible. He was angered by its Calvinistic tones and upset about England's lack of religious unity. Two Puritans suggested that they produce a new translation of the Bible in English and James approved. Over the next few years, a committee of scholars and clergymen worked to produce the world's first legal, accurate, and complete English translation of the Bible.
Calvinism was a branch of Protestantism founded by the French theologian John Calvin. The religion was known for its emphasis on the doctrine of predestination, the idea that God predetermines who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. This belief differentiated Calvinism from Anglicanism, the religion which began when Henry VIII split from Catholicism. Anglicans believed God determines who is going to heaven, but not to hell. Anglicanism was also different because its doctrine came in part from Catholic doctrine, rather than reflecting a stark split with it.
Fig. 3. - King James. I was from Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Original King James Bible
The translators who worked on the original King James Bible spent years studying Latin, Greek, and Hebrew manuscripts. Their careful, focused work ensured that the book was the most accurate translation of the Bible ever produced in its time.
Written in Early Modern English, the text is still celebrated for its literary style. It was the first Bible to include poetic cadences and detailed images. The text also included passages from original manuscripts that were not in early versions of English Bibles.
The quality and reach of the King James Bible had a profound impact on the Western world. The printing press made it accessible to more people than ever before. When Puritans, Presbyterians, and Methodists began colonizing North America, they brought the King James Bible with them. It was this text that laid the religious foundations of the United States.
Fig. 4 - English colonizers brought the King James Bible to North America.
More than six billion copies of the King James Bible have been sold worldwide!
New King James Bible
In 1975, the Baptist pastor Arthur Farstad, along with many other pastors and biblical scholars, sought to update the translation of the King James Bible. They modernized the language in the text so it was easier for contemporary readers to read. The translators drew from the same Greek, Hebrew, and Latin manuscripts as the original King James Bible, but made changes to the grammar and vocabulary. Published in 1979 and later updated and completed in 1982, the publication company Thomas Nelson claimed it was "scrupulously faithful to the original, yet truly updated to enhance its clarity and readability." 1
The archaic form of English in the King James Bible is considered "Early Modern English" and contains outdated words and old spellings. For example, the original King James Bible contains many words that English speakers do not use anymore, such as "jangling" and "privily." Several English words that are still used had different spellings in Early Modern English too, like the word "sun," which used to be spelled "sunne." Modern English is the type of English used to write and speak today. Therefore, contemporary readers consider the New King James Bible more readable.
King James Bible Verses
The writing in the original King James Bible is known for being rhythmical and poetic. The New King James Bible is as well, but its emphasis is more on translating the concepts in the Bible in a readable manner, while the focus of the original is the literary quality. For instance, consider the two translations of Psalm 23: 1-2:
Original King James Bible: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me besides the still waters."
Fig. 5 - The poetic cadences in the King James Bible create vivid imagery.
New King James Bible: "The Lord is (it) my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters."
While the differences in the above excerpts are subtle, the Early Modern English in the first excerpt adds a more musical quality to the writing. In contrast, the second excerpt makes the idea easier to understand.
Influence of King James Bible
The King James Bible had a profound impact on the English language as it is known today. It contributed 257 new phrases to the English language, which is more than any other text! To compare, the impactful works of William Shakespeare contributed about half of that number.2
Since the King James Bible was printed and read by so many people, the new phrases became increasingly popular until they were embedded into everyday vernacular. For example, the following list features some of the phrases the King James Bible introduced and became well-known in the English language:
People often use the above phrases with the intention of alluding to the Bible. Using a Biblical allusion in everyday conversation or writing, knowing that people will recognize its meaning, demonstrates how impactful the language of the Bible has been on the English language. When reading excerpts from the Bible, it can be fun to be on the lookout for phrases that have now become common expressions!
The linguist David Crystal is known for pointing out the nuances of the Bible's influence on the English language. Crystal notes that some phrases in the King James Bible like "My brother's keeper" have become so popular they are used in everyday conversation and popular culture. Meanwhile, others phrases, like the words Jesus says before he dies, are so emotional and so sacred to believers that they have not been adapted into everyday language.
Some common terms and phrases were also adapted from lines in the King James Bible. For example, Jeremiah 13:23 states, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" Today, the popular rhetorical question about a leopard changing his spots is rooted in this line.
Another factor that speaks to the influence of the King James Bible is the way writers cite the Bible. If one looks up quotes from the Bible in scholarly sources such as the Chambers Dictionary of Quotations, one will find quotations from the King James version, not from other versions like the Bishop's Bible. In this way, the King James Bible has had an enduring influence on preserving Biblical language more than any other version of the sacred book.
King James Bible - Key takeaways
- The King James Bible is widely considered one of the most significant books in world history.
- The first English Bible was illegally published by William Tyndall, who was burned at the stake for it. It wasn't until Henry VIII took over the Church of England that Bibles could be written in English.
- King James sought to quell religious tensions between supporters of The Geneva Bible and the Bishop's Bible by publishing The King James Bible in 1611.
- The original King James Bible was written in Early Modern English and is celebrated for its poetic literary style and imagery.
- In 1979, American pastors and biblical scholars published the New King James Bible, which featured updated English.
1 "New King James Version." Thomas Nelson Bibles. 2022
2 David Crystal "Begat: The King James Bible & the English Language." 2010.
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