King James I of England established a committee of scholars to produce a new translation of the Bible in English. The Authorized or King James version of the Bible was published on May 2, 1611. The poetry of the KJV has yet to be equalled in any other English translation, IMHO. The Psalms especially are a masterpiece of poetic translation.
1 The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof;
the world, and they that dwell therein.
2 For he hath founded it upon the seas,
and established it upon the floods.
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD,
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek him,
that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory.
Wht ringing phrases! I read the NIV most of the time, but there is a a sound and a comfort and an earthiness to the KJV that isn’t in the more prosaic modern translations.
I’m Catholic, so it hurts to say this, but NIV has a fair number of mistranslations in it. There are other translations that are truer to the original hebrew and greek.
Several books have been written recently about the creating of the KJV, but my favorite is “Wide as the Waters; the story of the English Bible and the revolution it inspired” by Benson Bobrick.
I, too, regularly read the NIV. Was raised on the KJV and often go to it for the poetry. Thanks for the insight.
Very nice post. Your choice in psalms is excellent. Have you looked at the English Standard Version, a new formal translation that seems to be spreading by word of mouth. And by R.C. Sproul, of Ligonier Ministries. I’m using it as my preaching Bible of choice more and more often. It doesn’t quite have the elegance of the KJV at its best, but it is much more accessible to today’s people in terms of understanding, without being dumbed down or politically corrected.
King James was a murderer, and a racist who was anything but fair to the common man. How could a book that has been translated and forced on the people by such a person be interpreted today as “God’s word”, furthermore, “infallible”?