# People often say the King James Bible is "a great work of literature" - Is it really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 23, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989 "2014-02-23T01:33:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/21 "2014-02-23T21:50:20Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Do you not mean Aramaic? No, he means Hebrew. Only a few pages of the bible were originally written in Aramaic. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/22 "2014-02-23T22:30:08Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > I’ve never read it as anything but fiction, maybe that helps to see it a certain way. Just to be clear then, you have read it? You’ve read the Old Testament and the New Testament in the King James Version? Pretty much all of it? ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/23 "2014-02-23T22:45:22Z")
Anyone else a fan of the New King James? I like it because you’re not stumbling over trying to figure out thee, though, thine, but a lot of the style, and should I say majesty, is preserved. I grew up with the NIV and it always seemed dull and watered down. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/24 "2014-02-23T23:59:40Z")
The NIV is okay, but the joys of the KJV are more than worth the slow down. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/25 "2014-02-24T00:59:07Z")
I have read the Bible five times, mostly in the _New World Translation_ (Jehovah’s witnesses), but with the King James Version and the _New English Bible_ (1970) alongside to compare readings; and I even use a translation into Esperanto. I have since acquired translations in Spanish and Russian as well, and an interlinear rendering of the New Testament. Hebrew is quite terse compared to English; the 23rd Psalm, for example, is in four words in Hebrew. Imagine what it must have been like to translate the Bible into _Chinese!_ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/26 "2014-02-24T01:02:30Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Hebrew is quite terse compared to English; the 23rd Psalm, for example, is in four words in Hebrew. “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want” is 4 words in Hebrew. Not the entire 23rd Pslam one verb can express a lot more than one English verb (and you can infer the subject from the verb without having to write it), and they don’t have to use the verb to be. other than that it’s not much more “terse” than English ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/27 "2014-02-24T01:22:03Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want” is 4 words in Hebrew. Not the entire 23rd Pslam > one verb can express a lot more than one English verb (and you can infer the subject from the verb without having to write it), and they don’t have to use the verb to be. other than that it’s not much more “terse” than English I stand corrected. I miswrote that… :o ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/28 "2014-02-24T05:03:22Z")
**mdcastle** I’ve looked at the NKJV, it doesn’t quite do it for me. maybe it’s just that I’ve read enough of the KJV, Shakespeare etc. that I’m comfortable with the Elizabethan Pronouns and verb endings. Incidentally, it isn’t just the vocab and syntax than sets the KJV apart from most ‘modern’ versions, it’s also the textual sources. the KJV is based on the Textus Receptus, while (say) the NRSV is based on the oldest possible sources. I prefer the TR, which is another reason I like the KJV. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/29 "2014-02-24T05:51:09Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > I’m afraid that the KJV, as its name suggests, was Jacobean, and post-dated Shakespeare by quite a number of years. And in comparison with Shakespeare’s exuberance in using and coining words, the KJV is restrained, almost arid in its simplicity and rigour. Yes, but I’ve read it was written in language that was archaic even in its time, being largely and consciously based on far earlier translations as well as on the original-language texts the translation committee studied. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/30 "2014-02-24T05:55:26Z")
Perhaps the “simplicity and rigor” of the KJV is caused by that of Hebrew poetry and literature. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/31 "2014-02-24T06:35:57Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > I never get this stuff about the bible being a great work of fiction: it’s not, even when written with pretty King James language. > > Compare it to other great early novels… Well, there’s your problem. The Bible is not a novel. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/32 "2014-02-24T11:53:05Z")
I think it works better spoken aloud. But KJV has contributed more idioms to the English language than anyone else, even Shakespeare. But it helps to have a more modern translation handy. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/33 "2014-02-24T14:01:03Z")
When I read the Bible to actually understand or take meaning from it, I use a contemporary translation (any of which benefit from the 400 years of biblical scholarship since the KJV was started). But for sheer poetry and beauty of language the KJV cannot be beat. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/34 "2014-02-24T14:12:45Z")
My two cents: Non-fiction. Historically significant, yes. Many man-hours spent putting it together, yes. I have read all of it, and some parts of it multiple times, especially the Gospels. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/35 "2014-02-24T14:23:10Z")
No,it’s really not. It’s more a series of anecdotes,exaggerations and inaccuracies bound together in the same volume which itself is in desperate need of an editor. The four contradictory Gospel recitations of the Cruxificion and the Resurrection alone make it clear that either large portions of the original text have been omitted or the Bible’s many transcribers simply have little with which to work and simply compile what they have. It’s basically a few good stories combined with a great deal of filler material. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/36 "2014-02-24T14:42:09Z")
Just noting for those of you interested in the Bible as literature, you should check out [this ongoing discussion here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716593). It has been very interesting to read. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/37 "2014-02-24T20:02:07Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > When I read the Bible to actually understand or take meaning from it, I use a contemporary translation (any of which benefit from the 400 years of biblical scholarship since the KJV was started). > > But for sheer poetry and beauty of language the KJV cannot be beat. I think the value your place on that ‘400 years of biblical scholarship’ is going to largely depend on your own ideological predispositions. If you believe that the Received Text is more reliable and accurate than the older manuscripts (as for example the Eastern Orthodox do), then of course the KJV is going to seem superior to the NRSV (which is why the Orthodox do, in fact, use the KJV). ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/38 "2014-02-24T21:33:46Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > I think the value your place on that ‘400 years of biblical scholarship’ is going to largely depend on your own ideological predispositions. > > If you believe that the Received Text is more reliable and accurate than the older manuscripts (as for example the Eastern Orthodox do), then of course the KJV is going to seem superior to the NRSV (which is why the Orthodox do, in fact, use the KJV). Fair enough. But it’s not just that modern translations use older manuscripts; we also have many \*more \*manuscripts available than the KJV editors did, which allows greater confidence in detecting corruptions to the inherited texts. Not to mention that much of the English used in the KJV is archaic itself and requires additional translation to be understandable to the modern reader who is not fluent in Jacobean English. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/39 "2014-02-24T22:08:28Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Give the first few chapters of Genesis a try and go from there. It even has the modern twist of alternate versions for the reader to interactively decide which he likes better. Way ahead of its time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989/40 "2014-02-24T22:13:13Z")
Whether or not the King James Bible is “a great work of literature,” there’s no denying that the [LOLCats Bible](http://lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Genesis_1) is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-often-say-the-king-james-bible-is-a-great-work-of-literature-is-it-really/681989.md?page=3)