Comparing

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Comparing
The King James Bible
To Modern Versions

• By Karen Schreiner

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How is the English of 1611 different from the way
we speak now?David Crystal Interview
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General Information about the KJV

• The King James, or Authorized Version of the
  Bible
• Role of King James
• 1611
• Translated from Greek
• Claimed it to be written in the language of the
  people, but actually written in a very poetic,
  archaic manner
• vocab, morphology, and syntax of the Middle Ages
  used to sound dignified sanctified by tradition
• Expanded upon in David Crystal interview

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Effects of the KJV

• Profound effect on English literature - authors
  such as Melville, Wordsworth, and Milton
• Paradise Lost, anyone???
• English style/language
• John Hayes Gardiner of Harvard University once
  stated that In all study of English literature,
  if there be any one axiom which may be accepted
  without question, it is that the ultimate
  standard of English prose style is set by the
  King James version of the Bible."
• Brought a new standard of English to everyday
  people
• Question posed to David Crystal What part did
  the King James Bible play in creating Standard
  English?

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According to Crystal

• The Bible doesn't have much influence on the
  grammar of the language, but when you come to
  vocabularythat's where it shows its influence
  most. I think the King James Bible did something
  that nobody else had done, or nothing else had
  done in the history of the language previously.
  Not even Shakespeare had managed to do as much,
  in this respect, as the Bible did, and that is
  increase the idiomatic range of the languageIf
  we talk about 'the salt of the earth' for
  instance, a classic piece of Biblical phrasing
  which is now widely used. 'The signs of the
  times', 'a den of thieves' 'oh ye of little
  faith'What has happened is that the original
  Biblical reference in modern English is now
  lostWhat has happened now is that the phrases
  have come to be used with reference to
  non-Biblical contexts and that's what I mean when
  I say a Biblical phrase has entered the language
  and become very generally used. Now there are
  hundreds of these idiomatic, semi-idiomatic
  expressions in modern English that have achieved
  their fame solely because of the King James
  Bible, and no other text in the history of the
  English language has done as much as the Bible to
  shape our modern idiom, and that's its claim to
  linguistic fame.
• David Crystal

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Taking a Closer LookGenesis 4 1-12, KJV

• 1 And Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived,
  and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from
  the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel.
  And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a
  tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it
  came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of
  the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel,
  he also brought of the firstlings of his flock
  and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect
  unto Abel and to his offering 5 But unto Cain
  and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain
  was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And
  the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and
  why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest
  well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou
  doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto
  thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule
  over him. 8 And Cain talked with Abel his
  brother and it came to pass, when they were in
  the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his
  brother, and slew him. 9 And the LORD said unto
  Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I
  know not Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he
  said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy
  brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
  11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which
  hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's
  blood from thy hand 12 When thou tillest the
  ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee
  her strength a fugitive and a vagabond shalt
  thou be in the earth.

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Genesis 41-12New International Version

• 1 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became
  pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With
  the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man."
  2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now
  Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In
  the course of time Cain brought some of the
  fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4
  But Abel brought fat portions from some of the
  firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with
  favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and
  his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain
  was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then
  the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is
  your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right,
  will you not be accepted? But if you do not do
  what is right, sin is crouching at your door it
  desires to have you, but you must master it." 8
  Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out
  to the field." And while they were in the field,
  Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9
  Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your
  brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I
  my brother's keeper?" 10 The LORD said, "What
  have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries
  out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a
  curse and driven from the ground, which opened
  its mouth to receive your brother's blood from
  your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will
  no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a
  restless wanderer on the earth."

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Differences in Vocabulary and Word
Choiceaccording to the OED

• KJV
• knew
• unto
• respect
• wroth
• countenance
• fallen
• slew
• her (in reference to the earth and the ground)
• henceforth
• fugitive and vagabond

• NIV
• lay
• to
• favor
• angry
• face
• downcast
• killed
• its (in reference to the earth and the ground)
• n/a
• restless wanderer

Am I my brothers keeper? -Present in
both -One of the idioms mentioned by Crystal
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Grammatical and Inflectional Differences

• thou, thy, thee
• Second person pronouns of Middle English - an
  example of the KJV reaching backwards for an
  archaic sound, as these pronouns were already
  being replaced with our modern ones
• doest, tillest, shalt, hast, art
• Past tense verb inflectional differences
• lieth, crieth, hath
• Present tense verb inflections

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Syntax

• Syntax of KJV almost identical to Modern English,
  but slight variances are present
• keeper of sheep vs. kept flocks
• 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of
  his flock and of the fat thereof. vs. 4 But
  Abel brought fat portions from some of the
  firstborn of his flock.
• KJV Use of more prepositional phrases,
  complicating the structure of the sentence
• What would happen if WE wrote a sentence with
  those 3 prep. phrases in a paper??
• Abel his brother vs. his brother Abel
• I know not vs. I dont know
• it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her
  strength vs. it will no longer yield its crops
  for you.
• Continued use of archaisms in KVJ NIV simplifies
  using straightforward language
• a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the
  earth. vs. You will be a restless wanderer on
  the earth.
• Use of passive voice in KJV subject thou is
  buried
• Other than minor cases of syntax inversion as an
  attempt to sound archaic and poetic, the syntax
  of Early Modern English is extremely similar to
  the syntax that we are familiar with today

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Works Cited

• http//www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/king-j
  ames-bible/features/interview-with-david-crystal
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Bible
• http//www.biblegateway.com
• Oxford English Dictionary