The word ‘Bible’ comes from a Greek phrase: ta biblia which means, ‘the books’. We have reached the point where the six companies of translators, each responsible for three sections of the Bible, giving us the King James’ Authorised Version has completed their task. But the assembled books were not as it usually appears to us today.
More than just the Hebrew Bible
There was a big debate to be answered by the Church. It concerned a number of books which were referred to as the Apocrypha. Apocrypha means what was written was considered obscure, mysterious, impenetrable, esoteric, cannot be disproved as false, bogus, spurious, of questionable authenticity. The translators had the Hebrew Bible. What was contained in that was to be the Old Testament.
Other books found in the Greek and Latin Bibles, such as the Vulgate, which were not in the Hebrew Bible, were gathered and known as the Apocrypha.
Include or exclude
Despite the definitions above, the Apocrypha were writings that one section of the Church argued should be included; another ruled that they were not written by divine inspiration, added nothing to Christian creeds, doctrine, beliefs, dogma, and should be excluded. Puritan critics of the Authorised Version lobbied for its removal. And it was. However, under King Charles II the Apocrypha books were restored. (A twist in inclusions/exclusions is that on cost grounds, as missionary societies spread the Word across the world, the Apocrypha was omitted! Bibles without the Apocrypha were cheaper to produce, and smaller and cheaper to transport overseas. So much for their omission on theological grounds. And with the Apocrypha excluded is how many of us recognise the Authorised Version and subsequent versions.)
Richness of the English language
The king’s translators were scholars. They took the original Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek and looked to translate the text by proper English words and phrases. However, the translators felt free to use a range of words and phrases. Other translations took the original and were slavishly consistent in not using a range of words and phrases. Avoiding this gives the Authorised Version a richness of language absent in other translations. We should be pleased by this. Consider for instance the common stories of Jesus’ life in Matthew, Mark & Luke. If the translators had not been willing and able to choose different words and phrases for the same events then you would not have the variety of translation we enjoy. Have a look at a familiar story like, the feeding with bread and fishes, in the gospels. Nothing is lost by the telling in different ways. However, it makes the reading more interesting. It is no different than people today attending the same event and then sharing what went on. They would tell the same story in different words.
‘Old fashioned’ language
There was though an interesting use of the English language. The King James Bible continued forms of writing and speaking which were ‘old fashioned’ for the time and cause problems for readers today. It’s worth an excursion to explain what might be described as the ‘old fashioned’ words. But before that it should be noted that some words were changed. They were done so because there was a certainty they would offend sensibilities and polite society!
Thou, thee and thy …
Reading the Bible today you have to cope with all those instances of ‘Thou’, ‘Thee’ and ‘Thy’, ‘Thine’ and ‘Ye’, ‘You’ and ‘Your’. (It is within living memory, certainly in some parts of Lancashire, there were those who used ‘thou‘, ‘thee’ and ‘thy’. Those words have not been heard for some time and have been replaced by the modern English ‘you’, ‘your’, ‘yours’.)
- ‘Thou’, ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ were used within a family, or to address children or people of inferior class. To address another as ‘thou’ was to claim social superiority over the other person. In some circumstances, however, ‘thou’ was used as an insult.
- ‘Ye’ together with ‘you’ and ‘your’ were used as a mark of respect when addressing a social superior.
It is easy to understand the two forms of address.
On the first, think of the Ten Commandments. The first word of each is ‘Thou’ as, ‘Thou shalt …’ Is that first word ‘thou’ being used as an address to a family member?; or, more properly, is the ‘thou’ a superior individual, in this case God, addressing somebody of lesser status than God? And as an insult, remember the story of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The serpent is referred to as ‘thou’, ‘thou shalt be crushed …’
On the second think of that familiar statement, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth …’ To be ‘the salt of the earth’ you must be being seen as somebody who is respected. Therefore, to be addressed as ‘ye’ is a mark of respect.
‘-est’ and ‘-eth’ word endings
Then there are those verb words which end with ‘-est’ and ‘-eth’. We are hung-up today on pronouncing the ‘-est’ and ‘-eth’ endings. The convention runs, they are there, therefore, they should be pronounced. And, when reading aloud the verb ‘-est’ and ‘-eth’ endings do provide a rhythm to the speaking, even if the listener is sometimes confused by their use.
In King James’ time, and soon after, there is much evidence to suggest that ‘-est’ and ‘-eth’ were pronounced as if they were ‘-s’. That familiar line for Psalm 23, ‘He leadeth me’ was very probably pronounced, ‘He leads me’. Putting aside for a moment the poetic need the extra syllable/beat provided by ‘-eth’ and ‘-est’, gradually in the printed word the ‘-est’ and ‘-eth’ endings were replaced by ‘-s’. But not in the printing of the King James’ Bible.
No females
For the feminist, the dominance of ‘his’ in Biblical texts cause problems. The English language is fascinating. The word ‘his’ was used to refer to males and females and even things of no gender like, an item of furniture. Therefore, though it is offensive to modern ears, whenever you read ‘his’, read ‘his and her’ or ‘his’ or ‘her’ or, if you don’t want to think of yourself as a block of wood, ‘its’. About the time of the King James’ Bible ‘his’ was also being rapidly replaced in the right place by ‘its’. ‘Its’ meaning ‘belonging to it’, whatever the ‘it’ is. (As with the ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ observation above, within living memory, particularly in the West Country, though males and females were differentiated by ‘his’ and ‘her’, things of no gender like, an item of furniture, were referred to as though male or female. And those of us who have struggled with a foreign language know that some ‘things’ are male or female.) With some speed ‘his’ meaning ‘her’ was replaced by ‘her’. (The gender argument was over until very recent times when there are objections to God being masculine!)
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It can be appreciated from these examples that the translators were at a cross-roads in the development of the English language.
All a bit of an anti-climax
We can rave about the Authorised Version and its impact on the English language and the Church. But the final appearance of the new translation was something of an anticlimax. As indicated in earlier articles on the 400 year anniversary, the people preferred the Geneva Bible produced 50 years earlier. Nobody liked the new translation very much. Some churchmen were hesitant to use it. There were no great celebrations when the Bible was published in 1611.
Still dissatisfied
No sooner had the King James hit the bookshelves, then there were those who sought it should be revised. The restoration of Charles II in 1660 put an end to about revising the King James translation, or replacing it. The King James Bible was seen as a foundation of the Restoration. Then in 1662 with the Act of Uniformity firmly upholding the establishment of the Church of England came the end of the battle of the Bibles. (Incidentally, the Act also caused nearly 2000 (Anglican) ministers to be deprived of their livings because they refused to comply. But that is a story for another time.)
Let’s have a celebration
Here at Agnew Road two occasions are being worked on. At the end of October the worship group is developing a service for Bible Sunday. And, on a Sunday in November, it is hoped we can have a festival service to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the King James’ Bible: THE WORD REVEALED.