Today is considered the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Authorized King James version of the Bible.
It’s a pretty popular book. A bestseller! It’s the version of the Bible that gave us what we all think of as biblical sounding language. All that “thee” and “thou” stuff that can maketh even an ignoramus sound as if he might just be saying something important.
Today there are plenty of bibles to choose from, and the original King James Version is sometimes criticized for its translation. Since it was published in 1611 scholars have been hard at work on translations from Hebrew and Greek manuscripts that weren’t available to the team that did the King James Version.
Some people also complain that the language is out of date. Nobody “smites” anyone these days, after all.
That’s why these days you can read the Good News Bible or The Living Bible or, better still, the New International Version
But the King James Version was a significant step, not only in spreading the word of the Gospel of Jesus, but in spreading literacy in general.
For more on the history, go here. For a perspective on the legacy of the King James Version of the Bible, go here.