Abstract
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible (KJB) in 2011, the Society of Biblical Literature and the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship jointly hosted three scholarly symposia that featured some forty scholarly papers addressing a wide range of topics related to the KJB. This volume prints no less than twenty-eight such papers authored by renowned and respected biblical scholars with an appended bibliography for further reading. The reader will find a veritable panoply of voices that describe the historical context, character, and ongoing impact of the most influential English book in history.
The book is divided into three main parts. Following an introductory chapter, the first part contains six essays focusing on the historical background of the KJB, illustrating the religious and political turmoil of the Elizabethan-Jacobean era, the growth of the English language, and the developing industries of printing and cartography. Of particular note is the enlightening contribution by Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, who shows not only how women were depicted by the first translators of the KJB (as seen in marginal notations, for example), but also the ongoing reception of the KJB among women. The second section contains ten essays about how the KJB was translated and subsequently revised throughout the centuries. Graham Tomlin’s comparison of the KJB’s rather literal translation style with the idiomatic German translation of Martin Luther stands out as particularly instructive. Also, David J. Clines’ fascinating analysis of the book of Job shows where the translators displayed their impressive command of Hebrew and where they fell short. The final eleven essays assess the impact (historical and ongoing) of the KJB on English language and literature, but also on various communities including Roman Catholics, Jews, Orthodox Christians, American Evangelicals, and African Americans—impact that has not always been positive.
This is an exceptional volume that collects dozens of essays by first-rate scholars on the subject of a book that, in spite of its checkered history, continues to be a rich source of inspiration and study for various communities. Although a handful of the essays in this volume will feel inaccessible to students, as they perhaps require some knowledge of particular fields (e.g., the politics of Stuart England), this volume is strongly recommended for any scholars or lay persons alike who are interested in the KJB and its legacy.