{"id":180,"date":"2013-11-15T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-15T17:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2013\/11\/introduction-to-the-victorian-king-james-version-of-the-new-testament-a-selection-for-lovers-of-elizabethan-and-victorian-literature-dave-armstrong.html"},"modified":"2026-06-06T00:26:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:26:05","slug":"introduction-to-victorian-king-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2013\/11\/introduction-to-victorian-king-james.html","title":{"rendered":"Introduction: &#8220;Victorian King James Version of the New Testament&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Edited (\u201cSelected\u201d) by Dave Armstrong<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2013\/11\/Cover-555-x-836.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3770 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2013\/11\/Cover-555-x-836.jpg\" alt=\"Cover (555 x 836)\" width=\"555\" height=\"836\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">[Lulu cover design by Dave Armstrong]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">***<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p>(11-15-13)<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p>[this Introduction runs 12 pages <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/books-by-dave-armstrong\/victorian-king-james-version-of-the-new-testament-a-selection-for-lovers-of-elizabethan-and-victorian-literature\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">in the book<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">I\u2019ve often thought about (as an outgrowth of my great love for the Bible) a \u201cfresh\u201d version that would retain the grandeur and majesty of the Authorized \/ <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/King_James_Version\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cKing James\u201d Version\u2019s 1611 English<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">The general idea of removing archaisms has basically been done in well-known and widely used translations (I myself always use RSV in my study and my books) and many other lesser-known translations (all revisions of the King James Bible, or revisions of revisions: <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_Standard_Version\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">ASV<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_American_Standard_Bible\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">NASB<\/a> \/ <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Revised_Version\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">RV<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Revised_Standard_Version\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSV <\/a>\/ <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/King_James_Version\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">KJV<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_King_James_Version\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">NKJV<\/a>, etc.). The present work is a similar \u201chybrid\u201d.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">I don\u2019t know Greek, and am therefore not qualified in the slightest to actually <i>translate<\/i>. But I know English (as a professional author) and know the Bible (as a longtime Christian apologist) very well. This work, accordingly, isn\u2019t technically a new translation at all, but rather a \u201cselection\u201d or collection of what I personally felt were the best renderings that maintained the KJV style as much as possible without the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Archaism\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">archaisms<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">This can\u2019t escape being my \u201csubjective project\u201d in <i>that<\/i> sense. I am the editor and determine the overall text, but (I can\u2019t emphasize this highly enough) I\u2019m not translator of even a single word. This New Testament is the product of a selection of wording from among the chosen renderings of those who <i>are\u00a0<\/i>legitimate translators.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">The main criticism or complaint will probably be that this work is <i>presumptuous<\/i>. It will be misunderstood by some, perhaps many, as to its vision and intent. I don\u2019t think it is presumptuous <i>at all<\/i>, though, if someone merely selects from among the many existing translations (all done by linguists and scholars) and comes up with a new hybrid entity with the goal stated up front and made very clear: good English style and maintaining the KJV \/ Rheims Elizabethan \u201cfeel\u201d while also emphasizing literalness of translation and understandability. I\u2019m not claiming to be anything I am not; I\u2019m just a lover of the Bible and good, classic, beautiful English writing.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">I\u2019m a great fan, specifically, of 18th and 19th century English prose (e.g., John Henry Newman, John Wesley,\u00a0 G. K. Chesterton: all authors I\u2019ve massively read and from whom I\u2019ve collected quotes for published \u201cquotable\u201d books). I also enjoy authors who continue this stylistic tradition, like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CCwQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FC._S._Lewis&amp;ei=DmOGUrDQOa_YyQHDtoH4Cw&amp;usg=AFQjCNHXtkRHP8GZgoERMg978ncZ7o6zdg&amp;sig2=0bYVXKCOSk4OyC1TPJPL6g&amp;bvm=bv.56643336,d.aWc\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">C. S. Lewis<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CCwQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FRonald_Knox&amp;ei=LGOGUtSgL6XCyAGr04CAAg&amp;usg=AFQjCNHS06OgmROasGyglvr_MSG71HpmVA&amp;sig2=zS03jm7ypEommszKhuYW7g&amp;bvm=bv.56643336,d.aWc\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ronald Knox<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ignatiusinsight.com\/authors\/thomashoward.asp\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Thomas Howar<\/a>d, and others. That sense of style in prose (insofar as I have been influenced by it) is the leading motif or influence in my modifying or \u201cupdating\u201d the KJV language and style (mostly whole verses and\/or sentences; occasionally individual words or phrases).<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">If I were merely to update the KJV, it would be doing something scarcely different from what has been done a dozen times or more. But in highlighting the \u201cVictorian\u201d style of 18th-19th century British literature and Bible translations, the project thus acquires a uniqueness.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">This is the selling point: <i>updating the KJV with a 19th century high Victorian style<\/i> that would have some strong sense of stylistic similarity (or analogous excellence, if you will) to Elizabethan English. It would be, in a word, a Bible for lovers of great English literature (both Elizabethan and Victorian): not for <i>everyone<\/i>, but for those who already have this interest, as I do.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">The overall goal is \u201cliteral translation with [in revised passages] 19th century English style and flowing, readable quality.\u201d Passages that remain magnificent today in the KJV or the Rheims 1582 New Testament need not be changed, as long as they are still able to be sufficiently understood. Other phrases or words strange or altogether unknown to us now, will be modified by choosing from other translations from the \u201cVictorian\u201d time period or shortly after it: all from Englishmen or (in two cases) Scotsmen. No American translations will be utilized.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">There are plenty of translations available that fit the bill for what I\u2019m looking for, that are in the public domain (no copyright issues or conflicts). I have arrived at five that I\u2019ll be utilizing for alternate renderings (The Rheims New Testament provides an alternate \u201cElizabethan\u201d translation in addition to the 1611 KJV):<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\"><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">1)\u00a0<\/span><i><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Douay%E2%80%93Rheims_Bible\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Rheims New Testament<\/a><\/i> (1582): the work principally of the Catholic priest <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gregory_Martin_%28scholar%29\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Gregory Martin<\/a>, with assistance from four other men.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\"><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">2) <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Young%27s_Literal_Translation\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><i>Young\u2019s Literal Translation<\/i><\/a> (revised version of 1887) by Scotsman<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Young_%28Biblical_scholar%29\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"> Robert Young<\/a>: the same person who produced an elaborate <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Young%27s_Analytical_Concordance_to_the_Bible\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Bible concordance<\/a> (1879).<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\"><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">3) <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Weymouth_New_Testament\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><i>Weymouth New Testament<\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">(1903): by<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_Francis_Weymouth\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"> Richard Francis Weymouth<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\"><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">4)<\/span><i> <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Twentieth_Century_New_Testament\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Twentieth Century New Testament<\/a> <\/i>(1904).<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">5) <i><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Moffatt,_New_Translation\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">James Moffatt New Testament<\/a><\/i> (1922): <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Moffatt\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Moffatt<\/a> was also a Scotsman.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">\u00a0*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">My methodology, was to start with the KJV and Rheims New Testaments (the two \u201cElizabethan\u201d ones), determine if one or the other was to be used, or else use another translation for passages that are archaic or different in meaning due to the evolution of English. Alternate renderings came from among the four additional scholarly translations above. By this method, <i>only real, existing (and acclaimed) translations are utilized<\/i>. Again; I didn\u2019t \u201ctranslate\u201d a single word; I couldn\u2019t, since I don\u2019t know Greek. I also consulted the RSV and NASB versions as \u201cmodels\u201d in cases where it was difficult to choose which version to use.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">I need to note a few elements of my editing, before I present a summary of the translations utilized:<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">1) Quotations from the Old Testament will be italicized (the method that Moffatt uses), will retain the older (KJV \/ Rheims) style, in order to convey a sense of citing ancient literature, and will be followed by the listing of the Old Testament passage cited (utilizing NASB cross-references).<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">2) No quotation marks will be used (KJV style). Quotations will start with a capital letter, following a comma.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">3) The only changes to existing texts that I will make at all will be to capitalization (e.g., Weymouth uses capitalized divine pronouns; I will <i>not<\/i>, following the practice of most versions), or changing period to commas, etc., in order to make the text flow across verses.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">4) Following the previous point, standardized proper names will be used, that are the most common (e.g., \u201cZebedee\u201d rather than \u201cZebediah\u201d or \u201cZabdi\u201d: as some of the above versions render it). \u201cHoly Spirit\u201d will be used rather than \u201cHoly Ghost.\u201d I will change these in the text (but this can hardly be considered \u201ctranslating\u201d \u2013 since names often show variation).<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">5) The standard usage of \u201cLORD\u201d and \u201cGod\u201d will be followed, rather than \u201cJehovah\u201d or \u201cYahweh\u201d or other alternate renderings.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">The Authorized \/ King James Version of 1611 was translated by 47 men from the Church of England: all but one, clergymen, and most of the best biblical scholars in England. The text of the <i>Bishops\u2019 Bible<\/i> (1572) was the primary guide for the translators, and (secondarily) other approved translations: the <i>Tyndale Bible <\/i><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">(1536), <\/span><i>Coverdale Bible <\/i><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">(1535), <\/span> <i>Great Bible <\/i><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">(1539),<\/span><i><\/i> and (especially, after the <i>Bishop\u2019s Bible<\/i>), the <i>Geneva Bible<\/i> (1560).<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">In fact, the KJV Preface reveals that the translators regarded their work as a <i>revision<\/i> primarily of the <i>Bishops\u2019 Bible<\/i>, rather than a fresh translation:<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">. . . we never thought from the beginning that we should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make a bad one a good one . . . but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones one principal good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath been our endeavour, that our mark.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">The New Testament portion was also stylistically influenced to a considerable extent by the Catholic <i>Rheims New Testament<\/i>, with the demonstrable adoption even of many of the former\u2019s extensive and colorful \u201cLatinate\u201d words.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">\n<p>*<br>\nIt was revised in a \u201cCambridge edition\u201d in 1760: the culmination of twenty years of work by biblical scholar <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Francis_Sawyer_Parris\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Francis Sawyer Parris<\/a> (1707-1760), incorporating about about 24,000 changes: mostly outdated spelling and punctuation, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kjvonly.org\/robert\/joyner_obsolete_words_1.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">archaic language<\/a> (as it was regarded at that time). <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Benjamin_Blayney\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Benjamin Blayney<\/a> (1728-1801), slightly modified this 1760 version <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/King_James_Bible#Standard_text_of_1769\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">at Oxford in 1769<\/a>: the result being the standard text ever since (excepting a few more changes).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">The KJV\u2019s profound influence on English language and literature is so well-known that it hardly needs to be mentioned. <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/F._F._Bruce\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">F. F. Bruce <\/a>(1910-1990), the great biblical scholar, in his book, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/History-Bible-English-F-F-Bruce\/dp\/0195200888?tag=davearmstrongbooks-20\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><i>History of the Bible in English<\/i><\/a> (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1978, pp. 109-110), stated:<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">A study of its prose rhythms suggests that the men responsible for it (not only King James\u2019s revisers but their predecessors as far back as Tyndale) had an instinctive feeling for good style. . . Prose rhythms do not obtrude themselves on the notice of readers or hearers, but they make a powerful impression none the less. Harsh combinations of sounds or accents, on the other hand, produce a sense of distaste.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">The Rheims New Testament (1582), like all Catholic versions until the 20th century, was a translation of St. Jerome\u2019s Latin Vulgate from the 5th century, though primary translator Gregory Martin \u201cconferred\u201d with Greek manuscripts as well, and his version shows particular awareness of subtle distinctions in the Greek past tense; moreover, Bruce noted (pp. 122-123) that its treatment of the Greek definite article was \u201cmore accurate\u201d than that of the KJV. It also was influenced by the Protestant Tyndale translation and the earlier Wycliffe Bible.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">It was greatly revised by Bishop Richard Challoner in 1750; drawing considerably from KJV style, as his \u201cbase text.\u201d The result was a revised version \u2013 geared towards greater readability \u2013 that bore more similarity to the KJV than its own heavily \u201clatinate\u201d predecessor. Bruce describes a \u201cprofound influence . . . even more in the cadences of the language than in the vocabulary\u201d (p. 125).<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><i>*\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"western\"><em>Young\u2019s Literal Translation<\/em>, produced by Scottish Bible scholar Robert Young (1822-1888), fully lives up to its name. It\u2019s considered the most literal translation of the Bible available. The work was first published in 1862, but revised in 1887, in order to take into account the cutting-edge Westcott\u2013Hort Greek text.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div>In the Preface to the second edition, the translator unequivocally states:<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">This inspiration extends only to the original text, <em>as it came from the pens of the writers<\/em>, not to any translations ever made by man, however aged, venerable, or good; and only in so far as any of these adhere to the original\u2013neither adding to nor omitting from it one particle\u2013are they of any <em>real value<\/em>, for, to the extent that they vary from the original, the doctrine of verbal inspiration is lost, so far as that version is concerned.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">If a translation gives a <em>present tense<\/em><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span>when the original gives a<em> past<\/em>, or a <em>past<\/em> when it has a <em>present<\/em>; a <em>perfect\u00a0<\/em>for a <em>future<\/em>, or a <em>future<\/em> for a <em>perfect<\/em><span style=\"font-size: small;\">; <\/span>an <em>a <\/em>for a <em>the<\/em>, or a <em>the<\/em> for an <em>a<\/em>; an <em>imperative<\/em> for a <em>subjunctive<\/em>, or a <em>subjunctive<\/em> for an <em>imperative<\/em>; a <em>verb<\/em>\u00a0for a <em>noun<\/em>, or a <em>noun<\/em>\u00a0for a <em>verb<\/em>, it is clear that verbal inspiration is as much overlooked as if it had no existence. THE WORD OF GOD IS MADE VOID BY THE TRADITIONS OF MEN. [emphasis in original] . . .<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\">*<\/div>\n<div>The following translation need not, and ought not, to be considered, in any sense, as coming into competition with the Common Version, but as one to be used in connection with it, and as auxiliary to it; and not a few assurances have been received from clergymen and others that they thus use it, and find it at once interesting and profitable.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>F. F. Bruce describes it as \u201cdesigned to put the English reader as far as possible on a level with the reader of the Hebrew and Greek texts\u201d (p. 132).<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div><em>The Twentieth Century New Testament<\/em> (1904) was done by twenty British translators who weren\u2019t scholars in the field, but who knew <em>koine<\/em> Greek. These included wives of ministers, housewives, school teachers, telegraph engineers, and railroad workers. It\u2019s considered the first \u201cmodern English\u201d Bible. F. F. Bruce marvels at it:<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">How they succeeded in producing such an excellent version is difficult to understand. In later years several scholars have been glad to avail themselves of interpretations and renderings suggested by this non-specialist effort. (p. 154)<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div>The aims of the translators are made very clear in the Preface:<\/div>\n<div>*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">This translation of the New Testament is an endeavour to do for the English nation what has been done already for the people of almost all other countries to enable Englishmen to read the most important part of their Bible in that form of their own language which they themselves use. It had its origin in the recognition of the fact that the English of the Authorized Version (closely followed in that of the Revised Version), though widely valued for its antique charm, is in many passages difficult, or even quite unintelligible to the modern reader. The retention, too, of a form of English no longer in common use is liable to give the impression that the contents of the Bible have little to do with the life of today. . . .<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">We believe that the New Testament will be better understood by modern readers if presented in a modern form; and that a translation of it, which presents the original in an exalted literary and antiquated dress, cannot, despite its aroma and the tender memories that have gathered around it, really make the New Testament for the reader of to-day the living reality that it was to its first readers. . . .<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">Our constant effort, . . . has been to exclude all words and phrases not used in current English.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">By contrast, Baptist linguist and classical scholar Richard Francis Weymouth (1822-1902) was the lone translator of the<i> Modern Speech New Testament<\/i> (1903): usually known today by his name. F. F. Bruce gives his opinion of the work:<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">. . . the translator had no other object in view than the rendering of the New Testament into dignified modern English, with no theological or ecclesiastical bias . . .<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">His \u201cmodern speech\u201d is not ultra-modern; he had no objection to using archaic words provided that they were still understood at the beginning of the twentieth century. \u201cWithout at least a tinge of antiquity, it is scarcely possible that there should be that dignity of style that befits the sacred themes.\u201d . . .<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">It was a good omen that the first years of this century should see two such admirable versions of the New Testament in good twentieth-century English. (pp. 157, 160)<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">Linguist, exegete, and Church historian James Moffatt (1870-1944), a Scotsman from Glasgow, produced the final revision of his New Testament in 1922, for his <i>New Translation<\/i> of the entire Bible. He wrote in a 1926 Introduction to his work:<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">The aim I have endeavoured to keep before my mind in making this translation has been to present the books of the Old and the New Testament in effective, intelligible English. No translation of an ancient classic can be quite intelligible, it is true, unless the reader is sufficiently acquainted with its environment to understand some of its flying allusions and characteristic metaphors. But something may be done and, I am convinced, ought to be done at the present day to offer the unlearned a transcript of the Biblical literature as it lies in the light thrown upon it by modern research. The Bible is not always what it seems to those who read it in the great prose of the English version, or, indeed, in any of the conventional versions. What it is, may be partly suggested by a new rendering, such as the following pages present, that is, a fresh translation of the original, not a revision of any English version.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">And four years earlier in a Preface to his New Testament, he stated:<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">Any new translation starts under a special handicap. It appears to challenge in every line the rhythm and diction of an English classic, and this irritates many who have no knowledge of the original. The old, they say, is better. . . . But intelligibility is more than associations, and to atone in part for the loss of associations I have endeavoured to make the New Testament, especially St. Paul\u2019s epistles, as intelligible to a modern English reader as any version that is not a paraphrase can hope to make them.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">F. F. Bruce is a great admirer of Moffatt\u2019s version as well:<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">Moffatt\u2019s translation is characterized by the freedom and vigour of his idiom . . . if a translator\u2019s business is to produce on his readers the same effect as the original text produced on those who read and heard it, Moffatt succeeded wonderfully; and this is part of the secret of the popularity of his version. (pp. 167-168)<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">. . . to read through . . . a New Testament epistle in his version is one of the best ways to get a grasp of the general argument. And people who have been brought up to know and love the A.V. [KJV] from infancy should consider that much of it sounds foreign to those who have not been brought up to appreciate its wording. To such people Moffatt undoubtedly has made the Bible message intelligible . . . (p. 171)<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">\u00a0*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\"><\/div>\n<div align=\"JUSTIFY\">Moffatt makes many highly interesting observations about translation in general, and his own. In his last Preface to his complete Bible, from December 1934, he wrote:<\/div>\n<div align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">. . . any translator has a deep sense of responsibility. . . . He desires his transcript to be faithful to the meaning of the original, so far as he can reach that meaning, and also to do some justice to its literary qualities. But he is well aware that his aim often exceeds his grasp. Translation may be a fascinating task, yet no discipline is more humbling.<\/div>\n<div align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div align=\"JUSTIFY\">In the 39-page Introduction to the 1926 edition of the <em>New Translation of the Bible<\/em>, Moffatt continues his thought-provoking reflections:<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">To the best of my ability, I have tried to be exact and idiomatic. . . .<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">Gradually but steadily the English version of 1611 won the power and prestige of a classic. For one thing, it was literature, as none of its predecessors were, not even Tyndale nor the Douai version. \u201cHow real a creation,\u201d says Newman [in <em>The Idea of a University<\/em>] how <em>sui generis<\/em>, is the style of Shakespeare, or of the Protestant Bible and Prayer Book, or of Swift, or of Pope, or of Gibbon, or of Johnson! Even were the subject-matter without meaning, though in truth the style cannot really be abstracted from the sense, still the style would, on that supposition, remain as perfect and original a work as Euclid\u2019s elements or a symphony of Beethoven. And, like music, it has seized upon the public mind.\u201d Yes, the style of the English version has been creative as well as a creation. It has entered into the literature and language of the English-speaking race. For once, a committee produced a classic. . . .<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">Let the version remain an English classic. But let us be certain about the truth of what it translates. There is a truth in beauty of style, but there is a beauty in truth, and whatever we may lose in parting with an English classic, we gain more by contact with the actual meaning of the original, of which this classic seems to be not quite a perfect representation. Besides, the Bible was originally written for common people in their own language. . . .<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">The archaisms of a masterpiece in Elizabethan prose had become either unintelligible or misleading. . . .<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div align=\"JUSTIFY\">Finally, Moffatt (perhaps surprisingly for a non-Catholic scholar with a theologically liberal bent) acknowledges the high importance of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CCwQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FVulgate&amp;ei=AGSGUrrKB8fQyAGgwYDYAg&amp;usg=AFQjCNFszKXeSKdrxcncn89HndXwt9Df_g&amp;sig2=tdaOL21KKyikXLHKpVXBlA&amp;bvm=bv.56643336,d.aWc\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Latin Vulgate<\/a> as a source in translation (which ties into the fact that the Rheims version \u2013 prominent in this present work \u2013 was a translation of the Vulgate):<\/div>\n<div align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">. . . the Vulgate is important . . . as it was made before any of our extant manuscripts of the Greek New Testament, and made from materials that in some cases go back to the second century, perhaps even from some Greek manuscripts which no longer exist, it is indispensable as an aid to the task of ascertaining the original Greek text as that was read in North Africa at any rate during the second century. A translation will often show what the text of its original must have been, in a case of dispute. This Latin version of Jerome, then, along with the Syriac versions which go back to the third century at least, must be reckoned of first-rate importance.<\/div>\n<div align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div align=\"JUSTIFY\">In summary, the common thread throughout this Bible is my selection (as editor) \u2013 for individual verses \u2013 of either the KJV or Rheims or else alternate renderings from the other four versions of the New Testament listed and described above. The final product obviously reflects my taste in prose and style, but the (rather high and ambitious) goal is for it to be (hopefully) a New Testament characterized by a blending of the grandeur and majesty of both Elizabethan and Victorian prose.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">I seek to put beauty and style in the forefront, while preserving literal translations. I aim to produce (as editor) a New Testament that accurately conveys the original language, and one that is theologically orthodox and beautiful: in the 19th century English <a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">high Victorian style<\/a>, combined with unchanged beautiful, majestic <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Elizabethan_literature\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Elizabethan style<\/a>, in passages that are still able to be understood by today\u2019s readers.<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">*<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\">[Note:\u00a0 <span class=\"userContent\"><span class=\"text_exposed_show\">you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2013\/11\/victorian-king-james-version-dave-armstrong-selection-for-the-gospel-of-mark-with-source-information-for-chapters-1-4.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">read the Gospel of Mark<\/a> in a separate post, along with source analysis for chapters 1-4]. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" style=\"text-align: center;\">* * * * *<\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"western\" align=\"JUSTIFY\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Edited (\u201cSelected\u201d) by Dave Armstrong [Lulu cover design by Dave Armstrong] *** (11-15-13) *** [this Introduction runs 12 pages in the book] *** I\u2019ve often thought about (as an outgrowth of my great love for the Bible) a \u201cfresh\u201d version that would retain the grandeur and majesty of the Authorized \/ \u201cKing James\u201d Version\u2019s 1611 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":3770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,160],"tags":[1025,1024,1027,1026,656],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-and-tradition","category-books-by-dave-armstrong","tag-bible-versions","tag-book-by-dave-armstrong","tag-douay-rheims","tag-king-james-version","tag-victorian-king-james-version"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Introduction: &quot;Victorian King James Version of the New Testament&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Victorian King James Bible is a \u201cselection\u201d or collection of what I chose as the best renderings that maintained the KJV style without the archaisms.\" \/>\n<meta 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}