The definitive King James Bible.

[FrozenChocolate]

Does such a thing exist? I want a King James Bible for Christmas but don't know where to start. Do I need one with explanations for each chapter? Shall I just get anything and just read it? Do I want one with art? Looking to spend £10 ish.

i'm a former CoS atheist. The King James (VI of Scotland, I of England) version is simply one of many translations. It has beautiful language and there are many commentaries available free online if you're not comfortable with ancient English. (Most of us aren't!)

Why do you want a King James translation?

If you want 'the definitive' KJV, I would suggest you need the New Cambridge Paragraph edition. The one I saw was about £20, but there were a variety of prices depending on the binding.

I've read the introductory essay (a while ago). It has gone back to the original Hebrew and Greek documents used by the original translators, and looked at the first edition published in James's reign.

I think it argues that the printers introduced some 'corrections' just after James's reign, and that all subsequent editions have been based on the 'corrected' edition. From what I recall, there was some discussion about subtle differences (for example "MY SELF" has a slightly different meaning to "MYSELF").

I'm not sure that all of the above is THAT relevant to the average reader. But it did make a good case for being 'definitive'.

What's more important about the New Cambridge Paragraph edition is that it is not laid out in two densely-packed columns per page, as most Bibles are, but all the prose works (histories, narratives) are laid out in paragraphs, making it more 'normal' to read.

And all the songs, Psalms, and prophecies are laid out on the page like poetry.

It makes you more aware that certain parts are more metaphorical, more lyrical, more beautiful. And perhaps not necessarily to be taken literally?

I have also seen a regular (non-Cambridge) KJV (possibly called the 'Literary' edition, or something?) where there was a summary of each chapter at the beginning of each chapter.

Useful.

Well, it's just had its 400 year birthday so I guess there are historical reasons for getting one. What do you want it for? If it's for reading regularly personally I would get a slightly more modern translation.

If you want it for your bookshelf, then you don't need one with a lot of 'helps' in it.

If you want to read the bible and apply it to your life, then I would suggest a modern translation, such as NIV.

You can try out the different versions on Biblegateway.com

Hmmm. Well I suppose I want it partly as a piece of great literature, partly to read for the beauty of it, partly purely because I have never read it before, partly because it is the 400th anniversary and I have enjoyed listening to various radio programmes on it. With a modern translation, is something not a bit...lost???

I don't want to buy it and find it is so difficult I cannot get on with it, and likewise I don't want to spend money and time reading one to find that actually everyone knows that that version is a bit 'rubbish'.

The "point" of the King James Bible was to make the Bible available to everyone in language they could understand, rather than the Latin it had been published in up till then. So I don't think that sticking to the actual text of the KJV is in any way sticking to the spirit in which it was produced.

If you like it because you find it beautiful, then that's as good a reason as any to buy one, but I don't think that modern translations lose anything - they do what James was trying to do all along, make a Bible that ordinary lay-people could read and understand. One where we could hear the words in order to understand them rather than think "It sounds very traditional and beautiful, but I'll have to get someone else to explain to me what it means", which is what everyone apart from scholars had been stuck with up till then, and which needing explanations and paragraph summaries rather goes back to.

Ok, I hadn't looked at it that way but it makes a lot of sense, thanks.

Yes but some of your reasons for wanting it are in conflict with each other.

If you want it because it is a great work of literature, and because of the beauty of its phrasing, then you can only get the KJV, the one that all the 400 year anniversary programmes have been about. That is the one which has dominated the religious subconscious of the English speaking world for 400 years.

If you want a Bible for accessibility and understanding, then another translation will do. (Although the KJV isn't THAT inaccessible - it isnt like it's in medieval English or anything. But it is trickier for the average modern readr )

It's like Shakespeare vs Dickens, maybe?

I once had the whole KJV Bible on my i-pod, a download from audible.co.uk, beautifully read.

Used to listen as I cycled to work - mean to catch up in the New Year. Just love it - as a Catholic it rarely, if ever, makes an appearance in Church. I wish it did.

New King James is available. Personally, I'm not keen on it. I use the Ampilfied. You can't read it out loud, but if you want to understand the nuances of language without learning new languages, it's the best one. It gives the closest English word with extras to really describe the original word in brackets. eg:

John 3:16
Amplified Bible (AMP)
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

Would be a mouthful to read aloud, but adds a depth that I don't feel a 'normal' translation can offer.

the KJV is really not that difficult to read easier than shakespeare but harder than austen and dickens

if you want one with extra explanations, timelines , concordance ( helps you find a particular text ie if you want to find where jesus said "I am the good Shepherd" you look up shepherd and it will tell you wher it is and a whole lot of other references in OT and NT to shepherd) maps etc then a Thompson chain reference bible might help as the explanation sections are at end also has centre references so when Jesus quotes a psalm or prophecy there is a little number like they use for foot notes that tells you were the quote is from so when it says " jesus was born in Bethlehem of judea as foretold by the prophet it will give exact reference to that prophecy.

I was brought up with KJV and can quote some by heart becasue it follows as literature it is easier to learn, the church i go to uses NIV but personally I mostly use ESV and KJV

if you want a commemorative copy make sure it is well bound as cheaper hardback versions crack on spine with the thin bible paper leather bound is best as flexible will cost 20-25 for basic leather version a reference bible in leather about £40, enjoy reading it whatever you choose

and for interest the whole of the new testament is much shorter than the last Harry Potter so it is achievable to read it all in a few weeks