The Authorised King James Bible was published in 1611 during the Early Modern English period. I will compare this earlier version of the Bible with other, more modern versions, looking in particular at Psalm 18 which is a passage taken from the 19th book of the Old Testament. I will be using the Darby Translation 1884, the Good News Bible 1966 and the English Standard Version 2001 to follow language changes throughout this time spanning just a decade shy of 400 years. The English used in the Authorised King James version of the Bible is widely archaic- particular aspects of the passage could, arguably, be described as obsolete. Whilst the overall, broad meaning of the passage remains fairly constant from the Early Modern English period through to this century’s Present Day English, multiple linguistic aspects, e.g. lexis, syntax, pragmatics, demonstrate finer linguistic changes that have taken place throughout the development of English.
Around the middle of the 18th Century Standardisation began to occur in English, with the influence of the Printing Press, invented in the 15th Century, forcing some kind of spelling and punctuation standard to be set and followed in order for universal comprehension and consistency (Lennon, 2019). Before this, spelling and punctuation use was much more varied and freer, with less emphasis on comprehension and aiding meaning, but instead different punctuation marks were mostly used to indicate pause length (Timms and Timms, 2016). The AKJV was published over a century before Standardisation therefore the punctuation and spelling used in this passage is arguably more stylistic than technical and functions as an indication of how the passage should be spoken. There are several uses of the colon, which in the 1600’s suggested a pause longer than that represented by a comma, but less than that of a full stop. ‘The sorrows of death compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me (line 9-10) ’, ‘He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet’ (line 20-21) ‘They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay’ (line 43-44). Interestingly, the Darby Translation- even though published after the process of standardisation- is similar in its use of punctuation showing several uses of the colon. However, the semi-colon and colon seem almost interchangeable with these two versions of the passage using a variety of both in similar positions. For example, the AKJV uses a colon in the sentence ‘And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yeah, he did fly upon the wings of the wind ‘ (line 22-23) whereas the DT uses a semi-colon in this position- ‘And he rode upon a cherub and did fly; yeah, he flew fast upon the wings of the wind’ (line 12). This also occurs vice versa- the AKJV uses a semi-colon in this clause ‘…and the highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire’ (line 30-31) where the DT uses a colon- ‘…and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire’ (line 15). Commas are also used in places were the other Modern English text uses a semi-colon, which suggests that the reason behind using these punctuation marks is likely stylistic, and for poetic purpose.
In terms of syntax, the AKJV shows a couple of examples of verb-subject clausal structure- ‘shall I’ (line 6) and ‘coals were kindled by it’ (line 19). These demonstrate the verb (carried out by the subject) placed word initially (shall, kindled), followed by the subject of the clause (I, it). This is also found in the Darby Translation in the same verse- ‘so shall I be saved…’(line 4). Similarly in verse 8 the clause ‘coals burned forth from it’(line 10) shows an object-verb-subject structure in that the object (coals) precedes the verb (burned) and subject (it), with the subject in word final position. However, in both the Good News Bible and the English Standard Version this clausal structure is not evident, instead the subject-verb-object form is evident- ‘he saves me from my enemies’ (GNB line 10) and ‘I am saved from my enemies’ (ESV line 8). Middle English clausal structures were more flexible than the fairly set, Present Day English SVO structure (Nativlang.com, 2020). It would not be unusual for an object to be placed before the verb. Therefore, this alternate clause structure has likely been carried through from Old and Middle English to these Early and Late Modern English Translations of the Bible.
Another syntactical difference between the AKJV and the Darby Translation is the use of which versus that. The syntax of the 1600’s was much freer, (Merriam-webster.com, 2020) therefore the syntax used in a text was likely to be very much influenced by the writer’s own grammatical judgement (before the process of Standardisation). The AKJV uses which in the clause ‘…from them which hated me’ (line 41) where the DT uses that in the same verse ‘…from them that hated me’ (line 20). In the 1600s the usage of that started to decline, but eventually came back into play (Merriam-webster.com, 2020). Due to the process of Standardisation, that became the pronoun most commonly used for restrictive clauses, and which tended to be most present in non-restrictive clauses. ‘Which hated me’ is a restrictive clause, which explains why by the late 18th Century the Darby Translation has written this clause ‘that hated me’. Both the GNB and the ESV have the identical clause ‘those who hated me’ with the relative pronoun who now replacing both that and which. Furthermore, the use of the collective pronoun them in the DT is archaic in terms of grammar, as them tends to be used when referring back to a noun that has previously been mentioned (rather than a new noun phrase). It has been replaced in the Good News Bible and the English Standard Version with the demonstrative pronoun those.
Lexically speaking, and in terms of archaisms, the use of pronouns is a notable difference across the translations. The AKJV and the DT both use the second person singular pronoun thee in objective position, for example in the opening line of the passage ‘I will love thee, O Lord, my strength’ (line 1 AKJV), ‘I will love thee, O Jehovah , my strength’ (line 1 DT). By the 17th century you was being used as the polite second person singular pronoun and by the 18th century you was being used in all contexts as the second person pronoun (Dury, 2000). Although this pronoun had begun to drop out of usage in the 1700s, which is reflected in the two later versions of the Bible, the Darby Translation published in 1884 refused to replace thee at the beginning of this passage. This might possibly have been a poetic choice to preserve the historic form of the pronoun, as the Psalms were originally written as poetry and songs, or possibly a respectful choice as both thee may still have been being used in the church with reference to God. Whereas, by the time of the Good News Bible in 1966 this pronoun is no longer being preserved but replaced by the second person singular pronoun you.
It is apparent in the AKJV that mine- used in Present Day English as the first person singular possessive pronoun- is being used as a variant form of the determiner my. In Early Modern English this form was used similarly to the indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’, where a noun beginning with a vowel requires the article ‘an’ rather than simply ‘a’ used with consonant-beginning nouns (Tobias, 2012). ‘So shall I be saved from mine enemies’ (line 6) demonstrates mine being used with a vowel-beginning noun, along with the noun phrases ‘my rock’, ‘my fortress’ and ‘my deliverer’ (line 2) using my as these nouns are begin with a consonant. The Darby Translation uses it in the same way, whereas the Good News Bible and the English Standard Version use only my where a first person singular determiner is needed, regardless of whether a vowel or consonant follows. For example in verse 3 the GNB says ‘…he saves me from my enemies’ (line 10) and the ESV says ‘…I am saved from my enemies’ (line 8).
Furthermore, there is a difference in noun choice throughout the translations. One being the replacement of the archaic noun buckler. The latter three translations use the noun shield in verse 2, where the AKJV uses buckler. Buckler is a loanword from Old French, and is defined as ‘A small round shield’ and figuratively ‘A means of defense; protection, protector’ (Oed.com, 2020). Both senses of the word were last documented in the later half of the 1800s. The Darby Translation written in the 1880s has replaced this noun with shield, which has been sustained up to Present Day English, with the English Standard Version written in the 20th Century using the noun phrase ‘my shield’. Also, the AKJV and DT use the adjective wroth in verse 7- ‘…he was wroth’ (AKJV line 16, DT line 9). Wroth is defined as ‘Stirred to wrath; moved or exasperated to ire or indignation; very angry or indignant; wrathful, incensed, irate’ with the last written record being dated at 1776 (Oed.com, 2020). The GNB and ESV have updated their choice of adjective to angry- ‘…he was angry’ (ESV line 19), ‘…God was angry’ (GNB line 25), a close synonym to the archaic adjective wrath.
In conclusion, modern translations differ from the Authorised King James Version in terms of punctuation, syntax and lexis. The Darby Translation shares most similarities as it was written within the Modern English period. As the GNB and ESV were both published within the last century, these differ most from the AKJV. The Authorised version is still very much understandable yet it seems that archaisms- hardly existent in 21st English texts- are sprinkled throughout.
Psalm 18 Authorised King James Version (1611- Early Modern)
1) [I] will love thee, O Lord, my strength. 2) [2] The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 3) my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; 4) my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 5) [3] I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: 6) so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
7) [4] The sorrows of death compassed me, 8) and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 9) [5] The sorrows of hell compassed me about: 10) the snares of death prevented me. 11) [6] In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: 12) he heard my voice out of his temple, 13) and my cry came before him, even into his ears. 14) [7] Then the earth shook and trembled; 15) the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, 16) because he was wroth. 17) [8] There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, 18) and fire out of his mouth devoured: 19) coals were kindled by it. 20) [9] He bowed the heavens also, and came down: 21) and darkness was under his feet. 22) [10] And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: 23) yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 24) [11] He made darkness his secret place;
25) his pavilion round about him were dark waters 26) and thick clouds of the skies. 27) [12] At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, 28) hail stones and coals of fire. 29) [13] The Lord also thundered in the heavens, 30) and the Highest gave his voice; 31) hail stones and coals of fire. 32) [14] Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; 33) and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. 34) [15] Then the channels of waters were seen, 35) and the foundations of the world were discovered 36) at thy rebuke, O Lord, 37) at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. 38) [16] He sent from above, he took me, 39) he drew me out of many waters. 40) [17] He delivered me from my strong enemy, 41) and from them which hated me: 42) for they were too strong for me.
43) [18] They prevented me in the day of my calamity: 44) but the Lord was my stay. 45) [19] He brought me forth also into a large place; 46) he delivered me, because he delighted in me. Darby Translation (1884- Late Modern) 1) [1] I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength. 2) [2] Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield, and 3) the horn of my salvation, my high tower. 4) [3] I will call upon Jehovah, who is to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 5) [4] The bands of death encompassed me, and torrents of Belial made me afraid. 6) [5] The bands of Sheol surrounded me, the cords of death encountered me. 7) [6] In my distress I called upon Jehovah, and I cried out to my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my 8) cry came before him, into his ears. 9) [7] Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and shook, because he 10) was wroth. 11) [8] There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals burned forth from it.
12) [9] And he bowed the heavens, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. 13) [10] And he rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, he flew fast upon the wings of the wind. 14) [11] He made darkness his secret place, his tent round about him: darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 15) [12] From the brightness before him his thick clouds passed forth: hail and coals of fire. 16) [13] And Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire. 17) [14] And he sent his arrows, and scattered [mine enemies]; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them. 18) [15] And the beds of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at thy rebuke, 19) Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. 20) [16] He reached forth from above, he took me, he drew me out of great waters: 21) [17] He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me; for they were mightier than I. 22) [18] They encountered me in the day of my calamity, but Jehovah was my stay. 23) [19] And he brought me forth into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. Good News Bible (1966- Present Day)
1) [1] How I love you, LORD! 2) You are my defender. 3) [2] The LORD is my protector; 4) he is my strong fortress. 5) My God is my protection, 6) and with him I am safe. 7) He protects me like a shield; 8) he defends me and keeps me safe. 9) [3] I call to the LORD, 10) and he saves me from my enemies. 11) Praise the LORD! 12) [4] The danger of death was all round me; 13) the waves of destruction rolled over me. 14) [5] The danger of death was round me, 15) and the grave set its trap for me. 16) [6] In my trouble I called to the LORD; 17) I called to my God for help. 18) In his temple he heard my voice;
19) he listened to my cry for help. 20) [7] Then the earth trembled and shook; 21) the foundations of the mountains rocked and quivered, 22) because God was angry. 23) [8] Smoke poured out of his nostrils, 24) a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 25) [9] He tore the sky apart and came down 26) with a dark cloud under his feet. 27) [10] He flew swiftly on a winged creature; 28) he travelled on the wings of the wind. 29) [11] He covered himself with darkness; 30) thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him. 31) [12] Hailstones and flashes of fire 32) came from the lightning before him 33) and broke through the dark clouds. 34) [13] Then the LORD thundered from the sky; 35) and the voice of the Most High was heard. 36) [14] He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
37) with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 38) [15] The floor of the ocean was laid bare, 39) and the foundations of the earth were uncovered, 40) when you rebuked your enemies, LORD, 41) and roared at them in anger. 42) [16] The LORD reached down from above and took hold of me; 43) he pulled me out of the deep waters. 44) [17] He rescued me from my powerful enemies 45) and from all those who hate me — 46) they were too strong for me. 47) [18] When I was in trouble, they attacked me, 48) but the LORD protected me. 49) [19] He helped me out of danger; 50) he saved me because he was pleased with me. English Standard Version (2001- Present Day) 1) [1] I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2) [2] The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
3) my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, 4) my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 5) [3] I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, 6) and I am saved from my enemies. 7) [4] The cords of death encompassed me; 8) the torrents of destruction assailed me;[a] 9) [5] the cords of Sheol entangled me; 10) the snares of death confronted me. 11) [6] In my distress I called upon the Lord; 12) to my God I cried for help. 13)From his temple he heard my voice, 14) and my cry to him reached his ears. 15) [7] Then the earth reeled and rocked; 16) the foundations also of the mountains trembled 17) and quaked, because he was angry. 18) [8] Smoke went up from his nostrils,[b] 19) and devouring fire from his mouth; 20) glowing coals flamed forth from him.
21) [9] He bowed the heavens and came down; 22) thick darkness was under his feet. 23) [10] He rode on a cherub and flew; 24) he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 25) [11] He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, 26) thick clouds dark with water. 27) [12] Out of the brightness before him 28) hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. 29) [13] The Lord also thundered in the heavens, 30) and the Most High uttered his voice, 31) hailstones and coals of fire. 32) [14] And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; 33) he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. 34) [15] Then the channels of the sea were seen, 35) and the foundations of the world were laid bare 36) at your rebuke, O Lord, 37) at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. 38) [16] He sent from on high, he took me;
39) he drew me out of many waters.
40) [17] He rescued me from my strong enemy
41) and from those who hated me,
42) for they were too mighty for me.
43) [18] They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
44) but the Lord was my support.
45) [19] He brought me out into a broad place;
46) he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
References:
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Merriam-webster.com. (2020). 'That' vs. 'Which'. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/when-to-use-that-and-which [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020].
Nativlang.com. (2020). Learn Middle English online - a brief grammar of Chaucer's English (Basic Middle English lessons). [online] Available at: http://www.nativlang.com/middle-english/middle-english-grammar.php [Accessed 7 Jan. 2020].
Oed.com. (2020). buckler, n.2 : Oxford English Dictionary. [online] Available at: https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/24192?rskey=naxUkH&result=2&isAdvanced=false#eid [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020]. Oed.com. (2020). Wrath, adj: Oxford English Dictionary. [online] Available at: https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/230839?rskey=QJ4EU6&result=3#eid [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020]
Timms, A. (2016). A history of punctuation in English | Unravel Magazine. [online] Unravel. Available at: https://unravellingmag.com/articles/history-punctuation-english/ [Accessed 7 Jan. 2020].
Tobias, D. (2012). Archaic English Grammar -- dan.tobias.name. [online] Dan.tobias.name. Available at: https://dan.tobias.name/frivolity/archaic-grammar.html [Accessed 7 Jan. 2020].
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