English

Proper noun

King James Version

1. (biblical, Christianity) A translation, published in 1611, of the Bible from the original Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) commissioned for the Church of England, which is the version most quoted and influential in English literature and English Protestant religious culture.
   • a. 1964, Henry Miller, The Books in My Life, in Henry Miller on Writing, page 125

     [...], and of course the Bible, the men who wrote it and especially the men who made the King James version, for it was the language of the Bible rather than its "message" which I got first and which I will never shake off.

   • a. 1998, Jeffrey M. Perl, Common Knowledge, quoted in front material, Homer, Robert Fagles (translator), The Ilaid, page i

     "Fagles' Homer, Sophocles, and especially Aeschylus may one day stand relation to their originals as the King James Version to Greek and Hebrew Scripture."

   • 1999, James D. Doss, The Shaman's Game, page 119

     The Catholic priest would have been surprised that the old shaman had memorized the King James version of this song.

   • 2004, R. Garcia y Robertson, Lady Robyn, page 320

     She thought for a moment, trying to remember; then she told him, "twenty-third Psalm, King James version," as best she recalled.

   • 2005, Michael Kun, You Poor Monster, page 19

     It pained him to tell the story, yet tell it he did, over and over, in the unabridged, King James version.

   • 2005, Catherine Landis, Harvest, page 54

     A Bible, King James Version. (This he stuck in his bag, because anybody who knows anything about English literature knows you can't ger away from the Bible.)

Synonyms

• King James Bible (US)
• Authorized Version (British)

Derived terms

• KJV

Translations