How the King James Bible was translated;The translation of the Bible is a specific case (although one of special significance) of a much more general phenomenon ; the rendering of a text originating in a different cultural context into English. In this article, we shall consider how the translation of this highly influential work was guided by the wisdom of the [...]

1. How the King James Bible was translated www.ucanews.com

2. The translation of the Bible is a specific case (although one of special significance) of a much more general phenomenon – the rendering of a text originating in a different cultural context into English.

3. In this article, we shall consider how the translation of this highly influential work was guided by the wisdom of the age, noting its impact on specific passages. I will attempt to contextualize the work of the six companies of translators

4. in the light of what we now know of late Tudor theories of translation, and to establish their role in the shaping of this classic English text.

5. The work of the King James translators must be set against the resurgence of English national pride in the Elizabethan Age, when the politics of patriotism led to a new sense of

6. confidence in the English language as a means of economic, political, religious and philosophical discourse.

7. The break with Rome under Henry VIII led to a new concentration on the promotion of English national and cultural identity, focusing on works written in English. In the

8. Middle Ages, English was widely seen as the language of peasants. The nobility spoke French (more accurately, the dialect generally known as “Anglo-Norman”), whereas the

9. academy and church used Latin. The English cultural elite regarded their native language as being incapable of expressing the deepest and most noble thoughts of humanity.

10. While resistance to the translation of the Bible into English during the fourteenth century was largely due to political concerns, a deeper ideological conviction gave it added

11. weight. How could such a primitive language as English capture the theological and spiritual profundities of the Bible?

12. By the middle of the sixteenth century, such views were in full retreat. A surge in English national pride was mirrored in the growing use of English as a medium of communication

13. at every level. Furthermore, Protestantism’s distinctive emphasis upon the religious priority of the vernacular led to the Bible appearing in English – initially against the will of

14. both church and crown, and subsequently with their reluctant support (although in suitably adapted forms).

15. - Alister McGrath The King James Bible and late Tudor translation theories(ABC Religion and Ethics)

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