A Comparison of 1Corinthians 13the king james version (1611) vs. the contemporary english version (1995)

Rebecca Buckley

March 17, 2006

The King James Version (1611)background

Authorized by King James I of England in 1604

After controversy over the validity of the most popular Bibles of the time, he decided to lift the ban on translating the Bible into English to establish a single authoritative work.

Translated by a group of 54 scholars working at Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster

The King James Version (1611)things to keep in mind

While it has been modernized and is used today, the changes don’t significantly alter the 1611 text.

The translators tried to make the text authoritative and formal in tone, however they opted for common words, shying away from euphemisms.

i.e. “pisseth against the wall” found in Samuel. • Authors such as John Milton and Herman Melville

referenced the KJV in their books.• Along with the works of William Shakespeare, the KJV is

considered the epitome of Early Modern English

Morphological Differences

& Angels spake knowen shall ‘eth’ ending

Orthographic Changes

Angels u instead of v i.e.haue have

Double o in remooue e on the ending of words i replaces j in kjv i.e. reioyceth

ie instead of y

Vocabulary Differences

charity love brasse gong vaunteth not itself isn’t boastful iniquity evil glassemirror Abideth

Changes in Syntax

“I am become” “I would be nothing more than…” changing statements into questions “suffereth long” “patient” the modern translation of verse 5 changes the

phrasing at the expense of the meaning verse 7 of the KJV has a different tone than the CEV verse 9 of the KJV takes more responsibility than

the CEV