I’ve been pleasantly surprised in my cover-to-cover reading by just how enjoyable the Bible is. Something about the rhythm and repetition is very appealing. For the record, I’m an atheist.
As a believer, I loved your heartfelt discourse on the beauty and importance of the King James Bible. I am a reader of the ESV, but am going to order a copy of this Penguin KJV to immerse myself in its language. Thank you sincerely for this video!
Read this book as part of your Western Canon Starter kit last year and it’s hands down my favorite book, and mind you I’m an atheist. Nothing better than the back half of the KJ Old Testament-you can spend your whole life gazing into that abyss.
I'm an atheist too, and have read most of the Bible. (Clearly more than most Christians). It's a hugely important, influential, collection of documents that are central to Western civilization. Of course, it's not sacred, it's not holy, it's not the "word" of some god thing; it's a fascinating insight into ancient belief and how religions develop, as well as history and poetry. Though the King James is not my favourite version, it's sometimes gorgeous, linguistically. There's also a lot of lunacy in there, naturally; bizarre stuff and brutal laws. You can see how women, gays, and ethnic minorities have been oppressed by men who followed this book. But a hugely important group of documents. Read it - critically.
Yes, I agree! 😊 1. From a purely literary perspective, the King James Bible is unsurpassed as a work of art in Bible translation. Literary scholars like Robert Alter, Harold Bloom, and Leland Ryken have said as much. I think the modern Bible translation that comes closest to the literary beauty of the KJV is Alter's Hebrew Bible, but of course it doesn't have the New Testament. Also, the NEB/REB comes close here and there (e.g. if I recall men of letters like TS Eliot, JRR Tolkien, and CS Lewis were some of the literary consultants on the NEB), but ultimately it falls short to my ears. And it's worth mentioning the RSV and now the ESV which revises the RSV. The ESV has an understated beauty. Doubtless in large part because it's in the lineal heritage of the Tyndale -KJV tradition and more to the point because it's quite arguably the truest heir to said tradition. 2. Ironically, the literary beauty of the KJV is superior to the (koine) Greek of the New Testament. In general, the NT's Greek is very prosaic. There might be a couple of exceptions like the Epistle to the Hebrews and the prologue of Luke-Acts, but by and large this holds true. The NT is far closer to workaday Greek than the literary Greek of, say, Homer or Thuycidides or the like. Even though the most educated and literary in the first century (eastern) Roman empire could and did write at a higher register in Greek. Yet the English of the KJV is written in a high register, unlike the generally low register of the Greek NT, which is the main reason why I say the English of the KJV NT is superior to the Greek of the NT. 3. I like the Penguin edition of the KJV better than the Oxford World's Classics too. One reason for this is the Oxford uses double columns, whereas the Penguin uses single column if I remember correctly. Perhaps double columns made sense in the past due to factors like the expense of paper and the printing process in general, but today this is no longer true. Moreover I find double columns to be aesthetically ungainly in comparison to single column. That said, I don't have the Penguin KJV with me now, so perhaps I'm misremembering that it's single column. If so, then I might be confusing it with the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible edition of the KJV edited by David Norton - which by the way is one of my favorite editions of the KJV. The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible is definitely single column. And it's such a beautiful and relatively affordable edition of the KJV as well. Edit. Fixed some words that autocorrect ironically made incorrect.
Got a killer deal on this book. $13 and a few cents for a copy in VERY good condition. No spine damage, nor any marred pages. Everything's intact. Can't wait for its arrival in the mail!
This was a fascinating perspective! I didn't know much about this translation, and the translations I study are definitely newer. I need to pay this one more attention. Thanks!
Looking at the date of this video, you put this great review on CZcams on the very same day I discovered this book existed by browsing through a book shop’s website. I love Penguin Classics books, and this, once bought as I do not yet own it quite yet, may very well become my favourite book. Never owned or read a King James Bible before, so looking forward to it!
Just as way of update, I now own two copies(!), a second had one for note taking, studying and scribbling stuff in and a pristine one too. Amazing stuff.
The blind spot in the March of Penguins has been filled in! Your reviews are always great, but your emphasis on the scholarship and thought behind the creation of this translation is fantastic. It’s almost a miracle that the King James committee could come to one mind on the English for this masterpiece.
Hi Steve, I’m wondering if you are able to enlighten us on any differences between the Penguin and the Oxford King James Bible. Which should I buy? Thanks :)
Probably a matter of economics. Few books of are of universal interest to both Americans and Europeans, conservatives and progressives, fundamentalists and devote atheists, English speakers of all stripes. You're ensured of a built-in audience. I've gone (unfortunately) my whole life with only a cursory, sidelong interest in the ancient historians; only now has my interest been awoken and the desire to delve into the likes of Tacitus and Livy come to life.
Just recently picked up a copy of the OWC version with Apocrypha, and now debating finally giving it a go. I might end up starting with the sections reccommended from your Western Canon videos, but then return to the rest later. Or who knows, I might just do the whole thing at once.
Thank you for this video. Sometimes I’m surprised by how heavy its influence has been down the centuries. I’ve not read every single word, but I have read the entire New Testament and huge chunks of the Old Testament, some of it too many times to remember. And still-still-I’m taken aback when I find yet another reference in literature.
I'm sure we should all need to be punished so. :-) Not sure one can come to BookTube and then complain when people are opinionated, precise, and cutting. After all, we're discussing books here, not the nuances of flan!
What the excellent reviewer failed to mention is that the Penguin Bible is far superior to the Oxford. With Penguin, you're getting the Cambridge Paragraph Bible (the reviewer DID mention Cambridge so he's got a great memory) in paperback form. This was a complete overhaul of the King James Version by scholar David Norton. He cast the text into paragraphs, standardized modern spelling, and added quotation marks, all of which is hugely clarifying. His notes and introduction are superb. The Apocryphal books are included. If you encounter instances where archaic words or grammar make the text difficult, I suggest pulling up the New King James Version somewhere like Bible Gateway. The New King James made minimal changes to bring the King James up to modern English usage.
The KJB is something of a miracle, in a purely metaphorical sense. How a committee of scholars arrived at an accessible work in such poetic language out of the a mishmash of source material is a mystery to me.
I know at some point you wrote down the 'important' books of the bible to read it as literature but I can't recall how you title the video to try and find that list. Do you think you could make your suggestions again?
I'd have to go back and watch them, but I seem to remember the list among these?? czcams.com/video/WVL3rKcv0HQ/video.html czcams.com/video/0EakB48vyqI/video.html
Actually, I found it. Here it is, cued up: czcams.com/video/WVL3rKcv0HQ/video.html Both of the videos listed above are of course worth (re-)watching in full.
I am a KJV Christian (Lutheran by denomination). I know many of the modern attempts to produce newer BIbles, but most of them will be dustbin material after a few decades (as some have been already). The scholarship and stupendous beauty of the K.J.V. simply blow away the competition. A few Bibles, not least due to some degree of literary value (Knox, Moffatt, R.S.V.-C.E.2) have remained alive and used, but most of the many translations fall into disuse and deserve that fate. The major rival to the K.J.V. still is the lovely Douay-Rheims-Challoner Roman Catholic Bible, which is enjoying a revival lof interest in it. It can help now and then to consult renderings in modern versions, but their value, even in that regard, is pretty minimal. I'll go to the grave using the K.J.V. Bible.
Could you describe the comfort you said you receive from this book? I know you are an atheist, so I'm confusedly trying to square that particular circle. I've just finished "Ken's Guide to the Bible" by Ken Smith, which seems like the sanest perspective I've ever seen on the Bible, King James or otherwise. No logic or sense can be found as a throughline in the text. It is a mishmash of books pieced together by the thinnest of threads. So is it just the beauty of the language to which you respond? This one has me scratching my head.
@@burntgod7165 Yes. I agree. I see being bowled over by it from a literary standpoint. But he used 'comfort'. I believe more than once. I wonder what he mean by that.
Neither one of you know what your talking about, And reading Kens Guide is not even close to a guide to the Bible or a whole perspective on it. Most of the books of the Bible are complete books, There are some things pieced together way back in Genesis which came from multiple sources and was put together as best they could to make a whole account of the writings of the time. You should read Who wrote the Bible? by Richard Friedman.
@@ryandonagan2628 Please. I've been partnered with organizations wholly involved with the Bible nearly all my adult life. The book is a mess. The only way of defending the text as being logical or even coherent is to twist yourself into mental knots. My question is how Steve is both comforted by the Bible and also an atheist.
@@ryandonagan2628 Have done. Friedman is great. I recommend. It's scholarly and accesible. I do know what I'm talking about. Anyone who doesn't read the Bible critically, they're the ones who don't know what they are talking about. It's human documents full of human flaws and stupidity, but also human creativity.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised in my cover-to-cover reading by just how enjoyable the Bible is. Something about the rhythm and repetition is very appealing. For the record, I’m an atheist.
Yes. As poetry, the KJB is transcendent. It's time we take back this book and place it alongside Homer and Dante where it belongs.
As a believer, I loved your heartfelt discourse on the beauty and importance of the King James Bible. I am a reader of the ESV, but am going to order a copy of this Penguin KJV to immerse myself in its language. Thank you sincerely for this video!
Read this book as part of your Western Canon Starter kit last year and it’s hands down my favorite book, and mind you I’m an atheist. Nothing better than the back half of the KJ Old Testament-you can spend your whole life gazing into that abyss.
I'm an atheist too, and have read most of the Bible. (Clearly more than most Christians). It's a hugely important, influential, collection of documents that are central to Western civilization. Of course, it's not sacred, it's not holy, it's not the "word" of some god thing; it's a fascinating insight into ancient belief and how religions develop, as well as history and poetry. Though the King James is not my favourite version, it's sometimes gorgeous, linguistically. There's also a lot of lunacy in there, naturally; bizarre stuff and brutal laws. You can see how women, gays, and ethnic minorities have been oppressed by men who followed this book. But a hugely important group of documents. Read it - critically.
I’m an atheist who enjoys reading the bible for literary reasons too. I wonder if there’s many of us.
Yes, I agree! 😊
1. From a purely literary perspective, the King James Bible is unsurpassed as a work of art in Bible translation. Literary scholars like Robert Alter, Harold Bloom, and Leland Ryken have said as much. I think the modern Bible translation that comes closest to the literary beauty of the KJV is Alter's Hebrew Bible, but of course it doesn't have the New Testament. Also, the NEB/REB comes close here and there (e.g. if I recall men of letters like TS Eliot, JRR Tolkien, and CS Lewis were some of the literary consultants on the NEB), but ultimately it falls short to my ears. And it's worth mentioning the RSV and now the ESV which revises the RSV. The ESV has an understated beauty. Doubtless in large part because it's in the lineal heritage of the Tyndale -KJV tradition and more to the point because it's quite arguably the truest heir to said tradition.
2. Ironically, the literary beauty of the KJV is superior to the (koine) Greek of the New Testament. In general, the NT's Greek is very prosaic. There might be a couple of exceptions like the Epistle to the Hebrews and the prologue of Luke-Acts, but by and large this holds true. The NT is far closer to workaday Greek than the literary Greek of, say, Homer or Thuycidides or the like. Even though the most educated and literary in the first century (eastern) Roman empire could and did write at a higher register in Greek. Yet the English of the KJV is written in a high register, unlike the generally low register of the Greek NT, which is the main reason why I say the English of the KJV NT is superior to the Greek of the NT.
3. I like the Penguin edition of the KJV better than the Oxford World's Classics too. One reason for this is the Oxford uses double columns, whereas the Penguin uses single column if I remember correctly. Perhaps double columns made sense in the past due to factors like the expense of paper and the printing process in general, but today this is no longer true. Moreover I find double columns to be aesthetically ungainly in comparison to single column. That said, I don't have the Penguin KJV with me now, so perhaps I'm misremembering that it's single column. If so, then I might be confusing it with the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible edition of the KJV edited by David Norton - which by the way is one of my favorite editions of the KJV. The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible is definitely single column. And it's such a beautiful and relatively affordable edition of the KJV as well.
Edit. Fixed some words that autocorrect ironically made incorrect.
Got a killer deal on this book. $13 and a few cents for a copy in VERY good condition. No spine damage, nor any marred pages. Everything's intact. Can't wait for its arrival in the mail!
The Oxford's Classic edition with Apocrypha is also wonderful.
I really want the oxford's classic version. Seems very compact and complete.
@@leafyconcern what's the difference between the two?
@@kitoken368the Oxford is more scholarly in its annotations, but in my opinion the Penguin is much more readable in it’s format
This was a fascinating perspective! I didn't know much about this translation, and the translations I study are definitely newer. I need to pay this one more attention. Thanks!
Looking at the date of this video, you put this great review on CZcams on the very same day I discovered this book existed by browsing through a book shop’s website. I love Penguin Classics books, and this, once bought as I do not yet own it quite yet, may very well become my favourite book. Never owned or read a King James Bible before, so looking forward to it!
Just as way of update, I now own two copies(!), a second had one for note taking, studying and scribbling stuff in and a pristine one too. Amazing stuff.
The blind spot in the March of Penguins has been filled in!
Your reviews are always great, but your emphasis on the scholarship and thought behind the creation of this translation is fantastic. It’s almost a miracle that the King James committee could come to one mind on the English for this masterpiece.
Even as an agnostic I find the language of the King James truly beautiful.
The King James Bible and the works of Shakespeare were huge influences on Abraham Lincoln's prose style.
Those were the only books that he (and many others, especially on the frontier) had at home when growing up.
Didn’t know this existed. Will have to check this out further
Immensely informative, engaging and genuinely appreciated. Subscribed!
Hi Steve, I’m wondering if you are able to enlighten us on any differences between the Penguin and the Oxford King James Bible. Which should I buy? Thanks :)
Penguin can publish both the OT and the NT in one volume, but no complete works of Plutarch or Livy in one volume?
Probably a matter of economics. Few books of are of universal interest to both Americans and Europeans, conservatives and progressives, fundamentalists and devote atheists, English speakers of all stripes. You're ensured of a built-in audience. I've gone (unfortunately) my whole life with only a cursory, sidelong interest in the ancient historians; only now has my interest been awoken and the desire to delve into the likes of Tacitus and Livy come to life.
Just recently picked up a copy of the OWC version with Apocrypha, and now debating finally giving it a go. I might end up starting with the sections reccommended from your Western Canon videos, but then return to the rest later. Or who knows, I might just do the whole thing at once.
Thank you for this video. Sometimes I’m surprised by how heavy its influence has been down the centuries. I’ve not read every single word, but I have read the entire New Testament and huge chunks of the Old Testament, some of it too many times to remember. And still-still-I’m taken aback when I find yet another reference in literature.
Great video.
I loved the cover❤
Its cover is amazing and unique unlike other covers. 🥰 I love it.
For a moment here I thought that I was being punished for having big mouth and no manners:)))
I'm sure we should all need to be punished so. :-) Not sure one can come to BookTube and then complain when people are opinionated, precise, and cutting. After all, we're discussing books here, not the nuances of flan!
What the excellent reviewer failed to mention is that the Penguin Bible is far superior to the Oxford. With Penguin, you're getting the Cambridge Paragraph Bible (the reviewer DID mention Cambridge so he's got a great memory) in paperback form. This was a complete overhaul of the King James Version by scholar David Norton. He cast the text into paragraphs, standardized modern spelling, and added quotation marks, all of which is hugely clarifying. His notes and introduction are superb. The Apocryphal books are included. If you encounter instances where archaic words or grammar make the text difficult, I suggest pulling up the New King James Version somewhere like Bible Gateway. The New King James made minimal changes to bring the King James up to modern English usage.
Which study bible do you recommend. Can you make a video about it, please?
The KJB is something of a miracle, in a purely metaphorical sense. How a committee of scholars arrived at an accessible work in such poetic language out of the a mishmash of source material is a mystery to me.
I know at some point you wrote down the 'important' books of the bible to read it as literature but I can't recall how you title the video to try and find that list. Do you think you could make your suggestions again?
I'd have to go back and watch them, but I seem to remember the list among these??
czcams.com/video/WVL3rKcv0HQ/video.html
czcams.com/video/0EakB48vyqI/video.html
Actually, I found it. Here it is, cued up: czcams.com/video/WVL3rKcv0HQ/video.html
Both of the videos listed above are of course worth (re-)watching in full.
What are your thoughts on the 2 volume Norton Critical Editions Bible?
It's incredibly good!
Just looked at the price on Amazon and they got your blurb there right next to a quote by some nobody named Harold Bloom.
With so many scholars in the room, it probably left some schisms amongst the group.
I am a KJV Christian (Lutheran by denomination). I know many of the modern attempts to produce newer BIbles, but most of them will be dustbin material after a few decades (as some have been already). The scholarship and stupendous beauty of the K.J.V. simply blow away the competition. A few Bibles, not least due to some degree of literary value (Knox, Moffatt, R.S.V.-C.E.2) have remained alive and used, but most of the many translations fall into disuse and deserve that fate. The major rival to the K.J.V. still is the lovely Douay-Rheims-Challoner Roman Catholic Bible, which is enjoying a revival lof interest in it. It can help now and then to consult renderings in modern versions, but their value, even in that regard, is pretty minimal. I'll go to the grave using the K.J.V. Bible.
I know parts of this bible but I’ve never read it at all. I read a different edition. I can’t remember which one.
To see some of the inside of this bible copy-paste on CZcams:
"Penguin Paperback KJV with Apocrypha"
Could you describe the comfort you said you receive from this book? I know you are an atheist, so I'm confusedly trying to square that particular circle. I've just finished "Ken's Guide to the Bible" by Ken Smith, which seems like the sanest perspective I've ever seen on the Bible, King James or otherwise. No logic or sense can be found as a throughline in the text. It is a mishmash of books pieced together by the thinnest of threads. So is it just the beauty of the language to which you respond? This one has me scratching my head.
Good question. I'm an atheist. Narratively and logically it's ridiculous. Linguistically it's remarkable; beautiful.
@@burntgod7165 Yes. I agree. I see being bowled over by it from a literary standpoint. But he used 'comfort'. I believe more than once. I wonder what he mean by that.
Neither one of you know what your talking about, And reading Kens Guide is not even close to a guide to the Bible or a whole perspective on it. Most of the books of the Bible are complete books, There are some things pieced together way back in Genesis which came from multiple sources and was put together as best they could to make a whole account of the writings of the time. You should read Who wrote the Bible? by Richard Friedman.
@@ryandonagan2628 Please. I've been partnered with organizations wholly involved with the Bible nearly all my adult life. The book is a mess. The only way of defending the text as being logical or even coherent is to twist yourself into mental knots. My question is how Steve is both comforted by the Bible and also an atheist.
@@ryandonagan2628 Have done. Friedman is great. I recommend. It's scholarly and accesible. I do know what I'm talking about. Anyone who doesn't read the Bible critically, they're the ones who don't know what they are talking about. It's human documents full of human flaws and stupidity, but also human creativity.