Are you people stupid or just can't read?

Question

I just asked the question why the Old and New Testaments in the KING JAMES VERSION were written in different styles of ENGLISH. I also asked if THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE, KING JAMES VERSION, WRITTEN IN ENGLISH AND COMMISIONED BY THE KING OF ENGLAND WHOSE NAME WAS JAMES AND LIVED MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS AFTER JESUS was written IN ENGLISH all at once, both Testaments, that is.

I was not asking about the history of the HEBREW VERSION, WRITTEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS BFORE JESUS versus the GOSPELS WRITTEN IN GREEK OR ARAMEIC OR WHATEVER, WRITTEN AFTER THE DEATH OF JESUS.

Every answerer so far has not even UNDERSTOOD what I was asking, let alone given a coherent answer.

Is the question that hard? I thought I wrote it in ENGLISH. Let's try again.

Why is the Old Testament written in OLDE ENGLISH and the New Testament not written in Olde English? The operative word being ENGLISH.

Answer 1

I hate to request this, but please humor me, and provide two examples to support your observation(an olde testament verse/old English, and a new testament verse/not in olde English.
Seriously, I'm not just wasting time, I want to see examples of your point, so I can answer intelligently.

Answer 2

I'll give it a shot, although I can't claim to be an expert on the King James Version, but I do know quite a bit about the literature and language of the period in which it was written.

The English of it is actually Early Modern English (mid-1400s to about 1650), as Old English had pretty much ended by 1200. The KJV, as it's called deliberately uses archaic words, structures and phrases that were not common even when it was published, to achieve an older and poetic effect. It's much like the "high poetry" of the time in order to keep the subject matter elevated. The translators were deliberately aiming for a lofty style.

It's like looking at a legal document written today -- a legal pleading in court or a piece of legislation -- they style of the writing is unlike other writing. It is supposed to be of a "higher order" to signal the importance of the subject matter.

The differences in style from Old to New Testament are probably a reflection of wanting to make the Old Testament even loftier than the New. Most of the New Testament was translated by the Second Oxford Company,(the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation) and so, would have a lot in common. The Epistles, however, were translated by the Second Westminster Company and are stylistically different from the rest of the New Testament.

The translation was begun in 1601 and published in 1611.

Scholars who regularly work with the Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew versions and languages look on the King James Version as a questionable translation of the material, and see its chief interest as one of the poetry involved and not accuracy of the words or concepts.

Extra Background:
Although there were 54 scholars who worked on the translation, using the Greek and Hebrew texts. However, at least 80% of the King James New Testament is unaltered from a translation done by William Tyndale, which began to be published in 1525.

The scholars were divided into six groups who each worked on separate sections, with a review committee meeting in 1609 to oversee the final editing for harmony and to be sure it followed King James' directives to have few scholarly notes, and he wanted to be sure that the episcopal structure of the Established Church, as well as traditional beliefs regarding an ordained clergy.

I hope this helps you -- if anything is unclear, I would be glad to try again!

Answer 3

I am not being sarcastic when I say this but I see no difference (keep in mind I am not an English expert). I have not read a King James Version in a long time because I found I was not understanding certain things because of the language. So I just found the King James Version and compared the language used in various parts of the Old and New Testament and saw no difference.

I hope my answer, whether its right or wrong, at least answers your original question : )

Answer 4

There are many translations of the Old and New into English. The 1611 King James Version was written or what you would say translated into Olde English. The most used bible is the New King James which still has old English translations in it like the word comforter which means orphan. Your question is not valid as both new and old have been translated into modern English. The New King James version has numbers over the words so you can see how the word was translated and transliterated into English. The number system is contained in a book called a concordance, Strong's is the most popular. God Bless

Answer 5

Well, perhaps you are too thick to understand: both the Old and New Testaments in the King James Version of the Bible are written in early modern English, NOT old English, which looks and and sounds more like German than the English we speak today.

So I will repeat my answer, the language of both is the same. If you find the Old Testament more difficult to understand, perhaps it is the subject matter.

Curious about why you read the Bible, you don't sound like a Christian. You seriously need to do something about all that anger.

Answer 6

Look I'm going to tell you once and only once, you can not ask hard questions on this site, because the Christians are to closed minded to answer and if they don't know the answer, they answer with ridicule or babble about something that has nothing to do with what you ask

A king commissioned it, that should tell you something, it was for his and the churches control, do they have a version written by poor people, no they needed and accredited King, and the two styles was to fool the most of the people that could not read

I hope I enlighten you about questions

Answer 7

The people who write and print the Bible(s) think there should be more emphasise put on the New Testament.
Therefore it is written in plain easy to understand english. Whereas the Old Testament is a little harder to understand.
Honestly, I don't think they understand it either, which is why they don't turn it into plain English like they did with the New Testament.
~Gypsy~

Answer 8

They are being translated from two different languages...the old testament was translated from Hebrew to English and the new testament from Greek to English. Since the New Testament was written in a relatively more modern language, it translates to slightly more modern phrases.

Answer 9

King James I preferred young boys to adult women. He was a flaming homosexual.
The very people who use the King James Bible today would be the first ones to throw such a deviant out of the congregations.
The depravity of King James I didn't end with sodomy. James enjoyed killing animals. He called it "hunting." Once he killed an animal, he would literally roll about in its blood. Some believe that he practiced bestiality while the animal lay dying.
James was a sadist as well as a sodomite: he enjoyed torturing people.
While King of Scotland in 1591, he personally supervised the torture of poor wretches caught up in the witchcraft trials of Scotland.
James ascended the English throne in 1603. He wasted no time in ordering a new edition of the Bible in order to deny the common people the marginal notes they so valued in the Geneva Bible.

First edition of King James 1611

Answer 10

Robert Anton Wilson, became a author, new age guru, and ex playboy editor (1970's) - even with the indisputable fact that i did no longer be attentive to all that till after interpreting your question and studying - what an exciting guy. As an ex-xtian, i've got lived his fees, yet i'm surprised that he has that awareness and perception while not having to stay the xtian delusion - till you communicate approximately his early catholic training.

Answer 11

It actually was translated into that was commonly known as 'early modern english'. Both testaments were translated at the same time, since the King (who was the bishop of the church as well...) wanted a translation in in the common language of the day.

Both Testaments were translated in the same language.