I’ve never really paid much attention to the King James Version of the Bible, primarily because we didn’t have it in the house growing up and then later I was firmly attached to the NASB and considered the KJV an archaic translation. Especially with weird words like “shewn” and “dost” and the like. And frankly, many of the typesettings I’ve seen are set in an awful Old Style font that just underscores the antiquity of the version.
However, I have been slowly and increasing attracted to a new edition of the KJV, the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible (“hat tip” to J. Mark Bertrand). Newly edited by David Norton, this edition has reset the punctuation and spelling to modern standards (though not eliminating the “st” suffixes, e.g. “wouldst”, and the ilk), while restoring the text itself to a critical edition that Norton claims is consistent with the original translators’ version (a version that was subject almost immediately to revisions and “corrections”).
The Cambridge editions are available in hardback and leather, but also cost quite a bit – $80 for the hardback, while the leather edition could set you back several hundred dollars. The text uses the attractive Swift font face, which I am very familiar with from Cambridge’s editions of the Revised English Bible.
Fortunately there is also a paperback edition from Penguin listed at $16(!) and usually available for less through online stores. Much of the surrounding apparatus has been removed, but the critical text is the same and very attractively set in a single-column format. The physical size is a little daunting, about 8½”x5½” and 2½” thick, but not inaccessible.
I’m not sold on paperbacks and I’d like to have the inline notes from the translators (in the Cambridge printings), so I’ll either save my pennies for a used copy of the hardback and/or hope that Cambridge (and Oxford?) decide to produce this attractive and accessible text in other consumer-friendly formats.
Either way, this new critical text goes a long way to making the KJV relevant again, at least from this layman’s perspective.
Update: Esteban Vázquez has also posted on the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible today! Charges of collusion are expected…
Thanks for the heads up on the new version of the KJV. I grew up with it and just recently started using the ESV as my devotional Bible. For study, I use a parallel Bible. I’ll definitely be checking this out.
BTW, your parents gave you an awesome (er, Almighty) name.