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Title of paper
Ornamental Language: An Abomination unto Society?
The King James Bible and its Writing Style’s Impact Today
Writer’s name
Title of course,
instructor’s
name, and
date
Aaron Shaki
Religion 2010
Professor Pharr
April 19, 2011
This information is based on the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition). This handout is intended as a secondary resource that
should be used with published manuals or guidebooks. UPDATED 10/2013
This paper
utilizes
endnote
references.
Shaki 2
Winston Churchill was a charismatic leader and speaker. His speeches are memorable. During
World War II, a time of fear, oppression and a fear of oppression, Churchill’s magnetic oratory gave
Britain an expectation of victory over Nazi Germany.1 Audiences listened in earnest because Churchill
knew the power of language. Where did Churchill learn this power? One source he attributes is the King
James Bible. “The Scholars who produced this masterpiece are mostly unknown and unremembered,”
stated Churchill, “but they forged an enduring link, literary and religious, between the English-speaking
people of the world.”2 And indeed, the King James Bible was important for both literate and illiterate
people, and it was integral for defining the current high-style of writing for its time, but in regards to
modern writing, what we see and demand of writing today, the style in the King James Bible is no longer
practical.
Christianity is not the same as it was in the past. Like every religion, Christianity adapts to
societal changes in order to remain or further its dominance. An inevitable change is the communication
method of religious doctrines. The King James Bible was once the universally accepted translation, but
now its language is dated. In American Literary Style and the Presence of the King James Bible, Robert
Alter explains this transfer.
A long
quotation
(more than 4
or 5 lines) is
set off from
text by
indenting ½
inch.
Quotation
marks are
omitted.
In the century since the previous centennial was celebrated, two major shifts have taken place:
the practice of reading the Bible at all, and of memorizing passages from the Bible has drastically
diminished; and the King James Bible has ceased to be the almost universally used translation as
readers have been encouraged to use more “accessible” versions, which also happen to be
stylistically inferior in virtually all respects.3
New translations of the Bible are praised for their clear, concise prose, for their “clarity.” But
what is clarity in prose style? According to Samuel Coleridge, an English poet, literary critic and
philosopher, prose style is the clear expression of meaning.4 Yet, Richard Lanham, author of Style, does
not agree with Coleridge, because according to Coleridge’s definition, good prose only depends upon
This information is based on the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition). This handout is intended as a secondary resource
that should be used with published manuals or guidebooks. UPDATED 10/2013
Any
information
taken from
a source is
cited with
an endnote
(a
superscript)
at the end
of the
sentence.
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whether it communicates meaning and subject matter successfully; there is no inherent way of
determining if prose is good without analyzing its effect on a society.
Lanham prefers a different analysis of prose. “At the base of prose style,” explains Lanham, “we
find not only the need to communicate but also the spirit of play, the delight in form for its own sake.”5
The Elizabethan writers of the King James Bible had a spirit of play. In order to keep the attention of a
predominantly illiterate audience, they had to. The writers gave the text ornament by adding literary
devices such as rhyme, rhythm and alliteration. Indeed, their verses were remembered by their rhyme
and rhythm. When priests preached to a predominantly illiterate congregation, and when verse
memorization was required of children, the ornament was necessary.
To understand the difference of the King James Bible, compare one of its verses to a newer
translation. Below is a verse from Leviticus 11:13, first from the New Oxford translation and then from
the King James translation.
These you shall regard as detestable among the birds. They shall not be eaten; they are an
abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, the buzzard, the kite of any kind; every raven of
any kind; the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; the little owl, the
cormorant, the great owl, the water hen, the desert owl, the carrion vulture, the stork, the
heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.6
This is clear, and concise. It relays meaning with “clarity.” Coleridge would be proud. Now, the King
James Version:
And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten,
they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, And the vulture, and the
kite after his kind; Every raven after his kind; And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow,
and the hawk after his kind, And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,
This information is based on the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition). This handout is intended as a secondary resource
that should be used with published manuals or guidebooks. UPDATED 10/2013
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And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, And the stork, the heron after her kind, and
the lapwing, and the bat.7
Give notice to the ornament. Instead of listing what should not be eaten in random order, the writer
pairs sounds and like-suffixes and prefixes together (“Ossifrage and the ospray”). A sense of rhythm
comes from the use of repetition (“the kite after his kind…the raven after his kind…the hawk after his
kind). The writer also mirrors phrases with alliteration and rhyme (“the great owl…the gier eagle”).
The demise of the King James Bible is but a causality of the quiet extermination of ornamental
language and poetic prose. Illiterate people were once common, now they are rare. The need to keep
people entertained by reading aloud has diminished. Once language was a gift that people cherished,
now it is a merely a method of communication. America, in particular, values content more than the
writer’s style of delivery. Is this detrimental to writing? It could be argued both ways. Sometimes
ornament is unnecessary. Why would a researcher want to cipher through figurative language when his
or her only purpose is to find certain information? But is ornament so unnecessary to be considered a
burden? Time will answer this question, and while waiting, one can hope that time is friendlier to
ornamental word play than it was to the King James Bible.
This information is based on the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition). This handout is intended as a secondary resource
that should be used with published manuals or guidebooks. UPDATED 10/2013
Shaki 5
Notes
First line is
indented
½ inch.
1. Smith Davies, Speeches that Changed the World (London: Smith-Davies LTD, 2005), 157.
2. “Famous Quotes about the Authorized King James Version of the Bible,” Holy Bible, last modified
September 16, 2011, http://www.holybible.com/resources/famous_quotes.htm.
Each number is not
3. Robert Alter, “American Literary Style and the Presence of the King James Bible,” raised and is followed
New England Review 30, no. 4 (2009).
by a period.
4. Alan D. Vardy, Constructing Coleridge: The Posthumous Life of the Author
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 58.
Authors’
names are
not
inverted.
5. Richard Lanham, Style (Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books, 2007), 87.
6. Leviticus. 11.13 (New Oxford Annotated).
7. Leviticus. 11.13 (King James Version).
Notes are single-spaced with
double-spacing between notes.
Sacred texts are
included on the
Notes page, but not
in the Bibliography.
This information is based on the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition). This handout is intended as a secondary resource
that should be used with published manuals or guidebooks. UPDATED 10/2013
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Bibliography
Alter, Robert. “American Literary Style and the Presence of the King James Bible.”
New England Review 30, no. 4 (2009): 60-75.
“Famous Quotes about the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.” Holy Bible, Last modified
September 16, 2011. http://www.holybible.com/resources/famous_quotes.htm.**
Davies, Smith. Speeches that Changed the World. London: Smith-Davies LTD, 2005.
Entries are singlespaced with
double-spacing
between entries.
Lanham, Richard. Style. Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books, 2007.
Vardy, Alan D. 2010. Constructing Coleridge: The Posthumous Life of the Author.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
Entries are
alphabetized
by authors’
last names.
First line of entry is at left
margin; additional lines
are indented ½ inch.
**In order to show how to cite an online source, we left this source as a section of a webpage rather
than citing the original source--The King James Bible Translators by Olga S. Opfell; Jefferson and London:
McFarland, 1982.
This information is based on the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition). This handout is intended as a secondary resource
that should be used with published manuals or guidebooks. UPDATED 10/2013