Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 15:4 (Winter 2011)
Article: Ten Fallacies About The King James Version
Author: Leland Ryken

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SBJT 15:4 (Winter 2011) p. 4

Ten Fallacies About The King James Version

Leland Ryken

Leland Ryken is Professor of English at Wheaton College, where he has served on the faculty for over forty years. He is the author or editor of dozens of publications, including The ESV and the English Bible Legacy (Crossway, 2011), The Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years of the Most Influential English Translation (Crossway, 2011), and The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation (Crossway, 2002). In addition, Dr. Ryken served as literary stylist for the English Standard Version translation committee.

The King James Version of the Bible (KJV) has received well-deserved recognition for four hundred years of distinguished service. New books on the KJV, academic conferences on it, and exhibitions in museums, libraries, and bookstores have made 2011 the Year of the KJV. As the festivities have unfolded, this book of books has emerged more clearly than ever as a book of superlatives. It is the best-selling book of all time. It is the most influential English-language book, the most often reprinted, the most quoted, and the most written about. Gordon Campbell offers the summary verdict the KJV is “the most important book in the English language.”1

A book with this much visibility naturally elicits a multitude of verdicts on it. Especially in this anniversary year, there has been no shortage of claims and counterclaims about the most famous Bible in English and American history. Not all of the claims are true, and that is the subject of the article that follows. I will explore ten common claims about the KJV and explain why I think the claims are false.

Fallacy #1: William Shakespeare Helped To Translate The KJV.

This claim belongs especially (but not only) to internet sources, where a common formula is that Shakespeare “wrote” the KJV! But this is only the beginning of wonders. It is commonly claimed in some quarters that Shakespeare (or a fellow translator) in effect signed Shakespeare’s name right into the text to signal that he had helped with the translation. The claim for a “signature” rests on an alleged cryptogram in Psalm 46. According to the theory, Shakespeare was forty-six years-old as the work of translation reached closure. The forty-sixth word from the beginning of Psalm 46 is the word shake, and the forty-sixth word from the end is spear—Shakespeare.

SBJT 15:4 (Winter 2011) p. 5

How can a theory that ingenious possibly be wrong? Let me count the ways. But before I show that Shakes...

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