Monday, October 21, 2019

Bible Review: KJV Holy Bible

The Holy Bible. King James Version. 1947/52. Spence Press. 1566 pages. [Source: Gift]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The King James Version is one of my all-time favorite, favorite, favorite translations of the Bible. (Though I am not in the KJV only camp, I do love, love, love reading this translation.) I first "discovered" this translation several years ago. I love it for its beauty and substance. It's a meaty read, yet poetic. You have to work to understand or "decipher" the text. And the time it takes, I've found, slows me down enough to appreciate the magnificence and splendor of the glory of God. While I do not read it exclusively--nor expect others to do so--I like to keep this one of my main translations.

My favorite books of the Bible in the King James are Psalms, Proverbs, the Gospels, and some of the prophecies--like Isaiah and Revelation. It simply doesn't get better for a translation of Psalms. Here's one of my favorite examples, Psalm 139:2: Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

This edition published by Spencer Press in Chicago in the late 40s/early 50s is a delight. I will say this: the book introductions are definitely LIBERAL and not all that sound. This bible does not feature study notes, but if it did, I probably wouldn't recommend reading them if they're anything like the book introductions. But the text and layout are good. The pages are WONDERFULLY THICK. I think page bleed through--being able to read five pages at a time--is a MODERN-DAY problem. Publishers have done this--for whatever reason--and we've "allowed" it perhaps?

The aging of the Bible has left a nice sepia tint to the pages. I'm not sure what color the pages were in 1952, but right now the color is SUPER-EASY on the eyes. Even though the text features the word of Christ in red, I don't mind.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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