The Bible: Designed to be Read as Living Literature, the Old and the New Testaments in the King James Version - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0671879596 ISBN 13: 9780671879594

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1993

Synopsis

The King James Version of the Old and New Testaments is updated based on modern scholarship into a readable, continuous narrative in historical order, with maps and a new introduction. 100,000 first printing.

About this title

From Library Journal

This updated edition of the Bates bible (first published to enormous acclaim in 1936) appears at a time of increased interest in the Bible as literature. What does it offer new readers? Traditional chapter and verse numbers have been removed, and the books, especially narrative material, are divided into sense units. Poetry is printed in verse, and characters are identified in dramas (Job and Song of Songs). Material believed to hinder readers' enjoyment and understanding (genealogies, legal codes, repetition) has been omitted. Finally, the King James Version (KJV) is used because of its stature as a classic. Still, the question remains whether readers are attracted to the Bible as a literary classic or as scripture. If the former, all the editorial work can be justified. If the latter, it is debatable whether there is any "clutter" that needs to be deleted. In addition, the KJV is possibly not the best choice for presenting the Bible as "living literature" to people in the late 20th century. While this volume may inspire many to read the Bible for the first time, it is not the last word in "reading Bibles."-- Craig W. Beard, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

One of the great characteristics of the Bible is its flexibility. In an effort to improve upon its readability, Bates, succeeded by Lodowick Allison, has produced a great reader with a fluid format that heightens the literary quality of scripture. It is not intended as dilution of the sacred text. Rather, it presents the stories, poetry, and chronicles that have made the Bible a treat for the imagination as well as the spirit. "Begats" and regulatory statutes are absent. This rendition enjoyed a popularity between 1936 and 1957 and was featured in its first year as a Book of the Month. Allison has renovated the work as necessary. (Surprisingly, "thous" and "arts" remain in the text, but one is hard put to tamper too much with the language of the King James version.) A successful effort to draw readers into the mystery and mission of "the greatest story ever told." Gary Young

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0671879596
• ISBN 13: 9780671879594
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1258
• Editor: Ernest Sutherland Bates, Wick Allison