Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language

by David Crystal

Overview

What do the following have in common? Let there be light - A fly in the ointment - A rod of iron - New wine in old bottles Lick the dust - How are the mighty fallen - Kick against the pricks - Wheels within wheels They are all in the King James Bible. This astonishing book "has contributed far more to English in the way of idiomatic or quasi-proverbial expressions than any other literary source." So wrote David Crystal in 2004. In Begat he returns to the subject not only to consider how a work published in 1611 could have had such influence on the language, but how it can still do so when few regularly hear the Bible and fewer still hear it in the language of Stuart England. No other version of the Bible however popular (such as the Good News Bible) or imposed upon the church (like the New English Bible) has had anything like the same influence. David Crystal shows how its words and phrases have over the centuries found independent life in the work of poets, playwrights, novelists, politicians, and journalists, and how more recently they have been taken up with enthusiasm by advertisers, Hollywood, and hip-hop. Yet the King James Bible owes much to earlier English versions, notably those by John Wycliffe in in the fourteenth century and William Tyndale in the sixteenth. David Crystal reveals how much that is memorable in the King James Bible stems from its forebears. At the same time he shows how crucial were the revisions made by King James's team of translators and editors. "A person who professes to be a critic in the delicacies of the English language ought to have the Bible at his finger's ends," Lord Macaulay advised Lady Holland in 1831. Begat shows how true that remains. It will be a revelation to all who read it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191612992
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	09/23/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

David Crystal is the world's best known linguist. He is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. His books include Linguistics, Language and Religion (1965), The Stories of English (Penguin, 2004) The Fight for English (OUP 2006), and Just a Phrase I'm Going Through: my Life in Language (Routledge 2009). He has written extensively on religious language, including 'Linguistics and Liturgy' for Church Quarterly in 1969 and 'Language in Church' for The Tablet in 1985.

Table of Contents

IPrologue 1/iiPrologue 2/i1. In the beginning2. Let there be light3. Be fruitful and multiply4. My brother's keeper? 5. Two by two6. A coat of many colours7. Fire and brimstone8. Begat9. Thou shalt not10. Manna, milk, and honey11. Eyes, teeth, and loins12. What hath been wrought13. Bread alone14. How are the mighty fallen!15. The skin of one's teeth16. Out of the mouths of babes17. Pride goes before a fall18. Nothing new under the sun19. Fly in the ointment20. No peace for the wicked21. Be horribly afraidiInterlude/i22. Seeing the light23. Eyes, ears, cheeks24. Speaking, shouting, wailing, writing25. Shaking, turning, moving26. Many and few, first and last27. Fights, foes, fools, friends28. Praising famous men29. Sheep, goats, swine30. Money, wages, pearls, mites31. Blessed are the servants32. Heal thyself33. Times and seasons34. Birth, life, and death35. Countries, kingdoms, Armageddon36. Building houses, mansions, sepulchres37. Millstones, crosses, yokes, pricks38. Sowing seeds39. Salt and wine40. The law, judges, thieves, swords41. Love and charity42. Peace and patience, wrath, whoreiEpilogue/iiAppendixes/iiIndexes/i

Editorial Reviews

Next year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version of the Bible. Begat joins the volumes that draw attention to the unparalleled influence of the KJV on English language and literature. Crystal, an honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor, U.K. and the author of several books including The Fight for English, undertook to search the entire KJV for every idiom (as distinct from quotations) that has become part of modern English vernacular. This book is the result of that quest. With a brief introduction and an epilogue that specifically answers the quantitative question, "How many did he find?" (answer: 257), the bulk of the book is devoted to the individual expressions and how they appear in modern popular culture. This makes for the kind of eclectic yet entertaining reading that one might tuck into a bathroom book basket. Readers can dip into the book anywhere and discover humorous and bizarre uses of biblical idioms alongside predictably sober and pious usages. An index of expressions directs readers to relevant pages. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Its reach is impressive."—Washington Post

"Crystal does a great job of showing how the King James Bible played an essential role in 'begetting' the English language. Highly recommended."—Studies in Scripture

"Crystal is rightly known as a highly engaging author and one of the few linguists with a true talent for explaining highly abstract subject matter in a way that is comprehensible and enjoyable for a general readership...his approach is systematic and well chronicled."—Linguist List

From the Publisher