Learn English – the type of English used in the King James Bible called

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In the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, there is a distinct type of English present (this passage from Job 1:7-12):

And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

(source)

There are specific words used from (old? middle?) English, like unto, thou, whence, comest, fro, hast, and the ending certain words with -eth, like feareth, and escheweth.

There are modern writings that tend to imitate this style of writing, as an example, this "Ten Commandments of Writing an IMAP client":

  1. Thou shalt not assume that it is alright to open multiple IMAP
    sessions selected on the same mailbox simultaneously, lest thou face
    the righteous wrath of mail stores that doth not permit such access.
    Instead, thou shalt labor mightily, even unto having to use thy brain
    to thinketh the matter through, such that thy client use existing
    sessions that are already open.

Which brings me to my question: I'd like to critique this writing style and refer to it, but I don't know what it's called. What is the type of English used in the KJV called, and (if it's the same — or even if it isn't), what's the writing style used to parrot the KJV writing style called? It can be referred to in a single word or a phrase — I'm just interested in making sure I use the right terminology in referring to it.

Best Answer

The KJV is written in Early Modern English (not Middle or Old English).

Styles that imitate this use archaic English, which the Oxford English Dictionary describes as:

Belonging to an earlier period, no longer in common use, though still retained either by individuals, or generally, for special purposes, poetical, liturgical, etc. Thus the pronunciation obleege is archaic in the first case; the pronoun thou in the second.

Archaic is how dictionaries like Lexico (also by Oxford) describe unto and shalt.

(You’ll also see some words marked obsolete in the dictionary. The difference between archaic and obsolete is that obsolete words aren’t used anymore.)

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