KJB@400 Watch: The KJB and England

KJB@400 WATCH:

The Holy Land of England

By Liam Hoare (Jewish Ideas Daily)

The King James Bible, along with the Book of Common Prayer, Shakespeare, and Milton, transformed the English language, introducing a vibrant lexicon that is used to this day. It also fused biblical mythology with concepts of English national identity—becoming, as Simon Sebag Montefiore argues, the "national epic of Britain" and placing "the Jews and Jerusalem at the very heart of British life." The King James translation was part of the Reformation's attempt to break the Catholic monopoly on European Christian worship. It was equally an attempt at nation-building. It sought to elevate England's Church, its monarchy, and the nation to pre-eminence by linking the histories of the English and Jewish peoples and tying the city of Jerusalem to a nation emerging as not only a European but a global superpower.

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Also: Queen marks anniversary of King James Bible (AP)