King James Version of the Bible

A representative English translation of the Bible, published in 1611. In response to a petition from the Puritans, King James I of England held a conference at Hampton Court Palace in the south suburbs of London in 1604, during which the king expressed his approval of creating a new English translation, and so 47 scholars (later 54) were divided into those from Westminster, Oxford, and Cambridge to work together on the new translation, which resulted in its creation. As such, it is called the Authorized Version, and in America in particular, it is also called the King James Version.

The history of English translations of the Bible is long, beginning with Wycliffe in the 14th century, followed by Tyndale in the 16th century, who translated the Bible from the original language, and since then more than ten translations have been produced. This was in accordance with the Reformation's insistence on reading the Bible in one's own language. The attempt to produce the King James Version of the Bible was intended to produce a unified translation by referring to many versions. The translations that were produced in this way were later praised as "the gold standard of English prose," and have been widely used not only by native English speakers to this day, due to their solemn and elegant style, sometimes clumsy expressions, and sometimes elegant and flowing tones. The various expressions in these translations have been used in literary works, speeches, and even in the conversations of ordinary people. This is because they were the product of a period of cultural prosperity when Shakespeare, Bacon, and other figures were active. One of its features is that it makes full use of English vocabulary and freely uses synonyms to vary the sentences, in contrast to the Revised Version made in the 19th century, which was unpopular because it used the same words and translations and became monotonous. Also, the marginal notes, which had been theological up until that point, were often used to criticize and attack other denominations. The fact that it rejected this criticism and limited the notes to differences in the text (original writings) helped the translation to become more popular in an era when denominations were proliferating.

[Hideo Funato]

"The English Bible by Yoshio Terasawa et al. (1969, Tomiyama Publishing)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

代表的な英語訳聖書。1611年刊。イングランド王ジェームズ1世がピューリタンの請願を受け、1604年ロンドン南郊のハンプトン・コート宮殿で会議を開き、その際、王が新しい英訳をつくることに賛意を表したため、47名（のち54名）の学者をウェストミンスター、オックスフォード、ケンブリッジに分けて共同作業をした結果生まれた。そこで欽定訳the Authorized Versionとよばれ、またとくにアメリカでは、ジェームズ王訳the King James Versionともいう。

　英訳聖書の歴史は長く、14世紀のウィクリフに始まり、16世紀のティンダルによって原語からの訳がつくられ、それ以後十指に余る訳が生まれた。これは、自国語で聖書を読むという宗教改革の主張に従うものである。欽定英訳聖書をつくるという試みは、多くの版を参照にして統一的な訳を生み出すという意味があった。こうしてできあがった訳は、のちに「英語散文の金字塔」とまで賞賛されるほどに、荘重で典雅な文体、ときに古拙(こせつ)な言い回し、ときに優美・流麗な格調などによって、現代に至るまで英語を母国語とする国民のみならず広く愛用され、この訳のいろいろな表現が文学作品をはじめ、演説、さらには庶民の会話にまで浸透し活用されてきた。それというのも、シェークスピアやベーコンなどが活躍していた文化の爛熟(らんじゅく)期の所産であったからである。特徴の一つに、英語の語彙(ごい)を駆使し、自由に同意語を用いて文章に変化をもたせていることがあり、19世紀につくられたこの訳の改訂版the Revised Versionが同一語・同一訳で平板になり人気がなかったのと対比される。また欄外注が、それまで神学的なものであったので、しばしば他教派への批判・攻撃に用いられた。この非を排して、注をテキスト（原典）上の差異に限定したことも、教派が乱立した時代にあってこの訳の普及に役だった。

［船戸英夫］

『寺沢芳雄他著『英語の聖書』（1969・冨山房）』

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