Did Shakespeare write the King James Bible?

[TruthSeeker]

This article (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1074166570889&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795) suggests he did.


A sample of the evidence (which I find weak but I know very little about this sort of thing):

Open an early version of the King James Bible and look for the 46th Psalm which begins "God is our refuge and strength/ a very present help in trouble./ Therefore we will not fear though the earth could change, though the mountains SHAKE in the heart of the sea."

Toward the end of this psalm the unknown author says: "Come, behold the work of the Lord, how he has wrought desolations in the earth./ He makes wars cease to the end of he earth;/ he breaks the bow and shatters the SPEAR/ he burns the chariots with fire."

The psalm was a tricky poetic form and exhibited many interesting structures, even acrostic forms.

So it is not inconceivable that Shakespeare was playing with his readers here as he did in so many other ways in his plays."


Anybody know more about this?

[ReasonableDoubt]

Originally posted by TruthSeeker
A sample of the evidence (which I find weak but I know very little about this sort of thing): So it is not inconceivable that ...Anybody know more about this? Of cource it is not inconceivable; the very quote posits the conception. That somewould should construe this as evidence is sad.

[TruthSeeker]

To be more clear, I should restate my question: Is anyone aware of any serious biblical scholarship that has examined this possibility?

RD, I completely agree with you. The evidence as presented is weak, at best.

[Yahweh]

From Sparknotes.com - The Old Testament - Genesis Chapters 1 through 11 (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/oldtestament/section1.html):
The major thematic link of the first eleven chapters is the structuring of the world around a system of parallels and contrasts. Light breaks into the darkness, land separates water, and “the greater light” of the sun opposes “the lesser light” of the moon (1:16). A more complex occurrence of parallel and contrast occurs with the account of man’s creation. Man is not only made in the image of God, paralleling him, but woman, made from the man’s rib, contrasts with man. The Genesis writer uses the poetic device of antistrophe, or the repetition of a line in reverse order, to highlight the parallels and contrasts in the creation of man:
<blockquote>So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 1:27–29</blockquote>

The antistrophe suggests that the world is logically organized around binary opposites, or basic opposing forces. Positive and negative, work and rest, and day and night are among the many binary opposites that the first chapters of Genesis describe. Good and evil is probably the most consistently explored binary opposite in the Old Testament, and the story of Cain and Abel initiates a long analysis of the difference between good and evil. Cain’s deception and murder of Abel, as well as his evasive response to God’s questioning, describe his evil as inherent in his character and unmitigated by other good traits. God’s punishment, however, demonstrates both justice and mercy, establishing God as the absolute good that opposes Cain’s absolute evil. God exiles Cain from God’s presence, but marks Cain to protect him from the wrath of other people.

[pupdog]

I think Marlowe wrote it but Billy wants to take credit for it.

[c4ts]

Naturally Shakespeare wrote everything with the words SHAKE and SPEAR in it.

If you ask me, there's nothing that solidly supports that Shakespeare worked on a biblical translation of any kind, let alone the KJV. However that site offers a lot of speculation.

[phildonnia]

Wait, does that mean that Edward de Vere wrote the bible?

[c4ts]

Uhhh... sure it does.

[T'ai Chi]

Someone should try something like: http://www.sciencenews.org/20031220/bob8.asp.

[epepke]

Gah! Word codes are almost as stupid as numerology.

It's not inconceivable that Shakespeare helped translate some portions of the KJV. The KJV certainly has some good poetry in it, which was not exactly in abundant supply (read some actual Marlowe or Jonson or Bacon; it's sometimes interesting, but not as good as Shakespeare). Even J.R.R. Tolkien worked on the Jerusalem Bible. But it's not as if copyrights or giving credit were a big deal when Shaksepeare was alive, nor did Shakespear ever seem to keep his resume current.

[jj]

I have no idea, but here's one for you...

Revelation, as read by Caliban.

What do you think?

I can call the horsemen from the vasty deeps! :D

[Brown]

Originally posted by TruthSeeker
Anybody know more about this? It's hardly news. I first heard this 46th word business from Martin Gardner in one of his tongue-in-cheek "Dr. Matrix" columns, first published about forty years ago.

[headscratcher4]

Somewhere, I am sure, the word Ox or Oxen is in the King James version as is the word ear, and as deVere was the EARl of OXford, it seems likely that he wrote the bible.....