Bible "English"

Ronald Knox had to confront many reflexive biases,

both among Catholic and non-Catholic critics,

when he began publishing his translations of [Matthew -

Revelation, and later Genesis - Malachi]; . . .

many revisions of the Douay-Rheims (from Vulgate

to English vernacular)  were written in what Knox

calls Bible English, a literary form that was

distinct even from the idiomatic English language

used by prose writers contemporary . . . with the

Authorized Version (I.e. KJV).  Bible English

was preternaturally old, and it was often

irredeemably dense, since it often departed from

common English usage the better to adhere to a

Latin Syntax. . .The Bible is meant to be read

at home, and so, a translation that makes the

reader comfortable is in order. . .The text should

read as if it were an original composition.