The King James Version (KJV) was translated into English in 1611 A.D. at the request of King James of England. Therefore, it is also known as the Authorized Version. As you would expect, many words which were common then are either not in general use today, or have taken on a variation in meaning. When you are not sure what a word means, check it out in a standard Dictionary and/or in a Dictionary of Bible words.

Besides unusual words, grammatic structure and word endings may seem odd to the modern reader. Today, languages such as German, Spanish, and French retain structures which are absent from modern English. Word forms & endings may vary depending on word usage (eg., verb tense), gender (male or female), and number (singular or plural). Modern English also has word variations. For example note the following variations in the verb "to be" in modern english:

     Present tense      Past tense         Past perfect
       I am               I was              I have been
       You are            You were           You have been
       He is              He was             He has been
       We are             We were            We have been
       You (pl.) are      You (pl.) were     You (pl.) have been
       They are           They were          They have been

Here are the same variations of the verb "to be" in KJV english:

     Present tense      Past tense         Past perfect
       I am               I was              I have been
       Thou art           Thou wert*         Thou hast been
       He is              He was             He hath been
       We are             We were            We have been
       You (pl.) are      You (pl.) were     You (pl.) have been
       They are           They were          They have been     
           *Sometimes: "wast" or "wert".

Notice that "thou" is an old form of "you" (singular).
Notice also the variation in the verb "to have" in the above example.

Notice also that "thou" takes various forms depending on its grammatical usage:

• Thou- as sentence subject: "Thou art the man."
• Thee- as sentence object: "The book belongs to thee."
• Thy- possessive form (as an adjective): "Thy book is wonderful."
• Thine- possessive form (as object or recipient of the possession):
  "The wonderful book is thine." (or) "Thine is the glory."

See, there really is no reason to stumble over the "thee's and thou's". But what about the "-eth's"? In the KJV english, some verbs have suffixes (endings) which vary depending on word usage. For example:

  The verb "to say"-
     Present tense      Past tense         Past perfect
       I say              I said             I have said
       Thou sayest        Thou saidst        Thou hast said
       He saith*          He said            He hath said
       We say             We said            We have said
       You (pl.)say       You said           You have said
       They say           They said          They have said
          *Saith- pronounce as "seth" or "say-eth".
 
  The verb "to do"-
     Present tense      Past tense         Past perfect
       I do               I did              I have done
       Thou doest*        Thou didst         Thou hast done
       He doeth**         He did             He hath done
       We do              We did             We have done
       You (pl.) do       You did            You have done
       They do            They did           They have done
          *Sometimes: dost (pronounce as "dust"), or
                      doest (pronounce as "doo-est").
         **Sometimes: doth (pronounce as "duth"), or 
                      doeth (pronounce as "doo-eth").

I hope you see that the structure of KJV English is really not so mysterious. In fact, it is not really so different from the modern language which we use everyday. As you become familiar with them, you may find that the additional word forms and endings may actually enhance the meaning of a passage, by giving you grammatic clues for connecting the various pieces of a passage.

For Definitions of more than 500 archaic words used in the KJV Bible, see The King James Bible Companion. (Also accessed via the Glossary button on the button bar.)