This translation was done by 47 men who were England's "best of the best" in Hebrew and Greek language studies and biblical scholarship. All were clerics in the Church of England, but all viewpoints were represented—from high church Anglo-Catholics to low-church Puritans.
Divided into six committees, they met in three separate locations. All had the opportunity to read and comment on the entire manuscript. The result? A unified product.
Aside from being an accurate translation, the KJV is a literary masterpiece. According to experts, “It is definitely not colloquial, but it combines simplicity with majesty. The quality of its language and style may seem formal . . . to readers today, but they were the daily speech of the time.”
Since the KJV is not conversational, many say it is stilted.
I think it is elegant.
Its cadence and word patterns remind me of Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter (my staple reading in college and thereafter).
As a religious authority, the KJV has provided a standard of language excellence among generations of artists, poets, musicians and political leaders. The phrases from KJV below are now woven into the fabric of the English language:
“a drop in the bucket”
“cast pearls before swine”
“eye for an eye”
“fall from grace”
“holier than thou”
“in the twinkling of an eye:
“money is the root of all evil”
“the powers that be”
“two are better than one”
“two-edged sword”
“white as snow”
“woe is me”
“my brother’s keeper”
“the blind leading the blind”
“the kiss of death”
Plus many, many more.
I didn’t know any of the above as a child, but the KJV was our church’s Bible. In Sunday school, we had Bible verses to memorize, which I enjoyed, because the lines rolled in my tongue.
As a writer today, I refer to various translations, but the KJV remains my personal favorite. (I am blogging about it today because in the Philippines, January is Bible Month.)
This chapter, with its vivid imagery that paints the role of Jesus in our Christian faith, is carved in my memory. When it is read in church or anywhere, I recite it silently in KJV: 
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