Book Minute

In a tongue-twister of royal proportions, King James VI of Scotland became James I of England and Ireland—the first king to reign over both England and Scotland. But for many he’s best known for commissioning a revision of the English Bible in 1604. It took seven years for scholars to finish what is now known as the King James Bible. It became the most popular English Bible, and was used for hundreds of years! It’s impossible to list all the everyday phrases we take for granted that became widely used because of the King James Bible, including “go the extra mile,” from Matthew 5:41, “it is more blessed to give than receive,” from Acts 20:35, and “there is nothing new under the sun,” from Ecclesiastes 1:9.