This version was formally
"appointed to be read in Churches"
This gave its language a
level of prestige which would prove to be more widespread and
longer lasting than any Bible of the previous century
The language chosen by the
translators was ultimately derived from the London dialect which
had been showing signs of standardization since Caxton's time
Linguistic conservatism of
the King James translators was reflected in the language of the
translation
They often opted for older
forms of the language even when modern alternatives were
available – older word orders (e.g., speak ye unto, things
eternal) and verb forms (e.g., digged, wist "knew",
brethren)
The King James Bible has
contributed far more to English in the way of idiomatic or
proverbial expressions than any other literary source (take the
biblical phrases test)
Its lexicon is less than
half that of Shakespeare, but its impact has been much greater