Whosoeuer then heareth of me these
words , and doeth the same, I wil liken
him to a wise man , which hathe buylded
his house on a rocke:
And the raine fell, and the floods came,
and the windes blewe, and beat vpon that
house, and it fell not: for it was grounded
on a rocke.
But whosoeuer heareth these my wor-
des , and doeth them not , shalbe lickened
vnto a foolish man, which hathe buylded
his house vpon the sand:
And the raine fell, and the floods came,
and the windes blewe, and beat vpon that
house, and it fell, and the fall thereof was great.
The Geneva Bible (1560), The Holy Gospel of Iefus Christ, according to Matthewe. Chap VII. verses 24-27.
I tell you, I read that for the first time an hour or so ago and it gave me a shiver at the base of my neck. I heard it, I frigging heard it. I had never read that previously in any edition of the Bible. It is so powerful and its power comes from the repetition, the parallel construction, yes; but moreso, I say moreso, from the musical descension of the words,
And the raine
fell, and the floods
came,
and...
the...
...windes...
...blewe...
I could hear that. In my mind's ear, "And the raine" is at one octave; "fell" is at a lower octave. "And the floods" is at the same octave as "fell", and then each word in the third clause is lower than the one before and is at a slower tempo until "blewe" which is so deep and slow that it is not entirely intelligible. I hear it as you would hear a tape recording that you slow down; down, down, down. The interval between octaves lengthens, and the pitch of the voice gets deeper and deeper as you slow the tape.
Immediately after reading that in the Geneva I checked the KJV. The KJV is the font of English literature but here in Matthew 7:24-27 the KJV authors bird pumped: For "fell" they put "descended." Descended"? What are you, a cop? "I exited my marked vehicle and descended the stairs". There is human agency to "descended." You "descend" deliberately, like stairs."Fell," you're out of control. There's no human agency to it. "I exited my marked vehicle and fell down the stairs." People descend; rain falls. "Fell" is the first indication we have of what is to come. "Fell" is simple; one syllable, parallel with "came" and "blew." "Fell" has a sound; "Descended"..."Descended" has no fucking sound; it's three syllables, the parallelism is shot. BIG demerit, KJV authors; BIG demerit.
The Geneva's Matthew 7:24-27 is so beautiful, so powerful, it must needs stand alone without this here undersigned's learned commentary.
words , and doeth the same, I wil liken
him to a wise man , which hathe buylded
his house on a rocke:
And the raine fell, and the floods came,
and the windes blewe, and beat vpon that
house, and it fell not: for it was grounded
on a rocke.
But whosoeuer heareth these my wor-
des , and doeth them not , shalbe lickened
vnto a foolish man, which hathe buylded
his house vpon the sand:
And the raine fell, and the floods came,
and the windes blewe, and beat vpon that
house, and it fell, and the fall thereof was great.
The Geneva Bible (1560), The Holy Gospel of Iefus Christ, according to Matthewe. Chap VII. verses 24-27.
I tell you, I read that for the first time an hour or so ago and it gave me a shiver at the base of my neck. I heard it, I frigging heard it. I had never read that previously in any edition of the Bible. It is so powerful and its power comes from the repetition, the parallel construction, yes; but moreso, I say moreso, from the musical descension of the words,
And the raine
fell, and the floods
came,
and...
the...
...windes...
...blewe...
I could hear that. In my mind's ear, "And the raine" is at one octave; "fell" is at a lower octave. "And the floods" is at the same octave as "fell", and then each word in the third clause is lower than the one before and is at a slower tempo until "blewe" which is so deep and slow that it is not entirely intelligible. I hear it as you would hear a tape recording that you slow down; down, down, down. The interval between octaves lengthens, and the pitch of the voice gets deeper and deeper as you slow the tape.
Immediately after reading that in the Geneva I checked the KJV. The KJV is the font of English literature but here in Matthew 7:24-27 the KJV authors bird pumped: For "fell" they put "descended." Descended"? What are you, a cop? "I exited my marked vehicle and descended the stairs". There is human agency to "descended." You "descend" deliberately, like stairs."Fell," you're out of control. There's no human agency to it. "I exited my marked vehicle and fell down the stairs." People descend; rain falls. "Fell" is the first indication we have of what is to come. "Fell" is simple; one syllable, parallel with "came" and "blew." "Fell" has a sound; "Descended"..."Descended" has no fucking sound; it's three syllables, the parallelism is shot. BIG demerit, KJV authors; BIG demerit.
The Geneva's Matthew 7:24-27 is so beautiful, so powerful, it must needs stand alone without this here undersigned's learned commentary.
