Unique Style

I was at a woodworker’s display the other day: many pieces of furniture and projects were on display, all made by a handful of local craftsmen.   As I looked at each piece, I could claim, “Oh, Ernie made that…” and “that’s Bill’s work…,” and so on.  I know the creative style of those guys; I know their favorite method of assembly and finishing; I can recognize their hand in the finished work.   

We recognize the same with authors and written texts – we can determine which author wrote a certain piece by the evident style and pattern within the piece.  Like a fingerprint, each author has a particular and unique manner of writing.  And, as in any art or craft, many of the ‘good’ works are really copies (in style) of the best.

A recent survey (I think it was AI) inquired about the top 3 speeches of all time:

1. The Beatitudes\ Sermon on the Mount - Jesus Christ

2. I Have a Dream - Dr. M.L. King Jr.

3. We Shall fight Them (The Battle of France) - Winston Churchill

4. (This was a close fourth- almost third) Gettysburg Address - Abraham Lincoln

Today, it’s not good form to constantly repeat a word or phrase.   If you used the word ‘dark’ in the previous sentence, you should use a synonym to replace it – maybe ‘dim’ or ‘obscure.’

Translators

But it was not so when writing / translating the Bible.  Go to the first chapter (Genesis chapter 1) and count the sentences that do not begin with “And.”   (There are only two!)  The fancy term for this style (repeated often throughout the Bible) is Polysyndeton; or Many-Ands.  The KJB translators, true to the text, told the readers in the preface, they would choose to repeat the same word instead of employing the  popular literary style (synonyms):

“…we should express the same notion in the same particular word; as for example, if we translate the Hebrew or Greek word once by purpose, never to call it intent; if one where journeying, never traveling…” - Authorized English Bible,  The Translators to the Reader (p. xxi)

Jesus

Jesus, in preaching the famous Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-11), opened with “Blessed are” nine times! (9x!).  This figure of speech is called an Anaphora; or like Sentence Beginnings.

If I had started my 4th grade composition with 9 of the same words, I would have received 8 red gash marks from Mrs. Benzel, my teacher!  But Jesus can do it, and it turned out ok for him!

Jesus was simply using a figure of Speech found in the Scriptures - repeating the opening word or words.

King

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who frequently quoted the King James Bible, especially passages from Isaiah and Amos, incorporated this same style in his famous I Have a Dream speech.  Whereas Jesus repeated Blessed are 9x, King repeated I have a dream eight times (8x).  A very successful speech indeed!

Paul

The Apostle Paul likewise repeated words and phrases.  He also relied on relative pronoun clauses (dependent clauses) to support the main thought.  Romans, Philemon, and Hebrews are replete with “who, whom, which” clauses.  For example, Hebrews 1:1 - “God…”   having introduced the antecedent (God) he goes immediately on with a ‘who’ clause - adding more detail.  It is Paul’s style.

Paul also uses the phrase ‘and again’ four times (4x) in Hebrews!  And, true to form, he refers to Psalm 95 three times (3x) , and then Psalm 110 four times (4x) - all within Hebrews.   Paul’s style was to make his point by repeating the point 3 or 4 times.    

Lincoln

If you have read Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, the most famous line is “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”   It mirrors and harmonizes with Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13:11:  “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child….”

Lincoln’s other famous speech, during the Douglas debates, is almost word for word from the KJV - “A house divided cannot stand…”   Lincoln’s inaugural Bible is found at the Bible Museum in D.C.;  it is a KJV (Oxford 1853).

Churchill

Moving on: Winston Churchill was a poor student.  Mis-behavior was young Winston’s trademark.  As a result, he could not advance into the preferred languages (Military Schools used Napoleon’s French and also some Latin), but he had to study from the boring English; the KJV was the text book.  Later, he would become the greatest speechmaker of the 20th century by using the phrases and the cadence of that old, boring Bible.

Also, He came to the US  and buttressed a stunned America (immediately after Pearl Harbor) by reading Psalm 112:7 to Congress; the version he read was the tried and true, the King James Version.

And yet his most famous speech, “We shall fight them on the beaches… We shall fight them….” has a style that is 100% King James Bible!  Using the Anaphora style, he started 7 clauses with we shall fight …. It was a successful speech!  –  for it was surely patterned after the word of God: the Authorized English Version.

Conclusion

These famous speeches by Lincoln, King, Churchill were copies (in style) of the original.  We recognize that, we know the pattern, we love the original Author and his designs.  We also note that anyone, from any background, can reach great heights of communication, as long as the gold standard, the literary masterpiece, is their pattern.

The word of God, the Authorized Version, is that very standard.