Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language, by David Crystal

The world's best known linguist on the world's greatest book.

What do the following have in common? Let there be light – A fly in the ointment – A rod of iron – New wine in old bottles – Lick the dust – How are the mighty fallen – Wheels within wheels.

They are all quotations from the King James Bible. This astonishing book ‘has contributed far more to English in the way of idiomatic or quasi-proverbial expressions than any other literary source.’ So wrote renowned language expert David Crystal in 2004. In Begat he returns to the subject not only to consider how a work published in 1611 could have had such influence on the language, but how it can still do so when few regularly hear the Bible and fewer still hear it in the language of Stuart England.

With his customary erudition and humour, Crystal shows how words and phrases from the Bible have found independent life over the centuries in the work of poets, playwrights, novelists, politicians, and journalists; and how they continue to be taken up with enthusiasm by Hollywood, advertisers, and hip-hop.

‘A person who professes to be a critic in the delicacies of the English language ought to have the Bible at his finger’s ends’, Lord Macaulay advised Lady Holland in 1831. Begat shows how true that remains. It will be a revelation to all who read it.

David Crystal is Honorary Professor of Linguistics t the University of Wales, Bangor. His bestselling books include The Stories of English, The Fight for English, and his autobiography Just a Phrase I’m Going Through: My Life in Language.