The KJV and pronunciation marks

[silent water]

I have only been reading the bible regularly for two years, but it seems to me that more and more KJV bible come with "pronunciation marks" over nouns.

Am I the only one who finds ponunciation marks EXTREMELY annoying, and that they render a Bible totally unreadable?

Maybe I am a bit paranoid, but I am actually pretty concerned here. I have read primarily from the King James and although I struggled with understanding it in the past, have come to rely on it as my primary Bible translation. I have read through it multiple times, and other translations just don't "feel right". I am concerned that this fad is going to take over the King James market.

Am I wrong?

 

[daveleau]

None of mine have this except over Hebrew names. I tend to like this feature over the Hebrew items, but can see how it could be annoying. If it is over every noun, then that is overkill, big time.

I would highly recommend a Parallel Bible for you. They come in many different styles. You can get your KJV and another version with updated language side by side to help in understanding.

 

[silent water]

That is what I meant, pronunciation marks over the names of people, places, etc.

It is annoying when I read the book of Jeremiah, for example, and have to read Jer-e-mi'-ah every time his name is mentioned (and that doesn't include the marks over the letters).

It would make sense if there were a pronunciation guide in the back of the Bible that one could reference for pronunciation, rather than having a cluttered dictionary pronunciation every single time a name is used.

And not to mention the lists of genealogies in the OT. Those are unreadable in "self pronouncing text" Bibles.

 

[Knight]

I agree it is annoying but I think it has more to do with the publisher than the translation.

Some KJV's I've seen overdo this big time.

I have an older RSV that provides the pronounciation only for the first occurence of that word in each chapter. A little less distracting and still helpful.

 

[Jon_]

Yeah, that would be annoying. None of my bibles have this, and I'd probably pass on one that did. On the other hand, most people are not very well read. For those who aren't, a little help is usually appreciated.

I'd throw a fit if you could only get KJVs like that, though.