Why Americans Still Say "Fornication": The King James Bible's Legacy

What is the King James Version?

The King James Version is the English translation of the Bible first published in 1611 by Robert Barker, the King's Printer, as a large folio edition ^[2]. Forty-seven scholars are credited with the work, although 54 were originally approved, and they were organized into six committees based at Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster ^[2]. The project grew out of the Hampton Court Conference of January 1604, which King James I convened and at which a new translation was proposed in response to Puritan complaints about the existing English versions ^[2].

The origins are surprisingly murky. No record of the official authorization survives; the scholar F. F. Bruce suggested it was probably an order in council, but the relevant Privy Council registers were destroyed by fire in 1618 or 1619 ^[2]. The translation did not take over at once. It became the dominant English Bible in Anglican and other Protestant churches by the early 18th century, and after stereotype printing arrived in the early 19th century it became the most widely printed book in history ^[2].

What readers call the King James Version today is usually not the 1611 text. Wikipedia explains that the unqualified name normally refers to the 1769 Oxford standard text edited by Benjamin Blayney ^[2]. The wording that Americans quote in sermons, on signs and in legal statutes comes from that later standardized edition, even when it is attributed to 1611.

The irony of the Puritan connection is worth noting. A request from Puritans helped launch the translation, yet New England's Puritans and the Pilgrims at first used the Geneva Bible, and the Library of Congress notes that it was used until the King James Bible gradually replaced it ^[5]. The same colonists who wrote Scripture into their criminal law, as described in our account of Puritan New England's fornication laws, therefore did not read the version that would later dominate American religious language.

Timeline

1. 1604The Hampton Court Conference, convened by James I, proposes a new English translation after Puritan complaints.
2. 1611First edition of the King James Version, printed in London by Robert Barker.
3. 1769The Oxford standard text edited by Benjamin Blayney, the form usually meant by "KJV" today.
4. 1817The Tennessee Association of Baptists issues a statement against altering the KJV New Testament.
5. 1930Benjamin Wilkinson publishes a defense of the KJV, an early text of the King James Only movement.
6. 2014The IUPUI Bible in American Life study is reported: 55% of American Bible readers use the KJV, 19% the NIV.

How did the KJV shape American English?

The KJV shaped American English by supplying a shared stock of phrases, rhythms and idioms that readers absorbed through church, school and family reading. Wikipedia reports that its phrasing influenced hymnody, liturgy and everyday English, and that the linguist David Crystal estimated it is responsible for 257 idioms, such as "feet of clay" and "reap the whirlwind" ^[2]. Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, neither of them a believer in its message, have both praised it as a major work of English literature ^[2].

America adopted the translation gradually. The Library of Congress records that the Geneva Bible gave way only slowly in New England ^[5], and Wikipedia describes the KJV as the dominant English Bible in Anglican and other Protestant churches by the early 18th century ^[2]. Where most readers met Scripture in this one version, its vocabulary became the vocabulary of religious talk. A word such as "fornication" was thereby tied in the public mind to the Bible, even though it also existed in ordinary usage.

That association helps explain why the word survived in legal and moral language as well as in church. Several state statutes still use "fornication" as the name of an offense; the statutes are listed in our survey of fornication laws still on the books. This article does not claim that the KJV caused the statutes. The point is narrower: the translation kept the word familiar to English speakers.

Why does the KJV use fornication so often?

The KJV uses "fornication" often because its translators rendered one Greek word, porneia, the same way every time. The Blue Letter Bible lexicon records that the KJV translates the Greek noun porneia (Strong's G4202) as "fornication" 26 times, in 25 verses, and that it also shows the plural "fornications" in Matthew 15:19 and Mark 7:21 ^[1]. The most famous instance is the two-word command of 1 Corinthians 6:18, "Flee fornication." Others include 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:13 and 7:2, Acts 15:20, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 5:3, Colossians 3:5 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3 ^[1].

The frequency says more about the Greek than about the translators' priorities. Strong's dictionary defines porneia as harlotry, including adultery and incest, and, figuratively, idolatry; the lexicon outline lists illicit sexual intercourse in general as its primary sense, including adultery and intercourse with close relatives or with a divorced person, and the worship of idols as its metaphorical sense ^[1]. The figurative sense of idolatry appears in verses such as Revelation 2:21, 14:8 and 17:2 ^[1].

A single English word was therefore asked to carry a wide Greek range. In modern English, fornication has narrowed to sexual intercourse between unmarried people, so a reader of "Flee fornication" is likely to hear a rule about premarital sex, while the Greek covered more. The sources consulted here do not record why the 1611 translators chose this consistency, so it is best described rather than explained. For the Greek in detail, see why modern Bibles say "sexual immorality" instead of fornication.

The consistency may also explain why "fornication" became shorthand for a whole set of biblical prohibitions: one English word marked every occurrence, so the category looked unified. That is a plausible reading rather than a documented one, since the sources consulted here say nothing about the translators' reasons.

Who still reads the KJV in the United States?

Many Americans still read the KJV, and among Bible readers it is the most used translation. The Bible in American Life study from IUPUI, as reported by Christianity Today in 2014, found that 55% of Americans who read the Bible use the King James Version and 19% use the New International Version, with other translations, including the New Revised Standard Version, the New American Bible and the Living Bible, each in single digits ^[3]. The article does not state the survey year or sample size, so the figures are best read as an early-2010s snapshot ^[3]. Wikipedia likewise describes the KJV as remaining the most used translation in the United States ^[2].

A smaller group reads it exclusively. The King James Only movement holds that the KJV is superior to every other English translation, whether as the best available or as a providentially preserved, perfect text ^[4]. Wikipedia places it mostly in certain Conservative Anabaptist, Anglo-Catholic, Conservative Holiness Methodist and Independent Baptist churches, and says Independent Baptist congregations are where it is most common; it offers no estimate of the number of adherents ^[4].

The movement has identifiable roots. An 1817 statement by the Tennessee Association of Baptists opposed altering the KJV New Testament, and in 1930 Benjamin Wilkinson, a Seventh-day Adventist, published a defense of the KJV and the Greek text behind it ^[4]. The minister Peter Ruckman (1921-2016) went further, claiming the KJV was a "new revelation" superior to the Hebrew and Greek originals, a position called Ruckmanism ^[4]. Not every supporter is that strict: the Trinitarian Bible Society calls the KJV the best English translation but not a perfect one, and critics such as Trevin Wax have described the broader controversy as a conspiracy theory about modern translators' motives ^[4].

For churches in this tradition, the vocabulary of 1611 is part of the faith itself. For many of its readers, "fornication" is not an archaism to be replaced but the word the Bible uses, and congregations that hear it read aloud may carry it into ordinary speech.

How do modern translations change the vocabulary?

Modern translations replace the KJV's single word with several, and the choice affects what readers hear. Our companion article reports that the NIV and ESV translate porneia as "sexual immorality" in 1 Corinthians 6:18, so the same Greek word yields "Flee fornication" in one Bible and "Flee from sexual immorality" in another. The two phrases are not equivalent: "sexual immorality" is broader than the modern sense of fornication and closer to the range that lexicons assign to porneia ^[1].

The result is a vocabulary split that mirrors the split in readership. In a church that reads the KJV, the word fornication sounds ordinary; in a church that reads the NIV, it may never be spoken. The IUPUI figures suggest that the second group is smaller than the first among Bible readers, but the study counts readers, not worshippers, and does not measure how often each translation is read aloud ^[3].

None of the sources consulted here measures how often the word is used, so its persistence in American speech cannot be quantified. What can be said is narrower: a translation that dominated for centuries, a still-large readership and a movement that treats its wording as authoritative together keep "fornication" in circulation, while newer versions steadily offer readers other words.

Who owns the King James text?

In the United States the King James text is treated as public domain, and that has helped keep it in print, online and in free church use. Wikipedia's summary lists the KJV as perpetually copyrighted in the United Kingdom and de facto public domain elsewhere, a status that goes back to the royal printing privilege held by the Barker family ^[2]. The summary does not discuss the current U.S. position in detail, so the precise legal basis should be checked before relying on it for a publishing project.

Practical consequences follow. Churches, websites and publishers can generally reproduce the text without a license fee, which helps explain why it is so widely available. Editions with new notes, introductions or layouts may carry their own rights, although the 17th-century wording itself does not.

Frequently asked questions

Why do some churches use only the KJV?

They hold that it is the best, or the only reliable, English translation. The King James Only movement argues that God providentially preserved the text behind the KJV, and it is most common in Independent Baptist congregations. Not all supporters are equally strict; the Trinitarian Bible Society, for example, calls the KJV the best English translation but not a perfect one.

Is the KJV in the public domain in the US?

Yes, in practice. Wikipedia describes the KJV as de facto public domain outside the United Kingdom, where it is perpetually copyrighted. New editions can carry rights in their notes or layout, so check the publisher before reusing a modern edition.

How many times does fornication appear in the KJV?

Twenty-six times in 25 verses, according to the Blue Letter Bible lexicon, as the translation of the Greek porneia. The same lexicon also shows the plural "fornications" in Matthew 15:19 and Mark 7:21. The noun "fornicator" translates a different Greek word.

Who translated the King James Bible?

Forty-seven scholars are credited, though 54 were originally approved. They worked in six committees at Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster after the Hampton Court Conference of January 1604, and the first edition appeared in 1611.

Did the Puritans use the King James Bible?

Not at first. The Pilgrims and Puritans used the Geneva Bible, according to the Library of Congress, until the King James Bible gradually replaced it. Puritan complaints about earlier translations had, however, helped prompt the new version at Hampton Court in 1604.

Which Bible translation do most Americans use?

The King James Version, according to the IUPUI Bible in American Life study reported in 2014. It found that 55% of Americans who read the Bible use the KJV and 19% the NIV. The article does not give the survey year, so the figures may have changed.

What does porneia mean?

Porneia is the Greek word the KJV renders as "fornication." The Blue Letter Bible lexicon defines it as illicit sexual intercourse in general, including adultery and incest, with a figurative sense of idolatry. English "fornication" is now narrower than that.