Religious or not, there’s little doubt you’ve been influenced heavily by the King James Bible.

Author Melvyn Bragg has no doubt about the impact of the 400-year-old English translation of Biblical texts. He documents that impact in The Book of Books: The Radical Impact of the King James Bible 1611-2011.

One key source of influence is the modern English language itself. A key player in Bragg’s narrative is William Tyndale, a 16th-century Catholic scholar whose English translation of the Bible predated the King James version by 86 years. Tyndale laid much of the groundwork for the translation that eventually won the British monarch’s endorsement.

Tyndale and others were not afraid to use the full resources of the newly emerged mongrel English tongue to show off the paces of their native language.

When Tyndale learned Hebrew, he said that he found a natural affinity between Hebrew and Anglo-Saxon and certainly the King James Bible is studded with English idioms taken from Hebrew idioms and given the genius touch of memorability. Here are a few: ‘To lick the dust,’ ‘to fall flat on his face,’ ‘a man after his own heart,’ ‘to pour out one’s heart,’ ‘the land of the living,’ ‘under the sun,’ ‘from time to time,’ ‘pride goes before a fall,’ ‘to rise and shine,’ ‘a fly in the ointment.’ And there are so many others, not only from Hebrew sources: ‘ the mark of Cain,’ ‘a mess of pottage,’ ‘the fat of the land,’ ‘flesh pots,’ ‘to everything there is a season,’ the apple of his eye,’ ‘how are the mighty fallen,’ ‘the wisdom of Solomon,’ ‘spare the rod and spoil the child,’ ‘vanity of vanities,’ ‘grind the faces of the poor,’ a voice crying in the wilderness,’ ‘no peace for the wicked,’ ‘the parting of the ways,’ ‘man cannot live by bread alone,’ ‘go the extra mile,’ ‘cast your pearls before swine,’ ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing,’ ‘sign of the times,’ ‘wars and rumours of wars,’ ‘a law unto himself,’ ‘through a glass daekly,’ ‘lost sheep,’ ‘I wash my hands of it,’ ‘of making books there is no end.’

It’s doubtful that even those scholars who have devoted their careers to questioning the Bible would deny its significance in shaping use of the English language among Christians and non-Christians alike.