Shortly after he ascended the English throne in 1603, King James I commissioned a new Holy Bible translation that, more than 400 years later, is still widely read around the world.

King James Bible. First printed 400 years ago, it molded the English language, buttressed the “powers that be”—one of its famous phrases—and yet enshrined a gospel of individual freedom.

The King James is four centuries old this year, an occasion for tributes and conferences and exhibits.No one remembers Webster’s. The King James has made many a reader swoon; Webster’s, not a one.