Talk:The quick and the dead
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with 38,000 conflicting/disagreeing sects of christianity I don't believe wikipedia should be interpreting any scripture.
"The use of the word quick in this context is an archaic usage because of the publication of the King James Bible in 1611"
This usage of "Quick" being archaic cannot actually be due to the publication of the King James Bible in 1611! So what can this sentence mean?
Does this phrase mean: (1) this usage is NOW archaic because the King James bible was published long ago (in 1611)?
or (2) It was already archaic in 1611 (having been published in 1549 in the Book of Common Prayer, and earlier in Tyndale's bible of 1526 & Wycliffe's bible of 1385)?
or (3) The language of the King James Bible is now archaic?
Either way, this needs rephrasing.
Though I can't find a citation at the moment, it is likely that this usage for "quick" was already archaic by the 17th century when the King James bible was published. This usage comes directly from the Tyndale bible of 1526 and this in turn comes from the John Wycliffe's English bible of 1385:
"And thei schulen yyue resoun to hym, that is redi to deme the quyke and the deed." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.44.152.89 (talk) 20:08, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
That certainly precedes Shakespeare as the origin of the phrase, and relegates its appearance in Hamlet to "secular usage". Maybe someone can verify this and update the page? Eaberry (talk) 20:43, 6 May 2016 (UTC)
What does it mean??[edit]
The lead needs to at least attempt to address what the phrase means. GeoEvan (talk) 09:31, 20 April 2023 (UTC)