The most theologically insightful and beautiful commentary on the King James Bible?

I'm interested in exploring the King James Bible as a piece of classic and imaginative literature. I'm okay with the Early Modern English, but I sometimes have difficulties interpreting the deeper theological meanings of the scriptures.

Thanks for any help!

The King James Bible is not in Old English, but rather in Early Modern English.

>2 MarthaJeanne: Pardon my ignorance, and thanks for the correction. I've edited my post accordingly.

>1 VoicelessTorment: Hello,
To better understand the "theological meanings", the commentary should match the theology of the 1611 KJV translators who were a part of the Church of England. They were primarily "Calvinists" and held to the teachings of the recent Protestant Reformation of that era. (This was a brief time when the Church of England was not hostile to Calvinism and was predominately of that theology.)
Below are some Reformed, Calvinist English commentaries which should give you some great insight. They are available free online on many Bible websites (Blue Letter Bible, archive.org, etc.) Unfortunately, the print editions of these works (outside of Henry) can be very difficult to get at a reasonable price.
- The Geneva Bible with it's short notes would be a great choice, as there is an absolutely direct link between the KJV and Geneva, not just in translation method but in theology.
- Matthew Henry is probably the next best choice, being the least "technical" and he tends to read like a pastor sitting with you in a Bible study.
- The Reformer John Calvin and his commentaries are a terrific insight into what the KJV translators would have believed. Without a doubt, they consulted Calvin in their translation efforts.

Geneva Bible (direct English product of Calvinists from the Reformation)
The Geneva Bible: A Facsimile of the 1560 Edition
1599 Geneva Bible

Matthew Henry (1662-1714; Non-conformist)
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged

John Calvin (1509-1546; Protestant Reformer)
Calvin's Commentaries (22 Volumes)

Also check out:
John Trapp (1601-1669; Anglican)
Commentary on the Old & New Testaments

Matthew Poole (1624-1679; Non-conformist)
Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible 3 Volume Set

>4 old_reformer: Thanks for getting back to me with this wonderful information. I appreciate it. ^^

>4 old_reformer: By the way, I read that Matthew Henry died during the later stages of the commentary's development and that his fellow ministers finished it for him. Is it noticable? Do you still recommend it regardless?

Thanks.

You remind me that I read God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible a few years back. Possibly not what the OP is looking for; but full of information about the decisions made.