Robert Yunk wrote (way back on May 29th):
 
> An interesting  bit in "Ezra Pound's 'Seafarer'" that I found quite
> provocative was Alexander's cite of W. P. Ker regarding translation. In this
> particular case Ker says of Anglo-Saxon translators of the Bible:  "The
> fault of Bible versions was that they kept too close to the original.
> Instead of translating like free men they construed word for word, like the
> illiterate in all ages."
 
Old English translators of the Bible were trying to retain
the chiasmus structures and word counts of their sources.
They were trying to preserve the formal features of their
originals. See David Howlett, BRITISH BOOKS IN BIBLICAL
STYLE, Four Courts Press, 1997. Howlett is editor of the
Dictionary of Medieval Latin at Oxford.
 
Tim Romano
 
P.S. Sorry for the outdatedness of this reply; have been
away.