Readability?

KJV has a 5th grade reading level?

It has been claimed that the KJV has a 5th grade or a 6th grade reading level. The claim is based on the Flesch-Kincaid reading level. This is a mathematical calculation based upon the number of syllables per word and the number of words per sentence. It does not take into account grammar structure nor word comprehension. Microsoft Word uses this algorithm for its readability statistics.

It rates John chapter 1 at a 5.2 grade level, while it rates Ephesians chapter 1 at a 20.1

When using the readability calculators found at https://readable.io the following statistics are given:

John Chapter 1

John 1:1-51 KJV

Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 5.9
Gunning-Fog Score 7.8
Coleman-Liau Index 7.5
SMOG Index 5.3
Automated Readability Index 5.5
Average Grade Level 6.4

John 1:1-51 NKJV

Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 5.1
Gunning-Fog Score 7.3
Coleman-Liau Index 6.4
SMOG Index 5
Automated Readability Index 4.1
Average Grade Level 5.6

Ephesians Chapter 1

Ephesians 1:1-23 KJV

Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 33.7
Gunning-Fog Score 36.9
Coleman-Liau Index 8.8
SMOG Index 14.1
Automated Readability Index 41.0
Average Grade Level 26.9

Ephesians 1:1-23 NKJV

Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 27.9
Gunning-Fog Score 31.5
Coleman-Liau Index 8.6
SMOG Index 13.3
Automated Readability Index 33.8
Average Grade Level 23.0

Genesis Chapter 1

Genesis 1:1-31 KJV

Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 8.5
Gunning-Fog Score 11.6
Coleman-Liau Index 7.5
SMOG Index 6.7
Automated Readability Index 9
Average Grade Level 8.7

Genesis 1:1-31 NKJV

Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 7.1
Gunning-Fog Score 10.7
Coleman-Liau Index 7.5
SMOG Index 6.8
Automated Readability Index 7.5
Average Grade Level 7.9

Psalms Chapter 119

Psalms 119:1-176 KJV

Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 4.9
Gunning-Fog Score 8
Coleman-Liau Index 8.9
SMOG Index 5.9
Automated Readability Index 4.4
Average Grade Level 6.4

Psalms 119:1-178 NKJV

Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 5.2
Gunning-Fog Score 8.6
Coleman-Liau Index 9
SMOG Index 6.4
Automated Readability Index 5
Average Grade Level 6.8