The Problems of the King James Version (KJV)

PARAPHRASE IN THE KJV

1. The Hebrew phrase "Let the king live" is used several times in the OT writings. It is correctly translated in many places in the KJV (such as I Kings 1:31), which shows that the translators were aware of how to correctly render this phrase. However, in several places they substitute the common English phrase "God save the king" (I Samuel 10:24; II Samuel 16:16, to give just a couple).

2. In Genesis 25:8 the KJV reads, "Then Abraham gave up the ghost..." This is a very liberal paraphrase of a Hebrew verb which simply means to "die, expire." It says nothing at all about a "ghost" being given up by a person's physical body at death. No such thing is taught in the Bible, and is a false teaching. This was a popular expression and belief in England in the early 17th century, however, and thus it was written into the text in place of the literal Hebrew "to die."

3. In Matthew 27:44 the KJV reads, "The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth." The Greek verb oneidizon actually means "reviled" or "reproached." This is another example of an obvious paraphrase; employing the 17th century English phrase "cast in teeth" for what was literally written in the text.

It should be pointed out that paraphrase in a version is not wrong. In fact, it cannot always be avoided. However, it becomes a problem if the paraphrase violates the meaning of the text, or promotes a concept inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible elsewhere. If the meaning conveyed by the paraphrase to present-day readers is the same as would have been conveyed by the literal reading to the original readers, then the paraphrase is acceptable.

TRANSLATION INACCURACIES IN THE KJV

#1 --- Psalm 8:5 reads: "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels." The Hebrew word here is actually Elohim which means "God," or "heavenly beings," depending on the context. While Elohim is plural in Hebrew and can refer to pagan gods, it is often used in the Old Testament to refer to the one, true God. The singular form of Elohim is Eloah or El. It seems that the translators based their translation on the Septuagint (pre-Christian Greek translation of the Old Testament) which translates "Elohim" as "angels."

#2 --- Genesis 12:19 reads, "Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife." The Hebrew text actually says, "I took her." By changing the verb tense, the KJV has also changed the meaning.

#3 --- Psalm 77:2 reads, "My sore ran in the night, and ceased not." This is not even close to what the actual text says, which is: "At night I stretched out my untiring hands." The mistranslation would almost be humorous if it were not so seriously flawed.

#4 --- In John 20:17 the KJV has Jesus saying to Mary, "Touch me not." It seems he is here forbidding what he has elsewhere allowed (Matthew 28:9). However, the Greek verb haptou employed here actually means "to cling to." Jesus was not forbidding Mary to touch him, but rather forbidding her to cling on to him as if to prevent his departure.

#5 --- In Acts 5:30; 10:39 the KJV, in speaking of Jesus' death, reads, "Whom ye slew and hanged on a tree [i.e. the cross]." The word kai ("and") is not in the Greek text, and by adding it to the text at this point in the verse it leads to some confusion on the part of the readers. The conjunction "and" indicates grammatically that one action followed another (i.e.: two separate actions independent of one another). The translation makes it that Jesus was killed first, and then his dead body was hung on a tree which is untrue. By inserting the word "and," numerous complications have arisen which could have been prevented by a correct translation of the original text.

#6 --- In Romans 3:25 the KJV speaks of "the remission [i.e. forgiveness] of sins." The Greek word paresis (a noun) actually refers to "passing over" sins, not the canceling or remitting of them. The KJV translators confused two similar Greek words here.

#7 --- 2 Corinthians 2:17 reads, "corrupt the Word of God" in the KJV. The Greek word kapèleuontes (a verb participal) actually means "those who peddle" (the ESV translated it as the plural noun "peddlers") the Word of God, not "corrupt" it. It refers to men who proclaim the gospel only for money.

#8 --- There are two errors in James 3:2 in the KJV: "For in many things we offend all." This should read, "For we all stumble in many ways." In the Greek, hapantes ("all") modifies ptaiomen ("we stumble"), it is not the object of the verb's action. Also, the Greek verb ptaiomen employed here means "to stumble," and does not mean "to offend" someone. The translators made two major blunders in just one short phrase. By means of these errors, they have presented a teaching other than the one intended by James.

#9 --- The Greek word agape (a self-sacrificial love) is used over 300 times in the New Testament writings. The KJV translates it "love" in most places. However, the KJV renders it "charity" in 26 different locations. Since "charity" conveys a different meaning today than it did in the early 17th century, this has led to some confusion among contemporary readers. Some have assumed that "charitable acts of benevolence" are being referred to, rather than "love." Such could easily have been avoided by consistent translation of the word in the KJV.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INACCURACIES IN THE KJV

The translators of the KJV lived and worked in the early 17th century, nearly four hundred years ago. This is a considerable length of time, especially considering the many important discoveries (archaeological, linguistic, ect.) which have been made since then. These discoveries have shed considerable light on areas of the text that the translators simply did not understand at the time they made their translation. They did the best they could with what they had to work with, but through their lack of knowledge they made many unintentional errors in the text. The following are just a few examples:

#1 --- In Joshua 11:13 the translators of the KJV rendered the text as follows: "....the cities that stood still in their strength." Actually, the Hebrew speaks of cities "standing on their mounds." These "mounds" are known as "tells" in archaeology (the accumulated rubble of past cities on that site; cities built upon rubble from cities). Not understanding this, the translators sought some meaning from this idea of a city on a mound. They arrived at the figure of strength. This is an interpretation of the original text, not a translation of it. It is more interpretation than translation, and not even a correct interpretation at that.

#2 --- In 1 Kings 10:28 the word Kue is translated "linen yarn" in the KJV. This is incorrect. Actually, Kue was a location in Cilicia where Solomon purchased his horses. This is a fact which has been verified by archaeologists, but of which the translators were painfully unaware.

#3 --- The translators also did not know what the Asherah was (a wooden idol representing a Canaanite goddess), so they translated the word repeatedly as meaning a "grove" of trees. In 1 Kings 16:33 they state, "And Ahab made a grove," which provoked God to anger. In point of fact, Ahab made an idol here (the Asherah); his sin was idolatry, not planting a grove of trees.

#4 --- In 1 Chronicles 5:26 the translators present Pul and Tilgath-pilneser as being two separate kings of Assyria. Actually, these were two names for the same man (Tilgath-pilnesar is Pul's throne name in Babylon), as archaeological discoveries have proven.

#5 --- In 2 Kings 23:29 the KJV reads, "In his days Pharaoh Nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria." This is not true. Pharaoh Neco (spelled "Nechoh" in the KJV) went to the aid of the Assyrian king; they were allies, not enemies, as ancient records from that time have now clearly proven. The translators did not have that information available to them, and thus they assumed their meeting to have been one of enmity. This was an historically-false assumption; a poor interpetation by the translators.

#6 --- In early 17th century England, it was normal practice to light a candle and place it on a candlestick. This was not the case in first-century A.D. Palestine, where oil lamps were then placed on lampstands. Throughout the New Testament, the translators changed "lamps" and "lampstands" to "candles" and "candlesticks" (Matthew 5:15; Luke 15:8; Revelation 1:12f), creating an anarchonism.

LACK OF UNIFORMITY IN THE KJV

A great deal of unnecessary confusion is created in a translation when a name or place is spelled in more than one way. This leaves the reader wondering who or what is meant when a name or place is rendered three or four different ways in a translation or version. Notice the following examples in the KJV:

* Sheth and Seth

* Agar and Hagar

* Jeremiah, Jeremias (Greek form of Jeremiah) & Jeremie

* Jonah, Jona & Jonas (Greek form of Jonah)

* Hosea and Osee

* Isaiah, Esaias (Greek form of Isaiah) & Esay

* Judas, Judah (Hebrew form of Judas), Juda & Jude

* Areopagus and Mars' Hill (loose translation of Areopagus, but replacing Areo, a reference to the Greek god of war Ares, with his Roman counterpart Mars)

Most modern versions simplify the matter by adopting one form of a name or place and using it consistently throughout the translation. This use of variety by the translators, however, was done intentionally (to reflect the literary spirit of the times). They felt it made the Bible more interesting for the reader. Although variety of expression can indeed be good at times, and even necessary on occasion (some Greek and Hebrew words have many different shades of meaning, which should be reflected in a translation), yet this variety can be carried too far. "Variety for variety's sake" can lead to unnecessary confusion.

OBSOLETE MEANINGS OF ENGLISH WORDS

In the Preface to the KJV the translators themselves pose the following question: "How shall men meditate on that which they do not understand?" Their goal was to give the Bible to the people in a form that could be readily understood by an ordinary person. That was almost 400 years ago. The English language has undergone tremendous changes since that time (as does any language). As a result, there are places in the text of the KJV that are simply impossible for the vast majority of English-speaking people today to understand.

There are some words that were in use in the early 17th century that are still in use today, but their meaning has changed drastically. Notice the following examples of KJV wording, and what they actually meant to early 17th century readers then:

Study (2 Timothy 2:15) meant "to be diligent"

Mean men (Proverbs 22:29) meant "common men"

Meat referred to food in general, and not just the flesh of animals. In fact, the word is never used in the KJV to refer to flesh (the word "flesh" is used instead). However, "flesh" is also used in the KJV to mean "human nature." In Leviticus 14:10 the meat offering was actually an offering of "grain," not of flesh.

Made a road (1 Samuel 27:10) meant to go on a "raid."

A target of brass (1 Samuel 17:6) was actually a "javelin."

Cherish (1 Kings 1:1-4) meant "to keep warm."

Prevent (Psalm 88:13; Matthew 17:25; I Thessalonians 4:15) meant "to come before; go before"

Let actually meant "prevent" in many places in the KJV (just the opposite of what it means today) --- Romans 1:13 is a good example: "...oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you."

Wealth (1 Corinthians 10:24) meant "welfare; well-being"

Shambles (1 Corinthians 10:25) meant "a meat market"

Forwardness of mind (2 Corinthians 9:2) meant "eagerness, readiness"

Provoke (2 Corinthians 9:2) meant "encourage"

Conversation (1 Peter 3:1) meant "one's general behavior; manner of living"

Comprehend (John 1:5) meant "overcome."

We took up our carriages (Acts 21:15) meant "hand baggage," not a vehicle.

We fetched a compass (Acts 28:13) meant to travel by a circular route (the compass was brought from China to the West in about 1260 A.D. and was not known in biblical times)

Careful (Philippians 4:6) meant "worry; anxiety"

Quick (John 5:21; Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 124:3, to name just a few) meant "alive; give life to"

Suffer (Matthew 19:14) meant "permit; allow."

EMBARRASSING PASSAGES IN THE KJV

Due to the evolution of the English language, some words and phrases which were acceptable 400 years ago are not considered acceptable today. To speak of someone "sitting on his ass (i.e. donkey)," for example, conveys a much different meaning today than it did in early 17th century England. Also, most people today would not even consider reading the following KJV passages in public before the congregation (although in early 17th century England it was viewed as acceptable speech):

* 1 Kings 14:10 --- "Behold, I will ... cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth [urinates] against the wall." A modern translation (ESV) reads: "ehold, I will...cut off from Jeroboam every male..." See also 1 Kings 21:21 and 2 Kings 9:8.

* 2 Kings 18:27 --- "...that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss." A modern translation (ESV) reads: "...to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?"