I rarely use the KJV of the Bible. It is poetic but not inspired as the Original language. I never meet anyone who knows what "concupiscence" means. It means "sexual desire", so why use that word that no one else knows when we can say "sexual desire" that everyone knows.
Then there is "lascivious" which means driven by sexual desire. Why not just say "driven by sexual desire.
Then there is "aforehand" when we could say "beforehand."
"anon" tell me what it means without looking it up please.
"assayed" What does it mean without looking it up.
"broided" what does it mean without looking it up.
"carriages," No it doesn't mean something you ride in, it means "luggage", a very different meaning from what we understand today.
"in a charger.” in the old English does not mean a warming plate we put under another plate and it doesn't mean a device for charging our phones. Look it up and you will have to if you want to understand the KJV of the Bible.
"Conversation" in the KJV of the bible does not mean to speak words, it means how we live our lives. If we misunderstand this one will be telling people they should be careful how they speak. But God never said that, He said to be sure we are living right.
"Execute" in the KJV does not mean to put to death as we use it today, it means to "carry out."
You see our culture does not understand the Old English as much as those who spoke old English two centuries ago would not be able to understand our meanings today.
God sent Godly men to translate the Bible into other languages so that the whole world would have it it their own language. The problem is always that no translation, including the KJV is inspired by God, they are only translations of the original inspired works.
Even the KJV has been updated more than 18 times to keep up with language changes. These are no cultural changes, but language changes. If we do not know a word from two hundred years ago properly we very likely would end up believing the opposite of what God actually said or in serious error in other ways.
There are godly people today just like in KJ time, who are able to interpret, perhaps even better because we have now the original language actually spoken in Israel today.
Someone might say that we can get meanings from the context. This is not necessarily true. Here is an example:
1 Peter 3:1 "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;"
I have had people tell me that God is very concerned with the "conversation" meaning speech, because of this verse. But that's not what the verse is conveying at all. God said, "without a word" she may win her husband. that means she is not speaking. The word conversation here means her lifestyle. A woman is able to influence her husband by the way she lives and operates, even if she never speaks words. This meaning also does not mean that she may not talk at all to him about God, it just means that her life will match up with whatever she says which is borne out in the rest of the Bible.
Another misunderstanding we see commonly is in the matter of divorce and remarriage.
"Let no one put assunder", is not an instruction for people not to put something assunder, its a statement that "no one can" put assunder. The word "let" means that it is not possible for someone. That one should not try, "let" no one try to put assunder.
One cannot separate one in marriage no matter what they do. God made them one, only He can separate them but He will not, they remain one until one of them dies. This is why Christ said that remarriage is an ongoing state of adultery.
Because of the misuse and misunderstandings of the translations, man has come up with many erroneous concoctions of meanings more based on their desired belief rather than on what God actually said.
In our language when we say someone is "peculiar" we mean they are odd or strange. But the in the old English "peculiar" means "Owned, one’s very own, special, treasure; different from all of the rest."
1 Corinthians 6:19–20
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s."
In these days when Christians are fighting one another about translations, many will place their trust in the works of men in the translation while ignoring the work of the Holy Spirit in them to guide their thinking. I believe lack of faith drives people to place their trust in a translation rather than in the Holy Spirit Who lives in them.
We use many idioms today that never existed two hundred years ago and there will be many more to come as language changes about 2% a year. Did you know that in old English a winged creature was called a "brid." NO its not spelled wrong, that's the way they spelled and said the word that describes a winged creature that flies.
The spelling not only changed in the many words so have meanings. It is vitally important that we are able to convey to the culture the truth. If they cannot understand what we are saying then they will not listen.
I am not suggesting that we dumb down truth, only that we speak in the language of the culture we live in. I would never give a KJV of the Bible to a new believer or someone who is unsaved. I would hand them one written in their language. I would not hand a KJV of the bible to a Chinese person, they wouldn't be able to read it .
I understand the KJV, or most of it, because I have trained myself to do it. But many people are not going to train themselves in it, they must be able to sit down and read it without looking up words all the time.
We want to reach people with truth. God's truth is in Greek and Hebrew, since we cannot read that He has provided translations. Why is a provision of translations from Greek and Hebrew any different from updated English verbiage? Its not!
Of course the Holy Spirit must be constantly helping us to understand because the prejudices of translators get in the way. But we don't have to worry about that, we can trust the Holy Spirit to teach us when translators don't get it perfectly. And, the translators of the KJV did not get it more perfectly than some newer translations. It may be better than some and not as good as others.
Here's the kicker.......its the Holy Spirit that imparts wisdom, its the Holy Spirit Who enlightens us. Placing our trust in any translation will lead us into error.
I see no verse in the any translation that says "trust only the KJV of the Bible." NOT ONE!
I do see lost of scripture encouraging us to trust the Holy Spirit and Him alone.
Acts 1:8
"8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Luke 24:45-49
45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"
There are translations that are not good and there are others that are, God can show you which ones. And, if none of them are perfect and they are not, then He can give you the understanding even if the words are not perfectly translated.
Bottom line!!!! Place your trust in Christ alone and not in any particular translation. Do not.....PLEASE do not argue with someone who will distract with a mindset of trusting a translation. Those who trust a translation are not trusting in the Holy Spirit.
Read which ever version you prefer, if its one that is not so good, the Holy Spirit will redirect you.
