Doctrines of Grace and Bible Translations
By Will Kinney
I Timothy 2:3-5
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who WILL HAVE all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Much of modern Christianity pictures God as a grandfatherly figure wishing so badly that his errant creatures would heed his pleadings and decide of their own free will to choose to believe and cast their vote for God. Given the great truths of election and sovereign grace, we should be greatly concerned to see how many of these truths have been diluted in the new bible versions.
Comparing scripture with scripture we see that the phrase “all men” refers to both Jews and Gentiles. It means all categories of men, not all men without exception. The Arminian view always proves too much. There were multitudes of men who were already lost and in hell when Christ died. So does “all men” include those who had perished in their sins before Christ came to this earth?
In the Old Testament God chose only the nation of Israel to be his people. “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” Deut. 14:2. But now the Messiah has come to be the Saviour of His people which are taken out out every nation, tribe, kindred and tongue. “God did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name.” Acts 15:14.
Even in the Old Testament times a Gentile could come to Israel and learn of the true God. Notice carefully the expression used in Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple in I Kings 8:41-43: “Morover concerning A STRANGER, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake; (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when HE shall come and pray toward this house; Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that THE STRANGER calleth to thee for; that ALL PEOPLE of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people of Israel.”
Observe that this prayer refers to one Gentile who comes to pray to the true God. “All people of the earth” therefore does not mean every individual but all men without distinction of nationality, be they a Jew or a Gentile. Again in Isaiah 56: 6, 7 it says: “Also the sons of the stranger (Gentiles) that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD…Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer…for mine house shall be called an house of prayer FOR ALL PEOPLE.” Obviously this does not mean every individual without exception will join himself to the LORD, but all without distinction of nationality.
When the apostle Paul relates his conversion experience we can see how this same thought is expressed. In Acts 9:15 the Lord tells Ananias concerning Paul: “But the Lord said, Go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.” Yet in Acts 22:14, 15 Paul himself tells us that Ananias came to him: “And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shoudest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto ALL MEN of what thou hast seen and heard.” Do you see it? All men = the Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel. All men without distinction of nationality or social standing. Obviously Paul did not speak to Noah’s sons, the Cherokee indians, Genghis Khan or Bill Gates.
At the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the devout Simeon came by the Spirit into the temple, took up the babe in his arms and said: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of ALL PEOPLE; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” Obviously not every individual Gentile or Jew would be lightened by this salvation, but the Messiah will save all people without distinction of nationality, not all people without exception.
This is why Paul continues in I Timothy with these significant words. In verses 6 and 7 he says: “Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.” Why does he say he is not lying but telling the truth that he was a preacher and teacher of the Gentiles? Because now in the New Testament dispensation Christ, the Jewish Messiah, is gathering from the heathen Gentiles a people for his name and together the elect Jews and the elect Gentiles are what make up the “all men”.
This is a consistent, biblically defined use of the term “all men” or “all people”. The “all men” is not the problem with the modern versions, but the NKJV, NIV, and NASB have all translated the verb “to will” in such a way as to create a direct contradiction with several other verses and contribute to the pathetic god image so common today.
The King James Bible, as well as Tyndale, the Geneva Bible, Young’s, Webster’s 1833 translation, the Revised Version, the Third Millenium Bible and the 21st century KJV all correctly translate God ” WILL HAVE all men to be saved”, or “wills” all men to be saved. The verb is thelo and, when used of God, means to will to do something and since He rules over all, what He wills He does.
The NKJV and NASB say God “desires all men to be saved ” while the NIV says he “wants all men to be saved”. This rendering contradicts passages where this same verb or noun form is used in referrence to God.
He “worketh all things after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL” Ephesians 1:11; “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth WHOM HE WILL” John 5:21; and in Romans 9:16 – 18 we read: “So then it is NOT of him that WILLETH, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. Therefore hath he mercy on whom HE WILL have mercy, and whom HE WILL he hardeneth.” Again with a different word but with the same thought is James 1:18 “OF HIS OWN WILL begat he us with the word of truth.”
The new versions portray a schizophrenic god who on the one hand desires or wants to save everybody, and yet a God Who in fact saves whom He wills.
Respecter of Persons
There is a subtle twisting of God’s inspired words taking place in many modern versions in how they are rendering the phrase “respecteth not persons”. This is so subtle, that I believe most Christians have not noticed it. The change in meaning produced by versions like the NKJV, NIV, and NASB unfortunately fits in with so much of modern, popular theology, that many would actually consider it to be an improvement over the KJB’s reading. It fits the philosophy of the natural mind of man.
The concept that “God has created all men equal” does not come from the Holy Bible. God obviously has not created all men equal, nor does He deal with every single individual or nation in what seems to us as a fair and impartial manner. Many have become so influenced in their thinking by the reasoning of the world, that they cannot discern this obvious truth.
God has created, formed and made each of us. Yet He has not given to all equal intelligence, good looks, physical skills, nor spiritual gifts. “He divideth to every man severally as He will.” Exodus 4:11 tells us “And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?”.
Not all are born in a country which even has the word of God in its culture, or where it would be openly taught and encouraged. Psalm 147:19,20 “He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.” Some are born in abject poverty, disease and ignorance, while others are blessed with abundant crops, education and families that care for them. “The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.” Proverbs 22:2.
The phrase “to accept the persons of men” or “to respect persons” does not mean, as the modern versions have translated it, “to show partiality” or “to show favoritism”. One of the chief arguments of the Arminian side against the doctrine of election is: “God does not show partiality or favoritism, so election cannot be true.” The new bibles are reinforcing this fallacious argument.
Not to show partiality is to treat all men equally; and this God does not do, as His word clearly testifies. Daniel Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines “respecter of persons” as a person who regards the external circumstances of others in his judgment, and suffers his opinions to be biased by them. God’s dealings with a man are not based on outward appearance, position, rank, wealth or nationality. Rather, His own sovereign purpose and pleasure of His will are the only deciding factors.
We are told in Deuteronomy 7:6-8 “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people: for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you”. Deuteronomy 10: 14-17 “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.” Verse 17 “For the LORD thy God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which REGARDETH NOT PERSONS, nor taketh reward.” Here both election and not regarding persons are used in the same context.
God says He chose only the fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and their seed to be His people, and not the others. That He “regardeth not persons” means that He does this, not on the basis of their nationality, nor their good moral character (for they were a stiffnecked and rebellious people), but because is was His good pleasure to do so. Other Bibles that agree with the KJB here are the Revised Version, the ASV of 1901, the Geneva Bible, the 1936 Hebrew-English, Youngs, Darbys, the Spanish versions and Websters Bible. However the NKJV, NIV and NASB have “shows no partiality”. If God chose Israel to be His people, and not the others, is not this showing partiality?
Deut. 14:1,2 “Ye are the children of the LORD your God…and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” Why did not God choose the other nations to be his children and to know his laws? Isn’t this showing partiality or favoritism?
One verse among the hundreds that have been messed up by the NKJV, NIV and NASB is 2 Samuel 14:14. Here Joab saw that king David’s heart was toward his son Absalom. So Joab sends a wise woman to speak to the king. In verse 14 she says: “For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again: NEITHER DOTH GOD RESPECT ANY PERSON: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.” In other words, we all must die, whether rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, man or woman, king or servant; God does not look at our social station and on this basis exclude some from death.
Agreeing with the King James reading here are the 1917 Hebrew English, Young’s, the Geneva Bible, Websters Bible, the KJV 21, Third Millenium Bible, and the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras. But many bibles, including the NKJV, NIV and NASB have the ridiculous reading of “YET GOD DOES NOT TAKE AWAY LIFE”, instead of “neither doth God respect any person”. This is a lie and a contradiction. In this very book in chapter 12:15 “the LORD struck the child” of David and Bathsheeba and it died. In I Sam. 2:6 we are told “The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up”, and in Deuteronomy 32:39 God says “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.”
It is not that the Hebrew will not allow the meaning found in the KJB, that the NKJV, NIV and NASB have so badly mistranslated 2 Samuel 14:14. They all likewise have translated these same words in other places as they stand in the KJB and others.
The phrase “no respecter of persons” is found six times in the New Testament, and every time the modern versions have distorted the true meaning. Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 3:25, James 2:1 and 9, and Acts 10:34. In each case it has to do with not receiving the face, outward position, nationality or social rank of another. But God does not treat all people the same, nor are we told to do so either. We are to withdraw from some, avoid, exclude, reject, seperate from, and not cast our pearls before others. Most importantly, God Himself chose His elect people in Christ before the foundation of the world and “of the SAME LUMP” makes one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour – Romans 9:21. This is definitely showing partiality, but it is not respecting persons.
Romans 2:11 says “For there is no respect of persons with God.” So also read the ASV, Geneva, Revised Version, Spanish “acepción de personas”, Lamsa, Webster’s, 21st Century KJB, TMB, and the KJB II of Green. Young’s says there is no “acceptance of faces”. But the NKJV, NASB say “no partiality” and the NIV says “not show favoritism”. The Worldwide English N.T. says: “God does not love some people more than others”. Yet this very book declares in Romans 9 “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of him that calleth…Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated…I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy…So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy…Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”
Please consider the true meaning of the phrase “no respecter of persons” and contrast it with the modern rendering. I hope you will see that it is not the same at all. Only the KJB contains the whole truth of the counsel of God.
Faith is a gift from God.
Faith or belief is a gift from God. Faith is not something we can produce on our own. God has to give it to us. Those who are not His sheep do not believe because they are not His sheep. John 10:26. Jesus said to the Pharisees “But ye believe not, BECAUSE ye are not my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
The reason you and I believe the gospel is because God Himself gives us faith. Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as GOD HATH DEALT TO EVERY MAN THE MEASURE OF FAITH.”
The “every man” in the context is the “every man among you” or those who are already Christians. Not everyone has faith. 2 Thes.3:2 “for all men have not faith” and obviously there are unbelievers.
Phil. 1:29 “For unto you IT IS GIVEN in the behalf of Christ, not only TO BELIEVE ON HIM, but also to suffer for his sake.”
Eph. 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.”
Eph. 1:19 “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward that believe, according to the working of his mighty power” Tyndale and Geneva Bibles note that Faith is the work of God only, even as the raising up of Christ. The same power that raised up Christ, is the power of God that causes us to believe the gospel. This truth has been obscured in the NASB and NIV. They both add words not found in any Greek text and change the meaning of the passage.
The NASB says: ” and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. THESE ARE in accordance with the working of the strength of His might…”
The NIV has: “and his incomparably great power for us who believe. THAT POWER is like the working of his mighty strength…”
Scripture speaks of “the faith of God’s elect” Titus 1:1
We are told that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith – Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”
Acts 3:16 “yea, the faith which is by him (not just ‘in’ him, but BY Him) hath given him this perfect soundness”
Acts 18:27 “he helped them much which had believed THROUGH GRACE.” It wasn’t just that they believed “in” grace, by it was ‘through grace’ that they believed.
Acts 14:27 “they rehearsed all that God had done among them, and how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.” If God doesn’t open the door, there is no faith.
Acts 16:14 “Lydia…whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of by Paul”
Acts 15:9 “and put no difference between us (believing Jews) and them (believing Gentiles) purifying their hearts by faith.” God purified their hearts by faith, not ‘because of’ faith. God did it and He did it by faith which He himself gave them. It was not “their part”.
Acts 13:48 “and AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED TO ETERNAL LIFE BELIEVED.” Their having been ordained to eternal life preceeded their believing. The reason they believed is because God had ordained them to faith in the gospel.
1 Peter 1:21 “Who by Him believe in God that raised him up from the dead” Again, it is BY HIM that we believe in God.
2 Peter 1:1 “to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”.
They obtained this faith, they did not have it to begin with and then did their part to exercise it.
1 Cor. 12:9 “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom… to another faith by the same Spirit.”
Gal. 5:22 one of the parts of the fruit of the Spirit is faith. The Spirit produces faith, but the new versions like the NKJV, NIV and NASB have changed this to ‘faithfulness’.
1 Cor. 3:5-6 “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” You can preach and teach gospel truths, but unless God Himself gives the increase and causes the seed to sprout and grow, there is no belief and no life.
The NASB & NIV have both changed the meaning of this section, added words not in any text, and don’t even agree with each other.The NASB says: “through whom you believed, even as the Lord GAVE OPPORTUNITY to each one.” This fallacious reading pictures God as giving the opportunity to believe, as though faith comes from us. This fits with today’s Arminian theology.
The NIV, on the other hand, differs from them all and says: “only servants, through whom you believed —as the Lord HAS ASSIGNED TO EACH HIS TASK.” The NIV’s focus is not on the believing being from God, but on the task God gave to Paul and Apollos.
The Faith OF Jesus Christ
One of the many serious changes being made in the modern bible versions is how they are altering the phrase “the faith OF Christ”. Many times the phrase “by the faith OF Jesus Christ” has been changed to “by faith IN Jesus Christ”. See for example Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16, 20; 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; Phillipians 3:9; James 2:1; Revelation 2:13; and 14:12.
Romans 3:22 “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith OF Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”
Galatians 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
Here the NKJV, NIV and NASB have all changed this to “faith IN Jesus Christ”, thus changing the truth that this faith comes from Jesus Christ and instead implying that it comes from ourselves.
This is not a question of Greek texts differing, because they all say the same thing, dia pisteos iesou xristou, the genitive of possession or source. We speak of the birth of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Jesus, the body of Jesus, the cross of Christ, the riches of Christ, the kingdom of Christ, the glory of Christ, and many other things using the same grammatical construction, but suddenly the NKJV, NAS, NIV, and most modern bibles now have “through faith IN Jesus Christ.”
The older Bibles – Tyndale, Geneva, Darby, Young’s, Webster’s 1833 translation all read as the King James Bible, and so do the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21, but the ASV of 1901 changed about half of these references to “the faith OF Jesus Christ” to faith IN Jesus Christ, and from then on all the references have been changed in the NKJV, RSV, NASB and NIV.
Deuteronomy 32:5
Tremendous error and contradiction have been introduced into this section of Scripture by the NKJV, NIV and NAS “bibles”. This is part of the song of Moses which says in verses 3-5: “I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”
The next verse is where the lies of the modern versions enter. The true Holy Bible says: “They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?”
If you look at the context, in the previous chapter God told Moses that the people would enter the promised land and would go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land and turn to other gods. God knew this before He brought them into the land, so their entering the land did not depend on their foreseen obedience to the law, but rather because of the covenant of grace made with Abraham.
They are still His children whom He bought (verse 6) , His people and inheritance (verse 9) and verse 19 still refers to them as “his sons and daughters”. They are His children even though disobedient, just as your child is still your child no matter what he does.
God’s children did corrupt themselves with strange gods, and the spot or blemish they received belonged to the idolatrous practices of other people, but they are still His children, bought by God and belonging to Him as the rest of the chapter shows.
Now look at the NKJV in verse 5. “They have corrupted themselves: They are NOT His children, Because of their blemish.” The NAS is similar with its: “They are NOT His children because of their defect”. Both these versions tell us they are not His children, and then in the very next verse tell us they are His children because He is their Father and He bought them!
The NIV is even worse with its: “to their shame they are NO LONGER his children”. This teaches that one can be a child of God and then lose it and no longer be His child, yet verse 6 and 19 still refer to them as His children!
These are obvious false doctrines and contradictions. Other versions that agree with the KJB in verse 5 as teaching they are still His children are Darby, Youngs, Spanish, Italian Diodati, Hebrew-English of 1917, Daniel Webster’s 1833 translation, the Third Millenium Bible and even the NRSV of 1989.
Psalms 110:3
“Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.”
This verse is often used to support the truth that it is God who worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Phillipians 2:13. This is also the reading of the RV, ASV, Darby, Amplified, Hebrew Names Version, Webster’s, Spanish Reina Valera, TMB, and the KJV 21.
However the NIV says: “Your TROOPS will be willing on your day of BATTLE.” The NKJV has: “Your people will be volunteers in the day of your power” while the NASB reads: “Your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power.”
1 Peter 1:22
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth THROUGH THE SPIRIT unto unfeigned love of the brethren…” This is a textual issue, but the phrase that shows we obey the truth through the Spirit of God is found in the vast majority of all Greek manuscripts. The NASB and NIV are based on very different manuscripts and omit this phrase.
1 Peter 2:25
“For ye were as sheep going astray; but ARE NOW RETURNED unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” The verb here ARE RETURNED is passive, not active. If we say the books are returned, we mean someone else brought the books back; the books didn’t return themselves.
The RV, ASV, Tyndale, Geneva, Hebrew Names Version, World English Bible, Third Millenium Bible,and the KJV 21 all correctly translate this as “are now returned” unto the Shepherd. Even the Douay-Rheims says: “but are now converted to the Shepherd”. This is not only grammatically but theologically correct. It is Christ our Shepherd who brings us back to Himself. The Lord Jesus said in John 10:16 “And other sheep I HAVE, which are not of this fold: them also I MUST BRING, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.”
The NKJV, NIV and NASB all make it sound as though we had returned on our own. They say: “you HAVE RETURNED TO the Shepherd”.
1 Corinthians 4:7
“For who MAKETH THEE TO DIFFER FROM ANOTHER? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”
This precious verse teaches the distinguishing grace of God. We are no better than the non-elect. God makes of the same lump one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour. All is of grace and we can boast in nothing found in ourselves.
The reading or meaning is the same in the RV, ASV, NKJV, Young’s, Darby, even the NIV and others. However instead of “Who maketh thee to differ from another” the NASB says: “For who REGARDS YOU AS SUPERIOR?”. How would you even answer this question in the NASB? Does God regard you as superior? Is there something special in you that is not found in another? It doesn’t even make sense.
Psalms 78:36
“Nevertheless they DID FLATTER him (God) with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.”
Psalm 78 rehearses the repeated sins of God’s people and His continued faithfullness and mercy to them. We can flatter God by saying nice things about Him, yet walk contrary to His ways. This is called hypocrisy. The reading is the same in the RV, ASV, NKJV, RSV, NRSV, Geneva Bible, NIV and many others – they did flatter God. However the NASB actually says: “But they DECEIVED HIM with their mouth.” Can the all knowing, sovereign God be deceived by mortal man? Does the NASB portray the true God of the Bible, one that can be deceived?
Numbers 23:21
In the book of Numbers chapters 22 – 24, the false prophet Balaam had been called by Balak the king of Moab to curse Israel. God allowed Balaam to go with Balak, but rather than cursing the people of God, Balaam was compelled to bless them
instead.
In Numbers 23:19-21 we read these beautiful truths: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.”
The next verse, 21, expresses a great truth in the KJB, but this is where the error of the new versions occurs. Verse 21: “He hath NOT BEHELD INIQUITY in Jacob, NEITHER HATH HE SEEN PERVERSENESS in Israel: the LORD his God is
with him, and the shout of a king is among them”.
God has always dealt with His people according to the everlasting covenant of grace revealed to Abraham and his spiritual seed, confirmed to them and fulfilled in Christ.
Galatians 3:12-29. “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” God had redeemed His people out of Egypt (Exodus 6:6) and forgiven their sins, even though they were a stiffnecked people (Numbers 14: 19, 20).
Just as God sees us as blameless, holy, and without spot (Ephesians 1:4; I Corinthians 1:8), not because of our own obedience or righteousness, but because we are covered with the righteousness of Christ, so too, were His people in the wilderness. This is a very important aspect of the doctrines of grace.
But see how this truth has been lost in the NASB, RSV and the NIV. The NASB says: “He has not observed MISFORTUNE in Jacob; Nor has He seen TROUBLE in Israel.” The NIV has: “No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel.” There had been plenty of misery and misfortune in Israel, but God is speaking a blessing through Balaam upon His redeemed people and stating how He sees them because they are His own peculiar people. “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” Romans 8:33. This great comforting truth in Numbers 23:21 is lost in the NASB and NIV .
I do not believe any other English bible contains all of God’s perfect, preserved, inspired words except the King James Bible. Frequently, the new version proponents like to gang up on the KJB, as though it were the only Bible to read a certain way.
Other versions which agree with the KJB here are the Hebrew into English versions of 1917, 1936, put out by the Hebrew Publication Company and the Jewish Publication Society of America, the Revised Version 1881, the ASV of 1901, Geneva Bible, Young’s translation, Darby, the NKJV, Amplified, KJV 21, TMB, World English Bible, Hebrew Names Version, Bible in Basic English, Webster’s translation, New Century Version and the Spanish Reina Valera of 1602 and 1960.
There is a huge battle going on in these days of falling away from the faith. The authority and truth of God’s inerrant, perfect words and the doctrines of grace are under direct attack. Only in the King James Bible are all of God’s perfect words of truth found today.
2 Peter 3:12 hasting UNTO the day of God
By Will Kinney
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God
2 Peter 3:12
Promoters of the modern bible versions insist there are no doctrines of the Christian faith which are affected in any way by the differences between the King James Bible and it’s newer counterparts. This is blatantly false in several critical areas. This article will address only one of the several doctrines which have been changed in the NKJV, NIV, and NASB bibles.
Puny man, who is but of dust, can do nothing to effect in any way the timetable already established by Almighty God. Man can neither speed up this timetable nor slow it down. This view is contrary to much modern Christian theology, that seems to portray God as a grandfatherly figure, wringing His hands with worry, hoping things will turn out the way He wants them, but He just can’t get man to cooperate with His desires.
I believe the Biblical position reveals a God “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” When king Nebuchadnezzar’s understanding returned to him, after 7 times has passed over him by the decree of the Most High, he said: ” I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou.” Now, that is the God who is truly worthy of worship.
Let’s look at some Scriptures which reveal who controls time; is it God or man? Acts 1:7 Jesus said unto them “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own hands.” Acts 17: 26, 31. tell us God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation”…”he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness.” Notice God determined the times and the day of judgment is already appointed. It is “circled on His calendar”.
Revelation 9:15 “And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.” They have already been prepared by God down to the specific hour. Remember even Jesus said that they could not take him captive yet, for His hour had not yet come.
Daniel 2: 20, 21 “Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: he changeth the times and the seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings”
Daniel 8:19 the angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel to give him understanding, and he said “Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.”
Daniel 9: 24, 25 “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression… And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself”
Daniel 11: 27, 29, 35 “yet the end shall be at the time appointed”…”At the time appointed he shall return…” “even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.”
Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it: because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
It is just as the Psalmist said in 31:15 “My times are in thy hands.”
Genesis 18:14 “Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee…and Sarah shall have a son.”
In Judges 7: 10-14 Gideon is told that if he is afraid, to go down to the host of the Midianites. He goes down, and just as he is there listening, two men relate a dream which reveals that God will destroy the Midianites by the sword of Gideon. Coincidence? No, the timing of God.
In Esther 6:1 Haman is plotting to kill Mordecai, but the night before Haman requests of the king to slay Mordecai, the king cannot sleep and calls for the chronicles to be read to him. Therein he reads of Mordecai having previously revealed a plot to kill the king, and he saved his life. Whereupon, the king decides to honor Mordecai. Coincidence that the king couldn’t sleep? No, the timing of God.
Jeremiah 29: 10 – 12 “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.” God sent this judgment upon Israel, and no matter how much or fervently they might have prayed, they would not be delivered from Babylon, till the appointed time of 70 years had passed.
You might then ask, What does all this have to do with II Peter 3: 12? The verse says in the KJB, Tyndale, the Geneva Bible, Youngs, the Douay, the Spanish bibles 1909 and 1960, the Diodati Italian Bible,Webster’s translation, the 21st Century KJB, and the Third Millenium Bible: “Looking for and HASTING UNTO the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.”
However the new versions have changed the doctrine of the timing of God, by how they have changed the meaning of the inspired text. The NKJV and the NASB say: “looking for and HASTENING the coming” while the NIV says: “as you look forward to the day of God and SPEED ITS COMING.” These versions clearly imply or state that man can do something to speed up the timetable of God. This is a false doctrine and a contradiction.
Some other versions, like the Revised Version, the American Standard Version and the Contemporary English Version, have yet a different meaning than the others. They say: “EARNESTLY DESIRING the coming of the day of God”, or “LOOKING FORWARD TO the day of God”. While this rendering is different than the KJB, at least it doesn’t teach the same heresy as do the NASB, NIV and NKJV.
It may be asked, Then in what way are we “hasting unto” the coming of the day of God, as the KJB and other Bibles say? Good question. I will give the answer as I understand it. It is really quite simple. Verse 8 of this same chapter states “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousands years as one day.” If you or I should live to be a hundred years old, that would be equivalent to less than two and one half hours of God’s time.
We are here but a very short time and are all hastening unto the coming of the day of God.
Psalm 90:4-6, “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away as with a flood: they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.”
Ps. 39:5, “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth: and mine age is a nothing before thee.”
Ps. 102:11 “My days are like a shadow that declineth: and I am withered like grass.”
Job 4:20, speaks of man as, “They are destroyed from morning to evening”, Job 7: 6, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle”
Job 8: 9 “For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow.” Job 9: 25, “Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away,” Job 14: 1, 2 “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.”
So all of us are indeed hasting unto the day of God, which has already been appointed by Him who alone has put the times and the seasons in His own power.
Bible Babel – A Growing List of Modern Confusion
By Will Kinney
I will continue to add to this list a series of confusing, ridiculous, contradictory and even stupid readings found in the NKJV, NAS and NIV perversions, and compare them to the true words of God as found in the King James Bible of 1611.
Those who tell us all versions have the same message and teach the same principles, either have not actually read and compared them or they are willfully blind.
KJB – Deuteronomy 33:2 “The LORD came from Sinai, and ROSE UP from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints; FROM HIS RIGHT HAND WENT A FIERY LAW FOR THEM.”
The part: “from his right hand went a fiery law for them” is found in the ASV of 1901 (according to the NASB introduction, known as the Rock of Biblical Honesty- I don’t believe it for a second, but if so, then why did future NASBs alter it so much?), the Revised Version of 1881, in the Geneva, the NKJV, the Douay, 1917 and 1936 Hebrew- English versions, Spanish, and Darby. Now let’s see what the more learned scholars of today have done with this passage.
NIV – “The LORD came from Sinai and DAWNED OVER them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones FROM THE SOUTH, FROM HIS MOUNTAIN SLOPES.” (That’s right, this is what is in place of “from his right hand went a fiery law for them”.)
NASB – “The LORD came from Sinai, and DAWNED ON them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came FROM THE MIDST OF (not with?) ten thousand holy ones, AT HIS RIGHT HAND THERE WAS FLASHING LIGHTNING FOR THEM.” Was it a “fiery law”, “flashing lightning”, or “from the south”? Who really cares. As Professor James White says, “If we compare all the bible versions together, we arrive at a better understanding of what is really being said.” Don’t you agree?
Zechariah 13:5 KJB “But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; FOR MAN TAUGHT ME TO KEEP CATTLE FROM MY YOUTH.” Geneva, NKJV, 1936 Heb.-Eng., Spanish 1901 = KJB.
NIV – “I am a farmer; THE LAND HAS BEEN MY LIVELIHOOD SINCE MY YOUTH.”
NASB – “I am a tiller of the ground, FOR A MAN SOLD ME AS A SLAVE IN MY YOUTH.”
Lamsa’s translation of the Syriac Peshitta: “AND A MAN MADE ME ZEALOUS TO PROPHESY from my youth.”
New English Bible: “I AM A TILLER OF THE SOIL WHO HAS BEEN SCHOOLED IN LUST from boyhood.”
RSV 1952 “FOR THE LAND HAS BEEN MY POSSESSION from my youth.”
Catholic Douay 1950 “ADAM IS MY EXAMPLE from my youth.”
KJB – Zech. 13:6 “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds IN THINE HANDS?
NIV – “What are these wounds ON YOUR BODY?”
NASB – “What are these wounds BETWEEN YOUR ARMS?” (where exactly is “between your arms”, anyway?) By the way, the word is clearly “hands” from the Hebrew, same as in the next verse “I will turn mine hand upon the little ones”.
Jeremiah 8:8 The Pen of the Scribes is in Vain
By Will Kinney
KJB
“How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it;
the pen of the scribes is in vain.”
The meaning of the King James Bible is NOT that the scriptures themselves had been altered by the scribes, but rather that the Scriptures did not profit the people because they were not listening to them nor obeying them. It was not the Scriptures which had been changed or altered, but the people who thought themselves wise even in their rejection of God’s word.
Consider the context of verses eight and nine. “How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.” The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?”
Agreeing with the meaning found in the KJB that the Scriptures had not been altered, but rather written in vain for a disobedient people, are the Geneva Bible, the Jewish translations of 1917, 1936, Spanish Reina Valera of 1909 (but not 1960), Webster’s 1833 translation, the KJV 21 and the Third Millenium Bible.
This is much like the situation today in the Bible Version debate. Those who promote the modern versions think God’s word has been corrupted by spurious readings, altered by the scribes and parts of it are lost to us. They have no sure words of God and deny that God has preserved His words in any Bible version. They think themselves wise to decide which are God’s words and which are not. They have in fact rejected the word of the LORD in the King James Bible and set themselves up as the final authority.
Compare the comments of a few commentators on this verse, and then take a look at how many modern versions have changed the meaning of this verse from that found in God’s true words.
Geneva Bible 1599 with notes.
“How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain he hath made it; f the pen of the scribes is in vain.”
(f) The law does not profit you neither need it to have been written for all that you have learned by it.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Possessing the law, on which they prided themselves, the Jews might have become the wisest of nations; but by their neglecting its precepts, the law became given “in vain,” as far as they were concerned. . “In vain” copies were multiplied.
Matthew Henry
Lo, certainly in vain made he it; surely never any people had Bibles to so little purpose as they have. They might as well have been without the law, unless they had made a better use of it. God has indeed made it able to make men wise to salvation, but as to them it is made so in vain, for they are never the wiser for it: The pen of the scribes, of those that first wrote the law and of those that now write expositions of it, is in vain. Both the favour of their God and the labour of their scribes are lost upon them; they receive the grace of God therein in vain.
John Wesley
” In vain – For any use they made of it; neither need it ever have been copied out by the scribe.”
However many popular modern versions have changed the text to mean that the scribes had altered the Scriptures, and implicitly deny God’s preservation of His words. If the scribes had messed up the word of God and changed it, how would we ever be able to sort it all out to know what God really said to us? The Lord Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees for many things, but never for having changed the words of God into a lie. He constantly referred them to “what is written in the law of the Lord.”
KJB
“How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.”
NKJV
“How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us’? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.”
NASB
“How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.”
NIV
“How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?”
The Message (this is really blasphemous)
“How can you say, “We know the score. We’re the proud owners of God’s revelation”? Look where it’s gotten you–stuck in illusion. Your religion experts have taken you for a ride.”
Those who continue to tell us all bible versions have the same message are simply blind to the facts.
The Old-fashioned Language of the King James Bible
By Will Kinney
I’m always amazed when I hear a college educated person say, “I can’t understand the King James Bible with its “thee”s, “ye”s, and other archaic words.”
In the area where I live there are many black Christian churches that still use the KJB. Generally speaking, they don’t enjoy the same degree of education as those who criticize the KJB but they don’t seem to have a problem understanding and loving God’s word.
There are thousands of believers in the Phillipines, where English is a second language, and they will not give up their King James Bibles. The same is true in many African countries and in Singapore.
A Christian lady told me about a home for retarded children here in the U.S. They tried using one of the modern bible versions for their school plays about the birth of the Saviour and His resurrection, but the kids could not remember their lines. Then they went back to the KJB and the kids recited their lines with no difficulty. The King James Bible is much easier to memorize and its words stick in the mind precisely because of the way it is written.
I will only briefly mention the textual issue in this article; there are many places to find out more about that. All Bibles are not translated from the same Greek and Hebrew texts. The NIV and the NASB use a different Greek text than the KJB; they don’t always agree with each other; and their Greek text differs from the KJB text by about 5000 words. There are 17 entire verses missing in the NIV new testament.
Scores of times the NIV and the NASB do not follow the Hebrew text, but use the Greek Septuagint, Syriac, or some other source. I have found at least 40 examples where the NKJV does not follow the same Greek text as the KJB, and is different still from the NIV and NASB. None of these translations have the same meaning as the others in hundreds of verses. Which one then is God’s infallible word? I’m convinced it is the King James Bible.
There is an book called, “Archaic Words and the Authorized Version”, by Laurence M. Vance. In it Mr. Vance shows how most of the so-called archaic words in the KJB are not archaic at all but are found in modern magazines, newspapers, and dictionaries. There are only about 200 words usually picked out by critics of the KJB, yet of the approximately 800,000 words in the Bible this is only .004 % of the total.
He also shows many examples of words in the modern versions which most people would have to look up in a dictionary. Here are some of those words found in the “easy to read” NIV.
abashed, abominable, abutted, acclaim, adder, adhere, admonishing, advocate, alcove, algum, allocate, allots, ally, aloes, appease, ardent, armlets, arrayed, astir, atonement, awl, banishment, battlements, behemoth, belial, bereaves, betrothed, bier, blighted, booty, brayed, breaching, breakers, buffeted, burnished, calamus, capital (not a city), carnelian, carrion, centurions, chasm, chronic, chrysolite, cistern, citadel, citron, clefts, cohorts, colonnades, complacency, coney, concession, congealed, conjure, contrite, convocations, crest, cors, curds, dandled, dappled, debauchery, decimated, deluged, denarii, depose, derides, despoil, dire,dispossess, disrepute, dissipation, distill, dissuade, divination, dragnet, dropsy, duplicity, earthenware, ebony, emasculate, emission, encroach, enmity, enthralled, entreaty, ephod, epicurean, ewe, excrement, exodus, factions, felled, festal, fettered, figurehead, filigree, flagstaff, fomenting, forded, fowler, gadfly, galled, gird, gauntness, gecko, gloating, goiim, harrowing, haunt, hearld, henna, homers, hoopoe, ignoble, impaled, implore, incur, indignant, insatiable, insolence, intact, invoked, jambs, joists, jowls, lairs, lamentation, leviathan, libations, loins, magi, manifold, maritime, mattocks, maxims, mina, misdemeanor, mother-of-pearl, mustering, myrtles, naive, naught, Negev, Nephilim, nettles, nocturnal, nomad, notorious, Nubians, oblivion, obsolete, odious, offal, omer, oracles, overweening, parapet, parchments, pavilion, peals (noun, not the verb), perjurers, perpetuate, pestilence, pinions, phylacteries, plumage, pomp, porphyry, portent, potsherd, proconsul, propriety, poultice, Praetorium, pretext, profligate, promiscuity, provincial, providence, qualm, quarries, quivers (noun, not verb), ramparts, ransacked, ratified, ravish, rabble, rawboned, relish (not for hotdogs), recoils, recount, refrain, relent, rend, reposes, reprimanded, reputed, retinue, retorted, retribution, rifts, roebucks, rue, sachet, satraps, sated, shipwrights, siegeworks, sinews, sistrums, sledges, smelted, somber, soothsayer, sovereignty, spelt, stadia, stench, stipulation, sullen, tamarisk, tanner, temperate, tether, tetrarch, terebinth, thresher, throes, thronged, tiaras, tinder, tracts, transcends, tresses, turbulent, tyrannical, unscathed, unrelenting, usury, vassal, vaunts, vehemently, verdant, vexed, wadi, wanton, warranted, wield, winnowing and wrenched.
It is funny that I can put together the phrase from the KJB which says; “The very sad green giant was hungry” and in the NIV it would be: “The overweening dejected verdant Nephilim was famished.”
So you see, besides the very serious textual matter, the modern versions also have words hard to be understood. Try giving this list of words as a vocabulary test and see if your son or daughter, or even yourself gets a passing score.
There is a huge battle going on today about the Bible. We are headed for the falling away, the apostacy, which will occur before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in glory and judgement. This is the most biblically ignorant generation of Americans ever, in spite of, or perhaps, BECAUSE OF the modern versions.
I believe the KJB to be God’s preserved, complete, pure, inspired words. If you don’t have one, get it, read it, believe it, memorize it and hid its words in your heart.
The Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
The Bible itself is not meant to be a book which can be easily understood. Who can read through the minor prophets and not ask himself: “What is he talking about? What does this mean?” Yet there are many parts of the Bible that even a child can comprehend.
I do not believe the Bible is supposed to be translated into contemporary street language. The English of the KJB 1611 was not written in “street language” even at that time.
Let’s check with Oxford University for some stats:
William Shakespear used a total vocabulary of just over 24,000 words. In 2003 16,000 of those words are “obsolete”.
Edgar Allen Poe used a total vocabulary of under 18,000 words. In 2003 9,550 of those words are “obsolete”.
The King James Bible contains a total vocabulary of just over 6,000 words. In 2003 approximately 8 of those words are “obsolete”.
Look at the divine pattern through history. We believe the Hebrew Old Testament was inspired by God. Yet the Jewish people in Israel today do not speak in the same Hebrew as is found in their scriptures, but they understand it. Not one of them would even consider “updating” the Hebrew text.
The same is true of the Greek Orthodox church. The Greek New Testament is not written in the same Greek that is spoken today in Greece, yet they understand it. None of those who believe it to be God’s words are clamoring for a modern, up to date, “comic book” version.
God knew beforehand that languages would change and I believe He intended that His word would be placed in a form of language that would be different from that spoken on the street.
When I read the KJB it reads differently from any other book. It is not like a newspaper, nor is it meant to sound like one. I am impressed by the fact that this King James Bible has been around for a long time; it reads differently than any other book; it speaks like no man does in the pulpit, on radio or television, and I have to think about what it is saying. I don’t just breeze through it like a tabloid magazine. When I slow down to think about what it is saying, I find that God speaks to me.
There seem to be two attitudes towards the KJB – those who want to understand it and defend it, and those who want to criticize and attack it.
To illustrate some of the confusion being wrought today by the conflicting “bibles” let me give you a few examples from the modern versions. In Job 42:6 the KJB along with the NKJV, NIV, and ESV says: “Wherefore I ABHOR MYSELF and repent in dust and ashes”. The NASB says, “Therefore I RETRACT, and I repent in dust and ashes.” There is a big difference between abhoring myself and “taking back what I said”.
In Exodus 26:14, “Thou shalt make a covering for the tent of ram’s skins dyed red, and a covering of BADGER’S skins”. The NKJV, Geneva, Darby, Young’s, Webster’s, KJB 21, Third Millenium Bible, Rotherham’s Emphatic Bible, and the Spanish all agree with the KJB. The NASB has “PORPOISE skins” while the NIV has “sea cows”. The RSV and the 2001 ESV both have “GOATSKINS”. In the wilderness, badger’s skins would be a difficult to come by, but how many porpoises (NASB) or sea cows (NIV) do you think they could have scrounged up?
In Exodus 14:25, The LORD troubled the host of the pursuing Egyptians and “TOOK OFF” their chariot wheels. The RV, ASV, NIV, NKJV all equal the KJB, but only the NAS tells us, “He caused the chariot wheels TO SWERVE”. My car wheels have at times swerved but they didn’t come off. Not quite the same meaning, is it? The RSV and ESV say: “CLOGGING their chariot wheels” with a footnote that tells us “clogging” comes from the LXX and the Syriac, but the Hebrew says “removing”, like the KJB has.
In Deut. 33:25, “As thy days, so shall thy STRENGTH be.” No matter what difficulties I may encounter, God will give me the strength to bear them and to go on. The NIV, NKJV, ASV, Geneva, Youngs, and Spanish all agree with the KJB. The NASB has: “And according to your days, so shall YOUR LEISURELY WALK be.” Did God ever promise us a leisurely walk? Not if I read the rest of the Bible, He didn’t.
Is there a difference between an eagle and a vulture? In Matt. 24:28, “For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the EAGLES be gathered together.” The RV, ASV, NKJV, Darby, Young, RSV, and Spanish all agree with the KJB. The NIV, ESV and NASB have “vultures”, yet it is a quote from Job 39:27-30 where it refers to eagles, even in the NIV, ESV and NASB! The NIV, ESV and NASB translate this same word as eagles in Rev. 4:7 and 12:14.
If someone said our national bird were the vulture, I think Americans would be a little upset; yet the NIV and NAS think nothing of changing the eternal word of God, and few Christians seem to mind at all.
In Psalm 63:10 it says, “They shall be a portion for FOXES”. The NKJV, and NIV have “jackals”. This word is found 7 times in Hebrew and always translated as foxes by the KJB and NAS, yet the NKJV has foxes (as in Samson catching 300 of them) 6 times, but only here changed it to jackals. The NIV has foxes 4 times and jackals 3 times.
In I Kings 12:ll it says, “I will chastise you with SCORPIONS.” The NAS and NIV agree with the KJB, but only the NKJV has “SCOURGES” here and even a footnote telling us it is literally “scorpions”, while correctly translating it as scorpions in other passages.
Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the WHALE’S belly: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
The word correctly translated as “Whale” is ketos. I have a modern Greek dictionary. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the Bible; it is just a Greek/English dictionary. If you look up ketos it simply says whale. If you look up whale, it says ketos.
In Websters dictionary 1999 edition, there are two Englsih words listed which come from this Greek word ketos. Cetus is the constellation of the Whale. Cetology is the branch of zoology dealing with whales and dolphins. These are both English words derived from ketos. This word occurs only one time in the New Testament. The word is not “fish” which is ixthus.
Jonah 1:17 refers to a great fish. The whale, though technically a mammal, has a fishlike body, and the word fish is defined loosely as including any aquatic animal with a fishlike body. This “scientific” classification was unknown in the days of Jonah and of Jesus, and is really of little relevance. Most people even today, when they see a whale, think Wow is that a big fish! Until some pedantic type says No, that’s a mammal.
God Himself has His own “scientific classifications” as listed in 1 Corinthians 15:39. “All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.”
Perhaps in an attempt to appear scientific rather than correctly translating what the word really means, the NKJV has “the great fish”, the NIV has “the huge fish” while the NASB has “the sea monster”!
Bible versions that have correctly translated this word as WHALE are the Revised Version, the ASV of 1901, Tyndale, Geneva, Spanish Reina Valera of 1909, the Italian Diodati, the St. Joseph’s New American Bible of 1970, and the RSV of 1952. What big fish would have swallowed Jonah except a whale? Or was it the NASB’s SEA MONSTER? Again, the KJB is correct and the NKJV, NIV and NASB are not.
Those who don’t believe any Bible, and more particularly the KJB, is the inspired word of God, frequently criticize the KJB for using words like “to let, prevent, suffer, and conversation”. This is a bait and switch tactic, a smokescreen, and a poor excuse to get us to switch to a modern bible version which differs from the KJB both in text and meaning in hundreds of verses.
The verb “to let” is used in three ways in the KJB. “Let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind.” “planted a vineyard. . .and let it out to husbandmen.” The third example is the archaic use of to let meaning to withhold or to hinder.
There are still traces of this meaning today. Webster’s defines the noun “a let” as an obstacle, a hindrance, or a delay. In tennis if a ball hits the net, it is called a let ball. In II Thes. 2:6-7, “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth, will let, until he be taken out of the way.”
What I mean by bait and switch is the new versions say in effect “Let us clear up the confusion of the KJB and give you a modern rendering.” But look at the NKJV, NIV, and NAS. They have updated the word “let” but all three have introduced a private interpretation into the passage by capitalizing certain words and not others (NKJV and NAS), or by adding words not found in any text (NIV).
The NKJV says, “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” Do you see how they have capitalized some of the “He”s and not others? They are forcing you to look at the passage in a certain way to understand its meaning. Yet there is a totally different way of looking at the passage, which is obscured by the new versions.
The word “to prevent” can have the meaning of to come before, to precede. The Oxford dictionary does not list this meaning as archaic. It is found in the 1936 Jewish translation of the Hebrew Publishing Company, the 1950 Douay Version, and in the Revised Version.
In Amos 9:10 it says, “the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.” The 1950 Douay reads like the KJB in Psalm 119:147-148, “I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried; I hoped in thy word, Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.”
The word can mean a “pre-event”, something that happens before something else, and it is used in this way in I Thes. 4:15. “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede, come before, a pre-event) them which are asleep.”
Even when others criticize this word, they know what it means. It is easy to just explain the meaning of the word in this context, then you understand it, and let it stand as is in the KJB.
The word “suffer” is criticized as being archaic in Matt.19:14, “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
If you look at a dictionary, the word “suffer”, meaning to allow or permit, is not archaic at all. Have we been so dumbed down that we think a word can have only one narrow meaning? The Revised Version, the ASV, Darby, Young’s, Tyndale, Geneva Bible, Third millenium Bible, and the KJV 21st Century versions, all render this word as “suffer to come unto me.”
April 2, 2003, a commentator on Fox News, in opposition to the war, stated that, “…it may be incumbent upon us to possibly SUFFER the
presence of Saddam Hussein as leader of Iraq in order to maintain a
buffer between the Sunnis and Shiites.”
The Rocky Mountain News in 2003 said of a politician: “He does not suffer fools gladly, and Washington is full of fools.”
Feb. 1989 editorial in the Dayton Daily News, Dayton Ohio, stated that the “…Soviets ESCHEW any and all international presence in ending the Afghan War…”. Likewise in 2003 the Rocky Mountain News spoke of a baseball team member who ESCHEWED taking a lower salary”, and that was in the Sports section!
Another example of “bait and switch” is the word “conversation”. This word used to mean the manner in which one deals with others in social intercourse and exchange. It is very close to the Greek word used, anastrefo, which means to turn back and forth with others; con-versation is literally to turn back and forth with others. It is now limited only to our speech, but our speech is also a great part of how we conduct ourselves with others. Simply explain the word in its context, and leave it at that.
The bait and switch comes in 2 Cor. 1:12-14, “For our REJOICING is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our CONVERSATION in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward . . . we are your REJOICING even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
But look what the NIV, NKJV, and NAS have done in this section. The NASB says: “For our PROUD CONFIDENCE is this. . .we have conducted ourselves in the world. . .we are your REASON TO BE PROUD as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.” The NKJV and NIV have “boast” instead of “rejoicing”- there is a big difference.
Philippians 2:16 KJB “that I may REJOICE in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
NASB: “in the day of Christ I may have REASON TO GLORY because I did not run in vain”
NIV: “in order that I MAY BOAST in the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.”
No one will have a reason to be proud or boasting in the day of the Lord Jesus; we will all be flat on our faces! Which is worse, using an old word like conversation and explaining its meaning, or introducing pride as a Christian virtue in the new versions?
If the Bible is our rule and standard for both faith and practice, let’s follow its own example for dealing with “archaic ” words. In I Samuel 9:9, we are told, “(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer)”
You see, God explained the meaning of a word, and then He continues to use the word again and again, once He has explained its meaning. See the verses that follow in I Samuel 9:11, and 19.
These are just a few of the many examples I could give, but they will perhaps give you something to think about. All bibles are not the same and God is not the author of confusion. God’s message is complete and not contradictory. If I get conflicting messages from the different versions, they can’t all be from God. Satan and man are the ones who pervert the Scriptures.
As we get nearer the end, when many shall depart from the faith, the falling away will occur, and men will give heed to doctrines of devils, do you suppose that is the time when the best bibles will be popularly read? When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8
If you want to find rest for your troubled soul, peace of mind and confident faith in the words of the living God, read and believe the Holy Bible God has clearly put His mark on as being His infallible words – the King James Bible.
1 Samuel 6:19 – 50,070 or 70 slain?
By Will Kinney
50,070 men slain or only 70?
1 Samuel 6:19 presents us with a prime example of how the modern scholars presume to alter the text of the King James Bible. These “good, godly, evangelical scholars” reveal their unbelief, and their willingness to “correct” the inspired text.
The first six chapters of 1 Samuel relate the events surrounding a series of battles between the children of Israel and the Philistines, the capture and subsequent return of the ark of the covenant, and the LORD’S slaying of 50,070 people.
The King James Bible reads at 1 Samuel 6:19: “And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.”
Many modern commentaries cast doubt on the accuracy of the Hebrew reading here, and display their cavalier attitude of unbelief. This is best exemplified by Gleason Archer, one of the editors of the popular NIV bible. In his book, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, on page 169, Mr. Archers says: “But there is strong evidence to indicate that the original text of 1 Samuel 6:19 read a much lower number”…”a very justified suspicion that the text was inadvertently garbled in the course of transmission.”
Mr. Archer’s book is full of statements like this concerning many passages of Scripture. He says things like “these transmissional errors, as we believe them to be”, “quite possible to commit an error in textual transmission”, “has undoubtedly undergone multiplication by ten because of an obscurity or misunderstanding” and “the alleged desire to embellish the record and exaggerate the glory of the past must have been a very modest one on the Chronicler’s part.” And this book by Gleason Archer, of the NIV translation committee, is the Trojan horse piece of trash that is so highly recommended by Hank Hannegraf! – what a faith builder for God’s people, No?.
This blatant unbelief is not just limited to commentaries about the Bible, but is also found in the text and footnotes of some blble versions themselves. The Scofield NIV bible has this reading and footnote. I Samuel 6:19 But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting SEVENTY of them to death, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD.”
The NIV has this footnote. “A few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint 50,070. This number is generally considered to be a scribal error. Some discrepant statements concerning numbers are found in the extant Hebrew manuscripts. Error by scribes in transmission of Hebrew numbers was easy, whereas preservation of numerical accuracy was difficult. Inspiration extends only to the inerrancy of the original autographs.” This blasphemous view of preservation is that held by most of today’s “Christian scholars” and it is stated in black and white right there in the NIV.
In a note on 1 Chronicles 11:11 the NIV has this statement: “Many disagreements between numbers in Samuel and Kings, and those in Chronicles, are alleged. Actually, out of the approximately 150 instances of parallel numbers in these books, fewer than one-sixth disagree. God gave us a Bible free from error in the original manuscripts. In its preservation through many generations of recopying, He providentially kept it from serious error, although He permitted a few scribal mistakes.”
There you have it. This is the view of all modern Bible translators. “Only the originals were inspired, text garbled, error in transmission, desire to embellish the record, no serious error, a few scribal mistakes”. Mr. Archer does not dispute the Hebrew reading of 50,070, but he says it is an error, and thus the reading of ‘70 of them’ in the NIV. This also is the reading of the RSV, NRSV, NEB, Darby and the Living Bible.
Lamsa’s 1933 translation from the Syriac, (the NIV, NASB, RSV and ESV frequently follow the Syriac versions and reject the Hebrew texts – but not this time) says: “ he smote 5000 and 70 men”, while Young’s translation has “70 men-50 chief men”. The NKJV reads the same as the KJB in the text, but it has a ridiculous footnote that reads “OR, He struck SEVENTY men of the people AND FIFTY OXEN OF A MAN.”!
The Bible versions that read 50,070 are the King James Bible, the NASB, RV, ASV, Webster’s 1833 translation, the Geneva Bible of 1599, the Spanish Reina Valera of 1909 and 1960, the Italian Diodati, modern Italian, Modern Greek bible, the Portuguese, French and Rumanian bibles, the World English Bible, both the 1917 and 1936 Hebrew-English translations from the Masoretic text, and the modern Hebrew Names Version as well as the Third Millenium Bible and the 21st Century KJB. These versions translate what the preserved Hebrew texts actually read.
There are two possible explanations for this high number of 50,070 slain. Rather than thinking the text is in error, as Mr. Gleason, a host of modern Bible scholars and the NIV, let us try to believe God and His promise to preserve His words, as He has so faithfully done in the King James Bible.
One possibility, suggested by Mr. Peter Ruckman in his book Problem Texts on pages 171-173, is once the ark had been recovered from the Philistines, it became a sort of tourist attraction for the surrounding Israelites. At this time the population of Israel was some 3 million people. There are within 20 miles of the Levitical city of Bethshemesh, the cities of Zanoah, Jarmuth, Gibeah, Zoreah, Kirjath-jearim, Ajalon, Timnah, Libaah, Gedor, Nezib, Chephirah, Gezer, Chesalon and Ekron. Mr. Ruckman suggests that many came from these nearby towns and cities to view the ark and presumptuously looked into it, and so the LORD smote them.
Another possibility is that the number of 50,070 is the total number of all the people, both Israelites and Philistines, that were slain by God from the time the ark was first taken. In I Samuel 4:2,3 we read: “And when they joined in battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines?” Notice it was the LORD who smote them.
In verse 10 we read of another battle in which “and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.” In 5:6,9,11,12 and 6:9 we read of additional men being slain by the LORD. It was God Himself who was behind this great slaughter of both the children of Israel and the Philistines. Four thousand, thirty thousand, and easily a few thousand more in the succeeding battles; thus the figure of 50,070 total men slain by God is quite believable.
Notice the wording of 1 Samuel 6:19 “And he smote of the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.” It is possible to read this with the understanding that God smote the men of Bethshemesh because they looked into the ark, and the total number of people slain, both Jews and Philistines, was 50,070.
Matthew Henry also notes: “ Some think the seventy men were the Beth-shemites that were slain for looking into the ark, and the 50,000 were those that were slain by the ark, in the land of the Philistines.”
The modern bibles are riddled with false statements and unbelief. They are false witnesses to the truth of God, and they are translated by men who do not believe God has been able to preserve His words for us today. I believe He has done so, and we have it to read and believe in the King James Bible.
Marty Shue has also written an excellent article dealing with this verse. It can be found at this KJB defense club.
http://pub76.ezboard.com/fav1611godswordfrm1.showMessage?topicID=952.topic
Matthew 9:13 and Mark 2:17
Matthew 9:13
KJV
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
NIV
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
NASB
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:17
KJV
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
NIV
17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
NASB
And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
In the newer versions, to what are sinners being called? To rest, all that are heavy laiden? To follow Christ? Not here — they are called to a recognition of their sinful state, to their knees asking for mercy (which God delights in HIS WILL [vs. just a hopeful desire] to give), and to a turning from those sins.
Once again, the message is getting washed.
— Dave
(Commentative help from John Gill)
“The Message”
Below is taken from Berit Kjos’ multi-part series on the Purpose Driven Church called “Spirit-Led or Purpose Driven?”, specifically part 3, “Softening God’s Word”. http://www.newswithviews.com/BeritKjos/kjos22.htm
“The Message” is a paraphrased version of the Bible used many times by Rick Warren in his book, “The Purpose Driven Life.”
Examples:
KJV: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Is 26:3
NKJV: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Is 26:3
NIV: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Is 26:3
Message: “You, LORD, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.” Is 26:3 (page 32)
From Kjos:
“Knowing your purpose focuses your life,” he assures us. “It concentrates your effort and energy on what’s important. You become effective by being selective.”[1, page 32]
But the early Hebrew documents promised peace to those “whose minds were stayed on” God, not to those who “kept their purpose firm.” Think about it: Wouldn’t God’s actual Word be a more reliable focus for our lives? Won’t He lead us when, by His Word and Spirit, we keep our minds stayed on Him? Doesn’t His Word suggest we be led, not driven, by our wonderful Shepherd?
KJV: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power….” Rev 4:11
NKJV: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power….” Rev 4:11
NIV: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power….” Rev 4:11
Message: “Worthy, Oh Master! Yes, our God! Take the glory! the honor! the power!…” (page 319)
KJV: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6
NKJV: “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6
NIV: “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6
Message: “Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.” (page 18)
From Kjos:
Ponder the last section. To be “carnally minded” means far more than “obsession with self.” It involves the spiritual blindness and death of a person who lives and thinks according to his own capricious human nature — separated from God’s grace and Spirit. He may claim to be a Christian, but his finite mind cannot grasp God’s truths, heart or will. A simpler, modified Bible, stripped of its deeper and harder truths, doesn’t help. God never intended that the Bible should be understood apart from His supernatural work in the hearts and minds of His chosen people. [Matt 13:13; Luke 8:10; Jer 5:21; Acts 26:18]
The other parallel follows. To be “spiritually minded” means that, through the Holy Spirit, the believer’s mind has been opened to understand Scriptures. God’s life-changing Truth has renewed his heart and enabled him to know and love God. It has given him the joy and endurance needed to follow the Shepherd — not along that spacious highway that draws the crowds — but on the narrow unpopular way which draws us ever closer to Him. Matt 7:13-14
These 2 weren’t used by Warren in his book but are just another couple of examples she mentions:
KJV: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” Matt. 6:9
NKJV: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” Matt. 6:9
NIV: ”Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Matt. 6:9
Message: “Our Father in heaven, reveal who you are.” Matt. 6:9
KJV: “my Father is greater than I.” John 14:28
NKJV: “My Father is greater than I.” John 14:28
NIV: “… the Father is greater than I.” John 14:28
Message: “The Father is the goal and purpose of my life.” John 14:28
— Dave
Proverbs 26:10 – Say what?!
By Will Kinney
King James Holy Bible 1611: “The great God that formed all things, both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.” This is the reading of Webster’s 1833 translation, the KJV 21st Century Version, and the Third Millenium Bible.
Geneva Bible 1599: “The Excellent that formed all things both rewardeth the foole, and rewardeth the transgressours.”
Young’s “literal” translation: “Great is the Former of all, And He is rewarding a fool, And is rewarding transgressors.”
NKJV 1982: “The Great God who formed all things gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages.”
Spanish Reina Valera 1909: “El grande cría todas las cosas, y da paga al insensato, y la da a los transgressores.” (The Great creates all things, and gives a recompense to the fool and gives it to the transgressors.)
The translations above generally teach the same idea, (except the NKJV gives it a different slant), but from here on, it is anybody’s guess.
Spanish Reina Valera 1960: “Como arquero que a todos hiere, es el que toma a sueldo insensatos y vagabundos.” (As an archer who wounds all, is he who hires fools and vagabonds.) Notice how different the two Spanish versions are.
Darby’s Translation 1890: “A master roughly worketh everyone; he both hireth a fool and hireth passers-by.”
Jewish Publication Society translation 1917: “A master performeth all things; but he that stoppeth a fool is as one that stoppeth a flood.”
Lamsa’s 1936 translation of the Syriac Penutsta: “The body of a fool is greatly afflicted, and a drunkard thinks that he can cross a sea.”
Greek Septuagint Version (date disputed): “All the flesh of fools endures much hardship, for their fury is brought to nought.”
Catholic Douay Version 1950: “Judgment determineth causes; and he that putteth a fool to silence, appeaseth anger.”
Catholic Jerusalem Bible 1968: “An archer wounding all who pass: such is the man who employs a fool.”
RSV 1952, ESV 2003: “Like an archer who wounds everybody is he who hires a passing fool or drunkard.”
NASB 1972, 95: “Like an archer who wounds everyone, So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.” (The NASB complete concordance shows they have translated this word as “great” 84 times, and only once as “archer”)
NIV 1984: “Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passerby.”
The Good News Translation 1992: “An employer who hires any fool that comes along is only hurting everybody concerned.”
The Living Bible 1981: “The master may get better work from an untrained apprentice than from a skilled rebel.”
The New Living Bible 1998: “An employer who hires a fool or a bystander is like an archer who shoots recklessly.”
God’s Word Translation 1995: “Like many people who destroy everything, so is one who hires fools or drifters.”
The Message 2002: “Hire a fool or a drunk and you shoot yourself in the foot.”
As noted scholar James White likes to say, reading a variety of translations gives us a better understanding of the Scriptures.