God's Word for the world in English

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GOD’S WORD FOR THE WORLD AND KING JAMES BIBLE ENGLISH

1. INTRODUCTION

Words are very important. Each word has meaning. And when words are put together, they make a greater meaning.

The Bible is made up of words, and altogether it is called the “Word of God”. Each and every word is important, because it forms part of God’s message. Every word is important, and diminishing or adding to the words would be altering God’s message.

“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2). God is very jealous of His Word.

When God gave His Word, He was not intending for it to be lost. The Scripture reveals, “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.” (Psalm 68:11). That true Word was supposed to go forth, and reach the nations.

We can observe that English is the most widely known language in the world, and that the English Bible is the best. If we join these two ideas together, we should be able to see that it is God’s Providence, He wants everyone to be reading the same Word. Therefore, we can conclude that when God inspired the Bible in Hebrew or Greek, that He was intending that one day, His Word would be in one Book, going forward to the nations in one language by one Bible version.

How could it be that the King James Bible is God’s Word for the world? People talk about how the words are old fashioned, and how it may be difficult or even wrong. If the Spirit of God is really behind it, then we should find that the King James Bible is vindicated, and that He is most able to use it to speak to sinners and Christians everywhere.

2. TEXT

When the books of the Bible were first written, they were written in Hebrew, Syriack and Greek. The Biblical forms of those languages are no longer written today, but copies of the original writings still exist, either in scrolls or fragments or in other manuscripts.

Through history, variations in the texts came about, either by copying mistakes or by deliberate corruptions. Occasionally, whole portions of Scripture are missing, and sometimes there are additions to Scripture. (Many modern scholars doubt that the last twelve verses of Mark belong to Scripture. Some want to add other books too.)

However, generally Christians did have and use Bibles (or portions) which substantially agreed. Thus, around the time of the beginning of the Reformation (1517), it was possible to fairly accurately print the text of the Bible after examining various copies.

In time, and as knowledge expanded, it was possible for the men who made the King James Bible in 1611 to be able to discern exactly what was and was not Scripture, and to give it accurately.

In modern times, the view is quite the opposite. People doubt that God was able to keep or have His Word gathered, and many Christians are unbelievers when it comes to having a perfect Bible. But the Scripture says, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. ... But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (1 Peter 1:23, 25).

3. TRANSLATION

If God is going to speak to His people today, He would not do it in Bible Hebrew, Bible Greek or Latin. God does speak to His people today, and He has, is and will used English to do it. And as the Church increases by Christ’s building of it, the King James Bible should be the primary form of God’s Word throughout the Earth.

The modern scholars seem to have a special delight and mission to tear down the King James Bible. Clearly, Satan has used the Roman system through history, and modern scholarship is backed up by the Roman religion. And so they attack the King James Bible by calling it “inaccurate” or “a stumbling block”. Yet these same people believe that no Bible is perfect (including many pastors, teachers and Bible colleges), and numerous scholars doubt the divine origin of the Scripture.

The modernists think that the authority of knowledge of the real Scripture rests in the original languages (even though they know that there is no perfect form of the Scripture that exists in Hebrew or Greek: every single copy, including all the editions of the Textus Receptus, have variations or little mistakes in them).

They might use a concordance or various other scholars’ opinions to say what a Scripture means. In fact, looking at the many modern versions, which all differ to each other, not only do they have no true Scripture, but every Scripture can be translated so differently that there is little certain meaning, and enough error to cause people to be able to doubt or reject even major Christian doctrines.

For example, a modernist could say that “God forbid” in Romans 11:1 is a wrong translation, because in Greek the word “God” is absent. The answer is that God has been able to translate the exact sense (meaning) of the original Greek (by godly men) into English. At times, the exact words may not correspond between English and Greek, but the exact meaning does. The modernist might say that perfect translation is impossible, but this is an error. The truth is that at times it might take more or less English words to say the exact same thing in the original language. And the King James Bible always gives the exact sense.

4. WHY ENGLISH?

It is no random thing that English is the predominant language in the last days on planet Earth. It is because God has willed that His Word should go forth in one English Bible with all authority.

The Scripture says, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.” (Isaiah 28:11). God one day would not speak in Hebrew to convert Israel, but another language. That language was not Greek, because the Jewish nation was not converted to Christianity in the New Testament. It is a prophecy of the future, and all indications are that it is the English Bible which shall be preached to the Jews and the world.

If we look back, we can see that the ideas and words came into English to prepare the language so that it may convey the Word of God perfectly. Latin, Greek and even invented words by William Tyndale all came about so that the very Scripture could be given, completely accurately to the sense, in English for the world.

5. INTERPRETATION

If the English Bible is God’s providentially appointed Word for the whole world, then the primary source for revelation is going to be in the very words alone. The Holy Ghost would use these, and would be able to speak to a studying and prayerful Christian. And He would be able to teach and instruct by godly ministry, especially that which would be connected to this principle.

The Word of God should not be a sealed book, but revealed: “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.” (Isaiah 34:16).

6. PURIFICATION

If the King James Bible is the perfect form of God’s Word, then all other available forms must be imperfect in some way. The true Word of God existed before 1611, but it was scattered to some degree. The Scripture shows how it was refined: “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” (Psalm 12:6, 7).

It is a fact that there are seven major versions of the English Bible which were made from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The first was William Tyndale’s printed English (incomplete) Bible. The seventh was the King James Bible, which perfected the text and translation.

Even more, there are seven major editions of the King James Bible. These major editions exhibit some sort of revision which contributes to the purification of the presentation. The purification is in three main categories: correction of typographical errors; standardisation of the spelling and grammar; and the regularisation of the English text.

If someone points to word differences between the 1611 Edition and the Pure Cambridge Edition, these differences can be explained as being: a typographical error in 1611, a standardisation of the language since 1611, or a regularisation of the English presentation since 1611. Sometimes words were accidentally omitted or added or wrongly given in 1611. Often words were spelt differently, and sometimes they appear to be different by their different spellings. And occasionally, small corrections have been made in some aspect of the English text, such as in the use of italics, or in the presence or spelling of a particular word.

7. ARCHAIC, OLD AND HARD WORDS


Modernists often accuse the King James Bible for having old, hard or archaic language. The truth is that many of the old words are still in use, and none of the words are actually obsolete, nor are their meanings lost. The language of the King James Bible is called “Biblical English”. Biblical English is understandable by those who know English, but it differs from normal English because it is really God’s use of English. Therefore it is high, and men should go up to it rather than try and bring the Word down to the common or gutter level.

The word “gay” appears in James 2:3. This word also is used as slang by and about sodomites. But the world’s abuse of language does not impact upon the proper and Biblical use. The same can be said about the word “ghost”.

The modernist claims that it is best to give the Scripture in “today’s language”, thus eliminating the use of “thee” and “ye”, etc. However, not only is “today’s language” always (apparently) changing, but it is a witness that the Bible English stays the same, and is yet comprehensible. The use of terms in the Bible is very accurate. “Ye” and “you” relate to plural, more than one, while “thee” and “thou” relate to singular, to one person. Moreover, the use of words is based on who is doing what to whom. I do to you, but ye do to me. Many aspects of the Bible language can be complex, but they are always exactly correct.

8. INTERNAL DICTIONARY

An interesting feature of the King James Bible is that it internally defines what a word means. This is done by the principle of the conference of Scripture with Scripture. The context or the passage, or a similar passage will define the meaning of an unknown word.

For example, a “buckler” is not a belt buckle, but a small shield. A passage like Psalm 35:2 would help indicate this. The same can be said for a whole list of so-called “archaic”, hard, unusual or difficult words.

9. CONCEPTUAL ACCURACY

Each word in the Bible has meaning, and each meaning is exact to each word. Each sentence has been structured in a way to portray the exact meaning.

For example, the wording, “a dying” (Luke 8:42), “a fishing” (John 21:3) and “an hungred” (Matt. 4:2). is denoting some action not yet finished at that time. This exactness is lost in modern versions.

This principle also applies to words which appear very similar, but have some slight different meaning, like “beside” or “besides”, “alway” or “always”. Noun and verb form can differ, as in, “recompense” and “recompence”. A word like “neesings” has a particular meaning to do with a fire breathing dragon, while a word like “betray” (sell out) has a very different meaning, even a different origin to “bewray” (reveal, perhaps inadvertently).

It should be obvious that the very letters of Scripture are sacred. “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18).

10. EDITION DIFFERENCES

There are small differences between editions of the King James Bible, which constitute a major issue as far as the accurate presentation of the Scripture is concerned. The issue concerning historical editions from 1611 to 1769 is clearly a process of improvement. Since 1769 there have been concurrent editions with differences. The Pure Cambridge Edition is correct, however, there has been a persistence and even rise of other editions. Small differences can be a major issue, such as when to capitalise or not capitalise the letter “s” on the word “spirit”. In the Pure Cambridge Edition, Matthew 4:1 has “Spirit”, and 1 John 5:8 “spirit”.

Some editions vary on words an meanings. “Intreat” and “entreat” are two different words, as are “morter” and “mortar”, “vail” and “veil”, and so on, yet editions spell these different words all the same way, potentially confusing the sense.

11. RHYTHM IN ENGLISH

It is no coincidence that the accuracy of the ideas of the words and their order in the English Bible is also presented in a way that reads extremely well out loud. This is because the pattern of the syllables has been taken into account, creating a rhythm which matches perfectly to the content.

12. DESIGN FOR ENGLISH

It is as if God had English in mind when giving the Scripture in Hebrew. Hebrew poetry does not fit around alliteration or rhyme, as English poetry does, nor upon fixed metre. The poetry of Scripture is conceptual.

Every poetic statement of the Scripture may be found to be contrasted with opposite ideas, called “division”, or go between two series of ideas, called “alternation”, or to examine an idea is sequence, and then reverse the sequence, called “introversion”. These methods can be mixed together. This can be given just as well in English as in Hebrew.

Even more interesting is that the entire Scripture itself consists of a structure, which is the construction of ideas by words, in the same manner as is particular to the poetic passages.

14. THE AFFECT UPON LITERATURE

The King James Bible has had massive impact upon literature and normal speech. Many of the classics of English literature take their style and even phrases and ideas from the Scripture.

Today, people speak of a “David and Goliath battle”, and such things, as well as using sayings from Scripture, like, “the skin of his teeth”, “eye for an eye”, “the powers that be”, “there is a season for everything”, “the apple of my eye”, “the salt of the earth”, “the signs of the times”, “the scales fell from his eyes”, “ask and ye shall receive”, “there is no rest for the wicked” and so on.

15. BIBLE QUOTATIONS IN THE BIBLE

When the Scripture was given, there was no mistakes in it. This is because it was God who was using the writers to write His words. The translators of the Bible were not inspired, but there were handling the inspired words of God.

There are many passages where the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, but uses different words. Yet both instances were given by inspiration, and both are accurate. The modernist might point to this and claim that there cannot be one correct English Bible since Christ apparently used different words in Luke 4:18 than what Isaiah wrote in chapter 61.

But we find that since both passages were given separately by inspiration, there is no problem. Especially Luke was recording Jesus’ words in Greek, and the Holy Ghost is free to further interpret or highlight particular portions of the sense of the Scripture. This freedom within the Scripture does not transpose into freedom for continuing many varying translations in English. The translators of 1611 took what was good from many, and gave us a final one.

17. WHAT IS GOD’S NAME?

Proverbs 30:4 asks, “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?”

The answer is God, but what is God’s name, and what is His Son’s name? The answer is to look where the next verses direct: “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5, 6).

The answer is in the King James Bible, which is the pure Word of God. It is “JEHOVAH”, which is the name of God the Father. It appears in several place names. Contracted as JAH. That forms appears in many words, most notably as Jesus, meaning, Jehovah saves, Elijah, meaning Jehovah is God, and many other names. It is sounded as it appears in English. In 1611 the letter “J” was presented as “I”, but the sound was the same then as now.

“That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.” (Psalm 83:18).

The name of the Son is “Jesus”, which means “Jehovah saves”, see Matthew 1:21.

18. CONCLUSION

Many ideas in this booklet would not have been possible to gather, and would not have been communicated widely, had it not been for the internet. Clearly, God has provided right sources for help at the right time. This means laying aside inferior or even erroneous sources.