- Nov 29, 2011
- 8,530
- 4,776
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Democrat
I have been using my time "sheltering" at home to read the Bible extensively, using several translations: the NIV, the NRSV, and the NET. All of them are excellent and written to be clearly understood in today's English.
The thought occurred to me: why do people still use the "King James" Bible? It was translated into English over 400 years ago and was based on questionable sources by today's standards. There is no question that the English is beautiful, but that is not in concert with the way the source documents were written. The "books" were written in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic (the language that Jesus spoke), and Koine Greek, the common languages of the times. None of the original texts were written in some archaic language.
The King James is not written in the common English language used today; in fact, it's just the opposite. Do people feel some sort of pseudo-holiness when they read it? Why do some people regard it alone as "God's word" and criticize those better, more modern, more accurate translations? Is there some fallacious belief that the Lord wants His word to be difficult to understand and open to all kinds of misinterpretations?
Does anyone believe that Luke actually this wrote in the language of his day:
But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when
he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher:
then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat
with thee"? Isn't the meaning far clearer to people living today when translated as "But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests."?
Or Deuteronomy 13:17, "His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh." Unicorns? Really? ("Unicorn" is also mentioned elsewhere in the KJV)
Do people really believe that when Jesus spoke to thousands of people, he spoke in a language that was not easily understood?
Of course, there many more examples of why the King James Bible is a flawed translation that is totally unlike the source documents. So why do people rigidly adhere to its use?
The thought occurred to me: why do people still use the "King James" Bible? It was translated into English over 400 years ago and was based on questionable sources by today's standards. There is no question that the English is beautiful, but that is not in concert with the way the source documents were written. The "books" were written in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic (the language that Jesus spoke), and Koine Greek, the common languages of the times. None of the original texts were written in some archaic language.
The King James is not written in the common English language used today; in fact, it's just the opposite. Do people feel some sort of pseudo-holiness when they read it? Why do some people regard it alone as "God's word" and criticize those better, more modern, more accurate translations? Is there some fallacious belief that the Lord wants His word to be difficult to understand and open to all kinds of misinterpretations?
Does anyone believe that Luke actually this wrote in the language of his day:
But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when
he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher:
then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat
with thee"? Isn't the meaning far clearer to people living today when translated as "But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests."?
Or Deuteronomy 13:17, "His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh." Unicorns? Really? ("Unicorn" is also mentioned elsewhere in the KJV)
Do people really believe that when Jesus spoke to thousands of people, he spoke in a language that was not easily understood?
Of course, there many more examples of why the King James Bible is a flawed translation that is totally unlike the source documents. So why do people rigidly adhere to its use?