The KJV Bible is still the most accurate English translation to date. Notice I said 'English translation'. It's very important to distinguish between a translation and the actual Bible manuscripts used. All translations have some errors. Just a thing. And later Bible versions may use a different set of manuscripts. The Gospel Message will be intact in all versions. But some translations can tend towards a particular denomination, or philosophy of men.
That is why I recommend at minimum a KJV Bible and a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. Dr. James Strong in the 19th century assigned numbers to each manuscript word the KJV translators used, and gave the language definition. So basically, you can look up a word or phrase in the KJV and get closer to the manuscript meaning.
The software company BibleSoft offers a FREE download of their entry level Bible study software that has the above mentioned tools and many others. It has many Bible versions and a variety to study tools. It is a very popular software used by many pastors.
You wrote, "The KJV Bible is still the most accurate English translation to date." And you're basing this on..?
You also wrote, "... some translations can tend towards a particular denomination, or philosophy of men". In your thinking, the KJV is exempt from this? The King, despite the existence of other excellent translations, ordered a new version
to line up with his ideas of the authority of royalty.
So here is the problem. You wrote, "you can look up a word or phrase in the KJV and get closer to the manuscript meaning". Why is that necessary? A respected modern translation (and there are quite a few), written in modern English, eliminates the need for Strong's Exhaustive Concordance to explain what the 1611 E
nglyshe words mean.
The KJV is just a
translation of the original Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek writings, based on the texts available 400+ years ago. As you said, the meaning of the words is often not clear.
The King James Version of the New Testament was based upon a Greek text (the
Textus Receptus) that was marred by mistakes, containing the accumulated errors
of fourteen centuries of manuscript copying. It was essentially the Greek text
of the New Testament as edited by Beza, 1589, who closely followed that
published by Erasmus, 1516-1535, which was based upon a few medieval
manuscripts. The earliest and best of the eight manuscripts which Erasmus
consulted was from the tenth century, and yet he made the least use of it
because it differed most from the commonly received text; Beza had access to two
manuscripts of great value, dating from the fifth and sixth centuries, but he
made very little use of them because they differed from the text published by
Erasmus. We now possess many more ancient manuscripts (about 10,000 compared to
just 10) of the New Testament, and thanks to another 400 years of biblical
scholarship, are far better equipped to seek to recover the original wording of
the Greek text. Much as we might love the KJV and the majesty of it’s Jacobean
English, modern translations are more accurate.
Here is an example from the KJV...
8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;
9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.
10 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.
Luke 14:8-10
and from the NIV...
“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 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."
And the NRSV...
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you."
And the NET...
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, because a person more distinguished than you may have been invited by your host. So the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then, ashamed, you will begin to move to the least important place. But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host approaches he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you."
You tell me which is clearest.