Friday, April 1, 2011

King James: Rollin' in his grave?

Happy Passover, this time of year makes me think about how the King James Version is the only one that falsely replaces Passover with Ishtar (more commonly known as Easter) in Acts 12:4: “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people”. I’m also thinking about how that fuzzy little Ishtar bunny never seems to give any answers to the questions that some have. Questions like what is the perfect “Bible” translation? If there is no perfect translation, then which’s the best? As far as which one is the best, that depends on who you ask but my personal choices are any that are rooted in a Hebraic understanding. By that I mean the translations were done with the understanding that the “New Testament” was originally written in Hebrew/Aramaic and not Greek as has historically been the accepted thought. I know that so far the oldest existing manuscripts we have for the Renewed Testament are written in Greek, but there’s much evidence to support these manuscripts as having been translations of earlier Hebrew works. There’s also obvious mistranslations made in carrying it from the one language to the other, this partly explains why many find the Scriptures to be confusing.


You’ve probably guessed it by now, but I don’t believe there is a perfect translation; and I sure don’t believe it’s the King James. Before I go on I’d just like to say that I’m aware of how many common translations omit verses pertaining to baptism and I’m thankful that the KJV doesn’t do that; but it’s still not perfect and Acts 12:4 is but one reason why. And many people have heard it’s the best translation out there so they just go with the flow without ever questioning why, I pray that they may find this blog to be insightful. I’m also writing this for the KJV activists (they come in all denominations with one in particular seemingly most fervent), those who get together to publically burn other versions because they believe the King James is perfect based on 1 Corinthians 13:10: “And when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away”. Good grief. I’m by far no expert on sword fighting, but I’ve a hunch that this verse is really referring to what the rest of the chapter is: love coming and completing us. The power of love is so great that if we do everything else in life just about perfectly but don’t walk in it then we’ve missed the whole point. Speaking of points, mine is to share some historical facts about the King James that you may or may not know; so please enjoy:


The King James was in actuality commissioned by his acting wifey (some say he was gay), the Queen.

The original 1611 version is the first one to give us the false name of “Jehovah”, and hovah/howah really means wickedness in the Hebrew (see a concordance).

The texts used to compile the King James are missing so many words that translators had to insert several ones in order for it to be read properly, you can check this for yourself by noticing all these added words in italic within a KJV or by seeing it too in a good concordance.

Not in the original 1611 version but in a later one, the King James is the first one to give us the false name of “Jesus”.

To those who’d have us believe the Renewed Testament was wholly written in the original “inspired Greek”, even if we pretend it was there’s still an accuracy problem. The Renewed Testament texts of the KJV are only partially Greek, the rest being later Latin and even later English ones; oh me oh my.

The Greek texts that were used in the KJV Renewed Testament were commissioned by Yohan Frovan in 1514 to Desiderus Erasmus, with Frovan giving him a strict deadline in order to beat a competing publisher to press.

Because he was so rushed he only had time to access 7 authentic Greek texts (the oldest of which being only from the 11th century), the rest he then back-translated from Latin.

In addition to being hurried along, the printer made numerous changes after he handed his work in; leading him to freely confess that it was “thrown together rather than edited”.


Now let me just say this before I get accused of trying to destroy anyone’s faith: I’m not going there. Well, not faith in Yahushua at least. But if busting the myth that the King James is at best perfect and at worst the most accurate translation available then I am gleefully guilty as charged. My plea is that all of us question what we’re told is truth, dig into the Scriptures more and firmly plant our faith. Until later, take care of your shalom.

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