I love the King James Version. I was converted
under it, my first memory verses were taken from it,
and I have been blessed by it. And God still uses the
KJV to bring many people to salvation in Christ. This
version was translated by godly men who did an excellent
job with the tools they had in the language of four centuries
ago. Countless millions have been converted, sanctified,
and nurtured through it. Thank God for that marvelously
used translation.
1. Genesis
2:4: “These are the generations of the heavens
and of the earth.” The Hebrew term for “generations”
is an important one in Genesis and occurs ten times
to mark new sections (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10,
27; 25:12, 19; 36:1; 37:2). (It is repeated in Gen.
36:9 for emphasis.) A preferable translation would
be: “This is the account of the heavens and the earth”
(NIV).
2. Genesis
4:1: “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” NIV:
“With the help of the Lord I
have brought forth a man.”
3. Genesis
20:6: “therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.”
NIV: “that is why I did not let you touch her.”
4. Genesis
21:31: “Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because
there they sware both of them.” What did they “sware”?
“Both of them”? No. Rather: “So that place was called
Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there”
(NIV).
5. Genesis
26:8: “saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with his
wife.” NIV: “saw Isaac caressing his wife.”
6. Genesis
26:10: “one of the people might have lightly lien with
thy wife.” NIV: “one of the men might well have slept
with your wife.”
7. Genesis
26:31: “And they rose up betimes in the morning.” NIV:
“Early the next morning.”
8. Genesis
29:29–30. To whom does the “he” refer in verse 30 of
the KJV: “29and Laban gave to Rachel, his
daughter, Bilhah, his handmaid, to be her maid. 30And
he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved Rachel more
than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.”
Who is the antecedent of “he”? Laban, of course. But
that is wrong. The Hebrew meant Jacob; so the NIV substituted
“Jacob” for “he.” There are other confusions in this
simple historical text. Who is the daughter—Bilhah
or Rachel? Read the KJV again. Now the NIV: “29Laban
gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel
as her maidservant. 30Jacob lay with Rachel
also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked
for Laban another seven years.” The NIV makes confusing
pronouns clear by substituting the proper noun when
necessary.
9. Genesis
30:27–29 is another case of confusion in the KJV: “27And
Laban said unto him.… 28And he said.… 29And
he said unto him.…” Who are those “he’s”? The most
natural explanation would be Laban. But no. The NIV
reads, “27But Laban said to him.… 28He
added.… 29Jacob said to him.…” By using
the word “added” and substituting “Jacob” for “he”
in verse 29, the KJV confusion is cleared up immediately.
10. Leviticus
13:47 (and other places in Lev. 13 and 14): “The garment
also that the plague of leprosy is in.” A piece of
cloth cannot have leprosy. So the KJV—and even some
modern translations (rsv,
“leprous disease”;nasb,
“a mark of leprosy”)—is misleading. It is better to
translate, “If any clothing is contaminated with mildew”
(NIV).
11. Joshua
12:4. “The coast of Og” (KJV)
has nothing to do with water. It is “the territory
of Og” (NIV).
12. 2
Chronicles 2:2: “told.” NIV: “conscripted.”
13. 2
Chronicles 2:7: “brass.” Brass was not known in Solomon’s
days; hence the NIV’s “bronze.”
14. 2
Chronicles 2:7: “cunning to work in gold.” NIV: “skilled
to work in gold.”
15. 2
Chronicles 2:7: “a man … that can skill to grave with
the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem.”
NIV: “a man … experienced in the art of engraving,
to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled craftsmen.”
16. Nehemiah
1:5: “the great and terrible God.” In 1611 the word
“terrible” meant “awesome.” Today it usually means
“bad, wretched, full of terror,” and therefore in contemporary
English “terrible” can be misleading. It should read:
“the great and awesome God” (NIV).
17. Job
20:3: “I have heard the check of my reproach.” NIV:
“I hear a rebuke that dishonors me.”
18. Job
22:10–11: “Therefore snares are round about thee, and
sudden fear troubleth thee; or darkness, that thou
canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.”
The last half of this sentence has no clear meaning.
Words just hang there between semicolons and a period.
Compare the clarity of the NIV:
That is why snares are all around you, why
sudden peril terrifies you, why it is so dark you cannot
see, and why a flood of water covers you.
Not only is the language of the NIV clear, but also
the format and poetry are beautiful:
19. Job
36:33: “The noise thereof sheweth concerning it, the
cattle also concerning the vapor.” NIV: “His thunder
announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known
its approach.”
20. Psalm
67:3, 5: “people” (four times). The Hebrew is not talking
about separate individuals but groups of people, nations.
Hence the NIV’s “peoples.” The difference is only an
“s,” but what a difference in meaning!
21. Psalm
119:147: “I prevented the dawning of the morning.”
NIV: “I rise before dawn.”
22. Psalm
139:13: “thou hast possessed my reins.” NIV: “For you
created my inmost being.”
23. Isaiah
10:28: “carriages.” NIV: “supplies.”
24. Jeremiah
48:12: “I will send unto him wanderers, that shall
cause him to wander.” NIV: “I will send men who pour
from jars, and they will pour her out.”
25. Ezekiel
21:24: “discovered.” NIV: “revealing.”
26. Ezekiel
24:17: “tire.” NIV: “turban.”
27. Amos
5:7: “Ye who turn judgment to wormwood and leave off
righteousness in the earth.” Frank Gaebelein thinks
that one reason Evangelicals have been slow in getting
involved in a truly biblical social action is that
they have never understood the KJV in the many places
where it has used “judgment” instead of “justice.”
What is meant here in Amos 5:7 is not the juridical
process of making a decision, but justice, as the NIV
makes clear:
You who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.
This misleading KJV translation is found
in many other places, such as Hosea 2:19; 12:6; Amos
5:15; 6:12; Micah 3:1, 8—9; Habakkuk 1:4; Zephaniah
3:5; Zechariah 7:9; Malachi 2:17.
Think of how the KJV has held back the
true meaning of God’s will when in the key verse of
Amos (5:24) it says, “But let judgment run down as
waters.” It should have said, “But let justice roll
on like a river” (NIV). There is a great difference between
judgment and justice!
28. Nahum
1:1: “The burden of Nineveh.” NIV: “An oracle concerning
Nineveh.”
29. Matthew
11:25: “At that time Jesus answered and said.” Jesus
was not answering anybody here or in many other similar
instances. Hence the NIV: “Jesus said.” The KJV rendering
creates an erroneous impression.
30. Matthew
17:25: “Jesus prevented him”—an Old English way of
saying “Jesus was the first to speak” (NIV).
31. Matthew
20:31: “And the multitude rebuked them, because they
should hold their peace.” The “because” makes no sense.
NIV: “The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet.”
32. Matthew
23:24: “strain at a gnat.” What is meant is this: “You
strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” (NIV).
33. Matthew
26:27: “Drink ye all of it.” This could be taken to
mean that not a drop should be left. But that would
be incorrect. NIV: “Drink from it, all of you.”
34. Mark
2:3: “sick of the palsy.” NIV: “paralytic.”
35. Mark
4:38: “Master.” Forty-six times the KJV uses the term
“master” when for today’s reader it should use the
term “teacher.”
36. Mark
6:20: In the KJV Herod “observed” John. It should be
“protected” (NIV).
37. Mark
6:25: “by and by.” The Greek really means the opposite:
“right now” (NIV).
38. Luke
1:36. Luke does not say that Elizabeth was a “cousin”
of Mary, as the KJV has it, but a “relative” (NIV).
39. Luke
1:40. Mary did not “salute” (KJV)
Elizabeth, but “greeted” (NIV)
her.
40. Luke
1:63. Zechariah did not ask for a “writing table” (KJV)
but for a “writing tablet” (NIV).
41. Luke
23:15. In the KJV Pilate says of Jesus: “and, lo, nothing
worthy of death is done unto him.” What the Greek says
is the exact opposite. Thus the NIV: “as you can see,
he has done nothing to deserve death.”
42. Acts
21:15: “we took up our carriages.” NIV: “we got ready.”
43. Acts
27:21: “Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and
not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this
harm and loss.” NIV: “Men, you should have taken my
advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have
spared yourselves this damage and loss.”
44. Acts
28:13: “And from thence we fetched a compass.” A clearer
translation: “From there we set sail” (NIV).
45. Romans
1:17: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed.”
How many Christians have failed to understand the great
comfort of this verse because of the KJV’s reading?
Paul was not talking about God’s righteousness, that
is, his holy, righteous character, but a “righteousness”
that is provided by him through the life and death
of Jesus Christ. This crucial passage should be translated:
“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed”
(NIV).
46. Romans
1:28: “God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do
those things which are not convenient.” There are two
problems here: (1) Paul was not speaking of the reprobate
but of the “depraved” and (2) Paul was not speaking
of convenience at all. Instead the verse would well
be translated “he gave them over to a depraved mind,
to do what ought not to be done” (NIV).
47. Romans
3:22: “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith
of Jesus Christ.” This is misleading on two counts:
(1) It is the righteousness that is from God, not his
righteousness; (2) it is faith in Christ, not “faith
of Christ.” It should read: “This righteousness from
God comes through faith in Jesus Christ” (NIV).
48. Romans
5:5: “the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” In 1611
“which” could be used of a person, but it is not normally
so used today. In current English we say, “the Holy
Spirit, whom he has given us.”
49. Romans
14:23: “And he that doubteth is damned.” That would
ordinarily be understood to mean that the doubter goes
to hell forever. Not so the Greek! It should be “But
the man who has doubts is condemned” (NIV).
50. 1
Corinthians 4:4: “For I know nothing by myself.” NIV:
“My conscience is clear.”
51. 1
Corinthians 5:3–5. One problem of the KJV is that its
sentences ramble on and on and are too complicated
to figure out. The important passage, 1 Corinthians
5:3–5, is a case in point:
3For I verily, as absent in body, but present
in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present,
concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered
together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord
Jesus Christ, 5to deliver such a one unto
Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.What does
“in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” go with? And
who delivers such a one unto Satan? Paul? the Corinthians?
Who? It is not enough to get the general thrust of
these verses. We should know precisely what God has
said. One way is to shorten the sentences as the NIV
does:3Even though I am not physically present,
I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed
judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were
present. 4When you are assembled in the
name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit,
and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5hand
this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may
be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the
Lord.
52. 1 Corinthians
10:24: “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s
wealth.” The KJV could be understood as recommending
coveting and perhaps stealing! A better translation
would be: “Nobody should seek his own good, but the
good of others” (NIV).
53. 1
Corinthians 13. The KJV “charity” does not mean philanthropy
or almsgiving but “love”(NIV).
54. 1
Corinthians 16:22. “If any man love not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.” Who or what
is “Anathema Maranatha”? Someone forgot to put a period
after “Anathema,” and to this day KJV Bibles have this
error. Listen to the accuracy and clarity of the NIV:
“If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse on him. Come,
O Lord!” After “Lord” there is a note: “In Aramaic
the expression Come, O Lord is Marana tha.”
55. 2
Corinthians 2:17: “For we are not as many, which corrupt
the word of God.” NIV: “Unlike so many, we do not peddle
the word of God for profit.”
56. 2
Corinthians 4:2: “dishonesty.” NIV: “shameful ways.”
57. 2
Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin.” It was Jesus who knew no sin,
not “us.” It should be “God made him who had no sin
to be sin for us” (NIV).
58. Ephesians
1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father.” The word “bless”
is used in the KJV to mean (1) praise, (2) thanks,
(3) to invoke God’s favor, (4) happy. This is very
confusing in today’s English. In Ephesians, for example,
what is meant by “Blessed be the God and Father”? In
1 Corinthians 10:16, what is meant by “blessing” when
the KJV says, “The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?”?
The NIV attempted to be very careful
so that there would not be confusion in this term that
is traditionally and indiscriminately translated “bless.”
For the NIV “bless” means that someone in a higher
position, such as God or a king, favors someone lower
(cf. Heb. 7:6–7). Hence in Psalm 67:7 the NIV reads
“God will bless us” and in Genesis 28:6 Isaac “blessed”
his son Jacob. But in Ephesians 1:3 Paul “praises”
(NIV)
God the Father. (When we want to praise a president
for his actions, we don’t say, “I bless the president.”)
And in 1 Corinthians 10:16 Paul said (in theNIV), “Is not the cup of thanksgiving
[not blessing]
for which we give thanks [not bless]
a participation in the blood of Christ?” The indiscriminate
use of “bless” and “blessed” in the KJV is confusing
in today’s English.
59. Ephesians
4:4: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye
are called in one hope of your calling.” Here is an
important verse; yet the statement “ye are called in
one hope of your calling” is confusing. Here is what
it means: “just as you were called to one hope when
you were called” (NIV).
60. Philippians
3:20: “conversation.” NIV: “citizenship.”
61. Philippians
4:14: “Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did
communicate with my affliction.” NIV: “Yet it was good
of you to share in my troubles.” It is obvious that
the last part of the KJV sentence does not communicate
(“ye did communicate with my affliction”), but it is
also instructive to look at the first part to see how
an unnatural word order causes the reader to stumble.
It is not natural to say, “ye have well done.” Nobody
would talk like that today. Not only is the “ye” unnatural,
but also the “have well done.” This sort of unnaturalness
can be multiplied many times over, and it causes untold
difficulties in the understanding and memorization
of God’s Word.
62. 1
Thessalonians 1:4: “your election of God.” In the days
of the KJV this was a way of saying “your election
by God.” As it is today, the KJV suggests the opposite
of what the Greek really says. NIV has “he has chosen
you.”
63. 1
Thessalonians 1:6: “joy of the Holy Spirit.” Paul was
not talking about the joy of the Holy Spirit but the
joy of the Thessalonians. What the KJV tried to convey
was “the joy given by the Holy Spirit” (NIV). One of the great causes of obscurity is the KJV’s love
for the preposition “of,” as was also seen in Romans
1:17 (“the righteousness of God”), Romans 3:22 (“faith
of Jesus Christ”), and 1 Thessalonians 1:4 (“your election
of God”). In Greek it represents the genitive case,
which has various usages that should be made specific
in translation.
64. 1 Thessalonians 2:3: “uncleanness.” NIV: “impure motives.”
65. 1
Thessalonians 4:15: “prevent.” NIV: “precede.”
66. 1
Thessalonians 5:14: “feebleminded.” The Greek, however,
has nothing to do with being mentally deficient. Rather
it means being “timid” (NIV).
67. 1
Thessalonians 5:22: “Abstain from all appearance of
evil.” This involves a misunderstanding of the Greek
idiom. Rather, “Avoid every kind of evil” (NIV).
68. 2
Thessalonians 2:7: “he who now letteth.” Today “let”
means “allow, permit,” but in 1611 one of its meanings
was ”to hinder, obstruct, prevent” (still preserved
in the legal phrase ”without let or hindrance”—and
we still use “let” in the KJV sense of “holding back”
when in tennis we speak of a “let” ball, i.e., a ball
that hits the net is invalid and must be served again).
The NIV conveys the sense with “the one who now holds
it back.”
69. 1
Timothy 5:4. The KJV’s “nephews” is wrong. As we now
know, the Greek word refers to “grandchildren.”
70. 1
Timothy 6:5: “supposing that gain is godliness.” This
is entirely misleading. It should be: “who think that
godliness is a means to financial gain” (NIV).
71. 2
Timothy 1:15: “This thou knowest, that all they which
are in Asia be turned away from me.” Apart from the
now faulty grammar (”all they … be turned away”), it
should be noted that “Asia” does not mean Japan, China,
Russia, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In Paul’s
day what was meant was a small “province of Asia” (NIV). The unmodified word “Asia” is misleading.
72. 2
Timothy 3:6: “silly women.” NIV: “weak-willed women.”
73. 2
Timothy 3:13: “seducers.” NIV: “impostors.”
74. Titus
1:6. The KJV’s “having faithful children” is wrong.
“Faithful” means having children who are loyal, reliable,
and worthy of trust. But what the Greek means is “a
man whose children believe” (NIV).
75. Titus
2:13. The KJV wrongly distinguishes between God and
Jesus (“the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”),
whereas it should have called Jesus “God” (“our great
God and Savior, Jesus Christ,”NIV).
76. Hebrews
7:18: “For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment
going before for the weakness and unprofitableness
thereof.” How can the Christian understand what the
Holy Spirit said here? And who would want to memorize
that? But listen to this accurate and clear rendering:
“The former regulation is set aside because it was
weak and useless” (NIV).
77. Hebrews
8:2: “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true
tabernacle, which the Lord pitched.” The KJV misleads
the reader to think that there is a sanctuary plus
a true tabernacle. But this is wrong. “Tabernacle”
is in apposition to “sanctuary.” Thus it should read:
“who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set
up by the Lord” (NIV).
78. Hebrews
8:5: “who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly
things.” What does that mean? More understandable is
this: “They served at a sanctuary that is a copy and
shadow of what is in heaven” (NIV).
79. Hebrews
8:12: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.”
This seems to say that God is going to be good to unrighteousness.
But the meaning is “For I will forgive their wickedness”
(NIV).
80. Hebrews
8:13: “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made
the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old
is ready to vanish away.” What is the writer saying?
Where does the quotation end—after “covenant” or “old”
or “away”? And what does “waxeth” mean? Why should
anyone who loves God’s Word be kept in suspense? Why
should he have to struggle to learn? Shouldn’t the
Bible be just as clear today as it was when it was
given? What Hebrews 8:13 means is this: “By calling
this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete;
and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear”
(NIV).
81. Hebrews
9:1: “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances
of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.” Does “divine
service” mean “God’s work”? No. And what is a “worldly
sanctuary”? NIV: “Now the first covenant had regulations
for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.”
82. Hebrews
9:2–6. There is complete confusion in the KJV about
what is the tabernacle, “the first,” “the sanctuary,”
and the “Holiest.”
83. Hebrews
9:10: “which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers
washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until
the time of reformation.” NIV: “They are only a matter
of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external
regulations applying until the time of the new order.”
Hebrews is a very important book with great truths
about the relationship of the Old Testament sacrifices
to Christ and the New Testament. It is imperative that
Christians know what the Holy Spirit is saying to them.
84. James
5:11: “patience of Job.” But Job was not patient. He
was impatient; yet he persevered. Hence a better translation
is “Job’s perseverance” (NIV).
85. 1
Peter 2:9: “a peculiar people.” Today that means “odd
people.” It should be “a people belonging to God” (NIV).
86. 1
Peter 2:12. The KJV translates the Greek as “Having
your conversation honest” (using “conversation” in
the now-rare Latin sense of “behavior”). But the Greek
says nothing at all about conversation or honesty (“honest”
meant “virtuous” or “good” in 1611, but the meaning
is now archaic). What it does say is “Live such good
lives” (NIV).
87. 1
Peter 4:3. The KJV condemns “banquetings” as being
very evil. Today, of course, “banqueting” is not sinful.
Actually what the KJV condemns is “carousings” (NIV), for that is what “banqueting” meant
in 1611.
88. 2
Peter 1:1: “the righteousness of God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ.” NIV: “the righteousness of our God and
Saviour Jesus Christ.” The KJV translators certainly
believed that Jesus was God, but, as we have already
seen, in several important cases they obscured the
New Testament witness to that truth.
89. 2
Peter 3:4: “Where is the promise of his coming?” How
odd that even some modern versions persist in this
error (rsv,
nasb, neb)! The scoffers knew where the promise
was—in the Bible and in the preaching of the apostles.
They were not asking where the promise was. It was
exactly because they knew where the promise was that
they really asked, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?”
(NIV).
90. Jude
7: “giving themselves over to fornication, and going
after strange flesh.” There are two problems here:
(l) since “fornication” is ambiguous, the KJV is misleading;
(2) what is “strange flesh”? NIV: “gave themselves
up to sexual immorality and perversion.” The reader
of the NIV realizes that Jude is condemning all illegitimate
sex.
91. Jude
19: “These are they who separate themselves, sensual,
having not the Spirit.” NIV: “These are the men who
divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do
not have the Spirit.”
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