My Thoughts on the KJV

I had forgotten I had sworn off discussing this subject because one can not convince another, no matter the proof, that one version is superior, more inspired, more accurate, there's always excuses for the changed and missing words, missing verses...you get get the gist...than another. When I went to look for the paperwork I remember I threw ALL my studies on this subject in the trash during my last cleaning frenzy because I swore I was done with these arguments. Therefore, I return to my quiet corner on this subject.

 

The average deaf adult reads at a 4th grade level- yet hand them a KJV and they are lost- figuratively speaking.

 

Certainly not an American 4th grade. Surely! That is very low!

Cheers,

Jim

 

That would be a first. My American pastor in Korea used the KJV while preaching for decades. But he had to spend a lot of time (too muchin fact ) explaining the archaic wording which cut down on real preaching time. His explanations and rewordings sounded more like the way the NIV or even the NLTse had it in the first place.

Now he primarily uses the NASBU which is a step in the right direction.

 

Yes, I do because not soon after I toss is when I wish I had! LOL I have to, however, or I'd need another house for my stuff.

 

Is a Canadian or British 4th grade level at a higher register?

 

Depend on which State is a better education for deaf students.

 

12 grade level? Some sources said 12 grade level. Some sources said 10 grade level. Some soiurces said less than 10 or 12 grade level. Why target at the KJV for which grade level? Do you read Wall Street Journal newspaper? Do you read People magazine? Read anything than the Bible? The people read them any way. Most people complained about "hard to understand" the KJV. When they are hard to understand the KJV, they have trouble reading. On other hand, when they are hard to understand the Bible, they are hard to obey God.

 

I would agree that it is all too easy to overplay the "not understandable" card re the AV/KJV.

At the same time, I wonder if your granddaughter, or anyone with "fourth grade English" (whatever that means - we have "Years" and "Key Stages" in our schools, and I don't know how they relate to the American grade system) would understand:

that "laid up his carriages" (Isaiah 10.28) means "stored his equipment"

that "I thought to advertise thee" (Ruth 4.4) means "I thought to inform you"

that "we fetched a compass" (Acts 28.13) means "we circled round"

that " Suffer ye thus far" (Luke 22.51) means "Permit even this"

that "superfluity of naughtiness" (James 1.21) means "overflow of evil"

....and many other such phrases.
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Then there are the individual words that have either changed their meaning since 1611, such as angle (fish-hook), admire (be astonished), prevent (go before), conversation (behaviour), shambles (meat market), occupy (trade), abroad (outside), etc.

I somehow doubt that using a dictionary (unless it was a historical one) would necessarily help. Take my very first example,"laid up his carriages". My dictionary gives seven definitions for the word "carriage":

1. horse-drawn vehicle
2. a railway coach (I expect an American dictionary would have "railroad coach")
3. a wheeled platform
4. a way of holding your body
5. taking and delivering goods
6. a charge for taking and delivering goods
7. a moving part of a machine sujch as a typewriter
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Not one mention of the KJV meaning.

 

Salty, It's my GRANDDAUGHTER, who is 11, and I wish I could share with you what her answers would be but I am rarely allowed the privilege to see or speak with her. Her parents are divorced and her mother has custody. I get to see her once a year.

 

You guys keep sucking me back in :tongue3:

There is an excellent little book that is inexpensively available from Chick Publications, The King James Bible Companion by David W Daniels. We give them to anyone who is interested in having it at our church. It is a tiny KJV dictionary with over 500 archaic KJV words defined.

For instance from your example carriage...That which is carried, baggage

 

I have been teaching and preaching to deaf (and hearing) people for over 30 years and even the best educated of the deaf (and many hearing) that I know- saved people with master's degrees and even doctorates- struggle with understanding the 400-year-old language of the KJV. If People magazine or the WSJ were written in King James English they would cease publication quite quickly.

If people do not understand the language of the version of the Bible they have then they should get one that they can understand- a faithful translation- and the more they begin to LIVE it, the more they will begin to UNDERSTAND it. But if they do not first UNDERSTAND it, they will NEVER learn how to live it. That sounds like a contradiction, but it is indeed a fact.

There's nothing magical or hyper-spiritual about 400-year-old language.

 

Wonderful. So we need to carry another book around so we can understand the Book?

Please don't take this personally, but how is that any different from other religions that tell folks, "The Bible is good, but it is hard to understand. Here is another book that explains it in simple terms" then hands a person 'The Pearl of Great Price' or 'The Book of Mormon' or a Jehovah's Witness book- or tell them that they cannot understand the Bible, so let the priest interpret it for them.

Men died for the right to translate the Bible into a common language so the 'plowman' could read and understand it for themselves not so they would have to carry a dictionary around with it to understand it.

 

I've seen that and looked into purchasing it as my husband and I own a business and have boxes of papers everywhere that we MUST keep, so the IRS says. However, it is VERY expensive! So I decided to pass. I have a regular scanner that could do the same thing, but it's sort of like my Sony Reader which my husband bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago and sits in a drawer, mainly unused....I still like holding a book in my hand, same with paperwork, I can look back through and find what I want without searching the computer for files, not to mention I've had a couple of tragic computer crashes where I've lost everything! (I don't suppose I mentioned I'm the world's worst backerupper :tonofbricks: Anyway, if I could find one that did that for less than the almost $400 they want for the one I saw advertised on tv, I'd probably buy one...and then forget to back it up! LOL

 

And my Sophomore year of high school, English class focused on Shakespeare and Elizabethan studies....that is 10th grade. We were EXPECTED to read at that level, no questions asked.

My son credits the fact that due to reading the KJV, he was able to pass the police entry level test as the top one in his testing group. His vocabulary was vastly improved by reading the KJV.

Why would anyone want to go backwards...I aim higher!!!!