Featured Is the new KJV-only interpretation of Matthew 4:4 correct?

Some KJV-only authors especially appeal to Matthew 4:4 as justification for a KJV-only view and in order to assert that there must be a every-word perfect Bible.

David Sorenson asserted: “If God, from the time of Moses onward, required His people to live by every word which He has uttered in His Word, it therefore follows that God has preserved each and every one of those words” (God’s Perfect Book, p. 85). David Sorenson asked: “How can a just God require us to live by every word He has spoken if every one of His words does not continue to exist and be available for us?” (Ibid.).

In his preface to his book, Troy Clark wrote: “This book answers one simple question. Does there exist today an every-Word-of-God Bible?” (Perfect Bible, p. 18).

Jack Hyles declared: “I must find this perfect Bible that is without error with every word of God preserved” (Need for an Every-word Bible, p. 21). After quoting Matthew 4:4, Jack Hyles claimed: “You cannot live if you don’t have ‘every word’ (p. 17). Jack Hyles asserted: “We must have every word, so there has to be a perfect English Bible or we cannot live” (p. 45). Jack Hyles declared: “I must have every word to live. I must have every word to get my prayers answered. I must have every word to receive Christ” (p. 152).

Dennis Corle asked: “If God requires me to live by every word, and He is a just God, would it be logical for me to assume that He made sure that I had all the words?” (God’s Inspired Book, p. 4). Dennis Corle claimed: “It would be unreasonable for God to expect me to live by every word if He did not make sure that I have all the words” (p. 86). Dennis Corle asserted: “God has given us an every word Bible, according to Matthew 4:4” (p. 37).

Roy Branson asked: “How could a fair and just God command us to live by every single word of His, if some of these words had been lost, or we knew not where to find them, or if one had to choose whose guess was most likely the best guess” (KJV1611, p. 74).

Marty Braemer claimed: “We are instructed to live by every word of God, then doesn’t it stand to reason that God would give us an every word translation?” (This Little Light, p. 3). Marty Braemer asked: “How did God expect us to obey Deuteronomy 8:3 by living by every word if He (God) isn’t able to preserve those words for us?” (p. 10).

James Rasbeary declared: “I must have the words of God, all of them (Matt. 4:4) (What’s Wrong, pp. 26-27).

Steve Combs claimed: “We must have all God’s Words if we are to live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth” (Practical Theology, p. 63).

D. A. Waite asked: “How can a person ‘live’ by ‘every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God’ if he does not have ‘every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”? (Critical Answer to Michael Sproul’s, p. 133). D. A. Waite declared: “The Lord Jesus Christ wants people to be able to live ‘by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God? (Fundamentalist Deception, p. 114). Waite asserted: “We cannot live by ‘every Word’ if we do not have ‘every word’” (Ibid.).

Do KJV-only advocates prove that Matthew 4:4 teaches that there must be a perfect every-word Bible translation? Do they apply their very own statements consistently and justly?

 

Luke 4:4 would conflict with the new interpretation that tries to suggest that believers have to seek a every-word Bible translation.

Every word from Deuteronomy 8:3 quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:4 is not found in the quotation in Luke 4:4. Six individual words [“that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”] spoken by Jesus as found in Matthew 4:4 are not preserved and presented in Luke 4:4.

Is this fact a hint or indication that the new KJV-only interpretation of Matthew 4:4 could be incorrect? According to the KJV-only interpretation, could early readers of the gospel of Luke who did not have a copy of the gospel of Matthew live by every word of God since Luke does not have six words quoted and stated by Jesus? Would a just application of KJV-only reasoning concerning Matthew 4:4 suggest that the Holy Spirit was wrong to move Luke to omit six of the words stated by Jesus? Would a consistent application of KJV-only reasoning in effect suggest that Luke 4:4 casts doubt on part of what is stated in Matthew 4:4? Would a consistent, just application of KJV-only claims and assertions concerning Matthew 4:4 in effect condemn Luke 4:4 for not including and preserving every word that Jesus stated?

 

It is not a mute point since the clear documentation of KJV-only claims concerning Matthew 4:4 was provided.

It is proper and sound to examine those KJV-only claims.

 

The same Greek word translated “word” at Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 is also translated by the KJV translators themselves as “saying” six times (Mark 9:32, Luke 2:17, Luke 2:50, Luke 9:45 [twice], Luke 18:34). Does that fact indicate that “every saying” would have been considered by the KJV translators to be an acceptable alternative rendering for “every word”?

Would “every word” (Matt. 4:4) possibly be parallel in meaning to “every precept” (Heb. 9:19)?

If every word could mean every saying, every command, every ordinance, every precept, or every instruction of God, then perhaps KJV-only advocates may have jumped to a wrong conclusion in their new claim concerning Matthew 4:4.

This rendering “word” [singular in number] in the KJV can actually refer to a saying or statement made up of several words. Clear evidence from the KJV itself would demonstrate this observation to be true. For example, “the word” at Matthew 26:75 and Mark 14:72 refers to an entire statement made by Jesus as recorded in Matthew 26:34 and Mark 14:30. At John 2:22, the word [singular] referred to an entire statement by Jesus as stated in John 2:19. Does “the word of faith” in Romans 10:8 refer to one single individual word so that the apostles preached a message comprised of only one word? Does the “word [singular] that I have spoken” (John 12:49) refer to one single word? The nobleman believed “the word” [singular], and it clearly referred not to a single word but to an entire statement made by Jesus [“Go thy way, thy son liveth” (John 4:50)]. Does “word” in John 17:20 refer to a single word? In an Old Testament example, the rendering “word” [singular] in Numbers 3:16 is used for instructions made up of over twenty words (Numbers 3:14-15). In another Old Testament example, “word” [singular] in Exodus 8:31 refers to sayings or statements made by Moses that consisted of several words (Exod. 8:29). These examples from the KJV should demonstrate that “word” [singular] can refer to a saying, a command, or an instruction made up of several words instead of referring to one single word.

 

Luke 4:4 would conflict with the new KJV-only interpretation of Matthew 4:4 which tries to suggest that believers have to seek a perfect Bible translation that has every word of God. The issue is not with what Matthew 4:4 states when understood soundly or correctly.

The legitimate issue is with the new KJV-only interpretation of Matthew 4:4 that would in effect condemn gospel of Luke for not including every word that Jesus stated.

Every word from Deuteronomy 8:3 quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:4 is not found in the quotation in Luke 4:4. Six individual words [“that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”] spoken by Jesus as found in Matthew 4:4 are not preserved and presented in Luke 4:4.

Is this fact a hint or indication that the new KJV-only interpretation of every word at Matthew 4:4 could be incorrect?

According to the KJV-only interpretation, could early readers of the gospel of Luke who did not have a copy of the gospel of Matthew live by every word of God since Luke does not have six words quoted and stated by Jesus?

Would a just application of KJV-only assertions concerning Matthew 4:4 suggest that the Holy Spirit was wrong to move Luke to omit six of the words stated by Jesus?

Would a consistent application of KJV-only reasoning in effect suggest that Luke 4:4 casts doubt on part of what is stated in Matthew 4:4?

Would a consistent, just application of KJV-only claims and assertions concerning Matthew 4:4 in effect condemn Luke 4:4 for not including and preserving every word that Jesus stated?