If the KJV was updated what would you suggest?

If the KJV was updated what would you suggest be updated?

Just for the record I believe the KJV should be updated to reflect the changes in the English language.

Titus 2:13 (KJV)
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

It would be nice if the KJV was updated to reflect the Granville Sharp Rule where it is applicable.

Ruth 4:1 (KJV)
1 Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.

In this example it would be nice if the KJV was made understandable to modern readers without having to reference another translation just to understand this passage.

I also would like an update to any word that has changed meanings since 1611. This type of an update would help the KJV accurately reflect the meaning of the verses by using a modern equivalent for the underlying text.

*Notice that I did not say change the KJV's underlying text.

Name any examples where you feel the KJV could be updated. Please avoid KJVO discussions. I'm not interested in opinions and KJVOism. Fact is the KJV has archaic words, words that have changed meanings from 1611, and some verses are just hard to understand.

I would like to see a civil discussion without name calling and attacking the Word of God as found in all faithful translations of the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic Scriptures.

I fear if the KJV is not updated then it will join other great English bibles resting in museums having it's own place of high honor as a great bible.

Change "Easter" in Acts 12:4 to "Passover"

I have also heard that...

The Free Reformed Churches in their 2004 Synod Report had set up a committee to examine the possibility of establishing a multi denominational "soft" revision on the KJV, removing the archaisms and such from the text and replacing them with modern words. The project has not been picked up on by any other denomination yet although the Free Church Continuing and the Protestant Reformed Church have shown an interest. Perhaps they will all look at it again in a few years. I for one would be interested in such a revision.

...the Churches consulted were the Free Reformed Churches, the Heritage Reformed Churches, the Free Church Continuing, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland, and the Protestant Reformed Church. Individuals were also approached, such as J. Beeke, Iain Murray, and Sinclair Ferguson.

Its been done. It was called "The New Scofield Reference Bible."

How would you rate the New Scofield Reference Bible?

If the KJV was updated . . .

You mean, like, to a "New King James Version"?

The NKJV was too much of a change for some of the most conservative types. It not only changed such words, but also entire sentence structure.

The New Scofield changed some individual words as I recall but not sentence structure. (I may be wrong)

Originally posted by TCassidy:
Its been done. It was called "The New Scofield Reference Bible."

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My first real bible when I was saved. I really enjoyed it.

Originally posted by David J:
How would you rate the New Scofield Reference Bible?

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Good job. It should have sold a lot better than it did. I think the Scofield notes may have hindered sales.

Originally posted by TCassidy:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by David J:
How would you rate the New Scofield Reference Bible?

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Good job. It should have sold a lot better than it did. I think the Scofield notes may have hindered sales. </font>[/QUOTE]I never thought about it, but you are probably right. I wonder if this bible would have sold if it had been available without Scofield's notes?

Many people are misled by"I will cause their captivity to return again", as that reading leads them to think God's gonna cause some nation to make the Jews captives once more-and it becomes more confusing as they read on about the BLESSINGS God's gonna give them.

Actually, I would update the whole KJV into current English. After all it was written in the best then-current English of 1604.

Noah Webster updated the KJV in 1833.

D. A. Waite, a KJV defender, observed that Noah Webster (1758-1843) "was an excellent man who knew many languages and he worked on the King James Bible" (DEFENDING THE KJB, p. 231). Waite maintained that Webster's "is basically the King James Bible except in certain areas where he attempted to clarify some points" (Ibid.). David Cloud also listed Noah Webster as a defender of the KJV (FOR LOVE OF THE BIBLE, p. 66).

David Daniell observed: “Noah Webster’s Bible is straight KJV with minute alterations” (BIBLE IN ENGLISH, p. 651). The Publisher's Preface in the 1987 reprint of Webster's revision stated: "Although Webster had mastered twenty languages, including Hebrew and Greek, he did not retranslate the KJV but thoroughly clarified and corrected its English" (p. 3). Darlow and Moule noted that Webster "professes to give a careful revision of King James' version" and that "the alterations affect (1) errors in grammar, (2) obsolete or unseemly words and phrases, and (3) certain mistranslations" (Historical Catalogue, I, p. 350).

The following are some O. T. examples of the updatings or revisions made by Noah Webster: "creeping animal" for "creeping thing" (Gen. 1:24), "food" for "meat" (Gen. 1:29), "Cush" for "Ethiopia" (Gen. 2:13), "were checked" for "asswaged" (Gen. 8:1), "show" for "shew" (Gen. 12:1), "provisions" for "victuals" (Gen. 14:11), "certainly" for "of a surety" (Gen. 15:13), "eighty six" for "fourscore and six" (Gen. 16:16), “brought“ for “fetcht“ (Gen. 18:7), "evening" for "even" (Gen. 19:1), “cleft“ for “clave“ (Gen. 22:3), "sixty" for "threescore" (Gen. 25:26), "perhaps" for "peradventure" (Gen. 27:12), "scarcely" for "scarce" (Gen. 27:30), "peeled" for "pilled" (Gen. 30:37), "cows" for "kine" (Gen. 32:15), “he himself lodged“ for “himself lodged“ (Gen. 32:21), "people" for "folk" (Gen. 33:15), “cleaved“ for “clave“ (Gen. 34:3), "aught" for "ought" (Gen. 39:6), "custody" for "ward" (Gen. 40:3), “forgot“ for “forgat“ (Gen. 40:23), "will" for “shall" (Gen. 41:16), “Far be it“ for “God forbid“ (Gen. 44:7), “load“ for “lade“ (Gen. 45:17), "expired" for "yielded up the ghost" (Gen. 49:33), "diminish" for "minish" (Exod. 5:19), "boil" for "seethe" (Exod. 16:23), "toward God" for "to God-ward" (Exod. 18:19), "accustomed" for "wont" (Exod. 21:29), "buttons" for "taches" (Exod. 26:6), "engrave" for "grave" (Exod. 28:9), “male children“ for “menchildren“ (Exod. 34:23), "towards the mercy-seat" for "to the mercy seatward" (Exod. 37:9), "out of it" for "thereout" (Lev. 2:2), “avenger“ for “revenger“ (Num. 35:19), "into which" for "whereunto" (Num. 36:4), “didst break“ for “brakest“ (Deut. 10:2), “venture“ for “adventure“ (Deut. 28:56), “Select from“ for “Give out from“ (Josh. 18:4), “its“ for “her“ (Josh. 21:30), "from it" for "therefrom" (Josh. 23:6), "outlived" for "overlived" (Josh. 24:31), "a Benjaminite" for "a Benjamite" (Jud. 3:15), “near“ for “hard“ (Jud. 9:52), "till" for "ear" (1 Sam. 8:12), "strictly" for "straitly" (1 Sam. 14:28), "about which" for "whereabout" (1 Sam. 21:2), "outran" for "overran" (2 Sam. 18:23), “I think“ for “Me thinketh“ (2 Sam. 18:27), "support" for "stay" (2 Sam. 22:19), "three pounds" for "three pound" (1 Kings 10:17), "adorned her head" for "tired her head" (2 Kings 9:30), "a separate house" for "a several house" (2 Kings 15:5), "my own possessions" for "mine own proper good" (1 Chron. 29:3), “numbered“ for “told out“ (2 Chron. 2:2), "attentive" for "attent" (2 Chron. 6:40), "Ephron" for "Ephrain" (2 Chron. 13:19), “fathers‘ house“ for “father‘s house“ (Ezra 2:59), "revealeth" for "discovereth" (Job 12:22), "ask" for "demand" (Job 42:4), "falsehood" for "leasing" (Ps. 5:6), “encompass“ for “compass“ (Ps. 7:7), "held" for "holden" (Ps. 18:35), "Blow the trumpet" for "Blow up the trumpet" (Ps. 81:3), “part“ for “parts“ (Ps. 78:66), "helped" for "holpen" (Ps. 86:17), “prayer come before thee“ for “prayer prevent thee“ (Ps. 88:13), “come before“ for “prevented“ (Ps. 119:147), "strengthen" for "strengthenedst" (Ps. 138:3), "imperfect" for "unperfect" (Ps. 139:16), “adder‘s poison“ for “adders‘ poison“ (Ps. 140:3), “ransom of a man‘s life is“ for “ransom of a man‘s life are“ (Prov. 13:8), "plant" for "hay" (Prov. 27:25), “merchant‘s ships“ for “merchants‘ ships“ (Prov. 31:14), “skillful“ for “cunning“ (Song of Solomon 7:1), "seraphim" for "seraphims" (Isa. 6:2), “vetches“ for “fitches“ (Isa. 28:25), "Edom" for "Idumea" (Isa. 34:5), "the sound of the noise" for "the noise of the bruit" (Jer. 10:22), "JEHOVAH" for "THE LORD" (Jer. 23:6), "the scribe's pen-knife" for "the penknife" (Jer. 36:23), “cherubim‘s“ for “cherubims‘” (Ezek. 10:5), “insatiable“ for “unsatiable“ (Ezek. 16:28), "paint" for "paintedst" (Ezek. 23:40), "Alas the day" for "Woe worth the day" (Ezek. 30:2), "shady cover" for "shadowing shroud" (Ezek. 31:3), "since" for "sith" (Ezek. 35:6), "Phut" for "Libya" (Ezek. 38:5), "outer" for "utter" (Ezek. 40:31, 47:2), “potter‘s clay“ for “potters‘ clay“ (Dan. 2:41), "anger" for "choler" (Dan. 8:7), "vats" for "fats" (Joel 2:24), "a hundred and twenty" for "sixscore" (Jonah 4:11), and "to JEHOVAH" for "unto the LORD" (Micah 4:13).

The 1833 Webster's has the following rendering of 1 Samuel 25:22: "So and more also do God to the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any male person."

I would reinsert the original translators' notes into the center or margin or footer.

If the KJV was updated...

The KJV has been updated, and several times, I might add. With the exception of the NKJV, it seems none of the KJV updates have caught on, despite their varing degrees of modernization.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 American King James Version

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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 King James Clarified New Testament

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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 King James 2000 Version

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For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that everyone believing into Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJ3 - Literal Translation Bible

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For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 Modern King James Version

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There are also the Revised King James Version New Testament, the Third Millennium Bible, the Twenty-first Century King James Version (KJ21), and the Webster Bible. And these are just some of the KJV revisions that have never become very popular.

I have the KJ21. From what I've read I don't think they went far enough in updating the 1611 KJV.

The other KJV's you posted I have not read and some I have not seen.

Maybe an updated KJV would do better if Oxford or Zondervan did the official updates.

Thanks for the replies!

ALL of the above.

David J said:

If the KJV was updated what would you suggest be updated?

Just for the record I believe the KJV should be updated to reflect the changes in the English language.

Titus 2:13 (KJV)
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

It would be nice if the KJV was updated to reflect the Granville Sharp Rule where it is applicable.

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I found 2 different Granville Sharp Rules. They disagree each other.

some verses are just hard to understand.

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So are modern versions.

larryjf said:

Change "Easter" in Acts 12:4 to "Passover"

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No thank you.

Here is the funniest KJV boo-boo of all:

2 Kings 19:35 (KJV1769):
And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians
an hundred fourscore and five thousand:
and when they1 arose early in the morning,
behold, they2 were all dead corpses.

Of course, it is only funny if you
resolve the first "they1" as "the Assyrians"
and the second "they2" as "the Assyrians"
so it reads:

2 Kings 19:35 (KJV1769):
And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians
an hundred fourscore and five thousand:
and when the Assyrians arose early in the morning,
behold, the Assyrians were all dead corpses.

Compare to the clarity of the HCSB = The Holman Christian Standard Bible
2 Kings 19:35 (HCSB):

That night the angel of the Lord went out
and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians.
When the people got up the [next] morning-there
were all the dead bodies!


But I love to praise Jesus in 17th Century talk:
:wavey: Praise Iesus, the Christ :wavey:

From this source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Sharp

We read:

//Granville Sharp's Rule: "When the copulative kai connects two nouns of the same case, if the article ho, or any of its cases, precedes the first of the said nouns or participles, and is not repeated before the second noun or participle, the latter always relates to the same person that is expressed or described by the first noun or participle . . . ." (Sharp, Remarks on the Uses of the Definitive Article, 2).//

Askjo: //I found 2 different Granville Sharp Rules. They disagree each other.//

And the other rule you found is?