Another common criticism of the King James Bible bites the dust.
The alleged error.
A professed Christian posts this alleged error over at the Baptist Board.
Hebrews 6 - Verse 6. If they shall fall away
"And having fallen away". I can express my own mind on this translation nearly in the words of Dr. Macknight: "The participles , who were enlightened, , have tasted, and , were made partakers, being aorists, are properly rendered by our translators in the past time; wherefore, [Greek omitted], being an aorist, ought likewise to have been translated in the past time, "HAVE fallen away". Nevertheless, our translators, following Beza, who without any authority from ancient MSS. has inserted in his version the word si, if, have rendered this clause, IF they fall away, that this text might not appear to contradict the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. But as no translator should take upon him to add to or alter the Scriptures, for the sake of any favourite doctrine, I have translated [Greek omitted] in the past time, have fallen away, according to the true import of the word, as standing in connection with the other aorists in the preceding verses."
First of all, the allegation that the KJB translators got their translation of "IF they shall fall away" from Beza's Greek text, without any authority from ancient manuscripts, is pure baloney. This "scholar" has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. ALL the Greek texts read the same in this passage. It is not a question of which text is followed, as he erroneously claims, but rather of how to translate it.
Secondly, the man has only voiced his own peculiar opinion as to how the aorist should be translated. ALL major versions I am aware of frequently translate the aorist tense just as it is found in the King James Bible. Many others of equal or superior education would disagree with this man about what "the true import of the word" really is. This Bible corrector is just another puffed up, self-appointed critic who has no Bible anywhere on this earth that he considers to be the inerrant word of God.
The Conditional Participle
It is amusing to see how every man thinks he is an expert in Greek when it comes to criticizing the King James Bible. Anytime someone says: "All scholars agree that...." you should immediately know that the guy has no idea what he is talking about. All scholars do not agree on anything, and to say they do, is to be ignorant of the facts.
Participles in Greek are TIMELESS; that is, they can bear any relationship to time, including present, past, future or habitual. In his lengthy discussion of the Greek participle found in A Grammar of the Greek New Testament, A.T. Robertson says on page 1111: "The participle was TIMELESS." He then lists several examples of both present and aorist participles, showing how the sense of time is nowhere implied in either. He then says: "the aorist tense does not mean past or future time."
Mr. Robertson also shows the disagreements that exit among the "scholars". He says: "Goodwin holds that the aorist participle generally represents the action as antecedent to the principal verb. So Blass denies that the aorist tense implies antecedent action."
Here you have two "experts" who both radically disagree with each other.
Dr. Robertson says on page 1113: "One has no ground for assuming that antecedent action is necessary or an actual fact with the aorist participle."
Some of the "if" clauses in the King James Bible.
On page 1129 Dr. Robertson takes up the subject of the Conditional Participle. He notes that the conditional participle disappeared in the later Greek, but "It is still a common idiom in the New Testament." He then lists several examples of its use, including Luke 9:25, Romans 2:27; Galatians 6:9, 1 Timothy 4:4, and Hebrews 2:3.
A conditional participle is a verb form that "literally" does not contain the little word "if" but it can be implied or assumed by the immediate context. Most Bible versions, including the RV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NKJV, RSV, NRSV, ESV, and Holman Standard all do this very thing, just as the King James Bible and earlier English versions.
One of the classic examples Dr. Robertson lists is that found by comparing Matthew 16:26 with Luke 9:25. In Matthew we read: "For what is a man profited, IF he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?". In this verse the little word "if" (or 'ean' in Greek) is present in the construction. However in the parallel verse in Luke 9:25 we find an aorist participle WITHOUT the little word "if".
Most Bible versions still correctly translate Luke 9:25 as "IF he shall gain the whole world". These include: the Geneva Bible, King James Bible, Revised Version, American Standard Version, NASB, NKJV, RSV, ESV and Holman versions.
Other Conditional Participles as found in the King James Bible and other translations.
The one found in Hebrew 6:6 is the one criticized by our Bible "expert with no Bible". Let's see what other Bible translators have done with this passage. In the KJB we read: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened...IF THEY SHALL FALL AWAY, to renew them again unto repentance."
Bible versions that render Hebrews 6:6 as "IF they shall fall away" are: Coverdale 1535, Geneva 1599, Webster's 1833, KJB, RSV 1952, the 2003 ESV (English Standard Version), Third Millenium Bible, New Life Bible, The Message, NKJV 1982 and the 1984 NIV.
NIV - "IF they fall away"
The NASB is one of the versions that does not include the word "if" in this particular passage, but as we shall see, the NASB does include it in many other verses that have the same Greek construction. Here the NASB reads: "and THEN have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." However it should be noted, there is no literal word for "then" either.
The Holman reads: "and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt." Here is should be noted that there is no Greek text anywhere that reads "because, to their own harm" as the Holman has it.
Other Examples of the Conditional Participle
The following list of verses are other examples of where there "literally" is no Greek word for "IF", but it is rightly included in the English translation, being a Greek idiom that is expressed in English as "IF....".
Acts 15:29 "...that ye abstain from...fornication: from which IF ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well."
So read: KJB, NKJV, NASB, NIV, RSV, RV, ASV, NRSV, ESV, Bible in Basic English, World English Bible, 1998 Complete Jewish Bible, and Holman Standard.
Romans 2:27 "And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, IF it fulfill the law, judge thee..?"
So read: Tyndale, Geneva, RV, ASV, NASB, NKJV, TMB, Weymouth, Webster, Douay-Rheims, and the Hebrew Names Version. The NIV says: "AND YET obeys", but again there are no Greek words for "and yet".
Romans 4:24 "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, IF we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."
So read: Coverdale 1535, Wesley 1755, Webster 1833, King James Bible, Bible in Basic English 1960, Douay-Rheims, and the Third Millenium Bible.
Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, IF we faint not."
So read: The RV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, ESV, NASB, NIV, and Holman, to name a few.
1 Timothy 4:4 "For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, IF it be received with thanksgiving."
So read: The RV, ASV, RSV, ESV, NASB, NKJV, NIV, and Holman, to name a few.
Hebrews 2:3 "How shall we escape, IF we neglect so great salvation"
So read: The RV, ASV, NKJV, NASB, RSV, ESV, NIV, and Holman, and many others.
Hebrews 10:26 "For IF we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins."
So read: The RV, ASV, RSV, ESV, NASB, NIV, NKJV, and Holman among many others.
2 Peter 1:8 "For IF these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
So read: The RV, ASV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, ESV, RSV, and Holman plus many others.
2 Peter 1:10 "...for IF ye do these things, ye shall never fall."
So read: The RV, ASV, NIV, NKJV, ESV, RSV, and the Holman Standard among many others.
The NASB has: " for AS LONG AS you practice these things, you will never stumble", yet there are no "literal" words for "as long as" either.
These are all examples of the use of the Conditional Participle in the various Bible versions. The person who initially brought up this alleged error in the King James Bible has openly admitted that he does not believe any Bible version or any single Hebrew or Greek text is the inspired, complete, inerrant word of God.
It is truly pathetic to see a man like this who admits he has no inspired Bible, who then turns around to criticize the King James Bible out of his own ignorance. This man is so perverse in his blindness to the truth, that when I show him things like this about how the grammar works or the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words, if he personally does not like how it is rendered in the King James Bible, and no matter how many other translators have rendered the passage in the same way, he will insist that he is right and everybody else is wrong.
I believe God has given him over to a reprobate mind, as far as the Bible version issue is concerned.
We who believe God has been faithful to keep His promises to preserve His inerrant words rejoice at having them in our beloved King James Holy Bible. As our blessed Lord said so many times: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."
Will Kinney
