Word in the NKJV that Make You Scratch Your Head.

[Alan Dale Gross]

However, as a preacher, although I am always happy to preach from the KJV when asked, it is sometimes a problem when I have to translate the text into modern English before I can expound it.

Actually, explaining things, like the meaning of words, is the preacher's job and judging from what words are used in the NKJV, you'd have your work cut out for you.​

"Below is a sampling of difficult words found in the New King James Version. (These words are also found in the KJV so please understand the NKJV was not published because the KJV is too difficult to read.)"​

Surprise me. Grab several of these modern(?) words used in the NKJV and give it to us, using it in a sentence. Come on, one we don't happen to already know. Tell us what they mean.

"Abase, abashed, abode, adhere, admonish, adversity, aground, algum, alienate, alighting, allays, allotment, alloy, aloof, alms, amend, amiss, annihilated, anise, antitype, arbitrate, apprehended, archives, armlets, ascertain, asps, attire, austere, backbite, banishment, baths [not to get clean,] bdellium, befalls, beggarly, begetting, behemoth, belial, beseech, betrothal, beveled, birthstools, bittern, bleat, booty, borne, breach, brandished, bray, bristling, buffet, buckler, bulrush, burnished, buttress, calamus, caldron, capital, carcasses, carnally, carrion, cassia, caulkers, centurion, chalcedony, chalkstones, chaste, chasten, chrysolite, chrysoprase, circumspect, cistern, citadel, citron, clamor, cleft, cloven, commission, commonwealth [not shared money,] compound, concede, compulsory, conciliation, concubine, congealed, contemptuously, confederacy, contingents, corban, coriander, countenance, couriers covert, crags, crescents, crest, cropped, cubit, custodian [not the one who cleans the school halls,] curds, dainties, dandled, daubed, dappled, dayspring, denarii, deposed, deride, despoiled, diadem, diffuses, dilapidation, dispensation, disrepute, dissipation, diviner, docile, dragnet, dregs, drachmas, dropsy, dross, dryshod, eczema, edict, edification, elaborate, embellish, emitted, enigma, enmity, entrails, envoy, eventide, epistle, ephod, exorcise, expiration, faction, fallow, famish, fare, fatlings, feigned festal, fetched, fidelity, figurehead, filly, flanges, foreskin, fostered, fowlers, fuller furlongs, gad, garland, garrison, gaunt, gecko, graven, Hellenists, hew, homers, hoopoe, immutability, indignant, insolence, insubordination, intervene, itinerant, jackdaw, jeopardy, jubilation, kors, laden, lamentations, laud, lusty, mail [not a letter,] mammon, matrix [other than the movie,] mattock, mercenaries, mina [not a type of bird,] mite [not a bed bug,] moorings, nativity, offal, offscouring, omnipotent, oracle, pangs, papyrus [not a fruit,] paramours, parapet, penitents, perdition, phylacteries, pilfering, pillage, pims, pins [not like needles or bowling- has to do with a chariot,] pinions [not a type of nut,] plaited [not dishes,] platitudes, potentate, potsherd, poultice, Praetorium, prattler, principality, prodigal, proconsul, prognosticators, propitiation, pslatery, prow, pulverize, pyre, quadrans, quiver, rampart ravenous, ravished, raze [not to lift up,] reconciliation, recount, rend, renown, reprisal, retinue, rifled [does not have to do with guns,] rivulets, rogue, salute [ does not have to do with the army,] satiate, satraps, scruples, sepulcher, shamefaced, shards, Sheol, shod, shuttle [not a type of bus or spaceship,] siegeworks, sistrums [not an affectionate term for your sisters,] skiff, soothsayer, spelt straits, superfluous, supplanted, tamarisk, tares, tarries, temperate, terebinth, terrestrial, tetrarch, throng, timbral, tittle, tresses, usury, vagabond, vassal, vehement, vermilion, verdure, verity, vestments, waifs, wane, wanton, warp, wend, wield, winebibber, woof, wrought."

This list was taken from http://www.patriotist.com/kjv-vocab.htm​

 

[David Lamb]

Actually, explaining things, like the meaning of words, is the preacher's job and judging from what words are used in the NKJV, you'd have your work cut out for you.​

"Below is a sampling of difficult words found in the New King James Version. (These words are also found in the KJV so please understand the NKJV was not published because the KJV is too difficult to read.)"​

Surprise me. Grab several of these modern(?) words used in the NKJV and give it to us, using it in a sentence. Come on, one we don't happen to already know. Tell us what they mean.

"Abase, abashed, abode, adhere, admonish, adversity, aground, algum, alienate, alighting, allays, allotment, alloy, aloof, alms, amend, amiss, annihilated, anise, antitype, arbitrate, apprehended, archives, armlets, ascertain, asps, attire, austere, backbite, banishment, baths [not to get clean,] bdellium, befalls, beggarly, begetting, behemoth, belial, beseech, betrothal, beveled, birthstools, bittern, bleat, booty, borne, breach, brandished, bray, bristling, buffet, buckler, bulrush, burnished, buttress, calamus, caldron, capital, carcasses, carnally, carrion, cassia, caulkers, centurion, chalcedony, chalkstones, chaste, chasten, chrysolite, chrysoprase, circumspect, cistern, citadel, citron, clamor, cleft, cloven, commission, commonwealth [not shared money,] compound, concede, compulsory, conciliation, concubine, congealed, contemptuously, confederacy, contingents, corban, coriander, countenance, couriers covert, crags, crescents, crest, cropped, cubit, custodian [not the one who cleans the school halls,] curds, dainties, dandled, daubed, dappled, dayspring, denarii, deposed, deride, despoiled, diadem, diffuses, dilapidation, dispensation, disrepute, dissipation, diviner, docile, dragnet, dregs, drachmas, dropsy, dross, dryshod, eczema, edict, edification, elaborate, embellish, emitted, enigma, enmity, entrails, envoy, eventide, epistle, ephod, exorcise, expiration, faction, fallow, famish, fare, fatlings, feigned festal, fetched, fidelity, figurehead, filly, flanges, foreskin, fostered, fowlers, fuller furlongs, gad, garland, garrison, gaunt, gecko, graven, Hellenists, hew, homers, hoopoe, immutability, indignant, insolence, insubordination, intervene, itinerant, jackdaw, jeopardy, jubilation, kors, laden, lamentations, laud, lusty, mail [not a letter,] mammon, matrix [other than the movie,] mattock, mercenaries, mina [not a type of bird,] mite [not a bed bug,] moorings, nativity, offal, offscouring, omnipotent, oracle, pangs, papyrus [not a fruit,] paramours, parapet, penitents, perdition, phylacteries, pilfering, pillage, pims, pins [not like needles or bowling- has to do with a chariot,] pinions [not a type of nut,] plaited [not dishes,] platitudes, potentate, potsherd, poultice, Praetorium, prattler, principality, prodigal, proconsul, prognosticators, propitiation, pslatery, prow, pulverize, pyre, quadrans, quiver, rampart ravenous, ravished, raze [not to lift up,] reconciliation, recount, rend, renown, reprisal, retinue, rifled [does not have to do with guns,] rivulets, rogue, salute [ does not have to do with the army,] satiate, satraps, scruples, sepulcher, shamefaced, shards, Sheol, shod, shuttle [not a type of bus or spaceship,] siegeworks, sistrums [not an tionate term for your sisters,] skiff, soothsayer, spelt straits, superfluous, supplanted, tamarisk, tares, tarries, temperate, terebinth, terrestrial, tetrarch, throng, timbral, tittle, tresses, usury, vagabond, vassal, vehement, vermilion, verdure, verity, vestments, waifs, wane, wanton, warp, wend, wield, winebibber, woof, wrought."

This list was taken from http://www.patriotist.com/kjv-vocab.htm​

Many of those words are in regular use in modern English here in the UK. Just a few examples: "He was dependable even in the face of adversity." "The ship ran aground in the storm." "She amended her speech to avoid offence." "The arrested man was of no fixed abode." "He was asked to arbitrate between the trade union and the employer." "The boy was born with a cleft palate." "She suffered from severe eczema." Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the majority of the words in your list are still in use. Some, like "corban" have never been English words, but they are explained in the bible.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

Supporters of the A.V. (KJV) make great play on the fact that some modern translations omit references to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, as indeed they do (except the N.K.J.V.). The most frequently cited verse is 1Tim 3:16, though there are several others. Less well known is that there are two places where all the modern translations affirm the deity of our Lord, but the A.V. does not.

Titus 2:13, A.V. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.’

Titus 2:13, N.I.V. ‘While we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ’ (other modern versions are similar).

2Peter 1:1b, A.V. ‘…..To them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.’

2Peter 1:1b, N.I.V. ‘….To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have obtained a faith as precious as ours’ (other modern versions are similar).

The only modern translation that supports the A.V. in these two texts is the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses! Just in case it might be thought that the A.V. is right in these instances, let the reader look at 2Peter 1:11. Here the A.V. rightly translates, ‘….our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ Yet the Greek construction here is exactly the same as in 1:1. I have no doubt that all the translators of the A.V. were staunch Trinitarians, but it ill behoves A.V. supporters to sneer at the N.I.V. or NKJV while the A.V. contains such serious errors.

There is also another place where the A.V. finds itself in agreement with the J.W.s. In John 1:32, it denies the personality of the Holy Spirit, referring to Him as ‘it.’ If a new Bible version appeared today with a similar error in it, the supporters of the A.V. would be he first to pillory both the version and its translators .

Let me be clear. I am not saying that the A.V. is a bad translation or that it is worse than the N.I.V. The N.I.V. falls short on numerous occasions. What I am saying is that the question of Bible translations should not be made an excuse for separation. Let discussion continue by all means, but in a spirit of love while we contend for the Gospel of Christ. I repeat, if the N.K.J.V. is not acceptable, let us have a new version based on the traditional texts, produced by a Christian organization. I can think of no one better to do it that the Trinitarian Bible Society. There is a Spanish Bible version, the Reina Valera, that is even older than the A.V., and based upon the same texts. Yet this version has been regularly updated as the Spanish language has changed. Revisions were made in 1909, in 1960, and in the past few years, the T.B.S. has completed an excellent (so I'm told; I don't speak Spanish) new revision. Quite right! If the A.V. had been carefully revised every 50 years or so, there might not have been the need for the plethora of new versions.

 

[Salty]

Many of those words are in regular use in modern English here in the UK. Just a few examples: "He was dependable even in the face of adversity." "The ship ran aground in the storm." "She amended her speech to avoid offence." "The arrested man was of no fixed abode." "He was asked to arbitrate between the trade union and the employer." "The boy was born with a cleft palate." "She suffered from severe eczema." Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the majority of the words in your list are still in use. Some, like "corban" have never been English words, but they are explained in the bible.

David, I agree that those of you on your side of the Pond - still speak English - but those of us in colonies now speak American!
(but what is the language of those north of the 49th Parallel! )

 

[Ben1445]

David, I agree that those of you on your side of the Pond - still speak English - but those of us in colonies now speak American!
(but what is the language of those north of the 49th Parallel! )

Well after you down a coffee from Timmy’s, slice your French-Canadian toast with your hockey stick and douse it in some good maple syrup, wash it down with a glass of milk poured fresh from a plastic bag (pronounced beg), you speak French-Canadian in Quebec and within earshot of anyone who cares(if you’re a customer). I’m not sure if they call it English-Canadian ever, but that works almost everywhere else near the Parallel. Newfies is a whole other topic, and if you get past the arctic circle, you’ll need smoke signals and sign language because you’re mouth will instantly freeze 9 months of the year if you open it.

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

I know the NKJV is something you are very fond of. Before I share with you the good news about what you were talking about with the KJV, I ran across this concern in Titus 2:13, first.

Titus 2:13, N.I.V. ‘While we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ’ (other modern versions are similar)

While your quote has this phase the same as the King James Version, where I looked it up, it has this "the appearing of glory" phase in the NIV, instead.

New International Version
"while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ," (other modern versions are similar).

King James Version
"Looking for that Blessed Hope, and the Glorious Appearing
of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;"

Affected Teaching

“Glorious Appearing”
is changed to “the appearing of the glory”

"When the Lord Jesus Christ Returns on the Last Day;
1.) will Jesus be Appearing Himself, as in
"the Glorious Appearing
of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ"?
2.) or will only the Glory be appearing?"
"the appearing of the glory"
of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ

“the appearing of the glory” in these versions make it sound like
only His Glory will be coming back and not Him.

"This change in the text reduces, cheapens, depresses, devalues, depreciates, and is for all practical purposes a denial of the Doctrine of the Return of Christ.

This is another example where the Doctrines of Christianity became very attenuate and distorted in recent publications.
(1881 RV, 1899 DOUAY RHEIMS, ASV, CSB, GNB, HCSB, LB, NABRE, NASV, NCV, NIV, NLT, NRSV, RSV, TLB, & WEB).

While, there is no apparent need for a departure from the previous versions, in the line of those practicing the Preservation of the Bible.

Textus Receptus – Traditional Text

προσδεχομενοι την μακαριαν ελπιδα και επιφανειαν της δοξης του μεγαλου θεου και σωτηρος ημων ιησου χριστου

Hort-Westcott – Critical Text

προσδεχομενοι την μακαριαν ελπιδα και επιφανειαν της δοξης του μεγαλου θεου και σωτηρος ημων χριστου ιησου

This is what those words in the line of those practicing Preservation of the Bible looks like, and should in any other version.

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

(1611 KJV) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Sauiour Iesus Christ,

(Matthew's Bible 1537) lokynge for that blessed hope and gloryous apperyng of the myghtye God, and of oure sauyoure Iesu Christe,

(Tyndale Bible 1526) lokinge for that blessed hope and glorious apperenge of ye myghty god and of oure savioure Iesu Christ

Ref: Titus 2"

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

There is also another place where the A.V. finds itself in agreement with the J.W.s. In John 1:32, it denies the personality of the Holy Spirit, referring to Him as ‘it.’

It is perfectly normal and perfectly natural in English for us to ask,
"Who is it?" and to be answered, "It is John."

So, does referring to the Third Person of the of the Blessed Trinity, as "itself" deny the personality of the Holy Spirit, as a major error in the King James Bible, which borders on blasphemy?

"Doug Kutilek is a well known critic of the KJB says, "Those who imagine that the KJV...is faultless and error-free are compelled to address the matter."

"The purpose of this article, is to do just that - address this matter. Mr. Kutilek's objections to the use of "it" or "itself" in referring to the Holy Ghost are both Hypocritical and Ignorant.

"Hypocritical because there are many versions, including the modern ones, that use "itself" in either the very same verses or in the same manner.

"And Ignorant because apparently Mr. Kutilek does not know the proper use of his own English language.

There are four verses in the KJB that he criticizes. John 1:32; Romans 8:16, 26 and I Peter 1:11. We will examine these verses with other translations and then look at examples in the NKJV, NIV, and NASB versions (see original article).

"However, first, we shall look at how our English dictionaries define the use of the words "it" and "itself".

"The Random House Webster's College Dictionary of 1999 lists under the second definition of "itself" - "used to represent a PERSON or animal understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context."

"Examples given are: "Who is it? It is John." "Did you see the baby? Yes, isn't it cute", "the cat likes to sun itself in the window."

"The Websters 1967 Collegiate Dictionary defines "it" as "a PERSON or animal whose gender is unknown or disregarded."

"The Father and the Son are clearly masculine, but the Spirit is sometimes referred to as masculine and sometimes as neuter, not because He is neuter, but rather because the gender is disregarded or not taken into account in that particular context.

"The NASB and NIV have two interesting and parallel verses in the New Testament. Both Matthew 12:45 and Luke 11:26 speak of a "spirit that takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than ITSELF".

"Here is a case of a Spiritual Entity that can See, Hear, Speak and has a Personality, yet the gender is disregarded in the NASB and NIV, and is referred to as "itself". This Spirit was not an inanimate object, but rather a Spiritual Being with a Distinct Personality.

"The same thing occurs in the KJB, NKJV, NASB and NIV in Luke 8:29 "For he had commanded the unclean SPIRIT to come out of the man. For oftentimes IT had caught him."

"Here again is a Spirit that Talks, Reasons, Hears and Knows that Jesus is the Son of God and that torment awaits him. This is clearly a Personality and yet all the above mentioned versions refer to Him as an "it". The gender is disregarded, and this is perfectly acceptable English.

"All of the modern versions, like the NKJV, NIV and NASB use "itself" when referring to both animals and groups of people. The NKJV has "the donkey itself"-Hosea 8:9, "the goat itself"- Lev. 16:22;

"Israel itself"-in Judges 7:2

& Numbers 23:9 speaks of "a people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations",

"and in Zechariah 12:12 we see
"the family of the house of David by itself."

"All Bible versions at times speak of Jesus Christ as being a 'thing' or 'something' neuter. In Matthew 1:20 the Angel of the Lord says to Joseph: "fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for THAT WHICH is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." Notice the Angel does not say "He", but "that which",: it is neuter both in Greek and in English.

"In Luke 1:35 the Angel says to Mary "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also THAT HOLY THING which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." "That Holy Thing" is neuter, yet we all know that Jesus Christ is a Person, in fact, God Manifest in the flesh.

"The book of I John opens with a reference to Jesus Christ, yet it refers to Him as "that" or a "thing". "That which was from the Beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life." Yet, specifically, Christ is not a "that" or a "thing", but a Person.

Then, in I John 5:4 we are told: "WHATSOEVER is born of God overcometh the world." This "Whatsoever" is a neuter. Are we to assume that everyone who is Born of God is just an impersonal "thing"?

"Mr. Kutilek's objections to the KJB, upon further analysis, are seen to be unfounded and based on Ignorance. God's Ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He has Revealed Himself to us in His Inspired Words, and He has Faithfully Kept them for us today in the English language of the King James Bible. Don't let some self important, u*********g scholar try to take them away from you."

John 1:32; "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit Descending like a Dove, and IT Abode upon Him."

Other Bible versions
that agree with the KJB in their use of "it" are:
Tyndale's first edition,
the Geneva Bible of 1599 and 1602 (I have copies of these),
the Bishop's Bible,
Darby,
the ASV of 1901,
the Douay of 1950,
Henry Alford's translation,
Youngs,
the English Revised Version of 1881,
the 21st Century KJB,
Williams New Testament 1937,
Lamsa Translation 1933,
Daniel Websters Bible translation 1833,
the 20 th Century New Testament,
Weymouth translation,
the RSV and the NRSV of 1989.

"So you can see the KJB is not alone in its proper understanding of the English language. It is Mr. Kutilek that is in error."

The New World Translation's cross-reference to their perfectly acceptable John 1:32 is Matthew 3:16;

16  After being baptized, Jesus immediately came up from the water; and look! the heavens were opened up, and he saw God’s spirit descending like a dove and coming upon him.