What Bible Do You Use?

[Lisa]

I guess the question is, do you want a Bible that is easy to read, or one that is true to the word of God? The reading level needed to comprehend the KJV is not very high. It's vocabulary is small, and most words are only one or two syllables. Yes, it does use some archaic words, but it's not too hard to learn that "meat" means food, and "quick" means alive.

And the thee's and thou's are actually important in rendering the original message of God, as they are second person singular pronominal forms, which are important in conveying the true meaning of some passages.

Matthew 26:64. “Jesus saith unto him, THOU hast said: nevertheless I say unto YOU, Hereafter shall YE see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” The singular THOU refers to the high priest, but the plural YOU refers to all who will see Christ in the day of His glory (Rev. 1:7).

Why can't there be both? A Bible easy to read and true to the word of God? And if that's the case, why not have to read it in its original language? Why have any translation of it at all for the masses? I don't see where God wants to hide his word away from people because after all He wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.

Yes, but those thee's, thou's and ye's are awfully tiresome to have to keep reading over and over.

 

[DisenfranchisedDespot]

@Thunderian
Could not have worded it better.

@Lisa
You miss the point of our explanations. Everything is precise and for a reason.

Would you prefer the word of God diluted and or convoluted or the precise words of God(despite the fact that it isn't a bed time story hence doesn't read like one nor is meant to be read aimlessly)?

 

[Lisa]

[USER=28]@Lisa
You miss the point of our explanations. Everything is precise and for a reason.

Would you prefer the word of God diluted and or convoluted or the precise words of God(despite the fact that it isn't a bed time story hence doesn't read like one nor is meant to be read aimlessly)?[/USER]

I don't think I do...its all about having an prideful authority over God's word, like you are smarter than others and can read the kjv and soeth haveth it all figuredeth outeth.

Well, it can be a bed time story and one can read it aimlessly...I think plenty of people read it before bed and I'm sure plenty of people picked it up to read it just to know what it said...I did that. God wants everyone to come to the knowledge of truth, why keep it in a language people can't really understand? Why can't God modernize it? He's not trying to hide the truth from anyone, that's satans plan....

 

[mecca]

I don't think I do...its all about having an prideful authority over God's word, like you are smarter than others and can read the kjv and soeth haveth it all figuredeth outeth.

Well, it can be a bed time story and one can read it aimlessly...I think plenty of people read it before bed and I'm sure plenty of people picked it up to read it just to know what it said...I did that. God wants everyone to come to the knowledge of truth, why keep it in a language people can't really understand? Why can't God modernize it? He's not trying to hide the truth from anyone, that's satans plan....

But when it's modernized, it becomes more simple which takes away from the meaning.

 

[mecca]

figuredeth outeth.

lol

 

[DisenfranchisedDespot]

I don't think I do...its all about having an prideful authority over God's word, like you are smarter than others and can read the kjv and soeth haveth it all figuredeth outeth.

Well, it can be a bed time story and one can read it aimlessly...I think plenty of people read it before bed and I'm sure plenty of people picked it up to read it just to know what it said...I did that. God wants everyone to come to the knowledge of truth, why keep it in a language people can't really understand? Why can't God modernize it? He's not trying to hide the truth from anyone, that's satans plan....

What you are essentially espousing is that the average individual is too ignorant to comprehend let alone grab a dictionary to make the effort to learn and subsequently become closer to God.

One of the chief arguments againstthe King James Bible is that it is allegedly too antiquated and difficult to understand. The following answer is from the 432-page “Bible Version Question-Answer Database,” which is available from Way of Life Literature:

1. THE KJV DOES HAVE SOME ANTIQUATED WORDS AND FORMS OF SPEECH, BUT THERE ARE NOT TOO MANY OF THESE.

The Trinitarian Bible Society publishes a list of 618 antiquated words. It is called Bible Word List. Most of these can be understood by considering the context. There are only about two hundred words in the KJV that have become so antiquated that they have changed meanings or have dropped entirely out of common usage, so that you really need a dictionary to understand them. Following are some examples:

carriages (Acts 21:15) = baggage
charger (Mk. 6:25) = platter
devotions (Acts 17:23) = objects of worship
conversation (Gal. 1:13) = conduct
do you to wit (2 Cor. 8:1) = make known to you
fetched a compass (Acts 28:13) = circled
leasing (Ps. 4:2) = lying
let (2 Thess. 2:7) = restrain
meat (Mat. 3:4) = food
prevent (1 Thess. 4:15) = precede
room (Lk. 14:7) = seat
scrip (Mat. 10:10) = bag
take no thought (Mat. 6:25) = be not anxious
noised (Acts 2:6) = reported
quick (Heb. 4:12) = living

2. THE OVERALL READING LEVEL OF THE KJV IS NOT VERY HIGH.

a. The KJV is written on an 8th to 10th grade level. This was proven in the 1980s by a computer analysis made by Dr. Donald Waite. He ran several books of the KJV through the Right Writer program and found that Genesis 1, Exodus 1, and Romans 8 are on the 8th grade level; Romans 1 and Jude are on the 10th grade level; and Romans 3:1-23 is on the 6th grade level. I would guess that many parts of the four Gospels are on that same level if not lower.

b. The KJV was rated as “very easy prose” by Dr. Rudolf Flesch. In the book The Art of Plain Talk (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1946), Dr. Flesch analyzed the reading level of various documents and rated them on a scale from Very Easy to Very Difficult. He testified, “The best example of very easy prose (about 20 affixes per 200 words) is the King James Version of the Bible...” Dr. Flesch is most famous for the book Why Johnny Can’t Read.

3. THE KJV HAS A SMALL VOCABULARY.

While Shakespeare used a vocabulary of roughly 21,000 English words, the vocabulary of the King James Bible is composed of only 6,000 (Albert Cook, The Authorized Version of the Bible and Its Influence, 1910). This compares favorably to the vocabulary of the Hebrew Old Testament, which is 5,642 words, and the vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, which is about 4,800 words.

4. THE KJV USES SIMPLE WORDS; MOST ARE ONLY ONE OR TWO SYLLABLES.

“The entire KJV averages 1.31 syllables and 3.968 letters per word. This word length puts the KJV in the same readability category as the children’s books” (D.A. Waite, Jr., The Comparative Readability of the Authorized Version, Bible for Today, Collingswood, NJ, 1996).

a. Consider Psalm 23, for example: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

Of the 119 words in this Psalm, only 24 are more than two syllables and only 5 are three.

b. Consider the Parable of the Rich Man in Luke 12:15-21. “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Of the 157 English words in this passage, only 22 are more than two syllables.

5. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN A BIBLE TRANSLATION IS NOT SIMPLE LANGUAGE BUT FAITHFULNESS TO THE ORIGINAL.
https://www.wayoflife.org/database/isnt_the_king_james_bible_too_antiquated.html

Read what you like yet don't make excuses.

 

[Camidria]

I like to use the Amplified Bible (essentially it is the KJV with descriptions of certain words in context). And then also the KJV.
I would love to get hold of the 1611 edition!

I also think as we all are different, and we are used in different ways and situations as the Lord sees fit, it is sometimes a necessity that we use certain versions, and sometimes it is not. The Holy Spirit guides us, and He will certainly tell us to move on to specific versions if it is necessary, and in some cases it isn't necessary. So in @Lisa situation it might not be necessary as she might be in a environment were there are people who receive the Gospel easily and with an open heart and the Holy Spirit can move easily there. Where in the case of @DisenfranchisedDespot he might be among people who are hard of heart, and where it is then necessary to use the oldest and most accurate text possible?

 

[rainerann]

@Camidria, they have them available free online and also on Amazon. Although, they are not often in Christian bookstores.

Ironically, I find the 1611 KJV to be easier to read than the revisions. The revised version I really don't like. The KJV has been revised 14 times. It was revised in the 18th century. I cannot understand why they used the language they did in the revisions considering it is not the language used in English literature of the time. I think the revisions to the KJV version are pretty terrible when you compare the language of the revision to the language Jane Austen used writing her books. 17th-centuryth century English poets like Ben Johnson are easier to understand than the 18th century revision of the KJV. This bothers me and is the primary reason I won't read the KJV.

However, the 1611 KJV was built on Tyndale's work. Tyndale was fantastic and even was put to death before he could finish his work. "
"I perceived how that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue" William Tyndale.

Tyndale is why we have the KJV. However, I don't know that I will ever believe that the people working under the commission of the king had the same integrity in translating the scriptures evidenced by the revisions to the KJV. "Pride and Prejudice" and the revised KJV were written around the same time, but "Pride and Prejudice" is basically the same English we use today and the revised KJV isn't. This is contrary to Tyndale's vision and I doubt if he were part of the revision team, that the KJV would have been published in the form we have today.

 

[Thunderian]

Tyndale is why we have the KJV.

Agreed. Well, we have it because of God, but Tyndale was used greatly.

 

[Lisa]

What you are essentially espousing is that the average individual is too ignorant to comprehend let alone grab a dictionary to make the effort to learn and subsequently become closer to God .

Why should they have to?

 

[Lisa]

I like to use the Amplified Bible (essentially it is the KJV with descriptions of certain words in context). And then also the KJV.
I would love to get hold of the 1611 edition!

I also think as we all are different, and we are used in different ways and situations as the Lord sees fit, it is sometimes a necessity that we use certain versions, and sometimes it is not. The Holy Spirit guides us, and He will certainly tell us to move on to specific versions if it is necessary, and in some cases it isn't necessary. So in @Lisa situation it might not be necessary as she might be in a environment were there are people who receive the Gospel easily and with an open heart and the Holy Spirit can move easily there. Where in the case of @DisenfranchisedDespot he might be among people who are hard of heart, and where it is then necessary to use the oldest and most accurate text possible?

Do you really think that some people would need to hear the Bible from a text that is hard to understand for them to understand? Sounds counterintuitive to me.

 

[DisenfranchisedDespot]

Why should they have to?

It's excellent if you too completely bypass information presented to you. In light of the article I shared with you and in consideration of these modern times

16th century English is not difficult let alone unintelligible however many like you claim it difficult to understand yet simultaneously want a relationship with God as if an easy read bible will bridge the gap.

 

[Lisa]

It's excellent if you too completely bypass information presented to you. In light of the article I shared with you and in consideration of these modern times

16th century English is not difficult let alone unintelligible however many like you claim it difficult to understand yet simultaneously want a relationship with God as if an easy read bible will bridge the gap.

I guess I don't get why God would make it hard? It's not like the "easy" to read translations don't require prayer to God and the Holy Spirit's guidance....

 

[Camidria]

Do you really think that some people would need to hear the Bible from a text that is hard to understand for them to understand? Sounds counterintuitive to me.

Only people that are usually meticulous, or people that need the oldest versions to ground their faith, people that will understand the text and will rather choose that text above the others. But people that are light hearted and easy going I think God can use any version with

It comes down to the type of person you are really, I feel we must ask the Holy Spirit what He wants us to read, and most likely He wouldn't mind your version, as soon as you want to go even deeper, the holy Spirit might recommend another version.

 

[Dalit]

Grew up with KJV/NKJV, prefer NASB and OJB these days.

 

[Colonel Valerio]

All I am going to say is Greek-Latin-Greek-English.

I’m not surprised by the results here at all.

 

[Dalit]

All I am going to say is Greek-Latin-Greek-English.

I’m not surprised by the results here at all.

OJB is Hebrew-English.

 

[Colonel Valerio]

OJB is Hebrew-English.

OJB is Hebrew-English.

It’s ok, people should use what speaks to them, I was just taking a jab at the KJV only crowd.

“3] The Textus Receptus itself is based on six Byzantine manuscripts obtained by Erasmus from Greek emigres for the purpose of created a prepared text from which to make translations. None of the manuscripts used for the prepared text were complete. Erasmus translated the text from the Latin Vulgate into the Greek to make up for missing portions of the manuscripts”

 

[Vixy]

Honestly, I didn't know there were so many different ones.

You read the bible although your muslim?

I used the Bible 2000 which is a swedish version of easier to read with a new language. But found out it was written by masons so had to go.

 

[mecca]

You read the bible although your muslim?

I've read some of the bible but I haven't read the whole thing all the way through.