Questions to Ask before Making Accusations against a supposed
Archaic Word in the Authorized Version
(#1) Is the word in question commonly used or very rarely used in the Bible?
Explanation: Many people when pointing to “archaic” language in the KJV give the impression that these words are used numerous times throughout the Bible when in many cases they may only be used once or twice. Use a concordance such as Strong’s Concordance or a Bible search program to determine how often a given word is used.
(#2) Is the word in question really an archaic word or is it just a word you do not know?
Explanation: Many people automatically assume that if there is a word in the KJV that they do not know it must be an archaic word. The fact is there probably isn’t a version of the Bible in English that doesn’t have some words you do not know or would be considered difficult words. Also, many words that are deemed archaic are still being used even if you do not use them yourself.
(#3) Is the word in question actually an English word or is it a transliteration of the Hebrew or Greek?
Explanation: Many people have pointed to words they thought to be archaic when in fact they were not English words but transliterated Hebrew or Greek words. If it was transliterated, ask whether there was a good reason it may have been left transliterated instead of being translated.
(#4) Is the word in question actually modernized by modern versions or is it still being used?
Explanation: Many people will point to a word in the KJV and make the claim that they do not like that sort of language because it is hard to read and out of date, but then they fail to acknowledge that many popular modern versions use that very same word.
(#5) Does the word in question have a precise meaning?
Explanation: Many times a word is pointed out as being archaic and that we should modernize that word, however, sometimes the word deemed “archaic” may not have a good substitute with the same precise meaning.
This page was last updated: 2/3/2017
Printer Friendly
