Translation Errors
Honesty is always the best policy.
In Part 4, we will look at specific translation errors that are well known and well accounted for in the King James Bible.
Being honest about these short comings, makes the whole Book and Translation, that much more Trustworthy.
We believe the The King James Version of 1611 is the best translation available. Receive “it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God” (I Thessalonians 2:13). Even though it is not perfect, the errors are well known through time and experience. Below is a chart of some of its errors and shortcomings:
| KJV Quote | Correct Translation |
|---|---|
| “robbers of churches” (Acts 19:37) | Every known Greek manuscript has HIEROSULOUS, “robbers of temples” |
| “Lucifer” (Isaiah 14:12)
Personal opinion: still under consideration. BT |
“O Day Star” (Lucifer is a human origin nickname for the Devil in the 1600’s refers not to the devil but the king of Babylon) |
| “Easter” (Acts 12:4)
Dr. Ken Motto, explains the idea for not using Passover in place of Easter … related to Herod’s Easter Pagan Tradition. It is an interesting take on the subject.
Personal opinion: still under consideration. BT |
“Passover”(Easter very poor choice as it confuses the pagan origin Roman Catholic “Easter” holy day with what the Textus Receptus clearly says is the Jewish Passover!) |
| “Baptism” (entire New Testament) (Acts 2:38; 22:16)
Personal opinion: still under consideration. BT |
immersion, because sprinkling was the mode of baptism in 1611AD, they jelly-fished out and transliterated the Greek “baptizo” but refused to translate it. |
| “Tithes of all I possess” (Luke 18:12) | “all I acquire” (Not only variant with the TextusReceptus, but quite wrong. Tithes were never paid on capital, only increase) |
| “Schoolmaster” (Gal 3:24)
Personal opinion: still under consideration. BT |
“attendant” (the law was the one who brought us to Christ, not taught us about Christ) |
| “God save the King”: (1Samuel 10:24, 2Samuel 16:16, 1Kings 1:25) | “May the king live” (“God” not in TR, but reflects the British culture of the 1600’s. Proof that the translators used dynamic equivalents.) |
| “God Forbid.” (Romans 3:4,6,31; 6:2,15; 7:7,13; 9:14; 11:1,11; 1 Co. 6:15; Ga. 2:17; 3:21; 6:14) | “may it not be” or “let it not be.” (KJV adds the word God where it is absent in the TR because it was a common expression in 1600’s. Proof that the translators used dynamic equivalents.) |
| “sweet savour” (Lev 6:21; 8:28; 17:6; 23:18) | “soothing aroma” (KJV appeals to wrong senses- taste instead of smell in the TR) |
| “ashes upon his face” (1 Kings 20:38)
Personal opinion: still under consideration. BT |
“bandage over his eyes” (KJV varies from TR by using ashes) |
| “flagon” (2 Sam 6:19; 1 Chron 16:3; SoS 2:5; Hosea 3:1) | These verses contain the word “flagon” which is a fluted cup from which liquid is drunk. However, the Hebrew word is “ashishah” which has always meant raisins or raisin cakes. This is especially true in Hos 3:1 because raisin cakes were often offered to idols. This is an obvious error in translation. |
| ‘the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth” (I John 5: 7-8). | Based on a late Greek spurious manuscript included under protest by Erasmus in 1522 but not in TR. None of the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament up to the year 1400 contain these words. |
| Holy Ghost (Matt. 27:50; 28:19)
Personal opinion: still under consideration. BT |
Holy Spirit |
| Jehovah (Gen. 22:14; Ex. 6:3; 17:15; Judges 6:24; Ps. 83:18; Isa. 12:2; 26:4) | YHWH |
| “end of the world” (Matt. 13:39-49; 24:3; 28:20; Heb. 9:26) | end of the age |
| “was” (Gen. 1:2) | And the earth BECAME without form and void |
| “before” (Gen. 10:9) | He was a mighty hunter AGAINST the Lord. |
| “scapegoat” (Lev. 16:8, 10, 26)
Personal opinion: still under consideration. BT |
better rendered ‘Azazel.’ |
| “I gave them up also to statutes that were not good” (Ez. 20:25) | I also gave them over to their OWN statutes that were not good, and their own ordinances |
| “little children” (2 Ki. 2:23) | a gang of youths |
| “letteth” (2 Th. 2:7) | restrains |
| “conversation” (1 Pet. 1:15)
Personal opinion: still under consideration. BT |
conduct |
| “prevent” (1Th. 4:15) | precede |
| “by and by” or “anon” (Matt. 13:20-21) | immediately |
| “succour” (Heb. 2:18) | help |
| “And hath made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10) | angels praise “they” and “them” instead of “us” and “we.” |
| “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Rev. 20:4) | should read as “And death and Hades (the grave) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, [even] the lake of fire” (Rev. 20.4). |
| “of myself” (1 Cor 4:4) | against myself |
| “by and by in a charger” (Mark 6:25) | at once on a platter |
| “Messenger” (Mal. 3:1) | To be consistent with Gen. 22:15-18 & Ex. 23:20: “the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the ANGEL of the Covenant, whom ye delight in”. |
| “the house of God” (Judges 20:26) | Bethel (name of a town) |
| “an hollow place that was in the jaw” (Judges 15:19) | the hollow place that is in Lehi (name of a place) |
| “populous No” (Nah. 3:8) | No-Ammon (name of a town) |
| “an heifer of three years old” (Isa. 15:5) | Eglath-shelishiyah (name of a town) |
| “what he did” (Num. 21:14). | Vahev or Wah? (name of a book) |
| “the book of Jasher” (2 Sam. 1:18) | the book of the upright (not by an author of that name) |
| “Rub-saris” and “Rub-mag” (Jer. 34:3) | not names of men but titles of office |
| “Belial” (1 Sam. 2:11-36) | not the name of an evil spirit, but ‘men of Belial’ ought to be rendered “worthless” or “base men.” |
| “Huz-zab” (Nah. 2:7) | not a personification of Nineveh, or a name of its queen, but a declaration that the fate of the city “is decided.” |
| “Sheth” (Num. 24:17) | should be “tumult” |
| “Bajith” (Isa. 15:2) | should be the “house” or “idol temple” |
| “Gammadims” (Ezek.27:11) | should be “warriors” |
| “Pannag” (Ez. 27:17) | not a region of country, but a species of confection |
| “Metheg-ammah” (2 Sam. 8:1) | No such place. Literally “the bridle of the mother city,” i.e. Gath, since we find in the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 18:1 gath ubhenotheha, “Gath and her daughters,” i.e. daughter towns. The Septuagint has an entirely different reading: “and David took the tribute out of the hand of the Philistines” |
| “avenging” (Judges 5:2) | means “leaders” |
| “the plain of Moreh” (Gen. 12:6) | ought to be “the oak of Moreh” |
| “I will sing with the harp” (Ps. 71:22) | “I will play with the harp” |
| “college” (2 Kings 22:14) | Huldah dwelt in the “second ward” of the city. |
| “galleries” (Cant. 7:5) | should be “curls” or “locks of hair” |
| “All that made sluices and ponds for fish” (Isa. 19:10), is a mere guess from the connection | should be rendered, “all that work for hire are sad at heart” |
| “the top of the rock” (Judges 15:8) | Samson went down to the “cleft of the rock.” |
| “borrow” (Ex. 11: 2) | The children of Israel “asked” for and received gifts. They did not intend to return them to the Egyptians later. |
| “Chariots with flaming torches” and “the fir trees” (Nah. 2:3) | are “chariots with flashing steel” and “lances made of cypress.” |
| “Hunt souls to make them fly” (Ezek. 13:20) | should be rendered, “hunt souls as birds;” |
| “untempered mortar” (Ez. 13:10) | should be “whitewash” |
| “Headbands, and tablets, and ear-rings” (Isa. 3:20) | should be “sashes, and perfume-boxes, and amulets.” |
| Joseph’s “coat of many colors” (Gen. 37:3) | “a long tunic with sleeves” |
| “the groves” (Ex. 34:13, etc.) | upright pillars (obelisks). |
| “crooked” serpent (Job. 26:13) and “piercing” serpent (Isaiah 27:1) | both should be rendered “fleet” serpent |
| a “veil” (Ruth 3:15) | It was a “mantle” in which Ruth carried the barley. |
| “Pillows to all armholes” (Ez. 13:18) | should be “cushions for the knuckles” |
| “their coats, their hosen and their hats” (Dan. 3:21) | The men that were cast into the fiery furnace were bound in “their trowsers, their tunics and their mantles” |
| “Mules” (Gen. 36:24) | ought to be rendered “warm springs” |
| “unicorn” (Num. 23:22) | “wild ox” |
| the “owls” and “satyrs” and “wild beasts of the islands” and “dragons” (Isa. 13:21, 22) | The “owls” are “ostriches;” the “satyrs” are “goats; ” the wild beasts of the islands” are “wolves,” and the “dragons” are “jackals.” |
| “an angel of the Lord” (Judges 2:1) | “the angel of the Lord” which error puts a created being in the place of the uncreated one who is the source of all being. |
| “a feast of the Lord in Shiloh” (Judges 21:19) | should be “the feast of the Lord in Shiloh,” referring to a definite and well-known feast, rather than making a vague allusion. |
| “He that made him can make his sword to approach unto him” (Job 40:19) | The translation now almost universally adopted by the critics is, “His maker gives him his sword,” or tusk. |
| “The king answered and said to the astrologers, The thing is gone from me.” (Daniel 2:5,8) From the heading of the chapter, “Nebuchadnezzar forgetting his dream,” etc., we infer that the Authorized Version understood by the “thing”, the DREAM, and that the king had forgotten his DREAM. | The true reason of the king’s requiring them to tell the dream is given in verse 9: “Tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof.” The Chaldee word, translated in our version “thing”, is the same word, translated, verse 9, “WORDS”, and also in chapter 3:28, the king’s “WORD”. It should then have been translated, “The WORD, or COMMANDMENT, has gone from me” (Dan. 2:5,8) to kill or reward you. |
| “I beheld till the thrones were cast down” (Daniel 7:9) | It should be exactly the reverse—”were set up.” |
| In Mark 9:22, 23, where the father, asking for the healing of his son, says, “If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us,” the Authorized Version makes Jesus reply, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” | But the approved text reads, “If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth.” |
| The confusion caused by translating ‘Hades’ and ‘Gehenna’ identically as “hell” in every instance but one | Hades means “the grave.” Gehenna means “a burning rubbish heap in the Valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem.” |
| “devils” (Luke 11:15; 1 Cor. 10:21; etc.) | Satan is “the Devil” — a proper name. His demons are not “devils” but should be called “demons.” |
| “such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47) (unwarranted insertion of “should”) | “such as were being saved” (cp. 1 Cor. 1:18 “being saved”; 2 Cor. 2:15 “being saved”) Present progressive Greek tense (cp. “He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved” — Matt. 24:13 and “thy faith hath saved thee” — Luke 18:42) |
| touch the HEM of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole” (Matt. 14:36) | tassel |
| they were “tentmakers” (Acts 18:3) | They were prayer shawl makers. In Bible times, Jewish men wore this TALIT all the time — not just at prayer. TALITH contains two Hebrew words: TAL meaning tent and ITH meaning little. Thus you have a LITTLE TENT. Each man had his own LITTLE TENT as a prayer closet. |
| “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). | This verse should read: “Verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Jesus did not go to paradise that day. He went to the grave (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Mark 15:44-46). The Greek manuscripts had no punctuation of any kind till the 9th century, and then it is only a dot (in the middle of the line)separating each word (appendix 173, Companion Bible). |
| Jacob died worshiping, “leaning on the top of his staff” (Heb. 11:21). Yet Genesis 47:31 mentions Jacob “bowed himself on the head of the bed.” How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction? | The Hebrew words for “staff” and “bed” have the same consonants. Since the vowels were not written in the original text, but were added around 700 A.D., the two words above would look identical. The Septuagint renders the passage in Genesis “staff” while later Jewish Masoretes translated the word “bed” instead of “staff.” Thus, “top of his staff” would be more likely (Heb. 11:21) and “bed” (in Gen. 47:31) would be a vowel-pointing mistake. |
| “witchcraft” (Gal.5:20), “sorceries” (Rev. 9:21;18:23) and “sorcerers” (Rev. 21:8; 22:15) | should be “medication” (“pharmacy”), “medication” (“pharmacy”) and “druggist” (“pharmacist”) or poisoner. |
| “the Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21) — you “serpents” (Matt. 23:33). | “among you” (Jesus presence among them) because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50) and “Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5-6) — least of all serpents. |
| “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:13) “everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 2:29) “and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7). “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him” (1 John 5:1). “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world…” (1 John 5:4) |
In the American Revised Version a marginal rendering says: “or, begotten,” (John 1:13) as it should be. In the American Revised Version, 1 John 2:29 is correctly translated: “is begotten of Him”; the Revised Version also says “is begotten of God” (1 John 4:7). The Revised Version says, “whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God, and whosoever loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him” (1 John 5:1). The Revised Version says: “For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4). |
| “I am he” (John 18:5) | “I AM” (John 18:5) |
| “where the beast and false prophet are” (Rev. 20:10) | “where the beast and false prophet were cast ” (Rev. 20:10) |
| “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Heb. 4:9) | “There remaineth therefore a keeping of the Sabbath to the people of God” (Heb. 4:9). |
| Mark 16:9 says, “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene” (misplaced comma). | Mark 16:9 says, “Now when Jesus was risen, early the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene”. |
| “Behold, I go FORWARD, but he is not there; and BACKWARD, but I cannot perceive him: on the LEFT hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the RIGHT hand, that I cannot see him” (Job 23:8-9). | EAST, WEST, NORTH and SOUTH since the spectator is expected to look toward the rising sun in the east. This knowledge is important for fixing geographical situation. See below: |
| Ishmaelites are said (Gen. 25:18) to have dwelt BEFORE Egypt. | To the EAST of Egypt; as is apparent from Gen. 16:7, Ex. 15:22, and 1 Sam. 15:7. The word rendered “EAST” springs from a root which denotes priority of time or place. |
| Mahana-dan (Judges 18:12) is said to be BEHIND Kirjath-jearim | To the WEST of Kirjath-jearim; as is apparent from the Mediterranean Sea being called “the uttermost” sea (KJV of Deut. 11:24; Joel 2:20; Zech. 14:8) or WESTERN sea in other Bible versions. The “wind of the sea” is “WEST wind” (Ex. 10:19). The WEST side is seaward side (Ex. 27:12; 38:12; etc.) |
| RIGHT hand (Joshua 17:7; 2 Ki. 23:13; 1 Sam. 24:24) and LEFT (Gen. 14:15; Josh. 19:27). | To the SOUTH and NORTH |
| “The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve” (Ps. 29:9) | “The Lord’s voice shakes the oaks and strips the leaves from the trees while everyone in his Temple shouts, “Glory to God!”” (GNT) |
| “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that BELIEVETH NOT the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). | “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever DOES NOT OBEY the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (ESV) |
[excerpt again from: https://www.british-israel.us/311.html]
In part 5, we will look at how: The Scriptures “Testify of Me” (John 5:39)
I was disgusted at the way modern translations (ones I had been reading for a long time) really, truly, demote, and denigrate the Son of God, in a multitude of “subtil” ways.
This study from https://www.british-israel.us is a really quality piece of work.