James gave the translators instructions intended to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the Episcopal structure of the Church of England and its belief in an ordained clergy. The translation was done by 47 scholars, all of whom were members of the Church of England. In common with most other translations of the period, the New Testament was translated from Greek, the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew text, while the Apocrypha were translated from the Greek and Latin. In the Book of Common Prayer (1662), the text of the Authorized Version replaced the text of the Great Bible – for Epistle and Gospel readings – and as such was authorized by Act of Parliament. By the first half of the 18th century, the Authorized Version was effectively unchallenged as the English translation used in Anglican and Protestant churches. Over the course of the 18th century, the Authorized Version supplanted the Latin Vulgate as the standard version of scripture for English speaking scholars.
This translation or mistranslation makes me laugh. If you look in
Acts chapter 12 verse 4:
Acts 12:4
And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
The word Easter shows up. Which is translated from the Greek word pä'-skhä or pascha which means, the paschal feast, the feast of the Passover, extending from the 14th to the 20th day of the month Nisan. Not the holiday where the bunny comes to bring you candy, sorry kids.
Only one time in the whole Book of Acts and the whole King James Bible does Easter pop up. It’s like seeing Passover seventy times and getting used to it, then finding Easter in the Book of Acts. It is almost like finding an Easter egg. Maybe that’s why they put it in there….who knows? It's a mystery...
This mistranslation is more serious one in 1 John 5:7-8
(KJV) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
Now in the (NIV84) For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
Notice anything different? The passages from the (NIV84) are different from the King James Version.
Even more interesting the latter part of verse 7 and the first part of verse 8 did not appear in the Greek texts for the first 1,000 years after scriptures were completed. Around 500 A.D. this portion appeared in the Latin version known as the Vulgate. Apparently the insertion was an attempt to bolster the then-controversial belief in the Trinity: The Father, the Word (which is Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. None of the Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament up to the year 1300 A.D. contain these words. “The textual evidence is all against 1 John 5:7. Of all the Greek manuscripts, there are only two which contain it. These two manuscripts are very late dates, one from the fourteenth or fifteenth century and the other from the sixteenth century. Both clearly show this verse to be translated from Latin” (Neil Lightfoot, How We Got the Bible, 1963 pp. 57-58)
Apparently monks who copied the Greek New Testament text in the 14th or 15th century add this verse from the Vulgate. Even the Catholic Jerusalem Bible admits this verse is not authentic and has left it out. Notes in the Jerusalem Bible explain that this was a marginal note in one of the copies of the Vulgate that was added to the late Greek manuscripts already mentioned.
And now for the biggest mystery in the King James Bible is, drum roll, please…The word Hell
Hell shows up 54 times in the King James Version
Here are all the passages with “HELL” in, starting from Old Testament to New Testament.
Deuteronomy
32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
Samuel
22:6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
Job
11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
26:6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
Psalm
9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
18:5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Proverbs
5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
9:18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
15:11 Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?
15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
27:20 Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Isaiah
5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
28:18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
57:9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.
Ezekiel
31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
31:17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
32:21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
32:27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
Amos
9:2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
Jonah
2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
Habakkuk
2:5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
The word hell in the Old Testament is translated from the Hebrew word: sheh·ōle' or sheol. Which means "the grave"
On to the New Testament
The Hebrew View of the Universe
Matthew
5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mark
9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
9:45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
9:47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
Luke
10:15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Acts
2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
James
3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
2 Peter
2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
Revelation
1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
The word hell in the New Testament from 3 Greek words:
1. ge'-en-nä or Gehenna
2. hä'-dās or Hades
3. tär-tä-ro'-ō or tartaroō
You can learn more about Hell in my Bible Blog
Shakespeare in the King James Bible…?
It’s a remarkable fact that Shakespeare, arguably the greatest playwrights of all time, was in the employ of King James when The King James Bible, was being prepared. It’s an even more remarkable fact the Shakespeare turned 46 the same year the King James Bible was completed (1611). Why is this Remarkable, you ask? Well if you go to Psalm 46 in the King James Bible (and this only works in the King James Bible) and count 46 words from the beginning of the psalm you come to the word shake. Then if you count 46 words from the end of the psalm, you come to the word spear. If you don’t believe me see for yourself.
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Why all the mysteries in the King James Bible? Maybe it was to put the translators stamp on it. Maybe it is used for code language. Maybe it was their belief that made them put the translations in, or maybe they are human with a 1% error. Nobody really knows why all these different textural occurrences happen. One thing does remain the King James Bible is a mystery…
I hope you enjoyed Mysteries of the King James Bible.
Please feel free to comment.
