'THE' God-Honoring Archaic Translation
"Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers."~ 2 Tim.2:14
"The words of the LORD are pure words...Thou shalt keep them (words), O LORD, thou shalt preserve them (words)...for ever." (not His Word, His Words)
Anyone who is acquainted with me slightly or is the least bit familiar with my writings, knows my conviction on the Authorized 1611 King James translation. They are also mindful of the fact it is not a bone of contention with me. That is, I do not try to shove it down one's throat, so to speak. I grant to each of my brothers and sisters the right I reserve for myself, to hold to his or her own conviction concerning this sensitive issue. To be sure, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." But you can place a salt-lick before him, making him thirsty. This is what I hope to do with the following quote.
In Robert Boyd's book, World's Bible Handbook, page 244, you will read the following:
"Good taste is sometimes offended at the tone and terms of familiarity used in addressing Deity in public prayer. Many times the wording or terms lack sacredness, as though one is seeking to put God on man's level. It is no "sin" to address the Lord in tones which denote personal relationship, like a child to his earthly father, but too often this is done at the expense of not considering the attributes of a holy and righteous God and the respect and reverence due Him. Genuineness of the soul and prayer from the heart outweigh style and language, but the Psalmist reminds us of a dignity in prayer: "Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight" (19:14).
While the King James Version of the Bible is archaic to many in our day, it does have a dignity about it which modern versions do not - a dignity about it when finite addresses infinite. One of the commendable things the translators of this version did was to put man on his level and God on His level. Man is referred to as "you" when God speaks to him, or when man speaks to man, but never once when man speaks to God. Someone has counted the number of times God or men refer to men, and the "you" count is over 2000 times. But when man address God, he shows reverence by using "Thou" and "Thee" more than 2,800 times. What a contrast! "You" is found once in the dedicatory prayer of the Temple, but God's majesty is recognized by Solomon with the use of the term "Thy" over sixty times (2 Chronicles 6). Jesus referred to man as "you" or "ye," but not once to His Father. The Lord's prayer in John 17 uses "Thine" and "Thou" over forty times.
It would do the believer good to remember who God is and give the respect due Him. In a world laden with irreverence, devotion and meditation will go a long way in bringing us back to the place where He has the preeminence in our thoughts and in our vocabulary as we address Him." [end quote]
I once wrote five secular universities addressing the letters to "The Professor of English Literature." I asked each if they thought it would be wise to update the archaic words in Shakespeare? I only heard from one, the professor from Dartmouth. He went to great length showing how ridiculous it would be. I guess the others thought me some kind of "kook" to ask such an asinine thing. The answer from the one teacher proved this, no doubt, to be so.
Jesus said, "The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light."
by an Old Disciple
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The first Bible I received was KJV from my unbelieving brother-in-law. As a new immigrant who started learning English, it was somewhat hard to understand in the beginning. But, our gracious Lord helped me overcome all the difficulties. I love the translation. Thank you for guiding us deeper into this particular area.
Really enjoyed this one. Especially the exhortation to be reverent in prayer. Thank you brother