Things You Will Not Learn from Your KJV Bible

Darkness to Light Home Page

Books and eBooks by the Director

By Tim Branton

1. Introduction

2. Serious Bible Study Hampered

· Rev 15:1 “another sign”

o Here the KJV tells us “another sign” but search as you may, you’ll never find that first “sign” using only your KJV.

· Rev. 10:1 “another mighty angel”

o You’ll also never find the first “mighty angel” using only the KJV.

o But I’ll be your friend and tell you that “mighty” and “strong” come from the same Greek word so you’ll find that “strong” angel in Rev. 5:2.

· You’ll find this Greek word rendered “strong” only here in 5:2 but again in Rev. 18:8 where “the Lord God” is said to be “strong.”

· You’ll find it rendered as “mighty” in Rev. 10:1; 18:2, 10, 21; 19:6, 18.

o You’ll find a third mighty angel in Rev. 18:21.

· Rom 10:11 “be not ashamed” or “be not disappointed” NASB95

o This is a good one. Note that this verse explicitly says, “the Scripture saith.” What Scripture? But first, checkout Romans 9:33. You’ll find your answer in Isaiah 28:16 where we have almost the exact language as in 9:33—at least at least about the “stumblingstone.”

o But before you get too far in your study, you’ll want to look at 1 Peter 2:6 where you’ll find this same passage in Isaiah quoted but where the KJV translates the Strong’s word 2617 as “ashamed” in Rom 10:11 and 9:33 but as “confounded” in 1 Peter 2:6 and “confound” twice in 1 Cor 1:27.

o You’ll also want to investigate why the KJV used the word “hasten” in Isaiah 28:16 (rather than “ashame” as we should expect.

1. Hint, the KJV translates this Hebrew word as “haste” in 19 places out of 20 occurrences.

2. I think this verse is often misquoted to put a guilt trip on people who may not stand up for various reasons—only one of which could be that they are ashamed of Christ.

3. I believe, after my study, that the word means the person who let’s God do His work will not be ashamed. You can take a stand today which will draw mocking and ridicule but in God’s time, you will stand vindicated.

o Here’s a list of passages where this Greek word may be found: Luke 13:17; Rom 9:33; 10:11; 2 Cor 7:14, 9:4; 1 Peter 3:16 (rendered “ashame”), then in 1 Cor 1:27 (twice and rendered “confound”), then in 1 Cor 11:4,5 (rendered “dishonoureth”), then in 1 Peter 2:6 (rendered “confounded”), in Rom 5:5 (rendered “maketh (not) ashamed”), and finally in 1 Cor 11:22 (rendered “shame”).

o Also see the KJV1611 note at Rom 9:33 where those translators wrote, “Or, confounded.” If you are KJVO, this note should settle it. Or, do you prefer Ruckman and Riplinger over the KJV1611?

· 2 Peter 2:4 “hell” and “Tartarus”

· Rev (4:6 note) In the book of Revelation there are two different Greek words, both translated as “beast” or “beasts.”

o Strong’s 2342 represents normal animals

1. But has the phrase “beasts of the earth” to differentiate it from the demonic beasts

2. And also represents the devil’s beasts

o Strong’s 2226 represents the “four beasts” found around the throne (in Rev. 4:5 and throughout the book. Modern versions use the term “living creatures” based on the Greek translation of the OT where, in Genesis 1:21 (and other places), the Greek is the same as our word in Revelation 4:5, etc.

1. But you will never see that if you limit yourself to one Bible

· (Rev. 6:13) All versions are a bit sloppy in rendering Greek words with a number of various words. In the Revelation we have a fine example. In Rev. 6:13 we have the phrase "unto the earth" but in Rev. 8:5 we have "into the earth" while in 8:7 we have "upon the earth" and still later in Rev. 12:4 we have "to the earth." While unto, to and upon are pretty close synonyms, "into" suggests penetration. All of these underlined words come from one Greek preposition, the word δια.

· The KJV capitalizes the word “Devil” only in Rev 12:9 and 20:2.

o Obviously an inconsistency in that Matt 4 tells of the Devil taking Christ up into the mountain to tempt Him.

o In all 35 instances of “the devil” the definite article appears with it.

o There are something like 78 other places where the KJV has “devil” or ‘’devils” but each of them come from another Greek word.

1. Transliterated that word is “diamond” and pronounced in Greek “dah·ee·mown.” We get our word “demon” from it.

3. General Understanding Hampered

· Rom 10:7 note on “bottomless pit”

o Luke 8:31 and Rev 9:1,2

SOME SIMPLE MISUNDERSTANDINGS CAUSED BY THE KJV ONLY POSITION:

4. 1 Sam 17:22 My friend’s Dad preached on how David left his horse and carriage with the keeper of the carriages.

a. But this Hebrew word appears 325 times with the KJV translating it “carriage” only 3 times, twice in this verse and the other being in Isa 10:28

b. It is most often rendered as “vessel” or “instrument” but my favorite is “stuff” some 14 times.

o The basic meaning is “whatever you are carrying.”

o The NKJV renders this as “supplies” and “supply keeper.” The NASB95 has “baggage” which I like a little better.

5. Numbers 16:30 “they go down quick into the pit”

a. The word rendered “quick” by the KJV is the Hebrew word Strong assigned the

number 2416. It appears 501 but is translated as “quick” only here and in Psalm 55:15.

b. In almost all instances it is rendered as “live,” “alive,” “life,” or “living thing.”

c. In 6 instances the KJV renders it as “raw”—most all of these verses are found in the books of the Law and have to do with eating “raw” flesh.

(1) Just because the body is declared “dead” it does not mean that the cells of that body are dead. Complete cooking will kill them!

(2) But more interesting to me is the passage in Psalms.

· If you were reading the NKJV or NASB95, you would find the word “alive” again.

· Recently my daughter sent me an article she had stumbled across that says that most people are declared “dead” by a doctor based on just a few simple observations, not by the use of a device to check for brain waves.

o She said she was thinking about changing her organ donor status on her driver’s license because the article suggested that the declaration could be made in a rush to harvest more organs!

o We know for a fact that just because the body is dead according to lack of brain wave activity, the body can be kept alive in a so-called “vegetative state,” I suppose, indefinitely. Some have now had their body frozen, hoping medical science will one day be able to bring them back and cure them.

· So death it seems to me to be only when God takes the spirit from the body…and who knows how to definitively declare that to have happened.

o And from this verse it appears that we depart this world “alive!” That is, our spirit is very much alive, leaving only the body that is dead (or dying).

6. This next one is a follow on the #5 in that it also is found in Numbers 16:30. The word “pit” is Strong’s H7585. The KJV translates this word as “grave” 31 times, “hell” 31 times and “pit” just 3 times (Numbers 16:30, 33 and Job 17:16).

A note in the margin of the KJV 1611 indicate that those translators considered rendering this Hebrew word as “the grave.”

a. Is “hell” nothing more than the “grave” as Jehovah’s Witnesses and other claim? If you read only the KJV, could you prove them wrong if they took your TR (NT) or the Majority Hebrew Text?

· (Hebrew word 6913 is the normal word used for “grave.” Appears 67 times and rendered as “grave,” “sepulcher” or “burying place” by the KJV.

b. If all of this confuses you, you may begin to understand why many of the modern version simply use the Sheol instead. (and now we have another bucket of worms!)

7. Even those simple words that don’t seem to matter much have big implications after all!

a. And there are other places where seemingly minor words have a lot of importance.

· (Matt 20:26; Mark 10:43) This word can be confusing and can cause confusion in this passage. As written in the KJV, the literal sense is that "whosoever will (end up) being great among you, he shall be your "minister." The word "minister" comes from a word that scholars say meant "to run an errand." It is also translated as "servant" and "deacon" by the KJV but is not the same as the word "servant" in verse 44.

o The confusion starts with the fact that "will" is both a noun (as in our will to live or will to eat) and a helping verse indicating something in the future.

o Here contrary to what you might think, it is a noun, not a part of the verb. In other words it is not "will be" in the future, but should be understood as "a person who wills or desires to be." Remember this is an infinitive and they are most often identified by the inclusion of the word "to" along side of the verb.

o So verse 43 is saying that if someone desires to be great among you, unlike those who were Gentiles and desired to be great, they shall be "your minister, servant or deacon." If you desire to be a pastor or deacon, you should understand that God expects you to be a servant to Him and the church.

o Then when we come to verse 44, we find the word "chiefest" and in Greek the word is "protos." The KJV generally renders this word as "first" (85 times out of 105 occurrences of the Greek word). Literally, the person who wants to be first, chief or top dog, as a leader should be a "servant of all." I started to write carelessly "servant to all" but realized the KJV has "of all." There is only one Greek word rendered as "of all" and it is in what is called the genitive case in Greek, the case which shows possession. In English we generally say "Tim's Bible" showing that this particular Bible belongs to Tim. But literally it could also be stated as "the Bible of Tim."

o So to recap before we go further, this person who desires to be the top, chief or first, is to be a "servant" to everyone else. Wow, that puts a damper on it!

o But the next question is, what is meant by the word "servant" in this verse if it is different from the word rendered "minister" in v. 43 (a word also rendered "servant" by the KJV--see John 2:5 for example where it is speaking of those "servants" at the wedding of Cana or Rom 16:1 where "Phebe our sister, which is also a servant of the church...")?

o First, let me say that this word is hotly contested by the KJVO folks. Modern versions typically render this Greek word as "slave" and that offends many of my brethren because they can't see themselves as "slaves to Christ" since we are also His brother. But it should also be remembered that we are called "children." A passage that will shed some light on this is found in Galatians 4:1-3. Notice that in verse 3 the KJV uses the word "bondage" which is a noun in this verse. But in Mark 10:44 the same word is found in an adjective form (in the Greek). The Strong's numbers for these two words are 1401 and 1402. In addition the KJV translates our word in Mark 10:44 as "bond" and "bondservant." The idea is that a person who is in bondage has limited freedom, particularly freedom of will.

o And that's the point here. As children our "will" is limited by or should be limited by those God has appointed over us--typically our parents. And just so, as children of God, our will is to be subjected to His. You may not call your children slaves, but my Daddy, the farmer sure treated me like one most of the time! Trouble today is that most children are treated like the captain of the ship. I think the proper understanding is just like that of my Daddy. He expected me to do whatever he told me to do—as if I were a slave but he loved me as a child. When we adopt the attitude of serving Him as a would serve, then we can expect Him to treat us more like a proper child rather than a disobedient one.

8. (Acts 7:11) You well know, two countries experienced a “dearth over all the land”---Egypt and Channan. Where is Channan? You may wonder whether “Chanaan” is the same as “Canaan” in Matt 15:22. See all modern versions (NKJV, NASB, ESV, NIV, Holman, ASV1901. So did the KJV translators get it from the Greek—looking at the spelling in Greek, you would assume that they did. The “χ “ in Greek is usually transliterated as “ch…” But they failed to follow suit in Matt 15:22 where we read of the Canaanite woman. My guess is they really followed the Latin Vulgate which has “Chanaan.”

9. You would not know that the word “Maschil” which appears before many of the Psalms is a Hebrew word meaning “contemplation” if you read only the KJV and could not consult some other source.

10. And when studying the word “stirred up” in Acts, I found 5 different Greek words were used.

In Acts 13:50 we have “stirred up” from Strong’s 3951.

In Acts 17:13 we have “stirred up” from Strong’s 4531.

In Acts 6:12 we have “stirred up” from Strong’s 4787.

In Acts 21:27 we have “stirred up” from Strong’s 4797.

In Acts 14:2 we have “stirred up” from Strong’s 1892.

And even more we have “stir:”

In Acts 12:18; 19:23 we have “stir” from Strong’s 5017.

In Acts 17:16 we have “stirred” from Strong’s 3947.

And that isn’t enough, please notice that Acts 13:50 and 14:2 are separated by only two verse as is Acts 17:13 and 17:16, yet with entirely different Greek words.

I suppose some might accuse Dr. Luke of showing off his extended vocabulary but somehow I’m not buying that.

Strong’s 1892 – only found twice, once each rendered “raise” and ”stirred up.”

3951 – only occurs this once

4531 – occurs 15 times, rendered some form of “shake” 13 times, “move” once and “stirred up” once.

4787 – only once

4797 – five times, rendered as “confound” twice, “confuse” once, “be in an uproar” once and “stirred up” once.

11. You wouldn’t know about the confusing mess the KJV makes of the word “ordained,” literally translating some dozen different Greek words and another 9 Hebrew words as “ordain.” Ask most people what the word means, including preachers, and you’ll get something like a ceremony held to commission a preacher.

In the OT there are 9 Hebrew words rendered at least once as “ordain.” See Strong’s 3245, 3559, 4483, 5414, 5975, 6185, 6213, 6965, 7760.

And it is worse in the NT with 12 different words rendered at least once as “ordain.” And in Acts 1:22 there is no word meaning “ordained;” the KJV simply expands the meaning to include the word “ordained.” See 1299, 2525, 2680, 2919, 3724, 4160, 4270, 4282, 4309, 5021, 5087, 5500

The above article was posted on this Web site December 27, 2026.

Bible Versions Controversy: KJV vs. NKJV
Bible Versions Controversy

Text Search Alphabetical List of Pages Subject Index
General Information on Articles Contact Information

Darkness to Light Home Page
www.zeolla.org/christian

Click Here for Books and eBooks by Gary F. Zeolla