Did you know...
...that every time you see a personal pronoun in the KJV that begins with
the letter "y" this is in the PLURAL number? For example, "you,
yours, ye," and so on means "you" in the PLURAL number in the
KJV, matching the Hebrew and Greek exactly.
Conversely, every time you see a personal
pronoun in the KJV that begins with the letter "t" this is in the
SINGULAR number. For example, "thee, thou, thine, thy," and so on means
"you" in the SINGULAR number in the KJV, once again
matching the Hebrew and Greek exactly.
This distinction, which is preserved in
the underlying Hebrew and Greek, but which is completely lost
in modern English translations, including the NKJV (which inaccurately retains
these forms only for deity), is ENORMOUSLY significant. Of course,
the translators of the NKJV, NASB, NIV, ESV, et al, were clearly ignorant of the
significance of these forms as a matter of course, as well as so much else of
biblical translation, as their versions clearly reveal. For just one example out
of a plethora of examples, see
INDICTMENT OF IGNORANCE.
As a demonstration of this significance, read the passage about Jesus
telling Simon Peter that Satan was going to do some sifting. The KJV is
the only Bible in English which retains this EXTRAORDINARILY IMPORTANT
distinction. In the Greek, and in the KJV, Jesus makes it known that
Satan has desired to sift ALL the disciples --
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"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have YOU, that he may sift YOU as wheat..." Luke 22:31 |
Jesus refers to ALL the disciples here by the PLURAL pronoun -- "YOU." But note how Jesus assures Peter INDIVIDUALLY by saying --
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"But I have prayed for THEE, that THY faith fail not: and when THOU art converted, strengthen THY brethren." Luke 22:32 |
That is, even though Satan
has desired to sift ALL the disciples, as the Greek and the KJV
make perfectly clear, Jesus has nevertheless assured
Peter that he has ESPECIALLY prayed for Peter INDIVIDUALLY, SPECIFICALLY, and
furthermore, that Peter HIMSELF, after he HIMSELF was converted,
that he HIMSELF was to strengthen his brethren. How
tender, revealing, and significant is this moment, wherein Jesus makes a point
of giving Peter a SPECIAL ASSURANCE before Peter's bitter denials, and yet
this distinction is completely lost
in modern English translations. Completely lost.
In sum, distinctions of this nature, which occur
throughout the Old and New Testaments, are utterly missing in modern English
translations. On the other hand, the KJV translators SPECIFICALLY
retained these forms in spite of the fact that these forms -- "thee, thou, thine" et cetera --
had already begun to disappear in the lingua franca of the day. Yet, the
KJV translators had the wisdom to retain these forms SPECIFICALLY
because they matched the underlying Hebrew and Greek. Truly, as the KJV
translators stated in
their Preface, "the good hand of the Lord was upon" them.
So you don't have to be a Greek or Hebrew scholar if your Bible is the KJV, for the KJV matches the Hebrew and Greek perfectly, thus demonstrating that the KJV is the only contemporary Bible in English that retains these HIGHLY significant distinctions, which is just one of the reasons The Literary Guide To The Bible, published by Harvard University Press, concluded with these words --
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At its best, which means often, the Authorized Version has the kind of transparency which makes it possible for the reader to see the original clearly. It lacks the narrow interpretive bias of modern versions, and is the stronger for it... Through its transparency the reader of the Authorized Version not only sees the original but also learns how to read it." |
And as they also noted --
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"Particularly in the narrative sections of the Bible the Authorized Version emerges from comparison with twentieth-century versions as more attractive and more accurate." |
If you want to know the words that God has truly spoken, stick with the KJV in English. Otherwise THOU ART being deceived. Fair warning.