Recapturing The Vocabulary Of The Holy Spirit - Part 2

[Buff Scott Jr.]

Recapturing The Vocabulary Of The
HOLY SPIRIT
[Section 2]​

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[Please look for Section 3]

Perhaps this column should have been titled, “The Inflexible Students Of The Infallible King James Version,” for we still have a school of believers who affirm the KJV of the scriptures is without flaws. Inasmuch as I have been following a line of thought on the accuracy of the KJV, I have found a few of the assertions difficult to swallow and digest.

One brother affirmed, “There are no errors in the KJV.” He has gone to mammoth efforts to substantiate his claim. Another brother added, “Considering interpretative direction there are no errors in the KJV or many other translations.” These statements caused my brain to overload in an effort to decipher the rationale behind their remarks.

Here are the facts about the so-called inerrancy of the KJV. The translators were not infallible. At King James’ command, they deliberately mistranslated certain Greek terms. Number 3 of the King’s commands to his translators, reads, “The old ecclesiastical words to be kept; as the word church, not to be translated congregation”

“Old ecclesiastical words” not only included “church,” but “Easter,” “Bishop,” “baptize,” and other churchy terms. King James was King and Head of The Established Church of England. It is safe to say he did not want to be Head of a mere congregation! But let’s go back a century.

In 1526-1526, a century before the KJV was ushered in, William Tyndale translated the New Testament scriptures from the oldest Greek manuscripts available to him at the time. I have in my files the complete translation. I have checked through much of his rendition, and wherever the Greek ekklesia appears, he translates it “congregation.”

The first time “church” appears in our contemporary English translations is in Matthew 16:18. Tyndale’s translation reads, “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter. And upon this rock I will build my congregation: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Romans 16:16 reads, “Salute one another among yourselves with an holy kiss. The congregations of Christ salute you.” As far as I am able to ascertain, “church” does not appear anywhere in his translation.

I have checked with Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, a renowned Greek scholar, and every time “church” appears, he renders it, assembly, congregation, community, and notes that ekklesia encompasses any kind of an assembly. But never “church.” I suggest we increase our allegiance to King Jesus and decrease our allegiance to King James.

To claim that the KJV is inerrant is taking a stand against all reputable Greek scholars and rendering oneself, as I gage the matter, unknowledgeable of the issue. All translations—every one of them—contain errors, inaccuracies, flaws. The KJV seems to be the leader. Yet in spite of mistranslations, those same versions tell us the greatest story ever told and reveal how humanity can redeem itself through the sacrifice of one Man—Jesus Christ.

There is no translation on the market that can claim a “word-by-word” rendering of the oldest Greek manuscripts. Even the New International Version, one of the many Versions I have, is far from being a word-for-word translation. It is, in truth, inconsistent in various places. Here’s an example: 1 Corinthians 14:34 reads, “As in all congregations of the saints, women should keep silent in the churches.”

Please note the discrepancy between “congregations” and “churches.” The Greek “ekklesia” should have been honored in both instances, hence rendering the verse as follows, “As in all congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the assemblies.” The Greek ekklesia translates both “congregation” and “assembly,” but never “church.” To translate the verse as the NIV does—and deliberately at that—is the height of “scholarly” dishonesty.

P. S. An explanation of women “remaining silent in the assemblies”: This was a cultural instruction. In Paul’s day, women were not permitted to speak publicly as men were.​