Benefits of the King James Bible

2023-08-25

I quote exclusively from the King James Bible. It has been the only Bible I have read for about 13 years. Previous posts from years ago may suggest that I am a King James onlyist, but I am not truly one in the strict sense. I am much less firm on this than I was in the past. I do not attend a church that holds the KJV-only position. I hold the position that the King James New Testament translation used the superior Greek manuscripts, which is a discussion for another day. Many godly Christians do not hold that view. However, here are some good reasons to use the King James Version of the Bible in addition to the textual issues that exist, in no particular order.

  1. It offends the least number of people. I don’t know of any NIV-onlyists, NRSV-onlyists, etc. Use the KJV in your preaching and quotations to avoid arguments.
  2. It uses different pronouns for second person singular and second person plural. You do not need to reference Greek texts or lexicons to figure out the difference. Thou/Thee/Thy are for speaking to only one person, and Ye/You/Your are for speaking to more than one person. Consider this:

    And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. (Mark 9:17-19)


    Jesus seems to be harsh with this poor dad who wants his son to be free from the evil spirit. But when you read this carefully: “how long shall I be with you,” you can see how Jesus is talking to the entire group, and more specifically, the disciples that could not cast out the demon.
  3. It uses different verb conjugations for second and third person verbs. Again, we see the difference in you (singular) say and he says when we read “thou sayest” and “he saith.” It makes it clearer what the subject is.
  4. It is easier to memorize. There is a poetic way that the Bible reads that leads to memorization.
  5. It uses italics for words that are not in the original text. These words help see which words were added for clarification.
  6. It is a formal equivalent. It is a word for word translation. Dynamic equivalents allow for paraphrasing, which leads to theological bias and translators’ interpolation. However, the Bible has built-in tools so you do not need to do this, such as parallelism, restatements, and parallel passages. When you read a dynamic equivalent, you begin reading more of a commentary than a translation.
  7. It is translated from the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts but did not neglect previous English translation work. There were several good English translations before that helped in this process. These multiple prior iterations of translations resulted in a very solid translation.
  8. It is not copyrighted in most of the world. It is only copyrighted in the United Kingdom. You can freely quote it everywhere else.
  9. It has the most recognized quotations. Think of the Lord’s Prayer or Psalm 23. Other translations do not sound the same, and it is true of many such famous passages.
  10. It has stood the test of time. It is the top used English translation of the Bible throughout the centuries.
  11. The translation effort was organized by a king using gifted translators. They were from different theological backgrounds which avoided theological bias.