Q
Did you say there are no other reliable or trustworthy
translations or versions other than the King James Version? If
not, why is there not a modern version in contemporary English
that would be as reliable as the King James Version?
A
There will never be a version that would be as reliable as the
King James Version because publishers and bible societies now
insist on copyrighting their translations to ensure that the
profits return to them. According to copyright law, new bible
versions can only be copyrighted as "derivative works." Words
must be changed whether they need to be changed or not. New
versions may update that one archaic word in eight thousand in
the KJV, but they must change many other words, actually making
it more difficult to read.
When you subject the new versions and the King James Version
to the Flesch-Kincaid grade level formula, you discover that the
King James Version is fifth grade level; the New King James
Version and the New American Standard are sixth grade level; Good
News for Modern Man is seventh grade level; the New International
Version is eight grade level. (The computations must be done
manually because computer-generated reading level programs, like
Grammatik IV,TM cannot make adjustments for the punctuation style
of 1611.)
The reason the KJV reads more easily is because, according
to the study done at Bob Jones University, ninety-five percent of
its words are one and two syllable Anglo-Saxon words. Since the
KJV has laid claim to these first, the derivative copyright works
must replace them with harder, Latinized words which always have
three or four syllables; many have suffixes and prefixes. Let me
give you six examples from the NIV and six from the NKJV; I could
give you hundreds and hundreds. The KJV consistently uses an
easier word.
| NIV | References | KJV |
| Supporting
ligament | Eph. 4:16 | joint |
| conscripted | 2 Chron. 2:2 | told |
| indulge in revelry | Exod. 32:6 | rose up to play
|
| representation | Heb. 1:3 | image |
| designated | Heb. 5:10 | called |
| obsolete | Heb. 8:13 | old |
| NKJV | References | KJV |
| habitation | 2 Cor. 5:2 | house |
| estranged | Gal. 5:4 | no effect
|
| gratify | Eccl. 2:3 | give |
| savor | Amos 5:21 | smell |
| rivulets | Ezek. 31:4 | little rivers |
| elders | Joel 1:2 | old men
|
Actual word for word collation helps Christians distinguish
between actual facts and the exaggerated advertising claims of
the new versions.
