Q
I go to Israel often to visit and lead tours. My guides in Israel use an English translation of the Bible. They and the scholars that I see in Israel prefer the King James Version because it is the closest to the exact meaning of the Hebrew. Those who have studied Greek also prefer the KJV for the same reason.

A
The marked difference in style between the text of the King James Version and its preface verifies that it was not written in the style of the period but in the style of the Greek text. The use of word order in the Greek to indicate emphasis is followed precisely in the sentence structure of the KJV.

New versions boast of their substitution of the word "you" for the archaic "ye" and "thee," but do not notice that the KJV uses the word "you" two thousand times. It only uses "ye" and "thee" when needed, to distinguish between the Greek singular and plural; "ye" is plural, and "thee" is singular. By using those particular renderings, the KJV gives an exact representation of the Greek word.

If Jesus walked into a room with a married couple and said, "Ye are of your father the devil," the husband would not say, "He is talking to you, honey," because "ye" is plural. In certain places in the bible- Matthew 16 and other places- the singular and the plural become very important. In a recent United Bible Society newsletter for translators, a contributor recommended the KJV because of its preciseness in this regard..