Originally translated in 1611 A.D., it was translated by a 48-man committee of Greek and Latin scholars who depended primarily upon the Latin Vulgate. It has been the standard by which all other versions have been judged for years. It is the number one seller as far as English versions are concerned. Some find it difficult to determine the meaning of a passage because of the sentence structure and the words used. A revision was produced in 1769 in which over 75,000 changes were made because of the difficulty in reading and understanding the 1611 version.
The KJV was based primarily upon the Latin Vulgate. Since the time of the translation Greek and Hebrew manuscripts have been discovered which shed further light on what was found in the original text. Misconceptions in the KJV are:
1. In Acts 12:4, the word “Passover” is translated as “Easter.” There was no such thing as Easter in the 1st Century. Church history reveals that Easter as a religious celebration was unknown in the church of over 600 years.
2. In Acts 2:27, apostle Peter quotes from an Old Testament passage “you will not leave my soul in hell.” The Greek word for this is “Hades.” Jesus did not go to hell. He went to Hades.
3. In Acts 2:17, the KJV translates “to make propitiation for” as “to make reconciliation for” the sins of the people. Sins are never reconciled – people are reconciled to God. “Reconciliation” means “to restore to friendship.”
There are other examples, but it should be noted that the KJB is a good, word or word translation. All translations have problems in certain areas. There is no “prefect” translation. In John 17:8, Jesus prays, “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.”
