KJB Textual Technology

  • To Readers: The website is subject to ongoing revision to optimize the language
  • Home page: Summarizing the primary content of the present website
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  • Unscholarly & uncivil internet criticism of the KJV-Only position
  • The nature of modern English versions: An introduction to the topic
  • Introducing the case for inerrancy preservation: The role of scholarship
  • Inerrancy preservation in the KJV illustrating the Divine Hand on text history
  • Refuting claims by scholars of error in the KJV, based on items from the essays
  • Essay 1 -Our guide to eternity: God's Word or text-tinkering of scholars?
  • Essay 2 - Inerrancy & Greek-manuscript variance: An Introduction to the topic
  • Essay 3 -Is there evidence of tampering by Gnostics in Alexandrian Greek texts?
  • Essay 4 -Outstanding accuracy of the Greek Received Text
  • a- 1 John 5:7,8 -Establishing the authenticity of the Johannine Comma
  • b. -Acts 20:28 - The Blood of God, or the blood of his own: Our unique Savior
  • c -Col.1:14 -Redemption through the blood of the Savior
  • d- 1 Pet. 4:1 Jesus did not have any sin of his own to suffer for
  • e- Order of Resurrection Morning events in the gospels
  • f -John 8 -The adulterous woman & the missing man: Proving passage authenticity
  • g- The Received Text -No support given to works or universal salvation
  • h- The Received Text -No renderings based upon conjecture
  • i -R.T. Inerrancy: Exact equivalence preserves it; textual evidence reveals it
  • j -Evidence that the Received-Text ancestor is older than Alexandrian texts
  • k. The Biblical Christmas story: Identifying the star & the wise men
  • l -Jude 25 "God our Savior" is a correct indirect reference to the Trinity
  • m -The authenticity of the concluding doxology of the Lord's Prayer
  • n. -Which is correct, the Sermon on the Mount, or the sermon on the plain?
  • Essay 5 -The KJV preserves the accuracy of the Received Text: Various examples
  • a- Acts 12:4 -"Easter" is correct: One case where "passover" does not apply
  • b -The KJV: Distinguished by never teaching salvation by works to its readers
  • c- The Holy Spirit and the use of the pronouns "it" and "itself"
  • d -Is Jesus or Joshua referenced in Hebrews 4:8 and Acts 7:45?
  • e -The KJV never teaches abuse of the body to its readers
  • f -Mt.2:1-12 The KJV wise men vs. modern-version magi
  • g -The love of money really is the root of all evil, not just some evil
  • h -Which rendering is correct, devils or demons? The nature of evil
  • i -Hebrews 10:23 "Faith" or "hope?" Which one is the correct rendering?
  • j -Matthew 23:24 Is the right reading "Strain at a gnat" or "strain out a gnat?"
  • k -Saved or always being saved? Is there a sense in which salvation is ongoing?
  • l. Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit: Is there just one correct name or two?
  • m. -1 Pet.3:20-21 "Saved by water" is not salvation by water
  • n -Exact equivalence in traditional KJV editions preserves inerrancy
  • Essay 6 -Uniqueness & total accuracy of the Masoretic Hebrew/Aramaic Text
  • a- Ps.12 -God preserves His Word for His godly people; Also the ben Chayyim text
  • b. The Bible Rightly Designates animal species: Exposing the evolutionist agenda
  • c -No contradiction of numbers, names, etc. - Chronicles Amplification
  • -- 1. The years that king Asa reigned: Adding a figurative sense to the literal
  • -- 2. Age of king Jehoiachin: Did this king begin to reign at age 8 or 18?
  • -- 3. Was Ahaziah 42 years old or 22 years old when he began to reign in Judah?
  • -- 4. The great price of a sin of David: Does 2 Samuel contradict 1 Chronicles?
  • -- 5. Syrian horsemen & footmen slain by David: Do the numbers properly add-up?
  • -- 6. Horsemen, horses, stalls & chariots for king Solomon
  • -- 7. Amplification variance: How king Saul died: 2 Samuel amplifies 1 Samuel
  • d -Pattern Amplification: Clarifying patterns of Hebrew-text expression
  • --1. The number of years king Saul reigned in Israel - 1 Samuel 13:1
  • --2. 2 Sam.15:7 Did Absalom need 40 years or 4 years to overthrow King David?
  • e -Suggested other types of contradiction in scripture are refuted
  • --1. The number of Hebrews returning from the exile in Babylon
  • --2. Why king Saul fails to recognize David during the incident with Goliath
  • --3. The role of Hebrew-text qere marginal notes: Isa.9:3 - Joy or no joy?
  • -4. Was Nineveh in Jonah's day much larger than major modern-day cities?
  • f -Key Hebrew-text history: The Dead- Sea scrolls & the Samaritan Pentateuch
  • g - Exodus 25:31 - Is the Menorah a "she" or "he" or an "it"
  • Essay 7 -The KJV preserves the total accuracy of the Masoretic Text
  • a- Dan 3 Aramaic -Christ in theophany: The Son of God, not a son of the gods
  • b- Who killed Goliath -David or Elhanen? The unique nature of the name Goliath
  • c -YHVH -Gods sacred name that is never to be spoken by sinners
  • d -True science in the KJV: Identifying the "firmament" in the Creation account
  • e. -Why mythical creatures are presented in the KJV: Following correct Hebrew
  • f. -Is The correct rendering "Lucifer" or "Morning Star"? A danger of confusion
  • g. -Exodus 20:13 "Thou shalt not kill" or "You shall not murder?"
  • h. -Proverbs 18:24 Showing ourselves friendly, or coming to ruin?
  • Essay 8 -God's spoken Word in written form: The case for Dictation Inspiration
  • Essay 9 -The KJV as a true agent of text inerrancy preservation
  • Essay 10 -Problems with application of textual criticism of the Bible
  • Essay 11 - The uniqueness of God's Word: Perspectives of Bible-believers
  • a -One unchanging bible speaks inerrantly to ancient and modern people
  • b -Mk.16:16-18 -Significance of early miraculous signs & Christian baptism
  • c -The Resurrection of Christ and His people: A reality that extends to eternity
  • d -Christians are not called to be slaves: "Servants" fits all contexts
  • e -The Crucifixion hour -Did the Crucifixion occur at the 3rd hour or the 6th?
  • f -The authenticity of the big-fish experience of Jonah & the supportive science
  • g -Giant dinosaurs and their sea-going relatives are in the biblical book of Job
  • h. -Ps 22:16,8 Pierced my hands & my feet, or like a lion my hands and my feet?
  • Essay 12 -100 erroneous criticisms of the KJV & its textual basis
  • Essay 13 -KJV classical language of emphasis: Acts 5:30, Titus 2:13, 1 Chr. 5:26
  • Essay 14 -KJV older English glorifies God & favors study: Dayspring from on high
  • Essay 15 A Translation that God approves: Replenish the earth, John Baptist, etc
  • Essay 16 -Should faith in text accuracy be vested in scholar opinion?
  • Essay 17 -Refuting claims of dynamic equivalence in the KJV
  • Essay 18 -Biblical doctrine: a. Did Moses persuade God to change His mind?
  • b. -Why God questioned Adam & Eve about eating forbidden fruit
  • c. -Sermon on the Mount: Is it for churches? Did Christ teach works salvation?
  • d. -Mark 10:17,18 -Why callest thou me good? Christ did not deny His own deity
  • e. -Was God unfair in judging Egypt & Pharaoh after hardening Pharaoh's heart?
  • f -Does the Old Testament teach soul sleep in Sheol? Saul & the woman of Endor
  • g. -Can Old Testament institutions be restored in the Millennium?
  • Essay 19 -Topics on creation vs evolution: Which one is technically correct?
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4-g


  The Received Text: No No Support Given to Works or Universal Salvation

A conviction of modern textual critics that the oldest manuscripts are the best seems to render them blind to potential problems, and modern translators seem to blindly accept the opinions of the critics. This results in numerous obvious errors in modern critical Greek texts and translations, including even occasional support of works or universal salvation, as illustrated below.


1. Mark 10:24 Not by works

KJV:…Jesus answereth again…Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God…

NIV:…"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God…


The KJV Received Text teaches that trust in riches sidetracks us from trust in Christ to get to heaven. The NIV critical text says there’s a hard way to heaven that can only be by hard works, which contrasts with trusting Christ to gain heaven. Is this one of those insignificant differences in critical texts that scholars say do not affect basic doctrine? Textual critics favor a short reading from just four manuscripts, saying conservative scribes added words to traditional texts, disliking a harsh short reading (indeed works salvation is harsh).* Today scholars say conservative scribes likely altered scripture, and they say a works-salvation rendering is the true, though harsh, one. 


*White claims the traditional text adds the phrase on riches to smooth transition to verse 25 that deals harshly with rich men. This is just an imaginative excuse, for without the phrase, we can’t tell why there’s difficulty with riches in verse 25. (White, J.R. 1995. The King James Only Controversy. Bethany. p168)


2. Revelation 22:14

KJV: Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city (New Jerusalem).

NASV: Blessed are they who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.


The KJV Greek Received Text is often accused of teaching works salvation here, but it's actually the critical Greek texts of modern versions that do so. The KJV rendering speaks of the nature of true Christians as they who do the Lord's commandments willingly, which is normal in the Christian life in that we are those who gladly obey the admonitions not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to lie, etc., all of which is due to His grace and their love for Him as a result of their salvation, and they are the ones who enter into eternal life. On the other hand, Greek texts of modern English versions speak of people who wash their robes, or make themselves clean enough to enter into eternal life, which is works-salvation philosophy. While the intent is to wash them in the blood of the Savior, that's not expressed here (Will Kinney provides a detailed good account of this matter at brandplucked.webs.com/revelation2214do.htm).

Now the KJV Rev.7:14 speaks of those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, which is very different from Rev.22:14 in the modern versions where the blood of Christ isn't noted. In Rev.7:14 the washing of robes refers to receiving Christ as Savior, for His blood of Crucifixion pays for our sin, and is the only agent that cleanses us of sin in salvation. The figurative sense of people washing their robes is obvious when it's said that the washing & cleansing occur in that blood.


3. Ephesians 4:6  No universal salvation

KJV: One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

NIV: One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Paul speaks to Ephesian Christians when he says God is in you all. The NIV supports universal salvation here in Ephesians due to its use of a critical Greek text. In omitting you, the NIV Greek text would place God in everyone, not just redeemed people, and would negate the need for biblical salvation, especially to various types of religionists reading this passage.


4. Rev.21:24 Are all the nations saved?

KJV: And the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it (heavenly city)..

NIV: The nations will walk by its light…

In the KJV, the nations of them that are saved, contextually emphasizes the saved and the nations they represent are of secondary importance, despite the order in which they appear. Omitting nations wouldn't change the essence of meaning in the KJV, but the NIV critical Greek text omits the primary them that are saved, accenting the secondary nations. In this latter case, the effect is to include those of any spiritual state in the light of heaven's city, and many who see no need for conversion will favor verses like this one in the NIV Greek text.