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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 Essay 6g:

       Exo.25:31 Is the Menorah (Candlestick) a "she" or "he" or an "it"?

Dr. Bobby Adams of Berea Baptist Church in Trenton TN, brought to my attention that scholars say KJV use of masculine his in reference to the Menorah in Exodus 25:31 is translation error. In this verse the imperfect verb in shall be made has a prefix indicative of female grammatical gender so that the literal Hebrew is she shall be made that is rendered it shall be made in modern versions. However, the real issue is the derivation of the term menorah from nur that means light and is of masculine grammatical gender. This is a case of recognizing, not just the physical construction of the Menorah, but what it signifies regarding God, which gives a new sense to each construction detail. The spiritual significance of each detail is more important than the literal physical nature. A subtle use of the pronoun his to refer to the Menorah is the proper way to lead readers to ponder spiritual significance, without departing from details of the physical description that keep the translation literal.

This entire matter relates to the building of the Tabernacle in the book of Exodus. KJV pronoun use in this matter varies with context. The ark of testimony, altar of burnt offerings, table of showbread and court of the tabernacle are topics prioritizing masculine grammatical gender (court is common gender, masculine or feminine, the latter being disregarded in KJV references to God), in regard to God’s relationship to Israel. These items in the KJV link to his when this relationship is emphasized (e.g. Exo.30:28, 31:9, 37:16, 35:17) and to it when the construction is emphasized (mainly in terms of dimensions: e.g. - Exo.25:10-12, 37:1-2, 37:10-13, 38:1-2).  

The Menorah in Exo.25:31 is directly symbolic of God, as seen by the sense of light indicated by the term nur from which the term Menorah derives. God is Light (1 Jn. 1:5) by His Word, which was to be given to the world initially by Israel, but the nation failed in this matter. God’s Word is the agent of His light, and the church became the agent of the ministry of the Word after Israel failed in this (Rev.1:20).

The Menorah signifies God and His light by His Word, and He and His Word are of natural/grammatical masculine gender, accounting for his pronouns to refer to the Menorah in Exo.25:31. In the KJV, what the Menorah signifies is vital in translation when this, rather than the construction, is emphasized, so his applies to the Menorah (e.g. Exo.30:27, 31:8, 35:14, 37:17,20, Num.4:9, Zec.4:2), and his isn’t translation error. In English translation of the Hebrew, inanimate objects are usually called it, but when the construction is notably less specific, the spiritual significance of Tabernacle items prevails and his applies, God and His Word or God’s relationship to Israel being emphasized.

Now the fact that Rev.1:20 identifies candles of the candlestick as churches is clearly indicative of Christ the Living Word, and author of the written Word, as the ultimate means of giving forth the light of the Word to the world after Israel’s failure in this. Of course, Christ is of masculine gender, and churches existing in prefiguring form in the Old Testament era, as assemblies of God’s people, (Acts 7:38) are denoted by the Hebrew qahal that is of masculine grammatical gender, and feminine grammatical gender of the Greek ekklesia seems meant to emphasize the love that characterizes New Testament churches (John 13:35) that supersede the old type. This later sense of church has no effect on rendering pronouns relating to the Menorah.