C
CyrilSebastian
Guest
A local Christian commented that he felt the King James version of the Bible was hard to understand.
- Status
A
andrewstx
Guest
It is difficult to understand, but so is the DR.
M
misspriss
Guest
Having grown up protestant, we used the KJV almost exclusively and I don’t find it hard to understand at all. However the DR seems difficult to me…just what you are used to I guess.
G
Graceful_Lamb
Guest
I also grew up Protestant. I found the KJV hard to understand, and preferred the NIV.
P
peter26
Guest
Its just a matter of getting used to the style. I have read the whole Bible cover to cover in the KJV translation. The more you read it, the more you will be able to understand it. It has many advantages, mainly that it aimed to translate the original text, not give you a flavor of what the translator thinks the author was getting at. Incidentally, if you want a more traditional/literal translation but can’t get on with the KJV or DR, the RSV is a reasonable middle ground.
C
Confiteor_Deo
Guest
I have never read the Protestant Bible, but if it is similar to the Douay-Rheims Bible then I know where he is coming from. At first, traditional language is difficult to understand (like reading Shakespeare), but over time you get used to it and will be able to understand it just as well as any other Bible. I think that the Knox version of the Bible is a good alternative to the Douay-Rheims if it is too difficult to read.
A
adamhovey1988
Guest
I have read a TON of translations. My favourite is probably RSV-CE 1st edition, although I mostly read RSV-CE 2nd edition
B
Beryllos
Guest
For a 400-year-old translation, it is pretty good. It has held up remarkably well.
S
Seeker2013
Guest
Most English works from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are hard to understand because both the language and syntax have changed. I find writings from that time easier to understand if I read them out loud.
A
Alex_H
Guest
I have always struggled to understand older translations. As time goes on, languages change.
I remember, when I was searching for the right church, I attended a KJV-Only Baptist Church. It was an independent Fundamentalist Baptist church, very very conservative.
I told them that I had trouble understanding the KJV and they said that I might have a demon in me. So I stopped attending that church.
I remember, when I was searching for the right church, I attended a KJV-Only Baptist Church. It was an independent Fundamentalist Baptist church, very very conservative.
I told them that I had trouble understanding the KJV and they said that I might have a demon in me. So I stopped attending that church.
The preface to the RSV points out that, besides the archaic or obsolete words, a number of words have changed in meaning since 1611. Some even mean just about the opposite (e.g., the KJV uses “let” to mean “hinder”). I remember hearing that there are over 100 such words in the KJV.
bible-researcher.com/rsvpreface.html
D
DaveBj
Guest
Back in the '70s I wrote a research paper on “Understanding the Language of the King James Bible,” in which I explained the grammar that Elizabethan English uses and listed words that had gone out of use (like “besom” and “amerce”) or had changed their meanings (like “let” and “prevent”). My mother, a long-time Bible student and adult Bible class teacher, read it, and said that she wished she could have read it long ago.
Unfortunately, that paper was done before computers and hard drives, and has since been lost.
Unfortunately, that paper was done before computers and hard drives, and has since been lost.
W
WillyAL
Guest
Oh, I hate it when that happens.
P
PJM
Guest
The Entire New Testament is DIFFICULT to understand, which is precisely why Peter taught
2nd. Peter 3: 14-18
“Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen”
2Peter 1: 19-21
And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: [20] Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. [21] For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.
[Douay Bible- explanation]
[20] No prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation: This shews plainly that the scriptures are not to be expounded by any one’s private judgment or private spirit, because every part of the holy scriptures were written by men inspired by the Holy Ghost, and declared as such by the Church; therefore they are not to be interpreted but by the Spirit of God, which he hath left, and promised to remain with his Church to guide her in all truth to the end of the world. Some may tell us, that many of our divines interpret the scriptures: they may do so, but they do it always with a submission to the judgment of the Church, and not otherwise. End Quotes
This is precisely WHY the Catholic Faith is One as it has been for 2,000 years. We KNOW that if our own understanding does not align FULLY with the Catholic Magisterium, that WE are wrong and need to change our understanding.
P’s not having such an unerring authority are left to stumble and bumble, with the many self-inflicted contradictory beliefs resulting from incorrect bible translation.
Easter Blessings,
PJM
S
spedteacherita
Guest
I have ALWAYS had issues reading the King James Version - so many words I didn’t understand and, as I rarely went to church as a kid, what I did not understand could not be put into context by myself.
Here is one verse that always bothered me:
King James Version
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
One of many
! I was thrilled when the updated versions finally came out!!
God bless, all!
Rita
Here is one verse that always bothered me:
King James Version
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
One of many
! I was thrilled when the updated versions finally came out!!God bless, all!
Rita
B
Belshazzar
Guest
I have often wondered what translation non English speaking Protestants would use. Obviously not the KJV since the prose does not translate. Are the KJV-only people exclusively English speaking to the detriment of other nationalities or are there actually non- English translations?
7
7_Sorrows
Guest
that is a scary story! I think you made a wise decision!
P
PJM
Guest
Might I suggest friend you try thr Douay Bible.
It’s the oldest and truest English version
drbo.org/
Easter Blessings,
PJM
C
Catholic4Christ
Guest
I like the King James (and DR) bibles because their difficulty makes it almost impossible to rush mindlessly through the readings (which is a temptation in my personal prayer life) - you have to deliberately read every difficult phrasing or word and make a point to understand how it works with the passage.
D
Duane1966
Guest
But what happened to the demon?
- Status