The King James Bible and the New King James Version Compared
By Mary Van Nattan
[PLEASE NOTE: The King James Bible verses or verse sections will always be given first, then the New King James Version verses or verse sections. The King James Bible verses and verse portions are always in red and bold print, except where they may have been accidentally missed.]
KJB--Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
NKJV--Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Notice the difference between "moved upon" and "was hovering over." To say that something was "moved upon" is quite different than saying that it was "hovered over." If I were to say, "A swan moved upon the water," it would present a different picture in your mind, than if I said, "A swan hovered over the water." "Hovering over" does not mean that any contact was actually made.
KJB--Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them,Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it...
NKJV--Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it...
Notice the change from "replenish" to "fill." These are not the same as can be easily seen.
KJB--Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created...
NKJV--Genesis 2:4 This is the history of the heavens and of the earth when they were created...
The heavens and earth are generated by God. An evolutionist or theistic evolutionist could agree that the heavens and earth have a history. The fact that they were generated implies that they had a Generator. While the KJB points back to God twice in this verse, the NKJV removes the first sign post.
Secondly, in the scientific realm, living matter is constantly regenerating itself. Therefore, the things that were created in those first 6 days of creation were the first generation. A history does not necessarily mean that it starts from the very beginning.
[Note: the word "history" did not even come up in the KJB in a search in Sword Searcher 97.]
KJB--Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
NKJV--Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Here is the first major word game that directly affects the word "soul."
Now a soul and a being are quite different in concept.
Soul--"1. The...rational, and immortal part in man; that part of man which enables him to think, and which renders him a subject of moral government..."
"2. ...the seat of real life or vitality the source of action; the animating or essential part."
1 Samuel 1:26 And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.
"4. Energy; courage...fervor; affection, or any other noble manifestation of the heart or moral nature."
Song of Songs 1:7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth...
Zechariah 11:8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
"5. A human being; a person; a man."
Genesis 2:7 ...and man became a living soul.
"6. A pure or disembodied spirit."
Genesis 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died)...
"Being, n. 1. Existence, as opposed to non-existence; existence in fact or in thought."
Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being...
2. That which exists in any way, whether it be material or spiritual, whether it be actual or ideal; as human beings; spiritual beings; and beings of the mind."
"3. A living existence, as distinguished from a thing without life."
Without a blip scholar to "interpret" what kind of "being" we have here, it could easily be interpreted that man was indeed some kind of lower life form in the beginning and has since evolved uppiano coversd. "Living being" does not indicate a rational, emotional, eternal man.
KJB--Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
NKJV--Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
Here we see feminism rear its ugly head in the NewKJV. One of the most controversial issues of our day is the place the woman in the home and church. How many men and women have had there souls grieved at the upright piano that is caused by disobedience to the word of God in this area?! The translators of the NewKJV helped out their wives and other rebellious women by giving them aid and comfort in the blaspheme of the word of God (Titus 2:3-5).
To begin with, there is an obscure meaning of the word "meet" which means "to be even with" or "equal to." (Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1911.) So, when the NewKJV translators came to this word, rather than take the Bible for what it says, they used this particular meaning of the word "meet" to make the woman something more acceptable to the liberated women. They bent over backpiano coversds to make her look "equal" to Adam. In the end, they messed the job up royally as we will see.
The definition of the word "meet" is very clear in this verse in the King James Bible by the context. It is not referring to an equality. The woman is "an help meet for him." The only definition that would fit this terminology is:
"Prepared or adapted, as to a use or purpose; fit; suitable; proper; qualified; convenient." Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1911.
The Bible is its own best commentary and in interestingly enough, Webster used Bible verses to give examples of this word use. Here are two of them: Deuteronomy 3:18 ...ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of blip, all that are meet for the piano covers. Matthew 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: Naturally, the NewKJV translators could not translate "meet" in these two verses the way they did in Genesis 2:18. Whoever heard of someone being comparable to piano covers. Well, some of us can think of a person that fits that description maybe, but that is not what is being said here obviously. :-) In the Deuteronomy verse they changed the verse around and spoke of "men of valor." In Matthew 3:8 they translated it "fruits worthy of repentance." Even where they might have said that the works were comparable to repentance, they did not. Why these word games?
The Scholastic Dictionary of American English, 1966 defines "comparable" as:
"1 capable of being compared...2 worthy or fit to be compared..."
Now this is where the rub comes in. While the NewKJV translators were probably trying to make the woman look "equal" and "even" with the man, they actually made her look more degraded. When you actually compare woman to man, she comes out on the short end since she is the weaker vessel. 1Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
We read in the King James Bible that God created the animals and brought them to Adam to see what he would name them. Then we read, And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. Genesis 2:20 There is not an animal on the face of this earth that can be an help meet for the needs of a man. Woman is the ONLY creation of God that can fill this role, because it was the purpose that she was created for. Being the weaker vessel does not exculed her from being an help meet for the need of a man.
If woman is simply a creature that is comparable to man, why she might not even be any different than an gorilla or chimpanzee! They are comparable to man and can be taught to be his helper. So, while the NewKJV gives room on one side for woman being equal to man and therefore not to be in submition to him, on the other hand it could be used to "prove" that woman is really a soul-less creature that can be compared to man and trained to help him!
Mark 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. This example proves thoroughly that the NewKJV cannot be of God. God does not make messes like this. 1Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
KJB--Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
NKJV--Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Three out of the four places in the KJB where the phrase "shall cleave unto his wife" is used, the word "cleave" is used (Matthew 19:5,Mark 10:7). In one place, Ephesians 5:31, the phrase "joined unto" is used. Also, "cleave unto" is active while "be joined to" is passive. The NKJV changes all four places to "be joined to," thus weakening the strength of the phrase. For a man who isn't too thrilled with actively cleaving to his wife, the NKJV makes life much easier. It is hard for one man to cleave to more than one woman at a time, so the "cleave" naturally fits the one wife pattern that God set up from the beginning and emphasized as God the Son on earth.
KJB--Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
NKJV--Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
First of all the change from subtil to cunning.
Genesis 3:1 is one of the most powerful examples for showing how the devil leads people astray by encouraging them to question the word of God. There is a second method of Satan's also exhibited here that interestingly enough is removed by the NKJV translators. This is the power of positive thinking. "Yea..." starts his sentence in the KJB, while in the impostor "Bible" we find this tactic watered down and moved out of the the most powerful position. In fact, in the NewKJV the "indeed" may not even be understood to be positive but could be viewed as "really."
KJB--Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
NKJV--Genesis 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
Here is an odd change. The NKJV actually changes the devil's words in a manner that is very strange. What Satan really said to them was that they would "be as gods", not that they would be like God. He was not telling them that they would God's equals, but rather that they would be as gods-- lower case. This shows the Devil's subtilty. He did not offer them what he had claimed for himself at the time of his fall from heaven. ( Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.) He did not want competition in taking over God's position, but rather to establish a kingdom for himself of lesser "gods" that he would rule over. He knew that the offer of being as gods would be tantilizing, but to outright say that they would be like God would have perhaps been more than Adam and Eve would have wanted to attempt. At the same time Satan kept the supreme role of being like the most High for himself, a position that he still thinks he can usurp.
KJB--Genesis 3:7 ...and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
NKJV--Genesis 3:7 ...and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves coverings.
Here is another important change that takes away a point that can be made regarding dress. The KJB says "aprons." Now an apron may take one of two forms. It may either be a covering of only the front middle part of the body, or of the front upper and middle parts of the body. It was probably the former, but in either case, large areas are left uncovered. The NKJV changes this to simply "coverings." This does not give any specific idea of how much skin was covered. The point comes in when we look over in Genesis 3:21, Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Here we find God made coats for them, thus distinguishing the fact that fallen man has an instinct to put on clothes, but that he does not put on enough clothes to please a holy God. When God put coats on them He saw to it that they were both covered modestly.
[Nakedness is assoblipted with devil worship and devil possession in Exodus 32:25 and Luke 8:27.]
The second point that is important about the word "apron" in the KJB is that the Freemasons use aprons in their vile religion. When this word is changed it can no longer be proven from scripture that an apron is not enough covering to meet God's holiness. The Freemasons need the robe of the Lord Jesus Christ's righteousness only for their covering and to denounce with this pagan apron of man's invention.
KJB-- Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
NKJV--Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day...
The change here from "voice" to "sound" is more crublipl than it would at first appear. This verse is the first scripture to let us know that when sinful man hears God's voice, his natural instinct is to hide himself. The NewKJV translators do not want us to know that the natural reaction of someone that has broken God's commandment is to hide from the voice (written word to us) of God. 1Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
KJB--Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
NKJV--Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you."
Here is an interesting change, because it is not commonly noticed what God actually said in the King James Bible. God did not say women would bring forth their children in "pain," He said "sorrow." Sorrow may include pain, as we have learned since Eve was told this, but that is not the only item that sorrow includes. What God may not have included in childbirth before the fall we do not know, but it is certain that it is not what He intended it. Changing "pain" to "sorrow" is actually limiting the definition, and the NewKJV translators had no business diminishing what God said to only "pain." Any woman that has had a stillbirth or miscarriage, knows that pain is not the only sorrow involved in having children. There are others as well.
Secondly, the true Bible says that a woman's desire will be "to" her husband, not "for" him. This is a pretty big change for such small words. The basic meaning of the preposition "to" is "approach and arrival, motion made in the direction of a place or thing and attaining it, access; and, also, motion or tendency without arrival; movement topiano coversd..." (Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1911).
"For" in the NewKJV could be interpreted in different ways. It could be seen as a woman having a desire to own a husband, or to want the one she already has. It could be seen as a woman possessing a desire that is for her husband to own.
But, again what we see is the change from active to passive. "To" is an active word. "For" is passive. According to the King James Bible, a woman's desire is to be actively approaching to her husband. It is in movement and she actively desires to do a wife's duty to him. The NewKJV translators changed this to a passive word that does not necessarily indicate that she is doing anything actively for her husband. As far as her desire goes her husband can basically take it or leave it.
KJB--Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
NKJV--Genesis 3:17- Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
KJB--Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
NKJV--Genesis 3:21- Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
back