June 21, 2023

I may stir things up today. Over many years I've read and studied different versions of the Bible; the New International Version, New Living Translation, and most recently English Standard Version; always avoiding the King James Version because of the "thees" and "thous." Over the past year, we've gone to a church that uses the King James Version exclusively. Don't get me wrong; I've always referred back to it when studying because the Strong Concordance is in the King James, so it's not that I've disregarded it; it's just hard to read. I'm over it now, especially when some meanings may seem lost in the other translations. Here's an example:

From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations. Genesis 10:5 English Standard Version 

Compared to:

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. Genesis 10:5 King James Version

"The isles of the Gentiles" verses "the coastland peoples;" the vision in my mind is entirely different when reading these separately. 

This portion of scripture refers to the sons of Japheth, the eldest son of Noah. I'm guessing that most of us are probably descended from Japheth because the Bible talks about Gentile nations. It is unclear that the Bible is referring to us in the other versions. My question always leads to, "Are we being led astray on purpose?" What else are they changing that might give us a different vision in our minds? I may end up having to go back to an old paper Bible. Isn't it interesting how a few words can change an entire meaning?