I have written many blogs in the past which correct mistranslations in the King James as well as newer translations of the Bible. I have said in the past that the King James is still the best English translated Bible there is, but I have recently come to know the Gideon’s Bible. The language is updated and many of the KJV mistranslations are corrected. Without going back to correct my previous posts, I will now say the Gideon’s Bible is the best English Bible out there. The reason why I don’t want to go back and correct myself is so you know I am still learning myself, since I had not looked into a Gideon’s at that time. I still suggest for all to get a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and use a KJV with it if you want a full, true word of God. The Strong’s traces every word of the KJV back to the original Hebrew and Greek without the influence of men. This is extremely important for the true student.

The most important mistranslation in the KJV is inside the New Testament with the phrase “end of the world”. Only in the NT is that phrase written, and in each case in the original Greek the word there for “world” does not trace back to “κοσμοσ” (cos-mos), which is their word for “world”. Every single instance the original Greek word was actually “αιων” (ahee-own), which is their word for “age”. Not world. In some cases, it can mean world but let’s look at the gospel of Matthew. Four times the phrase “end of the world” shows up, again all were “αιων” in Greek, but other times the word “world” in Matthew cosmos is used. Why would Matthew use different words if he meant the same thing? Answer: he didn’t mean the same thing. He meant “age”, so he used a different Greek word than cosmos. What makes this so important is it shows there is no end of the world. If you look at Matt. 24:3, the disciples ask Jesus for the signs of his return and the end of the age. If you take that to heart and read Revelation 20, then you can make sense of it. When Jesus returns, that ends this age and begins a new age that will last a little over a thousand years. Without knowing Jesus’ return ends this age, Rev. 20 cannot be made sense of. The Gideon’s corrects those mistakes.

In one of the most intriguing mistranslations of the KJV is the craft Ezekiel saw. In the KJV it says the color of it was amber. That is a mistranslation. The Hebrew word there was (khazh-mal), which means “polished spectrum metal with an amber hue”, or beryl. Not a grainy amber color. Given the other descriptions of the craft Ezekiel saw, it could not be anything made of this world at that time. The Gideon’s also corrects this.

Jesus wasn’t our Lord’s real name. Jesus is the English pronunciation of the Greek version of the Hebrew name Yeshua (or Y’shua). Y’shua means “God saved”. If you took Y’shua and directly translated it to English, it would be Joshua. It doesn’t matter so much what you call him, as long as you call him Christ, Saviour, Lord, and the Son of the Living God. His mother Mary is the English version of Maria. Pronounced in their native Aramaic tongue, it would sound like (mah-ree-AH). Maria in Hebrew means “bitter”.

Satan in the Hebrew means “opponent, adversary”, and in some instances can mean “persecute”. Very apt names, which the definitions really mean something. Satan is the opponent and adversary, and has/will persecute(d) our creation. Another very important mistranslation in the KJV is because of an assumption made by men. In Isaiah 14:12, the word “Lucifer” shows up for the only time in the KJV. The original Hebrew word there wasn’t anything near Lucifer at all. The original Hebrew word there was “Helel”. Why change it to Lucifer? Because the Catholic Church, which authored the KJV translated the name into Latin with the Vulgate. Lucifer is a Latin word. Isaiah nor any other OT prophet knew Latin. Helel means “brightness”, while Lucifer means “morningstar”. One must ask, why the huge differences in not only the names but the meanings? Helel/Lucifer is mentioned only one time in the entire Bible, so why only there? It describes how Helel fell. After he fell, God changed his name. He was the morningstar. Now he’s the adversary.

Another important and intriguing mistranslation of the KJV is the word “giants” in Genesis 6:4. The original Hebrew word there was “nephil” (neh-feel), which is their word for “fallen”. This mistranslation also shows up in Numbers 13:33, which also describes them being like grasshoppers. If you look at the plague of the locusts in Revelation 9, their master was Apollyon, which is another name in the Greek for the Devil. These points are significant since it shows who those “giants” really were in Genesis and Numbers. They were the fallen angels. “Nephilim” is the Hebrew word for “fallen angels”. When Helel fell, he took many angels with him. They became known as the “nephil”, and their master is the Devil. The plague of locusts is the plague of the fallen angels. I didn’t look if the Gideon’s corrects this or not.

What too many call the final battle between good and evil before the end of the world, Armageddon has nothing to do with a time. Armageddon is two words put together. There is “har” which means “mountain”, and Megiddo means “a gathering’, but also is in the valley of Jezreel in northern Israel near a mountain. Armageddon means “a gathering near a mountain in Megiddo”. That is where the world will come to meet for battle against Israel and the forces of God. Both the OT and NT speak of Megiddo being the place for the final battle, but as I stated before, not for the end of the world. Armageddon will be fought at the climax of this age, but afterward a new age will begin once Y’shua has returned.

I hope this post not only gives you a new insight on the written Word, but also inspires you to get a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance since it will open your eyes. It doesn’t preach. It doesn’t have any link to a denomination. All it does is trace the words back to the original languages for a pure word of God without the influence of men. If you truly want to learn, a Strong’s is a must.