How to teach your children to read and understand the King James Version of the Bible

Fr. John Whiteford's News, Comments, & Reflections ^ | 06-09-2017 | Fr. John Whiteford

[NRx]

How to teach your children to read and understand the King James Version of the Bible

Why?

Before getting into the question of how you can teach your children to read and understand the King James Version, we should probably first discuss why you should want to do so.

If you are an English speaker, even if you are an atheist you should want your child to be familiar with the great works in the history of the English Language, and the King James Version is certainly close to the top of the list, if not at the very top.

Even some of the greatest skeptics were of this opinion:

“It is the most beautiful of all translations of the Bible; indeed it is probably the most beautiful piece of writing in all the literature of the world.”  -H. L. Mencken 

“The translation was extraordinarily well done because to the translators what they were translating was not merely a curious collection of ancient books written by different authors in different stages of culture, but the Word of God divinely revealed through His chosen and expressly inspired scribes.  In this conviction they carried out their work with boundless reverence and care and achieved a beautifully artistic result.” –George Bernard Shaw

"It is written in the noblest and purest English, and abounds in exquisite beauties of mere literary form."  -Aldous Huxley 

The influence of the King James Version on the English language has been huge, and there aren't many other texts that would be comparable in that regard.

It also happens to be a very fine translation. It is not perfect, but it has many advantages over most other options. See: An Orthodox Look at English Translations of the Bible.

Isn't it too hard?

For many centuries, even poorly educated people read and understood the King James Bible, because they made the effort to do so. For the most part, the King James Version is perfectly understandable for a modern reader. There are perhaps a hundred words or so that one would have to acquaint themselves with, if they were not already familiar with them. All of these words are found in a standard dictionary, and the intended meaning of the word in question will usually be listed as the primary or secondary meaning. There are also some handy guides online and in print that provide quick definitions with these words. And you could always look up a difficult text in the New King James Version, for clarification.

How?

First off, you have to teach them how to read, and teach them to love reading.

My wife and I home schooled our children, and the single best text we used was a book entitled "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," by Siegfried Engelmann. It provides a parent with simple and clear instructions as to how to use the text, and it effectively teaches a child how to read phonetically, and also how to understand the many quirks we have in English spelling (something that is often not taught in public schools in our times). Most importantly, it works. I started teaching both of my children how to read with this text when they were three, and had them reading on a basic level within a few months.

The first books I had my children read were in a series of Bible story booklets from Concordia Press that are designed for beginning readers -- the closest thing that they have to what we used in print now is in a series called "Hear Me Read.".

You should regularly read to your children. For very young children, I found reading them stories that rhymed got their attention, and so I read them rhyming Bible stories. Concordia Press has a large collection of short Bible stories that rhyme -- many of which I remember from my own childhood.

As they got a bit older, I read them a comic book collection of Bible Stories (The Picture Bible), and as their reading improved, they would read it on their own. This gave them an overall understanding of the Bible in broad strokes, and helped to improve their own reading.

In addition to reading books directly connected to the Bible, reading other classic texts to your children helps to develop a love for reading.

We did not have our children read much of Shakespeare, because Shakespeare's plays were not meant to be read -- they were meant to be watched. We had them watch all of his major plays -- some in multiple versions, and they enjoyed them. And this helped to familiarize them with Elizabethan English, and in a way that was not at all tedious.

Finally, when their reading level got to the point that they could begin to do it, I had them read the Bible to me. This helped their reading and pronunciation, and it also gave me a chance to explain any words that were obscure, and to discuss the meaning of the text. We started with Genesis, and stuck to the narrative portions of the Law and the Historical books. We eventually brought in the Wisdom books, the prophets, and also the Gospels and Epistles.

A very important help to this whole process was to get an edition of the King James that had modern spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing -- and to have the same edition in everyone's hand, so we were literally all on the same page. At the time, we used the Third Millennium Bible, but what I would recommend now is using the Cambridge New Paragraph Bible with the "Apocrypha". This edition is laid out in a way that is much easier for contemporary readers, and the more I use it myself, the more I have come to like it.

One other thing I did was to have my children memorize the names and order of the books of the Bible, and then we would do something which I learned from Sunday School as a child -- "Sword drills". When we finished reading the Bible, I would call out random Scripture references, and we would see which child could find it first. This taught them how to navigate their way around the Bible.

For more information:

An Orthodox Look at English Translations of the Bible

A Simple Approach to Reading the Entire Bible

King James English and Orthodox Worship

[NRx]

The original version of the KJV contained the so-called Deuterocanonical books. They were later excised in most editions by various Protestant groups. Setting that aside, Fr. John points out, correctly, that the KJV is not an especially bad translation even today. It has stood up rather well for a 400 year old work. And it occupies a place in the top tier of the English canon of literature. That said, there are very few English versions of the Bible that are well suited from the Orthodox perspective since the Orthodox canon differs somewhat from both the Roman Catholic and Protestant canons.

[Bodleian_Girl]

Things that are different are not the same.

	AV (King James)	New International	New American Standard	New World Translation
Mt 9:13	for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.	For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.	For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.	For I came to call, not righteous people, but sinners.
Mt 18:11	For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.	OMITTED	footnote casts doubt	OMITTED
Mt 19:17	Why callest thou me good?	"Why do you ask me about what is good?"	"Why are you asking me about what is good?"	"Wny do you ask me about what is good?"
Mt 25:13	Ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.	You do not know the day or the hour.	You do not know the day nor the hour.	You know neither the day nor the hour,
Mk 10:24	.how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!	.how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!	.how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!	.how difficult a thing it is to enter into the kingdom of God!
Lk 2:33	And Joseph and his mother,,,	The child's father and mother.	His father and mother.	its father and mother.
Lk 4:4	Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.	Man does not live on bread alone.	Man shall not live on bread alone.	Man must not live by bread alone.
Lh 4:8	Get thee behind me, Satan.	OMITTED	OMITTED	OMITTED
Jn 6:47	He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.	He who believes has everlasting life.	He who believes has eternal life.	He that believes has everlasting life.
Jn 8:9	And when they heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out.	.those who heard began to go away.	.when they heard it, they began to go out one by one.	OMITTED
Jn 9:4	I must work the works of him that sent me.	We must do the work of him who sent me.	We must work the works of Him who sent Me.	We must work the works of him that sent me.
Jn 10:30	I and my Father are one	I and the Father are one.	I and the Father are one.	I and the Father are one.
Ac 2:30	that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;	.he would place one of his descendants on his throne.	.to seat one of his descendants upon his throne.	.he would seat one from the fruitage of his loins upon his throne.
Ac 8:37	If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.	OMITTED	footnote casts doubt (some editions just omit it)	OMITTED
Ac 23:9	Let us not fight against God.	OMITTED	OMITTED	OMITTED
Rom 13:9	Thou shalt not bear false witness.	OMITTED	OMITTED	OMITTED
Co 1:14	In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.	In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.	In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.	By means of whom we have our release by ransom, the forgiveness of our sins.
1Ti 3:16	God was manifest in the flesh.	He appeared in a body.	He who was revealed in the flesh.	He was made manifest in the flesh.
1Ti 6:5	Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.	"from such withdraw thyself" is omitted	"from such withdraw thyself" is omitted	"from such withdraw thyself" is omitted
1Pe 1:22	Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.	you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth.	Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls.	Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth.
1Jo 4:3	And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.	But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.	And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.	But every inspired expression that does not confess Jesus does not originate with God.
Re 5:14	Four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.	.the elders fell down and worshipped.	.the elders fell down and worshipped.	.the elders fell down and worshipped.
Re 20:9	Fire came down from God out of heaven.	Fire came down from heaven.	Fire came down from heaven.	Fire came down out of heaven.
Re 21:24	And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it.	The nations will walk by its light.	And the nations shall walk by its light.	And the nations will walk by means of its light.

[lurk]

You realize that the chart does not establish KJV superiority. It simply demonstrates that translators are reliant on two different piles of source texts.

See James White’s The King James Controversy.

[circlecity]

Even as an adult I couldn’t make heads nor tails of the KJV middle english. Someone told me about the NIV and I got one. It was the first time I was able to read and understand the scripture I was reading.

[petitfour]

Bump for later

[Bodleian_Girl]

Can’t trust James White, he’s an enemy of the truth.

“James White states, You should never have to wonder if you are going to be accepted by others if you use an NIV rather than a KJV (or vice versa!). Fellowship should never be base upon the English translation one carries and studies.[4] Is White correct?

The startling news that NIV will become a unisex version was published in the March 29, 1997 edition of World Magazine. This change of the gender of God is not based on an accurate translation of the original Greek manuscripts.

Rather it is a theological change, a complete capitulation to feminism and the mother goddess worship of witchcraft and Mariolatry. Should we not break fellowship with those who call this latest NIV perversion of God’s gender (from he to he-she) the Bible?”

http://www.tulipgems.com/WhichBible5.htm

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I believe it was Jerome who first wanted to give those books the heave ho. The Pope said “NO!”
Luther may have removed them from the German translations, but later Bible societies also removed them from the KJV. They are still available in KJV if people want one.

https://www.christianbook.com/kjv-cambridge-paragraph-apocrypha-size-calfskin/9780521198813/pd/198813?dv=%7Bdevice%7D&en=google&event=SHOP&kw=bibles-100-150%7C198813&p=1179710&gclid=Cj0KEQjw4cLKBRCZmNTvyovvj-4BEiQAl_sgQke5NozC3_4B6HMEUWLS6nmYKuoIoj39Pok0UuIMjsUaAvAB8P8HAQ

Everyone should read the Apocrypha at least once to see why they are not considered all that important.

I keep a modern Catholic bible close at hand to compare some “hard sayings” in the KJV.

[MayflowerMadam]

Yeah. Big, huge differences. My husband uses what I call “brand x” version - New King James, I think. It drives me crazy when we use it in devotions. He says he can’t understand KJV. I’m not buying it since he has a PhD in Physics. He can understand.

[Bodleian_Girl]

KING JAMES BIBLE

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Why did Jesus come to earth?

Luke 9:56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. Matt. 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

Luke 9:56 and they went to another village.   Matt. 18:11 (missing)

Is repentance important?

Matt. 9:13 ...I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Matt. 9:13 ...I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

For whom did Jesus die?

I Cor. 5:7 ...Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

I Cor. 5:7 ...Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

In Whom must you believe to be saved?

John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

John 6:47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

Was Joseph really the father of Jesus?

Luke 2:33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

Luke 2:33 The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.

Did Jesus give His disciples power to heal?

Mark 3:15 ...power to heal sickness, and to cast out devils.

Mark 3:15 ...authority to drive out demons.

If it's hard to do, should we just remove it?

Mark 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Mark 11:26 (missing)

Who is in charge?

I Cor. 10:28 ...for the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof:

I Cor. 10:28 (last part of verse missing)

How must we deal with our enemies?

Matt. 5:44 ...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Matt. 5:44 ...Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Where did Jesus go?

John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.

John 16:16 In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.

[Bodleian_Girl]

I can’t remember the study now, but the readability of the KJV was on the 4th or 5th grade reading level and the NIV was rated college level!

Started my kids on it in kindergarten and they grew up with it. They might not have understood the doctrine, but they were sure about to read it!

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

One thing I do miss in most modern KJV bibles is FROM THE TRANSLATORS TO THE READER preface. This should be read by all at least once every few years.
I had a good on line version but that web page has disappeared so here is one harder to read.
https://ebible.org/kjv/FRT01.htm

[circlecity]

All that shows is that the KJV uses a different manuscript than the other translations. It uses the majority text (textus receptus) as opposed to the critical text (NA28) most modern translations use. I prefer the critical text as my source text. It is older and I believe more reliable than the Byzantine texts.

[donaldo]

Just a note about the Apocrypha. It was included in the first printing of the KJV between the Old and New Testaments.

I’m not a King James only guy but I prefer it to all others as the others are more or less insipid. George Orwell had a bit of fun with this bit from Ecclesiastes:

Orwell “translates” Ecclesiastes 9:11:

KJV:
I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

— into “modern English of the worst sort”:

Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.

In this, as in many cases, older is better. Harold Bloom was right, the King James Bible (1611) and Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623) are the sublime summit of literature in English.

I think Dwight Macdonald put it best:

“The King James Bible came at the end of the Elizabethan age, between Shakespeare and Milton, when Englishmen were using words more passionately, richly, vigorously, wittily, and sublimely than ever before or since. Although none of the divines and scholars who made it were literary men, their language was touched with genius — the genius of a period when style was the common property of educated men rather than an individual achievement.”

[odawg]

Thanks for posting that, but I know space does not permit posting all the nonsense. People think that the NKJV is only the old KJV modernized, but it is an entirely new and corrupted translation.

[donaldo]

While on the KJV. I remember Thomas Wolfe’s writing in “You Can’t Go Home Again”:

“[O]f all I have ever seen or learned, that book seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man’s life upon this earth — and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I had to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound.”

I’m inclined to agree.

And for you trivia fans, the U.S. number one hit “Turn!, Turn!, Turn!” by the Bryds holds distinction as the number one hit with the oldest lyrics. The lyrics are from Ecclesiastes.

[N. Theknow]

KJV is also the easiest(or so I have found) to commit to memory.

37 years ago a church elder asked me to read the Christmas Story from Luke Chapter 2 at our Christmas Eve service. My eyesight in darkness was quite bad at the time, So I decided to learn it and recite it.

As my mother used to say, “Don’t memorize something if you want to remember it. Learn it. Memorization is temporary. Learning is permanent.”

I set out to learn Luke 2. I have been reciting it at Christmas Eve services ever since.

Also, the Lord’s Prayer is always KJV in every church where we have worshipped. Scripture readings are different version but Lord’s Prayer is always KJV.

[editor-surveyor]

.
Yes, the “modern” Bibles are deficient in many places, and it appears to be deliberate.
.

[Albion Wilde]

I agree that not all translations are worth the paper they are printed on. It's worth noting, however, that my post referred to the New Living Translation (NLT), but your post cited the New World Translation, which I've never heard of. In your first example Matthew 9:13, for instance, the NLT says:

Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices. For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

[Bodleian_Girl]

Matthew 9:13 KJV

But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

NLT

Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices. For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

[TexasTransplant]

bkmk