The words, ‘reverence,’ and, ‘respect,’ are far from synonymous. Respect is a much broader term, free from specific religious connotations. For example, there was a non-Christian professor of probability at MIT a few years ago. I sat in on his lectures. I has profound respect for him on a purely mathematics level—but zero reverence. Zero.
As to the King James Bible. That is a real can of worms. I took two years of Greek with one of the most gifted Greek professors to draw breath. He illustrated to us that the KJB was excellent for its time, but that older and more accurate Greek mss have since been discovered. Plus, words do change in meaning over time. That’s simply a fact of linguistics.
The New American Standard Bible is translated from the oldest and best mss available. Its unique claim to fame is that it strives to be the most literal translation of the original languages. Here is part of the blurb from BibleGateway:
[New American Standard Bible]
More accurate than ever:
Recent research on the oldest and best Greek manuscripts of the New Testament has been reviewed, and some passages have been updated for even greater fidelity to the original manuscripts.
Parallel passages have been compared and reviewed.
Verbs that have a wide range of meaning have been retranslated in some passages to better account for their use in the context.
And still the NASB:
The NASB update is not a change-for-the-sake-of-change translation. The original NASB stands the test of time, and change has been kept to a minimum in recognition of the standard that has been set by the New American Standard Bible.
The NASB update continues the NASB’s tradition of literal translation of the original Greek and Hebrew without compromise. Changes in the text have been kept within the strict parameters set forth by the Lockman Foundation’s Fourfold Aim.
The translators and consultants who have contributed to the NASB update are conservative Bible scholars who have doctorates in Biblical languages, theology, or other advanced degrees. They represent a variety of denominational backgrounds.
https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-American-Standard-Bible-NASB/
I has profound = I had profound
Oh well.
NASB +1
Your point about the distinctions between these words, is very interesting.
*Respect* is, I would agree, a broader term than *reverence*. But here’s an interesting thing: Biblical people often expressed what’s termed (in more modern translations) “respect,” with a full-body prostration. Hmm!
As well, the significance of gesture varies with the centuries and the cultures.
It’s strange to us, perhaps, to read that when Sir Thomas More was Chancellor of England, he used to begin his working days in London by going down to the lower courts where his father was some sort of minor magistrate, kneeling before him and asking his blessing. His natural piety toward his father was at least as great, if not greater, than his “state” piety toward the king!
The correct parsing of symbolic gestures has always been a challenge to Christian missionaries when encountering different cultures. Did the 17th century Chinese worship their ancestors (religious piety) or rather, show respect to their memory and their family (filial piety)? Did their use of incense indicate adoration? Matteo Ricci didn’t think so. But in any case he thought he could shape the ambiguity, so as to highlight the family reverence and direct their hopes toward Christ and Heaven.
When subsequent missionaries abolished these ancestor ceremonials altogether, the result was swift and terrible: the Mandarin court banned these insulting missionaries and expelled them from China. Which was then closed to mission efforts for the next, I don’t know, maybe 250 years!
Better cultural competence is, without a doubt, worth the expense in time and effort.