Have some of God's inspired words been lost ? 

Accuracy of the Older Bible Versions - The King James

 Have some of God's inspired words been lost ?  The modern version proponents would have us believe that such is the case. We will consider one specific passage of Scripture to illustrate this point and will also hear from one of the NIV translators regarding a few others.  

One of the hundreds of Scripture references called into question by today's bible translators is 1 Samuel 13:1.  We read in the Authorized King James Bible: "Saul reigned ONE YEAR; and when he had reigned TWO YEARS over Israel, Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent."

          "Saul reigned ONE YEAR; and when he had reigned TWO YEARS..."  This is the reading of the KJB, the NKJV, Miles Coverdale 1535, Bishop's Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible of 1599, Daniel Webster's translation of 1833, Lamsa's translation of the Syriac Peshitta, the Spanish Reina Valera of 1602 and 1960, the Italian Diodati version, the KJV 21st century version and the Third Millenium Bible. 

There is a brand new Hebrew-English translation put out in 2003 called the Judaica Press Complete Tanach. It can be seen online here:

http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive.asp?AID=63255

In 1 Samuel 13:1 it reads as does the King James Bible: "Saul was a year in his reign, and he reigned two years over Israel..."

The Spanish Reina Valera 1960 reads: "Había  ya reinado Saúl UN ANO; y cuando hubo reinado DOS años sobre Israel..."= KJB

Italian Diodati - Saulle avea regnato UN ANNO, e poi (then) dopo (after) aver regnato DUE ANNI sopra Israele..." = KJB

Luther 1545: Saul war ein jar König gewesen / vnd da er zwey jar vber Jsrael regiert hatte...

"Saul was king one year, and when he had reigned two years over Israel...= KJB

The Swiss Zürcher 1531 says exactly the same thing.

There are several bible versions like Darby's, the RSV, NRSV, ESV, and  the  New Scofield KJV, which actually read: "Saul was ____years old when he began to reign; and he reigned_____and two years over Israel." Then in a footnote they tell us "the number is lacking in Hebrew" and "two is not the entire number. Something has dropped out."

The ASV of 1901, which is the predecessor of the NASB, says: "Saul was  (FORTY) years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned TWO years over Israel..." Then in a footnote it tells us "The number is lacking in the Hebrew text, and is supplied conjecturally."

Young's tells us: "A SON OF A YEAR is Saul in his reigning, yea, two years he hath reigned over Israel", while Lamsa's 1936 translation of the Syriac Peshitta says: "And when Saul had reigned ONE OR TWO years in his kingdom over Israel..."

When we finally get to the NASB and the NIV we really get confused.  The NASB of 1972 and 1977 reads: "Saul was THIRTY years old when he began to reign, and he reigned THIRTY TWO years over Israel."   But the 1995 edition of the NASB has changed the 32 years to now read 42 years.  The NIV says: "Saul was THIRTY years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel FORTY TWO years."  But wait. There's more to this Bible Babel. The 1970 New English Bible actually says: "Saul was FIFTY YEARS OLD when he became king, and he reigned over Israel FOR TWENTY TWO years."!!! So was Saul 30 or 40, or perhaps 50? And did he reign 2 years as the ASV tells us, or 22 years as the NEB says, or 32 as some NASBs have it, or was it perhaps the 42 of the NIV?

Not only do the NIV, ASV, NEB and NASB all contradict each other, but they also contradict Acts 13:21 where we are told that Saul reigned over Israel 40 years.

Dr. Daniel Wallace, of Dallas Theological Seminary, is creating his own personal bible version called the NET Bible. It frequently departs from the Hebrew texts. He has come up with a reading in 1 Samuel 13:1 that is even different than all the others.

His NET bible reads: "Saul was THIRTY (1- footnote) years old when he began to reign; he ruled over Israel for FORTY (2 - footnote) years."

Then in the footnote "today's most eminent textual scholar" tells us: The Hebrew Masoretic Text does not have “thirty.” A number appears to have dropped out of the Hebrew text here, since as it stands the MT (literally, “a son of a year”) must mean that Saul was only one year old when he began to reign! Although most LXX mss lack the entire verse, some Greek mss have “thirty years” here (while others have “one year”). The Syriac Peshitta has Saul’s age as twenty-one... The present translation (“thirty”) is a possible but admittedly uncertain proposal.

Regarding the change from "when he had reigned TWO years" to "he ruled over Israel for FORTY years", the good Doctor says: The MT has “two years” here. If this number is to be accepted as correct, the meaning apparently would be that after a lapse of two years at the beginning of Saul’s reign, he then went about the task of consolidating an army as described in what follows."

(Note: What a shocker! If we follow what the Hebrew text says, the King James reading is correct! But Dr. Wallace can't seem to accept this.) So he continues:

" But if the statement in v. 1 is intended to be a comprehensive report on the length of Saul’s reign, the number is too small. According to Acts 13:21 Saul reigned for forty years. The NIV, taking this forty to be a round number, adds it to the “two years” of the MT and translates the number in 2 Sam 13:1 as “forty-two years.” While this is an acceptable option, the present translation instead replaces the MT’s “two” with the figure “forty.” Admittedly the textual evidence for this decision is weak, but the same can be said of any attempt to restore sense to this difficult text. The Syriac Peshitta lacks this part of v. 1."

There you have it - the fevered ramblings of America's foremost Evangelical textual scholar. Small wonder that 85 % of the students in America's largest Evangelical seminary say they do not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture.

 Have some of God's words been lost or dropped out of the text? Or has God been faithful to His promises to preserve His words here on this earth till heaven and earth pass away?  Jesus said in Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." This is either a true statement or Jesus lied to us.  The modern version translators imply that the Lord Jesus Christ didn't really mean what He said.

  One of the members of the NIV translation committee has written a book called The Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties.  His name is Gleason Archer and his book is highly recommended by Hank Hanegraaff, 'the Bible answer man'.  Regarding this passage in 1 Samuel 13:1 Mr. Gleason tells us on page 171 "the Masoretic text has lost the number that must have been included in the original manuscript."  Gleason Archer goes on to tell us: "the REIGNED of the KJV is not justifiable, for the Hebrew text does not say "reigned" but "he became king".

Now this is interesting.  Here is a scholar telling us emphatically that "reigned" is not justifiable, yet the NASB has "reign" and has translated this same word as reign or reigned some 144 times and even his own NIV has translated this word malak as "reign or reigned" 117 times.

 Gleason Archer not only believes the numbers have been lost here in 1 Samuel 13 but also on page 39 of his book he tells us that 15 words have been lost in the Hebrew text of Psalms 145 that are restored to us in the Greek Old Testament version. 

The RSV, ESV, NIV and Holman Standard have added these 15 words to the Old Testament from the Greek LXX.  However, the Revised Version, the American Standard Version, the NASB and the NKJV have not added these extra words.  In Psalm 145:13 we read: "Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." 

The extra fifteen words that supposedly were lost but now are finally restored to us in the NIV, ESV and Holman are "The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made."  You won't find these added words even in the 1995 update version of the NASB, so I guess not all scholars share Mr. Gleason's views.  In fact, not even the other NIV translators apparently share his views either.  

In the very next chapter of 1 Samuel in verse14:41, Mr. Archer tells us on page 40 of his book that 26 Hebrew words have been passed over by the Jewish scribes but have been restored to us by way of the Greek LXX.  These 26 added words are found in the liberal RSV and in the brand new ESV versions, but not even the NIV or the Holman Standard include them. See how consistent these "latest findings" of modern scholarship are? If Mr. Archer is so fond of the Greek LXX, why did he not take note of the fact that the Greek Septuagint entirely omits 1 Samuel 13:1 altogether?  Thus he could have easily disposed of the whole problem by saying it never was part of the inspired text at all.  

It is a marvel to behold when a Bible corrector like the NIV's Gleason Archer writes a book telling us that some of God's words have been lost, but they are restored to us in some other version, though we shouldn't always follow that other version, and not even the rest of his fellow NIV translators adopt his conclusions. And this is a book recommended by Hank Hanegraaff, who himself uses the NASB, which differs from the NIV in hundreds of places.  Such is the confusion and unbelief foisted upon the Church by today's  "science of textual criticism.”

 So, how do we explain the passage in 1 Samuel 13:1?  Have God's words been lost in the shuffle, as Gleason Archer and Hank Hanegraaff tell us?  Absolutely not.  The King James Bible is 100% correct.  What the NASB, NIV translators missed here is a Hebrew idiom.  Nothing has been lost; it has been there all the time.

The Hebrew text in question translated in the KJB and many other versions as "ONE year" consists of two words, ben (Strong’s # 1121) and shanah (Strong’s #) 8141.  The "problem" is how the word ben is translated.  Hebrew words often have multiple meanings, depending on the context.  The NIV and NASB concordances tell us they have translated this one word as: "age, aliens, arrow, afflicted, beast, bought, child, bulls, calf, builders, breed, father, fellow, foal, fools, foreigner, grandchildren, heir, kids, lambs, low, man, mortal, nephew, offspring, old, ONE, ONE born, ONES, opening, overnight, people, scoundrels, son, troops, warriors, whelps, young, and youths."

  Both the NASB and the NIV have translated this same Hebrew word in other places just as it stands in the KJB's "ONE" year.  In Leviticus 12:6 we read: "she shall bring a lamb of the FIRST YEAR for a burnt offering.”  The NASB reads: " a ONE year old lamb,” the NIV "A year old lamb.”  In Exodus 29:38 "Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the alter; two lambs of the FIRST YEAR day by day continually."  The NASB has: "a lamb of the FIRST year" while the NIV has: " she is to bring A year old lamb.”

In 2 Samuel 17:10 the NASB reads: "Even the ONE (ben) who is valiant...will lose heart."  In Genesis 15:3 both the NASB and NIV read: "ONE (ben) born in my house is my heir."  The same thing occurs twice in Nehemiah 3:8 and 31 where the NASB, NIV have "ONE of the perfumers...ONE of the goldsmiths", and the NIV has "ONE of the wise men" in Isaiah 19:11.  Again, both the NASB and NIV translate this same word ben as ONES in Zechariah 4:14 "Then said he, These are the two anointed ONES, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth."

Other well known Bible commentators, who certainly are not King James Only, also agree with the KJB reading in 1 Samuel 13:1. Here is what a few of them have to say.

Matthew Henry

" But we take it rather, as our own translation has it, Saul reigned one year, and nothing happened that was considerable, it was a year of no action; but in his second year he did as follows -1. He chose a band of 3000 men, of whom he himself commanded 2000, and his son Jonathan 1000, v. 2. The rest of the people he dismissed to their tents."

Jamieson, Faussett & Brown

Saul reigned one year-- The transactions recorded in the eleventh and twelfth chapters were the principal incidents comprising the first year of Saul's reign; and the events about to be described in this happened in the second year.

John Gill

"The sense Ben Gersom gives is best of all, that one year had passed from the time of his being anointed, to the time of the renewal of the kingdom at Gilgal; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, then he did what follows, chose 3000 men. In the first year of his reign was done all that is recorded in the preceding chapter; and when he had reigned two years, not two years more, but two years in all, then he did what is related in this chapter."

So you see, God has not lost any of His words at all.  The modern bible translators set themselves up as the final authority and they want you to come to them, buy their books and their "bibles" so you too can doubt God's ability to preserve His inspired words.    No thank you, Mr. Archer.  I choose to believe God and His infallible words as found in the King James Bible.

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For those who object to this article

I understand that If I object to this article, that I need to take certain steps:

1. I need to clearly understand for myself what is the specific basis of my objection

2. I need to remember that other people cannot read my mind and may not understand what I have a problem with, and I will need to be patient in explaining my objection. 

3. I need to examine my own motives and decide what is pushing me or motivating me to respond about this article. If there is an issue of lack of accuracy, then I do need to bring this up.

But if the issue is that the article is accurate, then I need to understand how I should be responding to the parts that I already know and understand are true. 

4. I need to be wise, so that I do not use my own lack of knowledge, as the basis for objecting too fast. There are many questions and much documentation that can be provided to those who may object. If I have a problem I can ask for this documentation, but I need to be sure and ask myself just what I am placing my SECURITY in, as a fellow Christian.  

5. does the article upset me because it may be TRUE, and I am disturbed because I am finding that I have put my security in a Version of the Bible that either is NOT accurate or that was NOT accurately translated ?

6. does this mean that I may be in spiritual danger, and that I need to do much more research personally, for myself, and stop taking the word of some Pastors or leaders who are simply telling me NOT to worry about these issues, but to be warm and filled and go back to sleep ?

7. Do I need to undertand that even though some of these Pastors who "bless" all versions may have good intentions, that they may not have the gift of Biblical Discernment, and therefore they may not understand either their own need to do a great deal of personal research on this matter, so that they do not endanger the Congregation and individual Church members that they have been entrusted with ?

8. Is the church that I am going to either part of a denomination that now is Liberal or has turned its back on God or historic Christianity, or part of a group that is endorsing Unbliblical or Anti-Historic Practices such as Word of Faith or selling the Gospel by Trends such as using Church Consultants that are far more committed to Church NUMBER growth, and NOT the individual Spiritual Maturity of the Christians that are ALREADY there ?

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The Real Question is what are you going to do with the information that was presented in this article.

Is the Information True ?

Is the Information Accurate ?

Is the Information documented ?

Do I - before God - have a responsibility if I am a Christian to accept and act on the information in this article ?

Am I comfortable in the knowledge, that some leaders under the guise of clarifying the text of the Bible, are actually changing that text, and changing MY understanding of what God wants to share with me through His Holy Word, the Old Testament and the New Testament ?

Do I understand that these "small" changes number from the hundreds to the THOUSANDS depending on which Modern Versions I use, and that these changes serve to cut away the clarity and the specific understanding found in the Greek New Testament, that these new modern versions are preventing me from understanding ?

Do I understand that most of these new Modern Versions were not developed because there was a genuine need, but because the teams of Bible Translators were Hired by PUBLISHING companies who are eager to make a profit on the Word of God, which remains the Number ONE bestseller every week of every year, and that these Publishers decided to cash in ?

Do I understand that the problem was that if these Bible Adjusters and Correctors did NOT make the changes that they chose to, that they would not be able to claim copyright protection, and therefore they would not be able to make a financial Profit from their new versions ?

Do I understand that there are Spiritual Forces that want to prevent me from having GREATER spiritual understanding about God, but that God himself is always in MORE of a hurry than I am, for Me to get to know HIM ?

Do I realize what my personal state of preparation will be, within me, when Islam becomes the Dominant Religion in the United States, as it is already in Europe, and how I will personally be required to defend my Faith, by argument and persuasion, using knowledge of the Bible and of History and of Christianity, and that God will rightly hold me accountable because I am claiming to be His Child and a personal follower of Jesus Christ ?

In view of these facts, should I try to set aside more time for the study of the Word of God, and more time for the study of History and the true history of the Christian Church, and to learn about how other Christians in the past, actually learned to have and to gain GREAT spiritual strength ?

If no one reaches out to help prepare me for the coming challenges, whose job is it STILL for me to be prepared to answer these challenges and questions ?

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I Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
 

II Timothy 2: 15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
 

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