Thanks again all for your wisdom and Biblical version references. I swear I don't know why I'm giving contributions to the church. I should be sending you guys and gals the money instead. I'm getting more Biblical teaching here than anywhere else.
lutherangirl said:Thanks again all for your wisdom and Biblical version references. I swear I don't know why I'm giving contributions to the church. I should be sending you guys and gals the money instead. I'm getting more Biblical teaching here than anywhere else.
Mark C said:I'll try to ignore that last, Michelle...
(I could put my standard Savior-line in and say, "they have their reward". :lol: )
The NKJV is a good readable version, widely available as well. I found a new study Bible that I really like which calls itself "ER-KJV", for "enhanced readability". They took out the "thees" and "thous", changed "causeth" to "causes", and so on, and in general just made a "better" NKJV for those who remember the original "poetry" of the KJV.
There are lots of good alternatives to the NIV, in other words.
Blessings,
Mark
1. There are no papyri that attest to this portion of the chapter in Matthew. All manuscripts support for this part of Matthew comes 300 years or more after the its original writing.
2. Disagreement among the earliest attestations of this variant support the idea that a corruption occurred very early in the history of the manuscripts.
3. Origen’s use of the variant again demonstrates early evidence for its presence.
4. The Diatessaron, being a gospel harmony, provides sparce support for this verse in Matthew.
5. The quotes from the early fathers may have been from Mark [9] or from the Diatessaron or from the early corruption and don’t necessarily provide support for its inclusion in Matthew. Their use needs to be critically examined.
...simply looking at the total number of words is meaningless because the language between the KJV and the NIV are so different – one is 17th Century English and the other is 20th Century English. Words, phrases and concepts which meant one thing to a 17th Century reader often mean something totally different to a 20th Century reader. What does “suffer little children to come unto me” mean to you? Do you want the children to only come to Jesus if they are in pain or suffering? Or maybe they come to Jesus so they will suffer? I don’t think so. The KJV says in Luke 18:16...
Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God.
While the NIV says:
Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Which renders the verse ‘best’? At least the NIV makes sense to a modern reader!
But modern Bibles can be just as ‘wrong’ as older versions. In John 2:1 the NIV says:
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there...
and the KJV says:
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there...
But what does this mean? Did it take Jesus three days to walk to Cana? If so, from where? The translation is ‘wrong’ in a modern English sense because, in many cultures (specially Greek), days of the week are numbered so “the third day” simply means “Tuesday” (the first day of the week is Sunday). A sensible modern translation would be “On Tuesday a wedding took place...”
Matthew 17:21
KJV
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
NIV
16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
17 "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me."
18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
21
Comments about this “omission”:
Verse 21 in the KJV was most likely added by a copyist to qualify the explanation that Jesus gave as to why He could cast out the demon and the Apostles could not. Whereas Jesus simply said they needed faith, the copyist obviously didn't think that this was enough and added the comment that you needed prayer and fasting as well. Reading the text, in context, clearly shows that this verse was added later and was most unlikely to have been in the original. Verse 22 starts a new teaching so verse 21 was the final verse in what Jesus was saying about faith. Typically, added verses are placed at the end of a discourse, not in the middle of one.