written to King James, they state that their translation was from "the original sacred

tongues, together with comparing of the labours, both in our own and other foreign

languages, of many worthy men who went before us, there should be one more exact

translation of the holy Scriptures into the English tongue".

It should be noted that they did not claim infallibility, but that their work should be

more exact. Infallibility was kept for the original sacred Scriptures alone and in this they

were undoubtedly correct. Their translation was itself a revision of English versions that

went back to Wyclif in the late fourteenth century and to Tyndale and his successors from

1525 onwards. John Wyclif's work was the first translation of the whole Bible into

English and he was the most eminent theologian of his day. The later version of Tyndale

greatly influenced the A.V. translators. Professor J. Isaacs writes "Tyndale's honesty,

sincerity, and scrupulous integrity, his simple directness, his magical simplicity of phrase,

his modest music, have given an authority to his wording that has imposed itself on all

later versions . . . . . nine tenths of the Authorized New Testament is still Tyndale, and the

best is still his". How grateful we should be to the Lord for raising up such faithful men

so that we can read the Word of God in our own language!

We now propose to note some of the archaic and obsolete English in the A.V. and

seek to give the modern equivalent.

ADMIRE, ADMIRATION.  These words in the seventeenth century simply meant

wonder or astonishment without any thought of praise or approval that they have today.

Thomas Fuller, the church historian, writing in 1639, said of Mohammedanism that it was

`admirable how that senseless religion should gain so much ground on Christianity', by

which he meant that this fact was amazing. In no sense did he mean that this was a good

things. He also told of a Cardinal Pole delivering "a dry sermon . . . . . many much

admiring his discourse", that is, they were astonished at its poverty. The Apostle John in

Rev. 17: 6, according to the A.V., states, after giving a graphic description of the

antichristian harlot in verses 3-5, "and I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the

saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with

great admiration". Now it cannot be that John admired or approved of this symbol of

iniquity in the modern sense of the word, but rather that he was astonished at what he

ADVERTISE.  This word appears twice in the A.V., namely Numb. 24: 14 and

Ruth 4: 4. In the former Balaam tells Balak "I will advertise thee what this people shall

do to thy people in the latter days". This word in 1611 meant simply to inform without

any idea of wide public notice. Balaam is saying, "I will let you know". In Ruth 4: 4

the statement of Boaz to Ruth's kinsman "I thought to advertise thee", was not a threat to