KJV and the Only Personal Name of God

KJV and the Only Personal Name of God

This was written primarily for those who believe the King James Version is the infallible, perfect word of God (and for those who wish to discuss it with them).

There are numerous problems with the accuracy of the KJV translation. For examples see the 1 John 5:7 study, and 1 Tim. 3:16 in the MINOR study.

This study however will concentrate on Ps. 83:18 in the KJV and the actual personal name of God.

1. The Hebrew text used by the King James translators is known as the Bomberg (or the Ben Chayyim) text. It may be found here online:

https://www.areopage.net/PDF/BibliaSacra.pdf  


Remember to read from right to left in Hebrew!

 Psalms p. 1055 - Ps. 83:16-18 (Ps. 83:17 - 19 in Hebrew text) YHWH  - :17 (last word) and :19 (next to last word in first line of :19)

Psalm 83:16-18 in the IB:

“Fill their faces with shame, and they will seek Your name, O Jehovah. Let them be ashamed and terrified forever; yea, let them be confounded and perish. And let them know - Your name (is) Jehovah - that You alone (are) the Most High over the whole earth.

2. This text used by the KJV translators contains the name YHWH (יהוה Strong's H3068) in Hebrew characters thousands of times.

3. The Most High God declares that his name is YHWH many times in this text.

4. The KJV translators 'translated' this name as ‘LORD’ (all-capitals) in nearly all of its thousands of occurrences in the Bomberg text.

5. In several places, however, these translators rendered it as ‘Jehovah.’

6. Probably the most important of these is found at Psalm 83:18 in the KJV (which is actually Ps. 83:19 in the Bomberg text used by the KJV translators).

7. Here is how Ps. 83:16-18 reads in the KJV:

“16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

“17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

“18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.” (Boldfacing added)

8. Notice how the name YHWH in the Hebrew texts (including the Bomberg text used by the KJV translators) as found in verse :16 (:17 in the Bomberg text) is translated in the KJV: “LORD.”

9. The actual word in Hebrew used for “Lord” and applied to God is “adonai” (ADNI in Hebrew characters). YHWH is an entirely different word, a personal name which means something like “He Will Be.” It is the only personal name that God tells us to use for him. And this is exactly what the ‘infallible’ KJV tells us in verse :18 (:19) - “…thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.”

10. Those who believe the KJV is entirely accurate must believe that ‘Jehovah’ is the only name for the Most High God. There should be no argument by them that it is mistranslated, mispronounced or should be ‘Yahweh’ or similar transliterations.

11. More important, it becomes obvious that the usual translation of YHWH in the KJV as ‘LORD’ (ADNI in Hebrew) is a serious mistranslation! OR, the translation of YHWH as JEHOVAH in several verses is a serious mistranslation! Either way, the KJV has seriously mistranslated and is certainly not infallible.

12. Although still not infallible, the American Standard Version (ASV) uses the KJV’s Elizabethan English but has corrected the thousands of uses of YHWH in the Hebrew text from the ‘LORD’ of most of the KJV verses to ‘Jehovah.’ The Divine Name KJB has done the same - http://www.dnkjb.net/

13. How can we possibly consider the KJV to be infallible (or even the best Bible available)?