Is the NKJV the same as the KJB?
Is the NKJV the same as the KJB?
If you think the New KJV is the same as the 1611 King James Bible, but with more modern English, then I hope this little study will reveal to you that they are not at all the same in hundreds of verses. Both cannot equally be the perfect word of God at the same time when they are so different from each other.
Genesis 20:16 KJB - "Behold, HE IS TO THEE A COVERING OF THE EYES, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved." RV, ASV, Geneva, Spanish, Douay, Young's, Darby and others equal KJB.
Now that it is known to all that Abraham is Sarah's wife, others would not look upon Sarah as a potential mate. Her husband, Abraham, would in effect cause others to cover their eyes from looking upon Sarah in this way.
NKJV: "INDEED THIS VINDICATES YOU before all who are with you and before all others. Thus she was reproved. "
Genesis 49:6 KJB - "in their selfwill THEY DIGGED DOWN A WALL." Geneva Bible, 1936 Jewish, Douay, Hebrew Names Bible, Reina Valera 1602, Diodati, KJV 21, TMB, Webster's = KJB.
NKJV "in their self will THEY HAMSTRUNG AN OX."
Exodus 15:2 KJB - "The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I WILL PREPARE HIM AN HABITATION."
NKJV - "he is my God, and I WILL PRAISE HIM."
The NKJV reads like the RSV, NASB, NIV, ESV. See this site for a more in depth study as to why the KJB is right and the NKJV is not.
http://www.geocities.com/brandplucked/BibleBabel.html
1 Kings 10:28 KJB - "And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and LINEN YARN: the king's merchants received THE LINEN YARN at a price."
NKJV - "Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and KEVAH; the king's merchants bought them IN KEVAH at the current price."
Numbers 21:14: KJB - "Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, WHAT HE DID IN THE RED SEA, and in the brooks of Arnon,"
NKJV - "Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: WAHEB IN SUPHAH, The brooks of the Arnon."
1 Samuel 13:21 KJB - "YET THEY HAD A FILE for the mattocks...to sharpen the goads."
This is also the reading of the RV, ASV, Geneva, Lamsa, Young's, Webster's, TMB, KJV 21, Hebrew Names Version and others.
NKJV - "AND THE CHARGE FOR A SHARPENING WAS A PIM for the plowshares...and to set the points of the goads."
2 Samuel 14:14 KJB - "For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again: NEITHER DOTH GOD RESPECT ANY PERSON : yet he doth devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him."
NKJV - "Yet GOD DOES NOT TAKE AWAY LIFE; but He devises means..."
A clear contradiction. God does take away life. See 1 Sam. 2:6; 2 Sam. 6:7; 12:15; Deut. 32:39 and Luke 12:5.
1 Chronicles 4:10
The King James Bible says: "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from EVIL, THAT IT MAY NOT GRIEVE ME! And God granted him that which he requested."
The KJB reading is matched by the Jewish translations of 1917, 1936, Geneva Bible, Darby, RV, ASV, Green's interlinear, Douay, Spanish Reina Valera, Webster's 1833 translation, Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21st Century version.
However the NKJV says: "and that You would keep me from evil, that I MAY NOT CAUSE PAIN." (in italics, as though this word were not in the Hebrew). But it is in the Hebrew and the NKJV has changed the meaning of the verse.
The word to grieve is definitely in the text, contrary to the NKJV's italics. It is # 6087 and is used in Genesis 6:6. "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it GRIEVED him at his heart."
1 Chronicles 20:3 KJB - "And he brought out the people that were in it, and CUT THEM WITH SAWS, and with harrows of iron, and with axes."
NKJV - "And he brought out the people who were in it, and PUT THEM TO WORK with saws, with iron picks, and with axes."
Job 39:13 KJB - "GAVEST THOU THE GOODLY WINGS UNTO THE PEACOCKS? OR WINGS AND FEATHERS UNTO THE OSTRICH?"
NKJV - "THE WINGS OF THE OSTRICH WAVE PROUDLY, BUT ARE HER WINGS AND PINIONS LIKE THE KINDLY STORK?"
Job 40:23 KJB - "BEHOLD, HE DRINKETH UP A RIVER, AND HASTETH NOT."
NKJV - " INDEED THE RIVER MAY RAGE, YET HE IS NOT DISTURBED."
Psalms 4:4 KJB - "STAND IN AWE, and sin not."
This is even the reading of the RV, ASV and others. Even the NASB has "Tremble, and sin not", but the NKJV joins the LXX and the NIV and says: "BE ANGRY, and do not sin."
Psalm 7:4 KJB - "YEA, I HAVE DELIVERED HIM THAT WITHOUT CAUSE IS MINE ENEMY."
NKJV - "OR HAVE I PLUNDERED MY ENEMY WITHOUT CAUSE"
Psalm 10:3 KJB - "He blesseth the covetous, WHOM THE LORD ABHORRETH"
NKJV - "He blesses the greedy AND RENOUNCES THE LORD."
Psalm 12:5 KJB - "I will set him in safety FROM HIM THAT PUFFETH AT HIM."
Even the NIV says: "I will protect them from those who malign them" but the NKJV says: "I will set him in safety FOR WHICH HE YEARNS."
Psalm 36:2 KJB - "For he flattereth himself in his own eyes UNTIL HIS INIQUITY BE FOUND TO BE HATEFUL."
NKJV - "For he flatters himself in his own eyes WHEN HE FINDS OUT HIS INIQUITY AND WHEN HE HATES."
Psalm 37:20 KJB - "the enemies of the LORD SHALL BE AS THE FAT OF LAMBS: they shall consume."
NKJV - "the enemies of the LORD, LIKE THE SPLENDOR OF THE MEADOWS, shall vanish."
Psalm 56:12 KJB - "THY VOWS ARE UPON ME, O God." God made the vows.
NKJV - "VOWS MADE TO YOU ARE BINDING UPON ME, O God." Man made the vows.
Psalm 68:16 KJB - "WHY LEAP YE, YE HIGH HILLS?"
NKJV - "WHY DO YOU FUME WITH ENVY, YOU MOUNTAINS OF MANY PEAKS?"
Psalm 76:10 KJB - "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: THE REMAINDER OF WRATH SHALT THOU RESTRAIN."
NKJV - "WITH the remainder of wrath YOU SHALL GIRD YOURSELF."
Proverbs 3:4 KJB - "Write them upon thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and GOOD UNDERSTANDING"
NKJV - "and so find favor and HIGH ESTEEM"
Proverbs 8:30 KJB - "Then I was by him, AS ONE BROUGHT UP WITH HIM: and I was daily his delight."
NKJV - "Then I was beside Him AS A MASTER CRAFTSMAN."
Proverbs 16:10 KJB - "A DIVINE SENTENCE is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment."
NKJV - "EVEN THOUGH DIVINATION is on the lips of the king his mouth MUST not transgress in judgment."
Proverbs 18:1 KJB - "THROUGH DESIRE A MAN, HAVING SEPARATED HIMSELF, SEEKETH AND INTERMEDDLETH WITH ALL WISDOM."
The 1599 Geneva Study Bible notes: 18:1 Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh [and] intermeddleth with all wisdom.
He who loves wisdom will separate himself from all impediments, and give himself wholly to seek it.
NKJV - "A MAN WHO ISOLATES HIMSELF SEEKS HIS OWN DESIRE; HE RAGES AGAINST ALL WISE JUDGMENT."
Proverbs 19:18 KJB - "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and LET NOT THY SOUL SPARE FOR HIS CRYING."
NKJV - "Chasten your son while there is hope, AND DO NOT SET YOUR HEART ON HIS DESTRUCTION."
Proverbs 19:27 KJB - "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction THAT CAUSETH TO ERR FROM the words of knowledge."
NKJV - "Cease LISTENING TO INSTRUCTION, my son, AND YOU WILL STRAY FROM the words of knowledge."
Proverbs 29:24 KJB - "Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: HE HEARETH CURSING, AND BEWRAYETH IT NOT."
NKJV - "Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life: HE SWEARS TO TELL THE TRUTH BUT REVEALS NOTHING."
Ecclesiastes 4:16 "There is no end of all the people, EVEN OF ALL THAT HAVE BEEN BEFORE THEM: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit."
Here the NIV, RV, ASV, Holman Standard, Geneva Bible and the NASB all say the same thing as the King James Bible with it's "even of all that have been before them" but the NKJV says: "There was no end of all the people OVER WHOM HE WAS MADE KING: Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him." The NKJV reading is not at all what the Hebrew text says.
Isaiah 66:5 KJB - "Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: BUT HE SHALL APPEAR TO YOUR JOY, and they shall be ashamed."
NKJV -"Let the LORD be glorified, THAT WE MAY SEE YOUR JOY. But they shall be ashamed." The NKJV changed the subject of the sentence. And what happened to the second coming of the Lord in this verse?
Lamentations 1:7 "the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her SABBATHS."
Here the NKJV seriously departs from the meaning found in the KJB, and by its footnote implies the KJB has followed the wrong texts. The NKJV joins the RSV and Holman Standard and says "the adversaries saw her and mocked at her DOWNFALL." Then in a footnote tells us "The Vulgate reads her Sabbaths", implying that the KJB translators followed the Latin Vulgate rather than the Hebrew texts. The NIV has "her destruction" and the NASB "her ruin."
The Hebrew word here rendered as "sabbaths" is #4868 and it comes from the verb meaning to rest or to keep Sabbath. It is used in Genesis 2:2 "and he RESTED on the seventh day from all his work which he had made" and in 2 Chronicles 36:21 "for as long as she lay desolate SHE KEPT SABBATH, to fulfill threescore and ten years." Even the NKJB reads the same in these passages.
Not only does the King James Bible read "and did mock at her SABBATHS" but so also do the Geneva Bible, Bishops' Bible, Coverdale, Rotherham's Emphasized Bible, the Spanish Reina Valera 1909, Webster's, Douay, and the Third Millenium Bible.
Hosea 13:14
One of the most beautiful verses in Hosea has been destroyed by many modern versions. In the KJB, RV, ASV , Darby, Geneva, Young, 1917, 1936 Hebrew-English versions, and the Spanish of 1909 we read in Hosea 13:14 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death; O death, I will be thy plagues; O Grave, I will be thy destruction, REPENTANCE shall be hid from mine eyes."
In other words, God has promised to destroy death and He will not change His mind nor alter His purpose. Every commentator I looked up had basically the same understanding of this beautiful passage. John Gill comments:" repentance shall be hid from mine eyes; that is, the Lord will never repent of his decree of redemption from hell, death, and the grave; nor of the work of it by Christ; nor of the entire destruction of these things; which being once done, will never be repented of nor recalled, but remain so for ever."
BUT, instead of "repentance shall be hid from mine eyes" the NKJV has "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction. PITY is hidden from My eyes."
Matthew 7:14 KJB - "Because strait is the gate and NARROW is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
NKJV - "Because narrow is the gate and DIFFICULT is the way which leads to life".
The way is narrow but easy to enter, not difficult. We enter by simple faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Not even the NIV, NASB read as does the NKJV here.
Matthew 12:40 KJB - "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the WHALE'S belly: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
The word is clearly WHALE and is so rendered in Tyndale, Geneva, the RV, ASV, RSV, Spanish, Diodati, Wycliff, Webster's, TMB, KJV 21 and the World English Bible.
NKJV - "three days and three nights in the belly of THE GREAT FISH", the NASB says it was a "SEA MONSTER"!
Acts 17:22 KJB - "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are TOO SUPERSTITIOUS."
NKJV - "Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are VERY RELIGIOUS;"
1 Corinthians 15:33 KJB - "Be not deceived. EVIL COMMUNICATIONS CORRUPT GOOD MANNERS." The evil communications or words are the false doctrine referred to in verse 12 "How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?"
NKJV - "Be not deceived. EVIL COMPANY corrupts GOOD HABITS." A popular saying but not what God wrote in His word.
2 Cor. 2:17 KJB - "For we are not as many, which CORRUPT the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ."
NKJV "For we are not, as so many, PEDDLING the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ."
Phillipians 2:6 KJB - "Who, being in the form of God, THOUGHT IT NOT ROBBERY TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD."
NKJV 1979 edition "Who, being in the form of God, DID NOT CONSIDER EQUALITY WITH GOD SOMETHING TO BE GRASPED."
Compare the phrase "The black man thought it not robbery to be equal with the white man" with "The black man did not consider equality with the white man something to be grasped." Not the same meaning at all.
Hebrews 3:16 KJB - "FOR SOME, WHEN THEY HAD HEARD, DID PROVOKE; HOWBEIT NOT ALL THAT came out of Egypt by Moses." Notice it is a statement and Caleb and Joshua did not provoke but believed God.
NKJV - "FOR WHO, HAVING HEARD, REBELLED? INDEED, WAS IT NOT ALL WHO CAME OUT OF EGYPT, led by Moses?" Two questions and the answer would be Yes, all provoked. A clear contradiction.
2 Peter 3:12 KJB - "Looking for and HASTING UNTO the coming of the day of God.". Our lives are quickly over and we hasten towards that coming day. We can not speed up God's timetable. The times and the seasons the Father hath put in His own power. See Acts 1:7; Daniel 2:21 "He changeth the times and the seasons."
NKJV - "looking for and HASTENING THE COMING of the day of God." Wrongly teaches that we can do something to speed up this coming day, which has already been appointed and marked on the calendar by God Himself.
See
http://www.geocities.com/brandplucked/hastingunto.html for an in depth study of this verse showing why the NKJV is wrong.
Revelation 19:8 KJB - "And to her (the Lamb's wife) was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and WHITE, for the fine linen IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF SAINTS."
The white linen is the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 61:10 "He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness."
NKJV - "And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and BRIGHT, for the fine linen IS THE RIGHTEOUS ACTS of the saints."
If your "righteous acts" make up your fine linen, it will be soiled, tattered and skimpy to be sure.
These are just a very few of the hundreds of very real differences between the New KJV and the true King James Bible. Don't be fooled by a poor imitation.
Will Kinney