THOSE
DREADFUL ITALICS
By a Pastor
Another objection
frequently raised against the Authorized Version is that its translators added
words. The critic will point to the italicized words in the King James Bible and
the babe-in- Christ stares at them with a mixture of dread, embarrassment, and
unbelief "To think the book I trusted has been toyed with," comes the thought
of doubt, sown as skillfully as it was in Eden.> First, there are
words in the Authorized Version which are not found in the Hebrew and Greek texts.
In fact, there are over 773,670 of them. Apart from an occasional allelujah,
cumi or Apollyon, none of the words in an English Bible are found in
the scriptures of any Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic manuscripts. Second,
we have translations because languages are different. I'm not trying to be insulting,
but we live in a generation that does not know how to think logically. Since languages
are different one must use different words in one language to make the EXACT statement
contained in another language. Failure to use the necessary words would result
in an interpretation or a paraphrase, but not a translation. For example:
I go to Mexico for a visit. I forget my toothbrush. Needing one to maintain relationships
1 go down to the corner store. I ask for a "cepillo de dientes." I need three
words in Spanish to say the very same thing which one word covers in English.
1 am accurately translating. Whenever the translators of the Authorized
Version met with such a situation, they put the words in italics. This consent
to absolute honesty stands as one of the great arguments for the A.V.
text and the integrity of its translators. All versions must make such
"additions" in order to bring a manuscript from one language to another.
The producers of the new Bibles not only fail to identify such places in
their work, but, by pointing scornfully to the italicized words in the A.V., imply
that they did not use such methods. Naughty, naughty!
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