NEW YORK, May 2, 2011 /
Christian Newswire/ -- On the 400th anniversary of the King James Version (KJV), Bible scholar Dr. Joel M. Hoffman today called the famous Bible edition the "fool's-gold standard" of translation, arguing that "the King James Version is monumentally inaccurate."
Hoffman, a published expert in Bible translation, made the claim earlier today on his popular
Bible-translation blog.
Hoffman admits that he likes the KJV, recognizing its "value historically, politically, [and] sentimentally."
But he also suggests two reasons that the KJV is now inaccurate: First, English has changed over 400 years, minimizing the value of some of the translations in the KJV. Secondly, the science of translation has improved in the 400 years since the KJV was written, so modern translators are better able to understand and convey the ancient languages of the Bible.
Hoffman compared the KJV to an ancient map, ending with the admonition that "those who would navigate the Bible solely with this 400-year-old translation journey in perils."
ABOUT DR. HOFFMAN
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman, a frequent guest lecturer at churches and synagogues, has held faculty appointments at Brandeis University and at Hebrew Union College, and lectured at universities on four continents. He is the author of And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible's Original Meaning (2010, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press) and In The Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language (2004, NYU Press), and the chief translator for the 10-volume series My People's Prayer Book (winner of the National Jewish Book Award). He also moderates the popular Bible-translation blog "God Didn't Say That."
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