What are the Pure Words
What are the pure words of God? The KJV Onlyist claim that the English KJV-1769 Bible are the “pure words of God”. They cite Psalm 12:6-7 as proof that the KJV-1769 is the true and preserved pure word of God.
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Psalms 12:6-7 KJV
There are corrections and updates, mostly regarding spelling, from the KJV-1611 original translation until today’s commonly used KJV-1769. According to Blue Letter Bible the probable date this Psalm was composed is 1015 BC. If we allow the 1611 original or the 1769 commonly used translation as the “pure words” of God we have a question to ask.
Where were the “pure words” of God that were preserved for the 2,784 years before the KJV-1769, or the 2,626 years before the KJV-1611?
More than 25 Centuries?
Are we to believe that God waited for over 2,500 years before His pure Words were recorded for men (and women) to read?
If we are to believe that the very English word, word for word, is God’s pure word, how was it preserved over all those generations?
Original Text not the Word?
If the KJV Onlyist assertion is correct, why does that not apply to the original text? It would have been written in Hebrew not in English. We have the text, as it was when Jesus read from the Tanakh (Old Testament).
So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
Luke 4:16-17 NKJV
The book of Isaiah was discovered in 1947 in the Qumran caves. It is one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls. This scroll dates to 125 BC. That is 125 years before Jesus stood up in synagogue and read from it.
Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, every book in the Tanakh have been recovered save one. The one that is missing is Esther. All of the others, including Psalms have been discovered.
They have been compared with the Tanakh that has been handed down over the years. There is virtually no difference between the Hebrew that existed 125 years before Jesus and the Hebrew text we have in hand today.
We, therefore, now know that we do have the Hebrew text that was handed down to us as it was in the days of Jesus.
What Jesus did not say
Jesus read from Isaiah chapter 11, and
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:20-21 NKJV
Jesus did not address that this was not the “pure words of God”. He did not say we need to wait for this to be translated into English. He did not say we need to have this translated into the Aramaic. He did not say anything except,
“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus Knew
Jesus knew if this was or was not the “pure words of God” he was reading. Not only did he know he was reading from the pure words of God, he was pronouncing the very truth of its prophetic nature and its stamp of approval upon His ministry.
The Original Text
The original text of Psalm 12 was in the Hebrew, the very same Hebrew Jesus used to pronounce His arrival as Messiah. That text is:
אמרות יהוה אמרות טהרות כסף צרוף בעליל לארץ מזקק שׁבעתים׃
אתה־יהוה תשׁמרם תצרנו מן־הדור זו לעולם׃
Psalm 12:6-7 [7-8]
Are the Pure Words of God Hebrew?
At this time we are going to leave some questions which we hope will stir some thoughts.
Does God speak in Hebrew?
Does God think in Hebrew?
Are the Words of God Hebrew?
השער 