05/09/2026
ANOTHER REASON WHY I’ll stick with the King James Bible.
Critics will sometimes say that the KJB is “hard to read” because there are a few unfamiliar words that are no longer commonly used today. To that I would say, the Bible was written for ACCURACY, not for “familiarity.”
As an example, most of the modern translations use the English word “slave” extensively (although it only occurs twice in the KJB). This does not mean the KJB obscures the evils of slavery – both KJB references are used in a negative context, particularly Revelation 18:13 which refers to what we still call “human trafficking.”
Instead, the extensive use of “slave” in the new versions is an ERROR in translating the original meaning and historical practice of those who have failed financially, then become indentured servants in order to pay off their bad debts.
As we can see from the passage below, a hired “servant” is quite a different thing from a “slave” (bondservant, or servant in bonds). A servant earns “hire” and for a limited term (sojourner). What is “sold” is the value of their debt, not the value of their soul as a person.
At the end of seven years, or in the year of jubilee – the servant was declared free of his debts. In other words, this was a voluntary arrangement for someone to work their way out of the trap of poverty and failed obligations - while being cared for under the hospitality of a benefactor.
It should be noted that this practice of “indentured servitude” was a common practice throughout Europe and North America until very recent times. It was absolutely NOT the same as someone being captured and forced into service under the abusive terms of slavery. As it happens, CANADA was the LAST jurisdiction to abolish the system of indentured servitude in 1917.
You can think what you want of this system of working out your debts, but we still use the span of “seven years” to end bankruptcy to this day! This reflects the practice detailed in [Deuteronomy 15:11-14] where God notes that there will always be “poor” in every society, but if you buy their debt under this agreement – they will go out FREE in the 7th year. Furthermore, God told them not to send them away at the end of their term empty-handed, but rather to furnish them with a liberal provision, so that they had a fresh start.
When modern Bible translations mistakenly use the English word “slave” throughout the Bible, it causes confusion to modern readers (particularly those who think of slavery in terms of the horrific African slave trade). This latter type of true slavery was never something endorsed by the Bible, and God consistently cautioned the Jewish people to NOT treat people that way because THEY THEMSELVES were slaves in Egypt (where THEY were made to serve with rigour and in bo***ge).
I’ll stick with the King James Bible because it is reliably accurate – even if it means we need to expand our vocabulary a bit in order to precisely understand what God is saying.
