This article is part of a series on the changing meaning of English words and its impact on the King James Only debate. To see the introduction to this series, click The King James Version and the changing use of words.
The definitions of many words change over time. Terms that meant one thing even a few generations ago may now mean something completely different. These changes can impact how we read, understand, and apply older English writings without our even realizing that we are misunderstanding what the author meant. The KJV is no exception. Its translators used the words that made the most sense in their own day, but some of those words carried a range of meanings back then that have dropped out of use today, even while the word itself remains in use. For an example of this, let’s consider the word “bowels.”
The bowels of the Saints are refreshed
Today, we have one clear definition of the word “bowels.” Our bowels are our intestines or other related organs in our digestive track. Thus, Paul’s words to Philemon seem a bit…odd:
“For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother,” (Philemon 1:7, KJV).
Paul similarly writes a few verses later:
“Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord,” (Philemon 1:12, KJV).
What exactly was Philemon doing for the saints when he “refreshed” their bowels? What was Paul requesting Philemon do for him as well? If you’re not familiar with older idioms, the language just seems weird and not at all clear. The fact is, the term “bowels” used to be used for the inner self or the seat of human emotions, much the way that the “heart” is used today. The heart is literally a muscular organ that pumps blood through our bodies. Idiomatically, however, we speak of the “heart” as our emotional center or our soul. In other words, we use “heart” today the way that previous generations used “bowels.” Thus, most modern translations render these verses:
“…the hearts of the saints have been refreshed…” (NASB, see also ESV, NIV, NKJV, CSB, MEV).
“…refresh my heart…” (NASB, see also ESV, NIV, NKJV, CSB, MEV).
Philemon was known for providing an inner refreshment to the saints, a ministry to the soul. This is what was meant by “the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee.”
Your WHAT were moved?
Similarly, a “bowel movement” today is an episode of defecation. It means to expel feces from the bowels. Thus, the expression does not seem at all fitting in the romantic poetry between Solomon and his bride, where we read:
“My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him,” (Song of Solomon 5:4, KJV).
Today, this would perhaps mean that he made me sick to my stomach. His arrival made me want to use the restroom. This is quite different, indeed rather opposite, the meaning the author intended to convey. Since the “bowels” were once an idiom for the seat of the emotion, the expression that “my bowels were moved for him” would have once conveyed the idea of great excitement and affection. Today, however, it comes closer to expressing disgust or revulsion. Thus, more recent translations opt to express the phrase as:
“…my feelings were aroused…” (NASB, see also CSB, NET).
“…my heart was thrilled…” (ESV, see also NIV, NKJV, MEV).
These are really saying the same thing, but these latter examples are saying it in words that make sense today while the former made sense in 1611 but now means something completely different.
He that shall come forth out of thine own bowels
Even outside of these more figurative expressions, the meaning of the word has narrowed. The literal, physical meaning of bowels was once much broader, referring to one’s innards in general rather than specifically and only the organs concerned with digestion and defecation. Thus, we find expression like:
“And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir,” (Genesis 15:4, KJV).
To say that a child would “come forth out of thine own bowels” did not conjure the awkward and uncomfortable image it does today. It simply means that the child would come from your own body, would be your own flesh and blood. What is inside you will produce the child. Likewise, we read:
“And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger,” (Genesis 25:23, KJV).
Again, that they would be separated from her bowels simply meant that they would come from inside her body, not that they would pass through her digestive tract. So, not only did the word bowels carry a figurative meaning that it no longer does, even its literal meaning was far more general than our specific, medical definition of today. Thus, in most passages, “bowels” is no longer the clearest and most precise translation.
