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 meaning of a word often changes over the course of time. Many words that once meant one thing are now used to mean something else entirely. These changes affect the way we read older writings. Seeing words that we are familiar with, we generally assume those words meant then about what they mean now. When the words have actually changed in meaning, we read the sentence incorrectly without even realizing it. Because it seems to make sense, we have no reason to look up the history of the word to see if there might be some archaic meaning used here. We just keep on reading, having walked away with the wrong understanding of the sentence and not even knowing it. This happens to modern readers of the KJV just as it does to modern readers of any other 17th-century text. Take, for example, the word “honest.”
Honest in the sight of all men
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, we read:
“Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men,” (Romans 12:17, KJV).
The sentence is a bit odd to our modern eyes, but we seem to get the gist of it. It’s telling us two things: 1). Don’t retaliate with evil when someone does something evil to you, and 2). tell the truth to everyone. This seems clear enough and is certainly good, biblical advice, so we move on. The problem is, we have just misread the second clause. Today, the word “honest” is directly and specifically related to telling the truth. In the 17th century, however, it had a broader meaning, indicating the wider qualities of “honorable” or “commendable.” Where the KJV reads “things honest,” the much older John Wycliffe Bible reads “good things.” Modern translators variously render the clause as:
“…Respect what is right in the sight of all men,” (NASB).
“…give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all,” (ESV, see also CSB).
“…Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone,” (NIV).
“…Have regard for good things in the sight of all men,” (NKJV).
The passage is not about honesty, in the contemporary sense of “truth-telling.” It is also not about “providing” something in the sense of furnishing some gift or substance to all men. This old expression is actually concerned with doing what is honorable and good in the sight of all men, which is not at all what it seems to say to us today. The translation is not wrong. In 1611, those were the right words. But the English language has changed so much since then that the sentence no longer makes clear sense to us today.
What sort of men?
Similarly, in the Book of Acts, we read regarding the calling of the seven:
“Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business,” (Acts 6:3, KJV).
What does it mean that the men must be of “honest report”? Does it mean that the reports we have heard about the men must be honest? You certainly wouldn’t want to choose someone based on lies, but the verse seems to be saying something more than just that you have to have accurate information about the men. A man could be a total scoundrel and someone could give you an honest report that he is, indeed, a total scoundrel. The report is honest, but it is hardly a commendation of the man.
Perhaps the verse is saying that you must have a report that the men themselves are honest. They must have a clear reputation of being truthful people. It should be well known and reported that they are trustworthy, not liars. This makes a bit more sense but is still wrong. It again falls into the error of reading modern usage back into a historic text. As noted above, honest meant honorable. They must be men of “honorable report,” or, as the old Wycliffe Bible put it, men of “good fame.” There must be public testimony that they are men of character. Modern translations thus render it:
“…men of good reputation…” (NASB, NKJV, CSB).
“…men of good repute…” (ESV).
This is, in reality, the very same thing that the KJV is saying. Yet, because we have a far narrower meaning for the word “honest” today, we may miss the broader-reaching point that the verse is making about these men.
