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.

Over time, the meaning and usage of words change. Not only do some words drop out of use and new words come into being, but perhaps more importantly, words change in their very definitions while remaining in use. Words that meant one thing even a few generations ago may now mean something completely different in present-day English. These changes can impact how we read, understand, and apply older English writings without our even realizing that we are misunderstanding what the author or translator meant. There are, for example, many such passages in the KJV, where words are used that carried one sense in 1611 but carry a quite different sense today. For an example of this, let’s consider the word “quick.”

Go down quick into Hell

We still use the word “quick” quite frequently today. It means “fast, swift, or rapid in pace.” We use it in moments as dire as “Quick, call an ambulance!” or as mundane as at a restaurant, where we might say, “man, our food got here quick!” It’s not quite as common as it’s synonym “fast,” but it is well established as a part of our everyday vocabulary. So the meaning seems clear to us when we arrive at a verse like:

“Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them,” (Psalm 55:15).

This curse seems to desire that the people in view be brought swiftly into hell. Yet, that is not quite what the author actually had in mind. You see, in older days (such as in 1611) the word “quick” could be used in another way. It was not necessarily a reference to speed. The word was often used as a reference to life. Indeed, that was originally its primary sense. Thus, the Psalmist here is not saying “let them go down really fast,” but rather, “let them go down alive,” which is the way that most modern translators render it.

Perhaps the most iconic instance of this is in the story of the rebellion of Korah in the book of Numbers, where we are told:

“But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord,” (Numbers 16:30, KJV).

While they probably did descend rather rapidly into the pit that opened beneath them, that is not what the author is saying here. Again, it is actually stating that they fell down alive into the pit. This is precisely what the KJV translators meant. They did not get their translation wrong. They simply used a word that meant something back then that it no longer means today.

The what and the dead?

Another place this can be seen is in the common pairing in the KJV of the “quick” and the dead. We see this phrase in places like:

“And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead,” (Acts 10:42).

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom,” (2 Timothy 4:1).

“Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead,” (1 Peter 4:5).

Between the language of the KJV and classic translations of the “apostles’ creed,” I have heard this phrase much of my life. Honestly, for the longest time, I thought it was meant to contrast the dead with the swift and athletic, perhaps as representative of those in all the youthful vigor of the prime of life. It was a bit poetic, but it seemed to make sense. The fact of the matter is, however, that the phrase is much simpler and more straightforward than that. In 1611, “the quick” simply meant “the living.” At His appearing, Jesus Christ will judge the living and the dead. This is, again, the way the vast majority of translations today phrase it, and rightly so. The meaning of the term “quick” has narrowed. It was a fine translation for “living” in 17th-century England, but the changing language has altered its meaning.

Quick flesh?

Even once we get a handle on the fact that “quick” can sometimes mean “alive” or “living” in the KJV, some passages present a bit of difficulty. Take, for example, a passage from Leviticus regarding a potentially infectious wound:

“Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white,” (Leviticus 13:24, KJV).

What is meant here by the “quick” flesh? It seems clear to us that it isn’t talking about the velocity of the flesh. Yet, “living flesh” or “alive flesh” don’t quite seem to make sense either. Is it focusing on the “living” flesh in contrast to other “dead” flesh on the person? And what would that mean? The fact is, “quick” or “living” flesh is being used somewhat idiomatically here. The flesh is “alive” in the sense that it is especially reactive to pain or pressure. It is tender. Thus, most translations today render this phrase as “the raw flesh” to capture this meaning.

Quick understanding?

Similarly, we come to verses like:

“And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears,” (Isaiah 11:3, KJV).

What exactly it means to “make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord” is quite difficult to discern regardless of what meaning one applies for “quick.” To readers today, the individual words make sense, but the meaning of the way they are put together is far from obvious. And, as it turns out, the entire phrase “make him of quick understanding” is given as the translation of just one Hebrew word: רִיחַ  (ruwach).  The word literally relates to scent or smell but is sometimes used figuratively for joy or delight. Thus, modern translations render this phrase in Isaiah 11:3 in ways like “And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,” (NASB) and “His delight will be in the fear of the Lord,” (CSB). Having a slightly different take on the idiom, most translators before the KJV rendered it as, “and shall make him fervent in the fear of God,” (Coverdale Bible, see also Matthew Bible, Great Bible, and Geneva Bible). To be “fervent in” or to “delight in” the fear of the Lord have different nuances in meaning but are basically describing the same thing. Either translation is clearer to modern readers than “And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.” That phrase was probably a fine expression in 1611, but it is almost impenetrably obscure today.