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.

Words in any language change over time. Not only do some words drop out of use and new words come into being, but perhaps more importantly, words change in their meaning and usage. Words that meant one thing even a few generations ago may now mean something completely different to present-day English speakers. These changes can impact how we read, understand, and apply older English writings without our even realizing that we are misinterpreting what the author meant. There are, for example, many passages in the KJV that seem to modern readers to be saying something quite different than the same verses in modern translations that, in fact, when one understands how the relevant words were used four hundred years ago in England, it becomes clear that they are actually saying the same thing. For an example of this, let’s consider the word “study.”

To shew thyself approved

I learned to read the Bible in the KJV. Even when I began to also read other translations, I did all my memorizing in the KJV. To this day, when I recite the passages I learned in my youth, I fall back into the familiar language of the Authorized Version. One of those verses I still retain from my childhood learning from the KJV is:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV).

Among Christians who use the KJV, this is a go-to verse to emphasize the importance of diligently reading and learning the word of God. My parents taught me this verse specifically to help motivate me to be a devoted student of the Bible, to encourage me to read and learn all I could from its pages. This was a noble goal, and I am grateful that my parents instilled such discipline in me. The problem is, while it is certainly good to study and learn the Bible, that is not what this particular verse is talking about, at least not directly. While it certainly expresses a particular concern for how one handles “the word of truth,” the term “study” does not mean here what we think it means. Today, the word “study” has come to mean educational diligence in reading and learning about a particular subject, but that isn’t what it meant in 1611, nor is it what Paul meant in the first century AD. The word “study” used to simply mean to be steadfast, diligent, or work hard; to make every effort at something. This is why modern translations read in ways like:

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God…” (NASB, see also NKJV, CSB).
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved…” (NIV, see also ESV).

To our modern eyes, the KJV and these newer translations seem to be saying different things. One appears to be telling us to “study” (i.e., to read and learn), and the other advocates general diligence without reference to reading and learning. Is this a difference between the translations? Are modern translations trying to downplay the importance of Bible reading? Are they altering or watering down the word of God? No, not at all! As we noted, the word “study” did not denote reading and learning in 1611 when the KJV was translated. When the KJV translators chose the word “study,” they simply meant “be diligent,” “be steadfast,” or “strive hard.” In other words, they meant by “study” exactly the same thing that modern translators mean by the words they chose in our day. The translations agree, but because languages change, we misread the KJV without even realizing we are doing it! The John Wycliffe Bible of the late 14th century, long before the time of the KJV, rendered the passage:

“Busily keep to give thyself an approved, praiseable workman to God, without shame, rightly treating the word of truth.”

The English words to express the idea change over time, but the point remains the same. Be busy about presenting yourself to God as an approved workman. Be diligent at it. This is what it means here to “study.”

Study to be quiet

To take another example, Paul elsewhere writes:

“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,” (1 Thessalonians 4:11, KJV).

Paul is not here instructing the Thessalonians Christians to carefully read books about being quiet or do scholastic exercises on quietness. He is not telling them to “study” to be quiet in the way we mean study today. He is telling them to strive to live a quiet, peaceful, hard-working life. To make every effort to do so. As modern translations read:

“and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life…” (NASB, see also NIV).
“that you also aspire to lead a quiet life…” (NKJV, see also ESV)
“to seek to lead a quiet life…” (CSB).

In reality, the KJV meant the same thing in its day that modern translations mean today. The translators in 1611 and those in the 21st century agree on what Paul meant. The problem is that, because the word “study” means something different today than it did then, readers today are apt to misunderstand the text without even realizing it. It seems to make sense to them, but they are actually reading it with a different meaning than the original author or even the translator actually intended.