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 change. Words that meant one thing even a short time ago may now mean something completely different to present-day English speakers. These changes can impact how we read and understand older English writings without our even realizing it. Familiar words that have changed in meaning can confuse us because we think we know what they mean when, in the context of the old book we are reading, we do not. Many such words occur in the KJV. They were perfectly clear terms in 1611 and they are still familiar to us today, but they have come to mean something different, and so we are apt to misunderstand them when we come across them. For an example of this, let’s consider the word “suffer.”
How long shall I suffer
To “suffer” means to endure pain or agony, typically over an extended period of time. Whether the pain is physical or emotional, to suffer means to be subjected to some form of pain or torment. The KJV uses the word “suffer” a number of times, and in some cases, it is in exactly this sense. In many other cases, however, something else is going on. For example, we read Jesus’ words:
“Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me,” (Matthew 17:17).
Jesus is not saying that being with this generation is a form of suffering, nor is He talking about inflicting suffering on them. “Suffering,” as we use the word today, was not in view here at all. Instead, “suffer” meant to allow or to endure. Modern translations express this well in today’s language by wording it:
“…How long shall I put up with you?…” (NASB, see also NIV, CSB).
“…How long am I to bear with you?…” (ESV, see also NKJV, MEV).
“…How much longer must I endure you?…” (NET).
This is, of course, what the KJV actually means as well, though today we rarely if ever use the word “suffer” in this manner anymore, making it much more likely to misunderstand the passage when it is worded that way.
Suffer little children
Not long after that, we also read:
“But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 19:14).
Some have misunderstood and been confused or even appalled at Jesus’ apparent desire for children to suffer. Again, this is not what Jesus meant, nor is it what the KJV translators meant. They were not using “suffer” in the sense familiar to us today. Instead, Jesus was telling them, though they may find the children to be a distraction or annoyance, to put up with the little children and allow them to come to Him. As modern translations unanimously render it:
“Let the little children come to Me,” (NKJV, see also NIV, NASB, ESV, MEV, CSB).
The wording of the KJV was ideal in the 17th century, but it is not an especially clear way to express Jesus’ words in the 21st. The meaning of “suffer” has changed.
If we suffer
In an especially relevant verse, Paul writes:
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us,” (2 Timothy 2:12, KJV).
Some KJV Only advocates have accused modern translations of altering this verse and smuggling in works righteousness since they all read:
“If we endure, we will also reign with Him…” (NASB, see also ESV, NIV, NKJV, CSB, MEV).
Such King James Onlyists claim that the King James merely says that we must suffer, which is something inflicted on us. Modern translations, they claim, have corrupted the word of God and changed it to “endure,” which (they insist) changes the meaning to focus on our own effort. The flaws in this argument are numerous, but perhaps the most important is that the KJV and the modern translators are actually saying the exact same thing! Ironically, the people insisting that we must read the KJV are proving through their argument that they themselves don’t understand the KJV! They are accidentally smuggling in the modern meaning of words and missing the point. Though even in 1611, “suffer” could mean pain or torment, it could also mean to endure, as we noted above. Notice how major translators before the KJV translated this phrase:
“If we be patient we shall also reign with him,” (Tyndale New Testament, see also Coverdale, Matthew Bible, Great Bible, Bishops Bible).
This is not some modern anti-KJV conspiracy. The verse is not saying that if we are afflicted with pain and agony, we will reign with Him. The word has to do with patience, endurance, and perseverance, not torment. The older English translators saw that just as well as modern ones do, and the King James translators are no exception. “Suffer” was a word for “endure,” and that is clearly the way the KJV is using it here. There is no disagreement between any of these translations on the meaning of this word. The KJV Only argument here, however, demonstrates quite vividly how the changing meaning of words like “suffer” can lead today’s readers to misunderstand what the KJV actually meant!
