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 short time 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 misunderstanding what the author meant. Archaic or obscure words at least stand out to us. We know that we don’t know them and that we need to look them up. Familiar words that have changed in meaning can confuse us because we think we know what they mean when, in reality, 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 “swelling.”
Lest there be swellings
In our day, swelling generally means the enlarging of an area of the body, often accompanied by pain or numbness and usually due to allergy or injury. More generally, it simply means “enlarging.” We might speak of a swelling balloon or swelling prices. We idiomatically say of someone whose confidence is boosted by a compliment that his “chest swelled,” which is meant to convey the image of an enlarged chest due to breathing in and holding oneself up high. Most of the time, though, when we talk about “swelling” without a clear direct object, we mean the medical condition first mentioned here. Thus, it seems a little out of place on Paul’s list when he writes:
“For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults,” (2 Corinthians 12:20).
We get things like envyings, wraths, and backbitings. Whisperings, while not how we would say it today, seems to refer to dissentious murmuring or perhaps to divisive gossip. Swellings, however, is a strange addition. We could venture a variety of guesses as to what these “swellings” might be, and we may even be confident in our guess, but it would still be just that: a guess. It might be right, but if we are honest, we don’t know. The fact of the matter is, “swelling” was used to mean “bravado” or “haughtiness.” It is translating the word “φυσίωσις” which means loftiness or pride. Modern translators render the word “conceits,” (NKJV, ESV) or “arrogance,” (NASB, NIV, CSB, MEV). In a way, it is a pity that English usage has changed here because the term “swelling” was actually an especially good translation in the day of the KJV. The Greek term φυσίωσις is also derived from a root meaning inflation or enlarging. A modern equivalent might be “puffed up.” In context, however, the word means “pride,” and today, “swellings” doesn’t convey that at all. Thus, however good a translation “swellings” may once have been, it no longer means what Paul meant and is thus not a particularly good translation for our day.
