What are the “problems” with the Amplified Bible? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
So it’s back once again to this train wreck of a work. Still, I’ve got into it and I plan to see it through to the end and it has been educational to some extent to look up some of these verses and see further evidence of how wrong KJV-onlyists get it. At any rate, the original link can be found here. For now, it’s the KJV vs the Amplified Bible.
The first will be two together.
Gen 1:21
KJV: “And God created great WHALES …”
AMP: “God created the great sea monsters …”
Matt. 12:40
KJV: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the WHALES’s belly …”
AMP: “For even as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster …”
COMMENT: God creates monsters?
I don’t think monsters is the best term to use, but at the same time, just saying monsters doesn’t show it’s wrong. After all, God created more than just whales and the term does refer to more still. Actually, when you look it up, the first definitions are dragons, serpents, and sea monsters.
Gen. 2:7
KJV: “… and man became a living SOUL.”
AMP: “… and man became a living being.”
Comment: A MAJOR difference between man and beast is that man is the ONLY creature with a SOUL.
Except this is a matter of interpretation and not translation. There are some people who think some of the higher animals do have souls. There are some who do not. The term is used to describe living creatures besides men even just within Genesis.
Gen. 3:4-5
KJV: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil.”
AMP: “But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be as God, knowing the difference between good and evil.”
COMMENT: This is major blasphemy! God (with a big G) is not evil! Think about the difference between “as gods” and “as God”.
Yes. It’s obviously major blasphemy to have the serpent speaking falsely about God in the Bible. The devil should only speak in ways that honor God! Rank blasphemy right there to have anything else!
Besides, does Johnson think unfallen man would have concepts of other gods?
Lev. 3:13b
KJV: “… and the sons of Aaron shall SPRINKLE the blood thereof upon the altar round about.”
AMP: “… and the sons of Aaron shall throw its blood against the altar round about.”
The Hebrew word can mean both sprinkle and throw. I leave it to the scholars of Hebrew to determine which they think best fits the context.
Judges 7:20b
KJV: “… and they cried, the sword OF the LORD, and OF Gideon.”
AMP: “… and they cried, The sword for the LORD and Gideon.”
Comment: Notice: “OF” was changed to “FOR”
Yes.
And?
2 Sam. 21:19
KJV: “… Elhanan … slew THE BROTHER OFGoliath …”
AMP: “… Elhanan … slew Goliath …”
Comment: The scholars missed this one! Most Sunday school children know that DAVID slew Goliath.
This one has already been dealt with here.
Daniel 3:25
KJV: “… and the form of the fourth is like THE SON OF GOD.”
AMP: “… And the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”
COMMENT: It was Jesus Christ, THE SON OF GOD, who was with Shadrach, Messach and Abednego. It was Jesus Christ who saved them from the fiery furnace. And, it is Jesus Christ who saves you and me from the fiery furnace (i.e. Hell). There is a big difference between “THE SON OF GOD” and ‘a son’ of ‘plural’ gods! Think about it.
Already dealt with here.
Zech. 11:17
KJV: “Woe to the IDOL shepherd that leaveth the flock!”
AMP: “Woe to the worthless and foolish shepherd who deserts the flock!”
Comment: Idol and worthless/foolish are very different.
Zech. 13:6
KJV: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds IN THINE HANDS? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”
AMP: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds on your breast – between your hands? Then he will answer, Those with which I was wounded [when disciplined] in the house of my (loving) friends.”
COMMENT: Folks: This is a verse prophesying Jesus Christ. Jesus was wounded IN HIS HANDS (and also on His back), BUT NOT ON HIS BREAST! Also, Jesus WAS NOT BEING DISCIPLINED when He went to the cross! Jesus did nothing wrong! And, lastly, Jesus WAS in the house of “His” friends, but they WERE NOT BEING “loving” back to him!
Again, I dealt with this here. Johnson thinks, rightly or wrongly, that the passage is describing Jesus as a prophecy, but the problem is he doesn’t argue for it. He takes it for granted and then if anyone else agrees and translates it a way that disagrees with his interpretation, then they are obviously wrong.
And that’s it for the Amplified and the Old Testament!
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)