Mark Ward - hypocritical Bible corrector with NO inerrant Bible.
Mark Ward is a graduate of Bob Jones University (that explains a lot) and he has a series of videos where he criticizes the King James Bible.
The man is a total hypocrite - as I will soon prove - and he is both a Bible corrector and an unbeliever in the inerrancy of any Bible in any language he can show us. The man is his own authority and not a very good one at that.
In one of his latest demonstrations of out right hypocrisy (October 3, 2020) he has posted a 9 minute video he titles “You’ve Probably Never Seen the Real King James Version.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNB2034P5Fw
In this video he sings the praises of The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible with the Apocrypha which is edited by David Norton.
Mark Ward tells us that the language of the King James Bible is outdated and too hard to understand and he says that Mr. Norton has “updated” the language of the King James Bible and given us the same text.
He says that this Cambridge Paragraph Bible ought to become the Standard, even though he does not believe that ANY Bible in any language is the complete and inerrant words of God.
The blatant hypocrisy of Mr. Ward is seen in that this Paragraph bible done by Mr. Norton has merely “updated” just a few words like “shew” to “show” and “I have been holpen” to “I have been helped” BUT he retains the vast majority of “archaic” words that Mark Ward tells us in his other videos are hopelessly outdated or what he calls “false friends.”
I just happen to have a hard copy of Norton’s Cambridge Paragraph Bible right here in front of me and in it you will see the following words that Mark Ward criticizes in his other videos, yet in THIS one he tells us that Norton’s Paragraph bible should be the Standard.
David Norton keeps the following words with no corrections at all.
Prevent - shall not PREVENT them with are asleep - 1 Thessalonians 4:15
SUFFER little children to come unto me - Matthew 19:14
Moses WIST not that his face shone - Exodus 34:29
from the man that speaketh FROWARD things - Proverbs 2:12.
the CURIOUS girdle - Exodus 28:8
they shall AMERCE him in an hundred shekels of silver - Deuteronomy 22:19 = to fine
I WOT not who hath done this thing - Genesis 21:26 = to know
David left his CARRIAGES in the hand of the keeper of the CARRIAGE - 1 Samuel 17:22 = baggage
And will set them TO EAR his ground - 1 Samuel 8:12 = to plow
QUIT you like men - 1 Corinthians 16:13
we do you TO WIT of the gospel of God - 2 Corinthians 8:1
our CONVERSATION is in heaven - Philippians 3:20
be won by the CONVERSATION of the wives - 1 Peter 3:1
The Lord is very PITIFUL and of tender mercy - James 5:11
thy speech BEWRAETH thee - Matthew 26:73
the wind bloweth where it LISTETH - John 3:8
withersoever the governor LISTETH - James 3:8
enter into thy CLOSET - Matthew 6:6
And HOLY GHOST in places like Acts 1:2 and 5 etc. which he severely criticizes in one of his other videos as being “a false friend”.
See my article on the Holy Ghost -
And the ironic thing is that the modern versions he recommends like the NKJV, NASB, NIV, ESV and others all teach that there ARE such things as GHOSTS referring to the spirits of dead men.
See my article Do Ghosts Exist? Modern versions say they do.
Another problem with Norton’s Paragraph Bible Mark Ward recommends King James Bible believers use to “replace” the KJB as their “Standard” is the fact that though Mr. Norton corrected a few of the original printing errors that occurred in the first printings of the King James Bible, he left a whole lot of them STILL uncorrected.
There were some minor printing errors in the KJB of 1611 and two of the original translators found them and corrected most of them within the first 20 years.
We know they were printing errors by comparing previous English bibles and the underlying Greek and Hebrew texts used by the King James Bible translators. But Mr. Norton left many of them intact with the wrong readings.
See my article on The Printing Errors Ploy - the last ditch effort of the Bible Agnostics to turn us into one of them.
Here are just a few of them.
Ruth 3:15 Norton has “and HE went into the city” which was caught and corrected to “and SHE went into the city” in1613.
1 Corinthians 4:9 - Norton reads: “as it were APPROVED to death” - caught and corrected to APPOINTED to death in 1616.
1 John 5:12 - he that hath not the Son hath not life - caught and corrected to “he that hath not the Son OF GOD hath not life. Caught and corrected in 1629
1 Timothy 1:4 - Norton has “rather than edifying” - caught and corrected to “rather than GODLY edifying” in 1638.
Mark Ward is just another self-appointed Bible corrector who will NEVER show you a copy of any Bible in any language that he really believes is the complete, inspired and 100% true and inerrant words of God. If you don’t believe me, then just ask him to show you one. Not gonna happen, folks.
ALL of grace, believing the Book - the King James Holy Bible.
You might also like to see more on this topic in "Archaic and Inerrant" beats "Modernized and Wrong" Any Day of the Week.
Number 2.
Here he goes again. Mark Ward - hypocrite with NO inerrant Bible.
Mark Ward posted another of his videos criticizing the King James Bible.
He titles this: Ask Nicely for Your Church/School/Camp/Publisher/Mission Board to Take a Step away from the KJV.
You can see it here (unless he takes it down)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-0hTk4LAkw&lc=Ugzyef_wZ7nvyULffS94AaABAg.9G4CcpuzIIQ9G5NveTVQJ9
My Response -
The simple FACT about Mark Ward is that he really does not believe that any Bible in any language he can show us is now or ever was the complete and inerrant words of God. Just ask him to show you one and see what he says. He doesn't care if you use the ESV, or the NASB, NIV, or the NKJV, even though none of these versions agree with each other either in texts or meanings - just as long as it is not the King James Bible.
And the NKJV is not always based on the same Hebrew and Greek texts as the King James Bible. It has a LOT of problems. See - Is the NKJV the inerrant words of God? You have GOT to be kidding, right?
Mark Ward is a hypocrite Why? Because in one of his videos he tells us that the Nolan Cambridge Paragraph bible should be the Standard to replace the King James Bible, and yet this Paragraph bible has almost all of the same "archaic" words in it that Mark criticizes in his other videos - including "Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil." Psalms 37:8.
Lots of modern versions still use the word "fret" including the KJV 21st Century Version 1994, the RSV, NASB 1995, Dan Wallace's NET 2006, and the Modern English Version 2014.
In the context -"Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil." simply means Do not worry about things or get annoyed to the point that you do evil."
Neither does Mark Ward know what "false friends" are. They are NOT "archaic" words in the same language, but are two words from DIFFERENT languages that look similar but have very different meanings. An example in Spanish is the word embarazada. It looks like the English word embarrassed. And if an English speaker says "Estoy embarazada." in Spanish, it really means "I am pregnant." That is a false friend, and not what Mark Ward refers to.
And that phrase William Tyndale used about using a Bible that a ploy boy could understand, he was contrasting the English language with the Latin bible that he could not understand.
Here is the truth about Mark Ward based on what he says in another one of his videos.
Number 3.
Mark Ward’s video - When Bible Translations Differ, What’s Going On?
Mark Ward has NO complete and inerrant Bible in any language that he will ever show you. This is just a fact. And he is chock full of a lot of misinformation. In this video he tell us some whoppers.
He tells us that there are just a few minor textual differences in the Greek texts of the different New Testaments - those based on the Vatican supervised, constantly changing Critical Greek text of versions like the ESV, NIVV, NASB and NET, versus the Received Text of the Reformation bibles.
The truth of the matter is that there are about 3000 very real textual differences just in the New Testament. And this includes many whole verses (from 17 to 45) as well as numerous phrases and hundreds of individual words.
Here is my own work that shows in English what most of these textual differences are like.
This shows some of the real textual differences between the Reformation Bibles like the King James Bible and the modern Vatican Versions.
The ESV, NIV, NASB, Jehovah Witness NWT are the new "Vatican Versions" PART TWO
The Mr. Ward also tells us that all the various versions are based on the Hebrew Masoretic text. This is mostly true, but versions like the ESV (especially), the NIV and NASB often reject the clear Hebrew readings of different names and numbers and ADD hundreds of words to the Hebrew texts, and they don’t even do it in the same places. They all differ textually from each other.
Can I prove this? You bettcha.
NIV, NASB, ESV, NET and other Vatican Versions reject Hebrew texts Part 1
NIV, NASB, ESV, NET and other Vatican Versions reject Hebrew texts Part 2
NIV, NASB, ESV, NET and other Vatican Versions reject Hebrew texts Part 3
NIV, NASB, ESV, NET and other Vatican Versions reject Hebrew texts Part 4
Mr. Ward also tells us that “Differences between translations are instructive” and don’t affect any major Orthodox doctrines. But the simple truth is that there ARE a lot of basic truths and doctrines that are affected, changed and contradicted in todays Bible Babble Buffet versions that nobody, including Mark Ward, really believes are the inerrant words of God.
Here is a list of about 40 concrete examples I have found myself just by comparing the differences in translation, and most of these are translational and not textual in nature.
“For ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.” Jeremiah 23:36
And as for 2 Samuel 23:5 I also have a study on this verse that shows why the King James Bible is right, as always. You will also see two more examples in this study.
The Grace of God Destroyed - Numbers 23:21; Deuteronomy 32:5 and 2 Samuel 23:5.
ALL of grace, believing the Book - the King James Holy Bible.
Refuting another Mark Ward Video he calls "An Error in the King James Version"
Mark Ward video where he thinks Job 17:6 is “An Error in the King James Version”.
The meaning of this verse is totallly changed in the NKJV which says: "But He has made me a byword of the people. AND I HAVE BECOME ONE IN WHOSE FACE MEN SPIT."
But the King James Bible, as well as the Geneva - "as a tabret before them", is very different. -"He hath made me a byword of the people; AND AFORETIME IS WAS AS A TABRET."
Also agreeing with the meaning found in the KJB are Webster's Translation 1833 - "and in former time I WAS AS A TABRET.", The Word of Yah 1993, KJV 21st Century 1994 - "and aforetime I WAS AS A DRUM TO BEAT ON.", Third Millenium Bible 1998 - "He hath made me a byword of the people; AND AFORETIME I WAS AS A TABRET.", Bond Slave Version 2009, Jubilee Bible 2010 - " AND BEFORE THEM I HAVE BEEN AS A TAMBOURINE.", Online Interlinear 2010 (André de Mol) - "a tamborine", Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010 - "and aforetime I was as a tabret", Biblos Interlinear Bible 2011 - "I was FORMERLY AS A TABRET."
Foreign language Bibles that read like the KJB are the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569, Cipriano de Valera 1602, Corregida 1865, Reina Valera 1909 - 1995, Spanish Jubilee bible 2010 - "y delante de ellos he sido como TAMBORIL" = "and before them I had been as a small drum", the Italian Diodati 1649 - "Ed io sono pubblicamente menato attorno in sul TAMBURO., the French Martin 1744 - "Il m'a mis pour être la fable des peuples, et je suis comme un TAMBOUR devant eux." and the Romanian Fidela Bible 2014 - ?i înainte eram ca o tamburin?."
The Judaica Press Tanach 2004 is similar in translation to the KJB, but it changes the meaning by saying: "And it set me up as a byword for peoples, and I will be like A DRUM before them."
Bishops' Bible read: "whereas before I was their joy."
The Work of God?s Children Illustrated Bible 2011 says: "He has made me as it were a byword of the people, AND I AM AN EXAMPLE BEFORE THEM."
I believe the meaning of the verse as it stands in the KJB is that formerly Job was considered a leader among the people. A tabret is a small drum, and others would have, in effect, marched to the tune Job played for them. But now God has made him a byword among the people who now mocked him.
Apparently each man feels free to play with the Hebrew text. Adam Clarke comes up with something no one else has. He says: "Instead of lephanim, I would read liphneghem, and then the clause might be translated thus: I SHALL BE AS A FURNACE, OR A CONSUMING FIRE (Topheth) BEFORE THEM."
Young's "literal" translation reads differently than them all with: "and a wonder before them I am."
The New English Bible 1970 renders the passage as: "A PORTENT FOR ALL TO SEE."
John Gill comments on the passage, and you can also read his additional comments to see how some people come up with at least four wildly different translations of the text. But he starts off saying: "and aforetime I was as a tabret - the delight of the people, who, when he appeared in the public streets, came out and went before him, singing, and dancing, and beating on tabrets, and such like musical instruments, to express their joy upon the sight of him; but now it was otherwise with him, and he whom they could not sufficiently extol and commend, now knew not well what to say bad enough of him; such a change in the sentiments and conduct of men must needs be very chagrining."
This is the meaning found in the King James Bible and others.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - "tabret = a drum. Hebrew. topheth. To the sound and warning of which people gave heed.
However the NKJV along with most modern versions like the RSV, ESV, NIV, NASB, NET, Holman, the Jehovah Witness NWT, the Catholic New Jerusalem bible 1985 now read something like: "But He has made me a byword of the people, AND I HAVE BECOME ONE IN WHOSE FACE MEN SPIT."
This totally changes the meaning. The word "tabret" #8611 is found only once in the Hebrew text, and, according to Wigram's Hebrew Concordance, comes from the verb #8606 which is found only twice. In Psalms 68:25 we read of "the damsels PLAYING WITH TIMBRELS", and in Nahum 2:7 of those "TABORING upon their breasts" or beating like a drum upon their breasts.
The word for "aforetime" is # 6440 and has many meanings, including "face" but both the NKJV and the NASB and all other versions also translate this word as "aforetime", "previously", "before" or "formerly" - See Job 3:24 "my sighing cometh BEFORE I eat", and Nehemiah 13:5 (aforetime) and 1 Chron. 9:20 (in time past) for examples.
It should be obvious that "and aforetime I was as a tabret" does not mean the same things as "I have become one in whose face men spit."
More on Mark Ward.
He pretends to "like" the King James Bible yet he constantly criticizes it and is in fact a Critical Text, Vatican supervised text promoter.
I just watched one of his silly videos about what he wrongly calls "False Friends" where he criticized the word "want" as found in Psalms 23:1 because some 6 year old boy got confused about the meaning of the word.
Here's a novel idea he might want to try out. Just explain that the word "to want" has more than one meaning in English and it is not even archaic. It can mean "to lack, or to be in need of".
Mark failed to note that even his own favored versions read this way in Psalms 23:1
Psalms 23:1 KJB - The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want."
NASB 1995, ESV 2016, Modern English Version 2014 - The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Also reading "I shall not want" are the ASV 1901, NRSV, ESV 2016, NKJV 1982, KJV 21st Century 1994, Jubilee Bible 2020, NASB 1995, Modern English Version 2014, Tree of Life Version 2015 to name but a few of them.
Now he has another video about his alleged "false friends" where he ignorantly criticizes the word "study" as found in 2 Timothy 2:15 and he tells us the word to "study" is "the most ironic False Friend".
The man could not be more wrong. The KJB (and many others, both old and modern) got it right and this is precisely what the Greek word means even today.
See the "study" here and run from the likes of men like Mark Ward as if your hair were on fire.
2 Timothy 2:15 "Study", "be diligent" or "do your best"?
2 Timothy 2:15 KJB - "STUDY to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
NKJV (ESV, NASB) - "BE DILIGENT to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Jehovah Witness New World Translation - "DO YOUR UTMOST to present yourself to God, a workman with nothing to be ashamed of."
Catholic St. Joseph New American bible 1970 - "TRY HARD to make yourself worthy of God's approval, a workman who has no cause to be ashamed."
See the study here -
Likewise one of Mark Ward's favorite alleged "false friends" is the word "halt" as in How long halt ye between two opinions, as found in 1 Kings 18:21.
1 Kings 18:21 -How long HALT ye between two opinions?
Is the KJB an incorrect translation here or is it using a “false friend” as some self-appointed Bible critics with NO inerrant Bible to believe in like Mark Ward tells us?
Some KJB critics tell us it should read to LIMP.
Let’s simply look at the definition of the verb “to HALT”. Besides the meaning of “to stop” something, the word also means the following -
Webster’s Dictionary =
intransitive verb
1
: to walk or proceed lamely : LIMP
2
: to be in a state of uncertainty or doubt between alternate courses or choices : WAVER
3
: to display weakness or imperfection : FALTER
American Heritage Dictionary -
To halt -
1. To walk lamely or move in an irregular fashion.
2. To proceed or act with uncertainty or indecision; waver.
Webster’s New World College Dictionary -
To proceed or act with uncertainty or indecision; waver.
Wordsmyth English Dictionary -
To halt - to falter or stumble in movement, thought, writing, and the like.
Just by reading the King James Bible itself we see that the word “halt” simply means to limp along.
“And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he HALTED upon his thigh.” Genesis 32:31
“Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life HALT or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Matthew 18:8
“So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the HALT, and the blind.” Luke 14:21
1 Kings 18:21 - And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long HALT ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Agreeing with the KJB reading are the following Bible translations - Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s bible 1549, the Bishops’ bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, Webster’s Bible 1833, Lesser O.T. 1835, English Revised Version 1881, Julia Smith Translation 1855, Darby 1890, Jewish Publication Society O.T. - How long HALT ye between two opinions?, KJV 21st Century Version 1994, Amplified Classic Edition 1987, The Complete Apostle’s Bible 2005, Jubilee Bible 2010,
This online Hebrew Interlinear - HALT between two opinions?
https://studybible.info/IHOT/1%20Kings%2018:21
Brenton’s Septuagint translation - How long wilt ye HALT on both feet?
Jewish Virtual Library Complete Tanach 1994 - How long HALT ye between two opinions?
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/malachim-i-kings-1-chapter-18
Hebrew Transliteration Scriptures 2010 - How long HALT ye between two opinions?
https://www.messianic-torah-truth-seeker.org/Scriptures/Tenakh/Melekim-Alef/Melekhim-Alef18.htm
The Ancient Hebrew Bible 1907 - How long HALT ye between two opinions?
https://archive.org/details/ancienthebrewlit02yyy5uoft/page/160/mode/2up
Other Versions -
World English bible - How long will you WAVER between two opinions?
ASV, ESV - How long will you GO LIMPING BETWEEN two different opinions?
Bible in Basic English 1961 - How long will you go on BALANCING between two opinions?
NASB 1995 edition- How long will you HESITATE between two opinions?
NASB 2020 edition - How long are you going TO STRUGGLE with the two choices?
NIV - How long will you WAVER between two opinions?
Common English Bible 2011 - How long will you HOBBLE BACK AND FORTH between two opinions?
Complete Jewish bible 1998 - How long are you GOING TO JUMP BACK AND FORTH between two positions?
Contemporary English Version 1995 - How much longer will you TRY TO HAVE THINGS BOTH WAYS?
Easy-to-Read-Version 2006 - How long will you KEEP JUMPING FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER?
International Children’s Bible 2015 - How long will you TRY TO SERVE BOTH BAAL AND THE LORD?
NET 2006 - How long are you going TO BE PARALYZED BY INDECISION?
NKJV - How long will you FALTER between two opinions?
A Faithful Version 1999 - How long will you VACILLATE between two different opinions?
Mebust Bible 2007 - How long shall you HALT on both your feet?
Young’s 1898 - Till when are ye LEAPING ON THE TWO BRANCHES? (Say what??).
The King James Bible is obviously correct and is not “archaic” and certainly is not a so called “false friend” as Bible agnostics like Mark Ward try to tell us.
Mark Ward Strikes out again.
Romans 5:8 “commendeth” or “shows” or “demonstrates” or “proves”?
Some Bible critics tell us that the language of the King James Bible in Romans 5:8 is “outdated” or “a false friend” or even that it is just plain wrong and inaccurate. But is it really?
The fact is this. The King James Bible is the most accurate of the Bibles out there and it is the modern versions like the NKJV, NASB, ESV, NET, NIV, Holman and others that have missed the mark by their attempts to paraphrase and make “easy to read” what they incorrectly THINK was the intended meaning of the word “commendeth”
Romans 5:8 King James Bible -
“But God COMMENDETH his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
NKJV (NIV, NET, NASB, Holman Standard) - “But God DEMONSTRATES His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
ESV - “but God SHOWS his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The verb used here is the same in all texts. It is sunistesin - συνιστησιν. It is found in the Greek text that underlies the KJB some 13 times and it is never translated in the KJB as “to show or demonstrate”
In Romans 5:8 and other passages it means TO COMMEND.
It literally means “to stand together”
Romans 3:5 - “But if our unrighteousness COMMEND the righteousness of God, what shall we say?
Romans 5:8 - “But God COMMENDETH his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 16:1 - “I COMMEND unto you our sister Phebe, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:”
2 Corinthians 4:2 - “…but by manifestation of the truth COMMENDING ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.”
2 Corinthians 10:18 - “For not he that COMMENDETH himself is approved, but whom the Lord COMMENDETH.”
2 Corinthians 12:11 - “I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been COMMENDED of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.”
What does the English word “to commend” mean?
Webster’s Dictionary - COMMEND, verb transitive
To represent as worthy of notice; to recommend.
Oxford Dictionary - to commend - Present as suitable for approval or acceptance; recommend.
American Heritage Dictionary - to commend - 1. To express approval of; praise:
a. To represent as worthy, qualified, or desirable; recommend
Wordsmyth English Dictionary - to commend - to cite with praise; too endorse or recommend.
Some translations actually read God RECOMMENDS his love toward us. Among these are John Wesley’s N.T. 1755, the Living Oracles 1835, the Worsley N.T. 1770, the Smith Bible 1876.
The meaning of “to commend” in Romans 5:8 is that God presents as worthy of praise his love toward sinful, rebellious men who are his enemies.
The King James Bible is actually far more accurate in meaning than are the modern paraphrases that merely says God “shows” or “demonstrates” his love toward us.
The KJB translators were well aware of the idea that God “shows” or “demonstrates” his love, and they rejected this meaning.
The previous English bibles like Tyndale, Coverdale, the Great bible, Matthew’s bible, the Bishops’ bible and the Geneva bible, said “God SETTETH OUT his love for us”, or “SETTETH FORTH” and they rejected this meaning.
Some other versions like the RSV, Alford N.T. 1870, have “God PROVES his love toward us”, the Koster Scriptures 1998, The Conservative Bible 2010, which is equally incorrect.
Not only does the KJB read that God COMMENDETH his love toward us, but so too do the following Bible translations - the Revised Version 1881, the AS 1901, Wycliffe 1395, Whiston N.T. 1745, Haweis N.T. 1795, Revised Translation 1815, Webster bible 1833, Longman Version 1841, The Commonly Received Version 1851, The Boothroyd Bible 1853, Sawyer N.T. 1858, The Revised N.T. 1862, Noyes N.T. 1869, The Revised English bible 1877, Darby 1890, Young’s 1898, Clarke N.T. 1913, the World English bible 2000, The Apostolic Polyglot bible 2003, New Heart English Bible 2010, The New European Version 2010 - “But God COMMENDS his love toward us”., The Work of God’s Children bible 2011, The Revised Douay-Rheims Bible 2012, The Far Above All Translation 2014 and The Hebrew Names Version 2014 and The Hebraic Roots Bible 2015.
Far from being “a false friend”, outdated or a misleading, wrong or a poor translation of Romans 5:8, the King James Bible is completely accurate and quite understandable. We just need to learn more about the richness of our own English language.
"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Luke 8:8
"But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant." 1 Corinthians 14:38