Bible Cheat Codes
Idioms or figures of speech are combinations of words which can represent a single object, person, or concept.
The King James Version (KJV) was published in 1611. At this time, only about 30% of people knew how to read, which means that there wasn’t many people that needed to be deceived. Therefore, not much effort was spent to twist the words to make idioms less visible by the public. However, over time, as literacy rates increased, translations got worse and worse until the idioms become almost not visible. This is why the KJV is a very trustworthy version of the Bible because it preserves the Hebrew idioms.
The Strong’s Concordance also is very useful with the KJV to see if there is a lying pen of the scribes (Jeremiah 8:8).
Names and Places:
Something to know about names of people or places (i.e., Jerusalem, Ephraim, etc.). These refer to groups of people. When a nation has a capital city, many times the entire nation can be referred to by just the capital. When you add on to this that Israel was taken captive by different nations, this adds to the complexity of how something might be referred to.
Last few things:
- Not all scripture references for the idioms may be included
- It is highly encouraged to read the entire chapter(s) and even the prior and subsequent chapters to gain a better understanding
- Context is key