Chapter 7
Gaddest
Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. (Jer 2:36)
Appearing only once in the AV, the word gaddest is the second person singular of gad, which is of obscure origin. It is thought to have been formed from gadling, from the Old English gaedeling, "a wanderer." Thus, to gad is to move about restlessly or roam idly. Although the NASB and NIV omit gaddest from this passage, changing it to "go,"the NKJV and NRSV neglected to completely update the AV reading--both used the word "gad." In fact, they liked the word so much that the NKJV inserted "gad" into another verse where the AV said "go,"1 while the NRSV replaced "wandering" in the AV with "gadding."2 Moreover, the NIV joined with the NRSV in changing "destruction" in the AV to "a gadfly."3 Gaddest should never have been updated in the first place, for forms of this word are still current English: "And Wang himself flat-out refuses to gad about playing high-tech visionary as so many New Age CEOs love to do."4
Gainsay
For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. (Luke 21:15)
Although the word gainsay occurs only once in the AV, the singular gainsaying appears twice,5 the plural gainsayings once,6 and the noun gainsayers once.7 Gainsay is a combination of the Old English gegn, "against" and say. Hence, to gainsay is to speak against, contradict, oppose, or hinder. Our modern versions remove all forms of this word from the Bible but do not agree on replacements. One can find "rebellion,"8 "contrary,"9 "obstinate,"10 "objection,"11 "resist,"12 and forms of "contradict."13 But all these corrections were unnecessary, for the word gainsay is still in vogue today: "Such qualifications do not gainsay the point that state sovereignty was the bedrock principle upon which the United Nations was founded."14
Gallant
But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. (Isa 33:21)
Gallant is found only once in the AV. It is from the French galant, from galer, "to rejoice." Gallant is remotely related to our word gala. To be gallant is to be admirable, noble, finely dressed, or beautiful in appearance. Our modern versions did not like the word gallant but could not agree on a substitution. The NASB and NIV chose "mighty," the NRSV "stately," and the NKJV "majestic." But gallant is still current in the 1990's: "The effect was the opposite of what they intended: the system finally collapsed and the gallant defenders of the Motherland landed in jail."15
Garner
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Mat 3:12)
The word garner appears twice in the AV in the singular16 and twice in the plural.17 It is from the French gernier, "storehouse." A garner is a storehouse for grain or other farm products. The NASB, NIV, and NKJV in unison adopt "barn" to update garner, but the NRSV preferred "granary."18 The plural garners is unanimously rendered in one passage as "storehouses" by all of our new translations,19 but in the other we find some divergence of opinion. The NKJV, NRSV, and NIV use "barns," but the NASB retained the archaic "garners."20 Yet when the AV uses the simple word "barns," the NRSV and NIV alter it to "granaries."21 And although garner is not employed as a verb in the AV, the NRSV and NASB deemed garner so archaic that they used it as a verb in a passage where the AV said "gathered."22 The word garner, however, is still utilized in the 1990's by the Atlantic Monthly: "Once they do, any respect they might be able to garner in the wider system pales in comparison with the respect available in the local system."23
Garnish
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, (Mat 23:29)
In addition to appearing once as garnish, this word is also found five times as garnished.24 Garnish is from the French garnir, "to fortify or furnish." The word garnish originally had reference to fortifying and furnishing something for defense. It was then applied to decorating, embellishing, or adorning anything. Our modern versions preferred forms of "adorn" to update forms of garnish,25 but "put in order"26 and "decorate"27 can also be found. However, when the AV does use a simple word like "adorned," the NIV changes it to the more difficult "beautifully dressed."28 But garnish is not archaic anyway, at least according to World Watch magazine: "Italians snare them, the French catch them in nets, and the Spanish trap them by daubing glue on tree branches--all to garnish dinner plates."29
Gay
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: (James 2:3)
The word gay, found only once in the AV, is from the French gai, "merry." To be gay is to be happy, joyful, cheerful, or fine. This good word has been appropriated by Sodomites and is now considered archaic in its original sense. It was not until about 1951 that the slang sense of a homosexual was connected with the word gay. This is thought to be short for gay cat, "a homosexual boy," a term first used as prison slang in 1935.30 Naturally, our modern, up-to-date versions all replace gay with "fine." Surprisingly however, on two occasions where the AV reads "mirth," the NIV substitutes "gaiety."31 The NASB likewise updates the AV with terms that are now applied to Sodomites, using "gaiety" four times to correct "joy" and "mirth."32 But even though homosexuals have appropriated the word gay, it nevertheless still means happy or joyful, and forms of it are still so used today: "For being such and for vibrantly and with immense vitality portraying mad gaiety and reckless youth, a 'dancing flame on the screen' said one of her directors, she was billed as the Hottest Jazz Baby in Films, the Brooklyn Bonfire."33
Gazingstock
And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock. (Nahum 3:6)
The word gazingstock appears twice in the AV.34 It is a compound of gazing, meaning to stare; and stock, referring to lineage or family. A gazingstock is the object of someone's gaze or stare. The first occurrence of gazingstock in the AV is unanimously rendered by our modern versions as "spectacle."35 The second instance was inharmoniously supplied as "publicly exposed" by the NRSV and NIV, "public spectacle" by the NASB, and just "spectacle" by the NKJV.36 But if gazingstock makes the Bible too hard to understand, then why did a modern English version like the NIV interject "tranquillity" into the Bible when the AV used the elementary word "quietness."37 And furthermore, the NRSV, NASB, and NIV had no trouble with the word "laughingstock" even though it is not found in the AV.38
Gender
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. (2 Tim 2:23)
The word gender occurs twice in the AV,39 but gendereth also appears twice40 and gendered once.41 Gender is from the French gendrer, "to beget." Thus, gender means to produce, breed, generate, or give rise to. It is only recently that gender has acquired the politically correct meaning of sex, whether male or female. Our modern versions variously supplanted the forms of gender in the AV by forms of "breed,"42 "give birth,"43 "produce,"44 "generate,"45 and "bear children."46 Although the meaning of gender could be determined by the context, the alteration by the NRSV of the AV phrase "shall be cut off" to "is gossamer" can not be figured out in the context or out.47
Ghost
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. (Acts 10:44)
The word ghost makes an appearance a total of 109 times in the AV. Ninety of these occurrences are in the expression "Holy Ghost."48 The other nineteen are divided into the phrases "[give, gave, given, giveth] up the ghost," found fifteen times,49 "giving up of the ghost," found once,50 and "yielded up the ghost," found three times.51 Ghost appeared in Old English as gast, meaning breath or spirit. A ghost is the spirit or soul of a dead man, hence "give up the ghost" means to die. Our modern versions usually render this phrase as "breathed his last."52 Ghost also referred to a spirit in general and later just an evil spirit or apparition. The expression "Holy Ghost" is unanimously rendered by our modern versions as "Holy Spirit."53 The only time our modern versions use the word ghost, excepting the NASB once in the Old Testament,54 is in translating the Greek word phantasma, found twice in the AV and rendered "spirit."55 It is from this word that we get our English word phantom. The common argument against the AV is that the Greek word pneuma should always be rendered as "spirit." Yet twice when the AV reads "spirit," the NRSV and NIV translate pneuma as "ghost."56 Ghost does not always refer to something evil, many famous people have someone ghostwrite their books.
Gier eagle
And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, (Lev 11:18)
A gier eagle is mentioned twice in the AV.57 The word gier is borrowed from the Dutch gier, "vulture." A gier eagle is obviously a bird of prey. It is thought to be identified with the neophron percnopterus, a species of vulture. The NASB, NRSV, and NKJV unanimously render gier eagle as "carrion vulture."58 The NIV, after twice correcting "osprey" to "black vulture,"59 transforms the gier eagle into an "osprey."60 Obviously the translators of modern Bible versions do not know zoology any better than they think the AV translators did.
Gin
The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him. (Job 18:9)
The singular gin appears three times in the AV,61 while the plural gins is found twice.62 Gin is the aphetic form of engine. A gin then is a mechanical device or machine. A famous example is the cotton gin--a machine for separating cotton from its seeds. Due to its confusion with another word meaning "to dupe," gin has also come to mean a trap or a snare. All occurrences of gin and gins have been replaced in our new translations by "trap"63 or "snare,"64 excepting "bait," used once by the NASB,65 and "net," used once by the NKJV.66 The word gin, however, is still applied to mechanical devices in the 1990's: "You can use a crane or a gin pole, which is a small crane that attaches to the top of the tower."67
Girdle
And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. (Mat 3:4)
A girdle is mentioned thirty-eight times in the AV.68 The plural girdles shows up on six additional occasions.69 Girdle is from the Old English gyrdel, a belt worn around the waist. A girdle was worn to secure the garments and as a means of carrying light articles. A girdle is simply that which girds. Although our modern versions had no trouble with the word gird, except the NIV, which attempted to eliminate the word completely but forgot one passage,70 the modern concept of a woman's girdle loomed ominously over the translators. Girdle is normally updated by our modern versions to "sash"71 or "band"72 or "belt."73 In four instances, however, the NASB forgot to remove the word and retained the archaic AV reading.74 In one passage, the NRSV updated girdle to a "waistcloth," a word not appearing in any Bible.75 This updating of girdle was unnecessary, for even the Los Angeles Times considered the word current: "Presently, the One Who Is Father appeared behind his closed eyelids, looking much like Ramos himself: headband, single-thonged sandals strapped to bare legs, a breechclout secured by a tasseled girdle covering his loins."76
Glass
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: (James 1:23)
Although the word glass occurs eight times in the AV, four of these represent glass as we know it today and the AV usage is followed by all versions in these passages.77 The other four times glass appears, it is a reference to a mirror, and is so changed in the new translations.78 The plural glasses and the compound lookingglasses each appear one time also.79 Glass is from the Old English glaes, "shining," and is related to the word glistering discussed below. It is argued against the AV that the references to a mirror as a glass are incorrect because the ancient mirrors were made of polished metal instead of coated glass. But as the original meaning of glass had nothing to do with the material used, this criticism is hasty. We call a drinking vessel a glass if it is made out of glass but we term a window a window and a mirror a mirror even though they are made out of glass. In fact, a plastic drinking vessel is still referred to as a glass. If something even contains glass we call it a glass--a telescope and microscope are both designated as a glass. Eyeglasses are still referred to as glasses even if they have plastic lenses. It should also be remembered that the sequel to Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll entitled Through the Looking Glass is still read today and the publisher has never received any requests to update the title.
Glede
And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, (Deu 14:13)
The glede is a bird mentioned only once in the AV. The word itself is from the Old English glida, literally meaning "the gliding." Thus it is directly related to the word glide that appeared in Old English as glidan. A glede is a bird of prey like a buzzard or a kite. The NRSV renders glede as "buzzard," but the others selected "red kite." Yet when the AV mentions a "kite," the NKJV and NASB call it a "falcon."80 The simple word "vulture" in the AV is likewise changed into a "buzzard,"81 a "kite,"82 a "red kite,"83 a "falcon,"84 and a "hawk."85 So although the new translations do not agree among themselves, they are united in their effort to amend the text of the AV.
Glistering
And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. (Luke 9:29)
The word glistering, formed from glister, appears twice in the AV.86 The word glister is related to glitter and glisten, their common origin hidden in the depths of antiquity, as even the Middle and Old English forms differ. To be glistering is to be shining, sparkling, or glittering. The glistering stones mentioned once in the AV are called "antimony" by the NRSV, "stones of antimony" by the NASB, and "turquoise" by the NIV.87 The NKJV simply updates glistering to "glistening" both times it occurs in the AV.88 "Dazzling" and "gleaming" are also employed to modernize glistering by the NRSV and NASB respectively.89 There should be no reason to update the AV when it used the modern "glittering," yet it is still sometimes corrected to "flashing" by the NIV, NRSV, and NASB.90 Moreover, when the AV employed a simple word like "shine," the NASB altered it to "glisten"91 and the NIV to "glistening."92 The word "light" in the AV is even changed to "glint" by the NIV.93 Yet even the supposedly archaic word glistering is still in use in the twentieth century: "The island of Moorea presents palm trees, thatched roofs and glistering waters from just about every vantage point."94
Godhead
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Col 2:9)
The compound word Godhead is found three times in the AV.95 God obviously refers to deity, divine personality or nature, the supreme being, or the character and quality of being God. The suffix -head is a form of the more common suffix -hood, referring to state or condition of being. However, Godhead is one of the few words that retains a distinction between godhead and godhood. The Godhead is a good reference to the Trinity as it occurs only three times. This fact is lost in the new translations where Godhead is always rendered by two or more words. The NRSV uses "deity" twice96 and "divine nature" once.97 The NASB employs "deity" only once,98 but "Divine Nature" capitalized once99 and "divine nature" lower case once.100 The NIV utilizes three different terms (divine being, divine nature, Deity) to update Godhead.101 The NKJV retains the AV reading of Godhead twice102 but changes the third instance to "Divine Nature."103 Yet the word Godhead can even be found in the Economist magazine: "The older Kim, who ran the North for nearly 50 years, is being elevated in death to something near godhead."104
God-ward
See you-ward.
Goodly
The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. (Psa 80:10)
The word goodly occurs thirty-six times in the AV.105 It is based on the Old English godlic meaning of good appearance, well-favored, handsome, fair, notable, or admirable. The meaning of goodly is apparent from the context, but up-to-date translations include "fine,"106 "beautiful,"107 "stately,"108 "majestic,"109 "noble,"110 "splendid,"111 "proud,"112 "royal,"113 and "precious."114 Although our modern versions deemed goodly to be archaic, two things should be noted. The NRSV completely overlooked goodly in four passages115 and the word is still in common use anyway: "After all, a goodly portion of the world's population has already traded in traditional garb for Levi's."116
Goodman
And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, (Mat 20:11)
The word goodman appears six times in the AV.117 It is manifestly a combination of good and man, but does not refer to a man that is good. A goodman is the male head of a household, a host, or a husband. The NKJV preferred "master" to update goodman, and the NIV and NRSV "owner,"118 but the NASB could not decide between "head"119 and "owner."120 On one occasion all of our modern versions agreed on "landowner" to amend the AV text.121 Yet when the AV uses a plain word like "rowers," it is corrected by the NIV and NKJV to "oarsmen."122 The NRSV and NASB regularly employ the word "layman" even though the idea of a man laying has nothing to do with the word.123
Go to
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. (Gen 11:3)
The imperative expression go to appears nine times in the AV and warrants attention because it is almost as though it is a word all its own.124 Go to is used in the AV as a command or exhortation meaning "come" or "come on." A common "go" expression in modern English is "make a go of it." Go to may be archaic but it certainly sounds better than the phrase "nocturnal emission" used by the NRSV, NASB, and NIV.125
Grave
And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: (Exo 28:9)
The word grave appears in the AV with three distinct meanings. Most of the time it has reference to a burying place.126 This parallels the meaning of a grave today and is not a problem. Three times, however, grave is used in the sense of sober, serious, important, troublesome, somber, or weighty.127 The word gravity, occurring twice,128 but not referring to the scientific law of gravity, is formed from grave. In this case the word grave is from the French grave, "heavy." Our modern versions have united to uproot this usage of the word grave from the Bible. The NRSV preferred "serious," the NASB forms of "dignity," the NIV the wordy "worthy of respect," and the NKJV "reverent."129 However, in one other passage where the AV did not contain the word, the NKJV, NRSV, and NASB inserted it anyway in correction of the AV reading of "grievous."130 The word gravity is similarly corrected,131 but the NRSV mistakenly left it in one passage.132 Time magazine, however, had no trouble with the word grave as found in the AV: "A year ago, after the panel concluded that 'grave breaches' of international law had been committed, the Security Council created an 11-judge international court to deal with them."133 The other word grave is from the Old English grafan, "to carve." This usage appears four times in the AV as grave,134 twice as graved,135 once as graveth,136 three times as graving,137 once as gravings,138 and fifty-five times as graven.139 To grave is to engrave, the word engrave being formed in imitation of French engraver. The NIV and NRSV completely remove all trace of grave with this meaning. The NKJV forgot to remove one instance of "graven," and the NASB neglected "graving" once,140 but twenty-two times the NASB overlooked the supposedly archaic "graven."141
Greaves
And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. (1 Sam 17:6)
The word greaves occurs only once in the AV. It is from the French greve, "shin." Greaves, usually always found in the plural, refers to armor for the lower leg. It is definitely an archaic word so why the NRSV, NIV, and NASB retained the word as the AV is a mystery. The NKJV alone translates it as "armor."But when the AV employs a simple word like "nations," the NIV, NRSV, and NASB replace it with the arcane "Goiim."142
Greyhound
A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up. (Prov 30:31)
A greyhound is only mentioned once in the AV. The word itself is from the Old English grighund, which is from the Old Norse greyhundr. The grey- has nothing to do with color as grey means "dog" and hundre means "hound." A greyhound is a breed of tall, slender short-haired dogs noted for their swiftness. The NRSV and NIV altered greyhound to "strutting rooster" and the NASB to "strutting cock," but the NJKV followed the AV. Nevertheless, greyhound racing is still held all over the country in the 1990's.
Grisled
And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. (Zec 6:3)
The word grisled, appearing four times in the AV,143 is a variation of grizzled. The base form grizzle is from the French grisel, from gris, "gray." A grisled animal is one that is gray-colored, either whole or spotted. Twice the NIV updates grisled to "spotted," and twice the NKJV changes it to "gray-spotted," but NASB and NRSV use the somewhat obscure "mottled."144 In the other two places where grisled is used, our supposedly modern, up-to-date versions replace grisled with the arcane "dappled."145
Gross
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. (Isa 60:2)
The word gross appears four times in the AV.146 It is from the French gros, "thick." Gross has nothing to do with quality but rather refers to quantity. Gross means large, thick, powerful, or big. Our modern versions could not agree on how to correct the word gross in the AV. Twice the NRSV, NASB, and NKJV used "dull" and the NIV employed "calloused."147 Another time the NRSV and NIV preferred "thick" but the NKJV and NASB settled on "deep."148 The other instance of the word gross was rendered "deep" by the NRSV and NASB, "thick" by the NIV, but "dense" by the NKJV.149 But after all the trouble to remove the word from those passages where it occurs in the AV, the NKJV inserted "gross" in a verse where no other version contained the word.150 The NRSV likewise did the same thing.151 The NASB not only injected "gross" into a verse,152 it used the adjective "grossness" where the AV had "multitude."153 With all the talk about gross weight, gross income, and gross national product, it is incredible that gross was excised from the AV. The word is still very much in use today as it appears in the AV: "One outcome of this situation is a gross discrepancy in per-capita water use by Israelis and Palestinians in the occupied territories."154
Guile
Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psa 32:2)
Guile appears eleven times in the AV,155 while the verb beguile is found twice,156 beguiling
once,157 and beguiled five times.158 Guile is from the French guile meaning deceit or trickery.
Guile is deceit, deception, cunning, craftiness, or trickery. Consequently, to beguile is to deceive
or trick. Our modern versions sought to completely remove guile from the text of the Bible but
only the NIV and NKJV were entirely successful. The usual substitution for guile in our modern
versions is "deceit,"159 but one can also find "lies,"160 "fraud,"161 forms of "trick,"162 "treachery,"163
and "craftily."164 Beguiled is likewise normally rendered by forms of "deceived."165 Yet when the
AV reads "deceit," it is corrected by the NIV to "lies,"166 the NRSV to "cunning" and
"treacherous,"167 and the NKJV to "oppression."168 But not only does the NASB slip up and
forget to remove guile from three passages where it appears in the AV,169 and not only does the
NASB insert "guile" into a verse where no other version contained the word,170 the NASB
actually altered "deceit" in the AV to "guile."171 The NRSV likewise did the same thing, injecting
"guile" into a passage where neither the AV nor any other modern version contained the word,172
and then amending "deceit" to "guile."173 To further correct the AV, the NRSV, after removing
beguiling from the only place it occurred in the AV,174 revised "seduce" in another passage to
"beguiling."175 All the energy expended in attempting to revise guile out of the AV was wasted,
for the word guile is still common today: "Two years after Kaunda's exit from power, his more
notorious counterparts in other countries have used a combination of guile and roguishness to
hold on to discredited power."176
Chapter 7 Footnotes
