Ecclesiastes 8:1: “Who is a wise person? Who knows the solution to a problem? A person’s wisdom brightens his appearance and softens his harsh countenance.”
Remember, I’m talking about hermeneutics—Bible interpretation. “Who knows the solution to a problem” can be understood as, “Who knows the explanation of a thing?” That’s the territory of interpretation.
I want you to pay attention to the Bible version you are using.
Do you think you should go on using the KJV? Look at the year: 2026. The word of God is something that must be taken seriously. So why put a holdup in front of people? Why put the holdup of KJV language in front of people?
I know it’s probably the easiest Bible to have around. I know it’s probably the cheapest option, probably the most popular option. But don’t you think we need to take biblical understanding so seriously that we don’t hamstring ourselves?
You say to me, “Okay, which version should I use?” My answer: anyone except KJV as your primary study Bible—and probably don’t then use a paraphrase as your primary either. Don’t use a paraphrase as your main Bible; that could be your secondary Bible, not your primary.
Use a modern translation. Use English that is not “thou.” Let’s start with that. Because we are talking about Bible interpretation.
Nobody is saying you must go and learn Hebrew and Greek—though that is not a bad thing. But that may not be what you are going to do next. So: read the preface. There are different kinds of translations.
- You have paraphrase.
- You have dynamic equivalence.
- You have formal (literal).
Paraphrase is where a person is using his own language, his own way of saying it—more contemporary phraseology. Think of something like the Phillips translation or The Message. I would say: do not use that as your primary.
Dynamic equivalence (thought‑for‑thought) is where the translator says, “This is the thought being communicated; I want to faithfully represent that thought.” An example would be the NIV, or Good News Bible in that range.
Formal / literal (“word‑for‑word”) aims to stay as close as possible to the original wording and structure while still being readable. Examples: ESV, NASB, CSB, etc. I know a printed copy may be expensive, but you have access to these as digital resources on your phone.
Read the preface of these Bibles to see how they describe their own philosophy; it will give you a concrete sense of what I’m describing.
Before we even begin to talk about interpretation, let’s have a more reader‑friendly base text. I am not talking about ultra‑simplified “easy to read” paraphrases.
And not KJV. Not KJV.
God bless you. See you later.