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© 2002 by David W. Daniels
Question: Is Isaiah 53:4 a
mistranslation for the words "pain" and "suffering" as grief
and sorrows?
Answer: The King James is correct: the
Hebrew words have more than one meaning. The KJV
translators knew which meaning applied, because
they paid close attention to the context in which
the words were found. Here is Isaiah 53:4
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:4)
Grief and Sickness
The word for "grief" in Hebrew is choliy, which can mean "sickness"
as we see clearly in Deuteronomy 7:15. In this context the Lord promised
health as a blessing of the Old Covenant for obeying Him:
And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness
[Hebrew, choliy], and will put none of the evil diseases
of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay
them upon all them that hate thee. (Deuteronomy 7:15)
But it also rightly means "grief," as we find in Jeremiah, "the
weeping prophet":
Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous
[Hebrew, chalah, a related word]: but I said, Truly this is
a grief [Hebrew, choliy], and I must bear it. (Jeremiah 10:19)
Since "infirmity" is alike in meaning to "sickness," we see God inspired
apostle Matthew Levi to translate properly "Himself took our infirmities
and bare our sicknesses. (Matthew 8:17a).
Sorrow and Pain
In the same way, we know the word for sorrows [Hebrew, mak'ob,
also translated pain] should be translated the way it is in the
King James Bible. Look at these Scriptures, again from "the
weeping prophet":
Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD hath
added grief to my sorrow [Hebrew, mak'ob]; I fainted in my sighing,
and I find no rest. (Jeremiah 45:3)
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if
there be any sorrow [Hebrew, mak'ob] like unto my sorrow
[Hebrew, mak'ob], which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD
hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. (Lamentations 1:12)
The King James Bible is God's preserved words from Greek and Hebrew
into English. It is completely and contextually accurate. And we need
not hesitate to trust exactly what it says, even if we never learn or check
the Greek or Hebrew. It's that accurate.
May God bless you as you read every one of His preserved words in English,
the King James Bible.
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