Anyone who has ran around in the KJVO circles will know that the KJVO-ers have a lot of reasons why they believe that all the new translations are evil. Here we would like to address just one of those reasons. According to the KJVO movement, the NIV has purposefully schemed to remove the name of Jesus. But the evidence doesn’t really add up. In fact, the evidence is pointing quite to the opposite conclusion.
Did the new Bible versions remove the name of Jesus from the text?
Here are some online sources to demonstrate that such absurd claims are indeed being made. I am sure some google-ing could produce a dozen more.
christianitybeliefs.org
av1611.org
lovethetruth.com
As quoted directly from one such KJVO website…
The King James Bible is INSPIRED and PRESERVED. Those ministers and professed Christians who claim that the Bible is not worth fighting over do not love the Lord Jesus Christ. The King James Bible faithfully uplifts the precious name of Jesus. In the Godless and corrupt New International Version [NIV] of the Bible, the name above every other name, Jesus, is removed in 38 places. They hate Jesus. There were homosexuals on the translating committee of the NIV Bible. Why would any pastor fail to see the evils of the NIV? Not surprisingly, the word “sodomite” was completely removed from the NIV. They’re suppressing the truth! Romans 1:25 in the King James Bible warned that men would change the truth of God into a lie. Beware of all modern Bibles. (Source)
The Truth of the Matter (Charts Source)
Table is the number of times the KJV has Jesus and the NIV has something else.
| Scripture Reference | KJV | NIV |
| Matt 9:28 Matt 13:36 Matt 17:20 Matt 17:22 Matt 18:2 Matt 24:2 Mark 5:13 Mark 7:27 Mark 11:14 Mark 14:18 Luke 7:22 John 4:16 John 4:46 John 8:20 John 9:1 John 11:14 John 11:39 John 20:15 John 21:5 | Jesus | he |
| 2 Cor 4:11 | Jesus | his |
| Matt 8:29 | Jesus, thou Son of God | Son of God |
| Matt 16:20 | Jesus the Christ | the Christ |
| Romans 15:8 2 Cor 4:6 2 Cor 5:18 | Jesus Christ | Christ |
| Col 1:28 Phile 1:6 1 Pet 5:10 1 Pet 5:14 | Christ Jesus | Christ |
| Luke 7:19 Luke 10:39 Luke 10:41 | Jesus | the Lord |
| Acts 19:10 1 Cor 5:5 | Lord Jesus | Lord |
| Rom 16:18 | Lord Jesus Christ | Lord Christ |
| 1 Cor 16:22 2 Tim 4:22 | Lord Jesus Christ | Lord |
| John 19:38 | the body of Jesus | the body |
| Acts 3:26 | Son Jesus | servant |
| Rom 1:3 | Son Jesus Christ | Son |
| Acts 7:45 Heb 4:8 (What’s the difference?) | Jesus | Joshua |
| Acts 8:37 Romans 16:24 Col 1:2 | Jesus | [not present, but it is in the footnote] |
| John 21:21 Acts 9:29 Gal 6:15, Eph 3:9 Eph 3:14 | Jesus | [not present] |
Such charts are used by KJV-only supporters to “alarm” you that Satan has indeed worked to remove the name of Jesus. Below is the chart inverted.
Places where the NIV says Jesus and the KJV says something else.
| Scripture Reference(s) | KJV | NIV |
| Matt 4:4 Matt 4:19 Matt 4:21, Matt 8:24 Matt 9:1 Matt 11:20 Matt 12:22 Matt 12:46 Matt 13:24 Matt 15:3 Matt 15:10 Matt 15:23 Matt 15:39 Matt 16:4 Matt 16:23 Matt 19:8 Matt 19:11 Matt 19:17 Matt 20:23 Matt 21:10 Matt 21:23 Matt 22:34 Matt 24:3 Matt 26:20, Matt 26:23 Matt 26:25 Matt 27:3 Matt 27:14 Mark 1:10 Mark 1:16 Mark 1:21 Mark 1:35 Mark 1:38 Mark 1:43 Mark 2:4 Mark 2:13 Mark 2:14 Mark 2:23 Mark 3:3 Mark 3:4 Mark 3:13 Mark 3:23 Mark 4:1 Mark 4:9 Mark 4:13 Mark 4:33 Mark 4:28 Mark 5:2 Mark 5:8 Mark 5:9 Mark 5:18 Mark 5:32 Mark 5:35 Mark 5:38 Mark 6:1 Mark 6:6 Mark 6:39 Mark 6:45 Mark 7:14 Mark 7:24 Mark 7:31 Mark 7:33 Mark 7:36 Mark 8:5 Mark 8:15 Mark 8:23 Mark 8:25 Mark 8:26 Mark 8:30 Mark 8:33 Mark 9:9 Mark 9:12 Mark 9:19 Mark 9:21 Mark 9:28 Mark 9:30 Mark 9:35 Mark 10:1 Mark 10:17 Mark 10:46 Mark 11:1 Mark 11:12 Mark 11:27 Mark 12:15 Mark 12:28 Mark 12:38 Mark 12:43 Mark 13:3 Mark 14:16 Mark 14:17 Mark 14:32 Mark 14:61 Mark 15:2 Mark 15:44 Mark 16:11 Mark 16:12 Mark 16:14 Luke 4:23 Luke 4:38 Luke 4:42 Luke 5:12 Luke 5:13 Luke 5:14 Luke 5:16 Luke 5:20 Luke 5:27 (twice) Luke 5:34 Luke 6:1 Luke 6:5 Luke 6:8 Luke 6:12 Luke 7:1 Luke 7:11 Luke 7:15 Luke 7:21 Luke 7:24 Luke 7:43 Luke 7:48 Luke 7:50 Luke 8:1 Luke 8:22 Luke 8:27 Luke 8:29 Luke 8:42 Luke 8:49 Luke 8:52 Luke 8:55 Luke 9:1 Luke 9:18 Luke 9:21 Luke 9:28 Luke 9:51 Luke 9:55 Luke 10:28 Luke 11:1 Luke 11:14 Luke 11:17 Luke 11:27 Luke 11:29 Luke 11:37 Luke 11:38 Luke 11:46 Luke 11:53 Luke 12:1 Luke 12:14 Luke 12:22 Luke 13:10 Luke 13:18 Luke 13:22 Luke 14:1 Luke 14:12 Luke 14:16 Luke 15:3 Luke 15:11 Luke 16:1 Luke 17:1 Luke 17:11 Luke 17:20 Luke 18:1 Luke 18:9 Luke 18:27 Luke 18:29 Luke 18:31 Luke 18:35 Luke 19:4, Luke 19:28 Luke 20:17 Luke 20:41 Luke 20:45 Luke 21:1 Luke 21:5 Luke 21:37 Luke 22:8 Luke 22:13 Luke 22:14 Luke 22:25 Luke 22:34 Luke 22:35 Luke 22:39 Luke 22:67 Luke 23:3 Luke 23:7 Luke 23:9 Luke 24:28 Luke 24:35 John 9:22 John 11:43 John 11:57 John 12:9 John 12:37 John 13:28 John 18:6 John 19:41 John 20:9 John 21:15 John 21:16 (twice) John 21:17 John 21:19 Acts 1:22 Acts 9:20 Hebrews 2:11 Hebrews 7:24 Hebrews 8:6 1 John 2:6 1 John 3:16 | he | Jesus |
| Matt 8:31 Matt 9:32 Matt 12:10 Matt 12:14 Matt 14:35 Matt 16:1 Matt 17:3 Matt 17:14 Matt 18:21 Matt 19:13 Matt 19:16 Matt 20:20 Matt 21:7 Matt 26:62 Matt 27:18 Matt 27:34 Matt 27:48 Mark 1:30 Mark 1:32 Mark 1:34 Mark 2:4 Mark 2:18 Mark 3:2 Mark 3:6 Mark 5:10 Mark 5:12 Mark 5:17 Mark 5:22 Mark 6:54 Mark 7:1 Mark 7:5 Mark 7:26 Mark 8:11 Mark 8:22 Mark 9:15 Mark 9:20 Mark 10:10 Mark 10:13 Mark 11:21 Mark 12:13 Mark 14:1 Mark 14:10 Mark 14:45 Mark 14:46 Mark 14:51 Mark 15:10 Mark 15:16 Mark 15:22 Mark 15:36 Mark 15:39 Luke 4:38 Luke 4:40 Luke 5:1 Luke 5:18 Luke 5:29 Luke 6:7 Luke 7:17 Luke 7:20 Luke 7:36 Luke 8:4 Luke 8:32 Luke 8:37 Luke 9:10 Luke 10:25 Luke 13:1 Luke 13:31 Luke 14:15 Luke 14:25 Luke 16:14 Luke 18:15 Luke 18:43 Luke 19:39 Luke 20:27 Luke 22:2 Luke 22:4 Luke 22:6 Luke 22:66 Luke 23:3 Luke 23:55 John 1:40 John 7:43 John 8:4 John 10:42 John 11:3 John 13:2 John 19:12 John 19:32 Acts 3:16 Acts 13:27 Hebrews 13:15 | him | Jesus |
| Luke 20:20 Acts 3:16 Acts 13:24 | his | Jesus |
| Matt 17:24 Matt 20:29 Luke 10:38 | they | Jesus and his disciples |
| 2 Cor 11:4 | whom | Jesus |
| Acts 10:48 | the Lord | Jesus Christ |
| Acts 18:25 | the Lord | Jesus |
| Mark 16:19 2 Thess 2:8 | Lord | Lord Jesus |
| Acts 16:7 | Spirit | Spirit of Jesus |
| Acts 24:24 Romans 8:34 1 Cor 4:17 Gal 5:24 Eph 3:6 Col 4:12 | Christ | Christ Jesus |
| Acts 9:22 | this | Jesus |
| Acts 13:38 Heb 3:3 | this man | Jesus |
| Mark 3:20 Mark 7:19 Luke 9:31 John 10:40 | [not present] | Jesus |
| Romans 1:4 | [not present] | Jesus Christ our Lord |
| Jude 1:25 | [not present] | through Jesus Christ our Lord |
If you are KJVO you can refute this information below.
By your logic then we should be pronouncing Jesus as Yeshua. It’s not whether we use Yahweh or Jehovah, it’s that we use the Father’s name. The first thing Jesus taught us to pray for in the Lord’s prayer was “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name”. Yet most people don’t use it at all. I’m just saying it surprises me that people are uptight about changing reference to Jesus in the Bible to He or Lord, but not the Father’s name Jehovah.
That’s a good point. I believe the tradition was just adopted by Jewish scribes in the early medieval period.
On the difference between Jesus and Yeshua, I think it depends on the practice of the first century Christians and Jews. They typically spoke Greek. Some Jews spoke Aramaic but not most. Other still learned traditional Hebrew but usually just rabbis, scribes, and such. Did Jesus pronounce his is name as a Greek speaker or an Aramaic speaker? I’m not sure.
I think it’s hilarious that people are so up in arms about Jesus name being removed from the Bible, yet they have no issues with the Father’s name, Jehovah, being removed, This is so, even though His name appears over 7,000 times in the original texts. More than any other name including Jesus.
Ehhhh, I think you might be missing some history about the Hebrew Bible here. Hebrew doesn’t actually have a J or a J sound. God’s name reads YHWH in Hebrew and should be pronounced Yahweh. Jehovah was an old transition of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH+Adonai) that was currently being read in Latin. So Jehovah was a translation from Latin into English of a made up title for God that was used by scribes to avoid mistakenly writing God’s name incorrectly. It was a 6th century invention. But this is also why our old testament reads LORD in all caps. The ALL caps LORD is a modern indicator that the word in the original text was YHWH in Hebrew or the Tetragrammaton in Latin.
I personally don’t care for the use of this device. However, I don’t think many KJV readers would either if they actually knew what it was.