KJV Questions and Answers - Far Eastern Bible College

etract the promise he had already made. The KJV translation, “for theoath’s sake,” is thus perfectly legitimate.(55) Is the KJV translation “strain at a gnat” in Matt 23:24 amistake?Matt 23:24 reads, “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, andswallow a camel.” Many anti-KJVists call “strain at a gnat” agrammatical mistake, saying that it should be “strain out a gnat” and not“strain at a gnat.” Some, however, see it as a typographical error. I believeit is neither a grammatical nor a typographical error. Even the NewOxford English dictionary does not see “strain at” to be a mistake, but anarchaic usage. Thus, to “strain out a gnat” is correct; to “strain at a gnat”is also correct, and perhaps even better.If “strain at” is indeed a legitimate translation, how then ought we tounderstand it? Well, it depends on where the emphasis lies. Is theemphasis on the verb (“strain”) or on the noun (“gnat”)? The King Jamestranslators were astute to translate the Greek word diulizo (“to strain,” “tofilter,” “to percolate”) as “to strain at.” This is because the context has todo with sight. Jesus ridiculed and rebuked the Pharisees calling them“blind guides.” How blind were they? They were so sharp to spot a tinylittle gnat and quick to filter it out of their drink, but could not see a hugecamel on their plate and were prepared even to swallow it whole. Thus“to strain at” could be taken to mean “to strain at [the sight of] a gnat.”Now, the Chambers Dictionary confirms this: “strain at in Matt. xxiii.24, to remove by straining, strain in the event of finding. Many todaywould have to “strain at a gnat” to fault the KJV, but when it comes to themodern perversions, they would “swallow a camel.”(56) Is the Holy Spirit an “it” according to John 1:32, Rom8:16, and 1 Pet 1:11 in the KJV?The word “it” here, with reference to the Holy Spirit, is the directresult of the literal translation of the neuter gender of the pronouns andparticiples in the Greek text that stand in agreement with the neutergender for the Greek word for “spirit” (pneuma). This cannot be taken tomean that the KJV teaches that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force.The cited verses themselves show that this is not the case, as a forcecannot bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom8:16), make intercession for us (Rom 8:26) or testify beforehand of theQUESTIONS ABOUT DIFFICULT VERSES47