Genesis 22:8 is one of my favorite verses for showing the uniqueness of word order and language in the KJV. In fact, I find many verses in the King James Bible have many layers of meaning that I never found in any of the modern translations.

Word order matters

If you are newer to reading the King James Bible, like I am, consider it a blessing! Because I had been reading other Bible versions for years, I find I’m noticing that certain verses in the KJV stand out to me like I’ve never read them before!

Sometimes it’s because the words themselves are different from words I’ve read or memorized before from other versions.

And sometimes it’s because the word order is different that the verse is capable of conveying the most meaning.

In fact, I’ve come to believe that the order of words is part of what makes God’s Word living and active.

Different words = different meaning

Some publishing companies, seminaries, and even pastors will try to tell you that the new versions do not alter the important doctrines of the Bible.

As I began to read the King James Bible, however, if a verse seemed unique to me, I’d often check it against the same verse in one of the other versions I used to read. And I was often surprised at how different they really were!

In fact, it was so interesting to me that I started to make note of a few of them. And I’d love to share them with you, and any of my friends who are curious, if you’d like to follow along.

As much as I love sharing what I’ve learned, however, I highly encourage you not to take my word for it, but dive into the King James Bible and make these comparisons yourself.

Each week, I’ll be spending a few minutes on specific verses or passage of the Bible, so you can see how certain verses stand out in the KJV and give more meaning than you’ll find in modern Bible versions.

Genesis 22:8 in the KJV — the gospel in the Old Testament

Let’s start in the beginning. Genesis 22:8 is perhaps one of the clearest presentations of the gospel in the Old Testament.

“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”

—Genesis 22:8

If you check out the modern translations of the Bible, you’ll find they say things like “God will provide FOR Himself…”

But none of the modern translations say “God will provide HIMSELF a lamb.”

This wording allows the verse to carry both meanings! First, that God will provide FOR himself a sacrifice.

But also this wording is unique in that it gives us the second, and perhaps most important truth: God will provide HIMSELF as the Lamb! In other words, Jesus IS God!

This is one of the clearest references in the Old Testament to the gospel, and one of the most important verses in the Bible proving the deity of Jesus Christ. And yet it is missing from all of the newer translations of the Bible. How can this be?

The full counsel of God

I don’t know about you, but I want a Bible with the full counsel of God!

The wonder of the King James Bible is that there are so many verses like this one, where at first I’ll think I’m simply not used to the order of words, or it sounds a little different than what I’ve read in the past. But then I begin to see that God’s wording is perfect and it allows him to reveal truths to us at different points in time that he might have kept hidden before.

God’s true Word is living and active — something I only glimpsed before, but the more I delve into the Authorized Version of the Bible, the more I see how true this is!

When you come across examples like this in your Bible reading, write them down, pray about them, study them, and come back to them later. I know you’ll be blessed by what God shows you in his Word!