the Author
For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in words and their meanings. As a pastor, I would read a commentary on the Bible where the author would say something like, “Now the KJV uses the word `charity`, but a better translation would be `love`.” At this point, I would ask myself, “Did they not have the word `love` back in 1611?” A quick study revealed that they had the word `love`. This sent me deeper into study, asking the question, “Then why did the translators of 1611 use the word `charity`?” The results of my study amazed me, proving to me that the words they chose were indeed proper words and did not need to be improved upon . . . if only we clearly understood them. In fact, how can we be “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15) if we really don`t know what the words mean, nor very little about the grammar?As time went on, I began to realize that some Bible teachers were trying to “reinvent the wheel”. One problem in doing this is that, by constantly coming up with new words to explain the words that are there, people get the impression the Bible is not trustworthy, or it`s too hard to understand, so why bother? It is my belief that readers of the KJV Bible don`t need new words, but instead, they need to know what the existing words actually mean. NOTE: This does NOT mean we should ignore the original languages of the underlying texts! In fact, we often refer to them to give us a better understanding why the translators chose the words they did. Again let me say this, “If you can work with the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek languages, then by all means do it.” But just remember that some of the world`s most brilliant minds have already done this for us and have chosen English words that adequately translate the Scriptures. We just need to understand what the English words mean. Thus, God has burdened my heart with the study of His Word and with languages, including Hebrew, Greek and Latin, in order to teach and communicate the truths of the King James Bible. I have discovered that as people gain a deeper understanding of the words of the King James language, the Bible itself becomes a whole new world of excitement! This is especially true with people for whom English is a second language. Hence, there is a need for a dictionary such as this one.
As much as is possible, I have researched (at great length and expense!) using the finest grammatical and etymological resources I could find, to provide definitions of key Bible words. These definitions are according to my own understanding of the evidences, and as much as is possible, in my own words. I have taken every effort to ensure this dictionary to be of the highest quality and free from error. Should the reader find an error, or have a suggestion for an improvement, then I would greatly like to know about it.Pastor Steven J. White