Perhaps the most popular argument against the King James Bible is that it contains archaic words.
By this is usually meant words that are antiquated or “rare in present day usage except to suggest the older time… ex: thou, wast” (Dictionary.com).
In other words, archaic words are old-fashioned words.
What is common and in fashion varies based on the group, which is why there are more modern Bibles than known elements in the universe.
One word that is never said to be archaic, though it is very rarely used outside of British politics or religious circles, is the word ‘lord’.
Christian culture uses the word frequently referring to our Lord Jesus Christ, but it would definitely fall into the category of old-fashioned if used outside Christian jargon.
Do you ever call your husband lord? Sarah did (1 Peter 3:6, ESV, NIV, KJV).
Did you know you have many lords? That’s what we learn from 1 Cor 8:5 and 1 Tim 6:15 (NLT, ESV, KJV).
Would you call your president, Lord Biden? How about your employer? The Bible called rulers, masters, and angels, lords (and sometimes gods – shhh).
No one would consider their landlord a lord in the old-fashioned, archaic, feudal sense.
‘Lord’ fits the definition of archaic, but I am not suggesting we remove the word from the Bible. I am trying to show that archaisms are going to exist in every Bible because the Bible itself is a record of events, history, and people thousands of years older than the English language.
Archaic words are not a problem when people use them. The real problem is that people do not find it fashionable to use and learn the Bible they have.
For your edification,
Justin “unfashionable” Johnson