Re: Tampering not really.

In the late-14th century, when Wycliffe translated the first English New Testament, the English word "Passover" did not even exist yet! In the 29 places1 "pascha" occurs in the New Testament, Wycliffe used "pask" or "paske"2 - a modified version of "pascha" (following the Latin Vulgate word "pascha" which is essentially identical to the Greek word). In Tyndale's 1535 translation, most instances appear as "ester" - the three exceptions are Matt 26:17 (which has "paschall" lamb but is called the "ester" lamb just two verses later), Mark 14:12 ("pascall" lamb and "ester" lamb in the same verse), and John 18:28 ("paschall" lamb). Tyndale translated the NT before translating the OT, and although the church in general at that time (and prior) thought of the Jewish "Passover" and the Christian "Easter" as basically synonyms, Tyndale invented a new English word "Passover" when translating the OT, since "Easter" was somewhat of an anachronism since Christ's crucifixion and resurrection hadn't occurred until the NT. After Tyndale's translation, English translations began using "Passover" more and "Easter" less although it was still common to think of them as referring to the same time. For example, the 1539 Great Bible has "Easter" 15 times, and the 1568 Bishops' Bible (of which the KJV is a revision) only has "Easter" twice (John 11:55 and here in Acts 12:4).

Side note: Luther's German Bible ("the word of God in German" according to many KJV-only supporters) has "Oster" (Easter) and related words in all places, with the exception of Heb 11:28 ("Passa"). Conversely, the Reina-Valera ("the word of God in Spanish") has "Pascua" (Passover) in all 29 places (including Acts 12:4), as well as in Luke 23:54, John 19:31 and John 19:42.


William Tyndale solemnly
demonstrates his new "wrist support" invention, more commonly
known as a "book".
It is my position that "Easter" in Acts 12:4 in the KJV is not an error, if understood that from the early church until relatively recently "Passover" and "Easter" were basically synonyms and used interchangeably. The event referred to in Acts 12:4 is the Jewish week-long feast of unleavened bread (not the Christian commemoration of Christ's resurrection, nor a pagan festival), and to refer to it as "Easter" was common, even though it is no longer so. Where I do think that great error exists is in the KJV-only arguments as to why "Easter" is correct while "Passover" is wrong. Let's look at some of those arguments, comparing to what scripture says:http://www.kjv-only.com/acts12_4.html

Tampering is a opinion formed through lack of study.

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