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Three Kings and Some Land 2

Comments we received in regard to "Three Kings and Some Land": Hi Pastor Reagan, I have been studying in the book of Jeremiah and read the chapter you are quoting yesterday. My KJV Bible spells the kings name "Nebuchadrezzer" I checked my wifes KJV and it says the same thing. However you are spelling it "Nebuchadnezzar" I checked my concordance and it says these are the same. I was wondering if you had any insight as to why the different spellings. I don't think there are two different kings of Babylon. Just wondering??

Response: Numerous people in the Bible have more than one spelling for their name. These variations often reflect slight differences in the Hebrew or Greek or even from the Hebrew to the Greek (as in Elijah and Elias). The fact that one person may have more than one name or even have two spellings for the same basic name should not concern us. Nebuchadnezzar is one of these men. In the Bible, his name is given both as Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadrezzar, but it is one and the same person.

My quote was from Jeremiah 27:6. I have found it to read "Nebuchadnezzar" in the following King James Bibles: Local Church Bible Publishers, Oxford, Dugan, Thompson-Chain, and Old Scofield. None of the ones I checked had Nebuchadrezzar in that verse. However, if you just go back to Jeremiah 25:9, you will find the second spelling. In fact, according to my SwordSearcher program, Jeremiah uses "Nebuchadnezzar" 10 times and "Nebuchadrezzar" 27 times. Although your spelling may be a difference in Bibles, I would first suggest that you carefully check which references you are looking up. However, there is another danger in many of the more recently printed Bibles. With the lowered respect for the words of God, more and more publishers are taking liberties with the text. Some have especially tinkered with spelling but they soon go further. Please be wary of these kinds of changes to the text.