FURTHER and FARTHER

By David Cagle (Taken From the December 2003 Bible Believers' Bulletin)

Article read and approved by Dr. Ruckman - Nov 2003

Recently we have been getting several questions on Matthew 26:39. It seems that the Cambridge Bible reads “he went a little further,” while the Oxford KJV, and those published by several American publishers, reads “he went a little farther.”

Some of the dear brethren involved in Bible publishing have used this to cast doubt on the average KJV which the average Christian can purchase in any store. They prey on the love of Bible-believers for the pure word of God in order to promote their own editions of the KJV (1 Tim. 6:10).

The obvious conclusion one is supposed to reach is that one word has to be right and the other word has to be wrong. After all, they are two separate words, and both can’t be right.

But this line of reasoning is a “knee-jerk” reaction to a “shocking” revelation. It relies on the ignorance and laziness of the recipient to get its point across.

First of all, let’s look at the idea that one word has to be right and the other wrong. Well, that is not the case in “vat” versus “fat.” You say that is merely a spelling variation of the same word.

Do you mean to tell me that you have never considered the possibility that “further” and “farther” could be the same word spelled differently? You say that they are not in the dictionary. We will see about that in a minute.

Now, if you had to prove that one word was right and the other was wrong, how would you do it? The Greek really wouldn’t help you at this point. The Greek words for “further” and “farther” both mean to go forward a certain distance.

You say the King James Bible is the final authority. Oh, come on. Who doesn’t know that thousands of spelling changes were made between 1611 and later revisions. No one is stupid enough to say that one word is right and the other wrong simply because the same word is spelled two different ways.

Moreover, in the legitimate revision of the KJV words were added and changed, and no one but the Bible correctors are foolish enough to believe that either the original KJV readings or the later revisions are mistakes or errors or “counterfeits.”

You couldn’t prove from any King James Bible that either word is right and the other wrong in the way either is used in Matthew 26:39. In the King James Bible you have differences in spellings which these nitpickers would not allow. For instance, “Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14) and “Emmanuel” (Matt. 1:23); “holy spirit” (Psa. 51:11) and “holy Spirit” (Eph. 4:30) and “Holy Spirit” (Luke 11:13). You also have word changes which they wouldn’t allow: “sons” (Hos. 1:10) and “children” (Rom. 9:26); “Redeemer” (Isa. 59:20) and “Deliverer” (Rom. 11:26); “covenant” (Exod. 24:8) and “testament” (Heb. 9:20).

Now, if God can do that within the pages of His own Book, why can’t you allow for Him to do that between the editions of His own Book. Especially where there is no difference between the words!

I have before me The Oxford English Dictionary which is the standard by which all other English dictionaries are judged. Just for the fun of it, I looked up the words further and farther. Both words are adverbs as they are used in Matthew 26:39. Both mean to progress forward a certain distance. But the real “kicker” is that of the four adverbial definitions of further, The Oxford English Dictionary referred the reader to the definition of farther. When one looks under farther, he is told that at one time the words were used interchangeably as in the sense of Matthew 26:39.

Today the word farther is preferred to be used in the sense of going a certain distance (as in far-ther), while further is used when progress is made in an area where no distance is measured (e.g. “What further need have we of witnesses,” Matt. 26:65). But that is the connotative meaning of the word (the form subject to accepted usage), not the denotative. The denotative use (the actual meanings) of both words is the same.

So what you have in the use of farther and further in Matthew 26:39 is a case between KJV editions where either is correct, and no error could be proved-BY ANYBODY-with the use of either term. The same is true of “fleeth” and “flieth” in Nahum 3:16, and “he” and “she” in Ruth 3:15, and “or” and “and” in Joshua 19:2.

A bunch of self-righteous sinners (albeit saved, Bible-believing sinners) have raised a big stink over the word, trying to exalt themselves as having more fidelity to the Scriptures than your average, “ignorant” Bible believer. Nicolaitans come in all shapes and sizes, don’t they?