The New King James version draws from an apparent source text that places it somewhere on a spectrum between the received Greek of the New Testament, and the modern versions. It also follows these with the inclusion of thousands of footnotes, making in these value judgments which are supportive of many modern manuscript changes which they do not implement, even beyond the actual differences from the received text that exist, which are listed below.
In addition, the New King James or NKJV translation also incorporates many of the same translational changes as the other modern versions, as an example the term “fornication” is replaced in favor of the much less specific term “sexual immorality” in the New King James Version.
At least some of the changes in the Old Testament section are likely interpretive, such as Genesis 22:17 (see below),1“and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;” KJV
“and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.” NKJV
But see also Galatians 3:16, which says, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”
— Galatians 3:16 while others are based on the use of the Rudolf Kittel 1906 Biblica Hebraica (Masoretic text), leading to changes such as found in 2 Kings 20:38/41,2“And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.” KJV
“And he hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.” NKJV and yet others are due to the use of Latin or Greek variants, for instance, in Micah 7:19.3“thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” KJV
“You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” NKJV
Among the many changes in the NKJV, the following are of interest:
Matthew 1:1 “the generation of Jesus Christ” changed to “the genealogy of Jesus Christ”
Matthew 7:14 “narrow” changed to “difficult”4“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,” KJV
“Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life,” NKJV
Matthew 22:10 “hall” added in italics (agreeing with the alexandrian/critical text version)
Matthew 27:34 “vinegar” changed to “wine”5“They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.” KJV
“they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.” NKJV
See also:
“But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Matthew 26:29
Mark 11:4 “in a place where two ways met” removed
John 5:39 imperative changed to indicative6“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” KJV
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” NKJV
Acts 2:47, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 2:15 shifted to active/incomplete tense “are being saved” instead of present tense “are saved.” (Not Luke 13:23, 1 Corinthians 15:2 or Revelation 21:24 however)7See defense of 1 Corinthians 1:18
Acts 3:13/26 “his Son Jesus” changed to “his Servant Jesus”
2 Corinthians 2:17 “corrupt the word of God” changed to “peddle the word of God”8See defense of 2 Corinthians 2:17
2 Corinthians 4:14 “by” changed to “with”[Gr. “dia” changed to “syn”]9“Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.” KJV
“knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.” NKJV
Colossians 2:2 “and of the Father” changed to “both of the Father”
Titus 2:7 “in doctrine shewing uncorruptness” word order changed to remove this phrase10“in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,” KJV
“in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,” NKJV
Titus 3:10 altered to say “divisive”11“A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;” KJV
“Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,” NKJV (compare with Luke 12:51, also Romans 16:17)12“Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:” Luke 12:51
Hebrews 3:16 changed the grammar, to make it mean ALL instead of some13“For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.” KJV
“For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?” NKJV
Hebrews 10:14 “are being sanctified” instead of “are sanctified”14See defense of 1 Corinthians 1:18
1 Peter 3:3 altered (“merely” added in italics, same as NASB)15“Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;” KJV
“Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—” NKJV
1 John 2:8 “is past” changed to “is passing”16A Greek verb in present tense can be used for describing past actions, as there is a difference between the tense of a word and its grammatical or lexical aspect. For instance, in John 14:3 a present tense verb indicates a future event (e.g. ‘will come’)
Jude 1:3 “the common salvation” changed to “our common salvation”
Jude 1:19 “separate themselves” changed to “who cause divisions”17“These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” KJV
“These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” NKJV (this changes the meaning, also compare Luke 12:51)18“Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:” Luke 12:51
Genesis 22:17 plural “descendants” and “their enemies” (note Galatians 3:16) instead of “his enemies” (as in KJV)19“and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;” KJV
“and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.” NKJV
But see Galatians 3:16, which says, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”
— Galatians 3:16
2 Kings 23:29 “went up against” changed to “went to the aid”20“In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates:” KJV
“In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went to the aid of the king of Assyria,” NKJV (opposite meaning, and contradicting 2 Chron. 35:20)21“After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates:” KJV
“After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates;” NKJV
Micah 7:19 “all their sins” changed to “all our sins”22“thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” KJV
“You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” NKJV
Nahum 2:2 “hath turned away” changed to “will restore”23“For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.” KJV
“For the LORD will restore the excellence of Jacob Like the excellence of Israel, For the emptiers have emptied them out And ruined their vine branches.” NKJV (opposite)24Leviticus 26:19, Ezekiel 24:21, 33:28.
Zechariah 9:17 “how great is his goodness” changed to “how great is its goodness”