Defending the King James Version Bible's use of the word "Easter" Acts 12:4 KJV
Original Word: ἐπικουρία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Phonetic Spelling: (ep-ee-koo-ree'-ah)
Definition: aid, assistance
Usage: succor (against foes), help, aid, assistance.
The word Easter is NOT pagan. It means East and the dawn of the risen Lord the celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I have personally studied this myself in the Oxford compact English Dictionary (page 827*) to see the etymology of the word Easter. Although the pagans tied the word East to a goddess of the sunrise (usra) (eostre) , the 1st Century Christians used the word and understood clearly the word to mean sunrise, the resurrection and spiritual dawn. Please see notes below. It was also extremely important in Acts 14 for the Christians to make a distinction from the Jewish Passover and for this one must have an understanding of rightly dividing the word of God (2 Timothy 2:15) to know that the age of grace, aka church age is separate from the dispensation of the law and the old testament.
following quote taken from: KJV TODAY.COM
The resurrection = spiritual "dawn"Christ's resurrection is a "dawn" also in a spiritual sense because that is when the light of salvation rose (resurrected) from the darkness of death. The following passages compare Christ to the sun rising from darkness:
- "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." (Isaiah 60:1-3)
- "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;" (Malachi 4:2)
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt
go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge
of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the
tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath
visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:76-79)
- "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:" (2 Peter 1:19)
- "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." (Revelation 22:16)
Christians try to avoid anything that has to do with sunrise imagery,
presuming that it is pagan. Yet God in his Holy word compares Christ to
the rising sun. The word, "Easter" (austra in Proto-Germanic and aster in Old Frisian; see above),
with its connotation of a sunrise, pays tribute to this biblical
imagery of Christ as the "Sun of righteousness". The word translated
"dayspring" at Luke 1:78 is "ανατολη", which means "1) a rising (of the
sun and stars); 2) the east (the direction of the sun’s rising)" (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon). The Old West-Saxon version of the Gospel of Luke translates the word as "eastdæle",
which is the Saxon word for "east/sunrise". Luke 1:78 in West-Saxon
reads, "þurh innoþas ures godes mildheortnesse. on þam he us geneosode
of eastdæle up springende;" This is another proof that the word "Easter" came from the biblical language of the Saxons.
The King James Version Bible is and has been proven and demonstrated as authentic and reliable word of God. Please read links below. Also please read "Final Authority" by Dr. Grady. There's a tremendous onslaught of evil afoot in these last days to diminish or throw out the KJV translation. Perverted bible translations are now used in almost all churches. Please see notes below.
King James Version Bible for Today
Why Bible Translations really matter: