Archaic KJV Word
Cross
Modern equivalent: religious symbol
What Was Lost
The horror. For a first-century audience, 'take up your cross' was as shocking as 'sit in your own electric chair.' The cross was not a religious symbol but a state execution device designed to kill as slowly and publicly as possible. Paul 'glorying in the cross' was as provocative as glorying in a gallows. The sanitization of the cross removes the scandal.
Closest Survivor in Modern English
cross (still used but its horror has been neutralized by two millennia of religious decoration)
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV Matthew 16:24 -- 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross'; Galatians 6:14 -- 'God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross'
Died still used but jewelry-ized (~1800)
Greek stauros ('execution stake/instrument of the most shameful death Rome could inflict/symbol of state terrorism against rebels') transformed from the most horrifying image in the ancient world into jewelry and decoration.
What Replaced It
“necklace charm”
Fashion accessory; the cross was the electric chair of the Roman world
“religious symbol”
Identity marker; the cross was an instrument of execution designed for maximum public humiliation
“difficulty”
'My cross to bear' as everyday inconvenience; carrying your cross meant walking to your own execution