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All KJV Words

Archaic KJV Word

Power

Modern equivalent: political authority

What Was Lost

The supernatural capability. 'Ye shall receive dynamis' was not 'you will gain political authority' but 'you will receive supernatural capability to do what no human can do on their own.' The gospel as 'the power of God' meant it was not an idea but a force -- the active, transformative, death-defeating energy of God unleashed.

Closest Survivor in Modern English

dynamite (from dynamis -- Nobel named his explosive after the Greek word for divine power)

Peak Usage (1611)

KJV Acts 1:8 -- 'Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you'; Romans 1:16 -- 'The gospel...is the power of God'

Died still used but politicized (~1800)

Greek dynamis ('inherent capability/miraculous force/the ability to do what is impossible by natural means') was politicized into 'authority over others.' Power became domination rather than divine capability.

What Replaced It

authority

Positional; dynamis was inherent capability -- the power that raised Christ from the dead

control

Domination; dynamis was enabling force, not controlling force

influence

Social capital; dynamis was supernatural ability to do the humanly impossible

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