Question 1

What does "Table" mean in the King James Bible?

Accepted Answer

In the KJV, "Table" means "tablet." The covenant weight of the word. The tables of stone were not dining furniture but engraved covenant tablets -- permanent, authoritative, finger-of-God inscribed. Paul's contrast between stone tables and heart tables was about writing surfaces: the law written on dead stone versus written on living flesh. The furniture meaning obscures this.

Question 2

Why did the word "Table" disappear from modern English?

Accepted Answer

Narrowed from 'flat surface for writing/tablet/slab' to primarily 'furniture with legs for eating,' turning the tables of the covenant into dining furniture. The word was at peak usage around 1611 and declined by ~1800 (the 'tablet/flat writing surface' meaning faded).

Question 3

What modern word replaced "Table"?

Accepted Answer

"Table" was replaced by: "tablet" (though this now conjures ipads rather than stone slabs; the original table/tablet was a permanent, weighty surface for permanent words); "slab" (though this crude and geological; table-as-tablet carried the dignity of a prepared writing surface).

What Does “Table” Mean in the Bible?

What Was Lost