O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Psalm 4:2
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing… Psalm 5:6
For us, “leasing” means renting. But in the King James Bible, in Psalms 4 and 5, “leasing” obviously must mean something bad. This odd use of an otherwise ordinary word actually derives from an Old English word meaning “lying” or deceit. It doesn’t mean God will be angry with you if you lease a car.
Living languages change over time. It’s been some 500 years since the scholars who produced the King James Bible opted to use an archaic term like “leasing.” It was archaic even that long ago. I don’t think we know why they did that.
I still prefer the King James over modern translations, even if that Bible’s age makes a few passages unclear to modern readers. I mean, heck, we’ve got computers, you can always look it up.And I’ve always found that worth the trouble.
And I like the beauty of the language.