Dictionary entry

Principal

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

prin'-si-pal: Appears in the King James Version as a translation of nine Hebrew words (fewer in the Revised Version (British and American)), in one case (Isa 28:25) being used quite wrongly and in2Ki 25:19(Jer 52:25);1Ch 24:31gives a wrong sense (all corrected in the Revised Version (British and American)). In1Ki 4:5, "principal officer" (the American Standard Revised Version "chief minister") is an arbitrary translation of kohen to avoid "priest" (so the English Revised Version; compare2Sa 8:18).