Oops, the NKJV

... did it again. For a Bible that highlights “King James Version” in its own name, it does an inordinate amount of conforming to other versions instead of the King James Version. Notice Isaiah 18:2.

• AKJV: that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
• NKJV: Which sends ambassadors by sea, Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, “Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin, To a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide.”
• NASB: Which sends messengers by the sea, Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide.

The NET Bible note says: 

Isaiah 18:2 tn The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (m^emushakh) appears to be a Pual participle from the verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh, “to draw, extend”). Lexicographers theorize that it here refers to people who “stretch out,” as it were, or are tall. See BDB 604 s.v. מָשַׁךְ, and HALOT 645-46 s.v. משׁךְ. מוֹרָט (morat) is taken as a Pual participle from מָרַט (marat), which can mean “to pull out [hair],” in the Qal, “become bald” in the Niphal, and “be wiped clean” in the Pual. Lexicographers theorize that the word here refers to people with bare, or smooth, skin. See BDB 598-99 s.v. מָרַט, and HALOT 634-35 s.v. מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

In contrast to the modern fad of meaning, notice for example, that Hebraist John Gill takes the idea of “scattered” or “drawn out” meaning as “spread over a large tract of ground, as Ethiopia was.” The 1611 King James margin has: “|| Or, outspread and polished”.

Notice in its explanation and defense of its translation “of tall, smooth-skinned people,” the NET Bible uses the words “uncertain,” “appears to be,” “theorize,” “proposed,” “speculation,” and “tentative.”

NKJV edition claims:

“…the translators and editors of the present work have not pursued a goal of innovation…”

“…special care has also been taken in the present edition to preserve the work of precision which is the legacy of the 1611 translators…”

“…A special feature of the New King James Version is its conformity to the thought flow of the 1611 Bible…”

My point here is that, once again, the NKJV is not what it claims to be, and did not do what it claims to do. If they were dealing with a speculative, theoretical, tentative issue, they could have opted to stick with the King James tradition. They did not.