The Manuscripts of Erasmus (1512)

1. Minuscule 1eap

entire NT –Rev 1100s

2. Minuscule 1rK

(2814) Rev (-final 6 verses) 1100s

3. Minuscule 2e Gospels 1100s

4. Minuscule 2ap

(2815) Acts/Epistles 1100s

5. Minuscule 4ap

(2816) Acts/Epistles 1100s

6. Minuscule 7p (2817) Paul 1100s

7. Minuscule 817 Gospels 1400s

8. Minuscule 3 (2d ed) entire NT –Rev 1100s

9. Codex Montfortianus (61; 3d ed) entire NT 1500s

New Testament Manuscripts Available Today

AUTHOR BOOK DATE

WRITTEN

EARLIEST

COPIES TIME GAP

NO. OF

COPIES

Homer Iliad 800 B.C. c. 400 B.C. c. 400 yrs. 1757 Herodotus History 480-425 B.C. c. A.D. 900 c. 1350 yrs. 109 Thucydides History 460-400 B.C. c. 250 B.C. c. 200 yrs. 96 Plato Tetralogies 400 B.C. c. A.D. 900 c. 1300 yrs. 210 Demosthenes Speeches 300 B.C. c. 75 B.C. (partial)

mostly 5th cent.

c. 200 yrs. 340

Caesar Gallic Wars

100-44 B.C. c. A.D. 900 c. 1000 yrs. 251

Livy History of Rome

59 B.C.-A.D. 17 4th cent. (partial)

mostly 10th cent.

c. 400 yrs. c. 1000 yrs.

150

Tacitus Annals A.D. 100 c. A.D. 850 c. 750 yrs. 33 Pliny, the Elder Natural

History A.D. 49-79 5

th cent. (fragment)

mostly 14-15th cent.

c. 400 yrs. 200

Sophocles Plays 496-406 B.C. c. 250 B.C. c. 200 yrs. 193 New Testament A.D. 50-100 c. 114 (fragment)

c. 200 (books) c. 250 (most of N.T.) c. 325 (complete N.T.)

+ 50 yrs. 100 yrs. 150 yrs. 225 yrs.

5795

Adapted from http://www.toughquestionsanswered.org/2012/12/11/how-do-other-ancient-texts-compare-to-the-new-testament/, and Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1999), pg. 38.

Earliest New Testament Manuscripts So Far Discovered

Manuscript Approximate Date Contents

P4 150-200 portions of Luke 1-6

P64 150-200 Matthew 26:7-8, 10, 14-15, 22-23, 31-33

P67 150-200 Matthew 3:9, 15; 5:20-22, 25-28

P32 150-200 Titus 1:11-15; 2:3-8

P46 150-175 portions of almost all of Paul's major epistles (except for the Pastorals)

P52 100-125 John 18:31-33, 37-38

P66 125-150 most of John

P75 175-200 most of Luke 3-24 and most of John 1-15

P77 175-200 Matthew 23:30-39

P103 175-200 Matthew 13:55-57; 14:3-5

P87 120-150 Philemon 13-15, 24-25

P90 150-200 John 18:36-19:7

P98 150-175 Revelation 1:13-20

P104 100-150 Matthew 21:34-37, 43, 45

P109 150-200 John 21:18-20, 23-25

P1 200-225 Matthew 1:1-9, 12, 14-20

P5 200-250 portions of John 1, 16, 20

P13 200-250 Hebrews 2-5; 10-12

P20 200 James 2:19-3:9

P22 250-275 John 15:25-16:2, 21-32

P23 175-200 James 1:10-12, 15-18

P27 200 Romans 8:12-22, 24-27; 8:33-9:3, 5-9

P29 200 Acts 26:7-8, 20

P30 200-250 1 Thessalonians 4-5; 2 Thessalonians 1

P38 200 Acts 18:27-19:6, 12-16

P39 200-250 John 8:14-22

P45 200 large portions of all four Gospels and Acts

P47 250-275 Revelation 9:10-11:3, 11:5-16:15; 16:17-17:2

P48 200-250 Acts 23:11-17, 25-29

P49 250-275 Ephesians 4:16-29; 4:31-5:13

P65 250-275 1 Thessalonians 1:3-2:1, 6-13

P69 200-250 Luke 22:40, 45-48, 58-61

P95 200 John 5:26-29, 36-38

P100 250-275 James 3:13-4:4; 4:9-5:1

P106 200-225 John 1:29-35, 40-46

P107 200-225 John 17:1-2, 11

P108 200 John 17:23-24; 18:1-5

P111 200-250 Luke 17:11-13, 22-23

P114 250 Hebrews 1:7-12

P115 250-275 portions of Revelation 2-3, 5-6, 8-15

P118 250 Romans 15:26-27, 32-33; 16:1, 4-7, 11-12

P119 250 John 1:21-28, 38-44

P9 275-300 1 John 4:11-12, 14-17

P12 285-300 Hebrews 1:1

P15 275-300 1 Corinthians 7:18-8:4

P16 275-300 Philippians 3:10-17; 4:2-8

P17 250-300 Hebrews 9:12-19

P18 250-300 Revelation 1:4-6

P10 325-350 Romans 1:1-7

P24 250-300 Revelation 5:5-8; 6:5-8

P25 350 Matthew 18:32-34; 19:1-3, 5-7, 9-10

P28 275-300 John 6:8-12, 17-22

P35 200s Matthew 25:12-15, 20-23

P37 260 Matthew 26:19-52

P40 250-300 Romans 1:24-27; 1:31-2:3; 3:21-4:8; 6:2-5, 15-16; 9:17, 27

P50 300 Acts 8:26-32; 10:26-31

P53 260 Matthew 26:29-40; Acts 9:33-10:1

P70 275-300 portions of Matthew 2-3; 11-12; 24

P62 350 Matthew 11:25-30

P71 350 Matthew 19:10-11, 17-18

P72 300 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude, each complete

P78 300 Jude 4-5, 7-8

P80 260 John 3:34

P81 350 1 Peter 2:20-3:1, 4-12

P86 300 Matthew 5:13-16, 22-25

P88 350 Mark 2:1-26

P89 350 Hebrews 6:7-9, 15-17

P91 250-300 Acts 2:30-37; 2:46-3:2

P92 300 Ephesians 1:11-13, 19-21; 2 Thessalonians 1:4-5, 11-12

P101 200s Matthew 3:10-12; 3:16-4:3

P102 300 Matthew 4:11-12, 22-23

P110 250-300 Matthew 10:13-15, 25-27

P113 200s a few words from Romans 2:12-13, 19

P120 350 John 1:25-28, 38-44

P121 250 John 19:17-18, 25-26

P123 350 1 Corinthians 14:31-34; 15:3-6

P125 300 1 Peter 1:23-2:5; 2:7-12

P126 350 Hebrews 13:12-13, 19-20

P127 350 portions of Acts 10-12, 15-17

P8 350-400 Acts 4:31-37; 5:2-9; 6:1-6, 8-15

P7 300-325 Luke 4:1-2

P6 350 John 10:1-2, 4-7, 9-10; 11:1-8, 45-52

0162 300 John 2:11-22

0171 300 Matthew 10:17-23, 25-32; Luke 22:44-50, 52-56, 61, 63-64

0189 200 Acts 5:3-21

0220 300 Romans 4:23-5:3, 8-13

Codex Sinaiticus 350-375 entire Old Testament and New Testament

Codex Vaticanus 350 only missing 5 chunks of entire Old and New Testaments

**Information compiled from Comfort, Philip. Encountering the Manuscripts . Nashville, TN: B&H, 2005.

Updated with data from Wikipedia pages on New Testament manuscripts, 2013.

Percent Variance Between the Textus Receptus (1550) and Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament (27th Edition)

Book Percent

Matthew 4.7 %

Mark Stats: Mark 9.2 %

Total Greek words: @ 11,101 Luke 6.6 %

Additional/subtracted words: 742 John 5.3 %

definite article: 70 Acts 6.3 %

coordinating conjunction: 47 Romans 3.3 %

subject made explicit: 18 1 Corinthians 4.9 %

other differences not affecting 2 Corinthians 4.7 %

translation/meaning: 56 Galatians 3.7 %

Re-arranged words: 55 Ephesians 4.6 %

Words spelled differently: 90 Philippians 5.3 %

Different word/phrase substituted: 457 Colossians 5.0 %

synonym: 335 1 Thessalonians 4.5 %

2 Thessalonians 3.8 %

Total variants: 1344 1 Timothy 3.9 %

% Variance: 12.1 % 2 Timothy 4.1 %

Titus 3.8 %

Variants affecting translation/meaning: 673 Philemon 5.3 %

% Significant Variance: 6.1 % Hebrews 3.6 %

James 4.5 %

1 Peter 5.0 %

2 Peter 4.3 %

1 John 3.4 %

2 John 5.0 %

3 John 7.0 %

Jude 7.2 %

Revelation 7.9 %

Total Variance 5.7 %

Margin of error

KJV Myths Busted

1. The KJV was the first English translation. Actually, it was the 10

th English translation.

2. The text of the KJV has not been changed since 1611. Actually, it has been revised several times, and the edition that can be purchased today,

published in 1769, has many wording differences from the 1611 edition. This 1769

edition is basically identical to the 1900 “Pure Cambridge Edition,” which corrected some typographical errors. Also, Cambridge University published the Cambridge

Paragraph Bible in 1873, which did make significant wording and punctuation changes

throughout, all documented in their extensive preface. Also, the 1967 edition of the

Scofield Study Bible utilizes a KJV that has been modified based on Scofield’s notes. 3. The KJV was intended to be a strictly literal translation.

The translators’ preface to the original KJV indicates that they felt quite free to paraphrase, when that was in the best interests of the English reader.

4. The KJV has been popular ever since its publication. It took about 50 years for the KJV to become “popular,” and there was a lot of political

marketing to help it along, as the British monarchy was desirous to have a “national Bible” (though this was not the initial impetus for the new translation.) One preacher and

Hebrew expert of the day, shortly after the KJV had begun circulating, said that the KJV

“bred in me a sadnes that will greeve me while I breath. It is so ill done. Tell his [Majesty] that I had rather be rent in pieces with wilde horses, then any such translation

by my consent should bee [urged] [upon] poore Churches.”

5. The KJV translators believed their translation was flawless. The translators expressed great humility with regard to their work, and they specifically

stated that they expected that others would improve their translation, based on anticipated

improvements in linguistic understanding and manuscript discoveries.

6. The Greek NT on which the KJV was based was specially preserved (or inspired) by

God. There is no way to prove this assertion; however, it certainly flies in the face of the

evidence. Not only do earlier Greek manuscripts demonstrate that many of the particular

readings of the Greek NT on which the KJV was based could not be what was originally

written, but also the KJV translators did not always follow the Greek NT precisely, as

they occasionally followed variant readings.

7. The KJV is an unbiased translation. The KJV was translated by and for the Church of England of the 16

th-17

th century; all of

the translators were members of the Church of England and would have affirmed such

doctrines as the union of church and state and baptismal regeneration (or, at least, infant

baptism).

8. The NKJV is simply a modernization of the KJV. This is an over-simplification. The NKJV does modernize the wording of the KJV, so

that you will not find –eth on the end of verbs, and you will not find “thee,” “thou,” “thine,” or “ye” and other similar archaic English pronouns. However, the NKJV also corrected the KJV wherever the translators recognized mistranslation due to the KJV

translators’ limited knowledge of Greek or Hebrew. Nevertheless, the wording of the NKJV remains close to the KJV because the NKJV translators consciously decided to

translate only from the Greek and Hebrew texts used by the KJV translators, while noting

significant manuscript evidence in footnotes.

6 Categories of Weaknesses in the King James Version

1. NT passages containing words, phrases, or sentences with no known Greek manuscript

support (Acts 9:5-6; Col. 1:14; Rev. 5:14; 17:4, word in Greek text is not a real Greek

word; 22:16, 17, 18, 19, 21)

2. NT passages containing or missing words, phrases, or verses translated from Greek

manuscripts that can be shown not to reflect the wording of the original text (1 John 5:7-

8; Acts 4:25; 8:37; John 5:4; Luke 17:9; 23:17; John 1:18; 7:53-8:11; 13:2; Matt. 5:22;

6:13; 24:36; Mark 9:44, 46; 15:28; 16:9-20; Rom. 8:1; Eph. 3:14; Heb. 11:13)

3. OT verses containing or missing words or phrases translated from a Hebrew manuscript

that can be shown not to reflect the wording of the final form of the original text based on

the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Aleppo Codex, and the Leningrad Codex; the KJV translators

used is called the Second Rabbinic Bible, or the “ben Hayyim Rabbinic Bible,” or “the Bomberg Bible” published in 1525 (1 Kgs. 20:38; Prov. 8:16; Isa. 10:16; 27:2; 38:14; Jer.

34:1; Ezek. 30:18; Zeph. 3:15; Mal. 1:12)

4. Mistranslations due to the translators’ limited knowledge of Greek or Hebrew (John 3:16,

“only begotten”; 2 Tim. 2:15, “study”; 1 Tim. 6:10, “the love of money”; John 3:36, “he that believeth not the Son” should be “he that obeyeth not the Son”; Acts 19:2, “since ye believed” should be “when ye believed”; Ps. 150:4, “organs”; Exod. 38:8, “assembled”; Eccl. 10:11, “babbler”; 1 Chron. 5:26, “and” implying two different kings; Isa. 7:25, “the fear of briers” should be “for fear of briers”; Lev. 11:29, “tortoise”; Hab. 3:4, “horns”;

Isa. 14:12, “Lucifer”; Job 36:24, “behold”; Acts 1:13, “the brother of James”; Jer. 30:21, “nobles”; 1 Chron. 2:3, “daughter of Shua”; John 4:24, “God is a spirit”; John 5:2, “sheep market”; Matt. 4:5, “a pinnacle”; Matt. 5:1, “a mountain”; John 4:27, “the woman”; John 4:39, “the woman, which testified” should be “when the woman testified” or “because the woman testified”; Tit. 2:13, “the great God and our Saviour” should be “our great God

and Savior” referring to the same person; 2 Pet. 1:1, “God and our Saviour” should be “our God and Savior” referring to the same person; Acts 17:22, “too superstitious”; Luke 2:9, “the angel of the Lord”; Matt. 26:27, “Drink ye all of it” should be “All of you drink

of it”; Acts 26:11, “compelled them to blaspheme” should be “tried to compel them to blaspheme”)

5. Archaic English verbiage (words or phrases no longer in use in English) (Matt. 27:44,

cast the same in his teeth; John 12:6, bare; 2 Cor. 10:16, line of things made ready to our

hand; Acts 21:15, took up our carriages; 28:13, fetched a compass; Ps. 83:8, holpen;

Prov. 29:24, bewrayeth; Deut. 11:30, champaign; Isa. 14:23, besom; Isa. 8:21, bestead;

Exod. 29:13, caul; Jer. 52:22, chapiter; Job 15:27, collops; Ezra 4:13, endamage; 2 Sam.

8:4, hough; Ps. 45:1, inditing; Matt. 16:3, lowring; Prov. 10:8, prating; Gen. 24:25,

provender; Luke 5:27, publican; Tit. 2:10, purloining; Exod. 12:9, purtenance; 1 Cor.

15:45, quickening; Gen. 49:27, ravin; Jos. 6:9, rereward; Lev. 13:30, scall; 1 Sam. 21:13,

scrabbled; Luke 22:36, scrip; Exod. 36:11, selvedge; Ezek. 35:6, sith; Isa. 19:10, sluices;

Jer. 4:22, sottish; Luke 8:44, stanched; Isa. 3:24, stomacher; 1 Sam. 9:13, straightway;

Phil. 1:23, strait; 1 Sam. 17:56, stripling; Luke 21:34, surfeiting; Nah. 2:7, tabering; Jer.

31:4, tabret; Exod. 26:6, taches; Ezek. 17:4, traffick; 1 John 2:20, unction; Acts 2:40,

untoward; Jdgs. 7:2, vaunt; 2 Kgs. 10:22, vestry; Lev. 22:22, wen; 1 Sam. 25:22, any that

pisseth against the wall; Matt. 9:4, wherefore; Josh. 9:4, wilily; Isa. 3:22, wimples; Luke

7:34, winebibber; Gen. 21:26, wot; 2 Cor. 8:1, wit; Gen. 39:8, wotteth; Jdgs. 16:7, withs;

Rev. 12:17, wroth; Gen. 19:34, yesternight; Phil. 4:3, yokefellow; 1 Tim. 3:3, filthy lucre;

Matt. 10:29, farthing; Mark 12:42, mites)

6. English words whose meanings have changed significantly (1 Pet. 2:9, peculiar; 1 Thess.

4:15, prevent; 2 Thess. 2:7, let; 1 Cor. 10:24, wealth; Acts 10:11, knit; Gal. 1:13,

conversation; Rom. 1:29, debate; Jas. 5:11, pitiful; Heb. 13:16, communicate; Mark 6:21,

chief estates; 1 Tim. 5:4, nephews; Matt. 2:16, coasts; Luke 7:4, instantly; Matt. 13:21,

by and by; Matt. 21:19, presently; Mark 1:30, anon; Job 15:26, bosses; Jas. 2:3, gay; Acts

5:10, ghost; Ps. 140:5, gin; Jdgs. 9:52, hard; Isa. 66:20, litters; Jdgs. 3:29, lusty; Ps.

109:29, mantle; Exod. 13:12, matrix; Gen. 2:18, meet; Gen. 43:34, mess; Gen. 30:37,

pilled; Lev. 13:10, quick; Exod. 21:19, quit; 1 Cor. 16:13, quit; Gal. 5:21, revellings; 2

Cor. 11:6, rude; Matt. 13:49, sever; 1 Cor. 10:25, shambles; Rev. 2:27, shivers; 1 Kgs.

5:6, skill; Mal. 1:13, snuffed; John 13:26, sop; 2 John 10, speed; Exod. 5:8, tale; 1 Kgs.

10:16, targets; Gen. 15:5, tell; Exod. 30:5, tempered; Ezek. 24:17, tire; 2 Kgs. 9:30, tired;

2 Sam. 3:10, translate; Ezek. 40:31, utter; Josh. 10:40, vale; 2 Sam. 17:17, wench; Num.

22:21, ass; Matt. 9:5, whether; 1 Tim. 3:8, grave; Num. 24:8, unicorn; Ps. 16:7, reins;

Matt. 25:24, talent)

Occasions of obvious paraphrasing in KJV

Rom. 3:4, 6, 31, etc. (“God forbid”)

Ps. 119:103

Occasions of gender-neutral translation in KJV (a Greek or Hebrew noun referring to men

translated with a generic, gender-neutral term)

Gen. 34:14 (“one that is uncircumcised”) Jdg. 9:2, 5, 18 (“threescore and ten persons”) Jdg. 20:39 (“about thirty persons”) 1 Sam. 16:18 (“a comely person”) 1 Sam. 22:18 (“fourscore and five persons”) 2 Sam. 4:11 (“a righteous person”) 2 Kgs. 10:6, 7 (“seventy persons”) Ps. 49:16 (“one is made rich”) Matt. 27:24 (“this just person”) 1 Cor. 5:13 (“that wicked person”)

Recognizable Oddities in Mark 16:9-20

Greek Style Issues 1. Transition words/phrases in 16:12, 14, and 19 occur nowhere else in Mark. Throughout

the Gospel, Mark transitions between narrative episodes in different ways, but he never

uses these 3 phrases, and transitions are usually a key indicator of a particular author’s style (assuming he’s a consistent author).

2. Pronoun in 16:10 (“she), 11 (“they”), 13 (“they”), 20 (“they”) is used uniquely; this Greek pronoun is used 18 times throughout Mark’s Gospel only with its normal usage as

a demonstrative pronoun (meaning “that thing/person” or “those things/people”) and never as a personal pronoun.

3. In the Gospels, only Luke 24:3 refers to Jesus as “the Lord Jesus”; it becomes a regularly-used title for Jesus in the Book of Acts. This title in 16:19 seems out of place.

Greek Vocabulary Issues 4. The Greek phrase translated “the first day of the week” in 16:9 occurs nowhere else in the

NT; the phrase in 16:2 is different.

5. Greek word translated “had been seen” in 16:11 and “those who saw” in 16:14 occurs

nowhere else in Mark.

6. Greek word translated “they would not believe” in 16:11 and “whoever does not believe” in 16:15 occurs nowhere else in Mark.

7. Greek word translated “another” in 16:12 occurs nowhere else in Mark. 8. Greek word translated “rebuked” in 16:14 is a strong term that usually means to “revile”

or “insult,” as it does in Mark 15:32); I doubt whether this is an appropriate term to describe Jesus’ correction of his disciples; there is a different word that is usually

translated “rebuke” in contexts where Jesus is chastising them (see Mark 8:33, for example).

9. The Greek expression translated “recover” in 16:18 occurs nowhere else in the New Testament; other Greek phrases are regularly used to indicate someone “getting well.”

10. Greek word translated “was taken up” in 16:19 occurs nowhere else in the Gospels. The word is used to refer to Jesus’ ascension in Acts 1:2, 11, 22.

Narrative Flow/Theology Issues

11. Mary Magdalene seems to be introduced as if for the first time, providing readers with

biographical information that seems unnecessary or out of place (16:9).

12. If verses 12-13 are describing Jesus’ appearance on the road to Emmaus, then this contradicts Luke, who tells the story in full. As hard as I have tried to harmonize the four

Gospel accounts of the resurrection and Jesus’ appearances after the resurrection, this one indeed contradicts the others. Luke is pretty clear that Jesus had already appeared to Peter

and the other disciples before he meets the travelers on the road to Emmaus, but here

these two are not believed when they tell the disciples that they had seen the risen Jesus

(cf. Luke 24:33-34).

13. Also, if verses 12-13 are describing Jesus’ appearance on the road to Emmaus, Emmaus cannot be legitimately described as “the country” or “a field”; Emmaus was a bustling city.

14. Signs accompanying believers, as mentioned in 16:17, goes against the negative view

Mark’s Gospel has consistently held toward signs. 15. The reference to Jesus’ sitting “down at the right hand of God” in 16:19 is not mentioned

specifically in Luke’s 2 descriptions of the ascension. Other New Testament teaching makes this clear (e.g., Eph. 1:20; Acts 2:33; 1 Pet. 3:22; Rom. 8:34; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3),

though Jesus did announce that it would happen at some point (see Mark 14:62, which

uses a different Greek word for “sitting”).

Parts of Mark 16:9-20 Found in Other Places1

V. 9: Seven demons cast out of Mary Magdalene (cf. Lk. 8:2)

V. 11: Lack of belief (cf. Lk. 24:11)

V. 12: Two on the road (cf. Lk. 24:13-35)

V. 14: Reproach for unbelief (cf. John 20:19, 26)

V. 15: Great Commission (cf. Matt. 28:19)

V. 16: Salvation/Judgment (cf. John 3:18, 36)

V. 17: Speaking in tongues (cf. Acts 2:4; 10:46)

V. 18: Serpents and poison (cf. Acts 28:3-5)

V. 18: Laying hands on the sick (cf. Acts 9:17; 28:8)

V. 19: Ascension (cf. Lk. 24:51; Acts 1:2, 9)

V. 20: General summary of Acts

1 Adapted from Craig A. Evans, Mark 8:27-16:20, Word Biblical Commentary 34B (Dallas: Word, 2001), pg.

546.

Justin Langley, 2012

1 John 5:7-8 and the King James Version of the Bible

When reading the Bible, one of our primary questions always must be, “What did the original authors

actually write?” On rare occasions with regard to a few certain passages, this question is hard to answer.

1 John 5:7-8 is one of these rare passages. Most English Bible translations read similarly to the ESV: “7

For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.” However,

the KJV reads: “7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy

Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the

water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.” And the NKJV reads almost identically. The words

underlined and in bold font are not reflected in any other major English Bible translation. The question

we must ask is, “Why?” The quick answer that I have often heard is that the “modern versions” have taken these words out of the Bible, but this answer is based on several false assumptions. With a

different set of assumptions, one could reasonably suggest that the KJV added the words into the Bible!

But, neither of these responses is sufficient or correct.

As it turns out historically, this particular passage, and the differences reflected in English

Bibles, has a fascinating story behind it, a story revolving around a man named Erasmus (1469-1536),

who was the first man to have a single, bound Greek New Testament published in 1516. Note that this

happened during the beginning stages of the Protestant Reformation, which included as one of its

primary emphases getting the Bible into the common language of the people of every nation. Also,

Erasmus and others were beginning to question whether the Latin Vulgate, the official Bible of the

Catholic Church for nearly 1000 years actually reflected what the original authors actually wrote. So,

many Christian thinkers began studying Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic and began examining available

manuscripts of biblical texts, especially of the Greek New Testament. Erasmus decided that an “official” Greek New Testament was needed, a Greek New Testament that resulted from compiling any available

Greek manuscripts he could find. As these manuscripts would differ in various ways, Erasmus would

have to work to examine the differences and draw reasonable conclusions as to what the original authors

actually wrote. As Erasmus set out to complete his work, he was able to locate 6 Greek manuscripts, and

he published the first Greek New Testament in 1516. Three years later, he revised his work, having

found one more significant Greek manuscript. The important detail for our discussion is that neither of

these editions contained the “additional” words reflected in the KJV. But, because of some pressure

from certain Catholic bishops due to the Trinitarian nature of the phrase in question and its presence in

the Latin Vulgate, Erasmus was “forced” to include these words in his third edition, published in 1530. In this edition, Erasmus included a lengthy footnote explaining how he had been bamboozled into

including these words, which he was certain John never wrote. He explains that he had sworn that he

would never include those words unless he saw evidence for them in a Greek manuscript. Well, a Greek

manuscript was in fact “produced” at that exact time. This manuscript is known today as Codex

Montfortianus, and its date of origin is the mid-1500s. It seems rather clear that these bishops created a

copy of the Greek New Testament, even attempting to make it look older than it was, in order to force

Erasmus’s hand. In later editions of Erasmus’s Greek New Testament, his footnote was removed, so that the controversy surrounding this text was minimized. When we move ahead to 1611, we find that the

translators of the KJV are using an updated edition of Erasmus’s Greek New Testament as their base for

the English New Testament.

Now, when we move ahead into the 20th

century and more English Bible translations are being

produced, the concern is the same as it has always been: what did the original authors actually write and

how can we convey that well into English? By this point, however, over 5000 Greek manuscripts have

been discovered, so that there is a larger pool of data to draw from. Scholars today can be even more

certain of the precise wording than they were 400 years ago. The Greek New Testament that almost all

modern Bible translations are based on has been compiled from comparing over 5000 Greek

manuscripts, but the differences between it and Erasmus’s text amounts to about 5%, and that includes differences of word sequence and word spelling. This is an incredibly insignificant amount

of variation, and none of the variations change any teaching of the Bible. With regard to this passage,

what we find confirmed is that these words reflected in the KJV were surely not written by John. The

NKJV reads like the KJV in this passage because the translators of the NKJV chose to stick with the

underlying Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic manuscripts the translators of the KJV used.

Every Bible translation has both strengths and weaknesses. Every Bible translation serves as a

window that we look through to see the words God “breathed out” through certain writers as his message to his people. Every window has smudges in certain places. Fortunately, each window does not

have smudges in the same places! Thus, we can use multiple Bible translations to help us see more

clearly the message God has clearly communicated in ordinary human languages.

English Bible Versions

1382-1388 Wycliffe’s Translation

1526-1534 Tyndale’s Version

1535 Coverdale’s Version

1537 Matthews Bible

1539 The Great Bible

1539 Taverner’s Bible

1557-1602 Geneva Bible

1568-1606 Bishop’s Bible

1582-1610 Douay-Rheims Bible

1611 King James Version

1690 Samuel Clarke Bible

1764 Quaker Bible

1833 Webster’s Bible

1853 Ferrar Fenton Bible

1862-1898 Young’s Literal Translation

1871-1890 J.N. Darby Translation

1885-1895 English Revised Version

1901 American Standard Version

1902 Weymouth New Testament

1917 The Holy Scriptures (Jewish Pub. Soc.)

1922 James Moffatt Bible

1929 Westminster Version

1941 Bible in Basic English

1945 New Berkeley Version (Modern Lang. Bible)

1946-1957 Revised Standard Version

1950-1961 New World Translation

1960-1971 New American Standard Bible

1961-1970 New English Bible

1965 The Amplified Bible

1965-1983 New International Version

1966-1990 Good News Translation (Today’s Eng. Version)

1966 The Jerusalem Bible

1970 New American Bible

1972 The Living Bible

1979 New King James Version

1983-1988 New Century Version

1985 New Jerusalem Bible

1986 New Life Version

1987 Revised English Bible

1989 New Revised Standard

1990 New Evangelical Translation

1992-1998 New International Reader’s Version

1995 New American Standard Bible, Updated Ed.

1995 Contemporary English Version

1995 God’s Word Translation

1996 New International Version Inclusive Lang. Ed.

1998 Complete Jewish Bible

2001-2005 NET Bible

1992-2002 The Message

1996 New Living Translation

2001 Holman Christian Standard Bible

2001 English Standard Version

2002-2005 Today’s New International Version

2011 International Standard Version

2011 New International Version

2012 The Voice Bible