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by William E. Paul
(Bible Editions & Versions,
April-June, 2003)
From time to time this journal publishes a list of
Bibles containing some unusual typographical error or
strange rendering that makes these volumes choice
collectors’ editions. The following is a partial list of
many printers’ errors found in Bibles through the years.
Most of these appeared in previous issues of this
journal (1965,1967-1968. Arnold Ehlert); (1991, William
E. Paul); and (1997, Anthony Byatt), but it was felt
that they bore repeating here for the benefit of newer
members of the Society.
1534 - “Cleansed outside” Bible. In Matt. 23:26, William
Tyndale’s New Testament reads. “Thou blind Pharisee,
cleanse first, the outside of the cup and platter, that
the inside of them may be clean also.” (Tyndale calls
attention in “W. T. To the Reader” that the printer had
inverted “outside” and “inside.”)
1551 — “Wife beater” Bible. An edition of the Taverner’s
Bible contains a marginal note at I Pet. 3:7 which
states “And if she be not obediente and healpful unto
hym, endevoureth to beate the fere of God into her heade,
that thereby she may be compelled to learne her dutye
and do it.”
1551 — “Bugges” Bible. Psa. 91:5 reads in Matthew’s
Bible, “So that thou shalt not need to be afrayed for
any bugges at night” while other versions read “for the
terror by night.”
1560 — “Breeches” Bible. In Gen. 3:7, this Geneva Bible
has Adam and Eve making themselves “breeches” instead of
“aprons” for clothing.
1562 — ‘Place-makers” Bible. A Geneva Bible at Matt. 5:9
reads, “Blessed are the place-makers” instead of
“peace-makers.”
1598 — “Jesus church” Bible. A Geneva Bible reads in I
John 5:20. “in his son Jesus Church” instead of “Jesus
Christ.”
1600s — “Fool” Bible. In a Bible edition printed during
the reign of Charles I, Psa. 14:1 reads, “The fool hath
said in his heart, there is a God” instead of “no God.”
The printers were fined 3000 pounds for this error and
all copies were suppressed.
1605 — “Third river” Bible. A Geneva Bible at Gen. 2:13
reads “the third river is Gihon” instead of “the second
river.”
1608 — “Judas” Bible. A Geneva Bible reads. “Then said
Judas” instead of “Jesus” in John 6:67.
1609— “Rosin” Bible. A copy of the Douay Version reads
as follows in Jer. 8:22: “Is there no rosin in Galaad?”
instead of “no balm.”
1611 — “He” Bible. The first issue of the first edition
of the King James Version reads, “and he went into the
city” (Ruth 3:15). It should be “she went into the
city.”
1611 — The second issue of the first edition of the King
James Version corrects Ruth 3:15 to read “and she went
into the city.”
1611 — “Basketball” Bible. In Exodus 38:11, the King
James Version Bible says, “the hoopes of the pillars”
instead of “hookes.”
1612 — “Printers” Bible. A KJV at Psalm 119:161 reads
“Printers (instead of ‘Princes’) have persecuted me
without cause.”
1612— “Pilate’s tile” Bible. A KJV at John 19:19 reads
“And Pilate wrote a tile” instead of “title.”
1613 — “Praise” Bible. In I Cor. 11:17, this KJV Bible
reads, “I praise you” instead of “I praise you not.”
1613 — “Judas” Bible. An early KJV reads “Then cometb
Judas with them” instead of “Jesus with them” in Matt.
26:36.
1631 — “Wicked” Bible. The “not” is left out of the
seventh commandment at Ex. 20:14 (KJV).
1632 — “No blame” Bible. This KJV Bible says, “Is there
no blame in Gilead” instead of “no balme” at Jer. 8:22.
1637 — “Religious” Bible. In a KJV Bible, at Jer. 4:17,
it reads “she hath been religious against me” instead of
“rebellious.”
1638 — “Forgotten sins” Bible. This KJV Bible reads,
“Her sins which were many are forgotten” as a misprint
for “forgiven” at Luke 7:47.
1638— “Vexing wives” Bible. In a KJV Bible at Num. 25:18
it reads “for they vex you with their wives” instead of
“with their wiles.”
1640 — “Subtle servant” Bible. In Gen. 3:1 this KJV
Bible reads “Now the servant was more subtil” instead of
“the serpent.”
1641— “More sea” Bible. The “no” is omitted at Rev. 21:1
(KJV), making it read “And there was more sea.”
1648— “Flesh killer” Bible. This KJV reads, “slew their
flesh” instead of “fish” at Psa. 105:29.
1653 — “Unrighteous” or “Field’s” Bible. Printed by John
Field, this KJV Bible contains numerous errors. I Cor.
6:9 reads, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
inherit the kingdom of God?,” leaving out the “not”;
Matt. 6:24 reads, “Ye cannot serve and Mammon” leaving
out “God”; Rom. 6:13 reads, “instruments of
righteousness” instead of “unrighteousness.”
1658 — “No miracle” Bible. A KJV Bible reads, “will he
do no miracles” (John 7:31) instead of “do more
miracles.”
1682 — “Cannibals” Bible. In Deut. 24:3, a KJV Bible
reads “if the latter husband ate her” instead of “hate
her.”
1698— “Not servants” Bible. A KJV reads in Rom. 6:17,
‘ye were not the servants of sin” instead of “were the
servants.”
1711 — “Profit” Bible. An Oxford KJV edition reads, “I
will declare thy righteousness, and thy works: for they
shall profit thee,” instead of “not profit thee” (Isa.
57:12).
1716 — “Sin on” Bible. The first English Bible printed
in Ireland (KJV) reads, “Sin on more” for “Sin no more”
at Jer. 31:34, This error was discovered after 8,000
copies were printed, bound and partly distributed.
1717 - “Vinegar” Bible. The heading of a KJV Bible at
Luke 20 reads “The Parable of the Vinegar” instead of
“Vineyard.”
1745 — “Avenging Obedience” Bible. In William Whiston’s
translation, at II Cor. 10:6. it reads, “And having
readiness to avenge all obedience, when your obedience
is fulfilled.” The first “obedience” should be
“disobedience.”
1747 — “Sting” Bible. A KJV at Mark 7:35 reads, “the
sting of his tongue was loosed” instead of “the string.”
1792 — “Denial” Bible. An Oxford edition of the KJV has
“Philip” instead of “Peter” denying Jesus in Luke 22:34.
1795 — “Child killer” Bible. Mark 7:27 reads in the King
James Version “Let the children first be killed” instead
of “be filled.”
1801 — “Murderers” Bible. Jude 16 (KJV) uses “murderers”
in place of “murmurers.”
1802 — “Discharge” Bible. A KJV Bible issued by the
King’s Printers reads “I discharge thee before God”
instead of “I charge thee” (I Tim. 5:21).
1804— “Lions” Bible. Several of the many errors in this
KJV Bible include: “The murderer shall surely be put
together” instead of “put to death” (Num. 35:18); “out
of thy lions” instead of “out of thy loins” (I Kings
8:19); and “For the flesh lusteth after the spirit”
instead of “against the spirit” (Gal. 5:17).
1805 — “To remain” Bible. An edition of the KJV
published by the Bible Society at Cambridge inserts the
words “to remain” in place of a comma in Gal. 4:29.
1806 — “Standing fishes” Bible. A KJV Bible at Eze.
47:10 reads “the fishes shall stand” instead of “the
fishers.”
1807 -“Ears to ears” Bible. An edition of the KJV in
Matt. 13:43 reads “Who hath ears to ears” instead of
“ears to hear.” Heb. 9:14 says, “How much more shall the
blood of Christ... purge your conscience from good
works” instead of “dead works.”
1810—”Wife hater” Bible. Luke 14:26, in the KJV Bible,
it reads “if any man come to me and hate not his
father.., yea, and his own wife” instead of “his own
life.”
1823 — “Camels” Bible. A misprint occurs in the KJV at
Gen. 24:61, where it uses the word “camels” instead of
“damsels.”
1829 — “Large family” Bible. An Oxford KJV edition
reads, “Shall I bring to the birth and not cease to
bring forth” instead of “cause to bring forth” at Isa.
66:9.
1834— “Unrighteousness” Bible. An early edition of a
Bible edited by James Nourse has a misprint at Rom. 4:5.
It reads, “his faith is counted for unrighteousness”
instead of “righteousness.” This was later corrected in
a separate New Testament. See Hills #11873.
1944— “Owl husband” Bible. In a KJV at I Pet. 3:5, a
broken portion of the type face on the word “own” caused
it to appear as “owl,” reading “being in subjection to
their owl husbands.”
1955 — “Last / eshort” Bible. A pocket edition of the
American Standard Version (1901) New Testament reads, at
II Tim. 2:2, “And the things thou last heard from me
among many witnesses” instead of “hast heard from me.”
This same copy also has “these things speak and eshort
with all authority” instead of “exhort with all
authority” at Titus 2:15.
1966 — “Pay for peace” Bible. The first edition of The
Jerusalem Bible contained, at Psa.122:6, the reading
“pay for peace” instead of ‘pray for peace.”
1970— “Darkness” Bible. A New Testament edition of the
King James II, by Jay P. Green, contains an erroneous
reading at John 1:5: “…and the darkness overcomes it.”
instead of “does not overcome it.”
1987- “Ship sale” Bible. This edition of The Everyday
Bible: New Century Version has Job 3:20 reading, “Why is
it given to those who who are so unhappy?” Normally,
computer spell-checkers catch double usages, but this
one didn’t. It also says in I Kings 22:48. “King
Jehoshaphat built trading ships to sale to Ophir for
gold” instead of “sail.”
1989 - “Unrepentant Ninevites” Bible. Heinz Cassierer’s
God’s New Covenant reads in Luke 11:32, “For
when Jonah preached to them, they were not led to
repentance,” in place of “were led to repentance.”
1993 “Sat on” Bible. The NKJV Greek-English Interlinear
New Testament, using the Majority text of Zane Hodges
and Arthur Farstad (1982), contains a mistranslation in
Matthew 21:7, where the Greek text reads he sat on them,
rather than they set [him] on them. (Nashville: Thomas
Nelson, 1993). |
