Bible errata
Throughout history, printers' errors and peculiar translations have appeared in Bibles published throughout the world.
Manuscript Bibles
The Book of Kells, circa 800
- The genealogy of Jesus, which starts at Luke 3:23 has an extra ancestor for Jesus.
- Matthew 10:34b should read “I came not to send peace, but the sword”. However rather than “gladius” which means “sword”, Kells has “gaudius” meaning “joy”. Rendering the verse: “I came not [only] to send peace, but joy”.
Printed Bibles
Coverdale
- “Bug Bible”: Myles Coverdale's 1535 Bible was known as the "Bug Bible" because Psalms 91:5 read: “Thou shall not nede to be afrayed for eny bugges by night”. In Middle English, the word "bug" meant "an object of terror," or a ghost. The King James Bible used the word "terror".
This use of the word "bug" was repeated in the 1539 Great Bible and in Matthew's Bible, 1551.
The Great Bible
- “Treacle Bible”: (Beck's Bible): In the 1549 edition of the Great Bible, Jeremiah 8:22 was translated “Is there no tryacle [treacle] in Gilead?” Modern translations usually have "balm" or "medicine" instead. In Early Modern English, "treacle" could mean "a cure-all" as well as "molasses."
Geneva
- "Breeches Bible" 1579: Whittingham, Gilby, and Sampson : mistranslated Genesis 3:7 as "and they sowed figge-tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches." The accepted meaning is aprons.
- "Place-makers' Bible" 1562: the second edition of the Geneva Bible, Matthew 5:9 reads "Blessed are the placemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." rather than "peacemakers".
In its chapter heading for Luke 21 it has "Christ condemneth the poor widow" rather than "commendeth".
Douai
- "Rosin Bible" 1604: Jeremiah 8:22 reads "is there no rosin in Gilead?". "Rosin" is a brittle and sticky substance used on the bows of stringed instruments to provide friction with the strings. (The KJAV has a note at Ezekiel giving "rosin" as an alternative to "balme")
- "The Debased Bible" 1815: and reprinted seven times. Although it used the Catholic Rheims NT text, this was a Protestant edition. Philippians 2:7 said that Christ "debased himself". Other Douai-Rheims editions said: "emptied himself". The original 1582 text had said "exinanited himself".
KJV
In various printings of the King James Version of the Bible, some of the more famous examples have been given their own names. Among them are:
- The Blasphemous Comma Several editions: Part of Luke 23 reads "And there were also two other malefactors. [crucified with Jesus]" It should have read "And there were also two other, malefactors."
- "Judas Bible" 1611: This bible has Judas, not Jesus, saying "Sit ye here while I go yonder and pray." (Matthew 26:36)
- "Wicked Bible", "Adulterous Bible" or "Sinner's Bible" 1631: Barker and Lucas: Omits an important "not" from Exodus 20:14, making the seventh commandment read "Thou shalt commit adultery." The printers were fined £300 (a lifetime's wages) and most of the copies were recalled immediately. Only 11 copies are known to exist today.
- "More Sea Bible" 1641 "...the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was more sea." rather than "...the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea."
- "Unrighteous Bible" or "Wicked Bible" 1653: Cambridge Press: Another edition carrying this title omits a "not" before the word "inherit", making I Corinthians 6:9 read "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God?..." In addition, Romans 6:13 reads "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of righteousness into sin..." where it should read "unrighteousness". Also, in Exodus 20:14 it omits a "not" in the seventh commandment so it says, "thou shalt commit adultery."
- "Printers Bible" bef. 1702: Psalm 119:161 reads "Printers have persecuted me without cause." The first word was changed, possibly by a typesetter, from "Princes".
- "Sin On Bible": 1716: John 8:11 reads "Go and sin on more" rather than "Go and sin no more".
- "Vinegar Bible": 1717: J. Baskett, Clarendon Press: The chapter heading for Luke 20 reads "The Parable of the Vinegar" instead of "The Parable of the Vineyard." One reviewer called this particular edition "a Baskett full of errors," what with its being replete with numerous other specimens of typographical errata throughout.
- "The Fools Bible": 1763: Psalm 14:1 reads "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God", rather than "...there is no God". The printers were fined three thousand pounds and all copies ordered destroyed.
- "Denial Bible": 1792: The name Philip is substituted for Peter as the apostle who would deny Jesus in Luke 22:34.
- "Murderer's Bible" 1801: "Murmurers" is printed as "murderers", making Jude 16 read: "These are murderers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage."
- "Lions Bible" 1804: 1 Kings 8:19 reads "thy son that shall come forth out of thy lions", rather than "loins". This edition had another error in Numbers 25:18 which read: "The murderer shall surely be put together" rather than "...put to death".
- "To-remain Bible" 1805: In Galatians 4:29 a proof-reader had written in "to remain" in the margin, as an answer to whether a comma should be deleted. The note inadvertently became part of the text, making the edition read "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit to remain, even so it is now."
- "Discharge Bible" 1806: "Discharge" replaces "charge" making I Timothy 5:21 read "I discharge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality."
- "Standing Fishes Bible" 1806: "Fishes" replaced "fishers" making Ezekiel 47:10 read "And it shall come to pass, that the fishes shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many."
- "Idle Shepherd" 1809: Zechariah 11:17 reads "the idle shepherd" rather than "idol shepherd".
- "Ears To Ear Bible" 1810: Edition which makes Matthew 13:43 read: "...Who has ears to ear, let him hear." The correct phrase should be "ears to hear".
- "Wife-hater Bible" 1810: "Wife" replaces "life" in this edition, making Luke 14:26 redundantly read "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own wife also, he cannot be my disciple."
- "The Large Family Bible" 1820: Isaiah 66:9 reads: "Shall I bring to birth and not cease to bring forth?" rather than "Shall I bring to birth and not cause to bring forth?".
- "Rebecca's Camels Bible" 1823: "Camels" replaces "damsels" in one instance, making Genesis 24:61 read "And Rebecca arose, and her camels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebecca and went his way."
Fictional Bible errata
- The "Buggre Alle This Bible" of 1651 appeared in the novel Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. The typesetter replaced Ezekiel 48:5 with a rant complaining about his job. It also has three extra verses at the end of Genesis 3 about the loss of the flaming sword by the angel Aziraphale, added by Aziraphale himself, a character in the story.
Passages from the Buggre Alle This Bible are:
(Ezekiel 48:5) "Buggre Alle this for a Larke. I amme sick to mye Hart of typesettinge. Master Biltonn is no Gentlemann, and Master Scagges noe more than a tighte fisted Southwarke Knobbesticke. I telle you, onne daye laike this Ennyone with half an oz. of Sense should bee oute in the Sunneshain, ane nott Stucke here alle the livelong daie inn this mowldey olde By-Our-Lady Workeshoppe. @*Ǣ@;!*
(Genesis verses 25-27) 25. And the Lord spake unto the Angel that guarded the eastern gate, saying Where is the flaming sword which was given unto thee? 26. And the Angel said, I had it here only a moment ago, I must have put it down some where, forget my own head next. 27. And the Lord did not ask him again.
- The Charing Cross bible?
- In the UK television show Red Dwarf, an obscure fundamentalist Christian sect on Io based its worship on a Bible wherein 1 Corinthians 13:13 reads "Faith, hop, and charity, and the greatest of these is hop." The sect is consequently known as "Seventh Day Advent Hoppists" and members spend every Sunday hopping. Arnold Judas Rimmer's parents were members of this sect and raised him accordingly, but he appears to have left the faith.
- In the Family Guy episode Holy Crap, several Cardinals are reading the Bible when one of them points out that one page says "Jebus". Another cardinal looks at it and says "It's supposed to say Jesus, right?" ('Jebus' is also referenced in The Simpsons Movie, where Homer Simpson, while in church, states "Peas be with you. Praise Jebus.")
See also
- Eye of a needle for a hypothesis about a possible mistranslation.