Holy Bible Errors, Spelling Mistakes (Typos) In The Good Book

Everyone makes typing, writing or printing mistakes, even the editors and companies who print Holy Bibles. Over the centuries, these people have made some mind-twisting typographical errors! Throughout history, printers' errors and peculiar translations have appeared in Bibles published throughout the world. DOH!

Genuine mistakes have been found-in copies of Bible text made hundreds of years after the autographs. God only uttered the original text of Scripture, not the copies. Therefore, only the original text is without error. Inspiration does not guarantee that every copy is without error, especially in copies made from copies made from copies made from copies. For example, the King James Version (KJV) of 2 Kings 8:26 gives the age of King Ahaziah as 22, whereas 2 Chronicles 22:2 says 42. The later number cannot be correct, or he would have been older than his father. This is obviously a copyist error, but it does not alter the inerrancy of the original.

The Greatest Rarest Holy Bible Error:

This King James Version Bible is an unspeakably rare collector’s item. The printers were fined 300 pounds sterling for their terrible typographical error in printing the Ten Commandments, omitting the all-important word “not” and rendering the verse as, “Thou shalt commit adultery”! The lot of 1,000 copies were ordered destroyed, but only a handful escaped destruction, making them the rarest of rare.

Coined “The Wicked Bible”, it was meant to be a reprint of the King James Bible. The blunder was so severe, the publishers were punished with a  £300 fine and their printer’s license revoked. King Charles I was incensed, and George Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: “I knew the tyme when great care was had about printing, the Bibles especially, good compositors and the best correctors were gotten being grave and learned men, the paper and the letter rare, and faire every way of the beste, but now the paper is nought, the composers boyes, and the correctors unlearned.” Almost all the Wicked Bible’s copies were burned, but eleven survived. One copy is in the collection of the New York Public Library and another in the Bible Museum in Branson, Missouri.

Using an unkown text replace/remove hidden "easter egg" feature on HolyBibleVerse.com we can emulate this major error verse on www.holybibleverse.com/?search=adultery&type=UKJV&change=not-%20

There is only one copy for sale in the world, and I can get it for you for $150,000.00 US plus commission (post a comment if serious buyer). I know where to get many antique rare Bibles from 1300s and up.

More Errors That Turned Up In Various Bible Editions:

A Bible printed in 1562 contains the following mistake in Mark 5:9 – “Blessed are the placemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” The correct word, of course, is “peace-makers.”

A Bible printed in 1653 reads: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the Kingdom of God?” The passage, Corinthians 6:9, should read “shall not inherit.”

A Bible printed in 1862 botched a passage in Revelation, recording the number of the Beast, or Antichrist, as “999″ instead of “666“

A Bible printed in 1914 listed “Thou shalt kill” as one of the 10 commandments. The correct commandment, of course, is “Thou shalt not kill.”

Oddly enough, a Bible printed in 1631 blew another commandment, which led to the most famous typo of all: “Thou shalt commit adultery.”

Blessed are the place-makers.
It should be: Blessed are the peacemakers.
Matthew 5:9

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God.
It should be: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
1 Corinthians 6:9

Printers have persecuted me without a cause.
It should be: Princes have persecuted me without a cause.
Psalm 119:161

Go and sin on more.
It should be: Go and sin no more.
John 8:11

The fool hath said in his heart there is a God.
It should be: The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.
Psalm 14:1

Let the children first be killed.
It should be: Let the children first be filled. 
Mark 7:27

The murderer shall surely be put together.
It should be: The murderer shall surely be put to death.
Numbers 25:18

He hath ears to ear, let him hear.
It should be: He hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 11:15

I will...that women adorn themselves in modern apparel.
It should be: I will...that women adorn themselves in modest apparel.
1 Timothy 2:9

Coverdale Bible Errors:
“Bug Bible”: Myles Coverdale's 1535 Bible was known as the "Bug Bible" because the fifth verse of Psalm 91 read: “Thou shall not nede to be afrayed for eny bugges by night”. A competing claim to authorship comes from Stauffer's "The Queer, the Quaint, and the Quizzical", written in 1882. In this book, Stauffer claims that the "Bug Bible was, "printed by John Daye, 1551, with a prolouge by Tyndall." [4] The "Bug Bible" was also claimed to have been written In Middle English, the word "bugge" meant a "spectre that haunts" or a ghost.[5] The King James Bible used the word "terror". The term was actually first used by George Joye, whose translations of the Psalms were seen through the press by Coverdale before he translated the Old Testament.[6]
This use of the word "bug" was repeated in the 1539 Great Bible and in Matthew's Bible, 1551.

Matthew's Bible
"Wife-Beater's Bible" (1537): A footnote to I Peter 3:7 is rendered “And if she be not obediente and healpeful 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.”[citation needed]

The Great Bible
The Treacle Bible opened at the page of the eponymous curiosity. St Mary’s Church, Banbury.
“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: translated in Genesis 3:7 as "and they sowed figge-tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches." (This less precise translation was glossed in the margin with a more accurate, albeit longer, translation.) The accepted meaning is "coverings" (the KJV has "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"; it should read "peacemakers".
• In its chapter heading for Luke 21 it has "Christ condemneth the poor widow" rather than "commendeth".
• The 1589 Geneva Bible, Chapter 24:15 in the gospel of Matthew that reads, "When ye therefore shal se the abomination of desolation spoken of by David the prophet..." It should read, "Daniel the prophet."

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")
• "Manchester edition" 1793: The heading on Chapter 3 of Leviticus and the first verse has "bees" rather than "beeves" (plural of beef). It reads: "How the pacifique hosts must be of bees, sheep, lambs and goats" ("pacifique hosts" = "peace offerings")[7]
• "The Debased Bible" 1815; reprinted seven times: Although it used the Catholic Rheims NT text, this was actually a Protestant edition. Philippians 2:7 said that Christ "debased himself". Other Douai-Rheims editions said "emptied himself". The original 1582 text had "exinanited himself".

King James Version Mistakes:

• The Wicked Bible renders Exodus 20:14 as "thou shalt commit adultery".
• The 'Judas' Bible in St Mary's Church, Totnes, Devon, UK. This is a copy of the second folio edition of the Authorized Version, printed by Robert Barker, Printer to King James I, in 1613, and given to the church for the use of the Mayor of Totnes. This edition is known as the 'Judas' Bible because in Matthew c26 v36 'Judas' appears instead of 'Jesus'. In this copy the mistake (in red circle) is corrected with a slip of paper pasted over the misprint.[8]
• 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: Luke 23:32 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)
• "Printers Bible" 1612: In some copies Psalm 119:161 reads "Printers have persecuted me without a cause" rather than "Princes have persecuted me..."
• "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 and most of the copies were recalled immediately. Only 11 copies are known to exist today.[citation needed]
• "More Sea Bible" 1641 "...the first heaven and the first earth were died and there was more sea" rather than "...the first heaven and the first earth were died and there was no more sea." (Revelation 21:1)
• "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".
• "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. One copy sold for $5,000 in 2008.[9]
• "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 £3,000 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". In the same edition, Hebrews 9:14 comes out as "How much more shall the blood of Christ ... purge your conscience from good works [should be "dead works"] to serve the living God."
• "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."
• "Affinity Bible" 1927: Contains a table of family affinities that includes the line "A man may not marry his grandmother's wife."
• "Owl Bible" 1944: "Owl" replaces "own", making 1 Peter 3:5 read, "For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their owl husbands." The error was caused by a printing plate with a damaged letter n.
• "Monochrome Bible" 1990s: A large American Bible publisher produced a new Red letter edition, bound in leather. A mistake was made in printing the Book of Timothy and the film plate containing the red letter text was omitted. Thousands of the misprinted Bibles had to be destroyed.

Does the Bible contain errors, contradictions, or discrepancies? Well we are focusing on obvious mistakes & typos (misspellings mostly) in this blog post, so that question is not quite related, but... If we read the Bible at face value, without a preconceived bias for finding errors, we will find it to be a coherent, consistent, and relatively easy-to-understand book. Yes, there are difficult passages. Yes, there are verses that appear to contradict each other. We must remember that the Bible was written by approximately 40 different authors over a period of around 1500 years. Each writer wrote with a different style, from a different perspective, to a different audience, for a different purpose. We should expect some minor differences. However, a difference is not a contradiction. It is only an error if there is absolutely no conceivable way the verses or passages can be reconciled. Even if an answer is not available right now, that does not mean an answer does not exist. Many have found a supposed error in the Bible in relation to history or geography only to find out that the Bible is correct once further archaeological evidence is discovered.

Basic Holy Bible Timeline, Brief History Of Biblical Time

443 BC  Completion of all the books of the original Hebrew manuscripts which make up the 39 books of the Old Testament

200 BC Completion of the Septuagint Greek manuscripts which contain the translation of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 14  books of the Apochrypha. 

60 AD Completion of the Greek manuscripts which make up the 27 books of the New Testament

90-95 AD  Council of Jamnia, a Jewish council,  met to revise the Books of the Canon (or the Old Testament as it is known to Christians.)  These were the criteria:

1. The books had to conform to the Pentateuch (the first 5 books). 

2. The books had to be written in Hebrew. 

3. The books had to be written in Palestine.

4. The books had to be written before 400 B.C..
One result is the removal of the 14 books known as the Apochrypha. 

360 AD Laodocia Council meets to decide which books and writings will be accepted as Holy Scripture.  The Greek Septuagint is accepted for the Old Testament.  Criteria for the New Testament writings include that they must be written by an Apostle or during the time of the Apostles, that they must support true doctrine and must have wide spread usage. Thus, even though the Shepherd of Hermas, the First Letter of Clement, and the Didache may have been widely used and contain true doctrines, they were not canonical because they were not apostolic nor connected to the apostolic age, or they were local writings without support in many areas. 

390 AD  Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible is produced and in wide circulation.  It includes all 80 books including the Apochrypha.   It is used in Celtic monastaries in Britain.  During this period the British within the Roman Empire use Latin as the official language

Historical Background:  5th - 6th Century:  Germanic peoples who came to Britain bring their dialects of which Saxon becomes standard Old English.   Because of this, a need for an English version of the scriptures arises.

7th Century:  Herdsman Caedmon, spoken of by Bede, the learned monk of Jarrow,  sings the themes of the Bible in English.  This becomes a common method for presenting scriptural themes in English.

640 AD to 735 AD  Aldheim is credited with translating the whole Bible into English while Bede was still  working on completing his translation when he died.  The translations of these times are based on translations of  the Latin Vulgate version rather than translations of the original Hebrew and Greek versions.

1384 John Wycliffe finishes the first translation of the entire Bible into English.  His version and copies of it are handwritten.

1408 Synod of Oxford tries to suppress the Wycliffe Bible with little success.

1455 Gutenberg invents the printing press making it possible to mass produce books.  The first book printed is Gutenberg’s Bible in Latin.

Historical Background: Reformation
A revolution in western thinking followed the midpoint of the 15th century A.D. The Renaissance opened up the treasures of both classical and patristic learning in a new way. It also revived an interest in the study of both Greek and Hebrew that made possible the study of the Bible in the original languages. This new interest in original editions stimulated textual research and also evidenced anew the corruption and ignorance of the contemporary church. The Renaissance created new opportunities for humanist scholars such as Erasmus of Rotterdam, who sought to make the Bible available to people of all ages, social levels, and countries.

More radical in outlook than Renaissance humanists were the Reformers, who measured the teaching and practice of the contemporary church by the standards of scripture. The Reformers were horrified by the obvious discrepancies. There soon emerged a mission to discover the pure biblical message and to reconstruct both the teaching and practice of the church. The Reformers became deeply convinced that it was both reasonable and necessary to circulate God's word in order to purify the church from ignorance and destructive practices. (from http://davidsonpress.com)

1525 William Tyndale’s New Testament is completed.  His translation is based on the Latin vulgate, Erasmus Greek and the original Greek manuscripts.  His wording and sentence structures are found in most modern day translations of the Bible. 

Tyndale was committed to taking the Bible directly to the people. Expressing open defiance of the Pope, Tyndale said that if God would spare his life he would make it possible for even a ploughboy to know more about Holy Scripture than the Pope himself.   By August of 1525 his translation of the New Testament was complete. Printing began at Cologne, but when the authorities forbade the project, Tyndale escaped to Worms, where 6,000 copies were printed and sold in England by April of 1526. Official opposition in England led to the destruction of most of these early copies.

Tyndale's English work is similar to that of Martin Luther. Although he used Luther's German translation, Tyndale also drew upon the Latin Vulgate as well as Erasmus' Greek text.  Ninety percent of the New Testament in the King James Version (KJV) is Tyndale's translation. By the same token, where the KJV departed from Tyndale's wording, the English Revised Version (ERV) of 1881 went back to it. Without question, this first printed English New Testament is the basis of all future works of translation.

1536  Tyndale executed.  Tyndale did not live to complete his Old Testament translation. On May 21, 1535, he was arrested and later executed for heresy at Vilvorde, Belgium, on October 6, 1536. His dying prayer was that the Lord would open the eyes of the King of England. He left behind a manuscript containing the translation of the historical books from Joshua to 2 Chronicles that was finally published in 1537.

1535 Myles Coverdale, student of Tyndale’s, produces a Bible.  It includes 80 books (The 39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament and 14 Apochrypha)  His version uses the translations Tyndale was able to complete.  Coverdale finished translating the rest of the Bible but not being a Hebrew or Greek scholar his portions are based on intermediate Latin and German translations rather than the original Greek and Hebrew.

1537  Matthews Bible printed.  Matthews Bible is really Tyndale’s  translation supplemented by Coverdale’s translation.  Henry VIII through the efforts of Archbishop Crammer and Thomas Cromwell gave permission for this English version of the Bible to be bought and sold throughout Britain.

Historical Background Leading to King James (Protestant) and Rheims-Douay (Catholic) Bibles:  It is during this time that the Protestant Reformers gain political power in England with the breakoff from the Catholic Church by Henry VIII.  The various Bible translations that follow are dependent upon the rise and fall of Protestant power.  Mary Tudor is Catholic and during her time no new translations are permitted.  Elizabeth is Protestant.  Mary Stuart, never allowed to reign, is Catholic.  Her son James who became King James I of England and King James VI of Scotland was raised in England by Elizabeth as a Protestant upon Mary Stuart’s abdication of the crown of Scotland when James was one year of age.

1539 The Great Bible is called that because of it’s size but it is basically Matthews Bible and was authorized for public use.  It contains 80 books including the Apochrypha as an appendix.

1546 Council of Trent is called to answer the accusations of corruption and apostasy in the Catholic Church by the Protestant Reformers.  The Council meets over a 27 year period. One of the results is that Jerome’s Latin Vulgate version of the Bible is held to be the official version of the Bible accepted by the Catholic Church.

1560 The Geneva Bible is printed.  Verses are added for the first time in this edition.  It is also the first translation of the Bible based entirely on the original Hebrew and Greek.  It was translated by exiles from England living in Geneva during the Catholic Mary Tudor’s reign.  The majority of the translation  is attributed to William Whittington a relative of John Calvin.

1568 Bishops Bible produced.   Because there was no “official” version of the Bible in England at this time, the Archbishop of Canterbury suggested the Geneva Bible be revised by the Bishop’s to be used by all the churches.  This is the version known as The Bishop’s Bible

1609 Rheims-Douay Bible is the First Complete English Catholic Bible.  Called Rheims – Douay because the New Testament portion was first completed in Rheims France in 1582 followed by the Old Testament finished in 1609 in Douay. In this version the 14 books of the Apochrypha are returned to the Bible in the order written rather than kept separate in an appendix.

1611 King James Version. The stated purpose of the King James translation was “"not to make a bad version good, but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones one principal good one.”  It is primarily a re-translation of the Bishop’s Bible.  54 men work on translation using all the widely accepted versions up to then including Bishop’s, Geneva, Matthews, Coverdale and Tyndale translation as well as looking at original manuscripts.  All available copies of the original manuscripts are brought in.  It is found that the Hebrew manuscripts are virtually identical while there is wide variations in the Greek manuscripts as they have been hand copied and handed down. The 54 men work as teams checking each other’s work.  It was printed originally with all 80 books including the Apochrypha again as a separate section. 

1613-1901: At that time until today translations have continued as translators gained a better understanding of the Hebrew language and the Greek writers.  300 corrections were made in the 1613 version of the King James Version.  In the 18th century Bishop Challoner made revisions to the Rheims-Douay Bible  removing some Latin terms and adding the use of King James translation in some areas.

The Apochrypha  were removed in 1885 from King James Versions when the English Revised Version was printed and in 1901 when  the American Standard Version was printed.