Bible Versions and Differences in Texts I. Introduction A. The world of Bible versions 1. The question of Bible versions can be very confusing indeed! 2. We have recently seen an explosion in the number of versions available 3. The Christian today must wade through a sea of acronyms-- KJV, NKJV, RSV, ESV, NASB, NIV, and so on and so forth B. The reasons for the different translations and versions are sometimes difficult to understand 1. Much of it has remained in the realms of scholasticism for years 2. Many misleading and false claims about some versions are made and accepted by those who are not informed about the differences in various translations C. Let us spend some time, then, looking at the reasons for some of the differences that exist among translations and versions D. We shall begin by looking at the history of the English text up to the late nineteenth century and how different Greek text bases have led to differences in translations II. History of English Translations: to 1611 A. For us to understand to understand the differences in the various Bible versions, we must first have some idea of how the Bible in English has come to the point it has B. The official policy of the Roman Catholic church was to forbid any translation of the Bible into any language, and that all should use the Latin Vulgate 1. Few could read Latin, and those few were church officials, so this allowed the Roman Catholic church to have a monopoly on God's Word 2. This hindered efforts to translate the Bible into any western European language for the better part of 800 years C. Nevertheless, there were many efforts made to translate the Bible into English 1. The first notable effort was done by John Wycliffe in the late fourteenth century 2. At the same time as the beginning of the Reformation, William Tyndale began totranslate the majority of the Bible into English, and paid for the endeavor with his life in 1536 3. Tyndale's translation, influenced in many ways by Luther, remained the foundation for all future translations of the Bible into English D. As Roman Catholicism began to be contested in England, so came forth a multiplicity of Bible translations 1. Tyndale's work was completed by 1537 under the name of Matthew's Bible 2. Soon before, Coverdale's Bible was published in England 3. An official revision of Matthew's Bible was distributed to churches in England, called the Great Bible 4. In 1560, English Calvinists in Geneva come out with a translation, known as the Geneva Bible; it will rise and be the most popular translation for the next century 5. As a counter, the Anglican authorities commission what is known as the Bishops' Bible in 1568 6. Roman Catholics, not to be outdone, come out with the Douay-Rheims translation in 1582 E. As we can see, England in the late sixteenth century saw an explosion of translations, and this chaos did not sit well with secular and church authorities F. To counter this chaos, King James I in 1604 commissioned the learned churchmen of England to come out with a version of the Bible, with the idea of having it be a revision of the Bishops' Bible G. The result of this effort is what is known as the King James Version, or Authorized Version, of 1611 1. It was not very popular at the beginning; only after the 1660s and the re-establishment of royal power did the KJV gain prominence 2. Once it gained prominence, however, it became the Bible for English speakers for over two hundred years 3. It went through many printings and some revisions over time; significant revisions have been undertaken in more recent years, with the New King James Version (NKJV) published in 1979, and the Modern King James Version (MKJV), the 21st Century King James Version, and other revisions of the KJV text published more recently H. Such, therefore, is how the KJV came to be III. The Greek Basis of the King James Version: the Textus Receptus A. Textual differences within the Old Testament text from the seventeenth century to now are not as significant and beyond the purview of these lessons B. To understand the differences in the NT Greek text bases between the KJV and modern translations, however, we must first understand the Greek text used as the basis of the King James Version: the Textus Receptus C. History of the Textus Receptus 1. For the majority of a millennium, knowledge of Greek was lost on western Europe 2. During the Renaissance (1450-1550), however, knowledge of Greek returned 3. With the knowledge of Greek came a desire to return to the original language of the New Testament 4. While Catholic scholars were working on an extensive polyglot (many languages) version of the Bible, the German Desiderius Erasmus quickly came out on the market with an edition of the Greek New Testament 5. His Greek New Testament came out around 1516; it was rather rushed 6. It was very popular and came out in many editions 7. In the 1630s, a marketer of the text gave it the moniker "Textus Receptus," or Received Text, and it has stuck D. Such is how the Textus Receptus (TR) came to be E. The TR has many problems 1. First of all, the Greek texts that Erasmus used were of later date 2. None of his texts had the full text of Revelation, and to compensate he translated parts of the Latin Vulgate into Greek for his version of Revelation F. While these matters merit some questioning, and we will see later how some of what is present in the TR does present some small difficulties, overall texts based on the TR still represent the will of God G. Let us now see what has changed over time IV. The Nineteenth Century A. For various reasons, the Bible in English remained static for the better part of 200 years B. In the nineteenth century, however, a resurgence in interest in the ancient world compelled many Europeans to search the ancient monasteries of the eastern world 1. In the Vatican library and St. Catherine's monastery in the Sinai, ancient codices containing the Bible dating from the fourth century were found 2. Many other such manuscripts from the third and fourth centuries were found C. Furthermore, archaeology in the nineteenth and twentieth century uncovered many papyrus texts in Egypt, many of which contained portions of the Bible 1. Most of these fragments date from the third century 2. A couple, however, date from the second century; the earliest fragment comes from around 175 CE D. When these ancient texts were discovered and analyzed, some patterns of difference began to appear between the more ancient texts and the TR 1. It became clear that the TR and the texts it was based upon all come after the standardization of the Greek New Testament text in the eighth century 2. The texts discovered from before that time showed some differences, and were most easily explained as being part of different text families from the TR 3. Today, three main families are recognized: what is called the Alexandrian, which is what the most ancient codices and many papyri fragments represent; what is called the Caesarean family, and what is called the Byzantine family, which is represented by the largest number of texts and the basis of the TR 4. These scholars came up with a new Greek base text, first called the Westcott and Hort text; in the twentieth century, the responsibility of the text fell to Nestle, and today we see the Nestle-Aland 27th edition Greek New Testament as the standard Greek text, along with the United Bible Societies (UBS) 4th edition E. On the basis of these differences, scholars in the nineteenth century began producing translations of the Bible in English 1. The first was the English Revised Version (E/RV) of 1881 2. When the copyright expired 20 years later, an American committee made some revisions and then published the American Standard Version (ASV) 3. It is from the ASV that the modern alphabet soup of translations and revisions derive-- NASB, RSV, NRSV, ESV, HCSB, NIV, NLT, CEV, GNB, TEV, etc. F. This now presents us with the matter of textual differences among versions 1. We have now seen how the KJV came about along with the modern versions 2. How does the difference in the base Greek text lead to differences in translation? V. Textual Differences A. The differences between the KJV, NKJV, and related versions from the modern versions come primarily from scribal errors over 1300 years 1. While copyists did the best they could... 2. ...no one is perfect! 3. The majority of the differences reflect difficulties like spelling mistakes, confusion of similar words, adding of titles, harmonizing of texts, and so on B. Let us see some main categories of this C. Expansions of Piety 1. Expansions of piety represent times when scribes would add titles, normally to the name of Jesus 2. Matthew 4:18: Jesus in KJV; He in ESV 3. Acts 19:10: the Lord Jesus (KJV); the Lord (ESV) 4. Acts 19:4: Christ Jesus (KJV); Christ (ESV) 5. 2 John 1:3: Lord Jesus Christ (KJV); Jesus Christ (ESV) 6. Some claim that modern versions are trying to deny Jesus as the Christ because of this; in reality, we are simply seeking to get back to what the NT authors wrote D. Harmonization 1. Harmonization represents times where copyists would blend or merge two texts because of similarity 2. The "Lord's Prayer", Luke 11:2-5 a. KJV: Lukan version harmonized with Matthean version, Matthew 6:9-12 b. ESV, others: Lukan version restored 3. Colossians 1:14: KJV adds "through his blood"; similar to Ephesians 1:7 E. Misspellings and Misconstruals 1. Many times scribes made simple spelling mistakes and misconstrued some words 2. In the earliest Greek texts, there was no spacing; thereforesentenceslookedlikethis 3. On account of this, sometimes word divisions were made at improper places F. These represent the majority of differences in the texts G. Some differences, however, can be overblown 1. Mark 16:9-20, for example 2. Many modern versions bracket these verses or omit them 3. The basis for this omission is the fact that a few ancient manuscripts omit this section, and other ancient manuscripts have alternate readings 4. On the other hand, the evidence for the text is strong, and is buttressed by its citation (and explanation) by Irenaeus, ca. 180 CE 5. While there are some reasons to cast doubts on the passage, many qualms about it are more theologically based than textually based H. On the other hand, some restorations are entirely necessary 1. 1 John 5:7, the "Comma Johannem" 2. In the KJV (and TR), 1 John 5:7 is a witness to the Trinity 3. No good Greek text, however, renders the verse as such 4. Erasmus, under Catholic pressure, added the verse to his Greek text based on the Latin 5. This is the only clearly theologically motivated change in the Scriptures, and it is right to restore the original text I. While there are other differences, these represent many examples and the most famous cases of textual differences between the main Greek texts VI. Conclusion A. We have seen the nature of textual differences among Bible versions B. We have seen the development of the Bible in English C. We have seen the different Greek texts that provided the base for those translations D. We have seen the way that these differences play out in the different versions E. In the end, these differences lead the modern version family based on the RV and the ASV to be more accurate than the KJV, NKJV, and related versions F. Regardless, the KJV and NKJV still present God's Word, and can certainly lead one to a knowledge of God and salvation G. Let us maintain confidence in the Bible as God's revelation to mankind H. Invitation/songbook I. Perhaps there are some who have a need to obey Christ J. Perhaps there are some Christians who need encouragement today K. If we can help you in any way, please let us do so; come to the front as we stand and sing