Bible Errata

Bible errata

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Throughout history, printers' errors and peculiar translations have appeared in Bibles published throughout the world.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Manuscript Bibles
o 1.1 The Book of Kells, circa 800
* 2 Printed Bibles
o 2.1 Coverdale
o 2.2 The Great Bible
o 2.3 Geneva
o 2.4 Douai
o 2.5 KJV
* 3 Fictional Bible errata
* 4 See also
* 5 References

[edit] 1 Manuscript Bibles
The genealogy of Jesus, in Kells
The genealogy of Jesus, in Kells

[edit] 1.1 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”.

[edit] 2 Printed Bibles

[edit] 2.1 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.

[edit] 2.2 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."

[edit] 2.3 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".

[edit] 2.4 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".

[edit] 2.5 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." (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". 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 with a grudge, 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."
* "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.

[edit] 3 Fictional Bible errata

* The "Buggre Alle This Bible" of 1651 (and the Charing Cross Bible) 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.

* 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.")
* The Poisonwood Bible is a 1998 bestselling novel by Barbara Kingsolver which mentions some of the famous "misprint Bibles" such as the Camel Bible, the Murderer's Bible, and the Bug Bible. The novel's title refers to the character of Nathan Price, a missionary in the 1950s Belgian Congo who creates his own "misprint" by mispronouncing the local expression "Tata Jesus is bangala", meaning "Jesus is precious". In his pronunciation, he actually says "Jesus is poisonwood!"

[edit] 4 See also

* Eye of a needle for a hypothesis about a possible mistranslation.

[edit] 5 References
This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.
You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

* The Examiner - Incidental Bible Facts - Charles A. Holt - Publisher: Truth & Freedom Ministry, Inc., Chattanooga, TN (USA)
* The New Schaff-Herzog - Bible Versions
* "Bibles With Misprints or Unusual Renderings"
* The History of the English Bible: Part I: From Wycliffe to King James
* Russell, Ray. "The Wicked Bibles" Theology Today, Vol. 37, No. 3, October 1980. http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/oct1980/v37-3-criticscorner2.htm

* William Rose Benét, The Reader's Encyclopedia, Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York, 1965

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Talk Page

Talk:Bible errata

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Should all of the different titles of misprinted editions be included here? You have left out the Breaches Bible, the Treacle Bible, the Printers Bible, the Ears To Ear Bible, the Bug Bible and one where the red-texed "words of Jesus" were omited entirely. --Auric The Rad 03:18, July 18, 2005 (UTC)

Sure. Go ahead and add them. This was never meant to necessarily represent a "complete" list. I'm not familiar with those versions you mentioned, but I'm curious to see what they are. -R. fiend 17:52, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Contents
[hide]

* 1 Murders Bible
* 2 Geneva
* 3 KJV
* 4 The New World Translation
* 5 http://www.bible-researcher.com
* 6 Rosin error?
* 7 Bible errata lore - unreferenced section
* 8 Rosin again
* 9 Sin On Bible
* 10 Wife Beater's Bible

[edit] 1 Murders Bible

Sorry about removing the Murders Bible, I made a mistake. No vandalism was intended. --Auric The Rad 13:15, July 20, 2005 (UTC)

No problem. -R. fiend 14:36, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] 2 Geneva

Should the Geneva errata be separated from the KJAV errata? --ClemMcGann 14:45, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

I don't know. Do you think it's important? I don't really see any strong reason to, but I don't have much of an opinion. -R. fiend 15:09, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] 3 KJV

Adulterers/Wicked/Sinners Bible: the Sinners Bible cross-reference goes straight back to this page. Is there a separate page for this somewhere or should the link be removed?

[edit] 4 The New World Translation

How about the Jehovah's Witness bible? (added 17 March by 66.89.103.34)

By "errata" we mean mistakes, unintentional errors. I am unaware of any mistakes in The New World Translation. Perhaps there are "deliberates", but that is not what this page is about. Otoh, if you are aware of any mistakes in this or any other bible, feel free to add the details, Regards ClemMcGann 09:29, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 5 http://www.bible-researcher.com

Markruffolo added dozens of references to http://www.bible-researcher.com I do not see their relevance. I'm reverting. ClemMcGann 09:29, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 6 Rosin error?

Interesting and funny article! But one has left me scratching my head:

"Rosin Bible" 1604: Jeremiah 8:22 reads "is there no rosin in Gilead?". Róisín is a girl's name. (The KJAV has a note at Ezekiel giving "rosin" as a alternative to "balme")

What does Roisin (girl's name) have to do with it? Rosin seems a fair translation and not an error....? ntennis 05:46, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Fair question and I'm unsure of the answer. I have added three sites, all of whom mention it. ClemMcGann 13:26, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Rosin is a modern word, what it means used to be called Colophony or Greek Pitch (see Rosin. Therefore when the Rosin Bible was written Rosin was probably only understood as a girl's name. This is an unverified guess by me. Clinkophonist 20:03, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Are you sure that it is modern? There is the phrase "roisin the bow", there even is a traditional ballad of that name. It meant to apply 'roisin' or wax to the bow of a fiddle prior to playing it. Otho, a criticism of the Douai was that it used a larger vocabulary, words which would not be understood by the general populace at the time, in the preface of the 1611 KJAV the Douai is accused of 'obscuring the scriptures' because it used such words. ClemMcGann 23:55, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

I think the word was widely used at the time of publication of that bible (early 17th century) to mean a gum or oil used for medicine, lubrication, varnish, candles, etc. This is from 1662 (talking about the medicinal properties of chocolate!): "...and being mixed with rosin, it cureth the itch and ulcers; it strengthens the stomach, stoppeth the fluxes of the belly, it encreaseth milk" (pp. 58–60). [Stubbe H. The Indian Nectar, or, a Discourse Concerning Chocolata: the Nature of the Cacao-Nut and the Other Ingredients of that Composition Is Examined and Stated According to the Judgement and Experience of Indian and Spanish Writers. J. C. for Andrew Crook London, UK.]

An anonymous popular ballad, "The Unnatural Wife" from the time also uses it:

And being chayned to the Stake,
Both Reedes and Faggots then
Close to my body there was set,
With Pitch, Tarre, and Rosin,

and, equally unpleasant, in Wynken de Worde's 1527 edition of The Golden Legend, Erasmus of Formiae is tortured: "...a pan seething with rosin, pitch, brimstone lead, and oil, and did pour it into his mouth, for which he never shrinked."

Also, the name Roisin pronounced differently (here in Australia we say it like "Rasheen"), and though I don't know much about those times, I'm not aware of old spellings of rosin as "roisin". ntennis 01:58, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

By the way, the word "rosin" is given as "treacle" in the treacle bible, but this also appears not to be an error. I added a note that "treacle" could mean a "cure all" at the time. More on rosin: the American Heritage Dictionary has it arising in middle English (1000-1500 AD). ntennis 02:07, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for that. I'm inclined to agree the 'Roisin' was not an error. Yet here on Wiki we are more concerned with facts which can be verified rather than our own original research. The sites quoted [1] and [2] in the article list it as an error. So, first are we agreeed that it is not an error and then what should we do? Perhaps say that it was perceived as an error? ClemMcGann 02:13, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

The first link you gave lists it as a "Rare and Curious Edition" — not actually an error, though it still begs the question: what is rare and curious about it? The second link (which BTW won't load for me, I had to use archive.org to view it) has the rosin bible as a "Singular Rendering". I presume "singular" here means strange and eccentric, again, not an error, but still puzzling. I'll have a look at a minor adjustment to the text of the article for now. We need an expert! ntennis 02:50, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

This is a cool article, guys. I'd just like to leave a comment for ntennis, however -- begging the question does not mean the same thing as raising the question. This particular misuse is woefully widespread these days. See Begging the question for more details on what it ought to mean (it is a logical fallacy). Cheers 70.132.14.22 22:07, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 7 Bible errata lore - unreferenced section

The following text was added by User:199.17.175.160. It was unsourced and strikes me as a bit dubious, so I've moved it here until it can be properly referenced.

It was common practice among certain mariners to carry aboard their vessels copies of errata-laden Bibles before voyages likely to be perilous; said mariners believed that such was an omen of good luck and would protect both vessel and crew in rough seas.

--A Train take the 18:51, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 8 Rosin again

"Rosin is a waxy substance used on the bows of stringed instruments."
It's not waxy at all - it's brittle and sticky (according to Rosin, however, it's an ingredient in some waxes). Gimcrackery 10:45, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 9 Sin On Bible

The entry was just changed from John 5:14 to John 8:11, but as they both use the phrase "sin no more", I'm unsure which is correct. Most of google's results point to 5:14, except these two which list 8:11. This needs to be checked by someone who knows or can find out with more certainty. Thanks. --Quiddity 17:20, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 10 Wife Beater's Bible

Hi. I was doing some cleanup work, and adding some links, when I discovered that the Wife Beater's Bible is sourced differently in various places.

* At bible.org: Part I: (Scroll down to heading: "Matthew’s Bible (1537)") it claims association with the Matthew Bible.
* But Bible Misprints gives the year 1549, with no associated proper name.
* Finally Curiosities says it is from 1551, and an edition of the Taverner's Bible.

However, none of our articles mention it, and based on Early Modern English Bible translations#Tyndale's Bible, the Tyndale Bible is the one famous for having "offensive notes (the "pestilent glosses")", so it could be that one too.

Having really just come for the Fictional Bible errata, I'll leave you more qualified bible-enthusiasts with the question of finding the best sources for these centuries old books! Thanks :) --Quiddity 01:37, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

This item should be removed anyway. It isn't an errata. It is commentary, which moderns find objectionable, but it isn't a printing or copying error.--Docg 08:19, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Would you suggest a new article for it then, instead? Just deleting the information is the least productive action. This is the information deleted.
Also, this article does include "peculiar translations" in its introduction, and the sources listed all group the "Wife-Beater's Bible" with these other bibles, leading me to believe it should possibly be kept together (where it was).
Thanks. --Quiddity (talk) 00:27, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

peculiar is POV. I can find you plenty of Bible commentary that would seem very peculiar to modern western liberal readers. The article is about errara which is a fairly objective phenomanon. Perhaps the Wife beaters Bible could have its own article, and be listed here as a "see also" link?--Docg 00:30, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

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