In 3 John 1:14 in the KJV we read the phrase "face to face". In the extant Greek texts, the reading is not "προσωπον προς προσωπον" as in 1 Corinthians 13:12 but "στομα προς στομα" ("mouth to mouth" ).

What is going on here?

the KJB (and many others as well) did the same thing in 2 John 1:12 - face to face.

Previous English bibles like Wycliffe, Tyndale, Great, Matthew's, the Bishops' bible, Douay-Rheims, and the Geneva Bible all said "mouth to mouth" so the KJB was the first (as far as I know) to change this to "face to face".

It is an example of what is called synecdoche.

A synecdoche (/sɪˈnɛkdəki/ sin-NEK-tə-kee,[1] from Greek συνεκδοχή, synekdochē, 'simultaneous understanding')[2] is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something or vice versa.

Not only does the KJB say "face to face" but so too do the Revised Version, ASV, RSV, NRSV, ESV, NASB, NIV, Holman Standard, NET, MEV 2014, Goodspeed, Weymouth N.T., the ISV, Bible in Basic English 1961, The Pickering N.T., the Complete Jewish bible 1998, NKJV, Complete Apostles' bible, Lexham English bible 2012 and the Complete Apostles' bible to name just a few.

Lamsa’s 1936 translation of the Syriac Peshitta also reads “face to face”.

Many foreign language Bibles also read like the KJB with “face to face”. Among these are the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569, the Cipriano de Valera 1602, Reina Valera 1960, La Biblia de Las Americas - hablaremos cara a cara, The Portuguese A Biblia Sagrada - e falaremos de face a face.,

Jude 5 "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that THE LORD, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not." 

This is clearly a reference to God delivering the Israelites out of Egypt as recorded in the Old Testament. THE LORD is the reading found in the Majority of texts as well as Sinaiticus. It is also the reading of the RV, ASV, NASB, NIV, and NRSV.

However Vaticanus actually says that it was JESUS who saved the people out of the land of Egypt and so does the ESV! 

Jude 1:22

A brother writes: Here's a new one for me. 

Jude 1:22 KJB - And of some have compassion, MAKING A DIFFERENCE:

NIV Be merciful TO THOSE WHO DOUBT;

NASB 1995 - And have mercy on some, WHO ARE DOUBTING  1995

ESV - And have mercy on THOSE WHO DOUBT

New  Catholic Bible 2019 - Have compassion for THOSE WHO ARE WAVERING.

Jehovah Witness New World Translation - Also, continue showing mercy to SOME THAT HAVE DOUBTS.

My Response.

The difference here is found in the different Greek texts that are being used.  The Majority of all Greek mss. and the TR editions read like the KJB has it. "Making a difference" is in the nominative case (διακρινόμενοι) - meaning it is the subject. It is we who should be making a difference, or distinguishing whether we treat some people in a certain manner and others differently.

The J.B. Phillips N.T. 1960-1972 shows this difference saying: “For some of these men you can feel pity and YOU CAN TREAT THEM DIFFERENTLY.  Others you must try to save by fear, snatching them as it were out of the fire while hating the very garments their deeds have befouled.”

This is the reading of the Majority Text of Hodges and Farstad, and the Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Greek N.T. - διακρινομενοι, as well as the Greek texts of Erasmus, Stephanus 1550, Beza 1598, Scrivener 1894 and Elziever 1624 as well as the Modern Greek Bible.

Modern Greek Bible - Και αλλους μεν ελεειτε, καμνοντες διακρισιν, = And have mercy on some, MAKING A DISTINCTION.

https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/greek-modern/jude/

English Majority Text Version 2009 - Jude 1:22 -

“And have mercy on some, MAKING A DISTINCTION”

https://textusreceptusbibles.com/EMTV/65/1

The Vatican Versions follow a different reading that makes "who are doubting"   (διακρινομένους), which is the direct object instead of the subject.

Agreeing with the sense found in the KJB are Tyndale 1524, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s bible 1549, the Bishops’ bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587 - “And haue compassion of some, in putting difference”, The Beza N.T. 1599, Charles Thomson Translation 1808, the Young’s 1898, the Emphatic Diaglott New Testament, the World English Bible, the Complete Apostle’s Bible - “making a distinction”,  Mace N.T., A Conservative Version, God’s First Truth, Far Above All Translation - “as you make a distinction”, Green’s Literal Translation, Julia Smith Translation 1855, Darby’s Translation 1890, - “And of some have compassion, making a difference,”, the NKJV 1982, the Modern Literal Version, Jubilee Bible 2020, Living Oracles N.T., Webster’s Bible 1833, Haweis N.T., Wilbur Pickering N.T. - “Now be merciful to some, making a distinction;”, Worsley N.T.,  the Third Millennium Bible 1998,  the Tomson N.T. 2002 - “And have compassion of some, in putting difference:”, and the Modern English Version 2014- “using discernment”

Foreign Language Bibles

Foreign language Bible that read like the KJB are the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569, the Spanish Reina Valera Antigua - “Y recibid á los unos en piedad, discerniendo:”, the Italian Diodati Bible -“usando discrezione;”, the French Martin Bible 1744 - “Et ayez pitié des uns en usant de discrétion;”.

Once again, it is the difference between the Reformation text or the Vatican supervised Critical text versions.

The Book of the Revelation

This book has more textual variants than any other book in the New Testament, and this fact is often illustrated in the multiplicity of differing bible versions that result from following different texts or sometimes in how the same texts are translated. I will briefly mention just a few examples. 

Revelation 1:8 and the Bible Critics.


A certain Bible critic who does not believe that any Bible in any language is the inerrant words of God, points out what he thinks is a textual error in the King James Bible and the Reformation Bibles.

He says: “Textually, Erasmus omitted “God” in Revelation 1:8. TR editions didn’t catch this omission until the mid 1800’s, and so the KJV likewise omits “God” from the text. Despite the fact that no Greek manuscripts of the passage (except for two as I recall) which contain this passage have omitted this word. It is a clear textual mistake in the TR and KJV, whose history is easy to trace.”

So, let’s take a closer look at this verse and see if our Bible critic is right or not.

Revelation 1:8 KJB - “I am Alpha and Omega, THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

ESV (NASB, NIV, NET, Holman Standard, Jehovah Witness NWT, Catholic St. Joseph NAB, New Jerusalem bible) - “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord GOD, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The textual differences are the omission of the phrase “THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING” in the Vatican supervised text versions, and the addition of the word GOD  in the phrase “saith the Lord (God)”

First, let’s take a look at the additional word GOD.

Our critic tells us that this is a textual mistake in the Textus Receptus.

The King James Bible translators were well aware of the existence of the additional word GOD in the phrase “saith the Lord GOD” because it existed in the previous Wycliffe bible of 1395 and the Roman Catholic Douay Rheims N.T. of 1582.

They both read: “I am Alpha and Omega, THE BEGINNING AND THE END,  saith the Lord GOD, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

You will notice that it contains the words THE BEGINNING AND THE END, which the ESV, NIV, NASB etc. omit, and has the extra word GOD.

And Jerome’s Latin Vulgage of 382-405 A.D. also contains the phrase THE BEGINNING AND THE END as well as the extra word GOD.

8 Ego sum alpha et omega, principium et finis, dicit Dominus Deus: qui est, et qui erat, et qui venturus est, omnipotens.

Some earlier English Bibles read a bit differently. For example Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, The Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, and the Bishops’ bible 1568 all read: “I am Alpha and Omega, the begynnyng and the endyng, sayth the Lorde almyghtie, which is, and which was, and which is to come.”

Notice the inclusion of the words ‘the beginning and the ending” (which the modern Vatican Versions omit) and the placing of the word “Almighty” after “saith the Lord” instead of placing it at the end of the verse.

BUT there is NO additional word GOD.

So the previous English Bibles from Tyndale onward followed the same Greek texts as did the KJB. Some of them just had a slightly different word order.


Reading like the KJB is the Geneva Bible 1587 - “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come, euen the Almightie.”

The Book of Revelation has far more textual variants in it than any other book of the New Testament.

With all the additional textual information gathered by Erasmus, Stephanus, Beza, Elzevir and Stephanus, they all included the phrase “THE BEGINNING AND THE END” and did not include the extra word "God".

This was not some accidental oversight, but a deliberate textual choice.

Even after the KJB was completed, the Greek TR of Elzevir 1624 reads like the text that underlies the KJB - εγω ειμι το α και το ω αρχη και τελος λεγει ο κυριος ο ων και ο ην και ο ερχομενος ο παντοκρατωρ

https://www.bible.com/bible/182/REV.1.TR1624

The Modern Greek Version also reads like the KJB - 

Εγω ειμαι το Α και το Ω, αρχη και τελος, λεγει ο Κυριος, ο ων και ο ην και ο ερχομενος, ο παντοκρατωρ.

https://www.studylight.org/desk/index.cgi?sr=1&old_q=Revelation+1%3A8&search_form_type=general&q1=Revelation+1%3A8&s=0&t1=el_gmd&ns=0

Greek manuscripts 141 and 187 read as does the KJB and so does the 1569 Spanish Las Sagradas Escrituras and the 1602 Spanish Cipriano de Valera - “YO SOY el Alfa y la Omega: principio y fin, dice el Señor, el que es y que era y que ha de venir, el Todopoderoso.”

The Spanish Reina Valera 1909 - 1995 still read this way - Yo soy el Alfa y la Omega, principio y fin», dice el Señor, el que es y que era y que ha de venir, el Todopoderoso.

Agreeing with how the KJB reads are all the previous English Bibles from Tyndale to the Geneva Bible including the Beza N.T. of 1599, Mace N.T. 1729, The Revised Translation 1815, Webster’s bible 1833, The Commonly Received Version 1851, The Smith Bible 1876, Young’s 1898, the NKKJV 1982, The Koster Scriptures 1998, the Laurie Translation 1998, The Third Millennium Bible 1998, God’s First Truth 1999, The Last Days N.T. 1999, The Tomson N.T. 2002, Green’s Literal Translation 2005, The Revised Geneva Bible 2005, the Jubilee Bible 2010, The Conservative Bible 2010, The Hebrew Transliteration Bible 2010 - “AnochiAlef ve Tav, the beginning and the ending, said Adonai, which is, and which was, and which is to come, Elohei Tzavot (Almighty).”, the Modern English Version 2014, and The New Matthew Bible 2016.

The Reformation Bibles read like the KJB. These include the French Martin Bible 1744, French Ostervald 1996, the Italian Diodati 1649 and La Nuova Diodati 1991 - “"Io sono lAlfa e lOmega, il principio, e la fine", dice il Signore "che , che era e che ha da venire, lOnnipotente”., the Portugues La Biblia Sagrada and the Portuguese Almeida 2009- Eu sou o Alfa e o Omega, o princpio e o fim, diz o Senhor, que , e que era, e que h de vir, o Todo-Poderoso., Spanish Reina Valera 1909-1995,  and the German Schlachter bible 2000 - “Ich bin das A und das O, der Anfang und das Ende, spricht der Herr, der ist und der war und der kommt, der Allmächtige.”

Revelation 1:8-11 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,  the first and the last"

Revelation 1:11 “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last”

There are several words omitted from both Revelation 1:8 and 1:11 which provide strong testimony to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is Himself Jehovah, the Lord God Almighty.

In Revelation 1:8 in the King James Bible we read: “I am Alpha and Omega, THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and is to come, the Almighty.”

And in Revelation 1:11 we read of a voice speaking to the apostle John: “Saying, I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE FIRST AND THE LAST; AND, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches WHICH ARE IN ASIA; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.”

When John turned to see the voice that spoke unto him, he saw one like unto the Son of man. Then this same Son of man says to him: “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death.” Revelation 1:17-18.

This is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last; He that was dead and is now alive for evermore.

If the Lord Jesus Christ is the one speaking here as the King James Bible and the Traditional Greek Texts read, then He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, and He is Jehovah God Almighty.

Compare these titles to those Jehovah God gives us of Himself in the book of Isaiah.  In Isaiah 44:6 we read: “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts: I AM THE FIRST, AND I AM THE LAST; AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO GOD.”

And in Isaiah 48:12 again we read: “Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I AM THE FIRST, I ALSO AM THE LAST.”

In Revelation 1:8 the words “THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING" are omitted by the new Vatican Versions including the RSV, NIV, NASB, ESV, ISV, Jehovah Witness New World Translation and Daniel Wallace’s NET versions.

The Catholic Connection

They used to be in the Catholic Douay-Rheims of 1582 - "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" and the Douay of 1950, but the more modern Catholic versions like the St. Joseph New American bible of 1970 and the New Jerusalem bible of 1985 omit these words by following the ever changing Critical (condition) texts of the United Bible Society/Nestle-Aland/Catholic/Evangelical Combine.

But, not to worry, the latest Catholic Public Domain Version of 2009 has now put these words back into the text and it reads: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, THE BEGINNING AND THE END.", and so too has The Revised Douay-Rheims Bible 2012.

The words “the beginning and the ending” are found in several manuscripts like 205, 209, 1854, 2344, 2351, 2432, 2814 and are in the Old Latin copies ar, c, dem, div, gig, had, t, z the Latin Vulgate, Coptic Boharic and the Syriac Peshitta ancient versions. There were so quoted by Origen, Apringius, Andrew, Clement and Beatus.

Clement of Alexandria The Instructor Book I: Rightly, therefore, the Lord again promises milk to the righteous, that the Word may be clearly shown to be both, "the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end"

Lamsa's 1933 translation of the Syriac Peshitta reads in Revelation 1:8 - "I am Aleph and Tau, THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

There is no book of the Revelation in the Vaticanus manuscript, but the words were included in Sinaiticus original. Then they were removed, and then later on put back into the Sinaiticus mss.  They are found in the Traditional Greek Text and in the modern Greek New Testament used by the Greek Orthodox churches all over the world today.

The Modern Greek Bible reads: "Εγω ειμαι το Α και το Ω, αρχη και τελος, λεγει ο Κυριος, ο ων και ο ην και ο ερχομενος, ο παντοκρατωρ."

And in the Modern Hebrew Bible - אני האלף ואני התו ראש וסוף נאם יהוה אלהים ההוה והיה ויבוא אלהי צבאות

The words: “THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING" are included in Wycliffe 1395, Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549 -”I am Alpha and Omega, the begynnynge and the endynge, sayeth the Lorde almyghty”, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Douay-Rheims 1582, the Geneva Bible 1587, the King James Bible 1611, the Beza New Testament 1599, the Bill Bible 1671, Mace’s New Testament 1729, Worsley Version 1770, Thomas Haweis N.T. 1795, the Clarke N.T. 1795, the Thomson Bible 1808, The Revised Translation 1815, Webster's translation 1833, the Morgan N.T. 1848, the Hewett N.T. 1850, The Commonly Received Version 1851, Julia Smith Translation 1855, The Revised N.T. 1862, The Smith Bible 1876, The Revised English Bible 1877, the Dillard N.T. 1885, Youngs 1898, The Living Bible 1971, the NKJV 1982, Green’s Literal 2005, the Third Millennium Bible of 1998 and the English Jubilee Bible 2010.

Other English Bibles that read: "I am Alpha and Omega, THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." are Interlinear Greek New Testament 1997 (Larry Pierce), the Lawrie Translation 1998, The Koster Scriptures 1998, the Worldwide English N.T. 1998, God's First Truth 1999, The Last Days Bible 1999, The Tomson N.T. 2002, The Apostolic Polyglot Bible 2003, The Evidence Bible 2003, The Resurrection Life New Testament 2005 (Vince Garcia), Bond Slave Version 2009, Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, Holy Scriptures VW Edition 2010, Biblos Interlinear Bible 2011, The Work of God's Children Illustrated Bible 2011, The Orthodox Jewish Bible 2011, The Natural Israelite Bible 2012, The Voice 2012 (a Critical text version!), Interlinear Hebrew-Greek Scriptures 2012 (Mebust), Hebraic Roots Bible 2012, The Biblos Bible 2013 and the Modern English Version 2014.

Foreign Language Bibles

Among foreign language Bible they are found in the Afrikaans bible 1953 - "Ek is die Alfa en die Oméga, die begin en die einde, the Albanian Bible, the Dutch Staten Vertaling - “Ik ben de Alfa en de Omega, HET BEGIN EN HET EINDE”, the French  le Bible de Geneve 1669, the French Martin 1744 and the French Ostervald 1998 - “Je suis l'Alpha et l'Oméga, LE COMMENCEMENT ET LA FIN,” Spanish Reina Valera of 1569, 1909, 1960 and 1995 - “Yo soy el Alpha y la Omega, PRINCIPIO Y FIN, dice el Señor, que es y que era y que ha de venir, el Todopoderoso.” Luther’s German Bible 1545 - “Ich bin das A und das O, der Anfang und das Ende, spricht der HERR”, the Italian Diodati of 1649 and the New Diodati of 1991 - “Io son l’Alfa, e l’Omega; IL PRINCIPE,E LA FINE”, the  Portuguese Almeida Corrigida y Fiel version - “Eu sou o Alfa e o Ômega, O PRINCIPIO E O FIM, diz o Senhor”, the Polish Updated Gdansk Bible 2013 - "Ja jestem Alfa i Omega, początek i koniec" and the Tagalog Ang Salita ng Diyos 1998 - "Ako ang Alpha at Omega, ang simula at ang wakas."

the Modern Greek New Testament -"Εγω ειμαι το Α και το Ω, αρχη και τελος, λεγει ο Κυριος, ο ων και ο ην και ο ερχομενος, ο παντοκρατωρ."

Revelation 1:11 - “I AM  ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE  FIRST AND THE LAST”

When we get to Revelation 1:11 the words “I AM  ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE  FIRST AND THE LAST” are omitted by the modern Catholic versions and the RSV, NIV, NASB, ESV, ISV and NET versions all of which are based on the ever changing UBS - Nestle-Aland Vatican Versions Critical Text. They are also omitted by the Catholic Douay Rheims, the St. Joseph New American bible of 1970 and the New Jerusalem bible of 1985.

The words are found in the Traditional Greek text and in the Greek texts of Stephanus, Beza and Elziever. They are also found in many individual Greek manuscripts that have survived to this day, including about 57 of Hoskiers cursives, according to Jack Moorman and his book ‘When the KJV Departs from the “Majority” Text’.  

This IS the text of the Reformation Bibles in all languages.

The words: “I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE FIRST AND THE LAST" are found in Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549 - “saiynge. I am Alpha and Omega, the fyrst and the laste.”, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Beza N.T. 1599, the King James Bible 1611, the Bill Bible 1671, Mace’s New Testament 1729, the Worsley Version 1770, the Clarke N.T. 1795, the Thomson Bible 1808, The Revised Translation 1815, the Morgan N.T. 1848, The Commonly Received Version 1851, the Julia Smith Translation 1855, The Revised N.T. 1862, The Smith Bible 1876, The Revised English Bible 1877, the Dillard N.T. 1885, Young’s literal 1898, The Living Bible 1971, the NKJV 1982, the Amplified Bible 1987, Green’s Literal 2005, the Interlinear Greek N.T. 1997 (Larry Pierce), the Lawrie Translation 1998, The Koster Scriptures 1998, the Third Millennium Bible 1998, The Last Days Bible 1999, the Tomson N.T. 2002, the Resurrection Life New Testament 2005, Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, English Jubilee Bible 2010, Holy Scriptures VW Edition 2010, Biblos Interlinear Bible 2011, The Orthodox Jewish Bible 2011 - “Saying, Ani Hu the Aleph and the Tav, HaRishon (The first) and HaAcharon (The last)”, The Voice 2012 (a Critical text version!) - " A voice: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the very beginning and the very end. Make a book of what you see, write it down…”, The Biblos Bible 2013 and the Modern English Version 2014.

Foreign Language Bibles 

Among foreign language Bibles these words are included in the Africanns Bible, the Albanian bible, the Dutch Staten Vertaling - “Ik ben de Alfa en de Omega, de Eerste en de Laatste;”, the French le Bible de Geneve 1669, the French Martin 1744 and Ostervald 1998 - “Qui disait :Je suis l'Alpha et l'Oméga, le premier et le dernier”, the Spanish Las Sagradas Escrituras of 1569, Cipriano de Valera 1602, the Reina Valera's 1909, 1960, 1995, Spanish Jubilee 2010 - “Que decía: Yo soy el Alpha y Omega, el primero y el último.” Luther’s German Bible 1545 and the 2000 Schlachter Bible - “Ich bin das A und das O, der Erste und der Letzte”, the Italian Diodati of 1649 and the New Diodati of 1991 - “Io son l’Alfa, e l’Omega; il primo, e l’ultimo” , the Romanian Cornilescu, the Russian, the Portuguese Almeida Corrigida, Revisada y Fiel Version - “Que dizia: Eu sou o Alfa e o Ômega, o primeiro e o derradeiro”, the Polish Updated Gdansk Bible 2013 - "Który mówił: Ja jestem Alfa i Omega, pierwszy i ostatni.", the Hungarian Károli Bible - "Én vagyok az Alfa és az Omega, az Elsõ és Utolsó", and in the Tagalog Ang Salita ng Diyos 1998 -"Sinabi nito: Ako ang Alpha at ang Omega, ang simula at ang wakas."

and the Modern Greek New Testament - "ητις ελεγεν· Εγω ειμαι το Α και το Ω, ο πρωτος και ο εσχατος· και, Ο, τι βλεπεις, γραψον", 

and the Modern Hebrew New Testament - ויאמר אני האלף ואני התו הראשון והאחרון ואת אשר אתה ראה כתב אל ספר ושלחהו אל הקהלות אשר באסיא לאפסוס ולזמירנא ולפרגמוס ולתיאטירא ולסרדיס ולפילדפיא וללודקיא׃

both of which can be seen at this site here -

http://unbound.biola.edu/

The omission of these words from Revelation 1:8 and 11 by the modern UBS Catholic Vatican Versions removes an important reference to the Lord Jesus Christ being equal to Jehovah God of the Old Testament who Himself is also “the first and the last, and beside Me there is no God”.

John Gill - “I am Alpha and Omega,.... These are the words of Christ himself, appearing at once, and confirming what John had said of him, concerning his person, offices, and future coming: Alpha is the first letter, and Omega the last in the Greek alphabet, and signifies that Christ is the first and the last, as it is interpreted in Revelation 1:11, and is a character often given to the divine Being in prophetic writings; see Isaiah 41:4,   and is no small proof of THE PROPER DEITY OF CHRIST.”

Matthew Poole - Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet, as Aleph and Tau are in the Hebrew alphabet: the meaning of these is expounded, the beginning and the ending; he who was before all, and shall continue to exist when all creatures shall cease to be; the first and the last, as the same terms are expounded, Revelation 22:13; so Isaiah 41:4; 43:13  Which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty: He addeth the Almighty, to show that he was able to make his words good. Thus in this verse, omnipotency, eternity, and immutability, ARE ALL APPLIED TO GOD, AND PARTICULARLY PREDICATED OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.”

Matthew Henry - “This account of Christ is ratified and confirmed by himself, v. 8. Here our Lord Jesus justly challenges the same honour and power that is ascribed to the Father, v. 4. He is the beginning and the end; all things are from him and for him; he is the Almighty; he is the same eternal and unchangeable one. And surely whoever presumes to blot out one character of this name of Christ deserves to have his name blotted out of the book of life. Those that honour him he will honour; but those who despise him shall be lightly esteemed.”

The King James Bible is the complete, inspired and 100% true words of the living God. Accept no substitutes.

Revelation 8:13 “an angel” or “an eagle”?

KJB - “And I beheld, and heard AN ANGEL flying through the midst of heaven…”

ESV, NASB, NIV, NET, Jehovah Witness NWT, Catholic versions - “Then I looked, and I heard AN EAGLE…”

The words “AN ANGEL” - (αγγελου) - is found in the Greek texts of Erasmus, Stephanus 1550, Beza 1598, Elzevir 1624, Scrivener 1894 and The Modern Greek Bible.  It is also the reading of 2/5ths of the so called Majority text - P 680 2059 2060 2081 2186 2286 2302 2814 and the ancient Armenian translation.

It is the reading of the Reformation Bibles in all languages.

The Roman Catholic versions and the Critical text versions, whose Greek text is under the direct supervision of the Vatican, like the ESV, NIV, NASB read “AN EAGLE” - (αετου).

This reading is found in Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and the Syriac versions.

Agreeing with the King James Bible’s “AN ANGEL” are Tyndale 1524, Coverdale 1535, The Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Beza N.T. 1599, Wesley’s N.T. 1755, Worsley N.T. 1770, Haweis N.T. 1795, Thomson Bible 1808, The Revised Translation 1815, Living Oracles 1835, Julia Smith Bible 1855, The Smith Bible 1876, Young’s 1898 (a messenger), The Clarke N.T. 1913, NKJV 1982, The Word of Yah Bible 1993, Third Millennium Bible 1998, the Lawrie N.T. 1998, God’s First Truth 1999, The Last Days N.T. 1999, The Tomson N.T. 2002, The Jubilee Bible 2010, The Hebrew Transliteration Scripture 2010, The Aramaic Bible 2011, The Conservative Bible 2010 - “a messenger”, The Bond Slave Version 2012 and The Modern English Version 2014 - “an angel”.

Foreign Language Bibles

Foreign language bibles that also read AN ANGEL are the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569, Cipriano de Valera 1602, Reina Valera 1960 - 1995, The French Martin bible 1744 and French Ostervald 1996 - “un Ange”, Italian Diodati 1649, Nuova Diodati 1991- “un angelo”,  Luther’s German Bible 1545 and the German Schlachter bible 2000 - “Engel”, The Polish Updated Gdansk bible 2013 - “  anioła”, The Russian Synodal Bible, Czeck BKR bible “anděla”, the Hungarian Karoli Bible, the Dutch Staten Vertaling bible - “een engel”, The Portuguese A Biblia Sagrada and the Almeida Corregida bible - “E olhei e ouvi um anjo voar pelo meio do cu”, the Norwegian Det Norsk Bibelselskap, The Afrikaans bible 1953,  the Smith & van Dyke Arabic bible,  the Croatian bible, Veren’s Contemporary Bulgarian Bible, the Western Armenian New Testament, the Lithuanian bible, the Romanian Fidela Bible 2015 and The Tagalog Ang Salita ng Diyos bible 1998 - “anghel”

The Modern Greek Bible - Και ειδον και ηκουσα ενα αγγελον πετωμενον εις το μεσουρανημα

And The Modern Hebrew Bible -  מלאך אחד מעופף במרום הרקיע הקורא   

So, once again, it is a choice between the Reformation Bible text or the Roman Catholic supervised Vatican Versions.

Revelation 11:13 - Is the King James Bible wrong?

A King James Bible critic writes: ”The Greek word "onomata" (names) is missing in the KJB in Revelation 11:13. Luther had it; Tyndale had it, Scrivener has it in his Greek Textus Receptus (always claimed to be the best) and it is missing in the KJB. What spiritual reasons will you find for that?”

It should first be pointed out that this particular Bible critic, like all others who criticize the King James Bible, himself does NOT believe that any Bible in any language - including “the” Greek and Hebrew - is now or ever was the complete and inerrant words of God.  He will never tell you the name or show you a copy of any Bible that he believes is God’s inerrant words.  

But apparently he thinks he is smart enough to find all the errors in the King James Bible and tell us how he thinks they should be corrected.  He is his own authority.

So, let’s take a look at this Bible Agnostic’s criticism and see if there is any merit to it or not.

The purpose of a good translation is to first, have the right texts, and secondly, to translate those texts in the best way possible so as to communicate the meaning.

The verse, as it stands in the King James Bible (and many others as well shall soon see) says: “And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.”

The particular section of this verse our Bible critic complains about is where it says “were slain OF MEN seven thousand.”  

Our “expert critic” says it should read the literal “were slain in the earthquake NAMES OF MEN 7000”.  Admittedly the Greek text literally reads this way - “απεκτανθησαν εν τω σεισμω ονοματα ανθρωπων χιλιαδες”. But does a strictly literal translation communicate the correct meaning of the passage?  

I do not believe it does nor do many Bible translators. No Bible translation is always a strictly literal translation. If it were, it would end up sounding very stiff, unorganized, wooden and clumsy and it would confuse rather than enlighten.

Literally speaking you cannot slay the name of a man. You slay the man himself.  The verse is not talking about defaming someone, but rather killing them with a very real, physical death. 

There are a few bibles that do translate it literally. But do they make sense of the passage? No, they do not.  

Tyndale, Coverdale, the Bishops’ Bible, Youngs and Darby have - “and seven thousand NAMES of men were slain in the earthquake.”  It should be obvious that the word “names of men” stands for the persons themselves, and not just their names.

We see this relationship in the book of Revelation itself in Revelation 3:4 where we read “Thou hast a few NAMES even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments.”  The “names” stand for the men themselves. 

We have another similar verse in Acts 1:15 where “the name” stands for the person themselves.  Here we read: “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of NAMES together were about an hundred and twenty,)”

Not only does the King James Bible translate Revelation 11:13 as “and in the earthquake were slain OF MEN seven thousand” and do NOT translate the word NAMES are (to name just some of them) the following Bible translations  - the Geneva Bible 1587, The Beza New Testament 1599, Wesley’s N.T. 1755, Worsley Version 1770, Webster Bible 1833, Sawyer N.T. 1858, The Revised Version 1885, the ASV 1901, Godbey N.T. 1902, Worrell N.T. 1904, Weymouth 1912, Moffatt N.T. 1913, Goodspeed 1923, Bible in Basic English 1961, the RSV 1971, J.B. Phillips 1972, the NKJV 1982, the Amplified Bible 1987, the NASB 1995, God’s Word Translation 1995, The Complete Jewish Bible 1998, World English Bible 2000, Complete Apostle’s Bible 2003, Dan Wallace’s NET version 2006, Holman Standard 2009, The New European Version 2010, The Common English Bible 2011, the ESV 2011, The NIV 2011, the Names of God Bible 2011, The Common English Version 2011, Orthodox Jewish Bible 2011,  Lexham English Bible 2012, The Voice 2012, The English Majority Text N.T. 2013, The ISV (International Standard Version) 2014, The Far Above All Translation 2014, The Hebrew Names Version 2014, The New International Reader’s Version 2014, The Translator’s Bible 2014, The Pioneer’s N.T. 2014, The Modern English Version 2014 - “Seven thousand men were killed in the earthquake” and the Tree of Life Version 2015.

Foreign Language Bibles

Foreign language Bibles that read like the King James Bible are the Italian Diodati 1648 and  La Nuova Diodati 1991, Italian Riveduta 2006 - “e settemila persone furono uccise nel terremoto”, the German Schlachter Bible 2000, the Spanish Reina Valera 1995 - “murieron siete mil hombres.”, the French Martin 1744, Ostervald 1998 and the French Louis Segond 2007, the Portuguese O Livro 2000 and the Almeida Corrigida 2009 - “foram mortos sete mil homens”.

The King James Bible is absolutely correct in the way it has translated Revelation 11:13 and all other parts as well.  It has no proven errors and has stood the test of time and use for over 400 years now and is the only Bible seriously believed by thousands of God’s redeemed people to be the complete and inerrant words of God.

Revelation 11:17 "and art to come"

Last night at church our pastor pointed out the differences in the translation between the KJV and other versions. In verse 17:

Revelation 11:17 (NIV) "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.

Revelation 11:17 (NASB) "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.

Revelation 11:17 (KJV) We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, AND ART TO COME; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

He believes that part (highlighted in the KJV) missing in the other translation isn't necessary based on what the later half of verse 15 says. Also he said something that I've been hearing alot lately is that the Scribe inserted his opinion in the margin when coping the translation. I looked at your website and couldn't find any articles relating to this. Could you please tell me what you think.

Thanks, Tammy

Hi Tammy, the text of "and art to come" is found in part of the Majority text, though not all. The so called "Majority text" by Hodges and Farstad, is divided into 5 sections, labeled A, B, C, D and E. The text "and is to come" is found in sections C and D. it is in the Textus Receptus and in many Latin copies plus about 52 other Greek copies according to the info I have. It is also found in the ancient Arminian and Coptic Boharic versions. It is found in the Clementine Vulgate, and Jerome's Vulgate of 382 AD. It is in the Douay version 1950, and found in Wycliffe 1395, Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, the Geneva Bible 1599, the KJB, the NKJV 1982, Green's modern KJV 2001, the Spanish Reina Valera versions from the 1500's to 1995, Luther's German, and in the Modern Greek New Testament used in the Greek Orthodox churches today.

Men like your pastor do not believe that any bible in any language is the complete and inerrant words of God, so they play around with the goofy thing they like to call the "science" of textual criticism, and they end up with every man for himself bible versions.

Revelation 13:8 the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Many Fake bible versions like the ESV and NASB have really messed up the way they translate Revelation 13:8. They totally rearranged the wording.

The Greek text reads just like the KJB has it.

ων ου γεγραπται τα ονοματα εν τη βιβλω της ζωης του αρνιου εσφαγμενου απο καταβολης κοσμου = whose names were not written in the Book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

But the ESV, Holman Standard, NET and NASB say -and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Agreeing with the KJB are the NIV, ISV (International Standard Version 2014, English Revised Version 1881, Tyndale 1524, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew's Bible 1549, the Bishops' bible 1568, Geneva Bible 1587, Beza's New Testament 1599, Sawyer N.T. 1858, MEV 2014, Wycliffe 1395, Whiston's N.T. 1745, Worsley N.T. 1770, Young's 1898, NKJV 1982, Green's Literal 1993, Rotherham's Emphasized Bible 1902, Weymouth N.T. 1902, Complete Apostle's Bible, Jubilee Bible 2010, Wilbur Pickering N.T. and Lamsa's 1933 translation of the Syriac Peshitta.

The Catholic Connection

The Douay-Rheims 1582 and the Douay Version 1950 both read like the KJB - the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But the more recent Catholic versions like the St. Joseph New American Bible 1970 and the New Jerusalem bible 1985 read like the NASB, ESV.

Jamison, Fausset and Brown Commentary - Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The Greek order favours this. He was slain in the Father's eternal counsels: cf. 1 Peter 1:19-20.

John Gill - "he may be said to be "slain from the foundation of the world"; in the decree and purpose of God, by which he was set forth, or foreappointed to be the propitiation for sin, and was foreordained, before the foundation of the world, to redeem his people by his blood"

Revelation 13:10 -

Another instance of fickle changes and disagreements among the modern versions is found in Revelation 13:10. There we read: "...HE THAT KILLETH with the sword must be killed with the sword..." The phrase: "He that killeth" is in the active voice, that is, he is doing the killing.

This is the reading of the Textus Receptus, Sinaiticus and manuscript C. It also read this way in the previous Westcott-Hort 1881, Nestle-Aland 21st edition 1975 Greek texts - αποκτενει.

"HE THAT KILLETH with the sword" (active voice) is the reading of Wycliffe 1395, Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, Bishops' Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Revised Version 1885, the American Standard Version 1901, the RSV, NRSV 1989, NASB 1995, NKJV 1982, Modern English Version 2014, the Spanish Reina Valera and Lamsa's translation of the Peshitta.

However, later on, they once again changed Nestle-Aland (UBS) Greek text 27th edition - ἀποκτανθῆναι -  and they decided to follow the reading of ONE manuscript, that is, Alexandrinus. This single manuscript changes the reading from "HE THAT KILLETH" to "HE THAT IS TO BE KILLED" (ἀποκτανθῆναι - passive voice, that is, he is the one being killed by another).

Now, the NIV, ESV, NET and Holman versions have adopted this new reading based on one manuscript, and they now read: "IF ANYONE IS TO BE KILLED with the sword, with the sword he will be killed." Read it again, and think about the nonsense of this new reading.

Notice that the RSV and NRSV both followed the King James reading, but now the new ESV (a revision of the old RSV, NRSV) has now "scientifically" decided to go along with the NIV and follow a different text. This is how the "scholars' game" is played.

Revelation 13:16 - another “error” in the King James Bible?

One of the many version rummaging bible agnostics I have run into over the years posts what he thinks is another “error” in the King James Bible. Of course, this Bible critic himself does not have ANY Bible in any language (including “the” Greek and “the” Hebrew) that he honestly believes is the inerrant and 100% true words of God. But this doesn’t seem to stop these unbelievers in an infallible Bible from setting up their own minds and understanding as their “final authority” - subject to change at any moment. Each one seems to think he is smarter than God, or at least, somehow far more qualified than the 47 gifted scholars God used to give us His Perfect Book - the King James Bible.

Our Bible critic writes: “One unexplicable mistranslation in KJV, which serves to disprove KJV Onlyism, is found in Rev. 13:16. KJV reads - ”..to receive a mark in their right hand.."

Now, the "to receive" of KJV demands that John in the Greek penned paralambanô, dechomai (or some cognate thereof), or lambanô, in the infinitive aorist active, viz. some verb which meant to "receive" in one or another sense. BUT, a big BUT - the Greek TR text has the verb dôsê - aorist active subjunctive 3rd person singular of didômi (G1325, give, grant, etc.), thus lit. "it should give". Now, any thinking person knows that "receive" (KJV) is the diametrical opposite from "give" (Textus R.). In fact all Greek texts have the verb didômi, "to give", with the exception that the Alexandrian text and the Byz. MT have dôsin and dôsin/dôsôsin, respectively. Both these forms translate into "they should give".

Here the verse as it appears in unaccented TR editions - Rev 13:16 και ποιει παντας τους μικρους και τους μεγαλους και τους πλουσιους και τους πτωχους και τους ελευθερους και τους δουλους ινα δωση αυτοις χαραγμα επι της χειρος αυτων της δεξιας η επι των μετωπων αυτων

Note the δωση. I wonder what "inspiring" spirit prompted the "godly" translators to reject the verb "give" which the Holy Spirit inspired the set-apart man of God, John the apostle, to pen” [End of our Bible critics comments]

My Response -

Revelation 13:16 KJB - “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, TO RECEIVE a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads”

First of all, it should be pointed out that that most every version out there paraphrases this verse one way or another. And the reason for this is because they are trying to give the sense of the passage, rather than a literal translation that would end up being ridiculous.

There are also at least FOUR different Greek variants to this single verb that is variously translated at “to give, to set, to make, to grant, to yield, to offer, to commit, to show, to suffer (allow), to bestow, to minister, to offer, to deliver up, and to receive (in the KJB and many others, as we shall soon see.)

The verb is an active verb, and “to receive” is an active verb. However many modern versions translate it as a passive verb. If we were to give a strictly “literal” rendering of the verse, it would end up sounding like “ALL the people were giving the mark to themselves”, and this would not at all convey the correct meaning of the passage. It would read something like - “And he causes ALL, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves THAT THEY GIVE TO THEM (or “that they give to themselves” - ινα δωση αυτοις) a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads.”

The ESV says “it causes all…TO BE MARKED on the right hand.” Notice it does not say “give”, as our bible critic suggested, and they made it a passive verb, and not active. It too is a paraphrase.

The NASB has - “And he causes all….TO BE GIVEN A MARK…” Again, they made an active verb a passive one, and they made the verb an infinitive, when it is not.

Dan Wallace’s NET version says - “He caused everyone…TO OBTAIN a mark.” Again, this is not “to give” and it is very similar in meaning to what we find in the KJB.

To “obtain” and “to receive” ARE synonyms, whereas our bible critic said “to give” and to “receive” are not.

The Voice 2012 - “mandates that all humans MUST CARRY A MARK”

Goodspeed’s N.T. An American Translation 1923 - “It makes everyone….HAVE A MARK STAMPED on their right hand…”

Worldwide English New Testament 1998 - “makes all the people TAKE A MARK on their right hands”

The NIV actually agrees with the King James Bible, saying: “It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, TO RECEIVE a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads”

Agreeing with the King James Bible’s “He causes all…TO RECEIVE a mark” are the NKJV 1982, Tyndale 1534, Coverdale 1535, The Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, Mace N.T. 1729, John Wesley’s N.T. 1755, Worsley Version 1770, Thomas Haweis N.T. 1795, Webster’s Translation 1833, Living Oracles 1835, Murdock’s translation of the Syriac 1852, Sawyer N.T. 1858, Noyes Translation 1869, Lamsa’s 1933 translation of the Syriac Peshitta, J. B. Phillips 1962, The Word of Yah 1993, KJV 21st Century Version 1994, Complete Jewish Bible 1998 - “to RECEIVE a mark”, God’s First Truth 1999, The Last Days Bible 1999, The Tomson New Testament 2002, The Evidence Bible 2003, The Resurrection Life New Testament 2005 (Vince Garcia), Bond Slave Version 2009, Jubilee Bible 2010, Hebraic Transliteration Scriptue 2010, Holy Scriptures VW Edition 2010, the Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament 2011 - “to RECEIVE a mark”, Modern English Version 2014, the New International Reader’s Version 2014 - “had to RECEIVE the mark”.

The King James Bible is right, as always, and the only way guys like our self appointed “Bible critic scholar” will ever be happy, is if he can write his own bible version. You see, he is his own “final authority”.

Revelation 15:3 "...Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of SAINTS."  

"King of saints" is found in the KJB, NKJV, Tyndale, Geneva, Young's, Webster's 1833 translation, the KJV 21st Century Version, the Third Millennium Version, the Spanish Reina Valera, and Luther's German translation.

The NIV, ASV, RV, and RSV all follow different texts and say: "King OF THE AGES", while the NASB, ESV, and Holman Standard follow yet other texts and have: "King OF THE NATIONS".  

Some of the same texts that split between "ages" and "nations" also read "stone" in Revelation 15:6. Where the KJB, NIV, ESV, and NASB read of seven angels clothed in pure and white LINEN, the RV and ASV say they were arrayed in STONE, pure and bright!  

For a much more detailed study of this verse see - Revelation 15:3 king of saints, nations or ages? Comparing the "oldest and best manuscripts in Revelation."

rev153kingofsaints.htm

Revelation 18:2

KJB - "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful BIRD." (orneou)

So read the Majority of all texts, the TR AND Sinaiticus. "every unclean and hateful BIRD" is also the reading of the RV, ASV, NKJV, NASB, RSV, The Message, and the NIV.

However manuscript A (Alexandrinus) reads "the cage of every unclean and hateful BEAST." (theerion)

The previous Westcott-Hort, Nestle's Greek texts read as do the King James Bible and even the NASB, NIV, but later on, the UBS Greek "scholars" decided to change it, and it now includes both readings in full.

So now the 2003 Holman Standard and the 2003 ESV have come out and they add this extra reading of five Greek words which follows neither the Majority text, Sinaiticus nor Alexandrinus. These two latest versions read:

“Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, A HAUNT FOR EVERY UNCLEAN BIRD, AND A HAUNT FOR EVERY UNCLEAN AND DESPICABLE BEAST." (Holman Standard, ESV.)

Revelation 19:2 "BY HER HAND"

"During the Dark Ages (A.D. 500-1500), Rome burned Bibles along with their owners. Revelation 19:2 says that God will avenge "the blood of his servants at her hand."

The words "at her hand" have been omitted in the NIV so the harlot will not be caught red-handed.

ALL Greek texts read literally "at (or by) her hand." ek Xeiros autns as the last three words of the sentence. The word xeiros means hand.

But check out the NKJV as well.

KJB - For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants AT her hand.

NKJV - For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed BY HER.” (NO Greek text reads this way)

the NASB completely changes the meaning of the last part. It says:

NASB - because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants ON her.”

The ESV does the same thing as the NASB -

ESV - for his judgments are true and just;

for he has judged the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her immorality,

and has avenged ON her the blood of his servants.”

NIV does the same thing -

for true and just are his judgments.

He has condemned the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.

He has avenged ON her the blood of his servants.”

The Geneva Bible got it right -

For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath condemned the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants shed BY her hand.

It was Rome that persecuted so many of God's saints. Vatican Versions like the ESV, NASB, NIV obscure this fact by the way they translated the text.

Revelation 20:5 - “BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE ENDED. This is the first resurrection.”

A brother wrote to me about this saying: “Good afternoon dear brother  Will Kinney, God bless you very much. My name is Ernesto,  I congratulate you for your website is very edifying, I write to consult you about the text of revelation 20:5 to say that is spurious or an addition that is not in the original text, is that true? Is Revelation 20:5 Spurious?

(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection (Revelation 20:5).  Spurious?” 

Believe it or not, there are actually some Bible critics out there who tell us that the first part of this verse was not in the original and that it was added by a later scribe.

The site I am aware of that promotes this idea seems to be a group that has some very heretical views (big surprise) such as the denial of Hell or of eternal torment for the damned, and they seem to teach Universalism, or the belief that everybody will eventually be saved.

They claim to be non-denominational and call themselves “Christianity Original”.

You can see their site here -

https://christianityoriginal.com/mp/index.php/deception

These people seem to think that all the dead who are raised up at the first resurrection will then be taught the ways of righteousness where they will be given a second chance to be saved.

They seem to want to get rid of this portion of the verse, because it refers to the wicked who are in hell during these 1000 years and are not yet raised up to be judged for their sins until after the 1000 year Millennium reign of Christ.

We see this second resurrection in Revelation 20:11-15 

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

And they prefer the NIV, criticize the King James Bible (another big surprise;-), and tell us that no Translation is perfect. (Big surprise again.)

These words - “BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE ENDED - are omitted by Sinaiticus, 4 or 5 other minor manuscripts and by the Syriac Peshitta, though it is in the Syriac Harclean.   There is no Vaticanus for the entire book of Revelation.

The NIV actually puts these words in (a parenthesis) though it leaves them in the text.

But Sinaiticus is highly erratic and is known for it’s many corruptions.  For example, in the book of Revelation 21:5 where Jesus says “Behold,I make all things NEW”, Sinaiticus reads: “I make all things EMPTY.”

And in Revelation 4:8 where the four beasts give glory to the Lord God Almighty saying “Holy, holy, holy” the Sinaiticus manuscript actually says “Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy” - 8 times instead of 3.

And in Revelation 10:1 where a mighty angel comes down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and A RAINBOW was upon his head, the original Sinaiticus manuscript tells us that this angel was clothed with a cloud and HAIR on its head.”

The book of Revelation has more textual variations by far than any other book in the New Testament.

Just to give you some idea of the many different variants that exist in Revelation, take a look at my study of just one chapter -

Textual Variations between the Reformation Bibles and the new Vatican Versions from Revelation 21

rev21textvariations.htm

The verse in question, Revelation 20:5 and the words “BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE ENDED” - with some slight spelling variations among some of them, but with the same meaning, is found in the Majority of all remaining Greek manuscripts, as well as Alexandrinus, the Old Latin copies, the Syriac Harclean and the Coptic Boharic ancient versions. 

 Every Bible in any language in existence I am aware of, except for the Syriac Peshitta, includes all these words in Revelation 20:5

“BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE ENDED. This is the first resurrection.”

All these words are found in The English Majority Text Version, by Paul W. Esposito, Th.D

http://www.majoritytext.com/revelation.htm

5 But the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 

They are also found in the Hodges and Farstad Greek Majority text as well as the Robinson-Pierpont Greek Majority text 2005.

https://byzantinetext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/RP2016-Readers-Edition.pdf

Revelation 20:12 “stand before GOD” or “stand before THE THRONE”?

In the King James Bible we read: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before GOD; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

ESV, NASB, NIV, Catholic Versions, Jehovah Witness NWT - “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before THE THRONE, and books were opened…”

The reading found in the Critical text versions is that of most manuscripts and Alexandrinus.  There are many variants in this single verse. Sinaiticus original says UPON the throne, instead of BEFORE the throne.  

And quite a few manuscripts among the so called majority text actually read “before THE THRONE OF GOD”.

Even some versions adopt this reading.  The Worldwide English New Testament 1998 and The New Living Translation 2015 say: “standing before THE THRONE OF GOD”

And instead of “small and great” (Majority, TR, A) Sinaiticus reverses this reading and says “great and small”.

The reading found in the King James Bible and the Reformation Bibles of “stand before GOD” is that of Stephanus 1550, Beza 1598, Elzevir 1624, Scrivener 1894 and The Modern Greek Bible.

According to Jack Moorman, it is also found in manuscripts 1, 181,296, 522, 1894, 2028, 2037, 2046, 2049, 2059, 2067, 2081, 2186 and is so quoted by Andreas of Cappadocia (614).

“Stand before GOD” is the reading found in Tyndale 1524, Coverdale 1535, The Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, The Beza N.T. 1599, Worsley N.T. 1770, Haweis N.T. 1795, Worsley N.T., Webster’s Bible 1833, Living Oracles 1835, Young’s 1898, New Life Version 1969, The Living Bible 1971, The Word of Yah Bible 1993, Third Millennium Bible 1998, The Lawrie N.T. 1998, The Last Days New Testament 1999, God’s First Truth 1999, The Tomson N.T. 2002, The Resurrection Life N.T. 2005, the Jubilee Bible 2010, The Hebraic Transliteration Scriptures 2010 - “stand before Elohim”, The Bond Slave Version 2012 and The Modern English Version 2014 - “standing BEFORE GOD.”

Foreign Language Bibles -

Foreign Language Bible that also read “stand BEFORE GOD” are The Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569, Cipriano de Valera 1602 and the Reina Valera’s 1960, 1975, 1995 and The R.V. Contemporánea 2011 - “de pie ante Dios”, The German Luther Bible 1545  and the German Schlachter Bible 2000 - “stehen vor Gott”, The French Martin Bible 1744 and French Ostervald 1996 - “se tenant devant Dieu”, The Italian La Nuova Diodati 1991- “davanti a Dio”, the Portuguese A Biblia Sagrada - “que estavam diante de Deus”, the Dutch Staten Vertaling bible - “staande voor God”, The Afrikaans Bible 1953 - “voor God sien staan”, the Norwegian Det Norsk Bibelselskap - “stå for Gud”, The Romanian Cornilescu Bible 1924 and 2014 and the Romanian Fidela Bible 2015 - “înaintea scaunului de domnie”, The Hungarian Karoli Bible - “ állani az Isten elõtt”, The Czeck BKR - “stojící před obličejem Božím”, The Russian Synodal Bible - “стоящих пред Богом”, Smith & van Dyke’s Arabic Bible, The Ukranian Bible, Veren’s Contemporary Bulgarian Bible, The Polish Gdansk Bible 1881 and 2013, and the Tagalog Ang Salita ng Diyos Bible 1998 - “harapan ng Diyos”

And The Modern Greek Translation - ισταμενους ενωπιον του Θεου

Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a great voice out of HEAVEN saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, AND BE THEIR GOD."

There are two textual problems with this verse. The word HEAVEN is the Majority reading, as well as that of the TR, the Syriac, Coptic, Old Latin, the Spanish Reina Valera, and the NKJV. However the NASB, NIV, RSV follow Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus, and say: "I heard a great voice out of THE THRONE saying..."

The second textual variant is where we see more of the hypocricy and fickleness of what they call the "science of textual criticism". The final words in this verse: "AND BE THEIR GOD" are found in multiplied scores of Greek manuscripts including Alexandrinus, the Syriac Peshitta, Philoxenian, Harclean, and the Old Latin.

"And be their God" is also the reading of Wycliffe 1395, Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, Geneva Bible, the Revised Version of 1881, the American Standard Version of 1901, the NKJV, the NIV, the TNIV, the 2004 Holman Standard and the new ESV (English Standard Version). 

However the NASB from 1960 to 1995 continues to omit these words, as well as the RSV and the NRSV. The silly and misleading footnote in the NASB of 1995 should be noted. The 1960 NASB footnotes: "Some ancient manuscripts add "and be their God". 

The RSV footnote says: "Other ancient authorities add "and be their God", BUT now the new 1995 NASB tells us: "ONE early manuscript reads: "and be their God". This is flat out deception!!! The UBS Greek text lists ONLY ONE manuscript that OMITS these words, and that is Sinaiticus. Wallace's NET bible version also omits these precious words of inspired Scripture.

The older Nestle Greek text omitted these words, but the newer critical Greek UBS text has once again changed, and they now include these words, though in brackets. Notice too that the previous RSV, and NRSV omitted them, but now the revision of the revision of the revision has once again placed them back into the verse as it has always stood in the King James Bible. Such is the true nature of what the scholars like to call "the science of textual criticism".

Let's close this study with a look at the very last verse in the Holy Bible. In the King James Bible, as well as the NKJV, Young's, Websters, Tyndale, Geneva, KJV21, and the Third Millenium Bible we read: "The grace of OUR Lord Jesus CHRIST be with YOU ALL. Amen."  

The texts followed by many modern versions omit the words "our", "Christ", and "you all", but they don't even agree among themselves. 

Instead of " with you all", the Alexandrinus says simply "with all" and so read the NASB and the ESV. But Sinaiticus reads "with the saints" and so read the RV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, and the ISV. The NIV also adopts this reading but paraphrases it as "with God's people". 

The Holman Standard differs from them all by combining different readings from various texts, and says: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with ALL the saints. Amen." - thus omitting "our", "Christ", and adding "ALL". Strictly speaking, there are no Greek texts that read the way the Holman has rendered the verse.

Peculiar readings in the Sinaitic Greek manuscript in Revelation.

Those who exalt the Sinaiticus Greek manuscript as being one of the most reliable may be surprised to know of some of its readings in the book of Revelation. 

In 10:1 instead of "a rainbow was upon his head" Sinaiticus has "hair" was on his head. 

In 7:4 instead of 144,000 it reads 140,000 and in 14:3 instead of 144,000 it has 141,000. 

Instead of "the former things are passed away" in 21:4 Sinaiticus has "the sheep are passed away" and in 21:5 instead of "I make all things new" Sinaiticus says "I make all things empty" 

It is my hope that this study has made you aware that "the science of textual criticism" is a misnomer and a farce. I believe God has been faithful to fulfill His promises to preserve His complete, inerrant, inspired, and pure words in a Book we can actually hold in our hands, read, memorize, and believe with all our hearts.

Many scholars today tell us they are attempting to reconstruct as closely as possible the text of the New Testament by rummaging through the various textual readings and trying to put together what God originally wrote. It is my sincere belief that God has already providentially "worked through" this whole process by means of the translators of the Authorized King James Holy Bible.

After all, only He knows for sure which readings are His and which are not.  The Bible believer, and by that I mean one who believes every word of God's written word that he holds in his hands, and makes no attempt to "correct" it, or doubt its text, - the Bible believer - first looks to Almighty God to have fulfilled His promises that heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words shall not pass away. The evidence is overwhelmingly on the side of those thousands like me who believe God has done this in the Authorized King James Bible.

May the God and Father of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be pleased to grant you like precious faith.

Revelation 21:24 - KJB - “And the nations OF THEM WHICH ARE SAVED shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory AND HONOUR into it.”

ESV (NIV, NASB, NET, Jehovah Witness NWT, all Roman Catholic versions) - “ By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it”

The reading “OF THEM WHICH ARE SAVED” and the words “AND HONOUR” is admittedly a minority reading, but for every one “minority” reading in the KJB, there are 20 of them in the modern, Vatican supervised critical Greek text versions.

The reading of the KJB is found in the Greek texts of Stephanus 1550, Beza 1598 and Elziever 1624.  

και τα εθνη των σωζομενων εν τω φωτι αυτης περιπατησουσιν και οι βασιλεις της γης φερουσιν την δοξαν και την τιμην αυτων εις αυτην

It is also the reading found in manuscripts 254, 2186, 2814 and in the Etheridge Translation of the Peshitta 1849, the Murdock Translation of the Peshitta 1852 and Lamsa’s 1933 translations of the Syriac Peshitta.  

The Nestle-Aland critical text is a bit deceptive because it doesn’t even  include this textual reading in their footnote apparatus.

Not only does the King James Bible read this way, but so too do the following Bibles - Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, The Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Beza N.T. 1599, The Clarke N.T. 1795, Thomas Haweis N.T. 1795, The Thomson Bible 1808, The Revised Translation 1815, Webster’s Bible 1833, The Longman Version 1841, The Morgan N.T. 1848, Julia Smith Translation 1855, The Smith Bible 1876, Young’s 1898, the NKJV 1982, the Worldwide English N.T. 1998, Third Millennium Bible 1998, The Koster Scriptures 1998 - “And  the gentiles, OF THOSE WHO ARE SAVED, shall walk in its light”, God’s First Truth Translation 1999, The Last Days N.T. 1999, The Tomson N.T. 2002, The Resurrection Life N.T. 2005 (Vince Garcia), the Jubilee Bible 2010, The Conservative Bible 2010 - “The ethnic groups OF THE SAVED ONESwill walk in its light, and the heads-of-state of the earth bring their glory AND HONOR into it.”, The Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, THE ARAMAIC NEW TESTAMENT 2011 - “And there will walk the nations WHO ARE SAVED in the light that he is”, the Bond Slave Version 2012,  and The Modern English Bible 2014.

Foreign Language Bibles

Foreign language bibles that also read “and the nations OF THEM WHICH ARE SAVED” include Luther’s German Bible 1545, the German Schlachter bible 2000 - “Und die Heidenvölker, die gerettet werden, werden in ihrem Licht wandeln, und die Könige der Erde werden ihre Herrlichkeit und Ehre in sie bringen.”, Spanish Cipriano de Valera 1602 and the Spanish Reina Valera 1960 and 1995 - “Las naciones que hayan sido salvas andarán a la luz de ella y los reyes de la tierra traerán su gloria y su honor a ella.”, the French Martin bible 1744 and the French Ostervald bible 1996 - “Et les nations qui auront été sauvées, marcheront à sa lumière, et les rois de la terre y apporteront leur gloire et leur honneur.”, the Hungarian Karoli Bible, the Italian Nuova Diodati 1991 - “E le nazioni di quelli che sono salvati cammineranno alla sua luce, e i re della terra porteranno la loro gloria ed onore in lei.”, the Portuguese Almeida Corrigida e Fiel Bible - “E as naçöes dos salvos andaräo à sua luz; e os reis da terra traräo para ela a sua glória e honra.”, the Polish Updated Gdansk Bible 2013, The Dutch Staten Vertaling Bible, and the Romanian Fidela Bible 2015.

And The Modern Greek Bible - Και τα εθνη των σωζομενων θελουσι περιπατει εν τω φωτι αυτης· και οι βασιλεις της γης φερουσι την δοξαν και την τιμην αυτων εις αυτην. 

So basically it once more comes down to either the Reformation text of the Bible or the Vatican Versions.

The Last Verse in the Bible and the “science” of Textual Criticism - Revelation 22:21.

King James Bible - “The grace of OUR Lord Jesus CHRIST be with YOU all. AMEN.”

When we get to the modern Vatican supervised text versions like the constantly changing ESV, NASB, NIV, Holman Standard and NET versions, we see that they don’t even agree textually with each other, and in most cases, they don’t even follow their own constantly changing United Bible Society/Nestle-Aland Critical Greek texts.

 

Let’s take a look at how these various versions read.

The KJB says: “The grace of OUR Lord Jesus CHRIST be with YOU all. AMEN.”

ESV, NASB - The grace of the Lord Jesus be WITH ALL. AMEN.

Omit “our” adds “the”, omits “Christ” and omits “you” but keep AMEN.

NIV - “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with GOD’S PEOPLE. AMEN.”  

Omits “our, Christ, you”, keeps AMEN but  NO Greek text reads “God’s people”.  It is a complete paraphrase of “the saints”. In fact, the NIV has now completely eliminated the word “SAINTS” from the entire Bible.

Even though the NIV English version read “be with GOD’S PEOPLE”, yet the NIV Spanish edition 2015 follows a different Greek text and says “be WITH ALL” - “sea con todos.”



Here is how many times the word SAINTS occurs in some bible versions.

KJB - 95 times

ASV  - 88

ESV - 81

NASB - 67

NET, Holman - 62

NIV - 0

Holman Christian Standard Bible - “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with ALL THE SAINTS. AMEN.”

Holman omits “our, Christ, you” and NO Greek text read “ALL the saints”.  

The Westcott-Hort originally went with the reading of “with the saints” and omitted the word “all”.  

Westcott and Hort also omitted the word AMEN and it is STILL not found in the constantly changing UBS/Nestle-Aland Critical Greek texts.  YET versions like the the ESV NIV, NASB and Holman continue to put it in their translations.

In plain words, they are not even following their own underlying Greek texts in this verse.

“With the saints” is the reading of Sinaiticus. But Alexandrinus reads simply reads “with all”. Vaticanus does not contain any of the book of Revelation.

This is why both the Revised Version of 1881 and the ASV of 1901 both read: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be WITH THE SAINTS. AMEN."

Very early later on the Critical Greek text changed from “with the saints” to “with all”.

I have a hard copy of the Nestle Greek text 4th edition, 1934 and it reads: “The grace of the Lord Jesus [be] with all.” And it omits the word AMEN, and that is how it reads now in the Nestle-Aland 28th edition.

 But the Holman chose to combine two different Greek texts and doesn’t follow any particular Greek manuscript, nor the UBS/Nestle-Aland and it reads “WITH ALL THE SAINTS.”

And along with the NASB, ESV and NIV it ADDS the word AMEN, even though both Westcott-Hort and the UBS/Nestle-Aland Critical Greek texts OMIT it!

The only one here that actually follows the most recent UBS/Nestle-Aland Critical Greek texts is the NET bible, which reads:

Dan Wallace’s NET bible - “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.”

This one omits “our”, “Christ”, “you” and “Amen”!

The Catholic Connection.

Neither do the Catholic versions agree with each other.  The Douay-Rheims 1582 and the Douay Version 1950 both read: “The grace of OUR Lord Jesus CHRIST be with you all. Amen.”

But the Catholic St. Joseph New American bible  1970 has: “The grace of THE Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.”

And they call these shenanigans the “science” of textual criticism. 

The full title of Lord Jesus Christ is that found in the Majority of all remaining manuscripts including many Old Latin manuscripts, the Syriac Peshitta, Harclean. Armenian and Ethiopian ancient versions.

It is Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus that omit CHRIST and they disagree with each other in the rest of the verse.

Reading like the KJB - “The grace of OUR Lord Jesus CHRIST be WTH YOU ALL. AMEN.”

Wycliffe 1395, Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, the Bishops’ bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, Beza N.T. 1599, Mace N.T. 1729, Worsley N.T. 1770, Haweis N.T. 1795, Julia Smith Translation 1855, Young’s 1898, the NKJV 1982, Green’s Literal Translation, the Tomson N.T. 2002, the Jubilee Bible 2010, Modern English Version 2014 and the New Matthew Bible 2016 - “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

The Modern Greek Translation - Η χαρις του Κυριου ημων Ιησου Χριστου ειη μετα παντων υμων· αμην.

https://www.studylight.org/desk/index.cgi?sr=1&old_q=Revelation+22%3A21&search_form_type=general&q1=Revelation+22%3A21&s=0&t1=el_gmd&ns=0

Foreign Language Bibles = the King James Bible.

Foreign language bibles that read exactly like the KJB are the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569, Cipriano de Valera 1602, and the Spanish Reina Valera 1960-1995 - “La gracia de nuestro Señor Jesucristo sea con todos vosotros. Amén.”, the French Martin bible 1744 and the French Ostervald bible 1996, the Dutch Staten Vertaling bible, the Romanian Cornilescu Translation and the Romanian Fidela bible 2015,  the Russian Synodal Version, the Smyth and van Dyck’s Arabic Bible, the Afrikaans bible, the Czech Kralicka bible, the Hungarian Karoli Bible, Luther’s German bible 1545 and the German Schlachter bible 2000, the Polish Gdansk bible 2013 and the Portuguese Almeida Corrigida 2009 - “A graça de nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo seja com todos vós. Amém!”

 Will Kinney