Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 11

This is the eleventh and final installment in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
Read part 3 here
Read part 4 here
Read part 5 here
Read part 6 here
Read part 7 here
Read part 8 here
Read part 9 here
Read part 10 here
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Resources

Here is a collection of links related to this topic. Some of them have already appeared in footnotes throughout this series. Others were not cited, but provide valuable information. 

First, here is a list of links to pages on the Biblica website that address many of the issues raised in this discussion:

https://www.biblica.com/niv-bible/niv-bible-translation-accuracy/

https://www.biblica.com/niv-bible/niv-bible-translation-philosophy/

https://www.biblica.com/articles/do-modern-bibles-such-as-the-niv-leave-out-verses/

https://www.biblica.com/resources/bible-faqs/why-does-the-niv-bible-omit-or-have-missing-verses/

https://www.biblica.com/resources/bible-faqs/how-does-the-committee-on-bible-translation-cbt-handle-textual-criticism-for-the-niv/

https://www.biblica.com/resources/bible-faqs/why-do-some-bible-translations-not-use-the-name-jehovah-for-god/

Next, here are a handful of links to the web site specifically for the NIV translation. I realize these links will be dismissed out-of-hand by conspiracy theorists and hardline opponents of the NIV, but the information contained in these pages is accurate.

https://www.thenivbible.com/faqs/

https://www.thenivbible.com/have-verses-been-removed-from-the-niv/

https://www.thenivbible.com/niv-gender-neutral/

https://www.thenivbible.com/financial-crisis/

Here are some links to both general discussion about textual criticism and Bible translation, as well as some complete basic-level free courses on textual criticism and how scholars try to determine the original text when manuscripts differ.

https://www.josh.org/work-of-textual-criticism/

https://carm.org/KJVO/missing-verses-overview

http://www.logosapologia.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/The-King-James-Version-Debate-DA-Carson.pdf

https://www.biblicaltraining.org/textual-criticism-corrupt/why-i-trust-my-bible

https://www.biblicaltraining.org/textual-criticism/daniel-wallace

March 18, 2021 update

Adding this video by Carmen Imes and her daughter about Bible translations

Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 10

This is the tenth installment in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating and accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
Read part 3 here
Read part 4 here
Read part 5 here
Read part 6 here
Read part 7 here
Read part 8 here
Read part 9 here
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Some Closing Thoughts

After reviewing all this data, we must confront the elephant in the room: the motives of the persons who originally put these posts together and started circulating them. While only God and the individuals involved in the creation of these memes and articles know what was in their hearts, we can make some educated deductions based on the fruit they have borne.

Let me make one thing clear: I am not talking here about the motives of the people who have shared and circulated these alerts out of a heartfelt concern and love for God and His word. Most people sharing these alerts don't know all of the information I have presented over the past nine articles. They simply see something that grabs their attention using alarmist language, look at the few cherry-picked examples that allegedly support the claims being made, and then share or forward it without looking deeper or asking someone who has more knowledge in this area (such as a pastor or even a friend who is a Bible nerd). As I stated in the first post in this series, they have a zeal for God, but they lack knowledge. The purpose of this series is not to condemn these brothers and sisters, but rather to fill in the gaps in their knowledge.

Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 8

This is the eighth installment in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating and accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
Read part 3 here
Read part 4 here
Read part 5 here
Read part 6 here
Read part 7 here
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Now we proceed to the “missing verses” from John and Acts.

•Try and find these scriptures in NIV and ESV on your computer, phone or device right now if you are in doubt:

     Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14;

     Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46;

     Luke 17:36, 23:17;

     John 5:4; Acts 8:37.

John 5:4

John 5:4 in the King James Version reads like this:

⁴ For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

The NIV has a footnote:

Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. ⁴From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.

The ESV footnote reads:

Some manuscripts insert, wholly or in part, waiting for the moving of the water; ⁴for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had

First, we must note that, as in the other cases we have already looked at, the modern translations do provide footnotes mentioning why they don’t include the “missing” words in the main text. So there is no attempt in these translations to deceive people, as these social media posts insinuate. It’s a simple case of earlier manuscripts not including the words, and the belief that the older the manuscript, the better the chance that it reflects the original text.

Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 7

This is the seventh part in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating and accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
Read part 3 here
Read part 4 here
Read part 5 here
Read part 6 here
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Now we proceed to the “missing verses” from the Gospel According to Luke.

•Try and find these scriptures in NIV and ESV on your computer, phone or device right now if you are in doubt:

     Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14;

     Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46;

     Luke 17:36, 23:17;

     John 5:4; Acts 8:37.

Luke 17:36

The King James Version here has this:

³⁶ Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

The NIV and ESV don’t include this verse, but have a footnote pointing out that some manuscripts include words similar to Matthew 24:40 at this point in the text.

Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 6

This is the sixth part in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating and accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
Read part 3 here
Read part 4 here
Read part 5 here
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Today we are going to tackle the “missing verses” from the Gospel According to Mark.

•Try and find these scriptures in NIV and ESV on your computer, phone or device right now if you are in doubt:

     Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14;

     Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46;

     Luke 17:36, 23:17;

     John 5:4; Acts 8:37.

Mark 7:16

The King James Version has this verse as:

¹⁶ If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

After Mark 7:15, the NIV has a footnote that says:

Some manuscripts here include the words of 4:23 (referring back to chapter 4 of Mark itself).

while the ESV has a footnote that reads:

Some manuscripts add verse 16: If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear

This verse is not present in the earliest manuscripts, including Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. A scribe copying Mark may have thought it was appropriate to repeat the formula of Mark 4:9 and 4:23 here to emphasize the importance of what Jesus was teaching. In any event, the thought conveyed in this verse still exists in the Bible in several places. So no truth has been removed from Scripture in the modern translations.

Mark 9:44 and 9:46

This verse says:

44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Verse 46 in the KJV is identical.

For both verses 46 and 48, the NIV here has a footnote:

Some manuscripts include here the words of verse 48.

The ESV includes a similar footnote.

Mark 9:48 in the NIV says:

where ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’

which is a quotation of Isaiah 66:24.

According to commentator R.T. France, “These verses repeat what is firmly in the text at v. 48. It is more likely that the omission of vv. 44 and 46 in a wide range of witnesses represents the original text than that an original threefold repetition was eliminated.”[1] In any event, the words are still there in verse 48 in all translations. Honestly, claiming that verses 44 and 46 have been “removed,” when just a few lines later the same words are in verse 48, seems to be a bit of a stretch, if not an outright dishonest attempt to alarm people unnecessarily.

---

^[1] R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 379.

Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
Read part 3 here
Read part 4 here
Read part 5 here
Read part 7 here
Read part 8 here
Read part 9 here
Read part 10 here

Read part 11 here

Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 5

This is the fifth part in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating and accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
Read part 3 here
Read part 4 here
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Today we will deal with the verses from Matthew that the Facebook post claims are taken out of modern translations.

•Try and find these scriptures in NIV and ESV on your computer, phone or device right now if you are in doubt:

     Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14;

     Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46;

     Luke 17:36, 23:17;

     John 5:4; Acts 8:37.

(We must keep in mind, of course, that chapter and verse numbers do not even exist in these ancient manuscripts—the biblical text was first divided into chapters in a twelfth century copy of the Latin Vulgate, and verse divisions were added in the mid-1500s.[1])

Matthew 17:21

Matthew 17:21 in the KJV says:

²¹ Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 4

This is the fourth part in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating and accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
Read part 3 here
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We now arrive at the major claim of these posts: that modern English translations have removed entire verses from the Bible:

•The NIV and ESV has also now removed 45 complete verses. Most of us have the Bible on our devices and phones especially "OLIVE TREE BIBLE STUDY APP."

•Try and find these scriptures in NIV and ESV on your computer, phone or device right now if you are in doubt:

     Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14;

     Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46;

     Luke 17:36, 23:17;

     John 5:4; Acts 8:37.

...you will not believe your eyes.

Before addressing the individual verses, we need to cover a topic called textual criticism[1] that is an important factor in understanding why these verses do not appear in some translations. Before you get scared, textual criticism is not about criticizing the biblical text. Rather, it is a method of taking a critical look at manuscript copies that contain differences, in an attempt to determine what the originals most likely said. It is a discipline that is applied to all sorts of ancient documents, not just the Bible.

Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 3

This is the third in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating and accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
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Now, let's move on to the second half of the statement below (see part 1 for the context):

The NIV and ESV has now removed 64,575 words from the Bible, including Jehovah, Calvary, Holy Ghost and omnipotent to name but a few...

Holy Ghost

The third word mentioned, which is really two words, is “Holy Ghost.” This one can be especially contentious in my tribe (Pentecostalism). Some people, because of the longstanding influence of the KJV in the American church, insist on only using “Holy Ghost” (and if they’re really spiritual, they say it as one word: “Holyghost”). But it is really just a matter of English words that have changed meaning over time.

Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 2

This is the second in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating and accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

My original plan was to write one comprehensive article, but as I started dealing with the misinformation that is going around, I realized that it would be so long that only nerds like myself would bother to read it. Since my goal is to inform people with the truth, I decided it would be better to break it up into more digestible parts. Once the series is complete, I will make available a PDF file that has all the information in one place for those who desire to have such a resource.

Read part 1 here
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Now, let's move on to the next in the list of claims made in the Facebook post under discussion (see part 1 for the context)

The NIV and ESV has now removed 64,575 words from the Bible, including Jehovah, Calvary, Holy Ghost and omnipotent to name but a few...

First off, as someone who was a math nerd before becoming a theology nerd, I would like to see documentation for this number. How many unique words were “removed,” and how many occurrences of each?

Are Modern English Versions of the Bible Corrupt? -- Part 1

This is the first in a multi-part series concerning social media posts that are circulating and accusing the NIV and other modern English translations of the Bible of taking out important words and concepts, leaving out verses, and other nefarious things.

My original plan was to write one comprehensive article, but as I started dealing with the misinformation that is going around, I realized that it would be so long that only nerds like myself would bother to read it. Since my goal is to inform people with the truth, I decided it would be better to break it up into more digestible parts. Once the series is complete, I will make available a PDF file that has all the information in one place for those who desire to have such a resource.
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There’s a proverb that says, “A lie can make it halfway around the world before the truth finishes tying its shoelaces.” This article is my humble attempt to help get the running shoes on the truth and get it out of the starting block.

In the past few months I have seen the argument coming up again on social media as to why the New International Version (and other modern translations of the Bible) are unreliable, corrupt, or even part of a satanic plot to lead people astray.