Intentional Corruptions in Mainstream Bible Translations

[TJ]

1 John 5:7 in the NKJV (NT portion published in 1979) reads:

"For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one."

Regarding the latter half of the verse, i.e. "in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one", the Jerusalem Bible notes that these words are "not in any of the early Greek MSS, or any of the early translations, or in the best MSS of the Vulg[ate] itself." Because of this, most modern Bible translations do not include these words, commonly known as the "Johannine Comma".

During a lecture in a Biblical Hermeneutics class, Dr. Robert Stein recounts a story of a NKJV editor's justification for its inclusion:

When the New King James Version came out, I was teaching at Bethel Theological Seminary and one of the editors came out and gave everybody—faculty and students—a copy of this after chapel address and then there was a time for questions...

[Audience Question:]"Why did you include 1 John 5:7?"

The editor said, "You know the editorial staff really felt that we shouldn't include it, but the publisher said that if we don't include it, the translation won't sell."

Source

[TJ]

Why did the recently published “New International Version” (NIV) of the Bible fail to use the name of God where it appears about 7,000 times in ancient Bible manuscripts? In response to a person who inquired about this, Edwin H. Palmer, Th.D., Executive Secretary for the NIV’s committee wrote:

“Here is why we did not: You are right that Jehovah is a distinctive name for God and ideally we should have used it. But we put 2 1/4 million dollars into this translation and a sure way of throwing that down the drain is to translate, for example, Psalm 23 as, ‘Yahweh is my shepherd.’ Immediately, we would have translated for nothing. Nobody would have used it. Oh, maybe you and a handful [of] others. But a Christian has to be also wise and practical. We are the victims of 350 years of the King James tradition. It is far better to get two million to read it​—that is how many have bought it to date—​and to follow the King James, than to have two thousand buy it and have the correct translation of Yahweh. . . . It was a hard decision, and many of our translators agree with you.”

The Watchtower, July 15, 1979, p.27. Source

[JimSpace]

Great to see you back!

Nice comparison of rea$on$.

[TJ]

Thanks Jim, it's great to see you too!