Ice cold disasters that shook the planet
Typos, misspellings, and misprints can happen in the publishing world, and, of course, one of the most printed books in history is no exception. We're talking about a bestseller that has been around for centuries: the Bible. But while a mistake here and there in a novel might not be the end of the world, misprinting the word of God can indeed be heretical and even blasphemous!
How serious were these mistakes, really? You're about to find out.
The Book of Kells is a manuscript created circa 800 CE that contains the four gospels of the New Testament. The book contains two errors, the first one about the genealogy of Jesus, which is found in the Gospel of Luke.
Luke 3:26 mentions an extra ancestor. The phrase "QUI FUIT MATHATH" appears as "QUI FUIT MATHIAE." The "IAE" means an additional individual.
The other misprint can be found in Matthew 10:34, where it should read, "I came not to send peace, but the sword". But instead of the Latin word gladium (sword), the Book of Kells has the word gaudium, which means "joy." As a result, the verse reads: "I came not to send peace, but joy."
The Scottish Book of Deer is a 10th-century gospel that also contains an error in the genealogy of Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, Seth appears as the first man and Adam's grandfather.
Some copies of this 1612 KJV Bible contain a mistake in Psalm 119:161. It reads: "Printers have persecuted me without a cause." The word “princes” should have been used instead of “printers.”
Myles Coverdale's 1535 Bible contains an error in Psalm 91. It reads: "Thou shall not nede to be afrayed for eny bugges by night." The word “bugges” appears in the Geneva Bible as "feare," and the King James Bible as "terror."
In Middle English, the word “bugge” means a "spectre that haunts" or a ghost, so maybe Coverdale was onto something. He did, however, replace the word “bugge” with "terrour" in his Great Bible of 1539.
The second edition of the Geneva Bible contains a mistake in Matthew 5:9. It reads; "Blessed are the placemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Instead, it should read "peacemakers."
But Matthew 5:9 isn’t the only mistake in the second edition of the Geneva Bible. In Luke 21, Jesus doesn't seem very fond of widows. It reads: "Christ condemneth the poor widow." It should read "commendeth" instead.
Edmund Becke's Bibles (1549; 1551) contain a rather odd footnote in 1 Peter 3:7. It reads: "And if she be not obediente and healpeful unto hym, endevoureth to beate the fere of God into her heade, that thereby she may be compelled to learne her dutye and do it."
In the 1549 edition of the Great Bible, Jeremiah 8:22 is translated as "Is there no treacle/molasses in Gilead?" The Hebrew word tsorî is usually translated as “balm” or “medicine,” but in early Modern English "treacle" could also mean “cure.”
A 1579 edition of the Geneva Bible, known as "Breeches Bible,'' translated Genesis 3:7 as follows: "and they sowed figge-tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches." Instead of “breeches,” the word ḥăḡōrōṯ is usually translated as "coverings" or "aprons."
The 1610 Douai Bible is also known as the Rosin Bible' because Jeremiah 8:22 reads, "Is there noe rosen in Galaad?" “Rosen” (rosin) is a substance used in the bows of stringed instruments. The King James Version translates the word as “balm,” in reference to healing a wound.
Chapter 3 of Leviticus of this 1793 Bible reads: "How the pacifique hosts must be of bees, sheep, lambs and goats." The odd one out is "bees," which should have been printed as the plural of beef, "beeves."
The Wicked Bible, also known as the Sinners Bible or the Adulterous Bible, contains one serious mistake in Exodus 20:14. The three-letter word “not” was omitted and the seventh commandment ended up reading, "Thou shalt commit adultery."
But this isn’t the only mistake in the Wicked Bible. Deuteronomy 5:24 reads, "the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his great-asse." It goes without saying that “great-asse” is not quite the right word. The correct one would be "greatness.”
Printers Robert Barker and Martin Lucas were heavily fined by King James, the copies were destroyed (though some survived), and they had their printer licenses revoked.
There are numerous errors in several printings of the King James Version, and one example is the Judas Bible from 1613. In Matthew 26:36, Judas says, "Sit ye here while I go yonder and pray." This should have been said by Jesus, not Judas.
In this 1641 version of the Bible, Revelation 21:1 reads "...the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was more sea." The word “no” was omitted. It should read “[...]there was no more sea."
A Bible from 1716 encourages readers to sin. Jeremiah 31:34 reads "sin on more" instead of "sin no more."
Instead of "The Parable of the Vineyard,” the chapter heading for Luke 20 in this 1717 Bible reads "The Parable of the Vinegar."
A 1763 copy of the Bible contains a mistake in Psalm 14:1. It reads, "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God." Instead, it should read "there is no God."
In an 1801 Bible, the word "murmurers" appears as "murderers." Jude 16 reads: "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."
A word in this 1653 Bible changes the whole meaning of a sentence in Romans 6:13. It reads: "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of righteousness into sin." “Righteousness” should read "unrighteousness."
In a 1805 Bible, a proofreader made a note about a comma that read “to remain” in the margin of Galatians 4:29. The note was included in the print, which 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."
Ezekiel 47:10 reads a bit differently when the word “fishers” is replaced by “fishes.” It reads "And it shall come to pass, that the fishes shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim [...]."
Luke 14:26 features "wife" instead of "life" in this 1810 Bible. It reads: "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."
Replacing "damsels" with “camels” sounds rather funny, and this is indeed what happened in an 1823 Bible. Genesis 24:61 reads: "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."
In this 1820 Bible, Isaiah 66:9 reads: "Shall I bring to birth and not cease to bring forth?" This is incorrect. The sentence should read: "Shall I bring to birth and not cause to bring forth?"
The “Owl Bible" was published in 1944. Its nickname derives from the fact that the word “own” is replaced by “owl.” 1 Peter 3:5 reads: "For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their owl husbands."
Sources: (Bible.org) (Academic Accelerator) (The Examiner)
See also: The differences between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches
Funny and memorable Bible misprints
One published version of the Bible promoted the idea of sinning more
LIFESTYLE Religion
Typos, misspellings, and misprints can happen in the publishing world, and, of course, one of the most printed books in history is no exception. We're talking about a bestseller that has been around for centuries: the Bible. But while a mistake here and there in a novel might not be the end of the world, misprinting the word of God can indeed be heretical and even blasphemous!
How serious were these mistakes, really? You're about to find out.