This write up is based on this conversation.
Which KJV? There have been several over the centuries, each with their own set of problems. The 1st was published in 1611. It was based on about 10 Greek manuscripts because that's what the translators had available to them, but they were not particularly good (error free) or ancient manuscripts. Since 1611 thousands of superior and more ancient Greek manuscripts have been discovered. Today there are about 5600 known Greek manuscripts. Of course the New Testament (NT) was originally written in Koine Greek and the Old Testament (OT) mostly in ancient Hebrew and a few sections in Aramaic.
Problem #1: 1 John 5:7-8 (The only explicit mention of the trinity doctrine)
Also known as the "Comma Johanneum," this is the only passage in the NT which explicitly affirms the doctrine of the trinity (other places mention the three entities, but nowhere else is the trinitarian doctrine explicit):
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
Wikipedia has this to say about it:
"The general consensus today is that that passage is a Latin corruption that entered the Greek manuscript tradition in subsequent copies."
Wikipedia has this to say about it:
"The general consensus today is that that passage is a Latin corruption that entered the Greek manuscript tradition in subsequent copies."
According to Bart Ehrman the KJV translators were not looking at the 10 manuscripts themselves, they were looking at a printed version (rather than a manuscript) of the Greek New Testament by the great scholar Desiderius Erasmus, who'd used those 10 manuscripts as source material. This was the first printed Greek version in the early 1500s. Erasmus did NOT have this verse in the first edition of his Greek NT, because the manuscripts he used also did not have this verse in it. Manuscripts in the Latin Vulgate DID have the verse, and that's what people were used to seeing, so they got upset with him, accusing him of having removed the one verse explicitly supporting the trinity. He pointed out that it was not in his manuscripts and he checked other Greek manuscripts and it was not in those either. He told them that he would revise his printed copy IF they could produce a Greek manuscript with the verse in it. So they literally produced such a manuscript: copying, by hand, a Greek manuscript but with the trinitarian verse inserted (translated back into Greek from a Latin Vulgate edition)! Upon receiving this freshly fabricated Greek manuscript, Erasmus then revised his printed Greek Bible with the trinitarian verse inserted. It's this 2nd edition of Erasmus' printed Greek NT that the KJV authors used as a source. And that's how this verse got into the KJV. As it turns out, this verse was not originally part of the ancient Greek manuscripts, since it had been added into the Latin Vulgate manuscripts which came in subsequent centuries.
Problem #2: John 7:53 - 8:12 (The woman taken in adultery or the "Pericope Adulterae")
This is the famous story of the adulteress brought before Jesus to be stoned, and Jesus replies:
"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
Great story. Only problem is it was probably not originally in the NT according to Bart Ehrman, although Wikipedia does document some controversy on the subject. It is completely absent from the most ancient Greek manuscripts. It only shows up in the Greek manuscripts from later centuries. Most likely it was a marginal note that was put there by a scribe who'd heard the story, and it was mistakenly incorporated into the body of the text by a later scribe. Erasmus was unaware of these earlier manuscripts and so it ended up in his printed version, and thus it ended up in the KJV.
Problem #3: Mark 16:9-20 (The last 12 verses of Mark)
Again, these verses were not in the oldest Greek manuscripts. They were inserted into later Greek manuscripts, and later copies of these were what Erasmus based his printed version on, and thus, again, it ended up in the KJV.
"The current consensus among scholars is that verses 9–20 were not part of the original text of Mark but represent a very early addition."
Mark originally ended with the women fleeing from the empty tomb:
"The current consensus among scholars is that verses 9–20 were not part of the original text of Mark but represent a very early addition."
Mark originally ended with the women fleeing from the empty tomb:
"And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid."
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