A while back I became aware that newer versions of the Bible seemed to be missing entire verses of scripture. The translation I had always relied on (the King James Version) seemed to have more verses than the new translations including the most popular modern translation, the NIV. I was certain Satan was afoot and immediately started researching how the most popular Christian publisher, Zondervan, could get away with this. As I dived deeper, my foundation was rocked as I learned that there was a distinct possibility that my Bible translation may have had it wrong all this time. If my Bible was wrong, how could I know if others were right? What if the entire premise of Christianity could not be counted on?
- Some modern Bible translations, like the NIV, appear to omit certain verses found in the King James Version (KJV).
- The missing verses are not actually missing; KJV relied on later-added verses, while newer translations revert to older manuscripts.
- Missing verses do not significantly alter the Bible’s message; numerous manuscripts validate the accurate transmission of the original text.
The Missing Verses In The Bible
17 Missing Verses
If you read the NIV translation of the Bible, you will find that occasionally, it seems to skip a verse number. For example, in the KJV, it states in Matthew 17:21
“Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
But if you flip to that same section of the Bible in the NIV translation, it seems to skip that verse altogether. It will show Matthew 17:20 just fine as well as it will show Matthew 17:22. But Matthew 17:21 is nowhere to be found.
As you study this, you will actually find that there are 17 verses ‘missing’ from the NIV translation. Why is that?
Why Are The Verses Missing?
Dr. Bill Mounce of Zondervan does a great job explaining why this occurs on his website, Missing Bible Verses.
At first this greatly concerned me for two primary reasons.
1) How could we ever know if we were reviewing the correct words of God if such an iconic translation like the KJV got it wrong?
2) Did this alter the words of God in any relevant or meaningful way?
One of the things I discovered about myself is that there was a reverence for the KJV translation that almost bordered on worship. The actual paper and binding was revered and held up to be almost godlike when in reality I should have focused on the actual words of God. If you take a step back and ask yourself, what is more important, knowing the words of God or the beauty and poetry of a translation, we should immediately zero in on the belief that we need to know the actual words of God above all of our presuppositions.
Does This Impact The Message Of The Bible?
When you look at each verse in question, we realize a few things.
1) It does not change the context or meaning of the scripture in question. If it were there or not there, we would still have the same message of salvation.
2) The only way we even know that there are verses that should not be in there is because we have so many manuscripts. Stated another way, it would be more concerning if we were unsure of what was supposed to be in the Bible because the differences between manuscripts was so profound, it greatly confused the matter. Instead, we have clear agreement across manuscripts that we are able to quickly and easily identify when something is amiss.
3) What if you found an original copy of the Gospels written by the hand of the authors but it varied a good deal from the recent translations you had been reading? Which one would you prefer to rely on? Like most people, you want access to the original so it would be no question, we would prefer the one written by the authors hand. If that is not possible, is there a way to feel confident that we are reading the one that matches what the author wrote? Absolutely. Through the validation of thousands of manuscripts. God made sure the Bible could never be corrupted by supplying us with so many copies. If someone altered one, the others would not match and the counterfeit would be easy to spot.
The Final Thought
I encourage you to read about the ‘missing’ verses in the Bible and study for yourself. You will find that the verses have more to do with someone translating the scripture than the actual scripture itself. Sadly, people are attempting to change or add verses because they don’t like some components. But thankfully we can easily spot them due to the immense amount of historical evidence.
