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New Testament textual variants

Every place where the Greek text behind the King James Version and the text behind most modern Bibles differ in a way that changes the translation: 1639 variants in 1394 verses.

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Well-known passages

The longer ending of Mark

Mark 16:9–20 is absent from the two oldest complete manuscripts, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, and Eusebius and Jerome reported that most copies they knew ended at 16:8. It is found in the great majority of later manuscripts and was known to Irenaeus in the second century. Some manuscripts have a different, shorter ending. Modern editions print 16:9–20 in double brackets. Mark 16:9

The woman caught in adultery

The account of the woman caught in adultery is missing from the earliest Greek manuscripts, including P66, P75, Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, and early Greek commentators on John pass over it. In some manuscripts it appears after John 7:36, 7:44 or 21:25, or after Luke 21:38. Many scholars regard it as an early and credible tradition that was later placed in John. Modern editions print it in double brackets. John 7:53

The Johannine Comma

The words about the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit bearing witness in heaven appear in Latin manuscripts from about the fifth century but in only a handful of late Greek manuscripts, several of them added in the margin. Erasmus left them out of his first two Greek editions and included them from his third (1522), and so they passed into the Textus Receptus and the KJV. 1 John 5:7

The Ethiopian’s confession

The Ethiopian’s confession is absent from the earliest manuscripts but was known to Irenaeus in the second century. It survives mainly in Western and later witnesses and entered the Textus Receptus through Erasmus. Acts 8:37

The angel at the pool

The explanation that an angel stirred the water (5:3b–4) is missing from the earliest manuscripts, including P66, P75, Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. It is often explained as a note on the pool’s reputation that later entered the text. John 5:4

The Lord’s Prayer doxology

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever” is absent from the earliest manuscripts of Matthew, including Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. A similar ending appears in the Didache (late first or early second century), which suggests it arose in the church’s liturgical use of the prayer. Matthew 6:13

“God” or “who” in 1 Timothy 3:16

Most early manuscripts read “who” (ὅς) where later manuscripts read “God” (θεός). In the capital-letter script of early manuscripts the two differ by a line or two (ΟΣ and ΘΣ with a stroke above), so the change was easy to make. 1 Timothy 3:16

“Only Son” or “only God” in John 1:18

The earliest papyri (P66, P75) and Sinaiticus and Vaticanus read “only-begotten God” (μονογενὴς θεός); most later manuscripts read “only-begotten Son” (μονογενὴς υἱός). Both readings have strong defenders. John 1:18

Book or tree of life

The KJV’s “book of life” goes back to Erasmus, who had no Greek manuscript for the last verses of Revelation and translated them from the Latin Vulgate. Nearly all Greek manuscripts read “tree of life”. Revelation 22:19

“Isaiah” or “the prophets” in Mark 1:2

Mark combines Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. Older manuscripts attribute the whole quotation to “Isaiah the prophet”; later manuscripts read “the prophets”. Mark 1:2

Verses missing from modern Bibles

These verses are numbered in the KJV but are absent from older manuscripts, so many modern Bibles leave the verse number out of the text or put the words in a footnote. Most are harmonisations with parallel passages or liturgical additions.

Frequently asked questions

Why are some verses missing from modern Bibles?
Verses such as Matthew 17:21, Matthew 18:11, Acts 8:37 and 1 John 5:7b are in the Textus Receptus used for the King James Version but absent from the oldest Greek manuscripts, so modern translations based on the Nestle-Aland text move them to footnotes.
What is the difference between the Textus Receptus and the Nestle-Aland text?
The Textus Receptus was printed from late medieval manuscripts in the 16th century, beginning with Erasmus, and underlies the KJV. The Nestle-Aland text is a modern critical edition that gives more weight to the earliest manuscripts, such as the papyri and Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, and underlies most modern translations.
Is the longer ending of Mark in the oldest manuscripts?
No. Mark 16:9–20 is absent from Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, the two oldest complete manuscripts, though it is in most later manuscripts and was known to Irenaeus in the second century.

All variants by book

Matthew (151)

Mark (204)

Luke (193)

John (162)

Acts (227)

Romans (66)

1 Corinthians (81)

2 Corinthians (38)

Galatians (23)

Ephesians (24)

Philippians (10)

Colossians (27)

1 Thessalonians (20)

2 Thessalonians (9)

1 Timothy (21)

2 Timothy (9)

Titus (7)

Philemon (12)

Hebrews (40)

James (21)

1 Peter (32)

2 Peter (22)

1 John (25)

2 John (9)

3 John (1)

Jude (14)

Revelation (191)

Old Testament: Hebrew text notes

The traditional Hebrew text records its own uncertainties. In 1013 places the scribes left the written text (Ketiv) unchanged but noted a different word to be read (Qere); 37 passages have words preserved only in the Greek Septuagint, and a few record scribal corrections or readings from the Aleppo Codex and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“Not we ourselves” or “we are his”

The written text reads lōʾ, “not”: “it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves” (KJV). The margin reads lô, “his”: “it is he who made us, and we are his” (ESV, NIV). The two words sound the same in Hebrew. Psalms 100:3

“Though he slay me”

The written text reads lōʾ, “not”, which can be taken as “Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope.” The margin reads lô, “in him”, behind the KJV’s “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” Translations still divide over which to follow. Job 13:15

“Not increased the joy”

The written text reads lōʾ, “not”: “thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy” (KJV). The margin reads lô, “to it”: “you have increased its joy” (ESV), which suits the rejoicing that follows. Isaiah 9:3

Abraham before the LORD

Jewish scribal tradition counts this among the “corrections of the scribes”: the original is said to have read “the LORD stood yet before Abraham”, changed out of reverence so that Abraham stands before the LORD. Genesis 18:22

“They pierced” or “like a lion”

Most Hebrew manuscripts read “like a lion, my hands and my feet”. A Psalms scroll from Naḥal Ḥever and the Greek Septuagint support a verb, “they pierced” or “they dug”, which the KJV and most Christian translations follow. Psalms 22:16

Saul’s age and reign

The Hebrew reads literally “Saul was a year old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel”, with numbers apparently lost in copying. Some editions restore figures such as thirty and forty from later Greek manuscripts and Acts 13:21; the KJV reads “Saul reigned one year”. 1 Samuel 13:1

“Let us go into the field”

The Hebrew says “Cain talked with Abel his brother” without giving his words. The Septuagint and the Samaritan and Syriac versions add “Let us go into the field”, which many modern translations include. Genesis 4:8

Variant data: STEPBible.org TAGNT, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0). Editions compared: NA28, NA27, Tyndale House GNT, SBLGNT, Westcott–Hort, Tregelles, Textus Receptus (Scrivener 1894) and the Byzantine text (Robinson–Pierpont 2005).