Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals
Wednesday August 12 2026
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Matthew 24:35-Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
When you are comparing the King James Version or New King James Version of the Bible with other translations, it will not take you long to realize that there are some interesting differences between them, especially in the New Testament.. One of the most common examples is in realizing that there are some verses and phrases that are found in the KJV and the NKJV which are “missing” in other Bible translations. Here are some examples (Matthew 17:21; 18:11: 23:14; Mark 7:16; 11:26; Luke 17:36; Romans 16:24, etc.).
What is going on here?
Let’s study.
Our knowledge of the New Testament comes from three sources.
1). The Greek manuscripts (copies of the original New Testament Scriptures of which we have over five thousand in number).
2). The versions (manuscript copies of the Greek New Testament translated into other languages, of which we have over twenty thousand).
3). Quotations from the church fathers (the writings of the Christians between the second and fifth centuries A.D., of which we have so many that if we did not have any Greek manuscripts or versions, we could still reproduce the entire New Testament, minus eleven verses).
With this background in mind, think through some things with me.
Some Verses And Phrases Are “Missing” Because Scribes Had Vision And Hearing Problems. Scribes who made copies of the New Testament had vision and hearing problems, just like people from all ages of human history. Sadly, they didn’t have access to our modern conveniences such as eyeglasses, medicines, hearing aids, etc. As such, the reason for the vast majority of “missing verses” or words is due to these scribal conditions and circumstances.
Unintentional changes of various kinds all arise from the imperfection of some human faculty. These constitute by far the vast majority of all transcriptional errors. 1. Errors of the eye • Wrong division of words that resulted in the formation of new words—early manuscripts were not punctuated, and letters were not separated into words by spaces. • Omission of letters, words, and even whole lines occurred when the astigmatic eye mistook one group of letters or words for another, sometimes located on a different line. • Repetition results in an error opposite the error of omission. Hence, when the eye picked up the same letter or word twice and repeated it, it is called dittography. • Transposition is the reversal of the position of two letters or words. This is technically known as metathesis. In 2 Chronicles 3: 4, the transposition of a letter would make the measurements of the porch of Solomon’s Temple out of proportion—for example, 120 cubits instead of 20 cubits as in the LXX (Septuagint). • Other confusion of spelling abbreviations or scribal insertions account for the remainder of scribal errors. This is especially true about Hebrew letters, which were also used for numbers and could be easily confused. These errors of the eye may account for many of the numerical discrepancies in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Kings 8: 26; 2 Chronicles 22: 2). 2. Errors of the ear occurred only when manuscripts were copied while listening to someone read them. This may explain why some manuscripts (fifth century onward) read kamelos (a rope) instead of kamēlos (a camel) in Matthew 19: 24. In 1 Corinthians 13: 3, kauthēsomai (he burns) was confused with kauchēsomai (he boasts). 3. Errors of memory. These are not so numerous, but occasionally a scribe might forget the precise word in a passage and substitute a synonym. 4. Errors of judgment. The most common error of this kind is caused by dim lighting or poor eyesight. Sometimes marginal notes were incorporated into the text under the misapprehension that they were part of the text….5. Errors of writing. If a scribe, due to imperfect style or accident, wrote indistinctly or imprecisely, he would set the stage for future error of sight or udgment. Rapid copying was no doubt responsible for many errors in writing. This is viewed especially in the parallel accounts of the Kings-Chronicles corpus. (Ed Hindson & Ergun Caner (General Editors), The Popular Encyclopedia Of Apologetics: Surveying The Evidence For The Truth Of Christianity, 98-99 (Kindle Edition); Eugene, Oregon; Harvest House Publishers)
Most of the “missing verses” and “textual variants” fall into this category.
The overwhelming majority of these four hundred thousand supposed variations stem from differences in spelling, word order, or the relationships between nouns and definite articles. In other words, a copyist simply switched a couple of letters, misheard a word, or skipped a line of text. Such variants are readily recognizable and, in most cases, utterly unnoticeable in translations!…In the end, more than 99 percent of the four hundred thousand or so differences fall into this category of variants that can’t even be seen in translations! (Timothy Paul Jones, Conspiracies And The Cross, 1531-1540 (Kindle Edition); Lake Mary, Florida; FrontLine)
Sometimes A Scribe Inserted Something From Another Book. There are many examples where a scribe would know that a parallel account in another passage included some word, text, or detail that were not included in the manuscript of the Book that that he was copying. For example, James White makes this point clear in his thorough study of the matter.
Other passages that fall into the same category of inserted text from other places in the gospel accounts include Matthew 17:21 (borrowed from Mark 9:29); Matthew 18:11 (from Luke 19:10); Matthew 23:14 (from Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47); Mark 11:26 (from Matthew 6:15); Mark 15:28 (from Luke 22:37 or Isaiah 53:12); Luke 17:36 (from Matthew 24:40); and Luke 23:17 (from Matthew 27:15 or Mark 15:6). In fact, nearly every verse that is displaced from the modern texts is a copy, so to speak, of a verse found in all the Greek manuscripts. Obviously, then, there is no purposeful agenda to remove any of these verses for doctrinal reasons. (James R. White, The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust Modern Translations? 200 (Logos Edition): Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House)
This is often known as harmonization, whereas a scribe joining two or more longer passages together is known as conflation.
So sometimes, the Greek text behind the KJV/NKJV is based on manuscripts that a scribe made where he “added” some word, phrase, or name from other accounts that he was familiar with. So any “questionable” word or sentence from one passage is attested to without question from another passage. For example, Matthew 17:21 is not found in some ancient manuscripts, yet is clearly attested to in Mark 9:29. See also Matthew 18:11 with Luke 19:10; Matthew 23:14 with Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47; Mark 7:16 with Matthew 11:15 and Luke 8:8; Mark 11:26 with Matthew 6:15, etc.
Even With All The Textual Differences Between The Thousands Of Manuscripts, Their Unanimous Consistency Is Astonishing. Do the amount of textual variants and “missing verses” destroy confidence in the textual accuracy of the Bible?
Not at all.
There are over five thousand manuscripts of the Greek New Testament, although only one manuscript contains a whole Testament. This number is far greater than the number of manuscripts supporting the Greek and Latin classics, some of which have a mere handful of ancient manuscripts. The Greek manuscripts of the New Testament were written very soon after the writing of the original texts. The manuscripts are from various parts of the ancient world-Palestine, Asia Minor, Egypt, and the West. Because so much has been said about textual variants, many people have received the impression that the New Testament is on shaky ground. Not so! Fully eighty-five percent of the text is the same in all types of manuscripts. As for the other fifteen percent, we should point out that much of the material concerns details that do not even show up in an English translation. Such things as word order, spelling, and slightly variant forms of some verbs seldom are reproduced in translation. Most of the variations are caused by accidental copyists’ errors. (Arthur L. Farstad, The New King James Version: In the Great Tradition, 104-105 (Kindle Edition): Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers)
Rest assured in the foundation of God’s Word.
Psalm 119:89-Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.
Thank You, Lord, for preserving Your Word. Amen.