Bible Printer's Errors: The Pilate's Tile Bible

These Bible Printers Errors are all in the English language.  They are from printed editions of the King James Version of the Bible created during the time when the printed text had to be hand set using individual letter keys. There are probably just as many variant printed texts in other languages created during the same time period.  Proofreading is very important.  Sometimes one word, or even one letter, changes the entire meaning of a passage.  The following is an example to prove the point.

WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE SAID:  

“And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

WHAT IT SAID:

“And Pilate wrote a tile, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS."

This is from the 1612 “Pilate’s tile” Bible. The text is from John 19:19.

Bible Printer's Errors: The Placemakers Bible

The second edition of the Geneva Bible which was published in 1562 is sometimes known as The Placemaker's Bible because of an error in Matthew 5:9. Instead of "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God" (KJV) the text reads as "Blessed are the placemakers for they shall be called the children of God." The proofreader failed to catch the misspelled word.

Bible Printer's Errors; The Child Killer Bible

These Bible Printers Errors are all in the English language.  There are probably just as many in other languages.  Proofreading is very important.  Sometimes one word changes the entire meaning of a passage.  The following is an example to prove the point.

The Child Killer Bible, published in 1795, contains this one error in the verse, Mark 7:27.  The archaic English phrase “it is not meet” is equivalent to “it is not good.”

WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE SAID:

“But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.”

WHAT IT SAID:

“But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be killed: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” 

Bible Printer's Errors: The Cannibals Bible

Proofreading is very important.  Sometimes one word changes the entire meaning of a passage.  The following, from the 1682 King James version edition known to collectors as "The Cannibals Bible," is an example to prove the point.

WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE SAID: 

"And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;" Deuteronomy 24:3 

WHAT IT SAID:

"And if the latter husband ate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;" Deuteronomy 24:3

Bible Printer's Errors: The No Miracles Bible

The No Miracles Bible was a King James edition issued in 1658.  It is known for the error which occurs at John 7:31.

WHAT IT SAID:

"And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do no miracles than these which this man hath done?" John 7:31

WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE SAID: 

"And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?" John 7:31

Chapter and Verse

Early Christians remembered the Bible by the first few words of a passage or by the name of the book or letter.  They knew their Bibles very well, with many memorizing large portions.

To facilitate the ease of study of the Bible, the system of the division of the text into chapters was devised in 1238 by Cardinal Hugo de Caro.   The numbering of the text within the chapters into verses was introduced in 1551 by a Protestant, Robert I. Estienne, who was a printer and classical scholar.

Bible Printer's Errors: The Lions Bible

The Lions Bible (1804) is a King James Version which was either not proofread at all or the errors were ignored because they would be expensive to correct.  There were multiple variant readings, including the three below. 

What it said:

“Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put together.” Numbers 35:18

What it should have said:

“Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.” Numbers 35:18

What it said:

“For the flesh lusteth after the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”  Galatians 5:17

What it should have said:

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Galatians 5:17

And the error for which this Bible edition is named.

What it said:

“Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy lions, he shall build the house unto my name.” 1Kings 8:19

What it should have said:

“Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.” 1Kings 8:19

Bible Printer's Errors: The Vinegar Bible

John Baskett (d. 1742) was the printer for King George III of England and fot the University of Oxford from 1711 - 1742 and produced ornate leather-bound and gold-trimmed editions.  He is best remembered, however, for one of his magnificent failures, what is known as the Vinegar Bible (1717).

The Vinegar Bible is full of typographical errors but the most glaring problem occurs in the page heading for the twentieth chapter of the book of Luke at the passage containing The Parable of the Vineyard (Luke 20:9), which instead is printed as The Parable of the Vinegar.

In a wordplay on the printer's name, the book was derisively labelled a "Baskett-ful of errors."

http://www.stenodoc.org.uk/st_minver/index.org
St. Minver Church, named for St. Menefreda, at St. Minver in Cornwall, has three copies of the Vinegar Bible.  The church is on the site of a wooden church from late Saxon times.

http://rosemary-e-bachelor.suite101.com/rare-bible-returns-to-canada-236-years-later-a85802

http://on-sebs-steps.blogspot.com/2011/01/vinegar-bible.html

http://www.thebookbinder.co.uk/conservation/basketts-imperial-bible/ 

Bible Printer's Errors: The Pay for Peace Bible

Not all Bible printer's errors occurred hundreds of years ago.  One happened as recently as 1966 in the first edition of The jerusalem Bible, produced as a translation from the original Greek and Hebrew rather than Latin of Jerome's Vulgate.  The translation came about because, in 1943, Pope Pius XII suggested that the Roman Catholic Church should translate the Bible from the original languages rather than from Latin.

Psalm 122:6 read "pay for peace" instead of "pray for peace."

Bible Printer's Errors: The Unrepentant Ninevites Bible

Not all the errant texts of Bibles occurred in the years 1500 to 1700.  The edition known as the Unrepentant Ninevites Bible was issued in 1989. Luke 11:32 in the God's New Covenant Bible (1989) reads "For when Jonah preached to them, they were not led to repentance." Actually, they were.

Bible Printer's Errors: The Murderer's Bible

Proofreading is very important.  Sometimes one word changes the entire meaning of a passage.  The Bible edition known to collectors as the Murderer's Bible (1801) is an example to prove the point.

WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE SAID: 

 "These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling [words], having men's persons in admiration because of advantage." Jude 1:16

WHAT IT SAID:

"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." Jude 1:16

Bible Printer's Errors: The Sin On Bible

In "The Sin On Bible" of 1716, the printer missed that John 8:11 said "Go and sin on more" rather than the correct reading of "Go and sin no more."

Bible Printer's Errors: The Placemaker's Bible

Proofreading is very important.  Sometimes one word changes the entire meaning of a passage.  The following is an example to prove the point.



The Geneva Bible (1557) is a Protestant Bible produced fifty-one years before the King James Bible.  It was mechanically printed; mass-produced; filled with maps, footnotes, illustrations, tables, and indices; and was intentionally made available to the general public.   It is considered to be the first study Bible.


The errors shown below occur in the second edition (1562).

WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE SAID: 

"Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9

WHAT IT SAID:

"Blessed [are] the placemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9

In its chapter heading for Luke 21:

WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE SAID: 

“Christ commendeth the poor widow.”

WHAT IT SAID:

“Christ condemneth the poor widow.”

Bible Printer's Errors: The Ears to Ear Bible

Proofreading is very important.  Sometimes one word changes the entire meaning of a passage.  The following is an example to prove the point.  This occurs in an 1810 Bible known to collectors as The Ears to Ear Bible.

WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE SAID: 

“Who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  Matthew 13:43

WHAT IT SAID:

“Who has ears to ear, let him hear.”  Matthew 13:43

Bible Printer's Errors: The Wife-hater Bible

The 1810 Wife-hater Bible says something entirely different with the mistaken substitution of one word.

What it says:

“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.” Luke 14:26

What it should have said:

“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 life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26

This verse is almost universally recognized to not be actually teaching literal hate for one's family.  It is hyperbolic language, the language of absoluteness, a conscious exaggeration for effect.  It's like saying "I hate liver!" (for other examples see Genesis 29:30-31 and Luke 16:13)

Bible Printer's Errors: The Judas Bible

Proofreading is very important.  Sometimes one word changes the entire meaning of a passage.  The following is an example to prove the point.  The Judas Bible (1611) has the wrong person talking. 

WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE SAID:  

“Then cometh Jesus with them to a place called Gethsemane, and saith to the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go yonder and pray.” Matthew 26:36

 WHAT IT SAID:

“Then cometh Judas with them to a place called Gethsemane, and saith to the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go yonder and pray.” Matthew 26:36

Bible Printer's Errors: The He Bible

Proofreading is very important.  Sometimes one word changes the entire meaning of a passage.    The following is an example to prove the point.  

The He Bible was a King James version printing which was pulled and destroyed because one word was incorrect.

What it should have said:

“Also he said, Bring the vail that [thou hast] upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six [measures] of barley, and laid [it] on her: and she went into the city. “ Ruth 3:15

What it said:

“Also he said, Bring the vail that [thou hast] upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six [measures] of barley, and laid [it] on her: and he went into the city. “ Ruth 3:15

Bible Printer's Errors: Printer's Bible

Some copies, but not all, of The Printer's Bible, published in 1612, contain a strange typographical error.

What it said:
"Printers have persecuted me without a cause..." Psalm 119:161

What it should have said:
"Princes have persecuted me without a cause..." Psalm 119:161

Bible Printer's Errors: Denial Bible

In the 1792 publication now known as the Denial Bible, Luke 22:34 names Philip rather than Peter as the one who would deny Jesus.

What it says:
"And he said, I tell thee, Philip, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me."

What it should have said:
"And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me."

Bible Printer's Errors: The Wicked Bible

Proofreading is very important.  Sometimes one word changes the entire meaning of a passage.    The following is an example to prove the point.  The incorrectly printed Bibles were pulled from sale and destroyed so any that survived are extremely rare and are expensive collector's item's.

The Wicked Bible (1631) is also called The Adulterous Bible or The Sinner's Bible.  It was a King James version printed by Robert Barker and Martin Lucas.  They were fined 300 Pounds Sterling and all available copies were burned.  Somehow, eleven Wicked Bibles still exist.

What it should have said:

“Thou shalt not commit adultery. “ Exodus 20:14

What it said:

“Thou shalt  commit adultery. “ Exodus 20:14