{"id":4998,"date":"2025-10-29T07:20:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/?p=4998"},"modified":"2025-10-29T07:20:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:20:41","slug":"words-and-the-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/29\/words-and-the-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Words and the Word"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

Do you notice anything strange in this picture?

This is a snapshot of Exodus chapter 20 as it appears in a 1631 London publication of the King James Bible.

Exodus 20 is famous as the \u201chome\u201d of the Ten Commandments.\u00a0But a word appears to be missing in verse 14.

\u201cThou shalt commit adultery.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>

Needless to say, this particular text must have generated some livelier than usual discussion at the midweek Bible study.

King Charles I of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury were not amused. They hauled the two royal printers, Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, into the infamous Star Chamber, where judges mulled the penalties for the gravest crimes.

The two men were fined heavily and stripped of their licenses to print.\u00a0They were also reprimanded for using cheap paper.

The Barker-Lucas edition of Scripture quickly became known as the Wicked Bible or Sinners\u2019 Bible.\u00a0Most copies were burned.

Was it all just an honest mistake?\u00a0Let\u2019s put it this way:\u00a0In Deuteronomy 5, where the King James Bible reads, \u201cThe Lord hath shewed us his glory and his greatnesse,\u201d the Wicked Bible says, \u201cThe Lord hath shewed us his glory and his great asse.\u201d

Which means we might also call this the Seventh Grade Boys\u2019 Bible.\u00a0

Then there\u2019s the so-called Placemakers Bible. In the second edition of the Geneva Bible, published in 1562, Matthew 5:9 reads, \u201cBlessed are the placemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.\u201d That should have been \u201cpeacemakers.\u201d

What became known as the Judas Bible (1613), somehow swapped out Jesus\u2019 name for that of his betrayer. In Matthew 26:36, Judas tells the other disciples, \u201cSit ye here while I go yonder and pray.\u201d

The Sin On Bible, published in 1716, includes this interesting rendering of Jeremiah 31:34: \u201cSin on more\u201d instead of \u201cSin no more.\u201d

Just in case you\u2019re tempted to conclude that such biblical fumbles are exclusively lodged in the distant past, consider the so-called Owl Bible (New English Version) from 1944. I Peter 3:5 reads, \u201cFor after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their owl husbands\u201d (instead of \u201cown\u201d). It turns out the printing plate had utilized a damaged letter \u201cn.\u201d

Some wives might have been relieved to learn that the whole \u201csubmission or subjection thing\u201d was valid only if they were married to a certain predatory bird.

As far as we can tell, no one was misled by that misprint. And no one in 17th<\/sup> century England actually concluded that God had upgraded the Ten Commandments to version 2.0.\u00a0

That\u2019s because people of faith intuitively know there\u2019s a difference between the Word and mere words.

The Word is the timeless expression of God\u2019s character.\u00a0It never changes.\u00a0It is fully embodied in the person of Jesus: \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God\u201d (John 1:1). Over the next 24 hours, God isn\u2019t going to rethink his positions on injustice, truth, love, or grace.\u00a0

The words on a page or the words from a pulpit are a different matter.\u00a0

Printers and preachers have to do their utmost to match their words with the Word, avoiding misquotes, misprints, and misinterpretations.\u00a0Sometimes we fail. Sometimes quite badly.

God\u2019s Word stands, even when the rest of us get the words wrong.\u00a0Which is why we must hesitate to judge God because of something startling we once read or heard from one of his grace-challenged, mixed-up, learning-impaired human reporters.\u00a0

So, stick close to the Word with a capital \u201cW.\u201d\u00a0

With the Spirit\u2019s help, you\u2019ll ultimately develop an intuition for the very heart of God.

And as April 15 approaches next year, it\u2019s probably best not to wonder what the Wicked Bible has to say about taxes.
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here Do you notice anything strange in this picture? This is a snapshot of Exodus chapter 20 as it appears in a 1631 London publication of the King James Bible. Exodus 20 is famous as the \u201chome\u201d of the Ten Commandments.\u00a0But a word appears to be missing in verse 14. \u201cThou shalt… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[581,1026],"class_list":["post-4998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bible","tag-word"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5000,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4998\/revisions\/5000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}