The Case of the Missing Verses

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

Are you interested in the parts of history that remain a mystery? Do you want to learn more about the historical myths and misconceptions used to prop up belief today?

I'm Nathaniel Lloyd. In my podcast, Historical Blindness, I delve into all of these topics, sharing puzzling tales from the past and examining hoaxes, conspiracy theories and misremembered events that provide insight into modern politics and religion. New episodes every two weeks find historical blindness on most podcast players and platforms.

Dan Beecher (0:38)

So this is the story where Jesus says, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Is that, am I on the right story here?

Dan McClellan (0:45)

You are on the right story.

Dan Beecher (0:47)

That's one of the best stories in the book. You're telling me that that's not real? Oh man.

That stays in my version.

Dan McClellan (0:54)

Well, that's one of the reasons that so many people make such an impassioned case for treating this historically. They can't imagine Jesus who does not say that he was without sin, cast the first stone, even as they go casting stones.

Dan Beecher (1:07)

Right.

Dan McClellan (1:12)

Hey everybody, I'm Dan McClellan.

Dan Beecher (1:13)

And I'm Dan Beecher.

Dan McClellan (1:15)

And you are listening to the Data Over Dogma Podcast where we seek to increase public access to the academic study of the Bible and religion and combat misinformation about the same. How are you doing today, Dan?

Dan Beecher (1:27)

Rocking and rolling, baby. It's a good day to learn about the world.

Dan McClellan (1:33)

Yes, it is. As are most days.

Dan Beecher (1:35)

As are most days.

Some days you don't want to, but today's a good day. And we got some fun things coming up. We're keeping it historical.

Dan McClellan (1:47)

Yeah, as is our wont.

Dan Beecher (1:49)

As is our wont. We are wont to do so.

So maybe we should just dive in with That's History.

Dan McClellan (2:02)

A question I get an awful lot, and something I think a lot of people don't know about is how the King James version came about. One of the most, probably the single most influential English translation of the Bible, or perhaps any translation of the Bible that exists, the King James version. Many people know it was published in 1611 that King James had something to do with it. There are a lot of ideas out there about what precisely King James had to do with it, and a lot of misinformation out there. So let's get into a discussion of the history of the King James version.

Dan Beecher (2:39)

I love it. You know, when I was back some 10-ish years ago, I watched a play on London's West End.

And I'm trying to remember what that play was called. It was something along the lines of...

Oh, it was written on the heart. That's what it was. It was a play called Written on the Heart. And I think you'd love it. It's by a guy named David Edgar, and he was a... And so it incorporates... It goes through some different moments in history. It has William Tyndale. It has...

But the thing that stood out to me was scenes where... And I don't remember it well. So, you know, if someone else saw this and you can correct me if you want to. But it had scenes where there were... It was a big room where people, where a bunch of men were negotiating what was and wasn't going to go into this new version of the Bible. So this is, you know, a long time after...

After... What's his name? I just said it.

Dan McClellan (3:57)

Tyndale?

Dan Beecher (4:00)

But yeah, it's the crafting and the sort of the political machinations that then became the King James Bible. So I'm excited to understand and hear a little more about it.

Dan McClellan (4:16)

Excellent. But actually, to start talking about the King James version, I want to go back to Tyndale and actually a little bit before Tyndale to a Dutch humanist scholar named Desiderius Erasmus.

And he is working at the very beginning of the 1500s. And he's a scholar publishing all different kinds of stuff. And at the time, there was one main English translation of the Bible that was Wycliffe's translation. And it was not the product of Wycliffe's own work all by himself. It came together from the work of a lot of different people. But that was the end of the 14th century. So the end of the 1300s, we have Wycliffe's Bible, which is a translation of the Latin Vulgate into English.