Well, Are You Jesus the Nazarene or Aren't You?

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A 1631 edition of the King James Bible printed in London contained a typographical error that earned it the nickname “The Wicked Bible.” Exodus 20:14 should have read “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Instead, it said “Thou shalt commit adultery.”

The printer was heavily fined. Today, copies of the Wicked Bible are rare and valuable.

Last week I stumbled upon a similar error in an electronic version of the recently published Common English Bible. I point this out mostly because I find it amusing. I very much like both the Common English Bible and You Version, an app that makes many versions of the Bible available for no charge. I use and recommend both the CEB and You Version.

So here’s the typo:

Jesus knew everything that was to happen to him, so he went out and asked, "Who are you looking for?" They answered, "Jesus the Nazarene." He said to them, "I Am." (Judas, his betrayer, was standing with them.) When he said, "I Am," they shrank back and fell to the ground. He asked them again, "Who are you looking for?" They said, "Jesus the Nazarene." "I’m not," he replied.      (John 18:4-7)

How did this happen? It seems that somehow, the words “‘I’m not,’ he replied” were misplaced from the end of John 18:17 and are actually Peter’s answer to the question “Aren’t you one of this man’s disciples?”

I have contacted You Version and have been assured that the mistake will be corrected soon.

Print copies of the CEB do not contain this typo. As part of the Common English Bible “Thank You-Come Again-I Promise” Blog Tour I can give away another free Bible. First person to reply to this post wins it.

I found the image of the infamous misprint at Wikipedia, of course. If you win the Bible, I will ask you to send me your address in a reply which I will not publish. The Bible will be sent directly from the publisher.

The Common English Bible "Thank You-Come Again-I Promise" Blog Tour

WIN A FREE BIBLE!

As I've mentioned in earlier posts on this blog, I try to read through the Bible about once a year. I like to read different translations, so when a free-for-the-asking promotional paperback edition of the Common English Bible (CEB) New Testament was made available last year, I didn't think twice about requesting a copy. I put it on the shelf for an eventual read-through.

This year I read the Hebrew Scriptures in the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh translation. As a friend of mine says, it is refreshing to read the Old Testament in a translation that has no Christian bias. I also, for the first time, read the books of the Hebrew Bible in the Jewish order: Torah, Prophets, Writings. It was enlightening.

When I finished the Tanakh translation, about a week ago, I picked up that free copy of the CEB New Testament. As of the moment of this writing, I have read from Matthew through the sixth chapter of John and I'm liking it. The CEB seems to be a sound, scholarly translation written in vigorous modern English.

Yesterday, I downloaded the entire CEB, including the Apocrypha, to my mobile device using the You Version app. Both the app and the CEB download are free. I've noticed a few formatting issues in the CEB text, but I expect that these will soon be resolved in an update. (You Version, are you reading this?)

At any rate, yesterday I also saw that Craig, over at his Simul Iustus et Peccator blog had joined the Common English Bible "Thank You-Come Again-I Promise" Blog Tour. I had to look into this. It seems that the CEB, as part of a fairly aggressive promotional campaign, is giving away Bibles to bloggers who join the tour.

I have to say, I don't work for the CEB or its publisher. I just genuinely like this translation. And a free Bible in A "leather-like binding" is hard to pass up. So I'm signing on. If you have a blog of your own, you can join the Blog Tour, too. Follow this link for the details.

As part of this blog tour, I can give away one copy of the CEB for every week that I participate. That means that you can win a free CEB Bible through this blog! For this week, I'll award the free Bible to the first person who replies to this post. Hit the reply button, and say you want the Bible. I will reply to your comment and ask you to send me your mailing address in another reply which I will NOT publish. I will then send your address to the CEB people and they will mail you a Bible.




I'll say more about the CEB, and give more readers a chance to win a copy, in future posts. Happy Thanksgiving!