VI. How Many Missing Words?

A most striking fact about the Modern Bibles is that in the New Testament they are clearly shorter than the Authorised Version.  The following, by comparing the Greek texts which underlie the AV and Modern Versions, gives an idea of how much shorter.  The primary basis of the Modern Version Text is The Nestle Aland Greek New Testament.  Its text is identical to another popular edition published by The United Bible Society.  The KJV New Testament is based on what is known as the Received Text.  A widely published edition of the Received Text was that prepared by Robert Stephanus in 1550.  The KJV does not follow Stephanus in every instance, nor is the NIV completely identical with the Nestle Aland, but these two editions provide a good basis for comparison.  In an actual chapter-by-chapter count made by Mrs. Catherine Carmichael in our Bible Institute in Johannesburg back in 1985 the following figures were derived.

Stephanus Received Text (listed first) compared with Nestle-Aland

Matthew	18,740	18,359	-381 fewer words
Mark	11,646	11,268	-78
Luke	19,935	19,473	-462
John	15,957	15,636	-321
Acts	18,794	18,448	-346
Romans	7,204	7,108	-96
I Corinthians	6,933	6,830	-103
II Corinthians	4,509	4,476	-33
Galatians	2,251	2,231	-20
Ephesians	2,462	2,421	-41
Philippians	1,641	1,629	-12
Colossians	1,621	1,581	-40
I Thess.	1,495	1,481	-14
II Thess.	834	819	-15
I Timothy	1,624	1,591	-33
II Timothy	1,254	1,238	-16
Titus	666	659	-7
Philemon	339	334	-5
Hebrews	4,990	4,953	-37
James	1,763	1742	-21
I Peter	1,724	1,684	-40
II Peter	1,104	1,099	-5
I John	2,175	2,141	-34
II John	249	245	-4
III John	218	219	+1
Jude	452	461	+9
Revelation	9,941	9,851	-90
Subtotal	140,521	137,977*	-2,544*

*The modern versions either omit, place in the foot notes, question their authenticity, or place in brackets, Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11.  After taking these two well-known passages into account the final count is:

Final Total

140,521

137,602

-2,886 fewer words

In the New Testament the modern version text is shorter than that of the King James Version by about the number of words contained in I and II Peter!