New International Version of Bible updates as better manuscripts emerge | Fact check

The claim: HarperCollins removed 64,000 words from the Bible

A May 29 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims a book publisher has taken thousands of words out of a holy text.

“VERY CRITICAL ALERT!!!” reads the start of the post. “Check it out for yourself – this happened a few years back. NIV (New International Version) was published by Zondervan but is now OWNED by Harper Collins, who also publishes the Satanic Bible and The Joy of Gay Sex. The NIV and ESV (English Standard Version) has now removed 64,575 words from the Bible including Jehovah, Cavalry, Holy Ghost and omnipotent to name but a few. The NIV and ESV has also now removed 45 complete verses (sic).” 

It goes on to specify several verses the user claims are missing from the aforementioned versions of the Bible, and it suggests that people should keep a physical copy of an earlier version of the Bible because a "hard copy cannot be updated."

The post was shared more than 1,800 times in three weeks.

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Our rating: False

An expert described the claim as "ludicrous." While some words and verses of the Bible were removed in the updated versions of the Bible due to the discovery of older and more reliable manuscripts, the verses and the reason for their removal are still included in footnotes. There is no evidence backing the 64,575 figure, which has circulated online for nearly a decade.

Bible versions are 'remarkably similar' despite some differences

The claims in the post are “ludicrous,” said Mark Goodacre, a religious studies professor at Duke University.

“The reason the given verses aren’t there in the modern Bible is because the translation in the modern Bible is better,” Goodacre said. 

Bible scholars constantly analyze and discover new fragments of ancient manuscripts, Goodacre said. Those discoveries can lead to differences among versions of the Bible because the versions mentioned in the post allow for continual review and revision as necessary to reflect the best scholarship, according to their websites.

That means some verses are no longer included in the main text, but they are still referenced.

"The 'missing verses' some have mentioned are not found in the oldest and most reliable manuscripts, so modern translators have included or referenced them in footnotes," according to the HarperCollins website. The company owns Zondervan, which publishes the New International Version of the Bible. As the post claims, HarperCollins also publishes the "Satanic Bible" and "The Joy of Gay Sex."

Matthew 18:11 in the New International Version, for example, directs readers to a footnote saying some manuscripts have a similar verse to Luke 19:10 in that place. Such was the case for the manuscript used in the King James Version of the Bible, which was published in 1611.

The English Standard Version also references the omission in a footnote.

Such discrepancies aren't rare when it comes to ancient texts, Goodacre said.

“You’ve got thousands of manuscripts (and) until the printing press, no two were identical,” he said. “You’ve always got different scribes working with different versions.”

The same is true for terms like "Jehovah," which Goodacre said stems from a mistranslation and has subsequently been swapped in favor of "Lord."

Similarly, “Holy Spirit” is now a more common term than “Holy Ghost," which is only found in certain texts, including the King James Version of the Bible.

Fact check: Demons in Bible use they/them pronouns because of English grammar, not gender

While the post claims the updated versions of the Bible removed 64,575 words from the holy book, there is no evidence to support this in the post or elsewhere. There are no credible news reports about such a drastic overhaul, and it is unclear where this figure comes from.

The claim in question has been circulating for almost a decade. Zondervan responded to a similar claim about 64,575 missing words when it circulated in 2015, as noted by PolitiFact.

"Oftentimes, readers will come across what they feel are 'missing verses' in their NIV Bible," reads part of the post. "These verses, however, are not really missing. They are included in the footnotes on the same page of the Bible where the 'missing' passage is located."

The New International Version and the King James Version remain "remarkably similar" despite having "some differences," Zondervan spokesperson Amy Bigler told USA TODAY.

"It’s important to note that none of the differences impact core Christian doctrine," she said. "Both the KJV and NIV are sound translations and lead readers to Christ."

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

• Mark Goodacre, June 13, Phone call with USA TODAY 
• Amy Bigler, June 12, Email exchange with USA TODAY 
• HarperCollins Publishers, accessed June 12, Frequently Asked Questions 
• HarperCollins Publishers, accessed June 12, History of the NIV 
• Zondervan, July 12, 2015, Facebook comment

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