Why does my Bible say something different?

Short, sourced notes on places where translations differ: which ancient texts they follow, how the words can be read, and what the Church has received.

1 John 5:7–8: the “three heavenly witnesses”
1 John 5:7–8
Older English and Spanish Bibles read: “there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” These words, called the Johannine Comma, are absent from virtually every Greek manuscript before the late Middle Ages and from the Greek Fathers. The Patriarchal Text prints them in small type, kept at the wish of the Holy Synod. The Trinity does not depend on them.
1 Timothy 3:16: “God was manifest” or “He who was manifested”?
1 Timothy 3:16
The Byzantine text, followed by the Patriarchal Text and the KJV, reads “God was manifest in the flesh.” The oldest manuscripts read “who was manifested,” and the Latin reads “which was manifested.” In ancient Greek manuscripts the abbreviated word for “God” and the word “who” looked almost the same. Either way, the hymn speaks of Christ incarnate.
Acts 8:37: the eunuch’s confession of faith
Acts 8:36–38
In some Bibles, before Philip baptizes the Ethiopian, he says, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest,” and the eunuch answers, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” This verse is missing from the oldest Greek manuscripts and from most Byzantine ones, but it was known to St Irenaeus in the second century. It appears to be an early baptismal confession added to the story.
Amos 9:12 and Acts 15:17: “the remnant of Edom” or “the rest of mankind”?
Amos 9:11–12; Acts 15:16–17
In the Hebrew text of Amos 9:12, restored Israel will “possess the remnant of Edom.” In the Septuagint, “the remnant of men” will “seek” the Lord. At the Council of Jerusalem St James quotes the Greek form to show that God intended Gentiles to belong to his people (Acts 15:16–17). The two readings differ by letters that look and sound alike in Hebrew.
Daniel: the Song of the Three, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon
Daniel (Greek) 3:24–88; Susanna 1–64; Bel and the Dragon 1–42
The Greek book of Daniel contains three passages not found in the Hebrew and Aramaic text: the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men in chapter 3, the story of Susanna, and the story of Bel and the Dragon. The Orthodox and Catholic Churches read them as Scripture, and the Orthodox sing the Song at Matins. Protestant Bibles place them among the Apocrypha, if they print them at all.
Deuteronomy 32:8: “sons of Israel” or “sons of God”?
Deuteronomy 32:8–9
The Masoretic Hebrew says God fixed the borders of the peoples “according to the number of the sons of Israel.” A Hebrew manuscript from Qumran reads “sons of God,” and the Septuagint reads “angels of God.” Many scholars, Jewish and Christian, now think “sons of God” is the older reading. The Orthodox Church reads “angels of God.”
Esther: the Greek additions
Esther 4:14; Esther (Greek) 4:17; Esther (Greek) 10:4
The Hebrew book of Esther never names God. The Greek Septuagint version contains six longer passages, usually lettered A to F, that include Mordecai’s dream, two royal decrees and the prayers of Mordecai and Esther. The Orthodox and Catholic Churches read them as Scripture; most Protestant Bibles leave them out or print them among the Apocrypha.
Genesis 5 and 11: why the patriarchs’ ages differ
Genesis 5:3–32; Genesis 11:10–26; Luke 3:36
In the Greek Septuagint most patriarchs in Genesis 5 and 11 become fathers about 100 years later than in the Hebrew text, and Genesis 11 adds a second Cainan, whom St Luke also names (Luke 3:36). The result is a world history over a thousand years longer. The Byzantine calendar was built on the Greek numbers. No doctrine depends on either set.
Hebrews 11:21 and Genesis 47:31: Jacob’s staff or Jacob’s bed?
Hebrews 11:21; Genesis 47:31
In the Hebrew text of Genesis 47:31 Israel bows “upon the bed’s head.” In the Septuagint he bows “on the top of his staff,” and Hebrews 11:21 quotes the Greek. The Hebrew consonants can be read either way; only the later vowel marks decide. The Orthodox Church reads “staff,” and St John of Damascus used the verse in defending the veneration of holy things.
Isaiah 7:14: “a virgin” or “the young woman”?
Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23
The Hebrew text of Isaiah 7:14 says ha-almah, “the young woman.” The Greek Septuagint, translated by Jews before the time of Christ, says hē parthenos, “the virgin,” and St Matthew quotes that Greek wording (Matthew 1:23). The Orthodox Church reads the Septuagint here, as the Apostles did. The faith in the virgin birth does not rest on one Hebrew word, but the word still deserves an honest look.
Jeremiah: a shorter book in a different order
Jeremiah 10:6–10; Jeremiah 25:13; Jeremiah 33:14–26; Jeremiah 46:1
The Greek Septuagint of Jeremiah is markedly shorter than the Hebrew text and arranges the book differently: the oracles against the nations come in the middle, after 25:13, not at the end. Hebrew fragments from Qumran show that a shorter Hebrew form of Jeremiah really existed. Many scholars think Jeremiah circulated in two editions.
John 1:18: “the only-begotten Son” or “the only-begotten God”?
John 1:18
The Patriarchal Text, the KJV and most manuscripts read “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father.” The oldest papyri and great codices read “only-begotten God.” Both readings come from the early centuries, and both confess the same Christ. Neither reading favours a lower view of the Son.
John 7:53–8:11: the woman taken in adultery
John 7:53–8:11
The story of the woman brought to Jesus, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone,” is missing from the earliest Greek manuscripts of John and wanders to other places in some later ones. Yet it was known in the early Church, is printed in the Patriarchal Text, and is read in Orthodox services. Most scholars think it is a genuine early tradition that was not originally part of John.
Luke 2:14: “good will toward men” or “peace to men of good will”?
Luke 2:14
The angels’ song differs by a single Greek letter. Most manuscripts, the Patriarchal Text and the Orthodox Doxology read eudokia: “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Several of the oldest manuscripts read eudokias: “peace among men of his good pleasure,” which the Latin rendered “men of good will.” Both readings place the source of peace in God’s favour.
Luke 22:43–44: the angel and the sweat like drops of blood
Luke 22:43–44
In Gethsemane an angel strengthens Christ, and in his agony his sweat falls “as it were great drops of blood.” These two verses are missing from some of the most important early manuscripts but are present in others, and they were quoted by St Justin and St Irenaeus in the second century. The Orthodox Church reads them as part of Luke. Scholars are divided on whether Luke wrote them.
Matthew 6:13: “For thine is the kingdom…”
Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4
The closing doxology of the Lord’s Prayer, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,” is missing from the oldest Greek manuscripts of Matthew and from most of the Latin tradition, but it is very old: a shorter form already appears in the Didache. The Patriarchal Text includes it, and in the Divine Liturgy the priest sings it in a Trinitarian form. Most scholars see it as an early liturgical response that entered the text.
Mark 16:9–20: the longer ending of Mark
Mark 16:8–20
The two oldest complete Greek Bibles end the Gospel of Mark at 16:8, with the women fleeing the tomb in fear. Most later manuscripts continue with verses 9–20, which tell of the risen Lord’s appearances, the commission and the Ascension. The ending was known by the second century and the Orthodox Church reads it at Sunday Matins. Most scholars think it was added to Mark by another hand.
Psalm 151: the psalm “outside the number”
Psalm 151:1–7
Most copies of the Greek Psalter end with a short Psalm 151, in which David tells of his anointing and his victory over Goliath. It is not in the Masoretic Hebrew Psalter. The Orthodox Church includes it in its Psalter; the Catholic Church and Protestants do not count it as canonical. A Hebrew form of it was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Psalm 22:16: “they pierced” or “like a lion”?
Psalm 22:16
Most Hebrew manuscripts of Psalm 22:16 (22:17 in Hebrew) read ka’ari, “like a lion, my hands and my feet,” a line with no verb. The Greek Septuagint reads “they dug my hands and my feet,” which Christian Bibles have long rendered “pierced.” A Psalms fragment from the Judean desert has a different spelling that may be a verb. What the original Hebrew said is honestly debated.
Psalm 40:6 and Hebrews 10:5: “ears” or “a body”?
Psalm 40:6; Hebrews 10:5–7
In the Hebrew text of Psalm 40 God has “dug” or “opened” the psalmist’s ears. In the Greek Septuagint (Psalm 39:7) God has “prepared a body” for him, and the Epistle to the Hebrews quotes that Greek wording of Christ coming into the world. The Orthodox Church reads the Greek. Scholars still debate how the Greek reading arose.
Romans 5:1: “we have peace” or “let us have peace”?
Romans 5:1
Most English Bibles read “being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” The Douay-Rheims reads “let us have peace.” The difference in Greek is a single vowel, echomen or echōmen, which sounded alike when read aloud. The oldest manuscripts mostly favour “let us have,” but most scholars and the Patriarchal Text read “we have.” The teaching of the passage is the same either way.