Alteration No. 15

Under his comments on l Chronicles 8:9 Adam Clarke observed in the second volume of his book:

In this chapter from this verse to verse 32, and in chapter 9 from verse 35 to 44we find names which are different from each other.1[1] Jewish scholars believe that Ezra had found two bookswhich contained these verses with names different from each other. Ezra couldnot distinguish the correct names from the wrong ones; he therefore copied bothof them.

We have nothing to add in respect of this to what we said under the previous number.

1[1]We have discussed these names in an earlier volume.

Alteration No. 16

In II Chronicles 13:3 we find the number of Abijah's army mentioned as four hundred thousand and the number of Jeroboam's army as eight hundred thousand, and in verse 17 the number of people slain from Jeroboam's army is given as five hundred thousand. Since this number of the troops of the above kings was incredibly exaggerated, they have been reduced to forty thousand, eighty thousand and fifty thousand respectively in the most Latin translations. It is surprising that the commentators have willingly accepted this. Home said in the first volume of his commentary:

Most probably the number descried in these (the Latin) versions is correct.

Similarly Adam Clarke in the second volume of his book said:

It seems that the smaller number (the reduced number in the Latin translations) is quite correct. And we are thus provided with great opportunity to protest against the presence of distortion in the numbers described by these historical books.

This is again an unambiguous example of alterations made in the texts of the Bible.

Alteration No. 17: The Age of Jehoiachin

We find this statement in II Chronicles:

Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign. 2[2]

The word ’eight’ in this verse is incorrect and is contrary to the statement of II Kings which says:

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign.3[3]

2[2]1I Chron. 36:6.


3[3] II Kings 24:8.

In his comments on the latter verse Adam Clarke said:

The word ’eight’ used in 2 Chronicles 36:8 is certainly wrong, because he reigned for only three months and was then made captive in Babylon where he had his wives in the prison. It seems obvious that a child of eight years could not have had wives with him. A child of this age cannot be accused of committing an act which is evil in the eyes of God.

Alteration No. 18

According to some versions Psalm 20 verse 17, and according to the Hebrew version, Psalm 22 verse 16, includes this sentence:

My both hands are like a lion.

In the Catholic and the Protestant translations the sentence reads:

They pierced my hands and my feet

All the scholars admit the presence of an alteration at this place.

Alteration No. 19

Under his comments on Isaiah 64:2, 4[4]

Adam Clarke said in volume 4 of his book:

At this place the Hebrew text has undergone a great altercation, the correct sentence should be: the fire causeth the wax to melt.

4[4]”And when the melting fire burneth the fire causeth the waters to boi1, to make they name known to thine adversaries, that nations may tremble at they presence.” (Isaiah 64:2)

Alteration No. 20: Difference between Isaiah and Paul

Verse 4 of the same chapter contains:

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

But Paul records this verse differently in his first letter to Corinthians, saying:

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

The difference between the two texts is obvious and one of the two statements must be wrong. The commentary of Henry and Scott contains this statement:

The best opinion is that the Hebrew text has been distorted.

Adam Clarke reproduced many opinions on this text of Isaiah and examined the text thoroughly, at the end of which he observed:

What can I do under these difficult circumstances except present one of two alternatives to my readers: admit that the Jews changed the texts of the Hebrew and Latin translations, as a strong probability exists of alterations in the quotations of the Old Testament reproduced in the New Testament; or admit that Paul did not quote this sentence from this book. He might have quoted it from one of several forged books. For instance from the Book of the Ascension of Isaiah or from the revelations of Ebiah where this sentence can be found, because some people think that the apostle (Paul) copied from forged books. Perhaps people generally would not easily accept the first possibility, but I must warn the readers that Jerome considers the second possibility to be the worst kind of heresy or heterodoxy.

Alterations No 21-26 :Differences between the Old and New Testaments

We find Horne observing in the second volume of his commentary:

It seems that the Hebrew text has been changed in the verses detailed below:

1. Malachi 3:1 2. Psalms 16:8-11 3. Micah 5:2

4. Amos 9:ll-l2 5. Psalms 4:6-8 6. Psalms 110:4

1. The first verses in Mal. 3:I seems to have been altered because Matthew reports it in his Gospel in chapter 11:10 in a: from which is obviously different from Malachi's in the Hebrew and other translations. The text of Matthew is this:

Behold, I send my messengers before ye...

The words 'before ye' are not to be found in Malachi.5[5]

5[5] Malachi’s text is this: ”Behold ,? I will send my messengers end he shall prepare.

the way before me.”

Besides this Matthew also reported these words, ”Shall prepare the way Before ye” While Malachi's statement is, ”Shall prepare the way before me.” Horne admitted in a footnote:

This difference cannot be explained easily except that the old versions had been changed.

2. The second verse (Mic. 5:2) is also quoted by Matthew in 2.6 in a way which show Clear differences [6] from the above.

3. The third passage (Psalms 16:8-11) is reported by Luke in Acts 2:25-28, and the texts are quite different from each other.

4. The fourth passage is also quoted by Luke in Acts. 15 16 17 and is different from Amos 9:11-12.

5. Psalms 4;6-8 is quoted by Paul in his letter to the Hebrews in verses 5 to 7. The two versions are quite different. 6[6]

6[6] 1. We could not find any difference at this place but since Horne is considered a great scholar by the Christians his statement might have been based on some reason, it has therefore been included .

Alterations No. 27-29: Contradictory Margin Notes

Exodus 21:8, in the Hebrew version, contains a negative statement while the statement included in its margin is affirmative.

This verse contains injunctions with regard to keeping maid servants.

Similarly we find in Leviticus 11:21 laws regarding birds and creeping things on the earth[8].

The statement in the Hebrew text is negative while in the marginal notes it is found to be affirmative.

Leviticus 25:30 gives injunctions with regard to selling houses. The verse again contains a negative injunction while the marginal note affirms it 7[7]

7[7]“And if it not be redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations, It shall not go out in the jubile.” Leviticus 25:30.

Protestant scholars have preferred the affirmative texts in the marginal notes in their translations in all the above three places.

That is, they have omitted the primary text and have included a marginal passage in its place, thus distorting these verses. After the alteration in these three verses, the injunctions contained in them have lost their certainty. Now it cannot be ascertained which of the two injunctions is correct. the negative one of the text or the affirmative of the margin. This demonstration also refutes the claim of the Christians that the distortions found in the Bible do not affect rituals and liturgical instructions.

Alteration No. 30

Acts 20:28 says:

To feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Griesbach observed that the word ‘God’ used here is wrong; the correct word is the pronoun ‘his’, 8[8] the third person singular.

8 [8] In the present Urdu version it has been changed to the pronoun ’his’ but in the King James version printed in 1962 the word ’God’ still exists while in the new English translation, printed in 1961, it has been changed to ’his’.

Alteration No. 3l; Angel or Eagle

Revelation 8:13 contains this statement:

And I beheld an angel flying.

Griesbach has suggested that the word ‘angel’ here is wrong, the correct word should be ‘eagle’.9[9]

9[9]The King James version contains ’angel’ but the new translations have the word ’eagle’.

Griesbach and Scholtz observed that the word ’God’ here is again wrong; the correct word should be ’Christ’[1]

In this section we have aimed at demonstrating the presence of human manipulation in the form of alterations of phrases and words in the Bible. The above thirty-two examples should be enough to prove it. We confine ourselves to this much only to avoid unnecessary prolongation of the subject; otherwise there is no dearth of them in the Bible.

Alteration No. 32

Ephesians 5:21 contains:

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.