On the timing of Post-1769 changes to the KJV text
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2023-9-6

The standard text of the KJV, by which I mean the text as published by Cambridge and Oxford, has changed in about 30 places since the 1769 Oxford edition.[1] For a look at those specific changes, see where-is-blayney, where one can see about thirty-three verses where 1769 varies from the current text.

Some might be satisfied to know that such a tiny amount of change has occurred and simply be content to say that the text has been more or less fixed for the last two and a half centuries. But I'm somewhat curious about the timing of the changes. When did these changes occur? Where they more or less evenly spaced out, accumulating at a rate of about one change or two per decade, or can we identify a shorter period for them?

We may start with a comment in Norton's Textual History of the King James Bible, page 126:

I have taken three 1857 texts to check the state of the Victorian text in the hands of its three official guardians, and compared it with the current text. There are five variations: at Judg. 13:19 the 1857 editions have ‘wonderously’ for the current ‘wondrously’, at 2 Chr. 2:16 Oxford and Eyre and Spottiswoode have ‘flotes’ for ‘floats’, at Job 30:6 all have ‘cliffs’ for the current ‘clifts’, and at Matt. 26:39 and Mark 1:19 ‘farther’ for ‘further’. By 1931 Cambridge had changed these to the current spellings, and the current text was finished.

If we start with our figure of thirty-three variations between 1769 and the "current" text, it would seem (by subtracting five) that twenty-eight of those variations had already been made by 1857, in less than ninety years since Blayney. The next hundred sixty years would bring on just five more changes.

For another point of comparison, let us consider Verschuur's Pure Cambridge Edition, an electronic text which, he says, accurately and without error reproduces a form of the Cambridge text as it existed in the first half of the twentieth century. If Norton is correct in implying that over 80% of the change between the 1769 text and the current text had occurred by 1857, then we should expect the Pure Cambridge Edition to read much more like the current standard text than that of Blayney.

The thirty-three verses I've checked are the following, and the details[2] of their 1769 and current readings can be found at where-is-blayney: Gen 10:7, 25:4, 46:12; Deut. 10:2; Josh 10:1, 3; 19:2, 19; 2 Sam 5:14, 21:21, 23:37; 1 Chr. 2:49, 5:11, 7:19, 23:20, 24:11; 2 Chr. 4:12, 20:36, 33:19; Ezra 4:10; Neh. 1:11, 7:30; Ps. 18:47, 60:4, 78:66, 148:8; Ezek. 5:6; Amos 2:2; Nahum 3:16; Zech 11:2; Matt. 26:39; Mark 1:19; John 14:6.

Let us make a table:

Verse Blayney PCE Standard
Gen. 10:7 Sabtechah Sabtecha Sabtecha
Gen. 25:4 Abidah Abida Abida
Gen 46:12 Zarah Zerah Zerah
Deut 10:2 brakedst brakest brakest
Josh 10:1, 3 Adoni-zedec Adoni-zedek Adoni-zedek
Josh 19:2 Beer-sheba, Sheba Beer-sheba, or Sheba Beer-sheba, or Sheba
Josh 19:19 Haphraim, and Shihon Hapharaim, and Shion Hapharaim, and Shion
2 Sam 5:14 Shammuah Shammua Shammua
2 Sam 21:21 Shimeah Shimea Shimea
2 Sam 23:37 Nahari Naharai Naharai
1 Chr. 2:49 Achsa Achsah Achsah
1 Chr. 5:11 Salcah Salchah Salchah
1 Chr. 7:19 Shemidah Shemida Shemida
1 Chr. 23:20 Micah Michah Michah
1 Chr. 24:11 Jeshuah Jeshua Jeshua
2 Chr. 4:12 on the pillars; on the top of the pillars on the top of the pillars;
2 Chr. 20:36 Ezion-gaber Ezion-geber Ezion-geber
2 Chr. 33:19 and all his sins, and all his sin, and all his sin,
Ezra 4:10 Asnapper Asnappar Asnappar
Neh. 1:1 O LORD O Lord O Lord
Neh. 7:30 Gaba Geba Geba
Ps. 18:47 unto me under me under me
Ps. 60:4 feared fear fear
Ps. 78:66 hinder part hinder parts hinder parts
Ps. 148:8 vapours vapour vapour
Ezek. 5:6 nations and nations, and nations, and
Amos 2:2 Kirioth Kerioth Kerioth
Nahum 3:16 fleeth flieth flieth
Zech. 11:2 mighty is mighty are mighty are
Matt 26:39 farther further further
Mark 1:19 farther further further
John 14:6 and the truth the truth the truth

The PCE reads with the standard text in all 33 of the verses we've evaluated. Also, where Norton lists five differences between the standard text and the Victorian texts of 1857, the PCE as the "standard" reading in all five places.

There is always the possibility that there are more differences hiding somewhere that have so far escaped the attention of researchers. But it certainly looks like the PCE is either exactly or near-exactly identical with the "current text" that Norton speaks of.

  1. Since the time of making this claim -- which I took from Norton (see below) -- I have sinced learned that there are hundreds of changes to Blayney that have been incorporated in later Bibles. However, most of these are relatively simple fixes for simple errors, so perhaps the "30 places", with suitable caveats, is still the correct number of "real" changes to the text.↩︎
  2. The details over at where-is-blayney detail how I've chosen these thirty-four reading, and what evidence I've sorted through to arrive at my conclusions about what Blayney and the current text read at these places. I hope one day to have a facsimile of Blayney and a Cambridge Concord Bible to compare with here.[3]↩︎
  3. As of now (2023-9-6) I do have access to a full facsimile of Blayney's folio, and should probably revisit this article. I also have access to most, but not all, of Blayney's quarto, and expect full access within a week or so.↩︎
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On the timing of Post-1769 changes to the KJV text