FOMO, Missing Verses, and Helping Laypeople Think about Textual Criticism

In this post, I want to talk about another observation from my time at the conference last week. It concerns the way people think about the “missing verses” (e.g., John 5.4) in modern translations. I noticed, for instance, that Dave Black often turned to readings that aren’t in translations like the ESV to illustrate his own text-critical view. Later, at the end of the conference, I had a chance to talk to a couple people who seemed surprised when I pointed out that the Byzantine text (and hence the KJV) is also missing some important clauses relative to the ESV. 

The Anxiety of Missing Verses

It was a fresh reminder of just how much psychological weight “missing verses” carry for some people new to the subject. I have never, for instance, had a concerned person ask me about the added verses in the KJV. Some of that is due to historical precedent, no doubt. Because the KJV reigned for so long as the only Bible of the English speaking world, it naturally serves as the reference point. 

But it also seems to be something deeper at work because, in my experience, even non-KJV Bible readers are far more concerned about missing words in the Bible than they are about added ones. Again, this was on display at the conference. Dave Black put many at ease by explaining the problem of textual criticism as one of having too much of the NT text not too little. He said something to the effect that we don’t have 97% of the text, we have 104% and the question is whether the original is above or below the line. I’ve made the same point myself and I always find people receptive to it. Too much is okay. Too little is not.

But why do we find it more reassuring to think that our Bibles might have too many uninspired words than too few inspired ones? A text like Rev. 22.18–19 certainly gives us no reason to prefer one over the other. Instead, it puts both adding and removing words on equal par. Neither is presented as more acceptable than the other; both are bad. From that text, we ought to be just as anxious about having 104% of the NT text as we are of having 97%. What gives?

Behind the Anxiety

I suspect that what’s going on here, psychologically, is what the youth of today call FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. It’s the feeling of apprehension that you’re not “in the know” or that you’re missing out on information, events, or experiences. It’s the fear of being caught outside a group of friends’ inside joke. Although we may think of it primarily in relation to social media us, it’s not limited to that realm. I have several close family members who experience definite FOMO when they have to order from a large restaurant menu. What if they order the wrong thing and regret it when the food comes?

When it comes to the question of textual method, then, this FOMO may predispose conscientious Bible readers to reject any view that might leave them with less, especially when they don’t know Greek and don’t feel confident to judge between arguments about manuscript quality and the clash of internal criteria. It just feels safer to follow the Bible that avoids FOMO. Please note, I am not looking down my nose at them for this. I know the feeling myself and I sympathize with anyone new to the subject who feels this way. 

Moving beyond It

But I also think that choosing a Bible translation or an approach to textual criticism based on FOMO is a bad way to do it. I see at least three reasons. First, though not all fear is bad, even good fear can cloud good judgment. Second, since I can’t think of a theological reason why its better to add text than remove it, a greater fear of missing text creates a bias. Third, and most important, FOMO confronts us either way. Whether you use an MT-based translation like the KJV/NKJV or an eclectic text-based one like the NASB/ESV, your English Bible is missing things that the other has. There is no translation whose text has everything that the other is lacking (the NKJV with its notes is the closest you can get I suppose). That means the potential for FOMO can’t be avoided. So, your decision will have to be based on more than a fear of missing out. (If you want to put it positively, you are going to gain some readings either way.)

Saying this, however, is not enough. It only seems to click when people see it with their own eyes. To that end, here are some places where the KJV is missing text found in the NASB95. Some of these came readily to mind and some I found using kjvparallelbible.org. I’ve restricted myself to the NT and to differences that rise above the level of the merely trivial, but we could expand the list, especially if we brought the OT into the picture (for example).

NT Examples

Mark 3.16

• NASB: And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter),
• KJV: And Simon he surnamed Peter;

1 Cor. 7.38

1 Cor. 9.20

• NASB: To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;
• KJV: And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

James 4.12

1 John 2.23

• NASB: Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
• KJV: Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. [The italics mark this as a variant; more on this here and here]

1 John 3.1

• NASB: See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
• KJV: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Jude 3

Rev. 8.7

• NASB: The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
• KJV: The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Rev. 20.14