Blessed are the placemakers

The title of this post is taken from 'The Placemakers Bible', the second edition of the Geneva Bible of 1562 in which Matthew 5:9 reads ‘blessed are the placemakers’.

Having previously spent five years in print media, I am aware that mistakes are often made. These mistakes can cause confusion and offence but also much mirth. Just imagine for a moment what it must have been like to compile a bible prior to the advent of desktop publishing. Well mistakes were made and for those of you who may not have already had the pleasure, I have picked my favourites from the 16th edition of Brewer's Phrase and Fable - my favourite reference work.

The Affinity Bible of 1923, named for the error contained in a Table of Affinity where it states that ‘A man may not marry his grandmother’s wife’.

There is an edition from Ireland, 1716, in which John 5:14 instructs us to ‘sin on more’

The Unrighteous Bible, of 1652, contains this gem in 1 Corinthians 6:9: ‘know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God?’.

The Wicked Bible, a printing from 1631 in which the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14) instructs: ‘Thou shalt commit adultery.’

Quite appropriately, David complains in Psalm 119:161 of a 1702 edition that ‘printers have persecuted me without cause’

But, far and away, the best is The Fool Bible, an edition printed during the reign of Charles I, for which the printers were fined £3,000. It stated quite plainly in Psalm 14:1 that: ‘the fool hath said in is heart there is a God’

for more go to Bible errata on wikipedia

Thanks for the laugh!


Those unintentional mistakes brought to mind other, more intentional fun with the Bible.

Like have you heard of the LOLCat Bible translation? ( http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Main_Page )

Here's a sample, Genesis 1:1-3 LOLCat style:

Boreded Ceiling Cat makinkgz Urf n stuffs
1 Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.

2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz.

3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.4 An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin.5 An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1


And that brought to mind a slightly unorthodox version of a Jesus story:



Which brought to mind Ricky Gervais' analysis of the Genesis:



Whatever else the Bible is, it apparently is a fruitful source of entertainment.