Bible
Mark 5:18-20 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
Yes, there is overwhelming documentary evidence for the retention of these words in the text, just as they stand in the Authorised Version. Some ancient manuscripts omit the words, but these documents are a comparatively small, unrepresentative and unreliable minority. Those who dismiss the words as an interpolation cannot adequately explain how the alleged interpolation established itself without appreciable variation in nearly all the manuscripts, found its way into every part of Christendom from the earliest times, established itself in the Greek copies used in public worship, the ‘Lectionaries’ and ‘Liturgies’, and has for long ages formed a part of the private and public devotions of many of the Lord’s people all over the world.
This article/video argues that John 5.39 in the Authorised (King James) Version correctly begins with the imperative ‘Search the scriptures’, rather than the indicative ‘You search the scriptures’ found in modern versions. Through careful analysis of the Greek grammar, context, and doctrinal implications, it contends that the imperative is the correct translation, Christ’s intent, and the Bible believing principle of sola scriptura.
‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world’ (John 1.29).
“For centuries, those translating the Word of God from the Greek and Hebrew texts have recognised the great responsibility they have in producing accurate versions of the Bible, in which nothing can be added or omitted. They knew that it would be no easy task: these Greek and Hebrew scholars knew that they could not always translate one word with another single word. They also knew that there would be occasions in which a different word might be used instead of the ones that they chose. Therefore, these translators decided that, when a word or words had to be added so that the English reader could understand what the Greek and Hebrew words meant, they would add those words in italic type.”
Most of the modern versions either omit or place in brackets the last few words of John 5 verse 3 and the whole of verse 4, and it is often asserted that these words are of doubtful authority or that they are spurious. However, the evidence makes it quite clear that in the majority of the copies and versions over a wide area retained the disputed words as an authentic part of the inspired text.
