1611 KJV Marginal Notes = Modern Version Textual Footnotes? James White Thomas Ross Debate Review #9

"Bible Version Debate: Are KJV Marginal Notes the Same as Modern Bible Version Textual Footnotes?" is review video #9 of the James White - Thomas Ross King James Only debate. James White had stated that he believed "very, very firmly" that the KJV translators would be "completely" on his side in the debate.

The 1611 edition of the King James Bible (Authorized Version) had marginal notes, notes reprinted in the editions of the King James Version published by the pro-Textus Receptus, anti-Textus Rejectus (Nestle-Aland) Trinitarian Bible Society and in some other editions. In the debate, James White used what he called the “many, many, many, many marginal notes the King James translators themselves provided” as justification for the marginal notes in modern Bible versions like the LSB (Legacy Standard Bible) and as an argument against the King James Only position.

Similarly, in his King James Only Controversy, James White claims that when advocates of perfect preservation attack the marginal notes in modern versions, but do not attack those in the KJV, “The inconsistency speaks volumes” (pg. 123). He wrote:

Modern Bible translations as a matter of standard practice include TEXTUAL FOOTNOTES to indicate to the reader where the Greek or Hebrew manuscripts contain variants. KJV Only advocates generally dislike such footnotes, feeling that they can confuse the reader and that they are in fact faith-destroying. If a version dares to note that a word, phrase, or verse is questionable, it will be accused of attacking the Word of God by those who define the KJV as the Word of God. Unfortunately, many AV defenders seem unaware that, as noted previously, the King James Version contained 8,422 SUCH MARGINAL READINGS and notes when first published (pg. 264).

James White provides no written primary sources—or, indeed, any documentation at all—of any defender of the KJV who denies that the 1611 edition had marginal notes, nor any proof of any kind that “many” of those who write in defense of the KJV are unaware of the marginal notes. These claims are mere undocumented assertions. He makes claims about “many” KJV defenders allegedly ignorant of the marginal notes, and cites none—he provides no sources at all to substantiate his claim.

On page 264 of his King James Only Controversy White is discussing doctrine-changing marginal notes in modern versions where facts like Jesus’s Deity and character as the Son of God are attacked, notes like the variant in 1 Timothy 3:16, where the Textus Receptus and KJV teach the Deity of Christ in 1 Timothy 3:16 but modern Bible versions based on the Nestle-Aland Textus Rejectus do not, and Mark 1:1, where the Textus Receptus and the KJV teach that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, while modern versions based on the Textus Rejectus do not—influencing how one interprets and preaches the entire Gospel of Mark. White claims that the KJV contains “8,422 such marginal readings,” that is, these sorts of doctrine-changing “textual footnotes.” James White's assertions are inaccurate and highly misleading.

James White's The King James Only Controversy goes on to assert:

One issue arising in the preface that is very relevant to the KJV Only controversy is the inclusion of alternative translations or marginal readings in the KJV. The translators defended their inclusion of these items[.] … When the very preface to the King James Version says “variety of Translations is profitable for the finding out of the sense of the Scriptures,” the KJV Only position thereby is proven utterly ahistorical. That stance requires the translation to be something its own authors never intended it to be. (pgs. 121-122)

Modern Bible versions are full of textual notes that support heresy and corrupt Biblical doctrine. For example, in Matthew 27:49 the LSB textual note states:

Some early mss add And another took a spear and pierced His side, and there came out water and blood

This LSB note denies that Christ died by crucifixion, instead affirming the Savior was killed before the cross by a spear thrust-wicked heresy.

NONE of the 1611 KJV's marginal notes attack any doctrine of the Christian faith. Furthermore, the KJV translators were following the following rule:

“No marginal notes at all be affixed, but only for the explanation of the Hebrew or Greek words, which cannot, without some circumlocution, so briefly and fitly be expressed in the text.”

There is the greatest difference between the 1611 KJV marginal notes telling Christian readers that the Hebrew of Genesis 11:1 said “the whole earth was of one LIP, and of one speech,” and that “of one lip” is how the Hebrews would say “of one language,” and marginal notes in modern versions attacking orthodox doctrine. Around 99.5% of the KJV marginal notes are not even arguably related to textual variation, and not one marginal note in the King James Version does anything like suggest that Christ was killed by a spear thrust rather than dying by crucifixion.