KJV Variorum | BibleSanity.org

About...

The Gospel

Biblical Inerrancy

Natural Interpretation

You are Here: BibleSanity.org >> Bible Versions >> KJV Variorum Bible

Variorum Bible - "Teacher's Edition" (KJV 1881)

Information and Review

What is the Variorum Bible?

The Variorum Bible is a King James Version Bible published in 1881 which is marked inline and in footnotes from about 70 commentators. Notes compare the given text to at least 23 manuscripts and at least 6 versions in Latin, Syrian, and Coptic. It is a unique reference for anyone who wants to read KJV with a running awareness of manuscript variation. The presented text is the unmodified 1611 KJV (Oxford 1769 edition) and the key to all abbreviation used is in the preface section.

The value of the Variorum Bible is in providing elaboration for too-generalized translation footnotes often provided in modern translations.

For example:

The NIV (1984 ed) says, "The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20."

The NASB (1995 ed) says, "Some of the oldest mss. do not contain vs 9-20."

The Variorum Bible lets us know the section IS included in the most prominant Majority Text manuscripts, A, C, D (Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Ephraemi, Codex Bezae), and is in most ancient versions (Old Latin, Syriac, Coptic, etc.), but IS NOT in the two primary Critical texts manuscripts, א, B (Codex Sinaiticus, Vaticanus). The Variorum Bible also provides some additional notes regarding the passage.

The Variorum Bible is also a chain-reference study Bible. The glossary, concordance, maps, and Bible dictionary-style contents comprise the last over 300 pages of the work.

Format Limitations - The Internet Archive Edition

You need to use the Internet Archive version to read photo-plates of the Variorum Bible, as it is apparently not available as e-text or digital notes. There is a thrift paperback copy which has all the photographed plates on it's tiny 600 pages (bought one - ridiculously miniaturized), and there are collectable editions for sale starting around $100+ dollars.

The Variorum KJV 1881 is avaliable online at The Internet Archive. This is an excellent scanned version for practical use, complete with very necessary zoom feature. Browsing this scanned copy allows copy and paste, but not all text will copy and some will need to be manually corrected.

Comparison to the NET Bible Translation Notes

The New English Translation (NET) Bible translation notes explain the English language chosen to represent the original language, and may or may not include manuscript inclusion/omission/variation notes. With the Variorum Bible, the notes are focused on mss representation, not the translation. The notes of both references can be effectively similar in many places, but the purpose of the notes is very different. The take-away of comparison is that they are distinct enough to want either one or the other, but they can also be used well together.