The Anselm Project Bible
The Crux Registry
The Bible's most argued-over readings — 54 of them — laid out witness by witness: what the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts actually say, where they disagree, and what a translation committee that never knew it was translating the Bible did at each one. No verdicts. The evidence is the point.
Hebrew Bible
Psalm 22:16
Pierced, or like a lion
A vav-versus-yod difference in Psalm 22:16 separates a verbal reading, they dug or pierced, from the Masoretic like a lion clause.
Genesis 4:8
Cain's missing words
At Genesis 4:8, SP, LXX, and Vg supply a field invitation; MT moves from Cain’s speech directly to the field.
Deuteronomy 32:8
Sons of God, or of Israel
The Hebrew wording in Deuteronomy 32:8 differs between sons of God and sons of Israel, with consequences for how the nations’ boundaries are described.
Isaiah 7:14
Virgin, or young woman
The Hebrew witnesses read העלמה, while the Septuagint uses ἡ παρθένος; the difference centers on how Isaiah 7:14 was rendered in Greek.
Isaiah 53:11
He shall see — light?
At Isaiah 53:11, the MT reads simply he shall see, but the Great Isaiah Scroll and the Septuagint attest wording that includes light.
Psalm 145:13
The missing nun line
One textual tradition moves directly from mem to samekh, while a Hebrew scroll and the Greek translation include a nun line about God’s faithfulness.
2 Samuel 21:19
Who killed Goliath?
2 Samuel 21:19 identifies Elhanan’s victim as Goliath; 1 Chronicles 20:5 identifies him as Lahmi, Goliath’s brother.
Genesis 47:31
Bed, or staff
At Genesis 47:31, the same Hebrew consonants can be pointed as bed or staff: MT supplies bed, while LXX supplies staff and the wording quoted in Hebrews 11:21.
Psalm 40:6
Ears dug, or body prepared
The Septuagint gives a prepared body where the Masoretic Text gives opened ears, and Hebrews 10:5 uses the Greek wording.
Job 13:15
Hope in him — or no hope
In Job 13:15, the Masoretic consonants give a negative statement, while the marginal qere directs a reading of hope in him.
Psalm 100:3
Not we — or his we are
Psalm 100:3’s written text says “and not we ourselves”; its Masoretic marginal reading says “and his we are.”
Judges 18:30
Moses, or Manasseh
A hanging nun in Judges 18:30 distinguishes Manasseh from Moses: the WLC has the raised letter, while Vg reads Moses.
Isaiah 21:8
A lion — or the watcher
Isaiah 21:8 has either a lion or the watcher: MT supports אריה, while the Great Isaiah Scroll supports הראה.
Isaiah 14:12
Lucifer, or Day Star
The Hebrew and Greek present a morning-star image in Isaiah 14:12, while the Latin lucifer later became capitalized as a proper name in tradition.
Greek New Testament
Mark 1:1
Mark's opening line
Mark 1:1 has a longer υἱοῦ θεοῦ reading and a short Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ reading, represented by the listed witnesses.
Mark 1:41
Angry, or compassionate
At Mark 1:41, the textual question is whether Jesus responds to the leprous man with anger or compassion before touching and cleansing him.
John 1:18
Only Son, or only God
John 1:18 divides between μονογενὴς θεὸς in NA28 and P66 P75, and ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός in RP and the Byzantine majority.
1 Timothy 3:16
God, or he who
At 1 Timothy 3:16, NA28 prints a pronoun while the Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform prints God; the forms differ by small strokes in uncial script.
Jude 1:5
Jesus, or the Lord
At Jude 1:5, the text may name Jesus or the Lord as the one who saved a people out of Egypt.
Romans 5:1
One vowel in Romans
A one-letter Greek variant in Romans 5:1 makes peace with God either a statement or an exhortation; the oldest copies favor the exhortation.
Hebrews 2:9
Grace of God, or apart from God
At Hebrews 2:9, the SBL Greek New Testament prints “apart from God”; NA28 and the Byzantine text read “by the grace of God.”
2 Peter 3:10
Burned up, or laid bare
The verb describing the earth and its works differs: WH prints εὑρεθήσεται, RP prints κατακαήσεται, and NA28 adopts οὐχ εὑρεθήσεται.
Luke 2:14
The angels' sigma
A final sigma separates Luke 2:14's peace among people of good pleasure from its reading of good will toward men.
John 1:34
Son, or Chosen One
At John 1:34, witnesses and editions divide between ὁ ἐκλεκτός, the Chosen One, and ὁ υἱός, the Son.
Matthew 24:36
Nor the Son
In Matthew 24:36, NA28 and WH print οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός, while Tregelles and the Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform omit the phrase.
Matthew 5:22
The softening word
At Matthew 5:22, Westcott-Hort prints anger with no qualifier, while Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform includes εἰκῆ, “without cause.”
John 3:13
Who is in heaven
John 3:13 is transmitted with either a shorter ending after the Son of Man or an added clause placing him in heaven.
Acts 20:28
Church of God, or of the Lord
The supplied evidence for Acts 20:28 is divided between τοῦ θεοῦ, of God, and τοῦ κυρίου, of the Lord.
Matthew 27:16
Jesus Barabbas
Some witnesses give the prisoner a double name, Jesus Barabbas; others omit Jesus, leaving Barabbas alone.
Mark 10:24
The camel's qualifier
Some witnesses make Mark 10:24 a warning about entry into the kingdom generally; others limit it to people who trust in riches.
Luke 4:44
Judea, or Galilee
At Luke 4:44, the regional term varies between Ἰουδαίας and Γαλιλαίας, creating a Judea-or-Galilee question within a Galilee setting.
Ephesians 1:1
In Ephesus — or blank
At Ephesians 1:1, P46 ℵ* B* lack a city name, while NA28 and the apparatus editions print ἐν Ἐφέσῳ.
Verses that come and go
Joshua 21:36
Joshua's missing verses
Joshua 21:36-37 appear in the Westminster Leningrad Codex but are omitted by a branch of Masoretic manuscripts, leaving the Levitical-city count short.
1 John 5:7
The Comma Johanneum
At 1 John 5:7, Greek manuscript tradition omits the heavenly witnesses, while the Old Latin / Vulgate tradition and Textus Receptus include them.
Luke 23:34
Father, forgive them
Luke 23:34 either includes Jesus’ prayer for forgiveness or moves directly into the crucifixion narrative; the supplied witnesses preserve both forms.
Matthew 6:13
The Lord's Prayer doxology
Matthew 6:13 has two printed endings: NA28 ends after rescue from evil, while RP prints the kingdom, power, and glory doxology.
Acts 8:36
The eunuch's confession
Acts 8:37 marks a disputed baptismal confession: the earliest manuscripts and versions omit the verse, while the TR prints it.
John 5:3
The angel at Bethesda
John 5:4 divides a shorter text with no pool explanation from a longer text in which an angel stirs the water and the first entrant is healed.
Matthew 18:10
Matthew's missing verse
At Matthew 18:10-14, Westcott-Hort has a direct transition to the lost-sheep parable, while Robinson-Pierpont retains Matthew 18:11.
Mark 7:15
Ears to hear
At Mark 7:16, WH and NA28 proceed without the refrain, while Treg and RP print Εἴ τις ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω.
Mark 9:45
The worm verses
Some editions print the undying-worm refrain only at Mark 9:48, while others repeat it at 9:44, 9:46, and 9:48.
Luke 23:16
Luke's missing verse
At Luke 23:17, WH joins verse 16 directly to verse 18, while RP prints a feast-release custom.
Romans 16:24
The wandering benediction
Some editions end Romans 16 without verse 24; others retain the grace benediction before the closing doxology.
Matthew 21:44
The crushing stone
Matthew 21:44 appears in nearly all manuscripts but is absent from Papyrus 104, Bezae, and Old Latin; the disputed verse closely resembles Luke 20:18.
Matthew 17:20
Prayer and fasting
Matthew 17:21 appears in Treg and RP but is absent from WH and NA28, leaving a question over a prayer-and-fasting saying after the mustard-seed answer.
Luke 9:55
What spirit you are of
Luke 9:55 is brief in Westcott-Hort (1881), while Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform (2005) includes Jesus’ saying about their spirit.
Passages that come and go
Mark 16:8
Mark's longer ending
Mark may conclude with the women afraid at 16:8, or continue with twelve verses containing appearances, signs, and the ascension.
John 7:52
The wandering pericope
Some witnesses omit the account after John 7:52, while the Byzantine Textform prints it; the variant concerns the story’s place in John.
Luke 22:43
The bloody sweat
Some witnesses print the angel who strengthens Jesus and sweat like blood, while Papyrus 75 and Vaticanus omit the two verses.
Matthew 16:2
Signs of the times
Matthew 16:2-3 has a split: ℵ B and early versions omit the red-sky sayings, while Tregelles, NA28, and RP print them.
Numbers in dispute
1 Samuel 13:1
Saul's missing age
The Hebrew text reads Saul as a year old, but the formula appears to lack its age number; Greek witnesses either omit the verse or supply thirty.
1 Samuel 17:4
Goliath: four cubits or six
At 1 Samuel 17:4, 4QSamᵃ and LXXᴮ read four cubits and a span, while the MT reads six cubits and a span.
2 Kings 8:26
Ahaziah: 22 or 42
Kings gives Ahaziah an accession age of twenty-two; Chronicles gives forty-two, while Greek Chronicles has twenty.
Revelation 13:18
666, or 616
Revelation 13:18 has readings for 666 and 616: χξϛ and χιϛ, separated by a single Greek numeral letter.
Every page in the registry documents its witnesses from open data — the Westminster Leningrad Codex, the SBLGNT and its apparatus (CC BY 4.0) — and links each manuscript claim to its published source. The committee records come from the Anselm Project Bible's public audit trail, downloadable in full on Hugging Face.