Oh my! King James Bible says 'Thou shalt commit adultery'

HOBE SOUND, Fla. – Have you ever seen a Holy Bible that actually says, "Thou shalt commit adultery" instead of "Thou shalt not?" Now's your chance.

A collection of rare Bibles, some more than 600 years old dating back to the 14th century is now on display this week at the Hobe Sound Bible College in this South Florida town.

An original page from the King James translation of the Bible from 1611 on display at the Hobe Sound Bible College in South Florida. (WND photo / Joe Kovacs)

Among the collection is the so-called "Wicked Bible" of 1632, which is a King James translation that has a prominent mistake in the Seventh Commandment of the famous Ten Commandments. It wrongly omits the word "not," and shows the instruction as "Thou shalt commit adultery."

Benjamin Crawford of the Bible Heritage Foundation points to the fine print of the Seventh Commandment in the so-called "Wicked Bible" of 1632, which wrongly declares, "Thou shalt commit adultery." (WND photo / Joe Kovacs)

"Regardless of beliefs or background, this exhibition will be fascinating to those who love history and the stories of those who shaped it," said college spokesman Paul Stetler. "These artifacts profoundly impacted the history of the English-speaking world."

Usually kept in a bank vault in Indianapolis, the privately owned collection of 22 items is rarely displayed for public viewing, and the artifacts are all original first editions, with no copies or facsimiles.

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This exhibition celebrates the 400th anniversary of the King James translation of the Bible, but there are Bibles on display that pre-date the King James Version by hundreds of years, one by John Wycliffe who began translating the New Testament into English in the early 1380s.

"John Wycliffe was one of the very first to translate the Scriptures from Latin into English," said Stetler. "It's a handwritten manuscript. It's extremely valuable and extremely rare. There are only five of this particular Bible in existence. Three of them are in museums, two of them are in private hands, we get one of them."

Also on display is the Tyndale New Testament from 1536, a translation by William Tyndale, another man to put the ancient text into English. He was put to death for his beliefs and efforts. Authorities at the time were said to be looking to prevent any private individual from publishing his own translation of Scripture without the approval of church officials.

A page from Acts of the Apostles is displayed from the William Tyndale New Testament of 1536. (WND photo / Joe Kovacs)

The public can also see Thomas Cromwell's Great Bible from 1541, which was commissioned by King Henry VIII when he created the Church of England by separating from the Roman Catholic Church.

Other translations include the Coverdale Bible, the first to be printed in English rather than written by hand, and the Geneva Bible of 1560, which is the first Bible to be divided into chapters and verses, and the version the Puritans favored when they first came to America in the early 17th century.

The Old Testament Book of 1 Kings is displayed from the Geneva Bible of 1560. (WND photo / Joe Kovacs)

Experts in biblical history are on hand to provide mini-lectures about details of the development of the Bible through the centuries, much of which was far from a love-filled endeavor.

"Some of these Bibles were literally paid for by blood," said Stetler. "William Tyndale was burned at the stake for translating the Bible. John Wycliffe was pursued up until his death. They were not able to catch him before he died of natural causes, but they did get their last little dig in by digging up his body and burning his ashes and casting them in the English Channel."

He continued: "Of course in those days, in the eyes of the church, if you were not buried in consecrated ground, that meant that your soul was damned, and so they were trying to damn his soul. That's how strongly they felt about preventing the Bible from being in the hands of the common people. They wanted the Bible to be kept in Latin so that they could maintain their monopoly on truth.

The John Wycliffe Bible, the first handwritten translation from Latin to English dates back to the early 1380s. (WND photo / Joe Kovacs)

"Thank God there were people who were willing to even shed their blood to see that that was changed, to see that we could have the Scriptures in English. Really when you think about it, politically it is significant because it gave birth to the rise of individual freedom that has led to American democracy, and of course spiritually, it is tremendously significant."

During a speech about the history of the Bible this weekend, David Gordeuk, chairman of the ministerial department at Hobe Sound Bible College, said he's continually amazed by the strong sentiments many have when it comes to Scripture.

"Why is it that there was so much and there continues to be so much reaction – in some cases positive and some cases very negative – against the Bible? It's still happening. What is it about it that makes some people so antagonistic?" he asked.

"I would suggest one thing about it is its truth claims. The Bible does claim to be the truth. ... There is power in the Word itself. Thank God for it, and thank God for the preservation."

For Bible junkies, the exhibition has a special bonus. If you've ever wanted to own a piece of an original King James Bible, actually loose-leaf pages from the archaic text are being offered for sale for $250 per page.

Though there's no entrance fee for the event which runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, donations are accepted to help offset the cost of insurance and security for the ancient documents. Another exhibit with the King James Bibles is planned to take place in Chicago next month.