Biblish: American Addiction to Not-Quite-Scripture
By Ben Marsh - Posted at Substack : Published April 20, 2026 The Wicked Bible (1631) (no relation to musical/movie) left out “NOT” when commanding “THOU SHALT COMMIT ADULTERY” The 1716 KJV commanded us to “SIN ON MORE” in Jeremiah 31:34. Mistypes like this - comical, memorable - are a longstanding tradition in Bible copying and printing. There was the scribe who missed two letters ( ην ) in the word γαλήνη (calm), changing the context to “a great weasel” instead of “a great calm.” And in my favorite illustrated Bible, the Book of Kells, a Latin scribe wrote gaudium (joy) instead of gladium (sword), altering the verse to “I came not [only] to send peace, but [also] joy.” Would that America suffered from such innocent mistakes. Secretary Hegseth’s latest foible with Scripture is but one example of a constant American rush to adulate the Bible without reading it. Why quote the real thing when Samuel L. Jackson’s speech from Pulp Fiction sounds so much manlier? Said President Obama, “Th...
