Why Is Matthew 18:11 Missing in Most Bibles?
If you’ve ever opened your Bible to Matthew 18, you might have noticed something strange: verse 11 is missing. If you’re using a modern translation like the NIV, ESV, or NASB, you simply won’t find it. But if you’re using a King James Version (KJV) you’ll see that Matthew 18:11 is still included.
This may seem odd at first, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the history of the Bible’s transmission. Why is there this discrepancy? Why would a verse be included in some translations and not others?
So let’s take a look at why Matthew 18:11 is missing in many modern Bibles—and what this can teach us about the reliability and integrity of the Bible we read today.
What Does Matthew 18:11 Say?
Before we dive into the details, let’s take a quick look at what Matthew 18:11 says in the King James Version (KJV):
"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."
At first glance, this verse seems to fit right in with the surrounding passage. Jesus has been talking about the church’s relationship with one another and is about to give the famous parable of the lost sheep. So why does it get cut?
The History of the Bible: Handwritten Copies and Scribes
To understand why this verse is missing from many Bibles, we need to go back to the way the Bible was originally copied and transmitted. The New Testament was written long before the invention of the printing press. In fact, for centuries, every copy of the New Testament was painstakingly handwritten by scribes.
When scribes copied the text, they sometimes made mistakes or even intentionally made changes. Whether this was to correct perceived errors, clarify meanings, or harmonize passages from different Gospels. This has led many people to doubt the reliability of the Bible as we have it today. I mean, that makes sense. If you spread this human hand copying out over 1500 years, the ‘telephone game’ principle seems inevitable. How could the original meaning of the text possibly survive?
While this sounds like a recipe for confusion, the reality is much different. When one looks at the historical manuscript evidence of the New Testament, one finds that it actually bolsters the reliability of the Bible rather than diminishing it. The sheer number of manuscript copies that have been preserved is astounding and answers any doubts one might have. We have thousands of ancient manuscripts of the New Testament—far more than any other ancient text—which allows us to trace the history of the Bible with remarkable precision. This is one of the main reasons why we can be confident that the Bible we have today is incredibly reliable.
The Case of Matthew 18:11
So, why is Matthew 18:11 missing from many Bibles? The answer is simple: this verse wasn’t originally part of the Gospel of Matthew. It seems that Matthew 18:11 was added to the text sometime around the 6th century. This was well after the Gospel was written.
The verse itself seems to be a quotation from Luke 19:10, where Jesus says, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." This quote from Luke may have been inserted into Matthew 18 by a well-meaning scribe to make the passage align more closely with Luke’s Gospel. But there’s a problem: it’s an addition. Any study of the manuscript evidence shows this clearly. Pre-6th century copies of Matthew? No 18:11. Post-6th century? Some have it. Including texts used in the translation of the King James Version.
So does Matthew 18:11 show that the Bible has been corrupted over time? Not at all. In fact, the story of Matthew 18:11 is one of the best pieces of evidence for the reliability of the Bible.
Here’s why:
Textual Consistency: Despite this small discrepancy, the vast majority of the New Testament text remains consistent across all manuscripts. We have tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts, and by comparing them, we can be confident that the Bible’s message has been faithfully and meticulously preserved over the centuries.
Textual Criticism: Scholars use a method called textual criticism to compare these manuscripts and create a sort of trail of evidence showing any changes or evolved meanings. In the case of Matthew 18:11, the fact that it’s missing from early and reliable manuscripts shows that it was a later addition, not an original part of the Gospel.
Trust in the Bible’s Integrity: The story of Matthew 18:11 highlights how carefully the Bible has been preserved. Rather than making arbitrary changes, scribes took great care to transmit the text accurately. And when discrepancies like this are found, modern scholars can detect and explain them—giving us even more confidence in the integrity of the Scriptures.
A Closer Look at the KJV and the Missing Verse
So why does the King James Version (KJV) still include Matthew 18:11, while other translations do not? The answer lies in the manuscripts that the KJV translators used. The KJV was based on a Greek text that included Matthew 18:11, but modern translations are based on a different set of earlier manuscripts that do not include the verse. As more ancient manuscripts were discovered and compared after the KJV was published in 1611, scholars realized that Matthew 18:11 was likely a later addition.
The Bible’s Reliability in the Face of Discrepancies
It’s important to remember that discrepancies like the missing Matthew 18:11 don’t undermine the trustworthiness of the Bible. On the contrary, they highlight the careful scholarly work that has gone into preserving the Scriptures over time.
Some critics argue that such differences mean the Bible is unreliable or that it has been changed to fit particular theological agendas. However, as Matthew 18:11 shows, when we examine the history of the Bible’s transmission, we see that what happened over the centuries was not a deliberate manipulation of the text, but rather an ongoing effort to preserve its message as accurately as possible.
The evidence we have today shows that the Bible we read is remarkably trustworthy—even in cases where certain verses like Matthew 18:11 are missing or disputed.
Conclusion
W we encounter something like Matthew 18:11 being missing in our Bibles, it’s an opportunity to deepen our understanding of how the Bible has been transmitted to us—and why we can trust it. Through the centuries, scholars and scribes have worked to preserve the message of Scripture, and that message remains faithful and true today.
