John 1:27
 
John 1:27
(KJV) He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
(1611 KJV) He it is, who comming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to vnloose.
(1526 Tyndale) he it is that cometh after me whiche was before me whose sho latchet I am not worthy to vnlose.
(1382 Wycliffe) he it is, that schal come aftir me, that was maad bifor me, of whom Y am not worthi to louse the thwong of his schoo.
 
Counterfeit Versions
(CSB) He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.”
(NIV) He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."
(NASV) "It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
(NLT) who will soon begin his ministry. I am not even worthy to be his slave.
(ESV) even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
(CEV) Even though I came first, I am not good enough to untie his sandals."
(1901 ASV) even he that cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.
(NLV) He is the One Who is coming after me. I am not good enough to get down and help Him take off His shoes."
(HCSB) He is the One coming after me, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to untie."
(TNIV) He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."
(NCV) He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals."
(RSV) even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
(NAB-Roman Catholic) the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) the one coming behind me, but the lace of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
 
Textus Receptus- Traditional Text
autoV estin o opisw mou ercomenoV oV emprosqen mou gegonen ou egw ouk eimi axioV ina lusw autou ton imanta tou upodhmatoV
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
opisw mou ercomenoV ou ouk eimi [egw] axioV ina lusw autou ton imanta tou upodhmatoV
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century (original)
L 019 - Eighth Century
X 033 - Tenth century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century (corrected)
K 017 - Ninth century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit “is preferred before me”
Greisbach, Johann - 1805
Lachmann, Karl - 1842 (in brackets or margin)
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
 
Affected Teaching
In this portion of Scripture, John the Baptist is speaking to the delegation sent by the Pharisees to inquire as to whether John was the prophesied Messiah or not. John, being a very strong and true prophet, did not point the men to himself. He stated that he came before the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry had started before the ministry of Jesus but The Lord Jesus Christ was the one that he was the forerunner for. This is why under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he made the statement that Christ was preferred before him. This pointed the representatives of the Pharisees toward Christ and away from John. The King James Bible keeps our spiritual eyes focused on the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and not John. John was being a humble man because he stated that he was not even worthy to untie the shoes of the Lord Jesus.
 
The modern versions remove that portion which points to the Lord Jesus Christ. After all, if you were an intellectual Gnostic, would you want to point people to another rather than yourself? Let’s bring it down to today. If you were a Ph.D. would you want to point people to others rather than yourself? By continually removing the phrases which lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ from Scripture the modern versions tend to push us into the hands of the intellectual clergy and their psychology based counseling ministries. The Holy Spirit is the one who leads us into all truth but the modern versions keep chipping away at the truths of Scripture and leave more and more to conjecture rather than written truth. If more churches would keep the King James Bible and preach from it, there would be no need for psycho-babble or Purpose Driven nightmares. Once again the King James proves itself faithful while the modern versions attack the Lord Jesus Christ.

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