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Many words in Hebrew and Greek carry multiple possible meanings, even as they do in English. It
is the task of the Bible translator to determine which word best conveys the author’s intent. In many
instances Bible scholars have sincere differences of opinion on how a word should be translated, yet
most readers of a particular Bible version would not know that there is any dispute about the
meaning of a passage unless there is some marginal note explaining that a variant reading exists.

There are some Bible versions that provide such notes. One Bible that was created specifically to
make the reader aware of many of the significant variant readings is called the Variorum Bible. It
was produced in 1880. The Variorum Bible took the KJV Bible as its main text, noting wherever a
variant reading existed. The Variorum Bible did not attempt to provide an exhaustive list of variant
readings, rather it focused upon those textual differences that could alter the meaning of a passage.
The KJV Bible used the Textus Receptus as its basis for translating the New Testament from Greek
into English. The Textus Receptus was produced by Erasmus a century prior to the publication of the
King James Bible. Erasmus had only five Greek manuscripts to work from, and none of them were
complete, nor were they chosen for their accuracy. They were simply those manuscripts Erasmus
could get his hands on at short notice. In the Preface to the Variorum Bible, we find the following
statement.

(2) With regard to the Various Readings, it is necessary to remind the reader that the text from which
the Authorised Version (KJV) of the New Testament is translated is substantially identical with that
of the first edition of the Greek text published by Erasmus in 1510, an edition based upon not more
than five MSS., and those chosen almost at random without any regard to their intrinsic value. The
discovery of some of the most ancient and valuable MSS. of the New Testament, and the systematic
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use of others, both ancient and valuable, which, though known in Western Europe in the 16 century,
were scarcely used, and, in general, a more comprehensive study of MSS. and ancient Versions, has
shewn that this " Received Text," as it is called, labours under manifold corruptions.

Regarding the Hebrew Old Testament, the editors of the Variorum Bible include the following note:

The Hebrew text of the Old Testament stands upon a somewhat different footing. The form in which
it appears in the printed Bibles is that in which it has been fixed by the Jews themselves for