English prints from 1800 to 1945 and the Sabbath

The previous chapters have focused on the English Bible manuscripts and the first Bible prints up to 1799, many of which tell of the resurrection of Jesus "on a Sabbath morning". This is the same statement of other Bibles produced from 1800 until the end of World War II in 1945.

Charles Thomson (*1729, †1824) produced the first translation of the Septuagint into English and also the first translation of the New Testament Scriptures into modern English. It was thus the first purely American translation, for until then only the text of the Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible (produced in America from 1790) or the King James Version had been printed. In the passages dealing with the resurrection of Jesus, Thomson translated similarly to the King James Bible, speaking in each case of "on the first day of the week." The Thomson Bible was produced by Jane Aitken (1764-1832), the daughter of Robert Aitken. She was the first woman in the world to print a Bible: 

The Briton Dr. Robert Young (*1822, †1888) published a new Bible translation in 1862, which was slightly revised by him in 1887. Although the meeting day (Acts 20:7; 1Cor 16:2) was shifted to the "first day of the week", the resurrection Sabbath was preserved. Even in the 1898 Revised Youngs Literal Translation (RYLT), written again into better English a year after Young's death, the statement about the resurrection day did not change. In Mark 16:9 Young mentions the Sabbath in the plural although the basic text speaks of the genitive singular ("early on the first Sabbath"). This was not literal, yet poses no problem at all, since this Sabbath is indeed the "first of the Sabbaths", that is, the first of the 7 Sabbaths until Pentecost. Just as there are the 4 Sundays of Advent, the seven (7) Sabbaths until Pentecost have been counted for about 3,500 years. In 2020, according to the Jewish calendar, there is exactly the same sequence of days at Passover as there was in the year Jesus was crucified. The "first of the Sabbaths" then also falls on the 17th of Nisan (see illustrations). If God had meant a resurrection "early on the first Sunday" (of the several Sundays until Pentecost), He would have said so, but God spoke 7 times only of the Sabbath:

Allen K. LeClaire 2005 edited Young's translation with few changes (Modern Young's Literal Translation 2005, abbr.: MYLT). Young's errors were retained.

John Nelson Darby (*1800, †1882) studied in London. After he began to doubt state churchism, he founded numerous Brethren churches in various countries in Europe, North America and Australia. Darby translated the NT in 1867, which was revised in 1871/72 and 1884. The complete Bible was not published until 1890. His translation ("The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages by J. N. Darby") had a significant influence on the text of the German Elberfelder Bible, which he published with Carl Brockhaus. A French-language Bible was also published. Darby was very imprecise in the resurrection chapter and contradicted himself several times in his Bible. For example, although he speaks of "late on sabbath" in Mt 28:1a, he then adds the three words "next day", and "after" to the Bible in verse 28:1b, so that instead of "on a Sabbath," as it says in all the Greek texts, it was now "next day after sabbath." In the other passages he replaces the Greek mia (one) with first (prote) and the Greek sabbaton (Sabbath) with "week", so that he deliberately postpones the resurrection day. In doing so, he places the "day" in parentheses to indicate that it is not in the basic text. Only in Lk 24:1 does he report (even in the 1890 Full Bible) clearly and quite correctly the "on the morrow of the sabbath." So Jesus rose from the dead "on a Sabbath morning"! The evangelists Luke, Matthew, Mark and John did not contradict each other. They all report unanimously in the basic text, it was "on a Sabbath day", only Darby brought the contradictions into the Bible and confused the brethren churches worldwide:

When Julia Smith (*1792, †1886) studied Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, she noticed that several verses in the King James Bible (KJV) were mistranslated. Therefore, she began to retranslate the Bible from the original languages into English. Her work was published by the American Publishing Company in 1876 ("The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments; Translated Literally from the Original Tongues"). The first complete Bible translated by a woman, it contains the resurrection of Jesus "on one of the Sabbaths" of Passover, that is, on the "first Sabbath" of the 7 Sabbaths leading up to Pentecost. While many men before her were not able to distinguish between one/first and Sabbath/week in the basic text, this woman followed the words of the evangelists exactly. A small mistake arose only in Mt 28,1a, because the Greek plural (sabbaton) always meant also the Sabbath in singular according to special language rules (more info). "After the Sabbaths" makes no sense, since only one Sabbath (15th Nisan) has passed and Jesus was resurrected on the following "one of the [seven] Sabbaths" (17th Nisan) until Pentecost. Nevertheless, her translation is very valuable, but unfortunately far too unknown in the Christian churches. God will certainly reward Julia for her faithfulness. For she has not falsified the statements of the Bible, unlike many pastors today who want to justify Sunday worship with all their might, and are not afraid to twist the Word of God to do so. In the first Christian church, every child knew what the expression "on the one of the Sabbaths" or "on the first Sabbath" meant, because everyone still knew the calendar of the Bible. Christians today, on the other hand, are only interested in the Catholic (Gregorian) calendar, but not in God's calendar (more info). Thus they cannot understand what the evangelists wanted to say in the basic Greek text. Julia Smith translates excellently. Julia shows how important women are in the church and always have been, because they can point out mistakes men have made in their translations. She has greatly shamed many pastors, for her wisdom and courage surpasses them all: 

The American evangelist and Methodist William Baxter Godbey (*1833, †1920) published a new translation of the NT. He wrote: "it was the hardest work of my life." Godbey read exclusively the Greek text for about 25 years, knew the language very well. He did write correctly that Jesus was resurrected "on the first of the Sabbaths," namely the first of the 7 weekly Sabbaths until Pentecost, but it would be more accurate if he differentiated between mia (one) and prote (first) in the basic text. Godbey makes a mistake in two places (Jn 20:1; 1Cor 16:2) by shifting back the gathering of Christians by one day according to church doctrine and adding Greek ebdomada (week) to the Bible: 

Ferrar Fenton (*1832, †1920), a businessman from London, published a Bible translation in modern English for Christians outside the British Isles, which was printed in the USA ("The Holy Bible in Modern English"). Fenton spent many years studying the Bible in the Greek language. He assumed that Jesus was crucified not on a Friday but on a Thursday, which was then followed by two Sabbaths in succession (feast and week Sabbath) because the Bible uses the plural sabbaton (Sabbaths). However, if he had studied the Septuagint, he would have realized that according to ancient Greek grammar, this plural has always served to describe a single Sabbath day (more info). In a footnote to Jn 20:1, he writes that this is how he could explain the full "3 days and 3 nights" in the tomb (Mt 12:38-40):

„This is literally according to Greek text: and it is important to observe that particular period, two Sabbaths, or days of sacred rest, actually fell together in the Jewish calendar. The Crucification took place on Thursday, not on a Friday, as it is popularly supposed. This allows for the Lord Jesus having been held in the grip of death three full days and three nights."

Fenton correctly mentions the Sabbath in the singular or plural, but on the other hand he commits great errors because he does not distinguish between "one" and "first" in the Greek, and what is even worse: he adds the words "after" and "following" to the Bible. Thus, he completely distorts the actual meaning of the Gospel. In Acts 20:7 he translates the very same phrase "μια των σαββατων" (see link) that also appears in Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1 in the original Greek text, now as "on the first of the Sabbaths". Here he refrains from his insertion of the word "after," thus clearly proving that he could have translated correctly in the other passages had he wished. As the heading of Acts 20:7 he chose the words, "At Troas - A Christian Sabbath", so this church meeting did not take place on a Sunday, but "on a Sabbath". But this exact 100% same phrase was used in the other places mentioned below, so the heading should be "on a Sabbath" in the resurrection chapter as well. Sunday was never a "Christian Sabbath" because the Sabbath, as the last day of the week (from sunset to sunset), has been a clearly defined day for thousands of years. Sunday is the first day of the week and has nothing at all to do with the Sabbath, since it also begins at midnight. The following examples show the deliberate manipulation of the statements of the Greek basic text by the addition of "first", "after" and "following":

The American Baptist Adolphus Spalding Worrell (*1831, †1908) was a professor of Greek and Latin and an excellent connoisseur of the biblical languages. His translation of the NT was printed in Philadelphia by the American Baptist Publication Society („The New Testament revised and translated: with notes and instructions designed to aid the earnest reader in obtaining a clear understanding of the doctrines, ordinances, and primitive assemblies, as revealed in these scriptures, 1904“). According to the basic biblical Greek text, Worrell translated the Sabbath correctly in all places, but he added the word "day" and did not distinguish between one and first, but this is not a problem in terms of content, since this special Sabbath was actually the first of the seven Sabbaths until Pentecost, as Mark 16:9 proves:

Ethelbert William Bullinger (*1837; †1913) was an Anglican theologian who, beginning in 1909, produced a companion commentary Bible to the text of the 1611 King James Bible (KJV, Authorized Version) and its revised version (Parallel Bible of 1886). Bullinger believed in the crucifixion of Jesus on a Wednesday (cf. link), a resurrection "on a Sabbath" evening, and a coming of the women to the tomb "on the first day of the week". His statements partly contradict each other and he does not distinguish between the Greek mia (one) and prote (first). But on the other hand, he knew perfectly well that the expression "on the first day of the Sabbaths" can only mean the first of the seven Sabbaths until Pentecost and not "on the first day of the week" (cf. Mk 16:9). This is evidenced by his good comments on the KJV text, which are given below. In John 20:1, however, he did not quote the text of the KJV, but his own translation. Once again it becomes clear: we are not teaching a new doctrine of the Sabbath resurrection, but this was already said by Bullinger more than 100 years ago, who speaks of the "first Sabbath" and "on the first day of the Sabbaths... the Lord therefore became the firstfruits of God's resurrection harvest". These are excellent words. With a humble heart, anyone can understand the Word of God. But Jesus did not rise at the end of the first Sabbath, but in the middle of the first Sabbath, early, just as it was getting light:

Bulliger's comments prove that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday and resurrected on a Sabbath:

Concordant Literal New Testament 1926 (abbr.: CLNT) or Concordant Literal Version (abbr.: CLV): A child of German emigrants, Adolph Ernst Knoch (*1874, †1965) was born in the German-speaking part of Missouri and first had to learn English in school. Early on, teachers recognized his extraordinary gift for being able to work very precisely. His interest in the New Testament text led him to develop a concordant Bible translation, since the King-James Version (KJV) contained many errors (see The KJV is not inspired by God). In 1909, Knoch founded the Concordant Publishing Concern (CPC, see www.concordant.org). As a basis he used the comparison of the texts of Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus. The first edition of the NT appeared as early as 1914 under the name "Concordant Version" (CV). The full Bible came out in 1926 (CV 1926). In 1939 a corresponding German Concordant NT (cf. KNT 2007 and KWNT 1939, see link), was published in Berlin. The 4th English edition appeared in 1944 and was the translation of the 1939 German edition. In 1965/76/79/83 an improved version was published under the name Concordant Literal New Testament (CLNT; also Concordant Literal Version, CLV). Knoch was in close contact with his Brethren church in Germany and stayed here from 1930. In 1937 he married Sigrid C. Marie Countess von Kanitz, who helped him in his work. In 1939, when the American government asked all U.S. citizens to come back to America because of the onset of World War II, he traveled back to the country of his birth. Because he was married to a German woman and continued to maintain contact with his Christian brothers in Germany, he was monitored by the FBI during the war. Knoch was certain that Jesus was resurrected "on a Sabbath," but he thought that a weekly Sabbath followed immediately after the annual High Sabbath (Nisan 15; feast), which is not possible (see explanation in Church Opinions). Knoch produced one of the best translations in the world. He knew perfectly well that the expression "on the first Sabbath" (Mark 16:9) meant only the first of the seven Sabbaths until Pentecost. He could very well distinguish between the Greek mia (one) and prote (first). His translation is a cautionary example to all theologians, because it shows that anyone can render the biblical text correctly if they really want to. The digital text can be found on the English website. Also highly recommended is the ISA3 (Scripture4All) program, which includes the basic Greek text and the literal English, German and Dutch translations, as well as the CLV and KNT text on the site. Knoch already knew 100 years ago how the biblical text has to be translated, while the theologians of today are still in the dark and do not want to admit that the Greek text only speaks of the Sabbath:

The comments of Knoch are valuable, they confirm that the mention of the words "first", "week" or "sunday" are a clear distortion of the Word of God:

• Mt 28:1: „One of the sabbaths” is the only correct translation of the phrase usually rendered “the first day of the week”. The word first is not there. It is simply one, and is applied to the eleventh hour (Mt 20:12), which, in that case, was last, not first. The word day is not in the text at all. The word “week” is in the plural, and is precisely the same as the form in the preceding sentence. If it is rendered “sabbaths” there it must also be “sabbaths” here. So there is no recourse but to translate “one of the sabbaths.” The key to this expression lies in the law of the Firstfruits (Lev 23:9-14). Ending with the day before Pentecost there were seven sabbaths (Lev 23:15) from the day before the waving of the “sheaf”. These are referred to in the phrase “one of the sabbaths”. Every mention of this phrase places it between the Passover and Pentecost, (1Cor 16:2 and Acts 20:1 and 6). And the other occurrences refer to our Lord's resurrection (Mk16:2; Lk 24:1; Jn.20:1-19). He was raised on a sabbath, not the first day of the week, which would be our Sunday. His resurrection on the sabbath is a token that His work was complete. Redemption is now a matter of entering into His stopping, not the beginning of a new week of toll and labor.” - In: A. E. KNOCH (1968) Concordant Commentary on the New Testament. www.concordant.org. 
• Mk 16:9: „The first sabbath", which elsewhere is called "one of the sabbaths" was the first of the series of seven sabbaths from the waving of First fruits till Pentecost. Our Lord was roused from the dead on the day which denoted a finished work, not upon the day that began the weekly toil.“ - In: A. E. KNOCH (1968) Concordant Commentary on the New Testament. 
• Lk 24:1: „The resurrection did not occur on Sunday, or "the first day of the week", but on the first one of the seven sabbaths which led from First fruits to Pentecost. The notable phrase "one of the sabbaths" is always found in the interval between Passover and Pentecost, never at any other time of the year. It may refer to any sabbath of the seven.“

Just shortly after 1900, when many translations wanted to bring Resurrection Sunday into the Bible, just then Knoch informed the world about what the first Christians meant by "on one of the Sabbaths" and "on the first Sabbath." But the churches wouldn't listen to him. They preferred to celebrate the "beautiful Sunday service" and the "beautiful Christmas and Easter." It sounds strange, but precisely because of the exact translation, Knoch's Bible did not receive much attention from English and German Christians. They preferred to hear what they loved, the pagan Sunday celebration. After Knoch, other English Bible translations came on the market, which also translated the basic Greek text correctly. But who wants to accept today that the Bible speaks of a Sabbath resurrection of Jesus (see proof)? Most Christians prefer to deny the sign of the Messiah (see link: the 3 days and 3 nights) and make Jesus a liar so they can follow the teachings of the Pope, who rejects the sign and has made his Easter Sunday a worldwide holiday. The Bible certainly does not teach that, it emphasizes the Sabbath rest with the finished work of Jesus.

In 1936 Ronald Knox (*1888, †1957) was commissioned by the Catholic Church in England to produce a new translation of the Latin Vulgate into English to replace the Douay-Rheims Bible. In 1945 the NT appeared and in 1950 the complete Bible. As the title of the translation indicates (The Holy Bible: A Translation From the Latin Vulgate in the Light of the Hebrew and Greek Originals), it was not translated verbatim from the Vulgate, but a mixed text was created that was in harmony with Catholic Church teaching. Therefore Knox removed the Sabbath from the Bible and translates the basic text inconsistently sometimes "after the Sabbath", and sometimes "on the first day of the week" and in Acts 20:7 he even says: "when the new week began". Only the direct comparison with the Greek basic text and the Latin translation Vulgate, which speak only of a Sabbath, shows how bad this work is. But Knox wanted to find the Sunday in the Bible, the Sabbath disturbed him:

Numerous Bibles in many languages teach the resurrection of Jesus on a Sabbath morning:

7.  Many old Bibles proclaim the resurrection of Jesus on a Sabbath or Saturday morning 

7.1   Greek Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.2   Latin Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.3   Gothic Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.4.1  German Bible manuscripts show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.4.2  German Bible prints 1 (before Luther) show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.4.3  German Bible prints 2 (since Luther) show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.4.4  German Bible prints 3 (since 1600 to 1899) show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.4.5  German Bible prints 4 (since 1900) show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.5.1  English Bible manuscripts show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.5.2  English Bible prints 1 (from 1526 to 1799) show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.5.3  English Bible prints 2 (from 1800 to 1945) show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.5.4  English Bible prints 3 (from 1946 to 2002) show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.5.5  English Bible prints 4 (since 2003) show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.6    Spanish Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.7    French Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.8    Swedish Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.9    Czech Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.10  Italian Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.11  Dutch Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

7.12  Slovenian Bibles show the Sabbath resurrection 

 "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil"

(1Thess 5:21-22)

"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them"

(Epheser 5:11)