The Missing Verse: Mark 7:16
THE MISSING VERSE SERIES
Mark 7:16 — The Words of Jesus Christ That Modern Versions Remove
Jesus Christ said, “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” Those are the words of Mark 7:16 in the King James Bible. Yet many modern versions remove this verse from their main text. Why? And what does that removal tell us about the Greek manuscripts and the methods used to reconstruct the text behind modern Bible versions?
The manuscript evidence is striking. Of the 1,651 Greek manuscripts examined for Mark 7:16, 1,633 contain the verse and only 18 omit it. That means more than 99 percent preserve the verse, while less than 1 percent omit it. And the majority of those 18 suspect manuscripts are from or associated with the Alexandrian textual stream—the same small stream of manuscripts repeatedly relied upon when modern versions depart from the wording found in the vast majority of manuscripts.1
Where Is the Evidence?
The usual explanation is that Mark 7:16 was added by a scribe. The argument is that a scribe supposedly copied the words from Mark 4:9 or Mark 4:23 into Mark 7:16. But where is the evidence that this happened? The fact that a verse is missing from a small number of manuscripts does not prove that the verse was added to the others. An omission is not proof of an addition.
If 1,633 manuscripts contain the verse and only 18 omit it, the question should not be, “Why did so many scribes add the same words?” The question should be, “Why did a tiny minority of manuscripts leave them out?” The overwhelming manuscript evidence preserves the words of Jesus Christ.
What About the Old Manuscripts?
You may be told that the manuscripts that omit Mark 7:16 are older and therefore more trustworthy. But age alone does not prove accuracy. The original New Testament autographs are no longer available for comparison. No one today can open the original manuscript of Mark and compare it word-for-word with a surviving copy. Instead, men evaluate the surviving manuscripts and reconstruct what they believe the original said.2
What happens when a scholar dates a manuscript through observation, then claims that the manuscript is older than other manuscripts and, therefore, it's more trustworthy. That's like a thief committing a crime, then being asked to conduct an investigation into the crime that he himself just committed.
Codex Sinaiticus is commonly dated to the fourth century, but that date is not as certain as some people make it sound. Some researchers have challenged the traditional dating and believe the evidence allows for a much wider range of dates. One Scholar has gone even further, presenting evidence that raises the possibility that Codex Sinaiticus could date as late as the 19th century.3 The point is simple: being told that a manuscript is “old” does not automatically make it trustworthy.4
What Does “Scholar” Mean?
The word scholar does not mean “person who is always right.” A scholar is someone who has studied a subject. There are scholars of faith and scholars of doubt. Credentials do not determine truth. The real question is whether a conclusion agrees with the evidence and, ultimately, with the Word of God.5
Put Mark 7:16 on Trial
The claim is that a scribe added Mark 7:16. But the evidence does not demonstrate that. The verse is preserved in the overwhelming majority of Greek manuscripts, while only a tiny minority omit it. The burden of proof belongs on the claim that the majority somehow received an addition that the minority preserved correctly.
And there is another problem. Modern versions are based on a reconstructed Greek text that repeatedly follows the small stream of manuscripts that departs from the wording found in the vast majority of manuscripts. When that reconstructed text removes a verse, the question should not be, “Why did the King James Bible keep it?” The better question is, “Why was it removed?”
Start With God
The issue is bigger than one verse. It is about where we place our confidence. Do we begin with the conclusions of textual critics, or do we begin with God and what He has promised concerning His Word? God has not left His people without His Word. If God promised to preserve His words, then we should expect to find evidence of that preservation.
The King James Bible preserves Mark 7:16: “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus Christ spoke those words, and the KJB has not removed them.6
Turn the Question Around
Instead of asking only why the KJB contains Mark 7:16, ask why many modern versions do not. Why should we trust a modern reconstruction that removes a verse preserved by more than 99 percent of the Greek manuscripts examined? Why should a small stream of suspect manuscripts overturn the testimony of the overwhelming majority? And why should we assume that an omission proves that the majority added something that God intended to preserve?
The issue is not whether men have the ability to reconstruct what they believe the original said. The issue is whether we can trust God to preserve His Word. VBI believes the answer begins with God—not with the opinions of men.
The Bottom Line
Mark 7:16 is not an insignificant line of Scripture. It is a direct statement of Jesus Christ: “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” The King James Bible preserves those words. Many modern versions remove them from their main text based on a small minority of manuscripts.
Where is the evidence that Jesus’ words were added? The evidence presented does not establish that claim. What we can see is that the overwhelming majority of the Greek manuscript tradition preserves Mark 7:16. As Jesus Christ say,
“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”
Endnotes
1. The Greek-manuscript counts cited in this article are based on the manuscript evidence used in VBI research for Mark 7:16.
2. David W. Daniels, Is the “World’s Oldest Bible” a Fake? (Chick Publications, 2018).
3. The NET Bible notes that many later manuscripts include Mark 7:16 and identifies a smaller group of manuscripts that lack it; it argues that the verse may be a scribal gloss based on Mark 4:9 or 4:23. This is the explanation being examined—not a proven fact.
4. David W. Daniels, Look What’s Missing, lists Mark 7:16 among passages omitted or altered in many modern Bible versions.
5. Brent Nongbri, “The Date of Codex Sinaiticus,” Journal of Theological Studies 73, no. 2 (2022): 516–534, argues that the evidence permits a broader dating range than the traditionally cited mid-fourth-century date.
6. The King James Bible text of Mark 7:16 is: “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”
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