Pure Cambridge Edition Bible

In a Baptist Board thread, The Bible at your fingertips, the subject of the Pure Cambridge Edition King James Bible came up. I had never heard of this so-called “pure” edition of the King James Bible, so did a little online research. Here is some of what I found, which exposes another “false friend” of the King James Bible.

According to one site (which is supportive of the King James Version Bible), the Pure Cambridge Edition is “an out-of-print Cambridge text [circa 1900], determined to be ‘pure’ by Mr. Verschuur, a young and ambitious Pentecostal man from Australia.” They commend his research as “fairly exhaustive” but go on to say that his conclusions that the Cambridge text he uses is superior to other Cambridge texts cannot be defended, and that when he cannot defend his points, “he relies on his ‘Pentecostal’ experiences to defend them.” They say his book Guide to the Pure Cambridge Edition of the King James Bible makes this “Pentecostal defense.”

Matthew Verschuur has a website called Bible Protector where he promotes the Pure Cambridge Bible. This site links to Victory Faith Centre in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia – so I assume that is the church he attends.

Matthew Verschuur’s “Statement to all King James Bible (KJB) supporters concerning the Pure Cambridge Edition (PCE)” can be found HERE. In this he writes,

There has been a great ignorance of the fact that a final purification took place in the history of the King James Bible. Those who have studied the history of the King James Bible in depth would have been aware of the major purifications that took place, such as the editions of 1629, 1638 and 1769. There was also a proper purification that took place circa 1900, which has resulted in the final text of the King James Bible, which is in all ways the definitive presentation of the King James Bible, and should not be altered. 

Verschurr gives the following “test” to help identify the “pure” edition.

1. “or Sheba” not “and Sheba” in Joshua 19:2
2. “sin” not “sins” in 2 Chronicles 33:19
3. “Spirit of God” not “spirit of God” in Job 33:4
4. “whom ye” not “whom he” in Jeremiah 34:16
5. “Spirit of God” not “spirit of God” in Ezekiel 11:24
6. “flieth” not “fleeth” in Nahum 3:16
7. “Spirit” not “spirit” in Matthew 4:1
8. “further” not “farther” in Matthew 26:39
9. “bewrayeth” not “betrayeth” in Matthew 26:73
10. “Spirit” not “spirit” in Mark 1:12
11. “spirit” not “Spirit” in Acts 11:28
12. “spirit” not “Spirit” in 1 John 5:8

Thought I would relay what I found to you readers. Some of you are probably quite familiar with this edition and claim. Others of you were probably like me, in the dark. By calling his own edition “pure,” Matthew Verschuur is, at the least, implying that everyone else who does not have the Pure Cambridge Edition Bible is using an “impure” King James Bible. To me this sounds like a bunch of “hocum” and ultimately means there was not “pure” King James Bible until 1900! If not, why not?