For several years Victory Baptist Press has been printing the Reina Valera Gomez (RVG) Spanish Bible. Until now, we have not given much explanation as to why we don't print or recommend some of the other Spanish versions, but the time has come for us to make our position known and to give our reasons. Please understand that these articles are not written to criticize or to deal with the missionaries who use the other versions. Neither are they written with any consideration of what they will do to our financial support. Money is not the issue. Truth is! No ministerial politics are involved, and we are not bowing to peer pressure.
The RVG is the work of Brother Humberto Gomez, with many Spanish speaking missionaries and national pastors assisting as proofreaders and advisors. Brother Gomez is a Bible-believing, Baptist missionary to his own country, who has very successfully brought the Reina Valera Spanish Bible in line with the King James Bible. Thank you, and God bless your labor for Him, Jim Fellure, VBP Director, Email: [email protected]
Note: Bold type and underlining are for emphasis only.
The Spanish Reina Valera of 1960:
#1. We use the English King James Bible for our standard, so, naturally, we want to print foreign language Bibles that are the closest to the KJV. The first Spanish Bible we considered was the Reina Valera of 1960. When we discovered that the 1960 is copyrighted by the American Bible Society, whose board of ecumenical directors varies from Anglican to Roman Catholic, with their President and CEO being Dr. Lamar Vest (he also serves as one of the executive leaders of the Church of God of Cleveland, Tennessee, which is a staunch charismatic school), a red flag went up.
The first error we were shown in the 1960 text is in Daniel 3:25. When Nebucchadnezar had the three Hebrew children thrown into the fiery furnace, the KJV says, "He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
The Old Scofield Reference Bible, first published in 1909 with the study notes revised in 1917, was probably used by more Bible-believing preachers than any Bible ever printed. In 1967, the notes were revised again, only this time many of the text verses were also changed, Daniel 3:25 being one of them. The editors changed "the Son of God to a son of the gods," and the fundamental Baptist preachers refused to use it. They believed, as do I, that the fourth man in the fire was a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, and they would not use a Bible that reduced our wonderful Lord to "a son of the gods." We found that the 1960 Spanish Bible did the same thing (rather than using Dios (God), it uses dioses, gods).
The Reina Valera Gomez is in complete agreement with the King James Version in this passage.
#2. In the New Testament of the KJV "hell" is found twenty-three times. The Spanish word for "hell" is "infierno." The Reina Valera 1960 Spanish Bible uses the Greek word "hades", rather than "infierno" in Matthew 11:23 &16:18; Luke 10:15 & 16:23; Acts 2:27 & 2:31; Revelation 1:18, 6:8, 20:13 & 14. One dear Mexican Pastor who uses the 1960 said, "We know there are discrepancies, but when we come to them we just preach the message." I have personally heard that practiced many times. I have preached in English to a Spanish speaking congregation and had one of the Spanish speaking brethren interpret for me. At the invitation the interpreter would always invite people to trust Christ and not go to "infierno." I have never heard one use "hades" when talking about hell.
The Reina Valera Gomez is in complete agreement with the King James Version on the subject of hell.
#3. In Psalm 12:6&7 in the KJV there is a wonderful promise that the Lord would preserve His perfect Word for ever. It says, "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times...Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." The Reina Valera 1960, in these same verses, has God preserving the poor and needy, rather than His Word.
A good brother who works as a professional translator said this, "In Psalm 12:7 in the Reina Valera 1960 the pronoun ‘them' is masculine...los'…while the word ‘words' from verse 6 is feminine: ‘palabras'. Therefore, the promise of preservation here is not applied to ‘the words of the LORD; but rather the pronoun ‘los' is probably referring back to one or all of the following: the godly (los piadosos) and the faithful (los fieles) in verse 1 or the poor (los pobres) and the needy (los menesterosos) in verse 5."
The Reina Valera Gomez is in complete agreement with the King James Version in this passage.
#4. In Esther chapter three in the KJV, wicked Haman had a letter written and sealed with the king's ring giving permission to kill all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Persia. In Chapter 8, Esther got the letter reversed so her people did not have to die, but the letter of life needed to be delivered to every province. In their urgency, the letter was sent by "...posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries" (Esther 8:10).
There is a mission message here that compares the letter of life to the Gospel of Christ. The posts and riders are the missionaries that carry the message, and they use the four different animals to go to the different areas, or types of people, they want to reach. The animal they use will be the one that carries the message the fastest and most effectively. For example: A horse is very beneficial, but sometimes he is just a show horse, and there are some places a show horse cannot go. It will take a sure-footed mule to get the Gospel through the rough, rocky terrain or to the top of a mountain. You might need a camel to get the Gospel across the hot, dry, burning desert and a young dromedary to get it there in a hurry.
The Reina Valera 1960 only lists one of these animals in this verse (Esther 8:10), and that is the horse. The same is true in the English NIV.
On the other hand, the Reina Valera Gomez is in complete agreement with the King James Version in this passage.
#5. "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire" (Matthew 5:22).
The Reina Valera 1960 omits the words "without a cause". The English NIV also omits these words. The Spanish RVG Bible is in complete agreement with the KJV on this verse.
#6 "As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee...The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Mark 1:2&3).
The KJV has "prophets" because Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1 are both quoted in these verses. The Reina Valera 1960 changed "prophets" to "Isaiah the prophet". The English NIV makes the same change.
The Spanish RVG is in complete agreement with the KJV on these verses.
#7 Luke 23:42, referring to one of the malefactors which were hanged with Jesus, says, "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom". The Reina Valera 1960 omits the word "Lord". The English NIV makes the same omission.
The Spanish RVG has the word "Lord", just like the KJV.
#8 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). The Reina Valera 1960 omits "of Christ". So does the English NIV.
The Spanish RVG agrees with the KJV in this verse.
#9 "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:9). The Reina Valera 1960 omits "by Jesus Christ". So does the English NIV.
The Spanish RVG is in agreement with the KJV.
#10 "The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it" (Psalm 68:11) The Reina Valera 1960 would read, a great host of women published it.
The Spanish RVG Agrees with the KJV.
#11 "And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam" (2 Samuel 21:19). The Reina Valera 1960 omits "the brother of". So does the English NIV.
The Spanish RVG Agrees with the KJV.
#12. "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief (Mark 9:24). The Reina Valera 1960 omits "with tears." So does the English NIV.
The Spanish RVG Agrees with the KJV.
#13. "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him" (John 3:34). The Reina Valera 1960 omits "unto him". So does the English NIV.
The Spanish RVG Agrees with the KJV.
#14 "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him" (Luke 2:40). The Reina Valera 1960 omits "in spirit". So does the English NIV.
The Spanish RVG Agrees with the KJV.
#15. "When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Mark 2:17). The Reina Valera 1960 omits "to repentance". So does the English NIV.
The Spanish RVG agrees with the KJV.
There are several more detailed and extensive lists of differences between the various Spanish Bibles compiled by others, but these few examples are more than enough to convince us that the Reina Valera 1960 has too many errors for us to recommend it, especially when the Reina Valera Gomez parallels the KJV, the Bible we use as our standard to measure by.
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RE: The Spanish Reina Valera of 1909 Until the year 2004, Victory Baptist Press had always printed the Reina Valera Spanish Bible of 1909. It is in the public domain and many good, Bible-believing missionaries and nationals used it. Since all the fundamental Baptist printing ministries that we knew about at that time printed that version, VBP printed the RV 1909 without further reaearch. Then in 2003, Brother Humberto Gomez asked us to consider printing the Reina Valera Gomez. At that time he only had the New Testament ready to print. My son, Pastor Tim Fellure, and Pastor Alan Stewart and myself, made a trip to the border and met with Brother Gomez. We did not know Brother Gomez very well yet, and we were a bit fearful that his work on the Spanish Bible was just a way to sharpen an axe he had to grind with some other group. For several hours he showed us discrepancies in several different Spanish Bibles, and he then told us how he had corrected the errors. He never once spoke harshly or critically of other missionaries or nationals who used other Spanish versions, he just turned to verse after verse showing us the problems.
When the day was over we were totally convinced that his motives were pure. He had a genuine desire to see a reliable and accurate Bible for the Spanish-speaking world. I suggested to Brother Gomez that he allow VBP to print a few copies of the New Testament and have some Spanish-speaking brethren that did not know him critique it and give us an unbiased opinion. I really did not think there would be a lot of difference between the RV 1909 and the RVG. But, was I in for a shock. He agreed, and we printed a few of the New Testaments.
I sent one copy to a Spanish-speaking church planter that I have known for many years. He said he had a list of 175 errors in the RV 1909. When he checked the RVG Spanish New Testament, he found that every error on his list had been corrected. I sent one copy to Dr. D. A. Waite, President of the Dean Burgeon Society. Dr. Waite called and requested ten extra copies, he then put them out to people he knew and had them also checking for errors. Dr. Waite could only find one error in the RVG New Testament. The error was pointed out to Brother Gomez, and he very humbly admitted the oversight, thanked Dr. Waite for the help, and made the correction.
I sent one copy to Rex Cobb, director of the Baptist Bible Translators Institute. Brother Cobb checked 220 verses in eight Spanish New Testaments with a Greek Textus Receptus. According to Brother Cobb, the Spanish New Testament of 1569 erred in seventy-five places, the 1602 in fifty-seven places, the 1862 in 116 places, the 1865 in twenty-eight places, the 1909 in 122 places, the 1960 in 191 places, the 2001 in sixty-nine places, and the RVG in zero places.
In 2004, the Old Testament was completely corrected, and the complete RVG Bible was printed for the first time. Since the first printing, several other individuals have helped as proofreaders and advisors. More errors have been found and corrected with each printing, and we are confident that if errors are found in the future, they too will be corrected.
Other men used Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek to check the accuracy of the RVG. At VBP we use the English King James Bible as our standard to measure by. The following list is only a few of the hundreds of places where the Reina Valera of 1909 differs from the English King James Version.
Note: Those who worked on the RVG revision report that over 90% of the errors in the Reina Valera 1909 are also in the Reina Valera 1960. That is the reason that much of the material in this article is a repeat of the previous article on the RV 1960.
Note: Bold type and underlining are for emphasis only.
#1. The Reina Valera of 1909 has the same reading for Daniel 3:25 as the Reina Valera 1960. When Nebucchadnezar had the three Hebrew children thrown into the fiery furnace, the KJV says, "He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
The 1909 Spanish Bible, rather than using Dios (God), uses dioses, (gods). Also, it uses hijo, (a son) The Spanish RVG is in complete agreement with the King James Version in this passage.
#2 In Psalm 12:6&7 in the KJV, there is a wonderful promise that the Lord will preserve His perfect Word forever. It says, "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times...Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." The Reina Valera 1909 and the 1960, in these same verses, has God preserving the poor and needy, rather than His Word.
A good brother who works as a professional translator said this: "In Psalm 12:7 in the Reina Valera 1960, the pronoun ‘them' is masculine: ‘los', while the word ‘words' from verse 6 is feminine: ‘palabras'. Therefore, the promise of preservation here is not applied to ‘the words of the LORD;' but rather the pronoun ‘los' is probably referring back to one or all of the following: the godly (los piadosos) and the faithful (los fieles) in verse 1 or the poor (los pobres) and the needy (los menesterosos) in verse 5."
The Spanish RVG is in complete agreement with the King James Version in this passage.
#3 "As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee...The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Mark 1:2&3).
The KJV has "prophets" because Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1 are both quoted in these verses. The Reina Valera 1909 changed "prophets" to "Isaiah the prophet."
The Spanish RVG is in complete agreement with the King James Version in these verses.
#4 Luke 23:42, referring to one of the malefactors which were hanged with Jesus, says, "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."
The Reina Valera 1909 omits the word "Lord."
The Spanish RVG has the word "Lord," just like the King James Version.
#5 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).
The Reina Valera 1909 omits "of Christ."
The Spanish RVG agrees with the King James Version in this verse.
#6 "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:9). The Reina Valera 1909 omits "by Jesus Christ."
The Spanish RVG is in agreement with the King James Version.
#7 "And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam" (2 Samuel 21:19). The Reina Valera 1909 omits "the brother of."
The Spanish RVG agrees with the King James Version.
#8 "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24). The Reina Valera 1909 omits "with tears, Lord."
The Spanish RVG agrees with the King James Version.
#9 "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him" (Luke2:40). The Reina Valera 1909 omits "in spirit."
The Spanish RVG agrees with the King James Version.
#10 "When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mark 2:17). The Reina Valera 1909 omits "to repentance."
The Spanish RVG agrees with the King James Version.
#11 "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father" (John 6:65).
The Reina Valera 1909 changed it to "the Father."
The Spanish RVG agrees with the King James Version.
#12 Act 20:28 "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). The Reina Valera 1909 changed it to "of the Lord."
The Spanish RVG agrees with the King James Version.
#13 "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" (Isaiah 14:12). The Reina Valera 1909 has "lucero" which means morning star. The Morning Star is not Lucifer, but Jesus Christ, according to Revelation 22:16.
The Spanish RVG agrees with the King James Version.
#14 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;" (Ephesians 2:1). The Reina Valera 1909, rather than reading "you hath he quickened", reads "from her you received life". Some interpret "her" in the context of the last two verses of the previous chapter. "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,...Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:22&23). That interpretation would justify the catholic heresy that life is in the church. In the context of the passage, the King James Bible tells us very clearly who does the quickening. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,...Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" (Ephesians 2:4&5).
As always, the KJV is right in using "he" rather than "her," and the RVG is in agreement with the KJV in this passage.
There are many more verses with errors, but in view of these few examples, and after much prayer, VBP decided to no longer print the Reina Valera of 1909, especially when the Reina Valera Gomez parallels the King James Version, the Bible we use as our standard to measure by.