The wicked bible

The Wicked Bible, also known as the Sinner’s Bible, originated in 1631. It was the product of the Royal Printers in London, Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, who accidentally let a rather important typo slip by.

Unfortunately, it was in a rather popular part of the text — Exodus 20:14, otherwise known as the Ten Commandments.

Everything seems fine until you get up to commandment number six — thou shalt not commit adultery.

It seems that somehow the rather important “not” part of that sentence was missing. Instead, the commandment read — Thou shalt commit adultery.

Only roughly a thousand of these copies were made and it took a year for the mistake to come to light. While most of the Wicked Bibles were rounded up and destroyed, 15 still remain.

That’s not the only typo

While the Commandment blunder is the most famous typo in the Wicked Bible, it’s not the only one.

In fact, another big one can also be found in Deuteronomy 5:24, where it reads “And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his great-asse.”

Clearly, that was supposed to say “greatness”. 

The Wicked Bible, sometimes called the Adulterous Bible or the Sinners' Bible,: ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS RARE BOOKS IN THE WORLD AND THE MOST WELL KNOWN MISPRINT IN LITERARY HISTORY. The Holy Bible: . London: Robert Barker, .And by the Assignes of Iohn Ball, 1631.