Did Translators Add To Romans 8:1?

In his book, Destined to Reign, Joseph Prince accuses the translators of the New King James Version (NKJV) of adding words to the Bible:

That’s how [Romans 8:1] appears in your NKJV Bible, right? But do you know that the last part, “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”, was added by the Bible translators and does not appear in the original Greek manuscripts? It is almost as if the translators could not believe that the declaration of no condemnation comes without any conditions. Don’t take my word for it, check it for yourself. For a more accurate translation, look at the New American Standard Bible (NASB).

— pp. 149–150.

This is a very serious accusation that Joseph Prince has made. Indeed, when we compare the two translations of Romans 8:1, we see that the NKJV has words that are not found in the NASB:

Romans 8:1 NKJV There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

Romans 8:1 NASB Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

If we consider this thing alone, then it can seem as if the NKJV translators added words to the Bible. However, there are other considerations which Joseph Prince did not share with his readers.

Firstly, it should be noted that those words in the NKJV, “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”, do not imply that there are conditions to salvation. If the NKJV’s translators really wanted to add conditions to salvation, they could have modified other Bible passages, but they did not.

So then, why does the NKJV have these words in Romans 8:1 which the NASB does not have? It is because both translations used two different Greek texts of the New Testament.

The NASB’s translators used a Greek text of the New Testament known as the Nestle-Aland text. According to the Nestle-Aland text, Romans 8:1 does not contain the words, “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”. That is why those words are not found in the NASB, and in most modern translations of the New Testament.

On the other hand, the NKJV’s translators used another Greek text of the New Testament known as the Received Text, or “Textus Receptus”. According to the Received Text, the Greek text of Romans 8:1 reads:

Οὐδὲν ἄρα νῦν κατάκριμα τοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

Notice that according to the Received Text, the Greek text of Romans 8:1 contains the words for “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”. That is why those words are found in the NKJV, as well as its predecessor, the King James Version (KJV).

Hence, the NKJV’s translators did not add the words, “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”, to Romans 8:1. Rather, they were faithfully translating from the Received Text, which contain those words. Yet, Joseph Prince makes it seem as though they added those words to Romans 8:1 simply because they did not like what the original Greek text says.

Therefore, Joseph Prince’s claim that the NKJV’s translators added words to Romans 8:1 is a false accusation. This is very serious because the Bible says that “whoever spreads slander is a fool.” (Proverbs 10:18 NKJV) Let us pray that Joseph Prince would repent of his slander, and that he would stop spreading false accusations against other Christians, especially those who have laboured long and hard to translate the Bible for us in our languages.