06/08/2026
Dear Christian friends,
Below is another Bible study comparison I made while studying the text of Scripture — and this time, one verse gave me not one but two distinct observations about why the Reina Valera Gómez preserves the original languages more faithfully than the Reina Valera 1960.
All believers should share some passion for the study of "every word of God," right?
Well, y'all should know brother Carlos by now — I love studying every word of God!
The Texts:
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: — Romans 3:22 (KJV)
la justicia de Dios que es por la fe de Jesucristo, para todos y sobre todos los que creen; porque no hay diferencia; — Romanos 3:22 (Reina Valera Gómez)
la justicia de Dios por medio de la fe en Jesucristo, para todos los que creen en él. Porque no hay diferencia, — Romanos 3:22 (Reina-Valera 1960)
The Greek (Beza 1598):
δικαιοσύνη δὲ Θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰς πάντας καὶ ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας· οὐ γάρ ἐστι διαστολή
The Missing Clause: A Textual Variant
The Beza 1598 / Stephanus 1550 Textus Receptus reads: εἰς πάντας καὶ ἐπὶ πάντας — "unto all AND upon all"
The Westcott-Hort / NA critical text reads: εἰς πάντας — "unto all" — the second clause simply omitted
This is a genuine textual variant: the words are either present in your source text or they are not. The KJV follows the TR in full: "unto all and upon all." The RVG follows in full: "para todos y sobre todos." The RV1960 follows the shorter critical reading: "para todos" — and sobre todos is simply gone.
These two prepositions are not synonyms. They carry distinct spatial force:
• εἰς (eis) — directional: moving toward, reaching a destination
• ἐπὶ (epi) — positional: resting upon, settling over, remaining
Together in the TR, God's righteousness is both actively directed toward all who believe and dwelling upon them — a dynamic movement and a settled reality at the same time. The critical text's single preposition collapses that double picture into one.
One preposition gives you a vector. Two prepositions give you an arrival.
The Bottom Line:
In Romans 3:22 alone, the RV1960 departs from the Textus Receptus tradition in at least two identifiable ways:
1. Textual: It omits καὶ ἐπὶ πάντας — following the critical text's shorter reading — so "sobre todos" simply disappears
2. Translational: It replaces the genitive "fe de Jesucristo" with "fe en Jesucristo" and adds "en él" at the close — words not present in the Beza 1598 Greek
The KJV and the RVG preserve what the Textus Receptus actually says — every word of it, in the form it was given.
There ya have it. The KJV — the capstone of the Textus Receptus manuscript tradition in English — and the RVG — the capstone of the Textus Receptus manuscript tradition in Spanish — both stand faithful to what God has preserved. Bibles built on the critical text, or that drift from formal equivalence without warrant, ask you to trust their editorial judgment over the received words themselves.
Reading the RVG will supply you with every word of God which the RV1960 omits. I'd rather have a full meal, than just snacks.
With love, brother Carlos. 🙏💯
