The bible has a lot of hilarious verses. But there’s one in particular that will make you laugh so hard you blow your early morning vodka tonic out of your nose. The verse appears in Job 21:24 and, in some translations, reads as follows:
His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
That’s right. Man boobs.
This is a baffling mistranslation in the King James Version. The verse merely implies that he is well-nourished. It might read better to say “His stomach is full of milk.” Indeed, some translations do substitute the word “stomach.” But many versions of the bible were quick to keep the man boobs reference.
Man boobs appear in the following versions of the bible:
- 1599 Geneva Bible
- Jubilee Bible 2000
- King James Version
- Authorized (King James) Version
- Young’s Literal Translation
It appears that every other translation of the bible cuts the man boob reference.
So I find it funny that a bunch of protestants could translate the verse as man boobs, and half a century later King James reads it and leaves it in his new version of the bible. You’d think someone would come up to the king and say “Maybe we should change this.” I mean, they changed almost everything else in the bible.
Just as well. The verse provides great fodder for healthy bible discussion.
The Atheist Papers 