And It Was Good!
Illustration★★★★The Bible Society of South Africa reports that in an early draft of their translation of the Bible into Southern Sotho (one of many South African dialects), the typesetter typed “jwala” (which means “beer”) instead of “jwalo” (which is translated “so”). The result of Genesis 1:9 was, “And God said: ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place. . . . And it was beer.’ ”
The point
A typesetter's mistake in a Bible translation turned Genesis 1:9 into 'And it was beer' instead of 'And it was so'—illustrating the critical importance of translation accuracy and proofreading.
Scripture
Genesis 1:9Proverbs 22:29
Audience
Adults
Tone
Humorous · Instructive
To tell aloud
under a minute · 69 words