Who Stole Matthew 17:21?
Depending on your Bible translation, you may be “missing” Matthew 17:21. This is because that additional phrase is not found in the oldest surviving copies of Matthew and was probably not in Matthew’s original writing. However, Mark 9:29 has the same phrase, though the earliest copies do not include "and fasting." The phrase found in Matthew 17:21 was probably unconsciously added as later scribes copied this passage and had Mark’s account memorized and on their mind. As I have worked with Hebrew and Greek in my seminary studies and ministry, I have found myself making similar mistakes easily, especially with well-known phrases or passages with similar or parallel appearances in other places in the Bible.
The field of study called textual criticism focuses on what the original writings of the Bible said, as small mistakes in spelling, punctuation, phrasing, and even a few cases of apparent (but doctrinally harmless) additions like these are common when reading older versions of the Bible.
The first major non-Latin Bibles, like the Geneva Bible and the King James Bible, were translated from a body of Greek texts called the Textus Receptus. The foundation of the Textus Receptus came from the Greek manuscripts (copies) of the Bible compiled by a man named Erasmus in the early 1500s. Since then, we've been able to find older copies of the Bible with fewer scribal mistakes and thus most modern Bible translations are not based on the Textus Receptus, although it is still a very helpful source and was vitally important in getting God's Word into the language of everyday people.
Remember when dealing with situations like these, the same warnings in the Bible about removing words give the same warning about adding words. We don’t have to be afraid that our faith is collapsing or that evangelical scholars are hiding verses from us; we should pursue the original words of the text as faithfully as we can. Indeed, by pursuing the original words of the text rather than blindly sticking to what we are familiar with, we are faithfully seeking out the words of the inspired biblical authors and honoring God's Word. More recent findings of older copies of the Bible, and comparative studies of Bible manuscripts as well as citations of the Bible in ancient writings, have helped us do just that – praise God!
To learn more about textual criticism and the history of Bible translation, see these great books:
40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible by Robert Plummer
40 Questions about Bible Translation by Mark L. Strauss
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