The Clear Word (what we refer to as The Blurred Word) is the Seventh-Day Adventist Church’s bible paraphrase of the King James Version by Jack Blanco that is marketed and sold by Seventh-Day Adventist publishing houses as a sound and balanced bible version. Mr. Blanco did not consult Hebrew and Greek manuscripts for his work, but utilized an English translation and his own imagination that is influenced by Ellen White’s writings. This is evidenced by an interview he did with Between the Lines, a media production of Review & Herald Publishing.
Many Adventists have sought to distance themselves from this book and will be quick to claim that The Clear Word is simply a paraphrase and is not readily used by Adventists. This is not true. It is printed by the highest authoritative publishing arm of the SDA Church, Review & Herald Publishing, which is the doctrinal stamp approval of within the organization. It was originally published under the name The Clear Word Bible which led to backlash and criticisms that pushed the organization to shorten the title to The Clear Word with the addition of the tagline “an expanded paraphrase.” But even with this addition, the introduction within the book still clearly positions it as a reliable bible translation.
The book is also clearly listed and marketed in their Book Centers as a Bible and includes all the various versions they have adapted—such as The Clear Word for Kids.
A paraphrase is a loose adaptation of the biblical text which were originally published to help make the biblical text clearer. This means a paraphrase should remain faithful to the original biblical manuscript text and expound upon it, not embellish, alter, or add to it. The Clear Word violates the biblical text by severely altering it in many places as it restates scripture with Seventh-Day Adventist theological bias. Jack Blanco’s commentary, along with Ellen G. Whites, in many places, is worked right into the text. And in some cases, such as Genesis 3:6, it outright contradicts and twists the biblical text.
Adventist doctrines such as annihilationism, the state of the dead, the Lord’s Supper wine being grape juice, Jesus being Michael the Archangel, seventh-day Sabbath worship, etc., are what inform the text instead of letting the original biblical text guide the paraphrase. It’s totally backward. It is not a sound Bible or paraphrase and should not be viewed as such.
It has gone through a number of editions which have included a variety of edits and changes to some of the additions made. Below are a number of examples of the most recent edition, 2003, which show how The Clear Word departs radically from the biblical text, often times adding details from Ellen G. White right into the narrative.
Notice, for example, the foundational text for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church—Daniel 8:14—and how much Mr. Blanco added:
| Verse(s) | King James Version | The Clear Word (2003 Edition) |
| Daniel 8:14 KJV | And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. | He answered, “After two thousand, three hundred prophetic days (which represent actual years), God will restore the truth about the heavenly Sanctuary to its rightful place. Then the process of judgment will begin of which the yearly cleansing of the earthly Sanctuary was a type, and God will vindicate His people. |
Mr. Blanco adds entire concepts, words and ideas to the text that are informed by their Great Controversy worldview which undergirds their entire system of theology. In this case, the assumption of the investigative judgement being what’s in view in this text. There is no reason from either an English translation or the Hebrew manuscripts to make such an addition.
| Verse(s) | King James Version | The Clear Word (2003 Edition) |
| Jude 9 KJV | Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. | In contrast to these ungodly men is the Lord Jesus, also called Michael the Archangel, for he is over the entire angelic host. When he was challenged by Satan about his intentions to resurrect Moses, he didn’t come at Satan with a blistering attack, nor did he condemn him with mockery. He simply said “God rebuke you for claiming Moses’ body”. |
Mr. Blanco takes liberty to insert details into the text whole cloth that are not found in the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, but instead come from Ellen G. White and fit with the Seventh-Day Adventist church’s theology around Jesus being Michael the Archangel—something that distorts Jude’s entire point in the text.
Another big one is Revelation 22:18:
| Verse(s) | King James Version | The Clear Word (2003 Edition) |
| Revelation 22:18 KJV | For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: | I, John, warn everyone who reads or hears the prophetic words in this book not to add anything contrary to what is written. If they do, God’s seven last plagues will certainly fall on them. |
Blanco’s rendering twists the biblical text, which says to not add anything to the Revelation whatsoever. He renders it as only adding things that are contrary to the Revelation. This leaves the door open for all sorts of additions Mr. Blanco has made to the Apocalypse.
Another telling omission is Blanco’s rendering of 2 Corinthians 3:7:
| Verse(s) | King James Version | The Clear Word (2003 Edition) |
| 2 Corinthians 3:7 KJV | But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: | At Sinai God wrote the Law on tables of stone. The giving of the commandments was accompanied by such glory that when Moses came down from the mountain, the Israelites couldn’t even look at him. But that glory had to pass away. |
This flagrant omission makes the text say something entirely different than Paul intended. It leaves out a key descriptor of what exactly the Mosaic Covenant was, a covenant that brought about death, and positions the Mosaic Covenant in a different light—which favors Adventist theology.
Here are a sampling of other texts that this “paraphrase” significantly alters:
| Verse(s) | King James Version | The Clear Word (2003 Edition) |
| Mark 1:45 KJV | But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. | But the man didn’t listen. He thought that Jesus was just being modest, so he told everyone he met how Jesus had healed him. This greatly upset the priests, especially since the man hadn’t yet carried out the prescribed ritual. So Jesus decided to leave town, because He knew He would attract other lepers and be accused of breaking down the restrictions of the ritual law. He decided to carry on His ministry in a more isolated area, but before long people found Him and once again huge crowds came to see Him. |
| Genesis 3:6 KJV | And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. | As Eve watched the serpent eat the delicious fruit, she suddenly felt a strong urge to taste it too. She reached out and touched the fruit and nothing happened. Then she picked it, took a bite and instantly felt a surge of energy. Excited, she took more fruit and ran to find her husband. When Adam saw her, he sensed what she had done. But in the blush of her excitement, she looked more beautiful than ever. He couldn’t bear the thought of living without her, so he took the fruit and ate it also. |
| Genesis 3:21 KJV | Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. | But God didn’t carry out their sentence that day. He told them He had a plan to save them. Adam must sacrifice a lamb as a symbol of the One who would come and die in their place. God then took the lamb’s skin to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. |
| Genesis 6:8 KJV | But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. | So gradually the Lord laid to rest all those who loved Him, except Noah and his family. Finally, they were the only ones left alive who found grace in God’s sight because they obeyed the Lord and did what was right. |
| Mark 11:7 KJV | And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. | They led the donkey to the top of the Mount of Olives. Suddenly they realized that what Jesus was about to do had for centuries been a symbolic act of kings prior to their coronation. Joyfully, they took off their robes and laid them on the young animal. Jesus then mounted the donkey, and the disciples led Him into Jerusalem. |
| Mark 12:7 KJV | But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. | What was God telling Moses? He was telling him that He was the One who activated Sarah’s dead womb, giving through Abraham life to Isaac who, in turn, gave life to Jacob. Therefore, God is not the end of life but the Giver of life! So your idea that there is no life after death is wrong. |
| John 3:14 KJV | And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: | The miracle of the new birth was taught by Moses when he put a brass serpent on a makeshift cross and held it up for people to look at. All those bitten by snakes who looked at it in faith were healed. That power didn’t come from the cross Moses made, but from the Son of God who would come and die on a cross. He will soon be lifted up between heaven and earth for all to see, |
| Mark 14:23-4 KJV | And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, ‘This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.’ | Then He took the cup of unfermented wine, gave thanks and passed it to the disciples to drink from, which they each did. Jesus said, “The pure juice which you just drank represents my blood that I will shed for the sins of the world. This will fulfill the covenant my Father and I made from the beginning. |
| John 11:2 KJV | It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. | His sister Mary was the one who had been caught in adultery, whom the Pharisees wanted to stone but whom Jesus forgave. She was also the one who later anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume and wiped His feet with her hair shortly before His death. |
The Clear Word is not a faithful bible translation or paraphrase (such as the NLT). It is an adaptation of scripture with Ellen G. White’s “divinely inspired” details of “light,” inserted into the biblical text propelling the SDA system of theology. It is a dangerous twisting of the actual biblical text and we do not recommend anyone use it as such.
Unfortunately, Jack Blanco has blended together—without distinction—the biblical text, his own imagination, and the writings of Ellen G. White (hence the nickname The Blurred Word). The Clear Word serves as a great example of how translation should not be done, but also gives insight into just how blurred the line between Ellen White and scripture is within the Seventh-Day Adventist Church’s system of theology.
For an even further in-depth analysis of this, check out expert Stephen Pitcher’s analysis.
