17. Jesus on the pinnacle verses reflect the views of the translators rather than the original writers.
According to the King James Version of Matthew, in verse 4:5, “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple”, a mistranslation which reflected the views of the translators rather than that of the original writers. The Latin Vulgate bible used the word pinnaculum to describe the roof of the temple, which had no steeples or pinnacles as did the churches of seventeenth century England. It was flat. The proper translation from the Greek texts would read on the corner of the roof rather than to a pinnacle, which implies an elevation above the roof itself.
Although the change is relatively insignificant in terms of its reflection on the meaning of the verse, it does indicate that influences besides the source documents and previous translations were included in the King James Version by its translators. Spires, steeples, and church towers were part of the environment for the King James translators, but not the original writers of the gospels. That their (the translators) religious views and their belief in what a proper house of worship should contain was included in their work is evident from such small changes, adding information which was not contained in the original texts, by alterations both large and small.