A red letter Bible is a distinctive edition of Scripture in which the words spoken by Jesus are printed in red ink, a practice known as rubrication. The New Testament is highlighted in this way to help readers easily identify Christ’s spoken words, sometimes called Dominical words.
Although this formatting can aid readability and thematic study, the Bible emphasizes that all Scripture is equally inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16), meaning no passage, including Jesus’ words, holds greater authority than another. In fact, the Old Testament relates many circumstances in which God speaks to people—Abraham, Moses, and Job are examples—yet His words are usually not in red letters (Genesis 18:22-33; Exodus 3–4; Job 38–41). The Old Testament also affirms its own importance and power (Psalm 119:105; Jeremiah 23:29). In fact, Jesus quoted Old Testament Scripture when He was being tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1-11). Some readers have mistakenly prioritized the red-letter words, but the Bible should be understood as a cohesive whole, where every verse reveals God’s character and plan (Isaiah 55:11). Today, red letter editions are widely available across many translations, offering a helpful visual tool for study while reminding readers that the ultimate authority of Scripture rests not in formatting but in God’s inspired Word.
A red letter Bible prints Jesus’ words (sometimes called Dominical words) in red ink, a process called rubricating. . So red letter Bibles may carry a description saying, "with Dominical words rubricated."
Rubrication began in mediaeval scriptoria as a way to draw attention to certain portions of the text. Headings, leading letters, and certain words were printed in red for emphasis, similar to our use of italics today. However, the idea to print Jesus’ words in red did not occur until 1899 when Louis Klopsch, the editor of The Christian Herald magazine, conceived the idea after reading Luke 22:20: "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." Klopsch thought the red ink would remind readers of Jesus' shed blood and help readers more easily identify the spoken words of Christ. His mentor Rev. Thomas DeWitt Talmage encouraged him to pursue this plan, so using the magazine's press, Klopsch published a red letter edition of the New Testament later that same year.
Klopsch desired to show how all of Scripture points to the central figure of Jesus, so he enlisted the help of a number of scholars and theologians to publish a red letter edition of the whole Bible. In this edition Old Testament passages that Jesus later quoted were also in red and cross-referenced; too, Old Testament prophetic references to Jesus were identified with a red star. This whole Bible red letter edition was published in 1901 and became almost instantly popular. As most English language Bibles were at the time, his was a King James Version, but rubricating and italicizing Jesus' words meant his version could leave out the quotation marks and made the passages generally easier to read. Because of its popularity, other publishing companies soon began offering red letter editions of the Bible as well.
Unfortunately, one unintended consequence of the red letter editions has been that some readers place a special priority on the Dominical words, giving them more authority than other passages of Scripture and sometimes placing Jesus' words in opposition to others. Christians must always keep in mind that all Scripture has been inspired by God to reveal Himself and His plan to humanity. The Bible is one cohesive whole portraying God's passionate pursuit of His people, so no passage of Scripture should be placed in opposition to another but rather should be understood in light of those other passages.
Today, many translations of the Bible from many different publishing companies are available in red letter editions. Readers can decide whether using a red letter Bible would be helpful or harmful to his or her study of God's Word.
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