My Thoughts on Textual Criticism for Matthew 27:35 in the KJV vs. the Modern Versions

One of the reasons why I got into the KJV Only movement before (and I feel like I'm really going to get out now) is the way Matthew 27:35 is rendered in the modern versions. For modern versions, I usually prefer to refer to the NIV and the ESV. The two versions are very much widely used. Personally, I love the KJV and the way a lot of verses are rendered. I still think Acts 8:37 is not a verse in question. I still think that 1 John 5:7's end statement is still very important. Yet, Charles H. Spurgeon wasn't KJV Only. I was thinking of how the verse was rendered by the KJV vs. the other versions.

Matthew 27:35 is rendered as:

And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. (KJV)

And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. (ESV)

The statement is said that words have been removed. However, I decided to do some searching with the KJV with Mark 15:24 and John 19:24 which I'll share the KJV vs. ESV.

Mark 15:24 -  And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. (KJV) 

Mark 15:24 -  And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. (ESV) 

John 19:24 -  They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. (KJV) 

John 19:24 -  so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, (ESV)

The accusation that the modern versions (such as the ESV) deliberately took away "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots" may not be as true as I thought it was. Mark doesn't mention or quote Psalm 22:18 but John does. If that were true then why is John 19:24 in the modern versions still containing the same quotation then? Mark in the KJV doesn't contain the same thought or quotation. Apparently, Matthew didn't write it down too. So, it's possible that some scribes ended up inserting a footnote or marginal note that was later translated down when Erasmus and other translators before the KJV ended up writing it down as a verse. 

While I do still feel that Matthew 23:14 is still part of Matthew - the same may not be true for the end phrase in Matthew 27:35 in the KJV. The same condemnation in Matthew 23:14 is still very much intact in Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 in the modern versions. Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are still there in the modern versions even when Matthew 23:40 is a verse in question in other manuscripts such as the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus (which was by Eusebius and not by the Vatican). Personally, I still prefer the Textus Receptus of Erasmus. However, I'm simply renouncing not KJV Only but only the extreme KJV Only movement.