So much was (literally) at stake because once detached from its origins in a translation, a sacred text, it was believed, could be misunderstood, and break away from authoritative control.
Some officials involved in the negotiations expressed dismay that the tightly held document had leaked, and that its elements could be misunderstood, in part because only part of it is written down.
In it, natural selection is described as a "driving force" that rigorously "sifts" genetic variation, which could be misunderstood to imply that it takes an active role in prompting evolutionary change.
And I would hope that we've come in America to the place where we can look at a statement that could be misunderstood, and consider it in the context of the person's life.
This sometimes led to misunderstandings, but it is difficult to see how Gene could be misunderstood when he walked into the offices of several "Next Generation" executives (including Robert Justman) and, without a word, handed each a $5,000 bonus.
"Look, I have made some mistakes in that way and put things in a way that could be misunderstood and I apologize for it," he said.
"The Bible speaks about people of the same gender coming together always to say that is not part of God's plan, and it does it in both Old Testament and New, and [there are] a number of writers saying that, so it's not just one odd comment in a backwards corner which could be misunderstood".
Mr. Eppinger said that it was more difficult to maintain good relationships with vendors abroad and that communications could be misunderstood more easily.
