JSTranslation of the Bible

  What is a silver or golden wedding anniversary?

Silver is 25. Golden is 50 years! What proportion of the population ever achieves that? I would guess about 1%. Just a shot in the dark.

Thur. 6/3/21 Hello BMX, Have I told you about “Revelations in Context”? You probably know me well enough to know I love stories and backgrounds for scriptures. When Saint vol. I & II came out, I read and studied them until the atrocities kicked in my PTSD and I had to take some months off. The JS Papers, JS History of the Church all fascinate me. Well since we are studying the D&C there is a little set of pages BUTTON at the top of most sections with marvelous details/stories. Yesterday I was reading/listening in the 40’s. Section 45 had a “Revelation in Context” article that just thrilled me. @@ I complain inside if not outside about the JSTranslation of the Bible. Why isn’t it more complete? Joseph did the BoM translation in 3 months with Oliver Cowdery. Why couldn’t he give us a Bible to match the BoM in dependability in 3 years? Well one problem was that Mormon had done all the work and [Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also,] done all the choosing of what to include. Poor Joseph was stuck with the opposite! Instead of reducing, he was expanding. He was adding all the important information and correcting all the mistakes. Moroni summarized the history of the Jaredites in (p488-517=) 29 pages. 2k years in 21 pages. . . Wow, great job Moroni! Mormon not only summarized but pick and chose, knowing our day. But he did get 1k years down to less than 500 pages. (Moroni did the rest of the BoM) Thank you Mormon and Moroni for all your previous work. It made it a million times easier for Joseph! When translating the Bible Joseph wasn’t limited. He could have doubled it’s size! He was adding what was missing as well as correcting. Where do you stop adding?

 

Joseph Smith Translation (JST)

A revision or translation of the King James Version of the Bible begun by the Prophet Joseph Smith in June 1830. He was divinely commissioned to make the translation and regarded it as “a branch of his calling” as a prophet. Although the major portion of the work was completed by July 1833, he continued to make modifications while preparing a manuscript for the press until his death in 1844, and it is possible that some additional modifications would have been made had he lived to publish the entire work. Some parts of the translation were published during his lifetime.

The translation process was a learning experience for the Prophet, and several sections of the Doctrine and Covenants (and also other revelations that are not published in the Doctrine and Covenants) were received in direct consequence of the work (D&C 76–77; 91). Also, specific instruction pertaining to the translation is given in D&C 37:1; 45:60–61; 76:15–18; 90:13; 94:10; 104:58; 124:89. The book of Moses and the 24th chapter of Matthew (JS—M), contained in the Pearl of Great Price, are actual excerpts from the JST. Many excerpts from the JST are also given in the appendix and footnotes in the edition of the KJV that accompanies this dictionary. The JST to some extent assists in restoring the plain and precious things that have been lost from the Bible (see 1 Ne. 13–14).

Although not the official Bible of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the JST offers many interesting insights and is an invaluable aid to biblical interpretation and understanding. It is a most fruitful source of useful information for the student of the scriptures. It is likewise a witness for the divine calling and ministry of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/joseph-smith-translation?lang=eng

 

Next comes just one chapter from the Book of Genesis. Can you see how much was added, how much was missing? Imagine if he filled in all the important missing stories from the bible!!!

JST, Genesis 50:24–38. Compare Genesis 50:24–26; 2 Nephi 3:4–22

Joseph in Egypt prophesies of Moses freeing Israel from Egyptian bondage; of a branch of Joseph’s descendants being led to a faraway land, where they will be remembered in the covenants of the Lord; of God calling a latter-day prophet named Joseph to join the records of Judah and of Joseph; and of Aaron serving as a spokesman for Moses.

24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die, and go unto my fathers; and I go down to my grave with joy. The God of my father Jacob be with you, to deliver you out of affliction in the days of your bondage; for the Lord hath visited me, and I have obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of my loins, the Lord God will raise up a righteous branch out of my loins; and unto thee, whom my father Jacob hath named Israel, a prophet; (not the Messiah who is called Shilo;) and this prophet shall deliver my people out of Egypt in the days of thy bondage. [I wonder if Joseph’s brothers had finally gotten used to him prophesying about his future and the future of his descendents?-vj] [I wonder if any of them had prophecies they could share with him? If so then it would be a mutual sharing. If not then they must have known he had a special gift, and was righteous. This is at the end of his life. He has finished acting as the pharaoh of the land.]

25 And it shall come to pass that they shall be scattered again; and a branch shall be broken off, and shall be carried into a far country; nevertheless they shall be remembered in the covenants of the Lord, when the Messiah cometh; for he shall be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the Spirit of power; and shall bring them out of darkness into light; out of hidden darkness, and out of captivity unto freedom.

26 A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins.

27 Thus saith the Lord God of my fathers unto me, A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren.

28 And he shall bring them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers; and he shall do whatsoever work I shall command him.

29 And I will make him great in mine eyes, for he shall do my work; and he shall be great like unto him whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel, out of the land of Egypt; for a seer will I raise up to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he shall know that he is of thy house; for he shall be nursed by the king’s daughter, and shall be called her son.

30 And again, a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins; and not to the bringing forth of my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them in the last days;

31 Wherefore the fruit of thy loins shall write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to a knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.

32 And out of weakness shall he be made strong, in that day when my work shall go forth among all my people, which shall restore them, who are of the house of Israel, in the last days.

33 And that seer will I bless, and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise I give unto you; for I will remember you from generation to generation; and his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation.

34 And the Lord sware unto Joseph that he would preserve his seed forever, saying, I will raise up Moses, and a rod shall be in his hand, and he shall gather together my people, and he shall lead them as a flock, and he shall smite the waters of the Red Sea with his rod.

35 And he shall have judgment, and shall write the word of the Lord. And he shall not speak many words, for I will write unto him my law by the finger of mine own hand. And I will make a spokesman for him, and his name shall be called Aaron.

36 And it shall be done unto thee in the last days also, even as I have sworn. Therefore, Joseph said unto his brethren, God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land, unto the land which he sware unto Abraham, and unto Isaac, and to Jacob.

37 And Joseph confirmed many other things unto his brethren, and took an oath of the children of Israel, saying unto them, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

38 So Joseph died when he was an hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and they put him in a coffin in Egypt; and he was kept from burial by the children of Israel, that he might be carried up and laid in the sepulchre with his father. And thus they remembered the oath which they sware unto him.

You probably remember that Moses in the PoGP comes from his Bible translation. @@ So, writing about this has helped me, nevertheless I loved this treatise about it:

Joseph Smith’s Bible Translation

D&C 45, 76, 77, 86, 91

Elizabeth Maki

As Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon in the late 1820s, he learned more than the history of the Lamanites and Nephites.

More than once, the Book of Mormon text indicated that “many plain and precious parts” of the Bible had been lost.1 In the summer of 1830, just a few short months after the Book of Mormon was published, Joseph Smith began a new translation of the Bible intended to restore some of those plain and precious parts. This effort defied the prevailing opinion of the day that the Bible contained the inerrant word of God as contained in the revered text of the King James Version.

Joseph’s translation was not carried out in the traditional sense. He didn’t consult Greek and Hebrew texts or use lexicons to create a new English version. Rather, he used the King James Version of the Bible as his starting point and made additions and changes as he was directed by the Holy Ghost.

Although Joseph made many minor grammatical corrections and modernized some language, he was less concerned with these technical improvements than he was with restoring, through revelation, important truths not included in the contemporary Bible. Historian Mark Lyman Staker characterized the translation as one of “ideas rather than language.”2

Joseph Smith worked diligently on his translation from the summer of 1830 until July 1833. He considered this project a divine mandate, referring to it as a “branch of my calling.”3 Yet while portions were printed in Church publications before his death, Joseph Smith’s complete translation of the Bible was not published during his lifetime.

Even so, the effort the Prophet poured into that work is evident in the pages of the Doctrine and Covenants; the translation process served as the direct catalyst for many revelations contained in that book, which includes more than a dozen sections that arose directly from the translation process or contain instructions for Joseph and others pertaining to it.4

The Translation Process

It was while the Book of Mormon was being printed at E. B. Grandin’s print shop in October 1829 that Oliver Cowdery purchased from Grandin the King James Bible that Joseph Smith used in the translation.

In June 1830, Joseph received a revelation that he described as the “visions of Moses.”5 This revelation may have served as a catalyst to Joseph’s work on the translation. This revelation now appears as the first chapter in the book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price. The earliest manuscripts of the Bible translation, beginning with Genesis 1 (now Moses 2), were created in Harmony, Pennsylvania, about one month later, with Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer acting as scribes. Shortly thereafter, in a revelation addressed to Joseph’s wife, Emma Hale Smith, the Lord instructed that Emma serve as Joseph’s scribe6 for the translation, which she apparently did for a brief time.7 Over the next few months, the translation progressed through the book of Genesis.

In December of that year, after Sidney Rigdon was baptized in Ohio and traveled to Fayette, New York, to meet the leader of his new faith, Joseph Smith received a revelation directing Rigdon to serve as his scribe: “Thou shalt write for him & the scriptures shall be given even as they are in mine own bosom to the salvation of mine own elect.”8

Rigdon commenced to serve as scribe, and shortly after he and Joseph recorded the story of Enoch, Joseph was instructed to cease translating for a time and take the Church to Ohio. He did so, and soon after he was settled in Kirtland, the translation again became one of his primary tasks. In early February 1831, Joseph received a revelation instructing that a home be built in which he could “live & translate.”9 A few days later, another revelation assured Joseph that as he asked, the “scriptures shall be given.”10

Doctrine and Covenants 45

The earliest work of the translation focused on the text of Genesis, but a March 7, 1831, revelation soon changed Joseph’s course. In the revelation, canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 45, Joseph was instructed to put aside the Old Testament for a time and instead focus on translating the New Testament.

“I give unto you that ye may now Translate it,” he was told, “that ye may be prepared for the things to come for Verily I say unto you that great things await you.”11

Accordingly, Joseph and Sidney began the next day to work on the New Testament translation. They continued until leaving for Missouri that summer and then resumed the translation in the fall, after Joseph and Emma moved roughly 30 miles south of Kirtland to Hiram, Ohio, to live in the home of John Johnson. The move was, in part, Joseph’s attempt to find a place “to work in peace and quiet on the translation of the Bible.”12 Joseph Smith later recalled that the bulk of his time after arriving at the Johnson home was spent in preparing to continue his translation work.

Joseph also set about overseeing the Church and preaching in the area, and then in January 1832 he received a revelation that directed him to once again focus his work on the translation “untill it be finished.”13 It was while he and Sidney Rigdon did so that, on February 16, they received a landmark revelation in the Johnson home. While working to translate the book of John, the men’s inquiries led to a vision of the kingdoms of glory that was a source of significant new doctrines for the young Church. Today, that vision is contained in Doctrine and Covenants 76.

Sections 77 and 86

Similarly, an explanation of passages in the book of Revelation, now Doctrine and Covenants 77, also arose directly from the Bible translation. Taking the form of a series of questions and answers, it was considered an inspired text and was included in an early revelation book.

Joseph and Emma left the Johnson farm and returned to Kirtland in September 1832. Over the next few months, Joseph continued to work diligently on the translation, now with the help of Frederick G. Williams as scribe. In December, another revelation arising from the translation was received, this time explaining the parable of the wheat and tares found in Matthew 13. The revelation, now Doctrine and Covenants 86, designates the body of the priesthood in the latter days as “a saviour unto my people Israel.”14

In July 1832, Joseph wrote to W. W. Phelps that “we have finished the translation of the New testament.”

“Great and glorious things are revealed,” he wrote, adding that they were “making rapid strides in the old book and in the strength of God we can do all things according to his will.”15

Work on the translation of the Old Testament continued, and Joseph recorded in January 1833 that “this winter was spent in translating the scriptures; in the school of the prophets; and sitting in conferences. I had many glorious seasons of refreshing.”16 In March 1833, Joseph received instruction that when the translation was finished, he should “thence forth preside over the affairs of the church.”17 So he eagerly pushed ahead.

Doctrine and Covenants 91

Joseph Smith soon came to a section in his King James Bible containing a collection of 14 books known as the Apocrypha. While most Bibles in Joseph Smith’s day contained these books, there was a growing movement at the time that questioned their status as scripture.18 Given this dispute, Joseph wanted to know if he should seek to translate the books and took the question to the Lord. The resulting revelation, now Doctrine and Covenants 91, taught Joseph that while “there are many things contained therein that are true and it is mostly translated correct—there are many things contained therein that are not true which are interpelations by the hands of men varely I say unto you that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated.”19

Skipping that section, Joseph continued to labor over the Old Testament translation for several more months until, on July 2, 1833, a letter from the First Presidency (including Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams) in Kirtland to the Saints in Zion recorded that they “this day finished the translating of the Scriptures, for which we returned gratitude to our heavenly father.”20

The Translation’s Legacy

After Joseph’s death, his widow, Emma, retained the translation manuscripts, which were published by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1867. For the modern LDS Church, Joseph Smith’s translation supplies portions of the Pearl of Great Price (the book of Moses and Matthew 24) and informs many footnotes in the Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Version of the Bible.

But the translation also had a significant influence on the Church in the way it shaped the content of the Doctrine and Covenants. More than half of the current Doctrine and Covenants consists of revelations received during the three-year period in which Joseph Smith labored over the Bible translation.21 Many revelations were received as direct answers to questions Joseph was inspired to ask as his understanding of the gospel expanded during the effort to restore plain and precious parts of the Bible.