• Doctrine & Covenants
• Development of D&C
• Section Overviews
•   Sections 1–20
•   Sections 21–40
•   Sections 41–60
•   Sections 61–80
•   Sections 81–100
•   Sections 101–120
•  
• Joseph Smith Translation
• Genesis–Psalms
  • Genesis 1–23
  • Genesis 24–50
  • Exodus 1–21
  • Exodus 22–40
  • Leviticus 1–14
  • Leviticus 15–27
  • Numbers 1–16
  • Numbers 17–36
  • Deutoronomy 1–17
  • Deutoronomy 18–34
  • Joshua
  • Judges
  • Ruth
  • 1 Samuel 1–17
  • 1 Samuel 18–31
  • 2 Samuel 1–14
  • 2 Samuel 15–24
  • 1 Kings 1–11
  • 1 Kings 12–22
  • 2 Kings 1–12
  • 2 Kings 13–25
  • 1 Chronicles 1–15
  • 1 Chronicles 16–29
  • 2 Chronicles 1–20
  • 2 Chronicles 21–36
  • Ezra
  • Nehemiah
  • Esther
  • Job
  • Psalms 1–71
  • Psalms 72–150
• Proverbs–Malachi
  • Proverbs
  • Ecclesiastes
  • Song of Solomon
  • Isaiah 1–35
  • Isaiah 36–66
  • Jeremiah 1–30
  • Jeremiah 31–52
  • Lamentations
  • Ezekiel 1–25
  • Ezekiel 26–48
  • Daniel
  • Hosea
  • Joel
  • Amos
  • Obadiah
  • Jonah
  • Micah
  • Nahum
  • Habbakuk
  • Zephaniah
  • Haggai
  • Zechariah
  • Malachi
• Matthew–Philippians
  • Matthew 1–10
  • Matthew 11–20
  • Matthew 21–28
  • Mark
  • Luke
  • John 1–10
  • John 11–21
  • Acts
  • Romans
  • 1 Corinthians
  • 2 Corinthians
  • Galatians
  • Ephesians
  • Philippians
• Colossians–Revelation
  • Colossians
  • 1 Thessalonians
  • 2 Thessalonians
  • 1 Timothy
  • 2 Timothy
  • Titus
  • Philemon
  • Hebrews
  • James
  • 1 Peter
  • 2 Peter
  • 1 John
  • 2 John
  • 3 John
  • Jude
  • Revelation
• Articles about the JST
•   New Translation
•   And LDS Doctrine
•   The JST
•  
• Bible Commentary
• Genesis 1–4
• Genesis 4–49
• Exodus to Job
• Psalms to Ezekiel
• Matthew 1–3
• Matthew 4–13
• Matthew 13–28
• Mark 1–5
• Mark 6–16
• Luke 1–3
• Luke 3–24
• John
• Romans
• Galatians and Ephesians
• Phillipians–James
• 1st and 2nd Peter
•  

Scott H. Faulring, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds., Joseph Smith's New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004) 3-13.

Joseph Smith's New Translation of the Bible

The latter-day restoration of the gospel included the restoration of much significant truth to the Bible. It brought about the restoration of biblical history that had been lost and the restoration of biblical texts that had been changed or omitted or were in need of clarification. More important, it included the restoration of biblical doctrine that had been either removed, distorted, or simply misinterpreted by a world that did not enjoy the fulness of the gospel.

Shortly after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint was organized,1 the Prophet Joseph Smith was instructed by the Lord to undertake a careful reading of the Bible to revise and make corrections in accordance with the inspiration that he would receive. The result was a work of profound significance for the Church that included the revelation of many important truths and the restoration of many of the "precious things" that the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi had foretold would be taken from the Bible (1 Ne. 13:23-29). In June 1830 the first revealed addition to the Bible was set to writing. Over the next three years, the Prophet made changes, additions, and corrections as were given him by divine inspiration while he filled his calling to provide a more correct translation for the Church.2 Collectively, these are called the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), a name first applied in the 1970s, or the New Translation, as Joseph Smith and others in his day referred to it.3 In this book, we have used the terms Joseph Smith Translation and New Translation for the process of translation and for the text on the original manuscripts. The title Inspired Version (I.V.) refers to the edited, printed edition, published by the Community of Christ (historically, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).4

History

The first revelation of the Joseph Smith Translation was what we now call Moses 1 in the Pearl of Great Price-the preface to the book of Genesis and thus to the entire Old Testament. It begins the earliest manuscript of the New Translation, designated OT1.5 Serving as scribes on OT1 were the following:

Dictating the text of the New Translation to these scribes, the Prophet progressed to Genesis 24:41 (I.V. Gen. 24:42), when he set aside Genesis to begin translating the New Testament as he was instructed by the Lord on 7 March 1831 (see D&C 45:60-62).

The earliest New Testament manuscript, designated NT1 includes most of the book of Matthew. It was begun at Matthew 1:1 on 8 March 1831 and ends on Matthew 26:71. The scribe for it was Sidney Rigdon. A second New Testament manuscript, NT2, begins with a copy of the first manuscript and then continues the dictated text through John 5. At that point, in February 1832, the Prophet ceased dictating the text in full to his scribes and developed an abbreviated notation system in which words to be corrected were marked in Bible (crossed out, circled, or otherwise indentified), and only the references and replacement words or other revisions were recorded on the manuscript. From that time on, it appears that the Prophet read the verses from his Bible, marked in it the words or passages that needed to be corrected, and dictated the changes to his scribes, who recorded them on the manuscripts.

John Whitmer was the copyist of Matthew 1:1-26:71, transcribing that material from NT1. Taking dictation from the Prophet for the rest of the New Testament were the following:

The Bible that Joseph Smith used to assist in the translation was King James Version purchased 8 October 1829 at the E. B. Grandin bookstore in Palmyra, New York, where the Book of Mormon was being typeset at the time.9 The text of the Prophet's Bible is very close to that of the 1769 King James Version revision that is used by English-speaking Church members today. But the words in his Bible are modernized in some instances, and in hundreds of verses the punctuation is different, as is the case with many Bibles of that time period.10

Following the completion of the New Testament in late July 1832, Joseph Smith returned to his work on the Old Testament.11 A second Old Testament manuscript, designated OT2,12 begins with a copy of the first manuscript (OT1). John Whitmer had made the copy in March and April 1831 when Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon began working on the New Testament.13 OT2 became the manuscript of the continuing translation. The Prophet soon shifted to the abbreviated notation system for the Old Testament also, marking passages in the Bible that needed to be changed and dictating the revisions to his scribes, who recorded them on the manuscript. Assisting him on OT2 were John Whitmer, copyist of Genesis 1:1-24:41 (I.V. Gen. 1:1-24:42; Moses 1-8), and Frederick G. Williams, scribe for Genesis 24:41 (I.V. Gen. 24:42)-Nehemiah 10:30; Psalms 11-15; Psalms 17 through Malachi. Joseph Smith served as his own scribe for Nehemiah 11-Psalms 10 and Psalms 6 (OT2, pp. 81-83, 86), and Sidney Rigdon was the scribe for a few lines in Jeremiah (OT2, pp. 111-12). At the end of OT2, after the book of Malachi, the following words are written in large letters: "Finished on the 2d day of July 1833." That same day the Prophet and his counselors, JST scribes Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, wrote to the Church members in Missouri and told them, "We this day finished the translating of the Scriptures for which we returned gratitude to our heavenly father."14

During the course of the Prophet's work with the Bible, changes were made in about thirteen hundred Old Testament verses and in about twenty-one hundred verses in the New Testament.15 Most of the changes are rewordings of the existing King James translation text. But other changes involve the addition of new material-in some cases substantial amount. Presumably every book in the Bible was examined, but no changes were made in thirteen of them (Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi, 2 John, and 3 John). The books with no corrections are identified on the manuscripts with such brief notations as "Micah-Correct" (OT2, p. 118). Ecclesiastes is the only book not mentioned at all. Regarding another book, the manuscript notes, "The Songs of Solomon are not Inspired writings" (OT2, p. 97).

Some remarkable passages in the New Translation were revealed in doctrinal and grammatical clarity the first time and had little need for later refining. But other passages show that the Prophet struggled with the wording until he was satisfied that it was acceptable to the Lord. His careful effort was in harmony with the instruction that he had received previously that we should "study it out in [our] mind" as we listen to the Spirit and apply our best efforts, after which a confirmation will come if it is correct (D&C 9:8; and see D&C 9:7-9).

On many pages of the manuscripts are revisions that were made after the original dictation. These are of two types: (a) Some are simply mechanical, such as the insertion of punctuation and verse numbering, changes of ampersands to and, or changes of letters to upper- or lowercase. There are hundreds of these. (b) In other cases, words were added to the text or existing wording was revised. Some of these changes simply correct errors in the original recording, such as when the Prophet's eyes skipped words while he was dictating or when his scribe recorded words incorrectly. But in many insertions Joseph Smith revised the writing or added words or phrases to produce new meanings not recorded in the original dictation. Some of these insertions required more room than was available between the lines of the text and were written on small pieces of paper and attached in place with straight pins-the nineteenth-century equivalent of paper clips or staples. Even though some of the later corrections provide important clarifications and insights, an overwhelming majority of the significant contributions of the JST were made during the original dictation.

We can identify almost all of the handwriting of the original recording and thus know who the Prophet's scribes were in most instances. Of the subsequent revisions that Joseph Smith made in the wording, perhaps 90 percent are in the hand of Sidney Rigdon; most of the others were written by Frederick G. Williams, and only about ten small changes were written by Joseph Smith himself. It appears that the Prophet dictated most of the revisions to his scribes not long after the original dictation, when he reviewed his work, corrected errors, added clarifications, and was inspired with additional insights. On 31 July 1832 Joseph Smith announced the completion of the New Testament translation. But six months later, on 2 February 1833, his minute book record the completion of "the translating and the reviewing" of the New Testament.16 This revising of the New Testament translation, evident in many places on the manuscripts, took place during the time parts of the Old Testament were being translated for the first time. Similarly, it is likely that subsequent revisions to the Old Testament translation were made not long after its original dictation. From 2 July 1833 on, there are no references in Joseph Smith's diaries and letters to his making additional changes to the translation. But there are statements regarding the preparation of the manuscript for publication, perhaps referring to such matters as the insertion of punctuation, capitalization, and verse numbers. We cannot identify the handwritings or the dates for those small mechanical changes. Most were probably made by clerks working under the Prophet's direction, but some others may have been added in the 1860s when the RLDS Church prepared to publish its Inspired Version.17

Was the translation finished? Generally speaking, the answer is yes. The Bible, even in its purest and fullest form, never contained the complete record of those who are mentioned in it. The book of Genesis, for example, was a revelation to Moses that provided mere summaries of important lives and events. Certainly there are other truths that could have been revealed in the New Translation and other additions that could have been inserted to make it more complete. But from July 1833 on, Joseph Smith spoke no longer of translating the Bible but of publishing it, which he wanted and intended to accomplish "as soon as possible."18 He sought to find the means to print it as a book, and he repeatedly encourages Church members to donate money for the publication. But because of a lack of funds and the other priorities of the Saints, it was not printed in his lifetime.19 Excerpts were published in the Church's newspapers and elsewhere, so some sections of it were available for early Church members.20 Still, when Joseph Smith was martyred in 1844, he had not seen the realization of his desire to have the entire New Testament appear in print.

In the decades after the Prophet's death, Latter-day Saints in Utah lacked access to the manuscripts of the New Translation and had only limited knowledge about how it was produced. None of the participants in the translation process were with the Church when the Saints moved west in 1846.21 This, and related circumstances, resulted in many misconceptions about it that eventually made their way into Latter-day Saints culture. Among those misconceptions are the beliefs that the Prophet did not finished the translation and that it was not intended to be published in his lifetime. Careful research shows that these ideas are refuted in Joseph Smith's own words.22 But was the New Translation ready to go to press the day Joseph Smith died? Robert J. Matthews has pointed out: "The basic conclusion seems to be that the work of translation was acceptable as far as the Lord required it of the Prophet at this time, but the manuscript was not fully prepared for the press."23 Work still needed to be done to refine the verse divisions and to provide consistent spelling and punctuation. And some of the individual changes had resulted in unevenness in wording that had not yet been smoothed out. In short, although the inspired work of translating had been completed by Joseph Smith as far as was intended, the text was still in need of some editing when he died.

Types of Changes

Joseph Smith had the authority to make changes in the Bible as God directed. In one revelation he is called "a seer, a revelator, a translator" (D&C 107:92), and in several other Doctrine and Covenants passages his work with the translation is endorsed by the Lord (D&C 35:20; 43:12-13; 73:3-4; 90:13; 93:53; 94:10). The Prophet called his Bible revision a "translation," though it did not involve creating a new rendering from Hebrew or Greek manuscripts. So far as the translation of the Bible is concerned, he never claimed to have consulted any text other than his English Bible, but he translated it in the sense of conveying it in a new form.

It appears that several different kinds of changes were involved in the process, but it is difficult to know with certainty the nature or origin of any particular change. The following five categories seem to include all of the revisions of the New Translation:24

1. Restoration of original text. Because Nephi tells us that "many plain and precious things" would be "taken away" from the Bible (1 Ne. 13:28), we can be certain that the JST includes the restoration of content that was once in original manuscripts. To Moses, the Lord foretold the removal of material from his record and its restoration in the latter days: "Thou shalt write the things which I shall speak. And in the day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men-among as many as shall believe" (Moses 1:40-41). Joseph Smith was the man like Moses whom the Lord raised up to restore the lost words written by Moses, as well as lost material from the words of other Bible writers. But Joseph Smith did not restore the very words of lost texts, because they were in Hebrew or Greek (or other ancient languages), and the new Translation was to be in English. Thus his translation, in the English idiom of his own day, would restore the meaning and the message of original passages but not necessarily the literary trappings that accompanied them when they were first put to writing. This is one reason why the work can be called a translation.

2. Restoration of what was once said or done but which was never in the Bible. Joseph Smith stated, "From what we can draw form the scriptures relative to the teachings of heaven we are induced to think, that much instruction has been given to man since the beginning which we have not."25 Perhaps the JST includes teachings or events in the ministries of prophets, apostles, or Jesus Himself that were never recorded anciently. The JST may include material of which the biblical writers were unaware or which they chose not to include or neglected to record (cf. 3 Ne. 23:6-13).

3. Editing to make the Bible more understandable for modern readers. Many of the individual JST changes fall into this category. There are numerous instances in which the Prophet rearranged word order to make a text read more easily or modernized its language. Examples of modernization of language would include the many changes from wot to know,26 from an to a before words that begin with h, from saith to said, from that and which to who, and from ye and thee to you.27 In some instance, Joseph Smith added short expansions to make the text less ambiguous. For example, there are several places where the word he is replaced by a personal name, thus making the meaning more clear, as in Genesis 14:20 (KJV "And he gave" = JST "And Abram gave") and in Genesis 18:32 (KJV "And he said. . . . And he said" = JST "And Abraham said. . . . And the Lord said").

These examples are merely word choices and usually have no bearing on how the original text is to be interpreted. But other modernizations may have a more significant aim. Some could be called cultural translations-the conversion of aspects of ancient culture unto modern counterparts to make them communicate better to modern readers. An example might include 1 Thessalonians 5:26, in which "Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss" is changed to "Greet all the brethren with a holy salutation" (see also Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12). It is likely that the King James text here accurately represents Paul's original word and intent. Yet to modern Western readers, unaccustomed to Mediterranean displays of friendship and brotherhood, Paul's word might miscommunicate and misdirect, and thus the Prophet made a change.28

4. Editing to bring biblical wording into harmony with truth found in other revelations or elsewhere in the Bible. Joseph Smith said, "[There are] many things in the Bible which do not, as they now stand, accord with the revelation of the Holy Ghost to me."29 Where there were inaccuracies in the Bible, regardless of their source, it was well within the scope of the Prophet's calling to change what needed to be changed. Where modern revelation had given a clearer view of a doctrine preserved less adequately in the Bible, it was appropriate for Joseph Smith to add a correction-whether or not that correction reflects what was on the ancient original manuscript. And where a passage was inconsistent with information elsewhere in the Bible itself, a change needed to be made.

Three examples may illustrate this kind of change: (a) The Gospel of John records the statement, "No man hath seen God at any time" (John 1:18), which contradicts the experience of Joseph Smith (JS-H 1:17-20) as well as biblical examples of prophets seeing God (e.g., Ex. 24:9-11; 33:11; Num. 12:6-8; Isa. 6:1; Amos 9:1). The JST change at John 1:18 clarifies the text. (b) The Gospel of Matthew contains what appears to be a misunderstanding of the donkey used in Jesus' triumphal entry (Matt. 21:2-3, 7). The JST revises the text to agree with the clearer accounts in Mark, Luke, and John. (c) Matthew 27:3-5 and Acts 1:16-19 contain conflicting information about Judas' death. The JST revises Matthew to harmonize the two accounts. It is possible that in examples like b and c the Bible preserves accurately what the original authors wrote, based on misunderstanding, incomplete recollection, or the imperfection of writing. Joseph Smith was called to provide a more accurate translation, and responding to divine inspiration, he made the necessary changes even if they corrected the words of ancient writers.

5. Changes to provide modern readers teachings that were not written by original authors. Perhaps there are JST changes in which Joseph Smith was inspired to alter or adapt an author's original words, or even to remove them from their original context, to reveal teachings needed by the latter-day Church. Elder Bruce R. McConkie, speaking of the differences between the early Genesis chapters in the Bible and the JST, said "both of them are true." He stated that John 1 in the Bible "is true," yet the JST gives it "an entirely new perspective." "These are illustrations of the fact that there can be two translations of the same thing and both of them can be true."30 There is an important JST change at Romans 13 in which Paul's teaching regarding the Saints' submission to secular political power is changed to submission to the authorities of the Church. Perhaps both versions are correct. If the Bible preserves accurately Paul's original thoughts and intent, then the JST revision would be viewed as a latter-day revelation intended to instruct us on a topic not anticipated by Paul.31

Some have dismissed the JST because its changes are not verified in ancient manuscripts.32 The claim is that if the JST revisions were justifiable, they would agree with the earliest existing manuscripts of the biblical books. But this reasoning is misdirected in two ways. First, it assumes that all JST changes are intended to restore original text, a claim made neither by the JST itself nor by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Second, it assumes that extant ancient manuscripts accurately reproduce the original text. Joseph Smith taught that "many important points, touching the salvation of man, had been taken from he Bible, or lost before it was compiled,"33 collaborating Nephi's testimony that "many plain and precious things" would be "taken away" from it (1 Ne. 13:28; see 13:23-29). The careful study of ancient biblical manuscripts seeks to determine the content of the no longer existing originals. But the earliest copies of most New Testament manuscripts date from a century or two after they were first written, and the earliest Old Testament manuscripts date from hundreds of years after the authors wrote their books. Given the prophetic assurance that changes would be made in the texts and considering the ample window of time during which those changes could have been made, we cannot have confidence that the earliest existing manuscripts today are identical to those that "came from the pen of the original writers."34

The first category of changes listed above, restoration of original text, is the only one that necessarily involves correcting the biblical text to read as in the ancient authors' earliest manuscripts-though not in the original words but in the language and idiom of nineteenth-century America. The changes identified in categories 2 through 5 are not restorations of original text but are wordings that likely had never been in the Bible, had never been written in Hebrew or Greek, and had never been cast in the ancient literary style of Bible writers. The original language of those changes is the English of Joseph Smith. Perhaps this helps explain some questions about the JST-why some JST additions to Old Testament poetic material do not match the style of the passages in which they are found, or why some JST changes in the New Testament do not use vocabulary or style common to the ancient writer's other preserved words, or why JST changes sometimes produce a reading different from that found on the plates of brass and copied in the Book of Mormon.35 Because some JST passages were perhaps never in the Bible, we would not expect to find evidence for them in ancient manuscripts, no matter how close in date those manuscripts are to the original biblical texts.

The scriptures give examples of prophets revising, reusing, editing, and adding to the writings of earlier prophets. There are places in Old Testament books where it appears that a later writer may have added to an original author's words.36 New Testament authors frequently used in their own writings passages from the Old Testament in ways that may not have been anticipated by the earlier prophets.37 Matthew and Luke seem to be, to some extent, expansions on Mark.38 Moroni put together a lengthy string of Old Testament passages from various diverse contexts to teach Joseph Smith.39 Elder Bruce R. McConkie suggested that much of the content of Malachi is actually reused form the earlier prophet Zenos.40 Nephi apparently wove his own revelation in and out of the words of Isaiah in order to teach the destiny of his prophetic record (see 2 Nephi 27). And Mormon so thoroughly infused his own inspired commentary into the teachings of Nephite prophets that it is sometimes difficult to tell where Alma, for instance, ends and Mormon begins. Joseph Smith's labor on the Bible was to make it not a museum piece for antiquity but a living revelation for the Saints of the latter days. He was appointed to the work by God (see D&C 76:15), and God endorsed it in strong language: "And the scripture shall be given, even as they are in mine own bosom, to the salvation of mine own elect" (D&C 35:20). Because the Lord revealed the Joseph Smith Translation for the salvation of His elect, Latter-day Saints can embrace it as they do the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.

Later History

In 1851 Elder Franklin D. Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was serving as president of the British mission in Liverpool. Sensing a need to make available for the British Saints some of Joseph Smith's revelations that had been published already in America, he compiled a mission pamphlet entitled The Pearl of Great Price. In it he included among other important texts, the excerpts from the Prophet's New Translation of the Bible that has been published already in Church periodicals and elsewhere: the first few chapters of Genesis, and Matthew 24.41 Over the course of time, Elder Richards's compilation became a popular item of literature among members of the Church. Since most of the British Saints eventually emigrated to America, so also did interest in The Pearl of Great Price. In the 1870s the decision was made to prepare it for churchwide distribution. The first Salt Lake edition was published in 1878, and in the October 1880 general conference it was presented to the assembled membership for a sustaining vote and was canonized as scripture and accepted as binding on the Church.42 Since then, the Pearl of Great Price has been one of the Standard Works, and the few chapters of the Joseph Smith Translation in it have been recognized not only as divine revelation-which they always were-but also as integral parts of our scripture and doctrine.

When Joseph Smith died, the manuscripts of the New Translation were not in the possession of the Church but of his family, who remained in Illinois when the leaders of the Church and the majority of the Saints moved to the West. In 1867 the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints published the New Translation under the title The Holy Scriptures, Translated and Corrected by the Spirit of Revelation. By Joseph Smith, Jr., the Seer. It has been known popularly by the name Inspired Version since the nineteenth century, and that name was added officially in as edition of 1936. As mentioned, at the time of Joseph Smith's death, the punctuation and verse numbering on the manuscripts were still in need of refinement. The punctuation and versification of the printed Inspired Version generally do not follow what is written on the JST manuscripts but were supplied by the 1866-67 publication committee. It appears that they modeled their work after the King James translation rather than following what was written on the original manuscripts.

Because the Saints in Utah knew little about the New Translation and did not have access to its original documents, it was not widely used within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aside from the excerpts that are part of the Pearl of Great Price. Over the years, lack of knowledge about the New Translation led some Latter-day Saints to misunderstand it and the process by which it was created and to question the accuracy of the printed Inspired Version. Some came to view the New Translation with reservations.43 During the 1960s and 1970s, Robert Matthews conducted extensive research on the manuscripts and on Joseph Smith's marked Bible.44 His study confirmed the general integrity of the printed Inspired Version and taught us many things about the New Translation and how it was produced. In the process, Professor Matthews brought the JST to the attention of members of the Church.45

In 1979, when the Church published a Latter-day Saint edition of the Bible in the English language, generous amounts of material from the New Translation were included in footnotes and in an appendix, the JST text being drawn from the 1944 "Corrected Edition" of the Inspired Version.46 In subsequent years, JST excerpts were included in the "Guide to the Scriptures," a combination concordance-Bible dictionary published with the LDS scriptures in languages other than English. We now add the present volume by the Religious Studies Center of Brigham Young University, which includes a facsimile transcription of all the original JST manuscripts. A most significant aspect of these publications is that they have made the Joseph Smith Translation accessible to an extent that it never has been before. Now general authorities, curriculum writers, scholars, and students can draw freely from the New Translation in their research and writing, bringing it to its rightful place alongside the other great revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is, as Elder Dallin H. Oaks observed, "a member of the royal family of scripture" that "should be noticed and honored on any occasion when it is present."47

Notes

1. Called the Church of Christ at the time of its organization on 6 April 1830.
1. The comprehensive treatment of the New Translation to date is Robert J. Matthews, "A Plainer Translation": Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible-A History and Commentary (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1975). Recent research, reflected in the present volume, has provided clarification for many matters regarding such things as handwriting and dating.
2. See Doctrine and Covenants 124:89; Times and season 1, no. 9 (July 1840): 140. See also Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2d ed. Rev., 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Desert Book, 1957), 1:341, 365; 4:164.
3. First published in 1867 as The Holy Scriptures, Translated and Corrected by the Spirit of Revelation. By Joseph Smith, Jr., the Seer. (Plano, Ill.: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints [later, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints], 1867). The most recent edition was published in Independence, Missouri, in 1991. In 2001 the RLDS Church changes its name to the Community of Christ.
4. All of the JST manuscripts are located in the archive of the Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri. Note that in Matthews, "A Plainer Translation," and in many other publications, an old archival numbering system is used for the manuscripts, resulting from an early misunderstanding of the order in which the manuscripts were written. OT1 was previously designated OT2. Matthews was the first to question the accuracy of the numbering system. See Matthew, "A Plainer Translation," 67-72; Richard P. Howard, Restoration Scriptures: A Study of Their Textual Development, rev. and enl. (Independence, Mo.: Herald, 1995), 63 n. 1.
5. References preceded by I.V. are to the chapter and verse numbers in the printed Inspired Version, published by the Community of Christ, which differ sometimes from the traditional biblical references and from those written on the original JST manuscripts.
6. Including the section 22 of the Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants (Moses 1 in the Pearl of Great Price).
7. These passages were all written by the same as-yet-unidentified scribe, whom we have designated Scribe A.
8. On the first sheet of the Bible inside the front cover is this inscription in Oliver Cowdery's handwriting: "The Book of the Jews And the Property of / Joseph Smith Junior and liver Cowdery / Brought October the 8th 1829, at Egbert B Grandins / Book Store Palmyra Wayne County New York. / Price $3.75 / H[o]lines to the L[ord]."
9. See Kent P. Jackson, "Joseph Smith's Cooperstown Bible Used in the Joseph Smith Translation in Its Historical Context," BYU Studies 40, no. 1 (2001):41-70. The Prophet's Bible was published in 1828 by the H. and E. Phinney Company of Cooperstown, New York. It is housed in the Community of Christ Archives in Independence, Missouri. Because this was the Bible that Joseph Smith used in the new Translation, it (and not the 1769 King James Version revision used in the current LDS publication of the Bible) is the default text that underlies the JST. Aside from the many punctuation differences, the most common difference is that the Prophet's Bible uses a before words that begin with a pronounced letter h, as in "a house" (1 Kgs. 5:3) and "a hundred" (Gen. 11:25), whereas the 1769 King James Version revision uses the archaic an: "an house" and "an hundred."
10. In a letter dated 31 July 1832, the Prophet stated: "We have finished the translation of the New Testament . . . , we are making rapid strides in the old book [Old Testament] and in the strength of God we can do all things according to his will." Joseph Smith to W. W. Phelps, 31 July 1832, Ms. 155, Box 2 folder 3. Joseph Smith Collection, Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Published in The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, rev. ed. Dean C. Jessee (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2002), 274.
11. Formerly OT3.
12. When he finished the transcription of OT1, thus creating OT2, John Whitmer wrote at the end of the original document (OT1), "April 5th 1831 transcribed thus far."
13. Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams to the Brethren in Zion, 2 July 1833, Joseph Smith Letter Book 1, 51 (Ms. 155, Box 2 folder 1), Joseph Smith Collection, Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Published in Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 1:368.
14. Matthews, "A Plainer Translation," 425.
15. "This day completed the translation and the reviewing of the New Testament." Kirtland High Council Minute Book, 2 February 1833, 8, Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Published in Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 1:324.
16. At the time the 1866-67 RLDS publication committee obtained the manuscript from Emma Smith to publish it, committee members were instructed to make a copy of the entire manuscript so it, and not the original, would go to the printer, "with a view to the preservation of the original copy" (The True Latter Day Saints' Herald, 15 April 1866, 125). Accordingly, the Committee Manuscript was transcribed from the original pages (see Howard, Restoration Scriptures, 111-14). The mandate to preserve the original (along with the fact that the versification and punctuation on the Committee Manuscript differ materially from those to OT2 and NT2) might argue against RLDS involvement in these mechanical insertions. However, it appears that some RLDS handwriting is on the originals (mostly correcting capitalization), suggesting some manuscript preparation after Joseph Smith's lifetime.
17. "You will see by these revelations that we have to print the new translation here at kirtland for which we will prepare as soon as possible." Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams to Edward Partridge, 6 August 1833, Letters Sent, Oversized (Ms. 155, Box 6 folder 2), Joseph Smith Collection, Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
18. The evidence is collected in Matthews, "Joseph Smith's Efforts to Publish His Bible Translation," Ensign, January 1983, 57-64.
19. The Evening and the Morning Star 1, no. 3 (August 1832): 2-3 (Moses 7); 1, no. 10 (March 1833): 1 Moses 6:43-68; I no. 11 (April 1833): 1-2 (Moses 8:13-30); Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Kirtland, Ohio: F. G. Williams and CO., 1835), "Lecture First," 9 (Heb. 11:1); "Lecture Second,"13-18 (Moses 2:26-29; 3:15-17, 19-20; 4:4-19, 22-25; 5:1, 4-9, 19-23, 32-40); Times and Seasons 4, no. 5 (16 January 1843): 71-73 (Moses 1); Peter Crawley, A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church, Volume One, 1830-1847 (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997), 60-61 (Matthew 24).
20. Joseph Smith (dies 1844), Oliver Cowdery (excommunicated 1838, died in the Church 1850), John Whitmer (excommunicated 1838), Emma Smith (did not go west), Sidney Rigdon (excommunicated 1844), and Frederick G. Williams (excommunicated 1839, died in the Church 1842).
21. See Matthews, "Joseph Smith's Efforts."
22. Ibid., 64.
23. Categories somewhat similar to these are found in Matthews, "A Plainer Translation," 253; and in Robert L. Millet, "Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible: A Historical Overview," in The Joseph Smith Translation: The Restoration of Plain and Precious Things, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Robert L. Millet (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1985), 43-45.
24. The Evening and the Morning Star 2, no. 18 (March 1834): 143.
25. The manuscript at Exodus at Exodus 32:1 revises wot to know with a note that know "should be in the place of 'wot' in all places."
26. These changes are not universally consistent in the manuscripts.
27. Perhaps the changes at Genesis 24:2, 9 fit this same category. Explanations reflecting the vantage point of the nineteenth century, rather than the fist, are found at Matthew 9:9 (NT2.1, p. 16, pinned note), and Mark 2:14 (NT2.2, p. 11).
28. The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph, ed. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980), 211, spelling and capitalization modernized.
29. Doctrines of the Restoration: Sermons and Writings of Bruce R. McConkie, ed. Mark L. McConkie (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989), 269.
30. The footnotes in the LDS Bible acknowledge both readings by including the JST changes as well as cross-references to "Citizenship," "Governments," and Doctrine and Covenants 58:21-22, which enjoins obedience to secular political authority.
31. E.g., Kevin L. Barney, "The Joseph Smith Translation and Ancient Texts of the Bible," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 19 (fall 1986): 85-102; Edward H. Ashment, "Making the Scriptures 'Indeed One in Our Hands,'" in The Word of God: Essays on Mormon Scripture, ed. Dan Vogel (Salt Lake City: Signature Book, 1990), 240-44, 252-53.
32. The Papers of Joseph Smith, Vol. 1: Autobiographical and Historical Writings, ed. Dean C. Jessee (Salt Lake City: Desert Book, 1989), 372.
33. Words of Joseph Smith, 256.
34. Perhaps Doctrine and Covenants 1:24 is applicable here. The changes were "given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language."
35. This is always done anonymously. The clearest example is the addendum to the writing of "the Preacher" in Ecclesiastes 12:9-14.
36. Theoretically, examples might include Matthew 2:15 (Hosea 11:1); Acts 2:16-21 (Joel 2:28-32); and Romans 10:13 (Joel 2:32).
See Robert L. Millet, "The Testimony of Matthew," in Studies in Scripture, Vol. 5: The Gospels, ed. Kent P. Jackson and Robert L. Millet (Salt Lake City: Desert Book, 1986), 48-50.
37. See Oliver Cowdery, "Letter IV. To W. W. Phelps, Esq.," Latter Day Saints Messenger and Advocate 1, no. 5 (February 1835): 77-80; "Letter VI. To W. W. Phelps, Esq.," ibid., 1, no. 7 (April 1835): 108-12; "Letter VII. To W. W. Phelps, Esq.," ibid., 1, no, 10 (July 1835): 156-59. See also Kent P. Jackson, From Apostasy to Restoration (Salt Lake City: Desert Book, 1996), 102-15.
38. Bruce R. McConkie, "The Doctrinal Restoration," in The Joseph Smith Translation, ed. Nyman and Millet, 18.
39. Including also the last verse of Matthew 23. The 1851 Pearl of Great Price contained the following: most of the JST through Genesis 6:13 (now Selections from the Book of Moses; Community of Christ D&C 22 and Inspired Version Gen. 1:1-8:18), Matthew 23:39-24:51 from the JST (Joseph Smith-Matthew), the Book of Abraham, parts of five sections from the Doctrine and Covenants (no longer included), parts of the Prophet's 1838 history (Joseph Smith-History), the Article of Faith (not known by that title at the time), and a poem entitled "Truth" (no longer included but now hymn 272 in the LDS hymnbook).
40. The text of the Book of Moses in the 1851 Pearl of Great Price was based on OT1. In the 1878 edition, the Moses text was taken from the 1867 Inspired Version.
41. See Dallin H. Oaks, "Scripture Reading, Revelation, and Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible," in Plain and Precious Truths Restored: The Doctrinal and Historical Significance of the Joseph Smith Translation, ed. Robert L. Millet and Robert J. Matthews (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1995), 5-15.
42. Matthews, "A Study of the Doctrinal Significance of Certain Textual Changes Made by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Four Gospels of the Inspired Version of the New Testament" (M.A. thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960), and "A Study of the Text of the Inspired Revision of the Bible" (Ph.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1968). "A Plainer Translation" was published in 1975. See Millet, "A Historical Overview," 38-41.
43. See Thomas E. Sherry, "Changing Attitudes toward Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible," in Plain and Precious Truths Restored, ed. Millet and Matthews, 187-226.
44. The text was taken from a printing of November 1965.
45. Oaks, "Scripture Reading, " 13.