New Testament Revision 2 (second numbering)
New Testament Revision 2
Source Note
Source Note
New Testament Revision 2, ca. 4 Apr. 1831–24 Mar. 1832 and 20–31 July 1832; handwriting of , , , and an unidentified scribe; 206 pages; CHL.
The Bible revision manuscripts remained in JS’s possession throughout his life—except during a brief period in 1838 and another in 1839. Upon the death of JS, the manuscript was in possession of his wife for over twenty years, until 1867 when she gave it to her son so that the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS church) could publish it. It was in the possession of the RLDS church (now Community of Christ) until 2024, when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acquired it. The manuscript is now held at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City.
Note: The transcript of New Testament Revision 2 presented here is used with generous permission of the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center. It was published earlier, with some differences in style, in Scott H. Faulring, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds., Joseph Smith's New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004), 229–581.
Footnotes
- [1]
Call, “Copied from the Journal of Anson Call,” 9 and Cooper, “Spiritual Reminiscences, No. 2,” Autumn Leaves (January 1891): 18.
Call, Anson. “Copied from the Journal of Anson Call,” 1879. CHL. MS 4783.
Cooper, F. M. “Spiritual Reminiscences.—No. 2,” Autumn Leaves 4, no. 1 (Jan. 1891): 17–20.
- [2]
Emma Smith Bidamon, Nauvoo, IL, to Joseph Smith III, Plano, IL, 10 Feb. 1867, CCLA.
Bidamon, Emma Smith. Materials, 1842–1871. CCLA.
- [3]
The Holy Scriptures: Translated and Corrected by the Spirit of Revelation ([Plano, IL]: [Reorganized] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1867).
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
As noted in the introduction to Old Testament Revision 1, in June 1830, JS and began recording a revelation related to Moses and other prominent Old Testament figures. (See Visions of Moses, June 1830 [Moses 1].) Eventually this work expanded into what is now designated as the Book of Moses and a complete revelatory re-reading, reviewing, and revising of the Bible, an endeavor that came to be known as JS’s “New Translation,” or Bible revision. By March 1831, JS and his scribes created a sixty-one-page manuscript containing a narrative account of the visions of Moses and a revised version of the Old Testament book of Genesis, from the beginning to chapter 24, verse 41. (See Old Testament Revision 1.)
JS set that work aside when instructed in a March 1831 revelation to instead begin work on the New Testament. (Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:60–61].) He and began the new document on 8 March 1831, titling it “A Translation of the New Testament translated by the power of God.” It is currently designated as New Testament Revision 1. , who had been directed by revelation to “write & keep a regulal [regular] history & assist my servant Joseph in Transcribing all things which shall be given him,” (Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B [D&C 47:1]) began in early April 1831 to copy New Testament Revision 1 through Matthew 26:1, stopping a little short of where JS and Sidney Rigdon left off before they traveled to in June 1831. (JS History, vol. A-1, 126.)
When JS resumed the revision of the New Testament, he did so using ’s copy, currently designated New Testament Revision 2. He began with Matthew 26:1, though he had previously translated through Matthew 26:71 in New Testament Revision 1. Work continued on the rest of the New Testament through late July 1832. In addition to , JS was assisted by John Whitmer, , and .
New Testament Revision 2, presented here, consists of 203 pages. Work on this manuscript was completed in and , Ohio. During the revision project, JS adopted an abbreviated format for annotating the changes to be made to the New Testament. Previously, JS dictated the entire Bible text to his scribe, revising verses as he read from the Bible. But beginning after John 5, JS marked his copy of the Bible as he read in it, indicating where a change should be made. In the manuscript, the scribes wrote the scripture reference and the specifics of the revisions. Thus, the Bible and manuscript together now constituted the text of the revision project.
In total, JS made changes to about 2,100 New Testament verses (Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 5). He introduced a number of significant changes to the King James New Testament text in New Testament Revision 2. Among the more prominent clarifications and corrections were those in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 related to Jesus’s discourse on the Mount of Olives, as well as those in the beginning verses of the Gospel of John. (See, Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 234, 303, and 424–425.)
Note: The transcript of New Testament Revision 2 presented here is used with generous permission of the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center. It was published earlier, with some differences in style, in Scott H. Faulring, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds., Joseph Smith's New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004), 229–581.
And they bowed the knee before him, & they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! & <And> they spit upon him, & took the reed, & smote him on the head. & <And> after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, & took his <put his> own raiment on him, & led him away to crusify him & <him. And> as they came out, they found a man from <of> Syrene <Cyrene>, Simon by name; him they compelled to bear his cross. <12> & <And> when they had <were> come unto a place called Golgotha , (that is to say, a place of ascull <burial,>) they gave him vinegar to drink mingelled with <gall;> & when he had tasted the vinegar, he would not drink. & <And> they crusified him, & parted his garments, casting lots; that it might be fulfilled which is as <was> spoken by the Prophet, They parted my garments among them, & for my vesture they did cast lots. & <And> sitting down they <13/> watched him there. <13> & <And> Pilate wrote a title, & put it on the cross, & the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews; in Letters of Greek, & Lattin, & Hebrew. & <And> the chief Priest said unto Pilate; It should be written, & set <up> over his head, his accusation, This is he that said, <he was> Jesus the King of the Jews. but <But> Pilate answered & said, What I have <14> written I have <written;> let it alone. <14/> Then there were there two thieves crusified with him; one on the right hand, & an other on the left. & <And> they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, & saying, Thou that destroyest the Temple , & buildist it again in three days, save thyself, <15/> If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. <15> Likewise also the chief Priests mocking with the scribes of the <&> Elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, & we will believe him. He trusted in god; lest <let> him deliver him now; if he will save <16/> him, let him save him; for he said, I am the son of Go. <16/> One of the thieves <also> which were crusified with him, cast the same in his teeth. & <But> the other rebuked him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art under the same condemnation; & this man is Just & hath not sinned; & he cried unto the Lord, that he would save him. & <And> the <17/> lord said unto him, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradse. <17> now <Now> from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the Ninth hour. & <And> about the Ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli! Eli! Lama Sabacthani? (That is to say, My God, my God, why <18> hast thou forsaken me?) <18> Some of them that stood there, when they [p. 6 (second numbering)]
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