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.
<2/> John did Baptize in the Wilderness, & & preached the Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. & <And> there went out unto him all the land of Judea, & <they of> Jerusalem, & were all <many were> baptized <of him> in the river <3/> Jordan, confessing their sins. <3/> & <And> John Was clothed with camel’s hair, & with a girdle of Skin about his loins; & he did eat Locusts & wild honey; & Preached, saying, There cometh one mighter then I after me, the latchets of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down & unlose. I indeed have baptized you with water; but he shall not <only> bap<4/>tize you with water but with fire & the Holy Ghost. <4/> & <And> it came to pass that Je in those days, that Jesus came from Nazereth of Gallilee, & was baptized of John in Jordan. & <And> straitway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, & the spirit like a dove decending upon him; & <And> there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved son, in whom thou art <I am> well pleased. & <And> John bear record of <5/> it. & <And> immediately the Spirit driveth <took> him into the wilderness. & <And> he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan <Satan Seaking to tempt him;> & was with the <6/> wild beasts; & the angels ministered unto him. <6/> Now after that John was put into Prison, Jesus came <in>to Gallilee Preaching the gospel of <the kingdom of> God, & saying, The time is fulfilled, & the kingdom of God is at hand; <7/> repent ye, & believe the gospel. <7> & <And> now as he walked by the sea of Gallilee, he saw Simon & Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. & <And> Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, & I will make you to become fishers of men. & <And> straitway they forsook their nets, & follow<8/> ed him. <8/> & <And> when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the Son of Zebedee, & John his brother, who also were in the Ship, mending their nets. & followed him & when he <And he called them;> <&> straitway he called them & they left their father Zebedee in the Ship with the hired Servents, and <9/> went after him. <9/> & <And> they went into Capurneum <on> <the> <Sab>; & straitway on the Sabath day, he entered into the Synagogue, & taught. & <And> they were astonished at his doctrine; & they <for he> taught them as one that had auth<10>ority, & not as the Scribes. <10/> & <And> there was in their Synagogues a man with an unclean Spirit; & he cried out, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One of God. & <And> Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, & come out of him. & <And> when the unclean spirit had torne him, & cried with a loud <11/> voice, he came out of him. <11/> & <And> they were all amazed, insomuch [p. 9 (second numbering)]
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Footnotes
Footnotes
Insertion probably by JS.
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