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.
entering in, choke the word, & it becometh unfruitfull. & <And> these are they which <who> are sowed <Sown> <receive the word> on good ground; such as hear the word, & hear it receive it, & bring forth <fruit;> some thirty fold, some Sixty, & some a hundred. <5/> & <And> he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, & not <to be> set on a candlestick? I say unto you, Nay; for there is nothing hid, which shall not be manafested; neither was any thing kept Secret, but that it should in due time come abroad. If any man <6/> have ears to hear, lest <let> him hear. <6/> & <And> he said unto them, Take heed what you hear; for with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you; & unto you that <continue to> receive, shall more be given; for he that hath <doth receiveth,> to him shall be given; & <but> he that hath <continueth> not <to receive,> from him shall be taken <7/> even that which he hath. <7/> & <And> he says <said,> So is the Kingdom of God; as if a man should cast seed into the ground; & should sleep & rise, night & day, & the seed should spring & grow up, he knoweth not how; for the Earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he puteth in the Sickle, because <8/> the harvest is come. <8/> & <And> he said, Where unto shall I liken the Kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of Musterdseed, <which,> when it is sown in the Earth, it is less then all the seeds that be in the Earth; but, when it is sown it groweth up, & becometh greater then all herbs, & shooteth out greater branch<9/>es; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. <9/> & <And> with many such Parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear <bear>; but without a Parable spake he not unto them. & <And> when they were <10/> alone, he expounded all things unto his deciples. <10/> & <And> the same day, when the even was come, he saith <said> unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. & <And> when they had sent away the multitude, they sent <took> him even as he was in the Ship. & <And> there were also with him other little <11/> Ships. <11/> & <And> there arose a great storm of wind, & the waves beat <over> into the ship; so that it was now full & he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow; & they awoke him, & say <said> unto him, Master, carest <thou> not thou that we perish? & <And> he arose & rebuked the wind, & said unto the sea, Peace, be still. & <And> the wind ceased & there was a great calm. & <And> he said unto them, Why are ye so fearfull? How is it that ye have no faith? & <And> they feared exceedingly, & said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind & the sea obey him? [p. 15 (second numbering)]
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