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Old Testament Revision 2

Source Note

Old Testament Revision 2, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–5 Apr. 1831 and late July 1832–July 1833; handwriting of
John Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
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,
Frederick G. Williams
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
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, and
Sidney Rigdon
19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
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; 119 pages; CCLA.

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
Emma
10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
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for over twenty years, until 1867 when she gave it to her son
Joseph Smith III
6 Nov. 1832–10 Dec. 1914. Clerk, hotelier, farmer, justice of the peace, editor, minister. Born at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Son of JS and Emma Hale. Moved to Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri, 1838; to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1839; and to Commerce ...
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in order for the RLDS Church to publish The Holy Scriptures.

Note: The transcript of Old 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), 583–851.
Historical Introduction

In June 1830, JS and
Oliver Cowdery
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
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began recording a revelation related to Moses and other prominent Old Testament figures. (See Visions of Moses, June 1830 [Moses 1].) Over the next three years, this work expanded into what is now designated the Book of Moses and a complete revelatory re-reading of the Bible, an endeavor that came to be known as JS’s “New Translation,” or Bible revision. Initially, JS and his scribes, including Cowdery,
John Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
View Full Bio
,
Emma Smith
10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio
, and
Sidney Rigdon
19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio
, 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. This manuscript is currently designated Old Testament Revision 1.

JS set aside work on the new translation of the Old Testament when instructed in a March 1831 revelation to instead begin work on New Testament texts. (Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:60–61].) Shortly thereafter,
John Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
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was 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].) Among other undertakings, he proceeded to create a duplicate copy of the existing sixty-one-page Old Testament manuscript. This second manuscript, featured here, is now designated Old Testament Revision 2. At the same time, JS commenced work on the New Testament and continued until July 1832 (Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832), resulting in two manuscripts, currently designated as New Testament Revision 1 and New Testament Revision 2.

After the completion of his new translation of the New Testament in late July 1832, JS resumed his revision of the Old Testament, now assisted by
Frederick G. Williams
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio
as scribe. When this work resumed, it was
John Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
View Full Bio
’s copy, Old Testament Revision 2, that became the working manuscript for the rest of the Old Testament. A year later, Frederick G. Williams noted the completion of work on the text, writing at the end of Malachi, “Finished on the 2d of July 1833.”

Old Testament Revision 2 contains 119 pages. The first fifty-nine pages contain
Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
View Full Bio
’s copy of Old Testament Revision 1. At first, JS continued his earlier practice of having entire verses written out in the manuscript to record a change. After several pages, however, he switched to a procedure that he had adopted during his translation work on the New Testament. Rather than record an entire verse, JS marked his copy of the Bible as he read in it, indicating where a change should be made. In the manuscript,
Williams
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio
wrote the scripture reference and the specifics of the revisions, thus saving time and space. In effect, the notations made in JS’s Bible, coupled with his scribes’ inscriptions in Old Testament Revision 2, now constituted the revision project.

In total, JS made changes to about 1,300 Old Testament verses (Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 5). The introduction to Old Testament Revision 1 on the Joseph Smith Papers website notes some of the significant passages in the Book of Moses and JS’s revision of Genesis chapters 1–24. Some of the more prominent revisions, clarifications, and corrections JS incorporated into Old Testament Revision 2 included important material related to Joseph of Egypt added to the latter chapters in Genesis; a clarification in Exodus regarding the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart; and additions to Isaiah 29 foretelling the coming forth of the Book of Mormon (Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 589).

Note: The transcript of Old 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), 583–851.

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Isaiah, Chapter 23

XXIII

Verse 8— City— Verse 4 nor verse 7 City

verse 10 There is—— thee

Isaiah, Chapter 26

XXVI

verse 3d him— whose— is— on thee

verse 14 They are— they are

16 When— was

19— men— together with— is— as

Isaiah, Chapter 27

XXVII

verse 3d— Any—

Isaiah, Chapter 29

XXIX

verse 1 Wo to Ariel, to Ari Vers 2d Yet I will distress Ariel and there shall be heaveness and sorrow; for thus hath the Lord said unto me, it shall be unto Ariel,

3 That I wi the Lord will camp against them <her> round about, and will say <lay> seage against her with a mount, and I will raise forts against her;

4 And she shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and her speach shall be Low out of the dust; and her voice shall be as <of> one that hath a familier spirit, out of the ground, and her speach shall whisper out of the dust,

5— her—

6— for they shall

8 Yea, it shall be unto them, even as unto a hungry man who dreameth, and behold he eateth, but he awaketh and his soul is empty for or like unto a thirsty man, who dreameth, and behold he drinketh, but he awaketh and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite; ye<a>, even so shall all <the> multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion, [p. 102]

Isaiah, Chapter 23

XXIII

Verse 8— City— Verse 4 nor verse 7 City

verse 10 There is—— thee

Isaiah, Chapter 26

XXVI

verse 3d him— whose— is— on thee

verse 14 They are— they are

16 When— was

19— men— together with— is— as

Isaiah, Chapter 27

XXVII

verse 3d— Any—

Isaiah, Chapter 29

XXIX

verse Vers 2d Yet I will distress Ariel and there shall be heaveness and sorrow; for thus hath the Lord said unto me, it shall be unto Ariel,

3 That I wi the Lord will camp against her round about, and will lay seage against her with a mount, and I will raise forts against her;

4 And she shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and her speach shall be Low out of the dust; and her voice shall be as of one that hath a familier spirit, out of the ground, and her speach shall whisper out of the dust,

5— her—

6— for they shall

8 Yea, it shall be unto them, even as unto a hungry man who dreameth, and behold he eateth, but he awaketh and his soul is empty or like unto a thirsty man, who dreameth, and behold he drinketh, but he awaketh and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite; yea, even so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion, [p. 102]

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Old Testament Revision 2

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