New Testament Revision 2 (first 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/> For the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man, an householder, who went, out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard & & <And> when he had agreed with them <the> labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. & <And> he went out about the third hour, & some <saw> <found> other standing Idle in the market place, & said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, & whatsoever is right I will give you; & they went their way. & <And> again he went out, about the third <sixth> hour & ninth hour, & did likewise. & <And> about the eleventh hour he went out, & found others standing Idle, & saith <said> unto them, Why stand ye here all the day Idle? They say unto him, because no man hath hired us. He saith <said> unto them, Go ye also into <2/> the vineyard; & whatsoever is right ye shall receive. <2/> So when even was come, the lord of the vinyard saith <said> unto his steward, Call the labourers & give them their hire, begining at <from> the last unto the first. & <And> when they came that began about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; & they likewise received every man a peny; & when they had received a penny, they murmerred against the good man of the house, saying, These last have wrought one hour only, & thou hast made them equal unto us who have borne the burden & the heat of the day. But he answered one of them, & said, Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take thine & go thy way; I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, & the first last; for <&> <3/> <and> many are called, but few chosen. <3/> & <And> Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve Deciples apart in the way, & said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, & the son of man shall be betrayed unto the Chief Priests, & unto the Scribes, & they shall condemn him to death; & <And> shall deliver him to the gentiles to mock, & to scourge, & to crusify; & <And> <4/> the third day he shall rise again. <4/> Then came to him the mother of Zebedees Children with her sons, worshiping Jesus, & desiring a certain thing of him. & <And> he said unto her, What wilt thou that I shall <should> do? & <And> she saith <said> unto him, Grant, that these my two Sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, & the other on thy left , in thy Kingdom. But Jesus answered & said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, & to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. & <And> he saith <said> unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, & be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to set on my right hand, [p. 37 (first numbering)]
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