Old Testament Revision 2
Old Testament Revision 2
Source Note
Source Note
Old Testament Revision 2, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–5 Apr. 1831 and late July 1832–July 1833; handwriting of , , and ; 119 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 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.
Footnotes
- [1]
Call, “Copied from the Journal of Anson Call”; Cooper, “Spiritual Reminiscences, No. 2,” Autumn Leaves (January 1891): 9, 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
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].) 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, , , and , 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, 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 as scribe. When this work resumed, it was ’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 ’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, 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.
Behold now, thy servent has found grace in thy sight, And thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saveing my life; & I cannot escape to the Mountain, lest some evil overtake me, & I die. behold now, here is another City, And this is near to flee unto, & it is a little one; Oh,! let me escape thither, & may not destroy <10/> it, & my Soul shall live. <10/> And the Angel said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this City, for the which thou hast spoken, haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing untill thou be come thither. & the name of the <11/> City was called Zoar, <11/> therefore the Sun was even <risen> upon <11/> the Earth when Lot entered into Zoar. <11/> And the Lord did not destroy Sodom untill Lot had entered into Zoar; & then, when Lot had entered into Zoar, the Lord rained upon Sodom & upon Gomorrah, fire & brimstone for the Angel<s> called upon the name of the Lord for brimstone & fire, from the Lord out of Heaven; And thus they overthrew those Cities, & all the plain, & all the inhabitants of the Cities, & that which <12/> grew upon the ground. <12/> But it came to pass, that when Lot fled, his wife looked back from behind him, & beca[me] <13/> a pillar of Salt. <13/> And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord; & he looked toward Sodom & Gomorrah, & toward all the land of the plain; & behold, lo! the Smoke of the Country went up <14/> as the smoke of a furnace. <14/> And it came to pass, that, when God had destroyed the Cities of the plain, that God spake unto Abraham, Saying, I have remembered Lot, And sent him out of the midst of the overthrow, that thy brother might not be destroyed, when I overthrew the City in the which thy <15/> Brother Lot dwelt And Abraham was comforted <15/> & Lot went up out of Zoar, And dwelt in the Mountain, & his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar. And he dwelt in a Cave, he & his two daughters. And the first born dea[lt] wickedly, And said unto the younger, our father has become old, & we have not a man on the Earth, to come in unto us, to live with us, after the manner of all that live on the Earth; therefore, come, let us make our father drink wine, And we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father [p. 49]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
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TEXT: Line number 6 in left margin in graphite.
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