The Process of Inspired Translation: Two Passages Translated Twice in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible

BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 42 | Issue 2 Article 3 4-1-2003 The Process of Inspired Translation: Two Passages Translated Twice in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible Kent P. Jackson Peter M. Jasinski Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Recommended Citation Jackson, Kent P. and Jasinski, Peter M. (2003) "The Process of Inspired Translation: Two Passages Translated Twice in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 42 : Iss. 2 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol42/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the All Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact , . Jackson and Jasinski: The Process of Inspired Translation: Two Passages Translated Twic process of inspired translation the two passages translated twice in the joseph smith translation of the bible kent PR jackson and peter M jasinski ince 1996 researchers from brigham young university with the assissince on examihandson tance of new photographs scanned images and much hands nation of the documents have been engaged in a careful study of the text written on the original manuscripts of the joseph smith translation of the bible the work has yielded the publication of a large facsimile transcription of all the original manuscript pages and much new information about how joseph smith prepared the text 1 among the many new discoveries resulting from this research is an enhanced understanding of the sequence S and chronology of the prophets work A brief history of the joseph smith translation not long after the church of christ was organized in spring 1830 joseph smith began a revision of the king james translation of the bible a process that would engage hundreds of hours of his time and much of his energy over the next three years this new translation as he and early church members called it 2 would be the source of much new revelation that would come to the church in the form of improved and restored biblical texts the process of translation began in june 1830 when the revelation now known as moses 1i was received a preface to the book of genesis and thus to the entire bible over the course of the following months joseph smith continued to translate the old testament genesis 1 24 june 1830 march 1831 it is likely that he intended to go through the bible from cover to cover but a march 771831 1831 revelation instructed him to interrupt the old testament work and translate the new testament dac d&c 4560 4530 62 upon completion of the new testament matthew revelation march 1831 july 1832 he BYU studies 42 no 2 2003 2003 Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 2003 35 1 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 42, Iss. 2 [2003], Art. 3 36 byustudies BYU Studies translated the rest of the old testament in order genesis 24 malachi july 1832 july 1833 aside from the cessation of translating the old testament while the new testament was revised the translation was a systematic process that took joseph smith from one end of the bible to the other the books and passages chapters and verses were revised in sequence but even while the original translation was under way the prophet made a second pass through many of the pages often revising his earlier dictation with expanded or clarified meanings those later revisions were probably completed not long after the first revision was dictated both processes the original dictating and the later revising have become increasingly clear through recent research into the original manuscripts 3 two new testament passages that were translated twice in light of what we know now about the creation of the new translation it is interesting to observe that in two places in the bible joseph smith provided two original translations that vary from each other the passages one quite long matt 261 71 and the other very short 2 pet 34 6 were translated twice most likely because joseph smith had forgotten that he had produced the original translations and thus translated the material anew in this article we present the two versions of the translations here published together in edited format for the first time and we examine them to see what can be learned from them in what ways are they different and in what ways are they the same what do the differences and similarities mean from this unique situation two prophetic revisions of the same biblical texts we can learn much about how the prophet fulfilled his calling to create his new translation of the bible for the church joseph smiths new translation of matthew 261 711 71 when joseph smith began the translation of the new testament in spring 1831 he translated most of the gospel of matthew without major interruption the manuscript produced by that original translation figs 1 2 has been designated by modern archivists as new testament manuback up copy of most of the nti script i nti john whitmer later made a backup material that copy begins what would later be known as new testament manuscript 2 nta nt2 in four folios which became the working copy on which the rest of the translation of the new testament was continued to understand how joseph smith made two original translations of matthew 26 it is necessary to understand in more detail the genesis of ofnti nt2 nti and nta and how the two manuscripts relate to each other https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol42/iss2/3 2 Jackson and Jasinski: The Process of Inspired Translation: Two Passages Translated Twic FIG i new testament manuscript 1i page 62 matthew 2645 63 joseph smith dictated this first translation of matthew 26 in spring 1831 the handwriting here is that of his scribe sidney rigdon all images in this article courtesy community of christ library archives independence missouri Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 2003 3 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 42, Iss. 2 [2003], Art. 3 38 byustudies BYU studies FIG 2 detail of new testament manuscript i page 60 showing matthew 263 10 handwriting of sidney rigdon new testament manuscript i nti is the original dictated text of joseph smitis smith s new translation of matthew 11 2671 it was begun on march 81831 and probably was finished in june of that year it was written in kirtland ohio in the hand of sidney rigdon who served as the prophetss scribe recording his dictation joseph smith and sidney rigdon prophet left kirtland for missouri on june 19 1831 and it is likely that they finished 191831 4 before their departure the text ends at matthew 2671 in the middle nti of a sentence and clearly not at a predictable stopping place the abrupt ending suggests a date for matthew 26 shortly before their departure when they ran out of time the nti text of matthew 26 shows only minimal editing after its original writing all of it appears to be in the hand of sidney rigdon who corrected hi (...truncated)