This article discusses why Joseph Smith's version of the Bible can't in all honesty be termed a translation; the changes he made, the publication of the JST, and the reliability of modern translations.



INTRODUCTION

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known as the LDS) was founded on their prophet Joseph Smith's claim that the early Christian church had gone into total apostasy and that the Bible was unreliable due to incorrect translation. He also maintained that corrupt priests had removed covenants and important sections on salvation. This gave him the freedom to introduce a unique, unbiblical religion that fitted in with his own agenda. (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Volume 1, page 245, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 327, c/f Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 13:21-28, 32; Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:40-41.)

But Smith's claim has no substance. The Bible has been subjected to more thorough, ongoing investigation than any other book in the entire history of the world. Archeology, religious and secular ancient literature, as well as historical records, have all provided overwhelming proof of both its accuracy and its reliability. Archeologists are still finding more and more proof in this regard, on a regular basis. Nothing has ever been discovered that disproves anything in the Bible or indicates that it is inaccurate in any way. Over and over again proof has surfaced regarding the existence of individuals, nations, cities and battles mentioned in the Bible, and so on. (See the article Corruption of the Bible is an LDS Smokescreen.)

Amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered in 1947, were portions of every book in the Old Testament except for Esther. They all agreed with our modern day translations. There was also a complete copy of the book of Isaiah, written in an early form of the square letter. This dates it as far back as the second century before Christ, which makes it the same rendering of Isaiah that was read and quoted by the Lord Jesus. He accepted and proclaimed it as the true Word of God. And this very ancient copy of Isaiah agrees with our modern English translations of today. Nevertheless, Joseph Smith's amendments to the Bible included sections in the book of Isaiah.

When it comes to the New Testament, we have thousands of documents in the original languages, some of them dating as far back as AD 70-807, that are in line with our modern translations. Furthermore, the apostles' teachings were quoted in numerous ancient sermons, letters and documents. And these all agree with our modern translations of the Bible. (The only sections of the New Testament that weren't quoted, were the introductions to the epistles.)



JOSEPH SMITH'S DEFINITION OF THE WORD "TRANSLATION"

Before we get down to discussing Joseph Smith's translation of the Bible, we need to clarify his idea of what of the word "translation" meant.

Some time prior to his translation of the Bible, Joseph claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon from reformed Egyptian script that had been engraved on gold plates. But his scribes who had recorded this book as he'd dictated it, all testified that he had never ever looked at the gold plates during his so-called translation. They were always carefully hidden away so that nobody could see them. (He maintained that if anyone looked at them, including himself, God would strike them dead.) This makes us wonder why he was supposedly given the plates in the first place.

His method of "translating" was to put his occultic seer stone into the base of his hat, place his face over it and dictate the words that he said were revealed to him by his stone. So, intent on deception, he deliberately lied when he claimed that the Book of Mormon had been translated from inscriptions engraved on gold plates. (See The Book of Mormon Witnesses Who Never Saw the Gold Plates .) And the LDS leadership has knowingly perpetuated his deception.

Nor did he re-translate the Bible, in spite of claiming to have done so. At the time he began his so-called translation, he had no knowledge of Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic. Nor did he have access to any of the ancient manuscripts. The way he "translated" was to first mark all the sections he disagreed with in his 1828 King James Version. Then he wrote out his replacement passages on sheets of paper that he referred to as his manuscript. This means that far from translating the Bible, in reality all he did was alter the 1828 King James translation, so that it fell in line with his own ideas. He had no scholarly reasons for doing this. And to give the reader some idea of how far short his so-called translation fell, the following verse from the JST is only one of his many inaccurate amendments:

And they bring him unto the place called Golgotha, which is, (being interpreted,) The place of a burial. (Mark 15:25, JST; which is Mark 15:22 in the KJV, which reads, "the place of a skull.") (Emphasis by editor.)

Easton's Bible Dictionary tells us that Golgotha was a little knoll or low, rounded, bare elevation somewhat in the form of a human skull. So, far from being a burial ground as Smith had so wrongly imagined, it had derived its name from the fact that the actual site resembled the form of a human skull. This means that Golgotha (an Aramaic word) was correctly translated in the KJV and that Joseph was in error in altering it. Golgotha is identical in meaning to the latin word Calvaria, which provides us with double proof of Smith's slip up here. (This is only one of a long list of indications that far from being an inspired prophet of God, Joseph Smith had been deliberately perpetrating a massive deception. However, because of the information, technology and so on, that has become available to us today, his deception is fast unraveling.)



RE-TRANSLATING THE BIBLE

Joseph Smith claimed to have received visits from an angel named Moroni, who had quoted various scriptures that differed from the biblical record. He said this gave him an understanding of how these passages should be translated, in order to convey the correct meaning. (Joseph Smith History 1:36-41, Latter-day Saints Messenger and Advocate, Volume 1, No. 7, April, 1835, pages 109-112.) Although there are those who are utterly convinced that the angel Moroni was a fictitious character invented by Smith, Mormons need to note that the Bible warns us against deception by spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (see Ephesians 6:10-12).

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Galations 1:8-9, KJV) (Emphasis by editor.)

Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:6, KJV)

To counteract the above scriptures, the LDS points to the case of Jeremiah chapter 36, where the king threw the scroll of Jeremiah's prophecies into the fire (verses 21-23). The Lord then commanded Jeremiah to write his prophecies down again, and to add more words to them.

The LDS argues that if God's prophet, Jeremiah, could add to scripture, then why shouldn't their own prophet, Joseph Smith, also be entitled to do the same with the Bible?

But we are talking about two different things here. God didn't command Jeremiah to alter the meaning of anything that had already been written in the Bible. He merely told Him to write down again the same prophecy that the king had just destroyed, and then to add yet another prophecy after that. So Jeremiah re-wrote word for word, the prophecy that the king had just destroyed, without making any alterations. Then, as instructed by God, he added yet a further revelation God was giving Him at that particular time. (The reader will note from verses 29 to 31 of Jeremiah 36, that the extra words added to the destroyed prophecies, were God's judgment on the King for treating His prophecy that had been directed to him, in such a disrespectful manner.)

Jeremiah 36:27-31
27 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. (Note by Editor: That was the command to re-write exactly the same words that were on the first role. Now comes the next prophecy, that God wants Jeremiah to record:)
29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim the king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
30 Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
31 And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
(KJV)

Bear in mind that Jeremiah was still in the process of recording his book of prophecies, which hadn't yet been completed. Later on his entire record was included as scripture in the biblical book bearing his name.

On the other hand, Joseph Smith's alterations to the Bible weren't merely in the form of additional revelations. They were a blatant alteration to important doctrinal sections of the closed canon of the scriptures. His intention was to force the Bible to fit in with his own personal ideas.

Unlike Joseph Smith, Jeremiah never ever attempted to alter the meaning of scriptures God had given him. Nor did he ever alter the biblical record that had been written by any other servant of God. The Jewish folk had the utmost respect for scripture.

Bear in mind that the book of Jeremiah and the rest of the Old Testament were still being written at this stage. The New Testament was still way ahead in the distant future. So the Bible, as the canon of God's word to us, hadn't yet been completed. But this was not the case when Joseph Smith decided to have his way with it. And Smith didn't merely add a further revelation from God. He radically altered the meanings of many important doctrinal sections, from Genesis all the way through to Revelation. Furthermore, the completed canon of scripture that Smith altered weren't records of his own words. They were records of the words of trusted and proven great men of God, that are backed up by thousands of ancient documents.

Smith claimed the idea for the alterations had been given to him by an angel named Moroni. He felt that this was grounds enough for him to change the biblical record in spite of the warning in Galations 1:8.

Since the LDS thinks it's okay to to use the line of reasoning they gave above, why then didn't their prophet, Joseph Smith, re-write the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon that went missing? Why was this such a tragedy that it left him in a state of inconsolable dismay for the next six months? Why did he end up by scrapping that entire section? Why couldn't he just re-translate it? After all, he maintained that he had translated the missing 116 pages by the power of God, and that he had the ability to carry on translating the rest of the inscriptions on the gold plates. What was so difficult about re-recording the section he'd already translated? It should have been an easy thing for him to do, seeing he'd already done it once before.

If truth be told, Joseph didn't have the gall to attempt to re-translate those first 116 pages, because he was engaged in an outright deception. There were no engraved inscriptions; there weren't even any gold plates. (See the article The Book of Mormon Witnesses Who Never Saw the Gold Plates .) And he wasn't a divinely gifted translator; he was a con artiste. He knew full well that he'd never be able to recall all the names and details on those first 116 pages. And he wasn't about to run the risk of having his deception exposed if someone came up with the missing pages.

On the other hand, if he had genuinely translated those 116 pages by the power of God, it would have been an easy matter to have re-done the work, exactly as Jeremiah had done. However, there was a big difference between Jeremiah and Joseph Smith. Jeremiah was God's true prophet. And his written prophecies had not been an invented work of a con-artiste. They had come directly from God. So he had both the courage and the conviction that God would guide him in re-writing accurately, exactly the same words that had been recorded on the destroyed scroll.

Unlike Joseph Smith's case concerning his missing 116 pages, God's true prophets never feared the opinions of men, they feared only God. But Joseph knew he had every reason to fear the opinions of men. He was in imminent danger of being exposed for exactly who he was, a deceiver and a false prophet.

His amazing reaction to the missing 116 pages was a big give-away. (See the full details in the article, The Book of Mormon Exposed.)



BEGINNING HIS TRANSLATION

Although there is no record of the exact date that Smith commenced his translation work, it was probably somewhere round about the time that he claimed to have had his revelation of the visions of Moses in June, 1830 (see Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1). And The History of the Church, Volume 1, pages 368-369 records a letter from him, confirming that his translation work had been completed on the 2nd July, 1833. This was countersigned by all three members of the then LDS Presidency (c/f Times and Seasons, Volume VI, page 802).

However, the seeds of yet another radical change in theology had already begun germinating in his mind. And he realized that if he published his translation, it would invalidate his new but as yet undisclosed doctrines, or vice verse. So he held back its printing. And in spite of having previously maintained that his translation had been completed, he added further amendments to it, and continued to do so until until his life was cut short.

Because of space constraints this article will not deal with the all the alterations, additions and deletions that are featured in the JST. But in order to give the reader some idea of Smith's motivations behind it, we will deal with his amendments to John 1, verses 1 to 5. Bear in mind that this is only the tip of the iceberg.



SMITH'S CHANGES CONCERNING CHRIST, THE WORD OF GOD

John 1:1-5, 5:39, 10:28 and 17:2 say that Christ was the Word of God, that He was God, that in Him was life, that His life was the light of men, and that He was the giver of eternal life. The whole of John chapter 1 glorified Christ.

However, this didn't fit in with Joseph Smith's own personal ideas on theology. He had been formulating an exclusive belief system for the LDS church, based on his new doctrine of eternal progression (see Mormonism's Law of Eternal Progression .) This doctrine teaches that God, Christ and man all had exactly the same origins. In other words, far from being eternal deity, Christ was (according to Mormonism) merely our brother in eternal progression. Consequently, he had not been God in the beginning, but had progressed to godhood.

The following is the King James version of John 1:1-5, followed immediately by the Joseph Smith translation:

KING JAMES VERSION
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:1-5, KJV)

THE JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION
In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made which was made. In him was the gospel, and the gospel was the life, and the life was the light of men; And the light shineth in the world, and the world perceiveth it not. (Joseph Smith Translation, John 1:1-5)

(Editor's note: Christ's deity is done away with, and instead of the life of Christ being the light of men, the [LDS] gospel is the life and the light of men. Christ is deprecated and the LDS gospel is elevated.)

The gospel of John was only one of the many scriptural casualties that resulted from Smith's so-called "translation."

Nothing can justify Joseph Smith's desecration of the holy Word of God.

But by the time Joseph reached 1 John 5:7 and Revelation 19:13 in his so-called inspired translation, he'd forgotten all about the alterations he'd made to John 1 about "the Word" not being Christ but being the LDS gospel. Consequently, he slipped up and rendered these verses as follows:

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. (1John 5:7, JST)
And he is clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:13, JST)
(Emphasis by editor.)

As Mark Twain said, "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."



PUBLICATION OF THE JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION

After Joseph Smith's death in 1844, there was a split in the LDS church. His widow, Emma, had possession of the copy of the KJV that he had marked to indicate the sections or verses that would be changed, as well as his 477 paged manuscript detailing the actual wording of the amendments. And in 1866 she handed these over to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They then published a copyrighted edition in 1867, followed by subsequent printings. Later editions included corrections. And in 1970 a parallel column edition was released, of what they called Smith's "Inspired" Version and the King James Version.

In 1979 the Utah based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS) published a new edition of the King James Version of the Bible, incorporating many passages from Smith's translation as footnotes. Lengthier passages were included in an appendix. Their 1981 publication of Doctrine and Covenants also contains references from the Joseph Smith Translation in the headnotes and footnotes, as well as summaries of many sections.

The Joseph Smith Translation has not gained any acceptance at all apart from in Latter-day Saint circles, for obvious reasons. It is not a translation, but an alteration.



CONCLUSION

To sum up, Joseph Smith had no scholastic reasons for his alterations to the Bible. His so-called translation was nothing more than an audacious attempt to bring the Bible into line with his ever-changing ideas on theology.

The most puzzling aspect of his translation is the fact that the LDS has only utilized selected portions of it. They have displayed these sections as notes in their own printing of the KJV. This seems to indicate that they don't agree with his entire translation. But on the other hand, they teach that his words are to be accepted as the words of God Himself (Doctrine and Covenants 21:5) and that he was the true, latter-day prophet of God.

The following are links to articles that have some bearing on what has been discussed above:

The Apostasy is a Mormon Fallacy

Joseph Smith, the Latter-day False Prophet

The Bible and its Reliability as a Spiritual Weapon

To access a comprehensive index of articles comparing various aspects of Mormonism with what the Bible teaches, click on the "home" button at the bottom of this page.

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