JST Verses

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[Seminary-Notes] ==================================== FOR YOUR INFORMATION... ==================================== In discussing the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) footnotes and Appendix with your students this coming year, you may be asked "Are all of the JST changes in the LDS edition of the Bible?" The short answer is "No, but the important ones are there." And here's a longer answer... There are "over six hundred JST alterations within our presently accepted and recommended Bible..." (Source: Robert L. Millet, The Joseph Smith Translation: The Restoration of Plain and Precious Things, p. 42.) But, please note that this is only a minority of the total changes made by Joseph Smith. Robert J. Matthews (who is now a BYU Emeritus Professor) did much of the initial research work that helped return the JST to active use within the church. He notes that: 3,410 verses in the printed editions of the Inspired Version of the Bible differ in textual construction from the King James Version. (Source: Robert J. Matthews, A Plainer Translation: Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible, p. 424.) Many of the 3,410 changes are minor -- punctuation, grammatical corrections, etc. The publication committee who assembled the current editions of the Standard Works did an outstanding job selecting JST verses that clarify, explain, and teach -- but they consciously did not include all of the verses where textual changes were made. (The hundreds of changes in the opening chapters of Genesis, for example, did not need to be included because we can use the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price.) You may occasionally find references in various places to additional JST scriptural changes that are not included in the current LDS edition of the Bible. Here's an Old Testament example... Genesis 11:9 (King James Version) states: "Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." This same verse in the JST (Genesis 11:6, which is not included in the LDS edition of the Bible) includes some additional information and insights: "And they were confounded, and left off to build the city, and they hearkened not unto the Lord, therefore, is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord was displeased with their works, and did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face thereof." (Emphasis added) Here's another Old Testament example... Genesis 20:3 (King James Version) states: "But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou [art but] a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she [is] a man's wife." JST Genesis 20:3-4 (which is not included in the LDS edition of the Bible) separates the verses differently, corrects verse 3 and then adds a new verse 4: "And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said unto him, Behold, thou hast taken a woman which is not thine own, for she is Abraham's wife. "And the Lord said unto him, Thou shalt return her unto Abraham, for if thou do it not thou shalt die." (Emphasis added) Here's a New Testament example... Matthew 5:41 (King James Version) states: "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." JST Matthew 5:43 states: "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him a mile; and whosoever shall compel thee to go with him twain, thou shalt go with him twain." (Emphasis added) Here's another New Testament example... Between verses 33 and 34 of Matthew 25 (in the King James Version), the JST adds a new verse (that is not included in the LDS edition of the Bible): "And he shall sit upon his throne, and the twelve apostles with him." (Emphasis added) Here is a final New Testament example... Some verses in the first half of Luke 21 were rearranged by the Prophet Joseph Smith, but the change is not noted in the LDS edition of the Bible. (In this instance, we get the same general meaning and intent from Joseph Smith-Matthew in the Pearl of Great Price -- which is actually a chapter from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible.) Best wishes, Ken www.KenAlford.com ScriptureMastery@KenAlford.com