Jeremy Runnells has posted a new edition of his CES Letter. On page 9, we read the following:
MALACHI 3:10 (KJV)
…and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
3 NEPHI 24:10
…and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
In the above example, the KJV translators added 7 italicized words to their English translation, which are not found in the source Hebrew manuscripts. Why does the Book of Mormon, which is supposed to have been completed by Moroni over 1,400 years prior, contain the exact identical seven italicized words of 17th century translators?
Such a question assumes that the KJV translators were incorrect in adding such italicised words. The fact is that it is Jeremy Runnells, not the KJV translators of Mal 3:10, who is wrong.
The Hebrew text denotes a superabundance of blessing, and such cannot be conveyed with a simple "one word for one word" style translation, thus the expansion by the KJV translators as well as similar expansions by modern scholarly English translations. Here is how some modern scholarly translations of this verse render it (emphasis added):
Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. (RSV)
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. (NRSV)
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, and let there be food in My House, and thus put Me to the test--said the Lord of Hosts. I will surely open the floodgates of the sky for you and pour down blessings on you. (1985 JPS Tanakh)
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the Lord of Hosts, "if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows." (1995 NASB)
Bing the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. (ESV)
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, That there may be food in my house. Put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, And see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you, and pour down upon you blessing without measure! (NAB)
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. (NET)
The LXX captures this meaning by using the term ἕως τοῦ ἱκανωθῆναι, “until you are satisfied.” The term “satisfied” comes from ικανος, which denotes formal/self sufficiency. This corresponds well with the Hebrew phrase עַד־בְּלִי־דָי using בְּלִי (per HALOT, “to an excessive measure”) and דַּי (per HALOT: "until there is no more need, sufficient")
As the New English Translation of the Septuagint translates the LXX of this verse:
And you brought all the produce into the storehouses, and it shall be pillage in my house. Do observe by this, says the Lord Almighty, if I will not open to you the flood-gates of the sky and pour out upon you my blessing until you are satisfied.
There is no problem with how the KJV translators rendered the passage, nor is there any problem with Joseph Smith, at a translation level, following the KJV rendition of the Malachi verse.
Commenting on 3 Nephi 24:10, Brant Gardner noted:
In the Hebrew conception of the universe, the earth was covered by a heavenly tent that kept out the celestial waters. When it rained, the “windows of heaven” or the windows of this tent opened, and celestial water came down to earth. Malachi transforms this image from water to blessings. The rain falls over large areas and creates beneficial conditions on the entire earth. These symbolic windows are holding back blessings; opening them will, like the rain, benefit a large area. The image is of a barrier being removed. Like the heavenly waters that are prevented from falling, opening the windows of heaven will permit the waiting blessings to fall unchecked on Yahweh’s children. The point is Yahweh’s willingness to keep his part of the covenant relationship. (Brant A. Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 5: Helaman Through Third Nephi [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 559)
Such a “criticism” shows the main problem with the CES Letter and Runnell’s “research”—it is a superficial “shotgun” approach to things, and are raised for “shock value” (“look at all the arguments, so the Church must be false” approach to things). Unless one knows something about the questions and the underlying issues, real responses and facts will be meaningless to such people (as they clearly are to Runnells and his groupies). However, informed Latter-day Saints have commented on how problematic are his "criticisms" of the Church. This post just shows one example of the superficiality and how poorly researched his work truly is.
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