Instead
using “Reed Sea,” the Book of Mormon uses “Red
Sea.” This has led some critics to claim that this is evidence of Joseph Smith
following a purported KJV translation error. In response to this, Jeff Lindsay
wrote in response:
The
argument here is that the Book of Mormon appears to have a mistake
"borrowed" from the King James Version. Many scholars now say that
the body of water Moses and the Israelites crossed should be called the Reed
Sea, not the Red Sea. Since the Book of Mormon also has this mistake, it
suggests the concept was lifted from the King James rather than translated from
an accurate ancient text. But the argument fails. For one thing, the two terms,
Red Sea and Reed Sea, can be interchanged. Scott J. Pierson received the
following explanation from a professor of the Oriental Institute at Chicago
University, which I quote with permission (pers. corresp., Nov. 1999):
The Gulf of Suez, or the Red Sea,
was known as the Yam Suf, the Sea of Reeds, though this name also covers the
stretch of land from the head of the Gulf across the land to the Mediterranean
Sea. We do not know if the Gulf of Aqaba was named as a separate entity, and if
it was what its name would have been.
D.C.
Pyle also offers this insight:
Funny thing is,
there are critics of the Church who claim that the Book of Mormon is false
because it does not mention the Sea of Reeds when referring to the Red Sea in
recounting the Exodus. It is true that the phrase _ym swp_ does literally mean
Sea of Reeds. It is also true that the various Biblical scholars are saying
that the Sea of Reeds is not the Red Sea.
However, the biblical scholars
who make such claims are all wet, in my opinion. Why? First of all, the ancient
Greeks called what we know as the Red Sea combined with the Indian Ocean,
"Red Sea." Lastly, the Bible text itself plainly states that Eloth
(modern Elath) was on the shore of _ym swp_ (1 Kings 9:26)! Since _Red Sea_ is
our modern equivalent for both the Hebrew term and location, it is perfectly
acceptable and logical for the Book of Mormon to contain it as it does. (source)
This
comports rather well with the following from the following scholarly
commentary on the book of Joshua:
In spite of the modern trend toward “Reed Sea”
as the translation of Heb. yām sûp,
we believe a good case can be made for “Red Sea.” According to L. Koehler-W.
Baumgartner (Lexicon in Veteris
Testamenti Libros [Leiden: 21958], p. 652), sûp means “rushes,” “waterplants,” such as were also wrapped around
the face of Jonah who was thrown into the Mediterranean Sea (Jon. 2:5).
Kraeling, The Rand McNally Bible Atlas,
p. 103, states that yām sûp “is most
definitely identifiable” when it refers to the Gulf of Aqabah (1 K. 9:26). The
gulf was an arm of the Red Sea, not
of some body of water called Reed
Sea. (M.H. Woudstra, The Book of Joshua [The
New International Commentary on the Old Testament; Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Eerdmans, 1981], 72 n. 19)
