THE INSTINCT TO REMOVE SEXUALLY SUGGESTIVE LANGUAGE
In several places, edits the Prophet made in the New Testament
remove language that can be regarded as sexually suggestive. Verses with the
explicit phrase “go in not” especially caught his attention and were revised,
often with the insertion of euphemisms.
Genesis
29:21
|
Give me my wife, . . .that I may go in unto her. |
“Give unto me my wife that I may go and take her” |
Genesis
29:30
|
And he went in also unto Rachel |
And he went in also and slept with Rachel. |
Genesis
30:16
|
Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto
me. |
Leah went out to meet him and said, “Thou must come in and
lie with me” |
In the following instance, a clause containing the verb know,
itself a euphemism for intimate relations, is removed altogether:
LUKE 1:34
|
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing
I know not a man? |
Then said Mary unto the angel, “How can this be?” |
(Kent P, Jackson, Understanding Joseph Smith’s Translation of
the Bible [Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book, 2022], 122)