“1. Restoration of original text.”
It is difficult to determine whether a JST change fits into this category. As
we will see with some of the other categories of changes, just because the JST includes
material that is not in our current text does not mean that it is automatically
the restoration of original text. Thomas A. Wayment has identified one example
where that may be the case. He has examined places where the JST agrees with
the Latin version of the New Testament and argues that in some of these places
the JST may be restoring lost or altered text. (Thomas W. Wayment, “Quest for
Origins: The Joseph Smith Translation and the Latin Version of the New Testament”
in A Witness for the Restoration: Essays in Honor of Robert J. Matthews,
ed. Kent P. Jackson and Andrew C. Skinner [Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center,
Brigham Young University, 2007], 61-91) One example that he gives is in Luke
9:44. Both the Latin version and the JST replace “ears” )as found in the Greek
manuscripts) with “hearts” and thus read, “Let these sayings sink down into
your hearts for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of man”
(italics indicate JST changes). (Wayment, “Quest for Origins,” 80-81)
“2. Restoration of what was once
said or done but which was never in the Bible.” This type of change is also
difficult to confirm, but it may include passages that are expanded in the JST
but for which there is no evidence in the textual tradition that they were ever
part of the written Gospels. For example, in the KJV account of John the
Baptist, Matthew writes that Jon the Baptist declares to the Pharisees and
Sadducees, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:8).
The JST, however, includes a lengthy introduction to this statement. “Why is
it, that ye receive not the preaching of him whom God hath sent? If ye receive
not this in your hearts, ye receive not me; and if ye receive not me, ye
receive not him of whom I am sent to bear record; and for your sins ye have no
cloak. Repent therefore, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance” JST
Matthew 3:8; italics indicate JST changes).
“3. Editing to make the Bible more
understandable for modern readers.” Sometimes this form of editing is simply to
help modern readers understand archaic King James language. For example, Matthew
13:20 reads, “But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he
that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it.” According to Laurence
M. Vance, “Anon is a compound of the Old English on an, ‘in one,’ that
signified ‘in one moment.’” [Lawrence M. Vance, Archaic Words and the Authorized
Version, rev. ed. [Pensacola, FL: Vance Publications, 1999], 16] It
translate the Greek word euthus, which is often translated as “immediately.”
(For examples in the KJ, see Matthew 4:22; Mark 1:12, 42. The King James
translators used a number of words to translate euthus, including “straightway”
[e.g. Matthew 4:20; 14:27; Mark 1:10, 18, 20], “by and by” [Matthew 13:21], and
“forthwith” [Mark 1:29, 43]) Given that anon is rarely used in modern
English, the JST changes it to read, “But he that received that seed into stony
places, the same is he that heareth the word, and readily with joy receiveth
it” (JST, Matthew 13:20). But sometimes and editing is more substantial, as is
the case with the JST of Matthew 24. Here the JST changes were so substantial
that they are included, along with the Book of Moses, as a separate part of the
Pearl of Great Price: Joseph Smith—Matthew. One of the significant changes of
the JST version was the reordering of the material. The discourse consists of
Jesus’s answers to two of his disciples’ questions, “When shall these things
[i.e., the destruction of the temple] be? and what shall be the sign of thy
coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3). In Matthew 24 there is no
distinction between these questions in Jesus’s answer. In the JST, however, the
answers to the two questions are delineated. Verses 5-21 answer the first question
and verses 21-37 answer the second question. Verse 21 is the turning point
between the two answers and the addition of the word “again” in verses 21, 30,
31, and 32 shows that the signs for the coming destruction of the temple in the
first century would be repeated when the Savior returned. As one scholar has
noted,
When the Prophet made his revision
of the Olivet discourse he moved three verses (7, 8, and 9) from their position
in the King James text and placed them at various points later in the
narrative. This change gave the prophecy a new chronological sequence, or more
accurately, it gave it a more definite chronological sequence. This was enhanced
by the repetition of the three verses [verses 6, 9 to verses 21-22; verse 10 to
verse 30; verse 12 to verse 32] which showed that there was to be a recurrence
of ancient events in the latter days. It is this reordering and repetition of
passages which brings understanding to that area in which there has been the
greatest confusion among Bible scholars. (Richard D. Draper, “Joseph Smith—Matthew
and the Signs of the Times,” Studies in Scripture, vol. 2: The Pearl
of Great Price, ed. Robert L. Millet and Kent P. Jackson [Salt Lake City:
Randall Book, 1985], 290
“4. Editing to bring biblical
wording into harmony with truth found in other revelations or elsewhere in the
Bible.” John 1:18 provides an example of this kind of change. The KJV reads, “No
man hath seen God at any time.” The JST reads, “No man hath seen God at any
time, except he hath borne record of the Son” (JST, John 1:19; italics
indicate JST changes). It is clear from other biblical passages and from events
of the Restoration that people have in fact seen God. In other places in John’s
writings the statement is clarified. For example, John 6:46 reads, “Not that
any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.”
Another example may be the JST of John 20:1 which adds that there were two
angels sitting at the sepulchre, which brings the story into harmony with the
account in Luke 24:1-4.
“5. Changes to provide modern teachings
that were not written by original authors.” Two brief examples of this kind of
change may be Matthew 4:1 and 7:1. In the KJV, Matthew 4:1 reads, “Then was Jesus
led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” The JST
reads, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be with
God.” The JST change here makes sense. Jesus’s time in the wilderness was a
preparatory experience for him before he began his mortal ministry. But the JST
change here should not negate the fact that Jesus also went into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland quotes Malcolm Muggeride: “Christ
withdrew alone to the desert to fast and pray in preparation for a dialogue
with the Devil. Such a dialogue was inescapable; every virtue has to be cleared
with the Devil, as every vice is torn with anguish out of God’s hearth.” Then
Elder Holland goes on to teach that he believes “such dialogues are entertained
day after day, hour after hour—even among the Latter-day Saints.” (Jeffrey R.
Holland, “The Inconvenient Messiah,” Ensign, February 1984, 68)
The KJV of Matthew 7:1 reads, “Judge
not, that ye be not judged.” The JST reads, “Now these are the words which
Jesus taught his disciples that they should say unto the people. Judge not unrighteously
that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgment.” In this case, the JST
does not seem to be restoring lost text because the corresponding teaching in 3
Nephi reads, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (3 Nephi 14:1). In this case,
the JST seems to be adding an additional level of teaching that, given the corresponding
3 Nephi account, was probably not originally spoken by Jesus as he taught the
Sermon on the Mount. (Gaye Strathearn, “Teaching the Four Gospels: Five
Considerations,” in Learn of Me: History and Teachings of the New Testament,
ed. John Hilton III and Nicholas J. Frederick [Provo, Utah: BYU Religious
Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2022], 78-80)