Of course, the Joseph Smith
Translation did not have just one purpose, but attempted to do several things.
Perhaps three of the most important, emphasized generally by the Prophet Joseph
himself, include (1) correcting false doctrine and inaccurate information, (2)
restoring original texts that had been lost or taken from the earliest editions
of the Bible, and (3) revealing texts or concepts that never made it into the
Bible, perhaps even oral traditions that may have circulated for a time, but
which the Lord wanted his sons and daughters to have in written form for the
benefit for their salvation. The Cain and Abel narrative presented in Moses
5:16-42 probably contains all three of these types of additions and corrections.
Indeed, the much more detailed story of Cain and Abel in Moses 5, compared with
the one found in the Masoretic text or King James Version, argues for a richer,
more expensive, original narrative of the episode. (Andrew C. Skinner, “Cain
and Abel (Genesis 4 and Moses 5),” in From Creation to Sinai: The Old
Testament Through the Lens of the Restoration, eds., Daniel L. Belnap and
Aaron P. Schade [Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book, 2021], 56-57)
