Friday, July 8, 2022

Differences between KJV and JST Exodus 20-22

  

 

KJV

1867 Inspired Version (RLDS)

OT Manuscript 2

Exo 20:23

Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

Ye shall not make unto you gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

[T]<Y>e shall not make unto you gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you Gods of Gold (p. 68)

Exo 21:20-21

And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished for he is his money.

And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall surely be put to death. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, and recover, he shall not be put to death, for he is his servant.

20 " put to death

21 " Nothwithstanding, if he continue a day or two and recover, he shall not be put to death, for he is his servant (pp. 68-69)

Exo 22:18

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Thou shalt not suffer a murderer to live.

"\ murderer (p. 69)

 

With respect to Exo 20:23, the phrase "with me" might indicate that God himself would join in the production of idols. The Hebrew particle the KJV translated as "with" is ‎אֵת and while it can mean "with the help of" (e.g., 1 Chron 2:18; Job 26:4; Gen 4:1), in context, it means "besides me" or "alongside me" (i.e., idols being manufactured of YHWH alongside other gods).

 

Another interesting variant is found in Exo 21:8. The KJV reads:

 

If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.

 

The 1867 RLDS reads the same as the KJV:

 

If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed, to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath to do this dealt deceitfully with her.

 

However, when one examines Old Testament Manuscript 2, p. 68, we read:

 

8. "  not — to do this

 

Kent P. Jackson renders the JST passage as follows:

 

If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed, not to sell her unto a strange nation. He shall have no power to do this, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. (Kent P. Jackson, Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible: The Joseph Smith Translation and the King James Translation in Parallel Columns [Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021], 133-34)

 

Old Testament Manuscript 2, p. 68:

 



 

Old Testament Manuscript 2, p. 69: