Smith’s high Christology is apparent in a number of
New Testament revisions and additions. When considering the young Jesus, Joseph
Smith adds these words to the end of Matthew 2: “And it came to pass that Jesus
grew up with his brethren and waxed strong and waited upon the Lord for the time
of his ministry to come and he served under his father and he sape not as other
men neither could be taught for he needed not that any man should teach him and
after many years the hour of his ministry drew night.” (NTOB, 162-63
[compare 239]) Smith also revises passages to emphasize Christ’s earthly
omniscience. For example, he emends the account of young Jesus “sitting in the
midst of the doctors [in the temple], both hearing them, and asking the questions”
(Luke 2:46) to read “sitting in the midst of the Doctrines, and they were
hearing him, and asking him questions.” (NTOB, 371-72, emphasis added)
Even so minor a matter as the account of Jesus “seeing a fig tree afar off” on
his way from Bethany to Jerusalem and approaching it “if haply he might find
any thing thereon” (Mark 11:13), was modified to preserve Jesus’ omniscience; Jesus
“came to [the three] with his disciples; and as they supposed,, he came
to see if he might find any thing thereon.” (NTOB, 342, emphasis added) (Grant
Understood, “Joseph Smith’s ‘New Translation’ of the Bible,” in The Bible and
the Latter-day Saint Tradition, ed. Taylor G. Petrey, Cory Crawford, and
Eric A. Eliason [Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, 2023], 57)
