Sunday, October 1, 2023

Responding to Matthew Paulson on the KJV Isaiah Chapter Divisions and the Book of Mormon

 In his criticism of the Book of Mormon based on its use of Isaiah, Matthew Paulson wrote the following:

 

Wright and Tvedtnes have missed something very important in comparing the Book of Mormon to the KJV Bible. They both neglect discuss on chapter and verse separations. Many quotations in the Book of Mormon begin and terminate at the KJV verse separations. Punctuations, chapters, and verses were established long after the text was written. In AD 1228, the Bible text was divided into chapters. Bible verse notations were established by AD 1551. Interestingly, the Book of Mormon author was able to begin and finish on many of the partitions of Isaiah, and Matthew. It is an additional evidence that the source of the Isaiah quotations was the AD 1611 KJV Bible.

 

. . .

 

It is stated and not denied that the Book of Mormon closely quotes 15 whole chapters the KJV Bible. In doing so, the Book of Mormon redactor frequently begins and ends at the Bible chapter divisions, which were decided in the 14th century. This evidence provides the most damaging evidence against the Book of Mormon.

 

. . .

 

All Isaiah quotations in the Book of Mormon begin and terminate at the KJV verse separations. The Greek language has no punctuation in the manuscripts. The chapter and verses for the KJV Bible were established long ago. In AD 1228, Stephen Langton divided the Bible text into chapters. The verses were established by AD 1551; these separations were educated guesses. The Book of Mormon author was able to begin and finish on many of the educated guesses of Isaiah, Malachi and Matthew. This is additional evidence that the source of Isaiah quotations was the AD 1611 KJV Bible! (Matthew A. Paulson, Breaking the Mormon Code: A Critique of Mormon Scholarship Regarding Classical Christian Theology and the Book of Mormon [Livermore, Calif.: WingSpan Press, 2006, 2009], 218, 224, 265)

 

This is not exactly correct. As Royal Skousen noted:

 

Third finding: The original Book of Mormon chapter divisions of the Isaiah quotations follow a larger thematic grouping, not the interruptive chapter system found in the King James Bible.

 

Although the base text for the Isaiah quotations in the Book of Mormon is the King James Version, the original Book of Mormon chapter divisions ignore the chapter system found in the King James Bible. The division into the 66 relatively short chapters in Isaiha dates from late medieval times. The original Book of Mormon chapters are based on narrative unity and group the King James chapters into more coherent units. And in one case, the grouping does not overlap with the beginning and ending of the King James chapters:

 

Original Book of Mormon

King James Version

Current Book of Mormon

1 Nephi VI

Isaiah 48-49

1 Nephi 20-21

2 Nephi V

Isaiah 49:24-52:2

2 Nephi 6-8

2 Nephi VIII

Isaiah 2-5

2 Nephi 12-15

2 Nephi IX

Isaiah 6-12

2 Nephi 16-22

2 Nephi X

Isaiah 13-14

2 Nephi 23-24

 

Of course, the current LDS chapter system in the Book of Mormon does not agree with the King James chapter system, but this has only been true since 1879, when Orson Pratt divided up the original Book of Mormon chapters to facilitate the versification of the text. (Royal Skousen, “Textual Variants in the Isaiah Quotations,” in Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed. Donald W. Parry [Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1998], 378-79)

 

On a similar argument raised by Paulson concerning the use of the Fourth Servant Song in the Book of Mormon, see:


Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Mosiah 14, and KJV Chapter and Verse Separations in the Book of Mormon

Further Reading:

 

Listing of articles responding to "Breaking the Mormon Code"