Bible Bombshells, Part 2: Shocking facts about the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible!

In Part 2, we use what we learned in the previous article to compare and contrast with the JST (Joseph Smith Translation). Did he restore lost plain and precious things as he claimed?

Before reading this article, I strongly recommend that if you have not already read Part 1, that you do so. There is a lot of background information and context in Part 1 that you will need to make sense of Part 2.

Bible Bombshells: Uncovering Eye-Opening Facts Behind the KJV and Septuagint, Part 1

Important Definitions and Acronyms

This article uses many acronyms to refer to different scriptural texts. Understanding a bit about those texts and how we refer to them will be important background information for this and a following article.

• Texts and Acronyms:

  • KJV (King James Version - 1769 edition) is the version of the bible used by the LDS church. It has been a seminal and enduring force in American Protestantism, shaping theology, worship, and cultural identity from the colonial era through modern times with its distinctive language, literary quality, and deep-rooted tradition. Created in the early 17th century by King James 1st for the Church of England, its Old Testament was translated from the Hebrew Masoretic Text (See below). The New Testament portion was translated from Greek manuscripts compiled during the Renaissance (called the Textus Receptus). It was created as a primarily Protestant Bible but has also been used by some Catholics. One would think that perhaps there are other or newer Bible versions that would be more accurate and could be used by LDS instead. Still, a quick check shows that the same protestant edits made to the KJV also exist in other Bibles produced by protestant groups in America, like the CBS (Christian Study Bible- including the Ancient Faith edition).

  • NKJV (New King James Version 1987) - a modern English translation of the KJV that updates the archaic language of the traditional KJV while preserving its underlying textual tradition, serving as a crucial bridge for contemporary biblical textual analysis and study.

  • LXX (Septuagint) is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the 3rd to 2nd centuries BCE. It was created to provide a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, enabling Hellenistic Jews (Jews who were culturally Greek - predominantly Diaspora communities in Egypt) to access and maintain their religious traditions in their common language. The Orthodox and Latin Catholic churches still use the LXX. It is vital to biblical textual analysis for offering insights into early Jewish textual traditions and influencing early Christian scriptural interpretation. It is the version of the Old Testament used by early Christians and is centuries older than the MT.

  • DSS (Dead Sea Scrolls) - a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts found in caves near the Dead Sea, dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, and are crucial to biblical textual analysis because they contain some of the earliest known copies of biblical texts, offering insights into the evolution and transmission of the Hebrew Bible.

  • MT (Masoretic Text) - The authoritative medieval Hebrew version of the Jewish Bible, meticulously compiled and maintained by Jewish scribes (the Masoretes) from the 7th to 10th centuries CE, and it is pivotal to biblical textual analysis because it forms the basis for most modern Protestant translations while reflecting centuries of textual tradition and standardization.

  • OSB (Orthodox Study Bible) - A standard version of the Bible used by Eastern Orthodox, particularly in English-speaking countries. The OSB uses the Septuagint for the Old Testament and the NKJV (New King James Version) translation of the New Testament.

  • OT (Old Testament) - The first section of the Christian Bible, the OT is comprised of sacred Hebrew/Jewish scriptures that chronicle the history, laws, prophecies, and religious poetry of the Jewish people before the coming of Christ. This compilation of ancient scriptures documents the world's creation, the Hebrew people's history and laws, and their covenant relationship with God. The OT was primarily written in Hebrew and Aramaic.

  • NT (New Testament) - The New Testament is the second section of the Christian Bible, comprising writings that recount the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the early Christian (Catholic) Church. The NT was primarily written in Koine Greek with some small parts in Aramaic. Contrary to popular misconceptions, the New Testament was not written in Hebrew.

TL;DR Summary

• Once the major differences between the LXX, MT and KJV were examined in Part 1, I got curious about how this compares to the JST (Joesph Smith Translation of the Bible.) My curiosity stems from Joseph Smith’s assertion that his Translation was to “restore” the bible to its original, uncorrupted form by correcting errors and omissions he saw as the result of centuries of faulty transmission and deliberate editing. JS believed, like most Protestants at that time, that the Bible had been altered—whether through lost passages in the Masoretic Text or doctrinal edits by the Protestant reformers. JS’s JST was meant to recover the “plain and precious” truths of scripture they assumed were lost/removed due to corruption over the centuries. I was curious about this because this belief is still present in the LDS church and, in some discussions about restoration, figured prominently. The result is the attitude and belief that the Bible is the Word of God only so far as it has been translated correctly; an attitude that results in LDS religion education for laity focusing more on unique Mormon scriptures such as the Book of Mormon, D&C, and POGP than the Bible.

• I proceed to use the AI Chat-GTP model to analyze Joseph Smith’s translation and highlight textual variants, focusing on how the JST altered the text. The purpose is to explore these discrepancies and what changes were made, especially in relation to the omitted and altered passages, and to see if any lost or corrupted textual variants between the KVJ, Septuagint, and Dead Sea Scrolls are actually “restored” by JS.

• I then critique Joseph Smith’s JST translation, arguing that over 99% of changes are theological expansions rather than textual restorations and that his changes are unsupported by ancient manuscripts.

• Finally, I present a modern LDS apologetic take on approaching the JST, and criticize their attempt to reframe the subject matter and talk about the how/why they are doing that so that readers who watch it will be aware of the games they play.

For the sake of continuity and to help you maintain some flow of the conversation, I’m reproducing a relevant part from Part 1 that leads into the JDST discussion. See below.

Question to the AI: Did those compiling the masoretic text remove parts of it that christians viewed as supporting the christian claim? If so, which parts?