Joseph Smith Holding a Bible, by Sutcliffe Maudsley, Nauvoo, 1844. Courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University.

Joseph Smith and his contemporaries left no account of the procedures by which he revised the Bible, but the manuscripts on which the text was written still exist and preserve much information about the process.[1] The New Translation was written on sheets of paper about sixteen by thirteen inches in dimension, folded in the middle and gathered into booklets with pages of about eight by thirteen inches. The gatherings were stitched together at the fold. Each gathering usually consisted of about forty-eight pages (twelve folded sheets with writing on both sides).[2]

There are two Old Testament manuscripts: Old Testament Manuscript 1 (OT1) and Old Testament Manuscript 2 (OT2). And there are two New Testament manuscripts: New Testament Manuscript 1 (NT1) and New Testament Manuscript 2 (NT2). Each of these manuscripts consists of multiple gatherings.

OT1 was the original draft of Genesis 1:1–24:41, preceded by the account of some visions of Moses. After it was written, a scribe copied its content onto a new manuscript, OT2, which became the “live” manuscript that was revised further and on which the rest of the Old Testament revision was written. After its content was copied, OT1 was superseded by OT2, but Joseph Smith did not discard it. Perhaps he retained it so it could serve as a backup copy for the Genesis material. NT1 was the original draft of Matthew 1:1–26:71. Its text was also copied onto a new manuscript, NT2, and that manuscript was then the “live” manuscript that was revised further and on which the rest of the New Testament translation was written. NT1, though superseded by NT2, was likewise retained among the papers. The texts on the two earliest manuscripts are thus not alternate versions of the Joseph Smith Translation; they are simply first drafts of parts of Genesis and Matthew before the Prophet made additional revisions and refinements to the words. The first drafts of the rest of the Old and New Testaments still exist as well, being the text written on the final manuscripts before later revisions and refinements were written on them. OT2 and NT2 are Joseph Smith’s New Translation text, the final and intended text that he prepared for publication. Together the two manuscripts total 322 pages.[3]

Timeline

A timeline for the creation of the Bible revision can be reconstructed from the handwriting of the scribes and from other contemporary sources. The dates and scribes noted represent the original dictations, not the writing of later refinements. I have included the traditional biblical chapter and verse numbers, as found in the KJV. They sometimes differ from those in the Community of Christ’s Inspired Version and almost always differ from the verse divisions created by Joseph Smith and his scribes on the JST manuscripts. Chapter and verse numbers of the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price are included for reference.[4]

The New Translation covers the entirety of the Bible, but it was not produced in biblical order. The Prophet revised Genesis 1:1–24:41, then skipped to the New Testament. He did this because on March 7, 1831, he received a revelation in which God instructed him to move to the New Testament so he could reveal to him some important truths there.[25] Starting the next day, the Prophet began to revise the New Testament, which he did in order from Matthew through Revelation. He finished the New Testament in the last week of July 1832 and immediately began the Old Testament again at Genesis 24:41. On July 31, 1832, he wrote, “We have finished the translation of the New testament great and glorious things are revealed, we are making rapid strides in the old book and in the strength of God we can do all things according to his will.”[26] The Prophet then worked from Genesis to the end of the Old Testament, finishing about a year later. He made no revisions in fifteen of the books.[27] They are identified on the manuscripts with brief notations like “Micah—Correct.”[28] Ecclesiastes is the only book not mentioned at all. Regarding another book, the manuscript notes, “The Songs of Solomon are not Inspired writings.”[29]

The Bible revision involved both translating and “reviewing.” As we will see in chapter 2, following the original dictation, Joseph Smith made later passes through parts of the manuscripts and inserted additional refinements, and he and his assistants prepared the text for publication with corrections to spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and with the insertion of new verse divisions. When those enhancements were in place, the Prophet had his final copy of the Bible revision. The technical term is a “fair copy”—the authoritative master copy intended for publication. That fair copy consisted of OT2 and NT2. As we will see in chapter 3, all of that work was apparently completed by July 2, 1833, when the Prophet announced that the New Translation was finished.[30]

The Scribes

Joseph Smith had limited formal schooling and little writing experience before the establishment of the Church. That may explain why he chose to use scribes for most of his writing in journals, letters, revelations, and other documents. With a Bible in front of him, he read and revised from it while his scribes wrote down what they heard him say. Thus, aside from the few entries in his own hand, perhaps when no scribes were available, the translation was written down by others.

Differences in handwriting on the manuscripts indicate that several scribes took the dictation, as can be seen in the timetable above. Those differences include varying degrees of skill in spelling and penmanship, the formation and size of letters, and the use and formation of capital letters. Those who assisted Joseph Smith by taking the dictation were Oliver Cowdery, John Whitmer, Emma Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Jesse Gause, and Frederick G. Williams. In addition, Sidney Rigdon and Newel K. Whitney assisted him in inserting verse breaks into the text.

Oliver Cowdery

Oliver Cowdery was born October 3, 1806, at Wells, Vermont. He first met Joseph Smith on April 5, 1829, and began serving as his scribe for the Book of Mormon two days later. He was present at the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods. When the Church was organized on April 6, 1830, he was sustained as its Second Elder. Later he served as an Assistant President. He married Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, a sister of John Whitmer. Cowdery was the scribe for the beginning of the New Translation and wrote through Genesis 4:18. His service started in June 1830 and ended by October of that year when he and others left on what is called the Lamanite Mission, a mission to introduce the restored gospel to Native Americans (called Lamanites in the Book of Mormon) in the western frontiers of the United States. On the way, the missionaries preached in Ohio and gained many converts, including future JST scribes Sidney Rigdon, Frederick G. Williams, and Newel K. Whitney. Except for one other set of small changes (revisions to the ages of the Patriarchs on OT1[31]), Cowdery’s handwriting does not appear again on the manuscripts.

Cowdery’s handwriting is characterized by elaborate flourishes and loops and large butterfly-shaped ampersands.[32]

John Whitmer

John Whitmer was born August 27, 1802, in Pennsylvania. He was baptized by Oliver Cowdery in June 1829. He served as Joseph Smith’s scribe for the New Translation from October 21, 1830, until early in December of that year, writing Genesis 4:18–5:11, 22. In January 1831 he arrived in the Kirtland area to watch over the new converts that resulted from the preaching of Oliver Cowdery and others on the Lamanite Mission. On March 8, 1831, Whitmer was appointed by revelation to “assist . . . in transcribing all things which shall be given” to Joseph Smith.[33] Accordingly, he made copies (the primary meaning of transcribe) of the two draft manuscripts, OT1 and NT1, thus creating the first fifty-eight pages of OT2 and the first forty-nine pages of NT2. He performed the same function with the revelations that were included in the Book of Commandments. He also served as the Prophet’s scribe for the JST of Matthew 26:1–Mark 9:1 in the fall of 1831. Later he served in the Church’s Missouri presidency.

Whitmer had peculiarities of spelling, although on the whole he was usually consistent with modern-day usage. His writing is for the most part plain and readable.[34]

Emma Smith

Emma Smith was born July 10, 1804, at Harmony, Pennsylvania. She married Joseph Smith in January 1827 and was baptized in June 1830 by Oliver Cowdery. The next month she was called by revelation to serve as a scribe for the Prophet when his regular scribe, then Oliver Cowdery, was not available.[35] At the beginning of December 1830, during John Whitmer’s first tenure as scribe for the New Translation, she served as scribe for Genesis 5:12–21, on a little more than two pages of OT1, after which Whitmer resumed writing. At the beginning of her section she wrote the date, “Dec 1^rst.”

Emma Smith’s handwriting is fairly clear, and her spelling is generally consistent with modern-day orthography.[36]

Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon was born February 19, 1793, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He became an active preacher as a Baptist and later as a Reformed Baptist, or “Campbellite.” He joined the Latter-day Saints in Ohio in November 1830 as a result of the Lamanite Mission, being baptized by Oliver Cowdery. The following month he left Ohio for Fayette, New York, where he met Joseph Smith. He soon began his service as the Prophet’s scribe for the New Translation,[37] recording Genesis 5:23–24:41, Matthew 1:1–26:71, and almost all of the revision from Mark 9 through Revelation 11. On March 8, 1832, he was called to be a counselor to Joseph Smith in the presidency of the Church. His labor as scribe for the JST dictation extended from December 1830 to March 20, 1832.[38] Over half of the pages of the Joseph Smith Translation are in Rigdon’s handwriting. He was also the primary scribe for most of the refinements that the Prophet made after the original dictation. When Joseph Smith dictated text in full, he left out verse numbers. New verse divisions were added to the text after the translation was completed. Rigdon inserted the verse numbers in the first thirty-four pages of the Old Testament, spanning from the Visions of Moses to the middle of Genesis 11.

Rigdon’s relatively large handwriting is among the easiest to read of the scribes, and it is the easiest to recognize.[39]

Jesse Gause

Jesse Gause was born in 1784 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. After his early life as a Quaker and then later as a Shaker, he joined the Latter-day Saints in late 1831 or early 1832. On March 8, 1832, he was called to be a counselor to Joseph Smith in the Church presidency. The following month he traveled with the Prophet, Sidney Rigdon, Newel K. Whitney, and others to Missouri. He returned later that summer, and in August he departed for a mission but never returned. In December he was excommunicated from the Church. Eight short intermittent sections of the New Testament are in Gause’s handwriting, beginning with 2 Thessalonians 2:7 and ending with Revelation 1:20. That material was dictated by Joseph Smith sometime in the first three weeks of March 1832.

Gause’s writing is generally consistent and is for the most part skillfully executed, easily readable, and even somewhat elegant.[40]

Frederick G. Williams

Frederick G. Williams was born October 28, 1787, at Suffield, Connecticut. He was baptized in Ohio in November 1830 as a result of the Lamanite Mission. He replaced Jesse Gause as a counselor to Joseph Smith in the presidency of the Church. He began his service with the New Translation on July 20, 1832, not long after the Prophet, Rigdon, Gause, Whitney, and others returned from their trip to Missouri. Joseph Smith wrote, “Brother Frederick [is] employed to be a scribe for me of the Lord.”[41] Williams was the scribe for the last three New Testament manuscript pages, covering Revelation 12–22, and for almost all of the Old Testament from Genesis 24:41 through Malachi. He was the final scribe for the JST, and the finish date at the end of OT2—July 2, 1833—is in his handwriting. Some small refinements in the New Testament, inserted after the original dictation, are also in his hand.

Williams’s writing varies widely, ranging from small and cramped to large and flowing.[42]

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith was born December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont. He did very little of the actual writing on the JST manuscripts, but he is listed here among the scribes because he served as his own scribe on four pages in the Old Testament.[43] After the original dictation, refinements inserted in his hand appear in a few places.

The Prophet’s penmanship is eclectic and less consistent and orderly than that of any of the other scribes.

Newel K. Whitney

Newel K. Whitney was born in Vermont in 1795. He was a shopkeeper in Kirtland at the time he was converted to the restored gospel as a result of the Lamanite Mission. He first met Joseph Smith early in 1831. He soon became a close friend of the Prophet and invited him and his family to move into his home for a while and then later into the rooms above his store. He served as the Church’s bishop in Kirtland. Part of the work of the Bible revision was done while the Prophet was hosted by the Whitney family. On March 20, 1832, Joseph Smith received a revelation for himself, Whitney, and Sidney Rigdon, telling them (among other things) to “omit the translation for the present time” in order to prepare for their upcoming travel to Missouri.[44] Whitney’s role in the Bible revision was to insert the verse breaks in Genesis 11–24 and Matthew 1–John 5.[45] The versification was likely already under way by the time of the March 20 revelation, and it was completed sometime after Whitney and Joseph Smith returned to Ohio later that summer.

Notes

[1] The original manuscripts are housed in the Library-Archives, Community of Christ, Independence, Missouri.

[2] See Scott H. Faulring, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004), 77, 155, 231, 301, 365, 421, 585.

[3] OT2 is made up of three gatherings, totaling 119 pages numbered consecutively. NT2 is made up of four gatherings. The first of these is 49 pages long and is paginated separately from the others. Gatherings 2–4 are paginated together and total 154 pages.

[4] For the early dates, see Kent P. Jackson, “Joseph Smith Translating Genesis,” BYU Studies Quarterly 56, no. 4 (2017): 13–15.

[5] “June 1830” written on OT1, page 1.

[6] “October 21^st 1830” written on OT1, page 10.

[7] “November 30^th 1830” written on OT1, page 10.

[8] “Dec 1^rst” written on OT1, page 11.

[9] Sidney Rigdon called to be scribe, Doctrine and Covenants 35:20.

[10] “Soon after the words of Enoch were given,” “History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834],” page 87, The Joseph Smith Papers. Kent P. Jackson and Scott H. Faulring, “Old Testament Manuscript 3: An Early Transcript of the Book of Moses,” Mormon Historical Studies 5, no. 2 (Fall 2004): 114.

[11] Arrival of Joseph Smith in Kirtland.

[12] Doctrine and Covenants 45:60–61.

[13] Date written on NT1, page 1.

[14] John Whitmer writes on NT1, page 21, that he had copied through Matthew 9:1 by April 7, 1831, so the translation was at least that far by then.

[15] Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and others leave for Missouri and presumably did not take the manuscript with them.

[16] Date written on NT2, page 1.

[17] John Whitmer leaves for Missouri. “John Whitmer, History, 1831–circa 1847,” page 38, The Joseph Smith Papers.

[18] Doctrine and Covenants 76:15–17.

[19] Early March 1832 Jesse Gause begins assisting as scribe.

[20] A revelation instructs Joseph Smith and his scribes to suspend the translation to prepare to go to Missouri. “Revelation, 20 March 1832,” page [1], The Joseph Smith Papers.

[21] “I commenced writing for Joseph Smith Jr July 20^th 1832.” Frederick G. Williams papers, 1834–1842; Financial papers and statements, 1836–1842, item 17; Church History Library, catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[22] “Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832,” p. 5, The Joseph Smith Papers.

[23] “Minute Book 1” (February 2, 1833), p. 8, The Joseph Smith Papers.

[24] OT2, page 119; “Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson County, Missouri, 2 July 1833,” p. 51, The Joseph Smith Papers.

[25] Doctrine and Covenants 45:60–61.

[26] “Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832,” p. 5.

[27] Ruth, Ezra, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi, 2 John, and 3 John.

[28] OT2, p. 118.

[29] OT2, p. 97.

[30] “Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson County, Missouri, 2 July 1833,” p. 51; OT2, page 119.

[31] Kent P. Jackson and Charles Swift, “The Ages of the Patriarchs in the Joseph Smith Translation,” in A Witness for the Restoration: Essays in Honor of Robert J. Matthews, ed. Kent P. Jackson and Andrew C. Skinner (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2007), 1–11.

[32] See also Faulring, Jackson, and Matthews, Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts, 44.

[33] Doctrine and Covenants 47:1.

[34] See also Faulring, Jackson, and Matthews, Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts, 45.

[35] Doctrine and Covenants 25:6.

[36] See also Faulring, Jackson, and Matthews, Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts, 45.

[37] See Doctrine and Covenants 35:20.

[38] Sometime in the early summer of 1833, Rigdon filled in for Williams for six lines of text in Jeremiah; OT2, pages 111–12.

[39] See also Faulring, Jackson, and Matthews, Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts, 46–47.

[40] See also Faulring, Jackson, and Matthews, Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts, 48.

[41] “Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832,” p. 5.

[42] See also Faulring, Jackson, and Matthews, Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts, 47.

[43] OT2, pages 81–83, 86.

[44] “Revelation, 20 March 1832,” p. [1], The Joseph Smith Papers. See also Frederick G. Williams’s description of the revelation in the index of “Revelation Book 2,” The Joseph Smith Papers.

[45] OT2, pages 34–60; NT2, folio 1, page 1–NT2, folio 4, page 115.