A revision or translation of the king james version of the bible begun by the prophet joseph smith in june 1830. It is either of divine or human origin, and if it is of human origin that means that joseph smith concocted the book. Although few in number, the king james version does contain a number of undeniable incorrect translations. It must be emphasized that these mistranslations did not originate with the king james version but in the wycliffe translation, which was translated from the latin vulgate. I find it somewhat odd that the book of mormon contains many passages from the king james translation of the bible, recited verbatim. This addendum hopes to present information which will enable the reader to understand what the gnostic doctrine teaches and which mistranslations in the kjv. The book of mormon and the king james bible wikipedia. In 1611, the king james bible was completed and king james authorized the new translation to. The edition was published by the church of england. A good translation, but nothing more this text article by jeff smelser. They acknowledge the problem of the word and the triplet. This textus receptus is essentially the same as the majority text and the byzantine text type.
The king james version of the bible still says unicorn, but those other animals have shown up in other translations. If the book of mormon is the most correct book of any on earth, why would it contain translational errors that exist in the king james bible. He believed those errors were caused when the tenets of the translators, whether. Book of mormontranslation errors from the kjv fairmormon.
In the words of latterday saints president wilford c. The king james version of the bible is, in all likelihood, the most successful of all the english translations. Are the more recent translations more accurate than the 1611. The book of mormon is about 33% larger than the new test. The king james bible in the days of joseph smith religious. Making it a separate book so that recommendations are better or cleanup is easier seems to be putting the excuse the pun bibliograhic cart before the colophon of the horse. In some cases, entire passages are duplicated in the book of mormon. Walter martins religious infonet kingdom of the cults. Bible the story of the king james version 16112011 oxford, gordon campbell, oxford university press 2010. Old testament mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. These take the form of such things as double negatives, incorrect adverbs and adjectives, and incorrect tenses. Joseph smiths inspired revisions to the king james bible.
The adoption of biblical archaisms in the book of mormon and other. Peter s download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Many adherents to the theory of an inerrant translation of scripture, namely those referred to as kjvonlyists, are thoroughly convinced that yahuwah has preserved his sacred written word in the english language through the translation of the king james version, which is also called the authorized version. This book is tremendously educational yet very fascinating to read. Joseph had different purposes in mind in his different translations. The only bible that joseph smith relied on was the king james version. The original 1830 first printed edition of the book of mormon exists. The joseph smith translation is josephs supposedly inspired revision of the king james bible. Onlyists often point out that modern translations contradict each other. In creating his doctrine of multiple heavens, smith used the most popular english translation available to him, the king james version, and focused on 1corinthians15, particularly verse40. Sometimes you will hear a reference to the jstb sometimes referred to as the inspired version of the bible either by detractors of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints mormons or sparingly in mormon literature. If editions of the king james version contradict each other, then onlyists either need to put up or shut up. Ask what thou wilt and i will give it thee, even to the half of my kingdom.
There are no errors that we know about in the king james bible. Aug 27, 2008 the book of mormon has the structure of a translation from the hebrew language. Absolutely thorough explanation of so called errors in the king james bible. It is a deadly version because its editors have succeeded in deceiving the body of christ on two main points. Sometimes the quotation is explicit, as in the second book of nephi, which contains 18 quoted chapters of the book of isaiah other significant connections between the two books include book of mormon words and phrases that only appear in.
The book of mormon and the doctrine and covenants both take for granted the. An alternative explanation to the relationship between isaiah 2. This is not unique or unusual in scripture even the bible. Isaiah 2 1 the word that isaiah the son of amoz saw concerning judah and jerusalem. I give amazon 5 stars for how they have taken ownership of this problem. There is no verse that tells me how god will preserve his word, so. How can the book of mormon have over 200 verses copied. The errors in the king james bible kindle edition by ruckman, dr. Some errors in subsequent editions have become famous.
For example, in 3 nephi 1214, the book of mormon presents jesus preaching the sermon on the mount, no more than about a year after his resurrection, nearly verbatim as. The king james version, or authorized version, of the bible, first published in 1611 under the authority of englands king james hence the designation, authorized, was in that day a very good translation, and is yet today a useful translation. They had disagreements, to be sure, but they labored on, year after year. It reads, there are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial. What are 1769 king james version edition errors doing in the book of mormon. Translation errors in the king james bible appearing in the book of mormon. First, i want to affirm with all evangelical christians that the bible is the word of god, inerrant, inspired, and our final authority for faith and life. It is in fact replete with such errors, as i intend to show in these two part 6 posts to ed. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the errors in the king james bible. The word translated was is hayah, and denotes a condition different than a former condition, as in genesis 19. Volumes have been written on its distinctive and rhythmic style, and it is still regarded as a triumph of modern english literature.
Rare book and manuscript libraryuniversity of pennsylvania. Why does the king james bible have some different verses than. Many people find problematic the extent to which the book of mormon quotes the king james version of the bible, because this practice can make the book of mormon look more like a cobbledtogether 19thcentury text than a translation of an ancient artifact bearing in. There are a couple of circumstances that bear on the similarity to the king james version. The new testament quotes the old testament 855 times. Aug 23, 2010 and most would like to see the trinity explicitly taught in 1 john 5. King james version translation errors servants news. The book of mormon and the king james version secular web. The king james version and contemporary translations.
How many mistranslations are there in the king james bible. For instance, over 50% of the book is couched in chiastic structures. Strang testified that he had possession of a letter from smith naming him. The book of mormon uses the king james bible in many areas, most notably the isaiah chapters but in many other chapters spread across the book of mormon as well.
The book of mormon and the bible mormons in transition. It has long been held by critics of mormonism, for instance, that the book of mormon is nothing but a synthesis of earlier works written by other men, of the vivid imaginings of joseph smith, and of simple plagiarisms of the king james bible. The joseph smith translation of the bible jst is considered an inspired translation of the bible that was done by joseph smith during his lifetime. There are many hebrew literary forms found in the book of mormon. King james onlyists cannot claim that the king james version is perfect if there are varying discrepancies between the stillused editions. Why does the mormon church use the king james version. Neb is a translation from the united kingdom, and was aimed to be translated in a british idiom. The problem is that the king james bible is filled with readings which have been created by overly zealous scribes. As others have said the only difference is in the footnotes, which cross reference similar topics found in the book of mormon and the doctrine and covenants. Please contact us if you find any and let us know what they are. Nowhere am i told that the king james bible is the best or only holy bible.
The book of mormon contains a version of the sermon on the mount, which some authors have claimed to be the achilles heel of the book of mormon. Furthermore, the wycliffe translation carried a greater number of these corruptions than the vulgate which is not surprising considering the evidence that john wycliffe and the lollard knights were agents of the rosicrucians. Joseph smiths inspired revisions to the king james. In 1844 he claimed to have been appointed to be the successor of joseph smith as leader of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints strangite, a faction of the latter day saint movement. We will now give some special attention to one of the deadliest translations on the marketthe new king james version, first published in 1979. Seven of the number, through death and other causes. As im sure you know, the entire joseph smith translation of the bible is contained in the mormon church printings of the king james version. Strikethrough denotes words that are included in the kjv but not the bom. At red door church weve been taking a look at the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds. In the isaiah chapters which were plagiarized by the book of mormon, joseph smith has changed them in his translation to fit the book of mormon. Along the way, weve noticed that joseph smith quotes directly from the king james bible kjv or paraphrases it in a handful of places in the book of mormon which was allegedly revealed to him by the angel moroni. Why is the book of mormon written in king james english.
However, this was not a literal translation from one language to another. This is a clear case of plagiarism, with no other purpose than adding volume to the book of mormon without too much effort. While joseph smith described the book of mormon as a translation of text written on golden plates, smith had not. Errors in the king james bible from genesis to revelation. Brackets in the kjv are italicized to avoid confusion. That said, the bible verses embedded in the book of mormon do show a clear reliance on the 1769 king james version of the bible and not on the 1611 version. What are 1769 kjv edition errors doing in book of mormon. Joseph smith translation of the bible religionwiki fandom. After all the words of high praise spoken for this version, it may seem strange to pass to an extended discussion of its defects. A careful examination of the book of mormon reveals that it contains. The book of mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the king james bible kjv. Why i do not think the king james bible is the best.
If this is true, then the book of mormon should be full of errors. The overview from the lds website defines the jst this way. Deuteroisaiah verses in the book of mormon overview of the deuteroisaiah problem in the book of mormon. However, the book of mormon is not written in elizabethan english, except for the copies of the twenty chapters of isaiah that are found in the book. During the kingdom age about bc and onwards, the land of naphtali bordered the sea of. The book of mormon and the king james bible red door church. It was the one found in the homes of most of the families. Problems in the joseph smith translation of the bible and comparison to the book of mormon. There are two possible explanations for the origin of the book of mormon. The damsel, after consulting with her mother, returns to the banqueting room, points, no doubt, to the dishes on the banqueting table, and says, give me forthwith, on a dish, the head of john the baptist.
King james version bible kjv translation errors below is a partial listing of king james version kjv bible translation errors. Tvedtness analysis and evidence was highly ambiguous, substantially incomplete, strained, or simply in error. The old testament of the kjv was translated from the masoretic hebrew text. James jesse strang march 21, 18 july 9, 1856 was an american religious leader, politician and selfproclaimed monarch. For such a diverse group, they worked together in harmony during a generally contentious time. Hence, neither the book of mormon nor the joseph smith translation of the bible can be discounted because of seeming discrepancies with each other or with the king james version of the bible.
And yet it must be confessed that this highly esteemed version is excellent, but defective. There were no tell all books published after the fact. Its aim is to be a balance between wordforword and phraseforphrase. Nevertheless, what youre suggesting is that the translators of the king james in 1611, the translators of the new american standard version, the translators of the new international version in 1973, william darby, and dozens of others have all conspired against homosexuals in english, and others worldwide have done the same to persecute.
Even some apologists acknowledge that the phrase used is a rhyming couplet. The king james version kjv, also known as the king james bible kjb or simply the authorized version av, is an english translation of the christian bible for the church of england, was commissioned in 1604 and completed as well as published in 1611 under the sponsorship of james vi and i. Are the more recent translations more accurate than the 1611 king james version. The king james translation was still the bible, but in contrast with other. Jun 19, 2008 in several cases, the book of mormon follows king james version translation errors.
The critics have been quick to condemn the book of mormon because of this fact. The king james translation of 1611 is based on the socalled textus receptus. King james vs new world translation, which is more accurate. What are the errors in the king james version bible. Study resources the new testament contains 184,600 words. This article explains that joseph claimed to be restoring the true, original meaning of the bible, and looks at examples of josephs changes to the gospel of john proving this claim to have been false. But most reject this reading as an invention of some overly zealous scribe. Large portions of the book of mormon are very similar to the king james version of the bible, which of course was about the only english bible available to joseph smith in the 1820s. Joseph smith translation of the bible mormonism, the. The only plausable explanation is that whom ever wrote the book of mormon had access to a king james version of the bible.
The heavy use of the bible in the book of mormon raises some difficult questions about the authenticity of the book of mormon as a translation of ancient historical documents. King james version, an english translation of the bible published in 1611 under king james i of england. The book of mormon has the structure of a translation from the hebrew language. The problem is that joseph smith copied the bible chapters into the book of mormon, including many translation errors and italicized words in the process. By now, though, the unicorn has been firmly made a part of our mythological fantasiesand all because of a poor choice in translation. Joseph smiths other writings, such as his history and diary, reflect the modern english era of his day. One of the cogent circumstances related to the translation of the isaiah chapters into the terminology of the king james version is that the king james version of the bible was in 1829 about the only english language bible in existence. Here is a partial listing of king james version translation errors. Jan 26, 2014 the book of mormon and the king james version january 26, 2014 by jason k. The mormon version of the bible is the king james bible, every verse exact.
The kjv has been relentlessly attacked for 2 simple reasonsfor money and so scholars can become their own final authority and sit in judgement of gods words. However, nowhere in the bible am i told that only one translation of it is the correct one. The king james bible is a translation named after king james i of england, who recognized a need for a better english bible translation. I do testify that the uncut sheets of the complete first edition of the book of mormon have been reproduced in its original unchanged condition. Very few of the distinctive king james readings are demonstrably ancient. The text of the lds editions of the king james bible isare exactly the same. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain these translational errors. Years later, joseph smith translated the bible, fixing the errors that he perceived therein. However, when confronted with the presence of 1769 kjv errors and 17th century italics in the book of mormon, many of the same apologists will revert to the loose translation by claiming that maybe joseph smith indeed used a 1769 kjv bible to borrow verses over into the book of mormon. In fact, verbatim quotations, some of considerable length, have caused the mormons no end of embarrassment for many years. King james initiated a project to complete one of the most thorough and detail oriented translations in history.
For example, critics of mormonism have shown convincing proof that the book of mormon is a synthesis of earlier works written by other men, of the vivid imaginings of joseph smith, and of plagiarisms from the king james bible. Apr 28, 2012 a question for my mormon friends series. Since this is a known problem, i think amazon should replace them regardless of the length of time. Book of mormon, absorbed the idiom of the king james bible and used it in his writings generally. Apr 19, 2010 nevertheless, what youre suggesting is that the translators of the king james in 1611, the translators of the new american standard version, the translators of the new international version in 1973, william darby, and dozens of others have all conspired against homosexuals in english, and others worldwide have done the same to persecute.
The joseph smith translation is only an inspired revision of the king james version. The king james version in the united kingdom it is called the authorized version is an english translation of the bible begun in 1604 and first published in 1611 under the authority of king james. The new king james bible was first published in 1979. The verses in question are given first and then what is the correct or better translation. The book of mormon with cowriters trey parker, matt stone, robert lopez duration. It lacks, in my opinion, the beauty of the king james but is an acceptable alternative to the nrsv. It is most important for us to have at our fingertips the scriptures that most of the christian churches and most christians accept at their bible. Aug 17, 2011 the joseph smith translation is josephs supposedly inspired revision of the king james bible. Specific bible studies king james translation errors. The king james version contains certain translation and textual errors which will facilitate a global transition from the true gospel of jesus christ to the false gospel of the antichrist. The errors in the king james bible kindle edition by. King james named 54 pious and scholarly persons and who were empowered to communicate with all our principal learned men within this our kingdom, so that the scholarship of the country was consecrated to the noblest work which could engage the heart, the mind, and the pen of men the production of our admirable english bible. Smith copied the kjv blindly, not showing awareness of translation problems and errors in the kjv. Yet the book of mormon is not a slavish copy of the.
Off the cuff, i would say that the new world translation nwt is more accurate as its new testament is based on westcott and hort a scholarly critical greek text rather than on the beza new testament used by the king james version kjv translators. King james english in the book of mormon an oddity in the book of mormon, published in 1830, is that it uses antiquated english resembling the style of the king james version kjv bible. During this translation process, many of the passages quoted in the book of mormon were changed. The book of mormon and the king james version by common. May 18, 2009 1 king james vs new world translation, which is more accurate. Abundant evidence exists and is constantly growing to show that critical opinion and methods were known at least from the very early days of the formation of the nt canon. Kjv translation errors as found in the book of mormon. Plagiarismsthe king james version a careful examination of the book of mormon reveals that it contains thousands of words from the king james bible. There are, in fact, at least 922 chiasma in the book of mormon. Why are there translation errors from the 1769 edition of the kjv of the bible found in the book of mormon. In the book of mormon, there are many chapters of isaiah directly incorporated from the king james version kjv of the bible, complete with translation errors that were obviously not possible to have been recorded on the gold plates since the kjv was not available until thousands of years. Oct 15, 2011 this clip is from our series entitled, which english translation of the bible is best for christians to use today. The king james bible and the book of mormon its obvious even to the casual reader that the book of mormon, in its original 1830 translation, is written in the language of the king james version bible hereafter kjv. The book of mormon and the king james version january 26, 2014 by jason k.
Errors in grammar there are literally thousands of grammatical errors in the original edition of the book of mormon errors that gradually have been changed in later editions. Below is a partial listing of king james version kjv bible translation errors. Translation errors here is a partial listing of king james version translation errors. Holy bible should the lds edition of the king james. In june 1830, joseph smith began creating a new translation of the king james version of the bible.
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