Timeline of Bible Revision

The Bible revision Joseph Smith worked on in the 1830s is called by the LDS church the Joseph Smith Translation (JST). The original manuscripts are in the RLDS archives. This work is a commentary by Joseph Smith who made corrections and additions to verses in the KJV. Many of the chapters and some books of the Old Testament were considered correct as recorded in the manuscript. Smith had no knowledge of Hebrew or Greek at the time he corrected the Bible.

Pearl of Great Price:

Selections from the Book of Moses [KJV Genesis 1:1 - 6:13]

Joseph Smith - Matthew [KJV Matt. 23:39 and chapter 24]


KJV chapters and verses with dates of first writing:

Old Testament:

Genesis 1:1 - Genesis 24:41 ca June 1830 - April 1831

Genesis 24:41 - Malachi 4:6 July 1832 - July 1833

New Testament:

Matthew 1:1 - Revelation 22:21 March 1831 - July 1832


The 2013 LDS edition of the Bible included in footnotes passages from the JST. In the Appendix of the Bible is a section titled "Selections from the Joseph Smith Translation." The 24 page section includes 4 pages from Genesis, 3 pages from various Old Testament books and 17 pages from writings in the New Testament. Like Smith's other works, the Bible revision is considered inspired, Smith having received revelations relating to the project. This "New Translation" was not published in the lifetime of Joseph Smith.

The RLDS church published an English edition of Bible revision in 1867. Not all of the corrections in the manuscripts or crossed out italic words have been printed. Joseph Smith's revision is based on an 1828 printed English (KJV) text and the "translation" is from English to English not from Hebrew or Greek manuscripts. The standard text used for Joseph Smith's religious texts is the KJV.


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