Item Detail
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32115
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3
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18
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English
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Missing Words : King James Bible Italics, the Translation of the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith as an Unlearned Reader
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Interpreter : A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
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2020
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38
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Provo, UT
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Interpreter Foundation
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45-106
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"Chapters from Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon use the King James Bible as a base text yet frequently vary from it in minor ways, particularly in the earliest text of the Book of Mormon. A disproportionate number of these variants are due to the omission or replacement of words italicized in the KJV. Many of the minor variants were eliminated by the printer for the 1830 edition or by Joseph Smith himself for the 1837 edition, but others remain. Some of the minor variants are easily explained as errors of dictation, transcription, or copying, but others are not so readily accounted for. While some are inconsequential, others negatively affect Isaiah’s text by confusing its meaning or violating grammatical norms. Most have no clear purpose. The disruptive character of these variants suggests they are secondary and were introduced by someone who was relatively uneducated in English grammar and unfamiliar with the biblical passages being quoted. They point to Joseph Smith, the unlearned man who dictated the Book of Mormon translation. Even so, it seems unlikely that a single individual would have intentionally produced these disruptive edits. They are better explained as the product of the well-intentioned but uncoordinated efforts of two individuals, each trying to adapt the Book of Mormon translation for a contemporary audience. Specifically, many of these variants are best explained as the results of Joseph Smith’s attempts to restore missing words to a text from which some words (those italicized in the KJV) had been purposefully omitted by a prior translator. The proposed explanation is consistent with witness accounts of the Book of Mormon translation that portray Joseph Smith visioning a text that was already translated into English. It is also supported by an 1831 newspaper article that describes Joseph Smith dictating one of the Book of Mormon’s biblical chapters minus the KJV’s italicized words. An understanding of the human element in the Book of Mormon translation can aid the student of scripture in distinguishing the 'mistake of men' from those variants that are integral to the Book of Mormon’s Bible quotations." [Article Abstract]
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A Look at Some 'Nonstandard' Book of Mormon Grammar
American Apocrypha : Essays on the Book of Mormon
An Address to All Believers in Christ. By a Witness to the Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon
Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon
Changes in The Book of Mormon
Early Mormon Documents : Volume II
Early Mormon Documents : Volume IV
Evaluating the Interaction between the New Testament and the Book of Mormon : A Proposed Methodology
How Joseph Smith Translated the Book of Mormon : Evidence from the Original Manuscript
Isaiah in the Book of Mormon : Or Joseph Smith in Isaiah
Scriptures of the Church : Selections from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism
Textual Variants in Book of Mormon Manuscripts
The Book of Mormon : The Earliest Text
The Gift and Power : Translating the Book of Mormon
The Isaiah Passages in the Book of Mormon : A Non-Aligned Text
The Joseph Smith Translation and Italicized Words in the King James Version
The Printer's Manuscript of the Book of Mormon : Typographical Facsimile of the Entire Text in Two Parts