Sometimes the translators italic words appear in the book of mormon verses and sometimes. In some cases, entire passages are duplicated in the book of mormon. According to chronology found in the book of mormon, king benjamin should have been dead at this time. For example, no, the book of mormon does not contain unique errors from the king james version bible. Mormons, why is it the book of mormon plagiarises 1611 king. Conclusion there really is only one theory which fully accounts for all the features of the phenomenon. While joseph smith described the book of mormon as a translation of text written on golden plates, smith had not. Kjv translation errors our understanding of the hebrew language today is much more advanced than it was in the 1600s when king james authorized an english translation of the bible.
Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of. The mormon version of the bible is the king james bible, every verse exact. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain these translational errors. These king james onlyist people can and usually do get arrogant, violently agitated, and very rude with anyone who opposes their theory on any grounds, but especially on the grounds that the errors of translation that are there are quite obvious to anyone with an honest and discerning eye.
Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of mormon. The best confirmation that the book of mormon used the kjv bible is the. Why do italic translator words from the kjv bible appear. Although few in number, the king james version does contain a number of undeniable incorrect translations. Our king james translation of isaiah is incomplete. All this statement does is transfer the problem to why god chose to have joseph smith translate the book of mormon into king james version biblical language see that topic below. Thirdly, this isnt the only example of a translation relying on the king james version for the bulk of translation while modifying it where the translations differ.
The critics have been quick to condemn the book of mormon because of this fact. The book of mormon incorporates text which seems to be taken from the king james version, including passages which are now considered to be mistranslations in the king james version. Do the errors exclusively found in the 1769 king james bible. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, why would it contain translational errors that exist in the king james bible. Another major problem for the book of mormon is archeology, a major embarrassment for the mormon church. Bible passages again dominate this section of the book of mormon, specifically the king james version, including translation errors. John gilbert, compositor for the 1830 edition of the book of mormon, was apparently the first to. However, the official lds church doctrine is that when the bible and the book of mormon contradict each other which they do, it is the book of mormon that is correct. Poetic parallelism of the isaiah scroll and the book of. Is the king james version of the bible the most accurate. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain.
The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of. If this is true, then the book of mormon should be full of errors. Also notice how the apologists blame you for taking director to mean director. Mormon s believe joseph smiths english translation of the book of mormon from the nephi plates was done under inspiration.
Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. Ces letter no translation errors i dont think you can say that the book of mormon contains unique errors from the king james version bible. 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. It is also true that the king james version contains some textual errors. The few that do make it through tend to be those that are polite, thoughtful, and relevant to the discussion on this page. False, because of mistakes in book of mormon, doctrines and covenants, and the pearl of great price. The king james bible and the book of mormon by daniel l. Selections from the joseph smith translation are also included in the footnotes and the appendix of the ldspublished king james version of the bible, but the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church has only officially canonized certain excerpts that appear in its pearl of great price. All of the mormons i have spoken with accept the king james version of the bible as true scripture. The verses in question are given first and then what is. Kjv isaiah, bom 2nd nephi, correct translation, kjv bom translation. What are 1769 king james version edition errors doing in the book of mormon. Errors which are unique to the 1769 edition that joseph smith owned. The book of mormon and the king james bible wikipedia.
Why do italic translator words from the kjv bible appear in. Joseph smiths inspired revisions to the king james. Below is a partial listing of king james version kjv bible translation errors. Kevin barney, mormon blogger for by common consent beginning in 1604, 54 scholars labored for seven years under the sponsorship of king james i to produce a new translation of the bible. Tvedtness analysis and evidence was highly ambiguous, substantially incomplete, strained, or simply in error. It seems reasonable to assume that if smith was a prophet of god and was translating the book of mormon under divine inspiration, he would have known about the errors found in the king james version, and would have corrected them for when passages from the king james version appeared in the book of mormon. The book of mormon even contains king james bible translation errors. Fairmormons response to presence of 1769 kjv errors in book of mormon in terms of attempting to pinpoint the origin of the book of mormon, even more significant than book of mormon revisions are places where it follows the kjv into error, echoing mistranslations or including translations of late and derivative greek texts. Third, it is noteworthy that the original book of mormon chapter divisions of the isaiah quotations follow a larger thematic grouping, not the interruptive chapter system found in the king james bible.
Aug 11, 2010 secondly, more than half of the verses in the book of mormon isaiah differ from the kjv isaiah. Are there errors from the 1769 king james version of the. Do the errors exclusively found in the 1769 king james bible being the same exact errors found in the book of mormon damage the credibility of the book of mormons authenticity. The book of mormon and the king james version secular web. Somehow the divine process guiding josephs translation of the book of mormon didnt prevent him from making identical translation errors. Dec 19, 2018 yes, and we can only speculate as to why. It does not require much reasoning to see which solution is the simplest. In short, he read from the stone as he translated the texts. Kjv does not take the word for rock and accidentally translate. Upstate new york dialect, king james english, or hebrew. The prophet isaiah wrote in parallelistic structure. A question of book of mormon scholarship is whether the several chapters or passages of isaiah cited or paraphrased in the book derive from an ancient text or whether they have been copied with some revision from the king james version.
Of the 490 verses in these chapters, 246, or roughly half, contain recognizable kjv quotations or phrases. The problem for mormons is that these exact same errors show up in the book of mormon. The original text of the book of mormon contains complex hebrewlike constructions that have been subsequently removed from the text because of their nonenglish character. What are these 17th century italicized words doing in the book of mormon. The book of mormon is divided into smaller books, titled after the individuals named as primary authors and, in most versions, divided into chapters and verses. Much of the dead sea scrolls has been translated in the same fashion. The tanners have listed, one by one, 400 verses and portions of verses quoted from the new testament in the book of mormon in their book, the case against mormonism. 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. Secondly, more than half of the verses in the book of mormon isaiah differ from the kjv isaiah.
Do the errors exclusively found in the 1769 king james. The king james version of the bible is, in all likelihood, the most successful of all the english translations. In the time difference between these various texts many scribal errors occurred. Joseph smiths inspired revisions to the king james bible. Since joseph smith used no paper notes, scripts or other texts, whatever he produced in the book of mormon came from god. I dont think you can say that the book of mormon contains unique errors from the king james version bible. In several cases, the book of mormon follows king james version translation errors. Sometimes the quotation is explicit, as in the second book of nephi, which contains 18 quoted chapters of the book of isaiah.
The errors in the king james bible ruckman, peter s on. Book of mormontranslation errors from the kjv fairmormon. Kjv translation errors as found in the book of mormon. 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. Is the king james version of the bible the most accurate translation. Joseph smith nor the nephites lived in jacobean england.
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. Mormons, why is it the book of mormon plagiarises 1611. What is more, the bom quotes sections of the kjv which scholars now know to contain errors. Oct, 2017 when king james translators were translating the kjv bible between 1604 and 1611, they would occasionally put in their own words into the text to make the english more readable. Fairmormon agrees that there are 1769 king james version errors present in the book of mormon. The book of mormon has the structure of a translation from the hebrew language. The lds edition of the bible was soon followed by a new edition of the book of mormon which corrects errors that propagated in previous texts due to copyist or typesetting errors. In response, apologists sometimes claim that the book of mormon does not transmit translation errors, mainly focusing on the highly subjective nature of translating. Here is the wiki text linked to in the original document. Robert plummer answers in honest answers episode 73 resource links. What are 1769 kjv edition errors doing in book of mormon. Volumes have been written on its distinctive and rhythmic style, and it is still regarded as a triumph of modern english literature. Use of the king james bible offline book of mormon. The joseph smith translation is josephs supposedly inspired revision of the king james bible.
In responding to the ces letters book of mormon section, fairmormon makes a few critical concessions, including that errors unique to the 1769 version of the king james version bible are included in the current version of the book of mormon. No, the book of mormon does not contain unique errors from the king james version bible. Jeremy runnells, a formerly committed mormon and byu grad, in his now famous letter to a ces director, asks at the very beginning of his paper. At red door church weve been taking a look at the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds. May 02, 2011 kevin barney, mormon blogger for by common consent beginning in 1604, 54 scholars labored for seven years under the sponsorship of king james i to produce a new translation of the bible. There are two possible explanations for the origin of the book of mormon. An academic translation of the book of mormon general.
And concerning the king james bible errorshow would errors from the 1700s king james bible be in the book of mormonespecially considering that it was translated from an ancient text that would have been written thousands of years prior to that time. Aug 27, 2008 there are a couple of circumstances that bear on the similarity to the king james version. Much of what makes the kjv recognizable, and even iconic, is its external expression, such as its words, grammar, organization, and the way it is presented on the printed page. There are a couple of circumstances that bear on the similarity to the king james version. Other significant connections between the two books include book of mormon words and phrases that only appear in their kjv usage, perpetuation of bible passages considered by some scholars to have been mistranslated in the. Scholars now know that this textus receptus contained errors, which means the king james version contains errors. The book of mormon and the king james bible red door church. Yet the book of mormon is not a slavish copy of the. The book of mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the king james bible kjv. Since this particular version of the bible was not translated until 1611, it means that the book of mormon cannot be an ancient work as joseph smith claimed. Belnap doesnt the book of mormon blatently plagiarize the king james bible by michael r. Thus, mosiah 14 had to have been copied from the king james bible. The book of mormon, doctrines and covenants, the pearl of great price.
Joseph smiths other writings, such as his history and diary, reflect the modern english era of his day. The verses in question are given first and then what is the correct or better translation. Two chapters of the prophet malachi are quoted by jesus in iii nephi 24 and following. 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. This chapter will explore the relationship between the king james bible and the joseph smith translation. What are the errors in the king james version bible. Why is the book of mormon written in king james english. 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. It is written in english very similar to the early modern english linguistic style of the king james version of the bible, and has since been fully or partially translated into 111. The book of mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the king james bible. The isaiah texts in the book of mormon originate from the brass plates, which date to at least 600 bc. 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. Mormons believe joseph smiths english translation of the book of mormon from the nephi plates was done under inspiration. Ergo, the book of mormon could not be based on plates buried in 421 a.
Our filter blocks most comments, including any with links or aggressive language. It is either of divine or human origin, and if it is of human origin that means that joseph smith concocted the book. 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. Smith copied the kjv blindly, not showing awareness of translation problems and errors in the kjv. Jun 19, 2008 b the book of mormon is a nineteenth century work, and joseph smith simply copied the king james version into the book of mormon. Do kjv only advocates realize that the most powerful and irrefutable evidence that neither were translated under inspiration, is the very first edition with all their thousands of errors. When king james translators were translating the kjv bible between 1604 and 1611, they would occasionally put in their own words into the text to make the english more readable. It is very evident that the book of mormon owes much to the king james version. The king james bible and the joseph smith translation. May 26, 2012 the mormon version of the bible is the king james bible, every verse exact. Aug 17, 2011 the joseph smith translation is josephs supposedly inspired revision of the king james bible.