What Are the JST Changes to the Bible? Joseph Smith Translation Explained

LDS Perspective

The Joseph Smith Translation (JST) of the Bible represents an inspired revision of the King James Version undertaken by the Prophet Joseph Smith between 1830 and 1833. During this period, Joseph worked with scribes including Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon to produce what he considered a "branch of [his] calling" as a prophet. Unlike traditional biblical translations, Joseph did not employ Hebrew or Greek sources, lexicons, or knowledge of biblical languages; instead, he used a copy of the King James Bible as his starting point and dictated inspired changes and additions to his scribes, who recorded the revisions. The project proceeded from Genesis through the Old Testament, then to the New Testament following a revelation in 1831, and was completed by July 1833. The changes found in the

Historical Perspective

The Joseph Smith Translation (JST) of the Bible, commenced in June 1830 and continued intermittently until Joseph Smith's death in 1844, consists of extensive revisions to the King James Version (KJV). Strictly speaking, the work is not a translation from original manuscripts—Smith never claimed to possess ancient biblical texts—but rather a series of revelations intended to expound upon and correct perceived errors in the KJV text. The project resulted in approximately 3,400 verses showing significant changes, including additions, deletions, and alterations. While the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS) published the complete text in 1867 as the "Inspired Version," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints incorporates only about one-third of these modifications as footnotes and app