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One of the most remarkable examples of Joseph Smith’s revision of existing text is his translation of Matthew 24. It receives special mention here not only because of the importance of its content but also because it has been included in every edition of the Pearl of Great Price and has been part of the Latter-day Saint canon of scripture since 1880. In the 1981 edition of the Pearl of Great Price it was given the title “Joseph Smith—Matthew.”[1]

Two Questions

On March 7, 1831, during the time when Joseph Smith was translating Genesis with Sidney Rigdon as scribe, he received a revelation that reflects a sermon Jesus gave to his disciples during the last week of his ministry. In a sermon referred to as the Olivet Discourse because it took place on the Mount of Olives, Jesus foretold immediate and distant events of which the disciples needed to be made aware before his departure from them. The primary text of the discourse is in Matthew 24–25, but it is also recorded in Mark 13 and Luke 21. The revelation to Joseph Smith, now section 45 in the Doctrine and Covenants, contains language that reflects much of the content of Matthew 24 and is, in large part, a fourth narration of the Olivet Discourse. Near the end of the revelation, God gave Joseph Smith these instructions: “It shall not be given unto you to know any further concerning this chapter, until the New Testament be translated, and in it all these things shall be made known; wherefore I give unto you that ye may now translate it, that ye may be prepared for the things to come.”[2] Those words are important for the history of the Joseph Smith Translation because in response to them the next day, March 8, 1831, the Prophet put the Old Testament translation on hold—in the middle of a verse, Genesis 24:41—and began revising the New Testament. Sometime in the following weeks he arrived at Matthew 24.

Jesus’s discourse in Matthew 24, his sermon about the coming trials of the Jews and the world’s trials in the last days. This section is from Joseph Smith’s final manuscript, New Testament Manuscript 2, and it corresponds with Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:30–34. It is in the handwriting of John Whitmer, but the inserted verse breaks and verbal refinements are in the handwriting of others. Courtesy of Community of Christ Archives.

The Olivet Discourse in the New Testament has presented interpretive challenges to readers both ancient and modern. At the beginning of the account in Matthew 24, Jesus’s disciples ask him two questions. The first, “When shall these things be?,” has to do with his prediction regarding the temple—“There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” The second question, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?,” has to do with the timing of the Second Coming.[3] In Mark the questions are less distinct: “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?”[4] In all three synoptic accounts, Jesus’s words can be understood as answering both questions simultaneously, treating the two questions almost as one. The challenge is to determine whether he (or the early Christians who preserved and arranged his words) wanted readers to believe that the destruction of the temple and the Second Coming would take place at the same time or be events separated by many years.

The Joseph Smith Translation removes all uncertainty. The Prophet revised the text such that the two questions the disciples asked are answered in separate sections of the sermon. The questions themselves are also revised to do away with any ambiguity about their meaning, reading thus: “Tell us, when shall these things be which thou hast said concerning the destruction of the temple and the Jews?” and “What is the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world”?[5] Jesus’s answer responds to the two questions separately and consecutively, with roughly the first half of the chapter dealing with circumstances of the first century AD and the second half dealing with the end times. The dividing line between the two sections of the prophecy appears to be between verses 22 and 23 in Matthew and in the middle of verse 21 in Joseph Smith—Matthew, between “concerning the Jews” and “and again.” In modern editions of the Pearl of Great Price, prepared before Latter-day Saints had access to the original manuscripts, the break is in the middle of a sentence. On the JST manuscript there is a paragraph break there:

Matthew 24:22–23

Joseph Smith restructured the text by expanding the wording in some verses, relocating some passages to new places, and repeating some passages so they appear in both sections. Thus “wars and rumors of wars,” kingdoms fighting against kingdoms, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes are moved from early in the chapter to later, giving them a last-days setting. Abounding iniquity and the preaching of the gospel to the world are repeated, showing them to be characteristics of both periods. The outcome is a near seamless narrative of Jesus’s words, with a text that comes alive in ways that would have been impossible without the inspired prophetic hand of Joseph Smith.

Mark and Luke

Mark 13 contains Mark’s version of the Olivet Discourse. Its text in the New Translation was created in a unique way. When the Prophet and his scribe arrived at that chapter, they did not revise the existing text but simply copied the revised text of Matthew 24 into the place of Mark 13 on the manuscript.[6] The fact that there was already a revision of this key sermon likely led Joseph Smith to feel that he did not need to revise it again. After some introductory sentences unique to Mark, Sidney Rigdon inserted all but the first and last passages of the Matthew account. Because he made this transcription before the Prophet added later revisions both in Matthew and in Mark, the texts are not quite identical now.

Joseph Smith translated Luke’s account of the same sermon in the traditional way, revising and adding to existing words. As he had done with Matthew, he revised Luke in such a way that it makes a distinction between Jesus’s words about the early trials of the Jews and his words about the end of the world.[7] A paragraph break and added text between verses 24 and 25 show the dividing line:

Luke 21:24–25

Prepared for the Things to Come

When Joseph Smith dictated the Matthew 24 revision, Sidney Rigdon recorded it on NT1, the original draft of most of Matthew. The Prophet put the basic text of the Olivet Discourse in place in that original dictation, including the relocation and duplication of passages. After NT1 was finished, which covers Matthew 1–26, the Prophet made only very few editorial refinements on that manuscript. The pages on which Matthew 24 was written, however, are an exception, containing several refinements. This suggest that very early on he viewed this revelation as deserving of particular attention. After its text was copied onto the final manuscript (NT2), the Prophet made an additional pass through it and made even further refinements. The refinements he added later to Luke 21 similarly enhance the clarity of that text.

Jesus’s Olivet Discourse, especially in the Joseph Smith Translation, foretells trials in the last days, but its primary message is a positive one for the Lord’s Saints: all of the signs point to the crowning event—the Second Coming of Jesus. Its message is that those who would prepare themselves for that event by treasuring up Christ’s word, by being wise, receiving the truth, standing in holy places, and taking the Holy Spirit for their guide will avoid deception because they will recognize the signs of his coming and will know that he is near. Thus, they will “abide the day.”[8]

In the March 7, 1831, revelation, Doctrine and Covenants 45, the Lord told his latter-day Saints that the revision of the New Testament would be accomplished to help them prepare “for the things to come.”[9] The Matthew 24 revision, dating probably to June of that year, is the cornerstone revelation concerning those “things to come.” It is one of the gems of the Restoration.

Notes

[1] The text is found on NT2, folio 1, pages 44–47.

[2] Doctrine and Covenants 45:60–61.

[3] Matthew 24:2–3.

[4] Mark 13:4.

[5] NT2, folio 1, page 45 (Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:4).

[6] Mark 13 is found on NT2, folio 2, pages 36–38.

[7] NT2, folio 4, pages 95–97.

[8] Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:36–39; Doctrine and Covenants 45:32, 57.

[9] Doctrine and Covenants 45:61.