The Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 50 runs to thirty-eight verses where the King James Version has twenty-six. Where the extra twelve came from is easier to see if you stop comparing the JST to a modern KJV and instead line up the three documents that actually stand in the line of transmission: the Bible Joseph Smith worked from, an 1828 Phinney printing bought in Palmyra; the manuscript his scribes produced in 1831; and the Inspired Version printed from it in 1867.
The three texts
What each column is
- Phinney 1828. On 8 October 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery bought a quarto Bible from E. B. Grandin’s bookstore in Palmyra for $3.75 — H. & E. Phinney’s stereotype edition, printed at Cooperstown in 1828. That is the volume the New Translation was made from, marked throughout with checks and crosses. It is the base text, and the only thing against which “what the JST changed” is a meaningful question.
- Manuscript 1831. Old Testament Revision 2, John Whitmer’s copy begun in March 1831 and the draft Smith went on refining. Spelling is the scribe’s own and has not been corrected here.
- Inspired Version 1867. The text as printed, more than two decades after Smith’s death, by a publication committee working from the manuscripts. This is what almost everyone means when they quote “JST Genesis 50.”
The base text is not a modern KJV
It is worth getting this out of the way first, because it quietly corrupts the comparison everyone makes. Set the Inspired Version beside a King James Bible as it is printed today — the 1769 Blayney standardization — and three verses in the untouched first half of the chapter look like small JST edits. None of them is Joseph Smith. His Bible already read that way:
| Verse | KJV 1769 | Phinney 1828 | Inspired Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| v. 10 | threshingfloor | threshing-floor | threshing floor |
| v. 13 | buryingplace | burying-place | burying place |
| v. 22 | an hundred | a hundred | a hundred |
| v. 26 (IV 38) | an hundred | a hundred | a hundred |
That last one is not a curiosity. The indefinite article before h is the single commonest way this edition departs from Blayney: American printers had gone on modernizing the King James text after 1769, and the Bible Smith happened to buy was among the most modernized then in print. Compare the JST to the wrong KJV and you will credit it with changes it never made.
The shape of the difference
Put the three side by side and the chapter separates cleanly into two halves, and the manuscript settles the first half by itself.
Verses 1–23 were never touched. The manuscript does not enter Genesis 50 until verse 24. In the pages leading up to it the scribe simply lists chapter after chapter — “Genesis, Chapter 40… Correct. Genesis, Chapter 41… Correct” — and reaches this chapter with the bare heading “L Chapter, Verse 24.” There is no manuscript text at all for the first twenty-three verses, because nothing in them was changed. The Inspired Version’s vv. 1–23 are the Phinney text carried straight through to the compositors. The absence is the evidence.
Everything new arrives at verse 24, in a seam opened in the middle of a single sentence. “And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die” is kept; the rest of the King James verse is set aside; twelve verses of prophecy are inserted — the scattering and the broken branch, a “choice seer” raised up from Joseph’s loins whose “name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father,” the two records that “grow together,” and the naming of Moses and Aaron — and only then does the discarded clause return, at v. 36, re-introduced with “Therefore, Joseph said unto his brethren.” The last two verses follow the King James text with additions.
One more thing the manuscript shows that the printed editions hide: it divides the chapter into thirty verses, not thirty-eight. Its vv. 24–30 were re-cut into the Inspired Version’s 24–38, so even the verse numbers everyone cites for this passage are an 1867 editorial decision. The MS v. n labels in the table mark where each manuscript verse begins.
Verse by verse
Scroll the table sideways to see all three columns
| VerseInspired Version | Phinney1828 — the base text | ManuscriptOT2, 1831 | Inspired Version1867 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. | — | And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. |
| 2 | And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. | — | And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. |
| 3 | And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. | — | And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. |
| 4 | And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, | — | And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, |
| 5 | My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. | — | My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die; in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now, therefore, let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father; and I will come again. |
| 6 | And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. | — | And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. |
| 7 | And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, | — | And Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, |
| 8 | And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. | — | And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house; only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. |
| 9 | And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. | — | And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company. |
| 10 | Not the 1769And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. | — | And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan; and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation; and he made a mourning for his father seven days. |
| 11 | And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abel–mizraim, which is beyond Jordan. | — | And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians; wherefore, the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond Jordan. |
| 12 | And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them: | — | And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them; |
| 13 | Not the 1769For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying-place of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. | — | For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying place of Ephron, the Hittite, before Mamre. |
| 14 | And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. | — | And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. |
| 15 | And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. | — | And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. |
| 16 | And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, | — | And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, |
| 17 | So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. | — | So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil; and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. |
| 18 | And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. | — | And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. |
| 19 | And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? | — | And Joseph said unto them, Fear not. For am I in the place of God? |
| 20 | But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. | — | But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. |
| 21 | Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. | — | Now, therefore, fear ye not; I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and spake kindly unto them. |
| 22 | Not the 1769And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. | — | And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. |
| 23 | And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees. | — | And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph’s knees. |
| 24KJV 24a | And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: | MS v. 24And Joseph said unto his Brethren, I die, and go unto my Fathers; and I go down to my grave with Joy. the God of my Father Jacob be with you, to deliver you out of affiction in the day of your bondage; for the Lord hath visited me, and I have obtained a promise of the lord, that out of the fruit of my loins, the Lord God will raise up a righteous branch, out of my lines; & unto thee, whom my Father Jacob hath named Israel, a prophet, not the Masiah, who is called shilo; and this prophet shall deliver my people out of Egypt, in the days of thy bondage | And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die and go unto my fathers; and I go down to my grave with joy. The God of my father Jacob be with you, to deliver you out of affliction in the days of your bondage; for the Lord hath visited me, and I have obtained a promise of the Lord that out of the fruit of my loins the Lord God will raise up a righteous branch out of my loins; and unto thee, whom my father Jacob hath named Israel, a prophet (not the Messiah who is called Shilo); and this prophet shall deliver my people out of Egypt in the days of thy bondage. |
| 25KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | MS v. 25and it shall come to pass, that they shall be scattered again, and a branch shall be broken off, and shall be carried into a far country; nevertheless they shall be rembered in the covenants of the Lord, when the Masiah cometh; for he shall be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power; and shall bring them out of darkness unto light; out of hiden darkness, and out of captivety unto freedom. | And it shall come to pass that they shall be scattered again; and a branch shall be broken off and shall be carried into a far country; nevertheless, they shall be remembered in the covenants of the Lord when the Messiah cometh; for he shall be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the Spirit of power, and shall bring them out of darkness into light—out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom. |
| 26KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | MS v. 26a seeer shall the lord my God raise up, who shall be a choise seeer unto the fruit of my lines. | A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins. |
| 27KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | Thus saith the lord God of my fathers unto me, a choise seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment, that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren | Thus saith the Lord God of my fathers unto me, A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren. |
| 28KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | and he shall bring them to the knowlede of the covenents which I have made with thy father; and he shall do whatsoever work I shall command him. | And he shall bring them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers; and he shall do whatsoever work I shall command him. |
| 29KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | and I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work; and he shall be great like unto him whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, o house of Israel, out of the land of Egypt; / for a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy lines, do deliver my people out of the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses, and by this name he shall know that he is of thy house, for he shall be nursed by the Kings daughter and shall be called her son. | And I will make him great in mine eyes, for he shall do my work; and he shall be great like unto him whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel, out of the land of Egypt; for a seer will I raise up to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he shall know that he is of thy house; for he shall be nursed by the king’s daughter and shall be called her son. |
| 30KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | MS v. 27and again, a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loines, and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins; and not to th bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them in the last days. | And again, a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth of my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them in the last days; |
| 31KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write, and the fruit of the loines of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loines, and also that which shall be writen by the fruit of the loins of Judah shall grow to gether unto the confounding of fals doctorings, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loines, and bringing them to the knowlede of there fathers in the latter days; and also to the Knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord. | Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to a knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord. |
| 32KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | and out of weekness shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall go forth among all my people, which shall restore them who are of the house of Israel in the last days. | And out of weakness shall he be made strong in that day when my work shall go forth among all my people, which shall restore them who are of the house of Israel in the last days. |
| 33KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | and that seer will I bless, and they that seek to distroy him shall be confoundid; for this promise I give unto you, for I will remember you from generation to generation; and his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his Father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, shall bring my peo28/ple unto salvation. | And that seer will I bless, and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise I give unto you; for I will remember you from generation to generation; and his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation. |
| 34KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | MS v. 28And the Lord sware unto Joseph, that he would preserve his seed forever, saying, I will raise up moses. and a rod shall be in his hand, and he shall gather together my people; and he shall lead them as a flock, and he shall smite the waters of the Red sea with his rod. | And the Lord sware unto Joseph that he would preserve his seed forever, saying, I will raise up Moses, and a rod shall be in his hand; and he shall gather together my people, and he shall lead them as a flock; and he shall smite the waters of the Red Sea with his rod. |
| 35KJV — | no counterpart in the base text — new in the manuscript | And he shall have Judgment, and shall write the word of the Lord, and he shall not speek many words, for I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand. and I will make a spokesman for him, and his name shall be called Aaron | And he shall have judgment and shall write the word of the Lord. And he shall not speak many words, for I will write unto him my law by the finger of mine own hand. And I will make a spokesman for him, and his name shall be called Aaron. |
| 36KJV 24b | and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. | MS v. 29and it shall be done unto thee in the last days also, even as I have sworn. Therefore, Joseph said unto his brethren, God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land, unto the land which he sware unto Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob. | And it shall be done unto thee in the last days also, even as I have sworn. Therefore, Joseph said unto his brethren, God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware unto Abraham, and unto Isaac, and to Jacob. |
| 37KJV 25 | And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. | MS v. 30and Joseph confermed many other things unto his brethren, and took an oath of the Children of Israel, saying unto them, god will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. | And Joseph confirmed many other things unto his brethren and took an oath of the children of Israel, saying unto them, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. |
| 38KJV 26 | Not the 1769So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. | so Joseph died, when he was an hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and they put him in a coffin in Egypt; and he was kept from burial, by the Children of Israel, that he might be carried up and laid in the sepulchar with his fathers, and thus they remebered the oath which they sware unto him. | So Joseph died when he was a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and they put him in a coffin in Egypt; and he was kept from burial by the children of Israel, that he might be carried up and laid in the sepulcher with his father. And thus they remembered the oath which they sware unto him. |
Verses with no counterpart in the base text
Verses the JST replaces or enlarges
“Not the 1769” marks the four readings where Phinney differs from the
King James text as usually printed today.
A dash in the Manuscript column means the manuscript has no text there: it
does not enter Genesis 50 until v. 24. The italic line under each verse number
gives the King James verse, which Phinney shares.
From manuscript to print
The 1867 committee did not simply set the manuscript in type. Their changes in this chapter are small, but they are the readings everyone now quotes, and a few of them are more than spelling:
- v. 24 — MS “in the day of your bondage”; 1867 “in the days of your bondage.”
- v. 25 — MS “out of darkness unto light”; 1867 “into light.”
- v. 29 — MS “a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt”; 1867 drops the clause: “a seer will I raise up to deliver my people.”
- v. 31 — MS “to the knowledge of their fathers”; 1867 “to a knowledge.”
- v. 32 — the manuscript is ungrammatical, “and out of weakness shall be made strong”; 1867 supplies the missing pronoun, “shall he be made strong.”
- v. 38 — MS “an hundred and ten years” and “laid in the sepulchre with his fathers”; 1867 reads “a hundred” and “with his father.”
The appendix to the LDS edition of the King James Bible prints JST Genesis 50:24–38 in a form closer to the manuscript at some of these points — it keeps an hundred and sepulchre — which is a useful reminder that “the JST” is not one fixed text but a manuscript with a printing history.
Texts and editions used
- Phinney 1828
- The Holy Bible… with Canne’s Marginal Notes and References (Cooperstown, N.Y.: H. & E. Phinney, 1828). Genesis 50 is on the Bible’s printed p. 44, collated verse by verse against the page facsimile of the copy digitized by Brigham Young University (Internet Archive, holybiblecontain00cann). Phinney’s wording in this chapter departs from the 1769 at four points only, all marked in the table and listed above. Punctuation, which also differs in places, is not reproduced. This is the edition of Joseph Smith’s own Bible, not that physical copy, which is held by the Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri.
- Manuscript 1831
- Old Testament Revision 2, manuscript pp. 63–65, from the transcript published by the Joseph Smith Papers; transcripts used by permission of the BYU Religious Studies Center and printed in Scott H. Faulring, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts (Provo, 2004). Spelling and capitalization are the scribe’s.
- Inspired Version 1867
- The Holy Scriptures, Inspired Version (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House), which prints all thirty-eight verses of the chapter.
- KJV 1769
- Authorized Version, Blayney standardization. Not a column here — it is not in the line of transmission — but it is the text against which the four Phinney readings above are measured, since it is the King James most readers will have to hand.