This week I am putting the final touches on the first draft of my PhD thesis on suffering and eschatology in Galatians. I’m quite excited to be at this stage, but I know there’s still a lot of work to be done.
Since my thesis is on Galatians I’m often thinking about the best way to translate it. I love reading new translations and thinking through their interpretive decisions. For this week I thought I’d take a look at one lesser-known translation of Galatians, the Joseph Smith Translation (JST).
Joseph Smith, the founder of the LDS Church (Mormonism), is better known for the Book of Mormon, but he also did a bit of work on the Bible. The copyright for the translation is owned by the Community of Christ, a break-off from mainstream Mormonism, and is not officially owned by the LDS Church. Only a small portion of the JST can be found in the traditional Mormon Quad, compiled as part of the Pearl of Great Price, along with other texts like the Book of Abraham.
The translation itself is not, technically speaking, a translation; Joseph Smith was not working with Greek manuscripts but rather made various editorial decisions on the King James Version. At times he added whole verses, at times he omitted them, though most edits were minor tweaks here and there. The procedure was not unlike the editorial work of Marcion (2nd c. AD) who famously edited the scriptures in his truncated canon, believing that he was adding what had previously been taken out by his opponents and believing that he was omitting what the same opponents had added in. For Joseph Smith, the Bible had been corrupted in places after the Great Apostasy, and so the corruptions needed to be fixed, despite the lack manuscript evidence for such moves. Neither Marcion nor Joseph Smith made their decisions on the principles of textual criticism; rather, they were governed by the principle of coherence. If something did not cohere with their understandings of scripture and theology, it was changed.
Now the translation as a whole is very interesting, and I’d love to look at it in more depth, but for the purposes of this blog I thought I’d just introduce you to Joseph Smith’s translation of Galatians (especially because that’s where all my attention is at the moment). The set up of the translation juxtaposes the King James Version on the right hand column with the “Inspired Version” on the left hand side, showcasing that Joseph Smith’s methodology was simply to change the text of the KJV. In regard to Galatians, only a handful of verses underwent Smith’s redaction. These include Gal 1.10, 24; 2.4, 14; 3.14–15, 18–20, 24, 26, 29; 4.12. As such, the translation only comprises a page and a half in the printed volume that I have. Of these changes, I just want to highlight one in particular, which is, in my opinion, the most significant adjustment that Smith made to Galatians.
The major adjustment that he made is on Galatians 4.12 (although 3.20 is a close second). Check out his rendering of Galatians 4.12 alongside the King James Version below:
Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all (King James Version).
Brethren, I beseech you to be perfect as I am perfect; for I am persuaded as ye have a knowledge of me, ye have not injured me at all by your sayings (Inspired Version).
As you can see, Joseph Smith made three major changes to Galatians 4.12 as it appeared in the King James Version. (1) He changed “be as I am” to “be perfect as I am perfect,” (2) he swapped “for I am as ye are” with “for I am persuaded as ye have a knowledge of me” and tried to connect it to the final part of the verse “ye have not injured me at all,” and then (3) he added “by your sayings” to clarify what he thought the nature of the potential injury was.
Part of the reason why I find Smith’s editorial activity on this passage so interesting is because Galatians 4.12 is actually a very difficult verse to translate from the Greek. I want to focus primarily on change (1) and (2) above. If you look over a number of English translations of Galatians 4.12 you will find the initial part of the verse rendered in different ways, and the reason is because the verse lacks some important verbs. It is actually a very ambiguous verse. Here is my wooden translation: “Be as I, because even I as you” (NA28: Γίνεσθε ὡς ἐγώ, ὅτι κἀγὼ ὡς ὑμεῖς). As you can tell, something seems to be missing. Is Paul saying, “Be like I am” or “Be like I was“? On top of that interpretive question, which one of the following options, listed below, is the reason for the imitation:
“because even I became as you were”
“because even I am like you were”
“because even I was like you were”
“because even I became as you are”
“because even I am like you are”
“because even I was as you are.”
As you can see, the lack of key verbs makes the verse difficult to translate and interpret. Presumably, Joseph Smith noticed the ambiguity in the King James Version of Galatians 4.12, and sought to give it some kind of anchor. It is interesting that he chose to import language from the Sermon on the Mount—”Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5.48)—to fill in the gaps. Most scholars think that Paul is here speaking about his law-free lifestyle and is therefore calling the Galatians to imitate him in this regard. Interestingly, in his translation of Galatians 4.12, Smith appears to have added a summons to legalism within a letter that many Christians have read as a critique of legalism. Regardless of whether either of those things are appropriate ways to handle the text, it is a fascinating observation nonetheless.
However, I follow the line of thought, along with a sizable minority of scholars, that the logic of Galatians 4.12 is rooted in the following verses, especially vv.13–15, about Paul’s original ministry among the Galatians during a time of physical weakness. Thus, the imitation, “Be as I,” as well as the reason, “because even I as you,” is not meant to specify time, but is intentionally verb-less in order to communicate reciprocity in the midst of suffering, both in the past and the present. Thus, it is a summons to imitate Paul in his unswerving allegiance to the cross of Christ, even as it includes experiencing the cross in suffering and persecution.
This little study on the JST of Galatians has made me interested in searching through Joseph Smith’s sermons for bits of commentary and engagement with Galatians. I’m curious to know how “perfection” in his translation of Galatians 4.12 would have been understood by Joseph Smith, especially in the context of his interpretation of the letter as a whole. No doubt even such a small adjustment as this one would have massive implications for how one understands Paul’s most polemical letter.
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