One criticism that is sometimes made of the Book of Mormon is that it “plagiarizes” the Bible! The reference is to the lengthy quotes from Isaiah given in the books of 1 & 2 Nephi. A total of 17 chapters of Isaiah are quoted directly in the Book of Mormon. Chapters 2–14 of Isaiah are quoted consecutively in one block in 2 Nephi, comprising chapters 12–24 of that book; and chapters 48–49 and 50–51 of Isaiah are also quoted in one block in 1 Nephi chapters 20–21, and in 2 Nephi chapters 7–8, respectively (as well as other smaller quotes given elsewhere). To the casual observer these passages appear to be verbatim quotes from the KJV—hence the accusation of “plagiarism!” These quotes, however, are not what they appear to be. There are several factors involved in that accusation that need to be dealt with separately. Firstly, there is nothing strange or unusual about scripture quoting scripture, and there is plenty of it found in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. In the OT, most of the books of Kings and Chronicles are repetitions; and in the NT, most of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) are likewise repetitions. A Google search for duplicate verses in the Bible will provide many interesting examples. A search for the synoptic gospels would likewise produce interesting results. In the Book of Mormon about 7% of the text are quotations from the Bible, which is not all that great. The rest is original material. If quoting scripture within scripture is “plagiarism,” then the Bible is the bigger “plagiarizer” of the two. That is the first point.
The second point is that the biblical quotes found in the Book of Mormon are not what they appear to be. They are not verbatim quotes. They may appear to be, if looked at superficially, because they make use of the same vocabulary, style, and idiomatic language as the KJV; but that is deceptive. There are significant variations. To illustrate, I will quote selected verses from just chapter 2 of Isaiah as quoted in the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 12), and highlight the variations as compared to the KJV. All additions are printed in bold italics, and deletions in red and struck through:
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all gone astray, every one to his wicked ways.
6 Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
. . .
. . .
9 And the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore forgive them him not.
10 O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty shall smite thee.
11 And it shall come to pass that the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be soon cometh upon all nations, yea, upon every one; that is yea, upon the proud and lofty, and upon every one that who is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.
13 And Yea, and the day of the Lord shall come upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that for they are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills, that and upon all the nations which are lifted up, and upon every people;
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall;
16 And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
. . .
. . .
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them, and for the glory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they he hath made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them, and for the glory majesty of his majesty glory shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
These are very significant variations. In no way can they be described as verbatim quotes from the KJV. I am sure the critics will now say that Joseph Smith merely copied the text of the KJV, and made changes to it! The answer to that is, firstly, Joseph Smith would have had to be very clever to be able to make the kind of changes that he did, and to do it in such a short space of time. He would have had to be a literary genius, which he wasn’t. The verbal closeness to the text of the KJV of the unchanged portions, however, require further explanation. The question that arises here is, if Joseph Smith was clever enough to copy the text of the KJV, and then to make the kind of variations in it that he did; it would have been a lot easier for him to just rewrite the whole text, expressed in his own words, and thus avoid the charge of “copying from the KJV” altogether. Why did he choose to do it the harder way, rather than the easier way, which would have had the added advantage of escaping the accusation of “copying from the KJV?”
Another question that the critics don’t attempt to answer is, Why would Joseph Smith want to quote such lengthy and extensive passages from Isaiah in the Book of Mormon anyway (thus exposing himself to such an accusation), unless they were indeed part of the original Book of Mormon manuscript? The rest of the Book of Mormon is a perfectly coherent narrative, without the massive interruption of those lengthy Isaiah quotes. If the Book of Mormon was a fabricated story, that would have been a very illogical thing for a fabricator to want to do. And what is the real reason for the close verbal connection between the unchanged portions of the Isaiah quotes to the KJV? Luckily there is an answer to that question as well. The answer is, the same as the reason for the verbal closeness observed between the KJV and its precursors, such as the Bishops Bible or the Geneva Bible etc.—It is because they are all extremely literal translations; and they also make use of the same vocabulary and idiomatic language; which explains the verbal closeness that exists between them.
The KJV is an extremely literal (i.e. word for word), almost mechanical translation. It is so literal that it is possible to convert it back into Hebrew, and arrive at something that is nearly identical with the original manuscript. In some older Hebrew grammar books such exercises are given, and provided that the student knows the rules the exercise is not difficult to perform. That is how they believed scripture translation should be done in those days, in order to avoid any chance of a “private interpretation” by the translator entering into the text. And I believe that they were right. Now extremely literal translations usually turn out to be wooden, dull, and uninteresting. The genius of the KJV is that it is able to combine extreme literalness with a high degree of literary excellence. This, however, was not accomplished all at once; it evolved. It has a 200 year history behind it. It was a gradual, evolutionary process, going back as far as Coverdale, Tyndale, and beyond. With each iteration it keeps getting better and better, until in the KJV it reaches the pinnacle of its perfection so that very little change is needed to improve upon it. It developed alongside the development of the English language itself. It reached perfection at a time when the English language itself reached perfection as a vehicles for literary expression. That explains the close verbal connection that exists between the KJV and its earlier precursors. This also explains the close verbal connection of the biblical passages quoted in the Book of Mormon with the KJV; because the Book of Mormon is also translated in the same way. It is a literal (word for word) translation like the KJV—which is also a confirmation of its miraculous origin. The Book of Mormon is a miracle. It is a miracle not only because Joseph Smith who translated it could neither read Egyptian nor write English; but also because in it within 80 days he achieved the same degree of literary perfection that took the translators of the KJV 200 years to accomplish; and he left far fewer imperfections remaining in it. Those who criticize the language of the Book of Mormon don’t know what they are doing. The language, style, composition, and diction of the Book of Mormon is a supernatural work of art of unparalleled beauty, literary merit, and excellence. It is a literary masterpiece, like the KJV—only better! Joseph Smith in a million years could not have produced the Book of Mormon out of his own intellect, ingenuity, or imagination. There is no man on earth in fact who could have, no matter how great his skills or accomplishments. It is a miracle from start to finish.
The Book of Mormon should be the easiest book on earth to translate into perfect biblical Hebrew, provided the right man is chosen for the job, and he knows how to go about it. The “right man for the job” would be someone who is not only an accomplished Hebrew scholar; but also has a special interest in the KJV. For the remainder of this post I am going to demonstrate the above by quoting four verses of Isaiah already quoted, first as they appear in the Book of Mormon, then in the KJV, followed by the earlier translations so they can be compared, which illustrates what I have said above. Here they are:
Book of Mormon 1830:
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all gone astray, every one to his wicked ways.
6 Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
. . .
. . .
9 And the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore forgive them him not.
10 O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty shall smite thee.
King James Bible 1769:
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
. . .
. . .
9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
King James Bible 1611:
5 O house of Iacob, come yee, and let vs walke in the light of the Lord.
6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Iacob; because they be replenished from the East, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselues in the children of strangers.
. . .
. . .
9 And the meane man boweth downe, and the great man humbleth himselfe; therefore forgiue them not.
10 Enter into the rocke, and hide thee in the dust, for feare of the Lord, and for the glory of his Maiestie.
Bishops Bible 1568:
5 Come ye O house of Iacob, and let vs walke in the lyght of the Lorde
6 For thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Iacob, because they be replenished with euils from the east, and with sorcerers lyke the Philistines, and in straunge children they thynke them selues to haue enough
. . .
. . .
9 There kneeleth the man, there falleth the man downe before them: therfore forgeue them not
10 Get thee into the rocke, and hyde thee in the grounde for feare of the Lorde, and for the glorie of his maiestie
Geneva Bible 1560:
5 O house of Iaakob, come ye, and let vs walke in the Lawe of the Lord.
6 Surely thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Iaakob, because they are full of the East maners, and are sorcerers as the Philistims, and abound with strange children.
. . .
. . .
9 And a man bowed himselfe, and a man humbled himselfe: therefore spare them not.
10 Enter into the rocke, and hide thee in the dust from before the feare of the Lord, and from the glory of his maiestie.
The Great Bible 1539:
5 Come ye (O house of Iacob) let vs walcke in the lyght of the Lorde.
6 But thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Iacob, because they go farre beyonde the east contreys in Sorceryes (whom they haue as the Philistines had) and in straunge chyldren they thinke them selues to haue ynough.
. . .
. . .
9 There kneleth the man, there falleth the man downe before them, but thou (o Lorde) wilt not leaue them vnpunished.
10 And therfore get the in to some rock, and hyde the in the grounde for feare of the Lord, and for the glory of his magestye:
Matthew’s Bible 1537:
5 It is to the that I crye (O house of Iacob) vp, let vs walck in the lyghte of the Lorde,
6 But thou art scatered abroade with thy people (O house of Iacob) for ye go farre beyonde youre fathers, whether it be in Sorcerers (whome ye haue as the Phylystynes had) or in calkers of mens byrthes, whereof ye haue to manye.
. . .
. . .
9 There kneleth the man there falleth the man doune before them, so that thou canste not brynge hym a waye from thence.
10 And therfore get the soone into some rock, & hyde the in the grounde from the sighte of the fearful iudge, & from the glorye of his mageste:
Coverdale Bible 1535:
5 It is to the that I crie (o house of Iacob) vp, let us walke in the light of the LORDE.
6 But thou art scatred abrode with thy people (o house of Iacob) for ye go farre beyonde yor fathers, whether it be in Sorcerers) whom ye haue as the phylistynes had) or in calkers of mens byrthes, wherof ye haue to many.
. . .
. . .
9 There kneleth the man, there falleth the man downe before them, so yt thou canst not bringe him awaye from thence.
10 And therfore get ye soone in to some rock, vnd hyde the in the grounde from the sight of the fearful iudge, and from ye glory of his Magestie.
Wycliffe Bible 1382:
5 Come ye, the hous of Jacob, and go we in the liyt of the Lord.
6 Forsothe thou hast cast awei thi puple, the hous of Jacob, for thei ben fillid as sum tyme bifore; and thei hadden false dyuynouris bi the chiteryng of briddis, as Filisteis, and thei cleuyden to alien children.
. . .
. . .
9 and a man bowide hymsilf, and a man of ful age was maad low. Therfor foryyue thou not to hem.
10 Entre thou, puple of Juda, in to a stoon, be thou hid in a diche in erthe, fro the face of the drede of the Lord, and fro the glorie of his mageste.
So who is now plagiarizing from whom? By the look of things, it is the KJV which is plagiarizing from its precursors, rather than the Book of Mormon from the KJV. The KJV is a lot closer to its precursors than the Book of Mormon is to the KJV. The truth of course is that none of them are plagiarizing. The reason for their verbal closeness is as mentioned above. It is because they are all very literal translations, which is equally true of the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon is the secret of success of restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is its greatest conversion tool. It is what converts people to the LDS Church more than anything else. It is the reason why the restored Church is progressing and expanding, while mainstream Christianity is shrinking and declining. It is an authentic book of ancient scripture, miraculously translated into superb English by the gift and power of God, to which the Holy Ghost bears witness. It is a powerful witness to the restoration of the gospel; and God’s special means of the gathering of his “elect,” and of conversion to his restored Church in the last days. It is the “marvellous work and a wonder” prophesied of in Isaiah 29:14. It causes the “wisdom of the wise to perish,” and the “understanding of the prudent to be hid”. It is the means of the gathering of God’s elect in the last days, for the elect will “hear his voice,” and “harden not their hearts” (Heb. 3:15; 4:7).
The Book of Mormon also being indeed the word of God, complements the Bible, and therefore facilitates the correction of many doctrinal and theological errors made by Christians in the past on which the Bible has lacked sufficient clarity. I have already demonstrated its ability to do that in several previous posts in my blog. People don’t even need to become Latter-day Saints to be able to benefit from, or make use of the Book of Mormon for that purpose. But they do need to recognize it for what it is, and be able to study it in faith, otherwise it won’t profit them.
And by the way, for the benefit of those who may be interested in making a more complete comparison of all the biblical quotes in the Book of Mormon with the KJV, and observing the differences, there are various software tools that enable you to do that. Most word processors, both commercial and free, also have the capability of comparing two different versions of a document, and showing the differences.
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P. S. A word about the italicized words in the KJV, and how they are treated in the Book of Mormon version is also instructive. The KJV, as stated earlier, is an extremely literal (i.e. word for word) translation, because that is how they felt at that time was the best way of preserving the integrity of the original text. Now because of the grammatical differences between the two languages, an absolutely literal translation, without any variations, would not make sense in English. Some changes would need to be made (and occasionally some words added), to enable it to make sense in English. For example in Semitic languages, like Hebrew or Arabic, the link verb “to be” doesn’t exist. If you wanted to say, “I am happy,” you would say, “I happy”. If you wanted to say, “I was happy,” you would still say, “I happy”! If you wanted to say, “I shall be happy,” you would again say, “I happy”! The correct meaning and tense would be understood by the context, word inflection, and by other grammatical nuances of the text. Now if you wanted to translate such phrases into English, the words “am,” “is,” “are,” “was,” “were,” “shall be” etc. would have to be added for it to make sense in English. The translators of the KJV were so meticulous in preserving the integrity of the original text (by a literal translation), that they decided to print all added words and phrases in italics, so that the reader would have no difficulty ascertaining which words were added, and which words were a literal translation of the original text. The way the Book of Mormon treats those passages is instructive, and further indicates the miraculous origin of the book. Sometimes those italicized words were retained, sometimes omitted, and sometimes changed. To illustrate, I will quote one verse of Isaiah from the above passage (Isaiah 2), first as it appears in the KJV, highlighting the italicized word, followed by its alternative treatment in the Book of Mormon: KJV, Isaiah 2: 6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. In that verse the word “are” is printed in the KJV in italics, meaning that it did not exist in the original Hebrew, but was added by the translators in order to make the English translation grammatically correct. That is how the translators felt was the most appropriate reading of the original text, as rendered into English. But notice how the Book of Mormon quote resolves the same problem: BOM, 2 Nephi 12: 6 Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, andare hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
The Book of Mormon text contains additional words which may suggest possible manuscript variations; but there is no question that “hearken unto” is a more meaningful substitute for “are” in the above text. The KJV rendering suggests that all the Israelites (and all the Philistines) had become “soothsayers,” which is not a reasonable assumption. “hearken unto” is a more meaningful alternative to “are” in the above text. The Book of Mormon version is a better translation than the KJV—and of course, Joseph Smith figured all of that out by himself in just 80 days!
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Postscript added 17 June 2020.
The Book of Mormon also being indeed the word of God, complements the Bible, and therefore facilitates the correction of many doctrinal and theological errors made by Christians in the past on which the Bible has lacked sufficient clarity. I have already demonstrated its ability to do that in several previous posts in my blog. People don’t even need to become Latter-day Saints to be able to benefit from, or make use of the Book of Mormon for that purpose. But they do need to recognize it for what it is, and be able to study it in faith, otherwise it won’t profit them.
And by the way, for the benefit of those who may be interested in making a more complete comparison of all the biblical quotes in the Book of Mormon with the KJV, and observing the differences, there are various software tools that enable you to do that. Most word processors, both commercial and free, also have the capability of comparing two different versions of a document, and showing the differences.
____________________
P. S. A word about the italicized words in the KJV, and how they are treated in the Book of Mormon version is also instructive. The KJV, as stated earlier, is an extremely literal (i.e. word for word) translation, because that is how they felt at that time was the best way of preserving the integrity of the original text. Now because of the grammatical differences between the two languages, an absolutely literal translation, without any variations, would not make sense in English. Some changes would need to be made (and occasionally some words added), to enable it to make sense in English. For example in Semitic languages, like Hebrew or Arabic, the link verb “to be” doesn’t exist. If you wanted to say, “I am happy,” you would say, “I happy”. If you wanted to say, “I was happy,” you would still say, “I happy”! If you wanted to say, “I shall be happy,” you would again say, “I happy”! The correct meaning and tense would be understood by the context, word inflection, and by other grammatical nuances of the text. Now if you wanted to translate such phrases into English, the words “am,” “is,” “are,” “was,” “were,” “shall be” etc. would have to be added for it to make sense in English. The translators of the KJV were so meticulous in preserving the integrity of the original text (by a literal translation), that they decided to print all added words and phrases in italics, so that the reader would have no difficulty ascertaining which words were added, and which words were a literal translation of the original text. The way the Book of Mormon treats those passages is instructive, and further indicates the miraculous origin of the book. Sometimes those italicized words were retained, sometimes omitted, and sometimes changed. To illustrate, I will quote one verse of Isaiah from the above passage (Isaiah 2), first as it appears in the KJV, highlighting the italicized word, followed by its alternative treatment in the Book of Mormon: KJV, Isaiah 2: 6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. In that verse the word “are” is printed in the KJV in italics, meaning that it did not exist in the original Hebrew, but was added by the translators in order to make the English translation grammatically correct. That is how the translators felt was the most appropriate reading of the original text, as rendered into English. But notice how the Book of Mormon quote resolves the same problem: BOM, 2 Nephi 12: 6 Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and
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Postscript added 17 June 2020.
