Adding to Scripture, Rewriting God’s Word, and the Evidence We Now Have
Few subjects reveal the divide between prophetic claim and historical reality more clearly than the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. Unlike earlier issues that require inference, the JST presents a direct confrontation with Scripture itself—specifically with passages that explicitly warn against adding to or subtracting from God’s Word.
What makes this especially serious is that these warnings appear at the boundaries of Scripture, placed there deliberately.
1. The Warnings Written into Scripture
At the close of the Torah, Scripture states:
“You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it…”
— Deuteronomy 4:2
And again:
“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”
— Deuteronomy 12:32
At the very end of the New Testament, the warning is repeated with unmistakable severity:
“If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book…”
— **Revelation 22:18–19
These are not obscure verses. They function as divine boundary markers, guarding Scripture from human alteration.
2. The Claim Joseph Smith Made
Joseph Smith rejected the idea that Scripture had been faithfully preserved. Instead, he claimed:
- The Bible was originally correct
- It had been corrupted through transmission
- Plain and precious truths were removed
- God had now called him to restore it
This belief became the foundation of the Joseph Smith Translation, also known as the Inspired Version.
But here’s the critical point:
Joseph Smith did not claim minor clarification—he claimed authority to rewrite Scripture itself.
3. What the JST Actually Does
The JST:
- Adds entire chapters
- Rewrites doctrinal passages
- Alters theology
- Changes the nature of God
- Inserts Joseph Smith’s restoration narrative retroactively
- Writes modern LDS concepts into ancient texts
One of the most striking examples is the Book of Moses, an expanded rewrite of Genesis that:
- Introduces premortal existence
- Adds councils in heaven
- Reframes the fall
- Places Joseph Smith’s theology at the beginning of the Bible
This is not translation. It is theological reconstruction.
4. Writing Himself into the Text
In multiple JST passages, Joseph Smith:
- Alters prophecy to point toward a future “seer”
- Describes that seer in language uniquely fitting himself
- Places restoration authority into ancient scripture
- Retrofits legitimacy backward into the Bible
This mirrors the same pattern seen in:
- The Book of Mormon
- The Book of Abraham
- Later LDS revelations
The authority always circles back to Joseph Smith.
5. “Preserved by the Jews” — and Why That Matters
The Hebrew Scriptures were not casually transmitted. They were preserved by the Jewish people with extreme care:
- Professional scribes (soferim)
- Letter-by-letter counting
- Redundancy across communities
- Immediate rejection of corrupted copies
The idea that the entire text was doctrinally corrupted—yet no competing textual tradition survived—is historically implausible.
And then something extraordinary happened.
6. The Dead Sea Scrolls Changed Everything
Between 1947–1956, the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered near Qumran.
What they contained:
- Hebrew manuscripts dating from 250 BC – 70 AD
- Copies of nearly every book of the Hebrew Bible
- Texts predating Jesus by centuries
And the result?
The Hebrew Scriptures were remarkably stable.
The differences between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the later Masoretic Text are:
- Minor spelling variations
- Scribal conventions
- No doctrinal rewrites
- No missing “plain and precious” teachings
The text Joseph Smith claimed was corrupted… was not.
7. The Scriptures Yeshua Quoted
Yeshua quoted the Hebrew Scriptures constantly during His ministry.
- He treated them as authoritative
- He rebuked leaders using them
- He fulfilled them
- He never once corrected them
- He never suggested they were corrupted
- He never rewrote them
If the Scriptures had been doctrinally broken:
- Yeshua would have addressed it
- The apostles would have corrected it
- The New Testament would reflect it
Instead, they affirmed the text.
8. JST vs. the Manuscripts
When we compare:
- The JST changes
- The Masoretic Text
- The Septuagint
- The Dead Sea Scrolls
We find:
- JST changes have no manuscript support
- They align with 19th-century LDS theology
- They reflect Joseph Smith’s evolving beliefs
- They contradict earlier biblical theology
In short:
The JST does not restore ancient Scripture—it introduces modern doctrine.
9. The Consequences Scripture Itself Describes
The Bible does not remain silent on this issue.
The warnings in Deuteronomy and Revelation are not symbolic or mild. They are explicit and severe.
Scripture treats adding to God’s Word as a grave offense because it:
- Places human authority above divine authority
- Rewrites God to suit theology
- Undermines trust in revelation
- Leads people away from truth
The Bible’s judgment on this practice is clear—and it is not favorable.
10. Visual Context
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11. Bringing It All Together
When we line everything up:
- Isaiah timeline problems
- Egyptian mistranslation
- Hebrew education under paid teachers
- Massive JST rewrites
- Explicit biblical warnings
- Dead Sea Scroll verification
- Yeshua’s use of the preserved text
A consistent conclusion emerges:
The problem was never corrupted Scripture.
The problem was a prophet who believed he had authority to rewrite it.
Closing Thought
If God’s Word needed fixing, Yeshua would have fixed it.
He didn’t—because it didn’t need fixing.
The Scriptures were preserved, not broken. And the moment someone claims the right to rewrite what God Himself warned must not be altered, the issue stops being academic and becomes deeply spiritual.
