KJV Translation Analysis and JST Comparison

Every English Bible is a translation, and every translation involves choices. When the King James translators worked in 1611, they made thousands of decisions about how to render Hebrew and Greek words into English. Some of those decisions were brilliant. Others obscured the original meaning, either because of the limitations of 17th-century English, theological bias, or genuine ambiguity in the source text. Translation Forensics examines those choices.

The Joseph Smith Translation (JST) represents another layer of this analysis. Joseph Smith made inspired corrections to the KJV text, sometimes restoring meaning that had been lost in translation, other times adding prophetic context that the ancient text implied but did not state explicitly. Comparing the KJV, JST, and original Hebrew or Greek side by side reveals a three-dimensional view of scripture that no single text can provide.

For example, in Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew word 'bara' is typically translated 'created,' but its semantic range includes 'shaped,' 'formed,' and 'organized.' The JST does not change this verse, but in other Genesis passages, Joseph Smith's revisions align remarkably with what modern Hebrew scholarship has since clarified about the original text. These convergences are some of the most interesting discoveries in LDS scriptural scholarship.

Latter-Day Daily's Translation Forensics tool puts the KJV, JST, original Hebrew/Greek, and alternate renderings in a single view for any passage. You can see where the KJV chose one English word when the original carried broader meaning, where the JST corrected a mistranslation, and where modern scholarship has shed new light on ancient vocabulary. It transforms passive Bible reading into active textual investigation.