This is Part 2 of the series locating the extent of the dependence of the Book of Moses on the text of the KJV Genesis. You can see Part 1 here. Like Part 1, the text of the OT2 Moses is taken from Kent P. Jackson, The Book of Moses and the Joseph Smith Translation Manuscripts (Provo: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2005).

Moses 2 is the first chapter to rely openly and undisputedly on the King James bible, starting in Moses 2:1b. This chapter follows the full text of Genesis 1 to the end, and has been versed to resemble that of the KJV.

For purposes of the discussion this work is entering (the Documentary Hypothesis and its bearing on the text of Moses), Moses 2 is dependent on the priestly account of creation to the end of the chapter. As will be seen in the notes, scholars attribute Gen. 1:1-2:4a to the priestly source. Although some have criticized the Documentary Hypothesis because European scholars have almost all rejected the classic expression of it, at least two of the sources are secure in scholarly constructs for understanding how we received the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses). These two sources are P (priestly source) and D (Deuteronomic source). This backdrop is provided for those who will look over the notes and make comparisons for themselves.

Any portion of text (similar to Part 1) that is highlighted grey is designated such due to its dependence on the KJV. This will either be from Gen. 1 (which will not be noted after Moses 2:1b because the parallel text in Genesis has the same verse number), or from any other place in the bible so designated in the notes. The same definitions are used here as those defined in Part 1 for quotation, allusion, echo, and parallel.

For the chapters that are dependent on the first few chapters of Genesis I have compared the text with an 1828 printing of the Phinney King James (Authorized Version). This was the same printing that was purchased and used by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in producing the Inspired Version of the bible. For anyone wanting to compare the Book of Moses to the 1828 Phinney for themselves, they can here to view this printing: https://archive.org/details/holybiblecontain00cann.

 

Moses 2 (OT2 page 4; Moses 2:1–16)

[1] And it came to pass, that[1] the Lord spake unto Moses,[2] saying,

Behold, I reveal unto you[3] concerning this Heaven and this Earth;[4] write the words which I speak,[5] I am the beginning and the end,[6] the Almighty God.[7]

By mine only begotten I created these things,[8] yea, in the beginning[9] I[10] created the Heaven, and the Earth upon which thou standest.[11] [2] and the Earth was without form, and void. And I caused[12] darkness to come up upon the face of the deep. and my spirit[13] moved upon the face of the water;[14] for I am God.[15] [3] and I,[16] God, said, Let there be light, and there was light. [4] and I,[17] God, saw the light, and that light[18] was Good. and I,[19] God,

divided

the light from the darkness. [5] and I,[20] God, called the light day, and the darkness I[21] called night. and this I done <did> by the word of my power.[22]

and

it was done as I spake.[23] and the evening and the morning were the first day. [6] And again, I,[24] God, said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water;[25] and it was so, even as I spake.[26] And I said,[27] Let it divide the waters from the waters; and it was done.[28] [7] and I,[29] God, made the firmament, and divided the waters; yea the great waters,[30] under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so, even as I spake.[31] [8] and I,[32] God, called the firmament Heaven. and the evening and the morning were the Second day. [9] And I,[33] God, said, Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered together unto one place, and it was so.[34] and I, God, said,[35] Let there be dry Land,[36] and it was so. [10] and I,[37] God, called the dry land Earth; and the gathering

together

of the waters called[38] I[39] the Sea<s>. And I,[40] God, saw that all things that I had made were good.[41] [11] And I, God, said, Let the earth bring forth

grass;

the herb yielding seed;[42] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his

kind; and the tree yielding fruit,[43] whose seed should be[44] in itself,

upon the Earth; and it was so, even as I spake.[45] [12] and the Earth brought forth grass; every[46] herb yielding seed after his kind; and the tree

yielding fruit, whose seed should be[47] in itself, after his kind.

And I,[48] God, saw that all things which I had made were[49] good. [13] and

the even-

ing and the morning were the third day. [14] and I,[50] God, said, Let <there> be lights in the firmament of the Heaven, to divide the day from the night: and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and for years; [15]

and let

them be for lights in the firmament of the Heaven, to give light

upon the Earth; and it was so. [16] and I,[51] God, made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night;

and the greater light was the sun, and the lesser light was the moon.[52]

 

(OT2 page 5; Moses 2:16-31)

And the stares also was <were> made,[53] even according to my word;[54] [17]

and I,[55]

God, set them in the firmament of the Heaven, to give light upon the Earth. [18] and the Sun[56] to rule over the day, and the Moon to rule[57] over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. and I[58] god saw that all things which I had made were[59] good. [19] and the evening and the morning were the fourth day. [20] and I, God, said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly, the moving creature that hath life, and fowl which[60] may fly above the Earth, in the open firmament of Heaven. [21] and I,[61] God, created great whales; and every living creature that moveth, which the water<s> brought forth abundantly, after their kind; and every winged fowl, after his kind; and I,[62] God, saw that all things which I had created were[63] good; [22] and I,[64] God, blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the Seas, and let fowl multiply in the Earth; [23] and the evening and the morning were the fifth day. [24] and I,[65] God, said, Let the Earth bring forth the living creature, after his kind; cattle, and creeping things, and beasts[66] of the

Earth, after his <their>[67] kinds;

and it was so. [25] and I,[68] God, made the bests[69] of the Earth, after his

<their>[70] kind;

and cattle after their kind; and every thing which[71] creepeth upon the Earth after his kind. and I, God, saw that all these things were[72] good. [26] and I,[73] God, said, unto mine Only Begotten,[74] which was with me from the beginning,[75] Let us make man in out image, after our likeness; and it was so.[76] and I, God, said[77] Let them have dominion over the fishes[78] of the Sea, and over the fowl of the Air, and over the Cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth. [27] and I,[79] God, created man in mine[80] own image; in the image of mine Only Begotten[81] created I him;[82] male and female created I them. [28] and I,[83] God, blessed them and I[84] God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the Earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the Sea, and over the fowl of the Air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the Earth. [29] and I,[85] God, said unto man,[86] Behold I have given you every herb bearing Seed, which is upon the face of all the Earth; and every tree in the which shall be[87] the fruit of a tree, yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

[30] and to every beast of the Earth, and to every fowl of the Air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the Earth, wherein I grant life, there shall be[88] given every clean[89] herb for meat; and it was so, even as I spake.[90] [31] and I,[91] God, saw every thing that I[92] had made, and Behold all things which I had made were[93] very good.

 

(OT2 page 6; Moses 2:31-3:12)

 

And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

 

[1] P. The phrase “and it came to pass that” appears in the KJV exactly 61 times (33 OT; 28 NT).

[2] P. The phrase “spake unto Moses” appears in the KJV exactly 111 times (110 OT; 1 NT).

[3] E(?). Philip. 3:15.

[4] P. The construct “heaven and earth” appears in the KJV exactly 31 times (19 OT; 12 NT).

[5] P (E?). Jer. 30:2; 36:2.

[6] E. Rev. 21:6; 22:13.

[7] P. Gen. 17:1; Ezek. 10:5.

[8] E. John 1:3.

[9] Beginning here the text quotes straight from the KJV of Gen. 1. The priestly account of creation is universally accepted by critical scholars as running from Gen. 1:1-2:4a. The priestly account is one of two sources (P and D) that has fully stayed a consensus within academic circles around the world. I will note where the text diverges from the KJV. If the text is highlighted and has no other note it is taken directly from KJV Gen. 1.

[10] KJV has “God”.

[11] The phrase “upon which thou standest” has no precedent in the KJV Gen. Possible echo of Ex. 3:5.

[12] The KJV has “and darkness was upon the face of…”

[13] The KJV has “And the Spirit of God moved…”

[14] The KJV has “waters.”

[15] The phrase “for I am God” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[16] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[17] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[18] The KJV has “saw the light, that it was good.”

[19] The word “I” has no precedent in the KJV Gen.

[20] The word “I” has no precedent in the KJV Gen.

[21] The KJV has “he.”

[22] E. Heb. 1:3.

[23] The phrase “and it was done as I spake” is an expansion of the previous verse in KJV Gen, “God divided the light from the darkness” meeting the same need as the phrase “and there was light” in v. 3, and “and it was so” in v. 7.

[24] The phrase “again, I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[25] The KJV has “waters.”

[26] The phrase “and it was so, even as I spake,” similar to n. 23 above, is a formulaic expansion added to explain that the task had been complete.

[27] The phrase “I said” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[28] The phrase “and it was done,” meets the same editorial need as that expanded upon in vv. 5 and 6.

[29] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[30] P. The phrase “the great waters” appears in the KJV exactly 4 times (all OT).

[31] See n. 26 above for “even as I spake.”

[32] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[33] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[34] See n. 26 above for “and it was so.”

[35] The phrase “I, God, said” has no precedent in the KJV Gen.

[36] The KJV has “…unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.”

[37] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[38] The KJV has “the waters called he Seas.”

[39] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[40] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[41] The KJV has “And God saw that it was good.”

[42] The KJV has “seed, and the fruit-tree.”

[43] The phrase “and the tree yielding fruit” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen. It seems to be a dittography of the previous line.

[44] The KJV has “seed is itself.”

[45] See n. 26 above for “even as I spake.”

[46] The KJV has “grass, and herb yielding.”

[47] The KJV has “seed was in itself.”

[48] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[49] The KJV has “saw that its was good.”

[50] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[51] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[52] This entire phrase has no precedent here in the KJV. It appears this is a later explanatory expansion.

[53] The KJV has “rule the night: he made the stars also.”

[54] The phrase “even according to my word” has no precedent here in the KJV, and is an expansion based on the construct “according to [the/thy/this/my] word,” which appears 53 times (49 OT; 4 NT).

[55] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[56] The phrase “the Sun” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[57] The phrase “the Moon to rule” has no precedent here in the

[58] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[59] The KJV has “saw that it was good.”

[60] The KJV has “and fowl that may fly.”

[61] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[62] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[63] The KJV has “saw that it was good.”

[64] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[65] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[66] The KJV has “beast.”

[67] The KJV has “after his kind.”

[68] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[69] The KJV has “beast.”

[70] The KJV has “after his kind.”

[71] The KJV has “and every thing that creepeth upon.”

[72] The KJV has “saw that it was good.”

[73] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[74] P. The phrase “only begotten” appears 6 times in the NT: John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; Heb. 11:17; 1 John 4:9. The phrase “unto mine Only Begotten” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[75] E. John 1:3. The phrase “which was with me from the beginning” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[76] See n. 26 for the phrase “and it was so.”

[77] The phrase “I, God, said” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[78] The KJV has “the fish of the sea.”

[79] The KJV has “earth. So God created.”

[80] The KJV has “in his own image.”

[81] The KJV has “image of God created.”

[82] The KJV has “created he them.”

[83] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[84] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[85] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[86] The phrase “unto man” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[87] The KJV has “in the which is the fruit.”

[88] The KJV has “wherein there is life, I have given every.”

[89] The KJV has “every green herb.”

[90] See n. 26 for the phrase “even as I spake.”

[91] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[92] The word “I” has no precedent here in the KJV Gen.

[93] The KJV has “behold, it was very good.”