INTRODUCTION
The Covenant of Christ is the most important volume of scripture for the present day. The original text from 1830 was not a commentary, not an interpretation, neither a narration nor an explanation. It presented itself as original, authentic, ancient scripture. This new edition renders the text into a modern or present-day language setting.
The Process Involved in Creating this Edition
The first, initial undertaking took four years to complete and involved treating every word in the text with care and diligence. Without guidance from the Lord, this initial work would not have been possible to complete. There were some archaic elements, words, and syntax that weren’t recognized as archaic until going deep into the project. As the project progressed, the unique flavor and personality of the text became more noticeable. It became a challenge to update the language and still preserve the uniqueness of the text. It was apparent that some words and phrases struggle to yield an acceptable, modern equivalent. Each word has undergone numerous independent and collaborative verifications, ensuring precise accuracy.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t exist a lexicon of archaic Early Modern English terms and their modern equivalents that would have been useful in this project. This phase is the result of many years and thousands of hours of research, utilizing a consulting scholar’s experience and expertise who specializes in the etymological source of English word origins by looking at all of the earliest existing literature. His expertise in the field of philology and word origins provided interpretation of archaic and obsolete words that would have been otherwise unavailable. Painstaking care and inspiration were taken in the selection of vocabulary to replace archaic or outdated words, phrases, and idioms.
It was clear from the outset that there was a clear, limited mandate, set out in scripture: We were only “permitted to update language to select a current vocabulary,” and were warned “not to change the meaning.” We were also instructed: “Take care not to change meaning — and if you cannot resolve the meaning, either petition Me again or retain the former words.”1 This, therefore, became a very narrow, tightly confined assignment. This project had constraints set by the Lord. The criteria prohibited simply rewriting or interpreting and did not even permit clarifying the text. What already existed could not be changed, and therefore, the task was solely to render existing content into a modern, more readable format. That does not allow for any change. Some of the difficult or complex language structures from the original text could not be smoothed into modern language while maintaining fidelity to each verse in the original.
To remain faithful to the original, this modern English version tracks the versification provided by Orson Pratt to the LDS Book of Mormon. This allows a reader to make a verse-by-verse comparison if they choose to do so.
What resources were employed in the creation of this edition?
This book owes its existence to many things. The first is the nature of the original text. To create this new edition, we utilized The Book of Mormon, The Earliest Text, 2nd ed. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2022), edited by Royal Skousen, as the base or foundation text, along with The Book of Mormon, Restoration Edition. These sources were very important in terms of textual accuracy. They present the book in its purest state, guiding us back to the original manuscript, carefully reconstructed, and even capturing the exact words as initially dictated by Joseph Smith. Other sources included The Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. [1989], 3rd ed. [2010], and the online version at https://www.oed.com, The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations, Volume 3, Parts 1 and 2: Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2015), and other works from Royal Skousen including The Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, 6 vols.: Vol. I: The Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon; Vol. III: The History of the Text of the Book of Mormon, Parts 1 and 2: Grammatical Variation; Parts 3 and 4: Nature of the Original Language; Part 5: The King James Quotations in the Book of Mormon; Part 6: Spelling in the Manuscripts and Editions; Vol. IV: Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon.
After the initial undertaking was completed and an acceptable draft manuscript prepared, it was then given to Denver Snuffer to edit and finalize. It was a commission demanding intense mental focus and he meticulously examined the initial draft multiple times, making thousands of restatements and corrections. After several months, Denver Snuffer returned the text with instructions about formatting and usage consistencies. It was reviewed, formatted, and returned to him for another final pass-through. In that second review, he made hundreds of additional restatements and edit clarifications. During the entire process the Lord has been petitioned and has responded, and His influence is reflected in this current published volume. This book has been designed to be easier for a modern reader to understand than the original, which was the primary goal of this project.
Translation and the Language of the Original Text
One of the most revolutionary acts in Christian history was translating the Bible into common language and allowing everyone to read and understand the content. Other Protestant clergy translating it into English, French, and many other spoken languages followed Martin Luther’s translation into German. Everyone should be able to read and understand scripture. Having it available into a common language benefits every believer.
A considerable amount of the language of the original Book of Mormon text was written in the Early Modern English language (the stage of the English language that began from the beginning of the Tudor period (1485) to the end of the Stuart dynasty (1714). Early Modern English (with many similarities to King James English) was employed in the original translation of the Book of Mormon to make it consistent with the already familiar language of scripture; it was a way to break down the resistance of having something new claiming to be scripture. The King James Bible was a very public text — being the most accessible and read aloud in the churches — familiar to the ears of churchgoers for over two hundred years. If the Book of Mormon read as the King James Bible (and it contains over twenty-five passages that either quote extensively or paraphrase biblical passages, including from Isaiah, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Micah, and Matthew), people would be willing to read it and recognize that it was God’s word. The abundance of archaic words and phrases was not updated to 19th-century vernacular in the work, as a testament to its originality and authenticity.
There is no question that the effect of the King James Bible on Western culture and thought, in all areas of life and society, has been vast. Its influence on language is undeniable. “The King James Bible had been, at least in the mainstream, unchallenged for 270 years, eight or nine generations. Its language, even archaic in 1611, derived from a form of English current in the mid-sixteenth century, had come to seem like the language spoken by God.”2 So, the assumption would naturally arise that the 1830 Book of Mormon would also employ that same divine language transmitted by Deity. And it does to a degree, but only to the extent that it uses the same Elizabethan language of that period.
This modern English version is intended to make it accessible, clear, and as succinct as possible. It is once again a modern revelation from God to the world.
1Teachings and Commandments 157:15.
2 Nicholson, God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible (New York: Harper Perennial, 2003), 233.