Historical Context and Background of D&C 91

Video Overview

Brief Synopsis by Steven C. Harper

There was a hot debate among members of the British and Foreign Bible Society in the late 1820s. Some members advocated that the Society should include in its Bibles the Apocrypha—“the dozen or so books not found in the Hebrew canon but that were included in the Greek version of the Old Testament.”1 Other members of the Society thought they were “adulterating the Scriptures, by circulating the lies and fables of the Apocrypha along with the words of eternal life.”2 That debate had been ongoing among Christians for centuries. Joseph did not know whose argument was best.

Joseph’s version of the King James Bible included the Apocrypha. Section 90, revealed on March 8, 1833, told Joseph to finish his revision of the Old Testament before moving on to other pressing duties. The next day he asked the Lord whether he should read the Apocrypha and revise it along with the rest of the Old Testament. His history says, “Having come to that portion of the ancient writings called the Apocrypha, I received the following” revelation.3

The Lord tells Joseph that he need not translate the Apocrypha, and he explains why. Much of it is true and already translated correctly. Much of it is also not true, uninspired, and uninspiring, and it includes late additions. The revelation hinges on the therefore that begins verse 4. Because there is much truth and much else in the Apocrypha, let it be understood by the Spirit, which testifies of truth. That is the way to get the most from the Apocrypha.

Section 91 helps us understand the nature of scripture and of revelation. There have been many historical arguments and dogmatic positions taken relative to the Apocrypha. The revealed answer may be the least dogmatic. Rather than declaring the highly varied books of the Apocrypha absolutely true or false, the Lord focuses on truth and error within the texts. Nor does he seem worried about errors in or sufficiency of scripture, a term Latter-day Saints do not even use. He gives instead an infallible principle that can be applied to all texts and all subjects. The principle is that seeking truth in the light of the Holy Spirit will enable people to discern truth from error wherever it may be found.

1. Historical Introduction to “Revelation, 9 March 1833 [D&C 91],” p. 55, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed September 9, 2020.

2. Quoted in the Historical Introduction of “Revelation, 9 March 1833 [D&C 91],” p. 55, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed December 31, 2020.

3. “History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834],” p. 279, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 9, 2020.

Additional Context by Casey Paul Griffiths

From Doctrine and Covenants Minute

In the spring of 1833, Joseph Smith continued his project of translating the Bible. A month earlier, Joseph noted in his minute book, “This day completed the translation and the reviewing of the New testament and sealed up no more to be broken till it goes to Zion.”1 It seems that after he completed his work on the New Testament, Joseph Smith returned to his translation of the Old Testament. The day before he received Doctrine and Covenants 91, Joseph Smith obtained a different revelation that outlined several responsibilities to carry out “when you have finished the translation of the prophets” (D&C 90:13). It appears that after God gave him this commandment, Joseph desired to know if the books popularly known as “the Apocrypha” should be translated as well.

Even while the Book of Mormon was being printed Joseph Smith and his associates had begun plans to complete a translation of the Bible. They intended to correct many of the errors that had crept into the text and put back many of the plain and precious truths that had been lost. On October 8, 1829, Oliver Cowdery purchased a large King James Bible from the Grandin Press, the printers of the Book of Mormon. This Bible, which is currently in the custody of the Community of Christ, is helpful in understanding why Joseph and his associates had questions about the Apocrypha. The Bible that Cowdery purchased is a large, pulpit-style edition containing the Old and New Testaments along with the Apocrypha. It is nine inches wide, eleven inches long, about two and a half inches thick, and it weighs just under five pounds. On the inside cover in the large handwriting of Joseph Smith is the inscription, “The Book of the Jews and the property of Joseph Smith Junior and Oliver Cowdery, bought October 3, 1829 at Egbert B. Grandin’s Book Store, Palmyra, Wayne County, New York. Price $3.75. Holiness to the Lord.”2 It is believed that this Bible served as the primary study text for Joseph Smith’s inspired translation of the Bible.

The Apocrypha consists of a collection of books that were not found in Hebrew collections of sacred writings but were included in the Greek version of the Old Testament commonly known as the Septuagint. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians include the Apocrypha in their Old Testament and consider it to contain inspired writings of God. When Martin Luther translated the Bible in 1534, he moved the books of the Apocrypha to the end of the Old Testament, writing that they were “not held equal to the Holy Scriptures, and yet are profitable and good to read.”3 Most Protestant Christians have followed Luther’s lead and generally exclude the Apocrypha from their Old Testament.

As he began his translation of the Bible, Joseph Smith showed more willingness to accept books like the Apocrypha into the scriptural canon. The coming forth of the Book of Mormon demonstrated that scripture could be found outside of the typical Christian canon. Reflecting on his own project to translate the Bible, Joseph later wrote, “Much conjecture and conversation frequently occurred among the saints, concerning the books mentioned and referred to, in various places in the Old and New testaments, which were now nowhere to be found. The common remark was, they are ‘lost books’; but it seems the apostolic churches had some of these writings, as Jude mentions or quotes the prophecy of Enoch the seventh from Adam.”4

Given his openness to the concept of additional scripture, it was natural for Joseph Smith to inquire about the Apocrypha and if it needed to be translated. In his own history, the Prophet wrote simply, “Having come to that portion of the Ancient writings called the Apocrypha I received the following [Doctrine and Covenants 91].”5

See “Historical Introduction,” Revelation, 9 March 1833 [D&C 91]

1. Minute Book 1, p. 8, JSP.

2. See “Bible Used for Bible Revision,” JSP.

3. Bruce Metzger, Introduction to the Apocrypha, 1957, 183, quoted in Revelation, 9 March 1833 [D&C 91], fn. 4, JSP.

4. JS History, vol. A-1, pp. 80–81, JSP.

5. JS History, vol. A-1, pp. 279–280, JSP.