Scripture Chapter Heading Changes

[bbsion]

When my family sits down to read the scriptures together, I usually begin by reading the chapter heading. Several times now my 10 year old and 8 year old have pointed out that their chapter headings have a different wording. I got my scriptures around 1999'ish. I got scriptures for my kids within the last couple of years. So the newer editions have altered chapter headings.

I am not trying to start a debate on polygamy, I am only using this example because this is where we are in our reading and I came across it last night.

Jacob 2 chapter heading in the new versions say "The Lord commands that no man among the Nephites may have more than one wife" yet in my scriptures it said something like "Unauthorized practice of plural marriage is forbidden." Something like that, I don't have my scriptures with me to give you the exact wording.

My questions are, who wrote the chapter headings in the first place? Why are they there at all? Who edits them and why? Who adds and determines foot notes, etc...?

A chapter heading is a summary of the coming chapter. The wording almost gets the reader in a certain frame of thought to know what to expect and possibly refer back to if some of the scriptures in the chapter are unclear. In really early versions of the BofM there were no chapter headings at all right?

What worries me a little is the minor changes to the wording can change a perception of scripture. Why do it at all? Isn't that why Joseph had to provide a translation of many scriptures from the Bible? Or am I just over thinking this?

[Zathura]

I’m under the impression that it was originally a committee spearheaded and ultimately edited by McConkie .

I would imagine this same committee exists today. I think it was called the Scriptures Publication Committee or something? I don’t have a source and I could be crazy lol.

[inho]

When my family sits down to read the scriptures together, I usually begin by reading the chapter heading. Several times now my 10 year old and 8 year old have pointed out that their chapter headings have a different wording. I got my scriptures around 1999'ish. I got scriptures for my kids within the last couple of years. So the newer editions have altered chapter headings.

My understanding is that some of the chapter headings were changed for the 2004 and 2006 editions published by Doubleday. When the Church published a new edition of scriptures in 2013, these changes were likely taken in account. The 2013 edition contained many changes, including corrections to the actual wordings of scriptures.

I think the biggest changes to the chapter headings in 2013 were in D&C, where much of the recent scholarship was brought into them.

[inho]

Here is an article about the 2013 edition: LDS Church announces new scripture edition
I'll quote some of it:

Elder Andersen said the decision to make some adjustments to the scriptures was made in 2004. When it became clear that the printing masters of the 1979 LDS edition of the King James version of the Bible and the landmark 1981 edition of the other LDS scriptures were deteriorating to the point that they needed to be replaced, church leaders decided to take advantage of the opportunity to do some editing.

“In a very careful, methodical way we looked at all the footnotes and all the study aids,” he said in a video that was posted with the new web page. “As recommendations were made for changes and adjustments, those changes were presented to the general authorities of the church and eventually to the First Presidency. None of these adjustments were made hastily, or in a corner.”

Elder Steven E. Snow, church historian and recorder and a member of the church’s First Quorum of the Seventy, said much of the historical information that is being integrated into chapter headings and summaries has been found as a result of the church’s ongoing Joseph Smith Papers research project.

[inho]

Here is a link (pdf) to a comparison between the chapter headings of 1981 and 2004 (Doubleday edition).

[inho]

Bruce R. McConkie on the nature of chapter headings:

[As for the] Joseph Smith Translation items, the chapter headings, Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary, footnotes, the Gazeteer, and the maps. None of these are perfect; they do not of themselves determine doctrine; there have been and undoubtedly now are mistakes in them. Cross-references, for instance, do not establish and never were intended to prove that parallel passages so much as pertain to the same subject. They are aids and helps only. (Mark McConkie, ed. Doctrines of the Restoration: Sermons and Writings of Bruce R. McConkie [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989], 289-90 emphasis added)

[Chip]

I wrote a little paper about this very matter a few years ago, focusing on Jacob2. I just reread it before posting it here. It red-pills the issue pretty well, in my opinion. These days, I think most Mormons don't really care much about "truth", but like to blithely suppose they have it. God's going to do his work, regardless of all men's lies.

Wresting_Jacob2.rtf

(19.12 KiB) Downloaded 40 times

[inho]

Here is an article about the history of the 1979 LDS edition of the Bible and 1981 editions of other scriptures:
The New Publications of the Standard Works—1979, 1981
by Robert J. Matthews, BYU Studies 22:4 (1982).

[Alexander]

I’m under the impression that it was originally a committee spearheaded and ultimately edited by McConkie .

I would imagine this same committee exists today. I think it was called the Scriptures Publication Committee or something? I don’t have a source and I could be crazy lol.

This is what I was told too. They also wrote the introduction to the Book of Mormon.

[Luke]

Yeah, don't rely on chapter headings. They can be often incorrect and filled with the interpretations of Doctrine by the individuals who wrote them. For example, saying Christ is his own end-time servant...

[Robin Hood]

When my family sits down to read the scriptures together, I usually begin by reading the chapter heading. Several times now my 10 year old and 8 year old have pointed out that their chapter headings have a different wording. I got my scriptures around 1999'ish. I got scriptures for my kids within the last couple of years. So the newer editions have altered chapter headings.

I am not trying to start a debate on polygamy, I am only using this example because this is where we are in our reading and I came across it last night.

Jacob 2 chapter heading in the new versions say "The Lord commands that no man among the Nephites may have more than one wife" yet in my scriptures it said something like "Unauthorized practice of plural marriage is forbidden." Something like that, I don't have my scriptures with me to give you the exact wording.

My questions are, who wrote the chapter headings in the first place? Why are they there at all? Who edits them and why? Who adds and determines foot notes, etc...?

A chapter heading is a summary of the coming chapter. The wording almost gets the reader in a certain frame of thought to know what to expect and possibly refer back to if some of the scriptures in the chapter are unclear. In really early versions of the BofM there were no chapter headings at all right?

What worries me a little is the minor changes to the wording can change a perception of scripture. Why do it at all? Isn't that why Joseph had to provide a translation of many scriptures from the Bible? Or am I just over thinking this?

I'll give you a tip that I have found useful.
Ignore the chapter headings altogether. Don't read them during scripture study (they're not scripture) and don't even scan them. They skew the way you read and understand the chapter.
Let the scriptures speak for themselves.

[Zathura]

When my family sits down to read the scriptures together, I usually begin by reading the chapter heading. Several times now my 10 year old and 8 year old have pointed out that their chapter headings have a different wording. I got my scriptures around 1999'ish. I got scriptures for my kids within the last couple of years. So the newer editions have altered chapter headings.

I am not trying to start a debate on polygamy, I am only using this example because this is where we are in our reading and I came across it last night.

Jacob 2 chapter heading in the new versions say "The Lord commands that no man among the Nephites may have more than one wife" yet in my scriptures it said something like "Unauthorized practice of plural marriage is forbidden." Something like that, I don't have my scriptures with me to give you the exact wording.

My questions are, who wrote the chapter headings in the first place? Why are they there at all? Who edits them and why? Who adds and determines foot notes, etc...?

A chapter heading is a summary of the coming chapter. The wording almost gets the reader in a certain frame of thought to know what to expect and possibly refer back to if some of the scriptures in the chapter are unclear. In really early versions of the BofM there were no chapter headings at all right?

What worries me a little is the minor changes to the wording can change a perception of scripture. Why do it at all? Isn't that why Joseph had to provide a translation of many scriptures from the Bible? Or am I just over thinking this?

I'll give you a tip that I have found useful.
Ignore the chapter headings altogether. Don't read them during scripture study (they're not scripture) and don't even scan them. They skew the way you read and understand the chapter.
Let the scriptures speak for themselves.

Buy an 1830 edition.

[Alexander]

When my family sits down to read the scriptures together, I usually begin by reading the chapter heading. Several times now my 10 year old and 8 year old have pointed out that their chapter headings have a different wording. I got my scriptures around 1999'ish. I got scriptures for my kids within the last couple of years. So the newer editions have altered chapter headings.

I am not trying to start a debate on polygamy, I am only using this example because this is where we are in our reading and I came across it last night.

Jacob 2 chapter heading in the new versions say "The Lord commands that no man among the Nephites may have more than one wife" yet in my scriptures it said something like "Unauthorized practice of plural marriage is forbidden." Something like that, I don't have my scriptures with me to give you the exact wording.

My questions are, who wrote the chapter headings in the first place? Why are they there at all? Who edits them and why? Who adds and determines foot notes, etc...?

A chapter heading is a summary of the coming chapter. The wording almost gets the reader in a certain frame of thought to know what to expect and possibly refer back to if some of the scriptures in the chapter are unclear. In really early versions of the BofM there were no chapter headings at all right?

What worries me a little is the minor changes to the wording can change a perception of scripture. Why do it at all? Isn't that why Joseph had to provide a translation of many scriptures from the Bible? Or am I just over thinking this?

I'll give you a tip that I have found useful.
Ignore the chapter headings altogether. Don't read them during scripture study (they're not scripture) and don't even scan them. They skew the way you read and understand the chapter.
Let the scriptures speak for themselves.

Buy an 1830 edition.

Yep, this is a good idea. There weren’t any chapters or chapter headings originally.

It also helps to look up 1828 definitions of words sometimes when trying to understand some Book of Mormon verses

[Chip]

When my family sits down to read the scriptures together, I usually begin by reading the chapter heading. Several times now my 10 year old and 8 year old have pointed out that their chapter headings have a different wording. I got my scriptures around 1999'ish. I got scriptures for my kids within the last couple of years. So the newer editions have altered chapter headings.

I am not trying to start a debate on polygamy, I am only using this example because this is where we are in our reading and I came across it last night.

Jacob 2 chapter heading in the new versions say "The Lord commands that no man among the Nephites may have more than one wife" yet in my scriptures it said something like "Unauthorized practice of plural marriage is forbidden." Something like that, I don't have my scriptures with me to give you the exact wording.

My questions are, who wrote the chapter headings in the first place? Why are they there at all? Who edits them and why? Who adds and determines foot notes, etc...?

A chapter heading is a summary of the coming chapter. The wording almost gets the reader in a certain frame of thought to know what to expect and possibly refer back to if some of the scriptures in the chapter are unclear. In really early versions of the BofM there were no chapter headings at all right?

What worries me a little is the minor changes to the wording can change a perception of scripture. Why do it at all? Isn't that why Joseph had to provide a translation of many scriptures from the Bible? Or am I just over thinking this?

I'll give you a tip that I have found useful.
Ignore the chapter headings altogether. Don't read them during scripture study (they're not scripture) and don't even scan them. They skew the way you read and understand the chapter.
Let the scriptures speak for themselves.

Absolutely, there's more in the actual text than what the chapter headings state, and, in the worst-case, you're just reading apologist propaganda which clouds understanding.

Next up for revision are all the chapter headers covering verses about dark skin.

[inho]

Yep, this is a good idea. There weren’t any chapters or chapter headings originally.

Oh, there were chapters in the 1830 edition (and apparently on the plates). They just don't match the chapters we have today. In general, the original chapters were longer.

Comparison of Chapter Divisions: 1830 and 1981 Editions


Knowing the original chapter breaks helps sometimes. Some things were meant to be read together.

[inho]

Next up for revision are all the chapter headers covering verses about dark skin.

I thought that already happened:
SLTrib: Church removes racial references in Book of Mormon headings (20-Dec-2010)

2 Nephi, Chapter 5

Before the change •… Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cursed, receive a skin of blackness, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.

After the change • … Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cut off from the presence of the Lord, are cursed, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.

Mormon, Chapter 5

Before the change • … The Lamanites shall be a dark, filthy, and loathsome people. …

After the change • … Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites will be scattered, and the Spirit will cease to strive with them. …

[gkearney]

Yep, this is a good idea. There weren’t any chapters or chapter headings originally.

Oh, there were chapters in the 1830 edition (and apparently on the plates). They just don't match the chapters we have today. In general, the original chapters were longer.

Comparison of Chapter Divisions: 1830 and 1981 Editions


Knowing the original chapter breaks helps sometimes. Some things were meant to be read together.

The RLDS editions of the Book of Mormon retain the original chapter divisions.

[iWriteStuff]

Buy an 1830 edition.

Great idea! This is actually how I've been reading the Book of Mormon this year. No chapter headings, no footnotes, verses that will last a whole page, and chapters broken out how (perhaps?) they were originally intended. Pro Tip: When there is a break in the original chapter structure, it is usually because something significant is happening in the material. Makes you pay more attention.

Also, tons of spelling and grammar issues. They also lack several of the "clarifications" that came later ("waters of baptism" Isaiah passage, Christ as the "Eternal Father" instead of "Son of the Eternal Father", etc). All in all, I find it pretty awesome. It's like reading the book for the first time. I've read the Book of Mormon enough that sentence structures and the way verses are set up textually has become almost rote for me. The original version lacks all that and for some reason seems all the more pure because of it.

Highly recommend the experience. Plus you'll probably be the only guy/gal in the building with the reprint version of the Book of Mormon. Just don't forget to mark it with all the great insights you'll have reading it fresh!

[Alexander]

Yep, this is a good idea. There weren’t any chapters or chapter headings originally.

Oh, there were chapters in the 1830 edition (and apparently on the plates). They just don't match the chapters we have today. In general, the original chapters were longer.

Comparison of Chapter Divisions: 1830 and 1981 Editions


Knowing the original chapter breaks helps sometimes. Some things were meant to be read together.

Ah ok my bad. Yes you’re correct. There were chapters. But they were large conglomerates groups of text. And they aren’t the same chapters as today

[zionssuburb]

So the transparency around this was really great... there were two documents released in the upgrade to the 2013 versions.

Summary
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/ ... f?lang=eng
Detailed
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/ ... f?lang=eng

[Zathura]

Buy an 1830 edition.

Great idea! This is actually how I've been reading the Book of Mormon this year. No chapter headings, no footnotes, verses that will last a whole page, and chapters broken out how (perhaps?) they were originally intended. Pro Tip: When there is a break in the original chapter structure, it is usually because something significant is happening in the material. Makes you pay more attention.

Also, tons of spelling and grammar issues. They also lack several of the "clarifications" that came later ("waters of baptism" Isaiah passage, Christ as the "Eternal Father" instead of "Son of the Eternal Father", etc). All in all, I find it pretty awesome. It's like reading the book for the first time. I've read the Book of Mormon enough that sentence structures and the way verses are set up textually has become almost rote for me. The original version lacks all that and for some reason seems all the more pure because of it.

Highly recommend the experience. Plus you'll probably be the only guy/gal in the building with the reprint version of the Book of Mormon. Just don't forget to mark it with all the great insights you'll have reading it fresh!

I really dig it. Feels more like a story because it flows so much better. Even the actual printed words are all messed up and kinda faded sometimes! So cool. It looks pretty good too, it's a nice edition to the coffee table in the living room. A lot of books look out of place when it's on a table in the middle of the room but the style/color of the 1830 edition just looks really nice(obviously this is the most important part ) .

[inho]

Buy an 1830 edition.

Great idea!

Does anyone admire Royal Skousen's Yale edition?

[JK4Woods]

When my family sits down to read the scriptures together, I usually begin by reading the chapter heading. Several times now my 10 year old and 8 year old have pointed out that their chapter headings have a different wording. I got my scriptures around 1999'ish. I got scriptures for my kids within the last couple of years. So the newer editions have altered chapter headings.

I am not trying to start a debate on polygamy, I am only using this example because this is where we are in our reading and I came across it last night.

Jacob 2 chapter heading in the new versions say "The Lord commands that no man among the Nephites may have more than one wife" yet in my scriptures it said something like "Unauthorized practice of plural marriage is forbidden." Something like that, I don't have my scriptures with me to give you the exact wording.

My questions are, who wrote the chapter headings in the first place? Why are they there at all? Who edits them and why? Who adds and determines foot notes, etc...?

A chapter heading is a summary of the coming chapter. The wording almost gets the reader in a certain frame of thought to know what to expect and possibly refer back to if some of the scriptures in the chapter are unclear. In really early versions of the BofM there were no chapter headings at all right?

What worries me a little is the minor changes to the wording can change a perception of scripture. Why do it at all? Isn't that why Joseph had to provide a translation of many scriptures from the Bible? Or am I just over thinking this?

About every other year I break out a copy of the original Book of Mormon and read it.

It is so refreshing to read the original material in the long paragraphs in which it was first printed.
The feeling I get from the long flowing language is sublime. I notice when I go back and read the chapter and verse editions, with chapter heading and footnotes, that I miss the special spirit found in the original organization of the Book of Mormon.


It costs $25 at Deseret Book and is a reproduction of the 1830 edition.

[bbsion]

Thank's for all the input everyone! My dad left me a reprint of the original 1830 version but my brother is borrowing it so I could not review it for reference. I've just had my own for so long that I've been reading, plus I was just not aware of the changes that were made until we got my kids their own new set.

I've never took the chapter heading to be scripture itself as I never really knew who put them together. But they were always a nice insight as to the possible interpretation from someone else.

Currently, I am also personally reading an annotated version of the BofM so I'll have to read the 1830 version when I am done. Either way, I feel like I don't want to even read the chapter headings anymore with my kids.

[JK4Woods]

Thank's for all the input everyone! My dad left me a reprint of the original 1830 version but my brother is borrowing it so I could not review it for reference. I've just had my own for so long that I've been reading, plus I was just not aware of the changes that were made until we got my kids their own new set.

I've never took the chapter heading to be scripture itself as I never really knew who put them together. But they were always a nice insight as to the possible interpretation from someone else.

Currently, I am also personally reading an annotated version of the BofM so I'll have to read the 1830 version when I am done. Either way, I feel like I don't want to even read the chapter headings anymore with my kids.

Yep, I skip them too...