By the way when Joseph Smith dictated the Book of Mormon he did not say the punctuations while dictating it.
By the way---neither the Hebrew, not Aramaic nor Greek have punctuation, capitalization is rare and there were no verses and chapters. So it is highly telling that even the punctuation of the KJV is in those passages copied from the KJV---and something even more telling. This is what JS supposedly said about Luke 24:43, and the word "paradise"
"I will say something about the spirits in prison. There has been much said by modern divines about the words of Jesus (when on the cross) to the thief, saying, “This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” King James’ translators make it out to say paradise. But what is paradise? It is a modern word it does not answer at all to the original word that Jesus made use of. Find the original of the word paradise. You may as easily find a needle in a haymow. Here is a chance for battle, ye learned men.
There is nothing in the original word in Greek from which this was taken that signifies paradise; but it was— This day thou shalt be with me in the world of spirits then I will teach you all about it and answer your inquiries. And Peter says he went and preached to the world of spirits (spirits in prison, 1 Peter, 3rd chapt., 19th verse), so that they who would receive it could have it answered by proxy by those who live on the earth, etc.
* * * * *
I will now turn linguist. There are many things in the Bible which do not, as they now stand, accord with the revelations of the Holy Ghost to me.
I will criticize a little further. There has been much said about the word hell, and the sectarian world have preached much about it, describing it to be a burning lake of fire and brimstone. But what is hell? It is another modern term, and is taken from hades. I’ll hunt after hades as Pat did for the woodchuck.
Hades, the Greek, or Shaole, the Hebrew: these two significations mean a world of spirits. Hades, Shaole, paradise, spirits in prison, are all one: it is a world of spirits.
The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of spirits until the resurrection. “I do not think so,” says one. If you will go to my house any time, I will take my lexicon and prove it to you.
The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers. “But,” says one, “I believe in one universal heaven and hell, where all go, and are all alike, and equally miserable or equally happy.”
What! where all are huddled together— the honorable, virtuous, and murderers, and whoremongers, when it is written that they shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body? But St. Paul informs us of three glories and three heavens. He knew a man that was caught up to the third heavens. Now, if the doctrine of the sectarian world, that there is but one heaven, is true, Paul, what do you tell that lie for, and say there are three? Jesus said unto His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come and receive you to myself, that where I am ye may be also.”
Any man may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and be happy in that belief, and yet not obey his commandments, and at last be cut down for disobedience to the Lord’s righteous requirements. A man of God should be endowed with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, in order to teach and lead the people of God. The sectarian priests are blind, and they lead the blind, and they will all fall into the ditch together. They build with hay, wood, and stubble, on the old revelations, without the true priesthood or spirit of revelation. If I had time, I would dig into hell, hades, shaole, and tell what exists there."
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Documentary History of the Church 5:424–5:426;
He never got to finish the Luke 23:43 translation according to his believes. But he clearly does not understand that the problem with that passage is one of punctuation. We, and other denominations understand the "coma" inserted in the passage should be inserted elsewhere.
Luk_23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
We believe it should be--
Luk_23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee to day, thou shalt be with me in paradise.
Jesus was not in the presence of God that day---not until after His resurrection. When He met Mary He told her not to cling to Him for He had not yet ascended to His Father. But to tell the disciples He would be going. Then when He met them next, they were allowed to touch Him.
Jesus does not lie. And as far as his declaration of turning "linguist"---the word Paradise (paradeisos) is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word meaning "garden of pleasure and fruits"---as in garden of Eden. It had nothing to so with "spirits"--The garden of pleasure was no longer on the earth--the tree of life and everything had been transferred to the 3rd heaven where God dwells. JS was definitely no linguist!