Bible Dictionary is an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Since 1979, Bible Dictionary has been published as an appendix to most copies of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 printed by the LDS Church

LDS edition of the Bible

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publishes editions of the Bible in English and Spanish that it encourages its members to use. The text of the LDS Church's English-language Bible is the Authorized King James Version and the church's Spanish-language Bible is a revised Reina-Valera...

. The dictionary contains 1285 entries on 196 pages. The publication states that it was "designed to provide teachers and students with a concise collection of definitions and explanations of items that are mentioned in or are otherwise associated with the Bible."

The LDS Bible Dictionary was created in the 1970s by the Scriptures Publications Committee of the LDS Church. This committee was chaired by Thomas S. Monson

Thomas S. Monson

Thomas Spencer Monson is an American religious leader and author, and the 16th and current President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . As president, Monson is considered by adherents of the religion to be a "prophet, seer, and revelator" of God's will on earth...

, who at the time was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The committee delegated the responsibility of creating an LDS bible dictionary to Robert J. Matthews

Robert J. Matthews

Robert James Matthews was a Latter-day Saint religious educator and scholar, teaching in the Departments of Ancient Scripture and Religious Education at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah....

, a Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

 Professor of Ancient Scripture. Matthews gained permission from Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...

 to use their bible dictionary as the template for the LDS version. Matthews adjusted many of the entries to reflect LDS modifications of traditional Christian beliefs and also added a number of entries to address doctrines that are exclusively taught by the LDS Church. However, the majority of the content of the Bible Dictionary is identical to the Cambridge publication. The secretary of the committee was William James Mortimer.

The LDS Bible Dictionary is published in all English-language versions of the Bible printed by the church, with the exception of the bare-bones KJV Bible distributed free of charge by Mormon missionaries. In other LDS-printed Bibles, it is found on pages 599 to 793 of the appendix materials, immediately following the Topical Guide and immediately preceding excerpts from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible

Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible

The Joseph Smith Translation , also called the Inspired Version , was a revision of the Bible by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Smith considered this work to be "a branch of his calling" as a prophet. Smith was murdered before he ever deemed it complete, though most of...

. The LDS Church provides the complete contents of the Bible Dictionary online.

Despite being packaged with the LDS publication of the Bible, the Bible Dictionary is not part of the LDS Church's open canon of scripture

Standard Works

The Standard Works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon.* The Holy Bible * The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ...

. Its preface states that "[i]t is not intended as an official or revealed endorsement by the Church of the doctrinal, historical, cultural, and other matters set forth."

External links

• Bible Dictionary: complete text; links to entries organized alphabetically
• "That Promised Day: The Coming Forth of the LDS Scriptures" – BYUtv
  BYU Television
  __NOEDITSECTION__Brigham Young University Television is a cable/satellite television channel operated by Brigham Young University...
  
  documentary describing the production of the LDS Church's 1979 English edition of the KJV, including information on the Bible Dictionary.