Easter Celebration by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square

[T-Shirt]

I was watching the Easter program by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and I noticed something I found to be interesting.  During the program, they had six people narrating the account of the resurrection from the Book of John.  They quoted exactly, word for word, from the King James Version.  There was one place, however, that they varied in one word.  While quoting John 20:17, "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father", they changed the word, "Touch" to "Hold".  

This is not earth shattering, but I found it interesting that they chose to make that change.  In everything else I am aware of, when something produced by the Church reenacts scripture, they always follow closely the wording of the King James Version.  Maybe this has been done before, but I am not aware of it.

The change seems to tell the story more accurately and aligns more closely with many other translations.  Other translations render it as, "Do not hold on to me", "Don’t cling to me", "Do not cling to me", "Stop clinging to Me", "Do not hold Me", "Stop holding on to me" and so on.  I have often heard people comment on why Mary wasn't allowed to touch Jesus, however, I don't think there was ever any restrictions on touching.  To me, it seems, the account shows that Mary embraced Jesus, and held Him tight.  It appears that, in the interest of time, Jesus had to cut the hug short so He could go do the other things He needed to do.  I think it was more like Him gently telling Mary, at a certain point, that she had to let go of Him, as there were other pressing matters.

You can see it here at about the 19:03 mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDkqt7ie78I

Edited April 18, 2022 by T-Shirt

[Peacefully]

1 hour ago, T-Shirt said:

I was watching the Easter program by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and I noticed something I found to be interesting.  During the program, they had six people narrating the account of the resurrection from the Book of John.  They quoted exactly, word for word, from the King James Version.  There was one place, however, that they varied in one word.  While quoting John 20:17, "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father", they changed the word, "Touch" to "Hold".  

This is not earth shattering, but I found it interesting that they chose to make that change.  In everything else I am aware of, when something produced by the Church reenacts scripture, they always follow closely the wording of the King James Version.  Maybe this has been done before, but I am not aware of it.

The change seems to tell the story more accurately and aligns more closely with many other translations.  Other translations render it as, "Do not hold on to me", "Don’t cling to me", "Do not cling to me", "Stop clinging to Me", "Do not hold Me", "Stop holding on to me" and so on.  I have often heard people comment on why Mary wasn't allowed to touch Jesus, however, I don't think there was ever any restrictions on touching.  To me, it seems, the account shows that Mary embraced Jesus, and held Him tight.  It appears that, in the interest of time, Jesus had to cut the hug short so He could go do the other things He needed to do.  I think it was more like Him gently telling Mary, at a certain point, that she had to let go of Him, as there were other pressing matters.

You can see it here at about the 19:03 mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDkqt7ie78I

I like this explanation. I taught this in primary yesterday but I didn’t delve into why He said “Touch me not” because I wasn’t sure. This makes so much sense. 

[ttribe]

[Scott Lloyd]

6 hours ago, T-Shirt said:

I was watching the Easter program by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and I noticed something I found to be interesting.  During the program, they had six people narrating the account of the resurrection from the Book of John.  They quoted exactly, word for word, from the King James Version.  There was one place, however, that they varied in one word.  While quoting John 20:17, "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father", they changed the word, "Touch" to "Hold".  

This is not earth shattering, but I found it interesting that they chose to make that change.  In everything else I am aware of, when something produced by the Church reenacts scripture, they always follow closely the wording of the King James Version.  Maybe this has been done before, but I am not aware of it.

The change seems to tell the story more accurately and aligns more closely with many other translations.  Other translations render it as, "Do not hold on to me", "Don’t cling to me", "Do not cling to me", "Stop clinging to Me", "Do not hold Me", "Stop holding on to me" and so on.  I have often heard people comment on why Mary wasn't allowed to touch Jesus, however, I don't think there was ever any restrictions on touching.  To me, it seems, the account shows that Mary embraced Jesus, and held Him tight.  It appears that, in the interest of time, Jesus had to cut the hug short so He could go do the other things He needed to do.  I think it was more like Him gently telling Mary, at a certain point, that she had to let go of Him, as there were other pressing matters.

You can see it here at about the 19:03 mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDkqt7ie78I

The word “hold” is given in a footnote in the Church’s edition of the King James Version as an alternate translation for “touch,” so it is altogether appropriate that the word would be changed for the script of the Tabernacle Choir program. 
 

When I became aware of the footnote many years ago, I was delighted, because the passage at once became more intelligible to me. I like to think of it as Christ saying “detain me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.” That is to say, He had important business to attend to and could not linger.