The interpreters and "gift and power of God"

For the first time in the Book of Mormon, we are introduced to the "interpreters" in last week's "Come Follow Me" lesson in Mosiah 8.

13 Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.

14 And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.

We don't really learn what these are or where Mosiah II, the king in Zarahemla, got them from. This is information likely found on the large plates that were lost. Since we jump back in time in the next chapter, we don't get to the part where Mosiah actually gets these records and uses the interpreters to translate them until Mosiah 28. Here we learn that they are "two stones fastened into the rims of a bow".

11 Therefore he took the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, and also the plates of Nephi, and all the things which he had kept and preserved according to the commandments of God, after having translated and caused to be written the records which were on the plates of gold which had been found by the people of Limhi, which were delivered to him by the hand of Limhi;

12 And this he did because of the great anxiety of his people; for they were desirous beyond measure to know concerning those people who had been destroyed.

13 And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.

14 Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages

We also learned that they were handed down from generation to generation. So Mosiah II probably got them from his father, Benjamin, and so on. How were they obtained initially? At least we know that the Brother of Jared obtained a pair

23 And behold, these two stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also with the things which ye shall write.

24 For behold, the language which ye shall write I have confounded; wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men these things which ye shall write. (Ether 3)

In the next chapter, these two stones are referred to as interpreters, (Ether 4:5). In D&C 17:1, we learn

Behold, I say unto you, that you must rely upon my word, which if you do with full purpose of heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also of the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim, which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face, and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on the borders of the Red Sea.

Here, the "two stones" or "interpreters" are called the "Urim and Thummim". This is a term that is not used in the Book of Mormon but we find it in the Old Testament. Eventually they started using that term too in Joseph Smith's time as they made this connection. From this verse we learn that the Urim and Thummim that Joseph Smith found buried with the plates are the same that the Brother of Jared received. It is also very likely that the interpreters that Mosiah II had that were "handed down from generation to generation" are the same that Moroni buried together with the plates. The question is then how they were passed from the Jaredites to Mosiah II's forefathers?

Church historian, Don Bradely, writes about this in his book on the lost 116 pages. He is quoting a very interesting source, where a man named Fayette Lapham relates what Joseph Smith Sr. told him about the contents of the large plates. One story goes like this.

They...found something of which they did not know the use, but when they went into the tabernacle, a voice said, "What have you got in your hand, there?" They replied that they did not know, but had come to inquire; when the voice said, "Put it on your face, and put your face in a skin, and you will see what it is." They did so, and could see everything of the past, present, and future; and it was the same spectacles that Joseph found with the gold plates. The gold ball stopped here and ceased to direct them any further.

No names are mentioned, but this happened after they had settled in the promised land. Don Bradley argues that it was Mosiah I. We know from the Book of Omni that Mosiah I found the people of Zarahemla and that Corinatumr, the last survivor of the Jaredite nation, had been found by them and stayed with them. We also learn that 

in the days of Mosiah, there was a large stone brought unto him with engravings on it; and he did interpret the engravings by the gift and power of God. (Omni 1:20)

It does not say how he translated it, but I'm convinced he had the interpreters/Urim and Thummim by then and used it. Here we also have the link between the Nephites and the Jaredites and although we don't have all the details, we can trace much of the history of the interpreters. The Lapham account helps us with the missing link and informs us that it was probably not handed from the Jaredites to the Nephites but that the Nephites found it in the area where the Jaredites had lived.

One reason Don Bradley thinks that Mosiah I had them and used them to translate the large stone, is the use of the expression, "gift and power of God". This seems to be the code for translation through the interpreters by someone who has been "commanded to look in them", i.e. a seer. I will quote all uses of this expression in the Book of Mormon

after thy seed shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb. (1 Nephi 13:35)

Clearly a prophecy about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. In the Book of Mormon title page, probably written by Mormon:

To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof

The three witnesses' statement in the Book of Mormon uses the expression too, probably because Joseph Smith himself used it on several occasions:

And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God

Finally, back to Mosiah 8 that we started out with, we don't have the exact expression but in Mosiah 8:16, where Ammon and King Lamoni discuss the interpreters, we read

And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God.

We don't have a lot of details, but what we have is fascinating.