A deeper look into the Words of Mormon -- Part 1

If you are like most church members, you read the Words of Mormon like any other book of scripture, focusing on the spiritual insight to gain from it. In this case, for instance, you rejoice in the "workings of the Spirit of the Lord" (WoM 1:7) who prepared a remedy for the loss of the 116 pages many centuries in advance. In that regard, I am also like most church members. But being a bit of a geek, I am also awfully curious about details such as

• Where did Mormon write this? (Not where was he located at the time, even though I would really have liked to know that too, but on what plates)
• When did Mormon write this?
• Were the small plates of Nephi physically attached to the large?
• Where exactly do the small plates end and the large plates start?

This is not just my academic inclination, but for me, going into details such as these make Book of Mormon authors come alive. What exactly were they doing and when? Can we get inside their heads somehow? Having read several articles on the subject, I will try to summarize the main theories and add my own thoughts.

But first a little bit of background. As most readers probably know, Martin Harris lost a large number of translated pages after the first period of Book of Mormon translation. They are known as the 116 lost pages but Don Bradley argued persuasively in his book on the subject that there were many more pages than that. Fortunately, the Lord who knows the end from the beginning, had a backup plan. He had asked Nephi to make two sets of plates. In the Words of Mormon, Mormon explains how he found that other set of plates (the small plates of Nephi) and was inspired to add it to the other plates (his abridgement of the large plates of Nephi).

The portion that was lost covered the beginning of Mormon's abridgement until somewhere into the Book of Mosiah. As divine intervention would have it, the small plates covered approximately the same time period. Instead of retranslating the same text over again, as Joseph Smith was warned not to do by the Lord, he could translate the small plates instead. 

This is what happens in the translation period with Oliver Cowdery that resulted in the Book of Mormon we have today. But research shows that they first translated the rest of Mormon's abridgement (Mosiah - Moroni) and then went on to translate the content on the small plates (1 Nephi - Words of Mormon). Words of Mormon is his inserted commentary working as a bridge between the small and large plates.

So far so good. Many readers would know this already. Some may even know that our current Book of Mosiah is likely incomplete. Our current chapter 1 used to be chapter 3 in the original manuscript. So the first two chapters are missing. The original chapter division was different with generally longer chapters so they might have comprised a substantial portion. Most likely, the Book of Mosiah is named after Mosiah-I, King Benjamin's father, not his son. One can only imagine that the original chapter 1 was about Mosiah-I and much more details about what is only briefly mentioned in the Book of Omni, whereas chapter 2 was about his son Benjamin and his reign. Because in the original chapter 3, which is our Mosiah chapter 1, King Benjamin is already at the end of his reign.

There are several things in the Words of Mormon that have long puzzled me and this leads me to one of them. If Mormon doesn't know why he is asked to include the small plates and if the lost pages ended at a random point in Mosiah, why do the Words of Mormon transition so smoothly into our current Book of Mosiah? The second half of the Words of Mormon is all about king Benjamin, somewhat detached from Mormon's commentary on the large and small plates in the first half. Of course, the small plates end with Amaleki saying that the plates are full and giving them to King Benjamin, so King Benjamin is central to the transition. But that does not explain the smooth transition into our Book of Mosiah. The Book of Mosiah starts with "and now there was no more contentions in all the land" just after the end of the Words of Mormon describing contention and King Benjamin establishing peace. Mormon did not know that pages would be lost and this is what he needed to transition into, so perhaps this was just another evidence of inspiration? 

I am not the only one with these questions. Brant Gardner has proposed that the latter part of the Words of Mormon was not found on any plates but was more of an inspired commentary by Joseph Smith. This fits with his views of a loose translation process where Joseph himself was responsible for the wording. This is a view I don't share and think has been weakened by the great work of Royal Skousen. 

But the theory presented in this paper from 2012 by Jack Lyon and Kent Minson caught my attention. Their interesting hypothesis is that half of the Words of Mormon are his addendum to the small plates while the other half is actually a part of his abridgment of the Book of Mosiah from the large plates. It is in fact the end of the original chapter 2 leading up to chapter 3, which is where our Book of Mosiah starts. 

To explain this, we need to go back to the story of the lost pages. Martin Harris did not take a large stack of separate papers with him back to Palmyra. They consisted of gatherings of (usually) six large sheets of paper folded lengthwise and held together with string. Lyon and Minson's theory is that Martin did not take everything with him. It seems in fact more than a theory because D&C 10 says in clear terms

41 Therefore, you shall translate the engravings which are on the plates of Nephi, down even till you come to the reign of king Benjamin, or until you come to that which you have translated, which you have retained

It easily gets confusing when there are two sets of plates both called the plates of Nephi, but in D&C 10 that term generally refers to the small plates of Nephi. So Joseph is asked to translate the small plates until he gets to that which he had translated already, which he had retained. If Martin brought bundles with a fixed set of pages, it is reasonable to think that there were one or more extra sheets that may have been left behind. An extra page of translation or two certainly would not have been a crucial factor in convincing his family and friends as he set out to do. The suggestion is then that Words of Mormon 1:12 is the start of the next page that Martin did not bring that had already been translated. But what is that part doing in our current Words of Mormon and not in the Book of Mosiah?

It would have been a lot easier to verify these speculations if we had the original manuscript. We only have about 28% extant and the interesting part in this regard (Omni to the beginning of Mosiah) is missing completely. The transition between the small and large plates was probably not seamless. Even in the printer's manuscript, Oliver Cowdery inserted "the Book of Mosiah" and changed the "III" to "I" after "Chapter". (See the top of this page).

Through Royal Skousen's research, we have learned some details about the translation process. When a chapter had ended, Joseph would see some sort of marker or at least tell Oliver that the chapter had ended, after which Oliver would write "Chapter" as a heading before the translation continued. Later, after the Book of Mormon was written, Oliver would go through and number all the chapters. This may have been the procedure also before Oliver came into the picture. Perhaps part of that "which [was] retained" even included the beginning of Mosiah 3, according to the old chapter division. Consequently, on the "retained" part, there was a bit of chapter 2, the heading of chapter 3 and some more text under that heading. Before Oliver came to Joseph in Harmony, Pennsylvania, we know that a little more translation had been done with Emma as scribe after the lost pages. So it is reasonable that Oliver and Joseph continued from there, likely in Mosiah somewhere. 

When they had finished Moroni, they started on the small plates from 1 Nephi and ended with Words of Mormon 1:11 (if Lyon and Minson's theory is correct). Oliver would then place the part of the manuscript corresponding to the small plates on top of the rest that started with the leftovers from the previous translation period. If that part started in the middle of the original Mosiah chapter 2, there would be no heading, so in the printer's manuscript, Oliver would add "the Book of Mosiah" where "Chapter 3" was found, and the parts of Mosiah leading up to that heading ended up in the Words of Mormon instead because that was the previous heading.

I hope this was not too confusing, but it is a complex topic. Perhaps this illustration helps:

*I label these the Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery translation periods, respectively, even though there were also other scribes in both of those periods.

In my next post I will go into more details of the text and some alternative theories. To be continued...

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.

Witnesses of the Book of Mormon translation process

I am fascinated by the Book of Mormon translation. Joseph Smith himself gave very few details on the subject, but there are many other accounts that can help us puzzle the pieces together. Some say these accounts are contradictory with respect to some of the details, e.g. which stones he used. Personally, I think it is more a matter of describing different stages of an evolving process rather than contradictions and unreliable accounts, although you will always have some of that too when you have a large variety of first, second and third hand accounts. In this post, I will just quote some of my favorite lesser-known accounts describing the translation process.

When Joseph was translating the Book of Mormon [I] had occasion more than once to go into his immediate presence, and saw him engaged at his work of translation. The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face, resting his elbows upon his knees, and then dictating word after word, while the scribes — Emma, John Whitmer, O. Cowdery, or some other wrote it down

-Michael Morse, Emma's brother-in-law

What I like about this account is the fact that it comes from Emma's brother-in-law, who never became a member of the church or was part of Joseph Smith's "inner circle". Yet, his description is very much in line with other descriptions. It makes the idea of some sort of conspiracy more unlikely (as if it was very likely in the first place...). It also shows that the translation was not happening behind locked doors, which is further emphazised in the next quote.

I cheerfully certify that I was familiar with the manner of Joseph Smith’s translating the Book of Mormon. He translated the most of it at my Father’s house. And I often sat by and saw and heard them translate and write for hours together. Joseph never had a curtain drawn between him and his scribe while he was translating. He would place the director in his hat, and then place his face in his hat, so as to exclude the light.

-Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, David Whitmer's sister, living in her parents house at the time where the second half of the translation was done

Notice "often sat by...for hours". A few accounts from the very first phase of the translation (pre-116 pages loss) talk about a curtain between Joseph Smith and the scribe because the plates were not to be seen. The curtain quickly disappears as these accounts change to the stone(s) in the hat (Urim and Thummim or seer stone). Several of those also affirm that the translation was an open process. When the plates were not used directly any longer, there was no need for a curtain and people other than the scribes could sit by and observe it all.

The tablets or plates were translated by Smith, who used a small oval or kidney-shaped stone, called Urim and Thummim, that seemed endowed with the marvelous power of converting the characters on the plates, when used by Smith, into English, who would then dictate to Cowdery what to write. Frequently one character would make two lines of manuscript, while others made but a word or two words. Mr. Whitmer emphatically asserts, as did Harris and Cowdery, that while Smith was dictating the translation he had no manuscript, notes or other means of knowledge save the seer-stone and the characters as shown on the plates, he being present and cognizant how it was done.

-Chicago tribune 1881, David Whitmer interview

I include this one because many critics try to argue that Joseph Smith had books, notes, maps, etc to help him along during the translation. The more well-known interview with Emma stating that he had no notes or manuscript is dismissed by the same critics because Emma was not honest about the sensitivie topic of polygamy and whatever she says about the Book of Mormon must also be a lie, even though what she says about the Book of Mormon translation in that interview is in line with other accounts. It turns out that Emma is not the only one to claim that Joseph Smith had no other means to help him. Also, there are zero known accounts stating that someone observed Joseph using any book, note or manuscript ever during the translation.

Others may come to different conclusions, but I don't need to read a lot of posts on this blog before I realize that the Book of Mormon is way too complex to make up on the fly or memorize without notes or manuscript.