Understanding Mormon – Part I

In a recent posting on a websight regarding the Land of Promise, there were five ideas expressed to help one understand Mormon and to determine “How might we proceed to discover the map in Mormon’s mind.”

While some of the ideas are useful, many are not for they simply miss the point in understanding the translation of the Book of Mormon. As an example, the preceding statement the author wrote prior to listing the five points was:

“We must intensively examine the text Mormon left us (of course, we have access to it only as it has been transmitted to us in English through Joseph Smith). We must discover as many of the geographical clues he included as we can.”

Regarding how it was “transmitted to us through Joseph Smith,” what is important is in knowing two things: 1) How the translation took place, and 2) the language known to Joseph Smith in 1829. Let’s take both these points:

1. How the translation took place. Of the actual translation, David Whitmer said that “in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God and not by any power of man.”

Martin Harris added, “By aid of the Seer Stone sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin, and when finished he would say “written,” and if correctly written, the sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used.”

Thus, all the rhetoric about language, early Hebrew, meanings of Hebrew words, is meaningless in this interpretation. For Joseph was guided through his translation of the plates by the spirit and, until it was correct, the spirit would not move forward.

2. The language known to Joseph Smith in 1829. The language, or more importantly, the meanings of words, as known in 1829 is not the same in all cases as those meanings are known to us today.

As an example, the word “wilderness” has been translated by Mesoamerican theorists, beginning with Hugh Nibley, as meaning a “mountainous region.” However, that is not the meaning in Joseph Smith’s day which is “an unoccupied tract of land.” This means it could be, as is shown in the Book of Mormon to be, almost any type of topography, from seacoast to mountains, from valleys to meadows, deserts to anywhere as long as it was not permanently occupied by man--that is, where cities were built and the land cultivated.

Also the word “isle” today means “any island” which could be interpreted as quite large, such as the British Isles. However, in 1829, the word “isle” meant “a small area or tract of land surrounded by water, such as a detached tract of land in the ocean.” In fact, the word “isle” was considered an absurd compound of “isle” and “land” which actually translated into “land-in-water land” or “ieland-land.” The word “isle” was only used by less educated people in 1829, and then generally only in writing.

And, too, in 1829, the word “sea” meant only an “ocean” or a part of an ocean. However, this has been argued considerably by Great Lakes people who want to make the word “sea” mean a lake or river to match their model.

When we understand the words known to Joseph Smith in 1829, we have a better chance of understanding the meaning of what Joseph wrote as he translated the plates into the Book of Mormon. In the early 1800s, Noah Webster felt inspired to compile, write and publish his “American Dictionary of the English Language,” which went into print in 1828. Noah Webster was from New England, as was Joseph Smith. Both grew up within a hundred miles of each other, and the language known to Joseph was the same language known to Webster. (See the February 27, 2010, post “Understanding Joseph smith’s Translation.”)

This “of course, we have access to it only as it has been transmitted to us in English through Joseph Smith,” is not a concern but one of the clues we need to keep in mind. Joseph translated accurately under the guidance of the Spirit, and used the language of his day to write down the translation.

(See the next post, “Understanding Mormon – Part II,” for more information on how to understand Mormon’s writing)