Translation Issues
Before addressing particular anachronisms in the Book of Mormon, one more additional concept must be introduced, and that is the question of how the Book of Mormon was translated. There exists no consensus among Book of Mormon scholars regarding this question. Instead, two main camps make opposing claims. One camp asserts that Joseph Smith was a reader instead of a translator, and that statements made by witnesses demonstrate this fact. Joseph Smith was using either a stone or the spectacles to “see” something. The question is what was he seeing? Witness statements seem to strongly insinuate, or actually state, that he was seeing words and simply reading those words. The scribe would read those words back to Joseph, and if a mistake were made, the words would stop appearing until the mistake had been corrected. However, even this camp allows that grammatical errors were not included under this strict construction and were corrected later. One article that represents this view is found on the FARMs website, by Royal Skousen, called “Joseph Smith's Translation of the Book of Mormon: Evidence for Tight Control of the Text.” The theory of Joseph Smith as reader instead of translator is often referred to as the “tight translation” theory. I will not cite his actual text, but encourage readers to go to the FARMs site and read the article for themselves.
The following statements made by witnesses describe the translation process as they understood it. These statements are found in Dan Vogel’s first two volumes in his Early Mormon Documents series.
Early Mormon Documents, Volume I
The following statements made by witnesses describe the translation process as they understood it. These statements are found in Dan Vogel’s first two volumes in his Early Mormon Documents series.
Early Mormon Documents, Volume I
1. From the Joseph Smith History, 1832
“the Lord had shown him (Harris) that he must go to new York City with some of the c<h>aracters so we proceeded to coppy
some of them and he took his Journy to the Eastern Cittys and to the Learned <saying> read this I pray thee and the learned said
I cannot but if he wo=uld bring the blates (plates) they would read it but the Lord had fo<r>bid it and he returned to me and gave
them to <me to> translate and I said [I] cannot for I am not learned but the Lord had prepared spectacles for to read the Book therefore
I commenced translating the cha=aracters” (page 30)
2. Truman Coe Account, 1836
“The manner of translation was as wonderful as the discovery. By putting his finger on one of the characters and imploring divine aid, then looking through the Urim and Thummin, he would see the import written in plain english on a screen placed before him. After delivering this to his emanuensi, he would again proceed in the same manner and obtain the meaning of the next character, and so on.” (page 47)
3. Sidney Rigdon Account, circa 1836
“Joe, he said, was a very illiterate man, was unable either to read or write; but when he put on his nose the prophet’s spectacles, and took the gold plates one by one, letter by letter, and word by word presented themselves, and with the aid of an amanuensis the bible that he held in his hand was a literal translation of the writing upon gold plates.” (page 50)
4. Orson Hyde Account, 1842
“With the records were found two transparent stones, clear as crystal, which were used by men in ancient times called “seers”. The manner in which they were used is as follows: These two stones, called Urim and Thummim, in diameter [the size] of an English crown (coin) only lightly thicker, were placed where all light was excluded. Those using them then offered their prayers unto the Lord and the answer appeared written with letters of light on the Urim and Thummim, but disappeared again very soon after.” (page 167)
5. Nancy Towle account, October 1831
“…in that box contained “plates”, which resembled gold; also, a pair of interpreters, (as he called them) that resembled spectacles; by looking into which, he could read a writing engraven upon the plates, though to himself, in a tongue unknown”.
(page 204)
6. Lucy Smith interview, 1842
“I have seen and felt also the Urim and Thummim. They resemble two large bright diamonds set in a bow like a pair of spectacles. My son puts these over his eyes when he reads unknown languages, and they enable him to interpret them in English.”
(page 221)
7. Lucy Smith History
"it consisted of 2 smooth three cornered diamonds set in glass and the glass was set in silver bows> stones connected with each other in the same way that old fashioned spectacles are made.” (page 329)
8. Lucy Smith History
“In the meantime Joseph was 150 miles distant and knew naught of the matter except an intimation that was given through the Urim and Thummim for as he one morning applied the latter to his eyes to look upon the record instead of the words of the book being given [to] him he was commanded to write a letter to one David Whitmer.”
(page 387)
9. Fayette Lapham interview with J Smith Sr, 1830
“Under the first plate, or lid, he found a pair of spectacles, about one and a half inches longer than those used at the present day, the eyes not of glass, but of diamond….he one day tried the spectacles, and found that, by looking through them, he could see everything -–past, present, and future – and could also read and understand the characters written on the plates.” (page 463)
“Joseph and Harris returned to Harmony, and found the plates missing – the Lord had taken them also. Then Joseph put on the spectacles, and saw where the Lord had hid them, among the rocks, in the mountains. Though not allowed to get them, he could, by the help of the spectacles, read them where they were, as well as if they were before him.” (page 464)
10. William Smith, On Mormonism
“…he translated them by means of the Urim and Thummim, (which he obtained with the plates), and the power of God. The manner in which this was done was by looking into the Urim and Thummim, which was placed in a hat to exclude the light, (the plates lying near by covered up) and reading off the translation, which appeared in the stone by the power of God.” (page 497)
11. William Smith, Testimony
“…he also received the Urim and Thummim, which he would place in a hat to exclude all light, and with the plates by his side he translated the characters, which were cut into the plates with some sharp instrument, into English. And thus, letter by letter, word by word, sentence by sentence, the whole book was translated. It was not written from the Spaulding Romance.” (page 506)
12. Emma Smith Bidamon Interview with Edmund C Briggs, 1856
“…When my husband was translating the Book of Mormon, I wrote a part of it, as he dictated each sentence, word for word, and when he came to proper names he could not pronounce, or long words, he spelled them out, and while I was writing them, if I made any mistake in spelling, he would stop me and correct my spelling, although it was impossible for him to see how I was writing them down at the time. Even the word Sarah he could not pronounce at first, but had to spell it, and I would pronounce it for him. When he stopped for any purpose at any time he would, when he commenced again, begin where he left off without any hesitation” (page 530)
Early Mormon Documents, Volume II
1. Martin Harris interview with John A Clark, 1827 & 1828
“According to Harris, Smith now scrupulously followed the divine directions. He was already in possession of the two transparent stones laid up with the GOLDEN BIBLE, by looking through which he was enabled to read the golden letters on the plates in the box. How he obtained these spectacles without opening the chest, Harris could not tell. But still he had them; and by means of them he could read all the book contained.”
(page 266)
2. Martin Harris, interview with Edward Stevenson
“Harris related an instance that occurred during the time that he wrote that portion of the translation of the Book of Mormon, which he was favored to write direct from the mouth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He said that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone. Martin explained the translating as follows: 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, that 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.” (page 321)
3. Martin Harris, interview with William Pilkington, 1874-1875
“Joseph dictated to me from the Plates of God as the characters thereon assumed through the Urim and Thummim the forms of Equivelent modern words, which were familiar to the understanding of the prophet and seer.” (page 354)
4. Oliver Cowdery interview with Samuel Richards, 1849
“He represents Joseph as sitting by a table with the plates before him, and he reading the record with the Urim and Thummim. Oliver, his scribe, sits close beside to hear and write every word as translated. This is done by holding the translators over the words of the written record, and the translation appears distinctly in the instrument, which had been touched by the finger of God and dedicated and consecrated for the express purpose of translating languages. This instrument now used fully performed its Mission. Every word was made distinctly visible even to every letter, and if Oliver did not in writing spell the word correctly it remained in the translator until it was written correctly.” (page 501)
5. John Gilbert Memorandum, 1892
“(Martin Harris) told us what wonderful discoveries Jo Smith had made, and of his finding plates in a hill in the town of Manchester, also found the plates with the plates a large pair of “spectacles”, by putting which on his nose and looking at the plates, the spectacles turned the hyroglyphics into good English. The question might [be] asked here whether Jo or the spectacles was the translator?” (page 546)
Certainly some of these citations are less reliable than others, whether due to a later date or bias of some sort. In addition, some of the statements are ambiguous as far as what, exactly, Joseph saw in the stone or spectacles. Even so, enough reliable sources are given with enough detail that I think “Joseph as reader”, or the tight translation theory, is more consistent with contemporary statements. The tight translation theory tends to be preferred by those who specialize in the Hebraic connections in the Book of Mormon. Their evidences would lose force were they to abdicate the tight control of the text, since it is in linguistic structure that they find their hope.
However, as I stated earlier, the Hebraic side of the equation does not interest me. In my experience, most Book of Mormon scholars who specialize in the Mesoamerican side of the equation prefer the “loose translation” theory. Although the process remains ambiguous in their descriptions, apparently some sort of gestalt is conveyed spiritually to Joseph Smith rather than specific words, and Joseph Smith then proceeded to put that gestalt into his own language. This allows translation errors that impact the text’s meaning to be included, in their opinion. The existence of translation errors is imperative for these scholars, due to the numerous anachronisms contained in the text. Brant Gardner explains the "loose translation theory" in the first volume of his Second Witness series. My understanding of his main divergence from Skousen is that Gardner believes Joseph Smith put his own understanding of the text into his own words, which allows for significant translation errors to enter the text. It is not clear in what form Joseph Smith’s understanding of the text took place, so I simply refer to it as some sort of gestalt.
Due to the fact that my main interest lies in the Mesoamerican side of the equation, I will frame my responses within the “loose translation” theory, although my opinion is that Skousen’s interpretation of the witness statements is stronger. So while I accept that translation errors may have resulted in Joseph choosing a known word to describe something unknown to him, hence resulting in a naming error, the context of the statements containing the translation error should still make sense within the context of ancient Mesoamerica.
However, as I stated earlier, the Hebraic side of the equation does not interest me. In my experience, most Book of Mormon scholars who specialize in the Mesoamerican side of the equation prefer the “loose translation” theory. Although the process remains ambiguous in their descriptions, apparently some sort of gestalt is conveyed spiritually to Joseph Smith rather than specific words, and Joseph Smith then proceeded to put that gestalt into his own language. This allows translation errors that impact the text’s meaning to be included, in their opinion. The existence of translation errors is imperative for these scholars, due to the numerous anachronisms contained in the text. Brant Gardner explains the "loose translation theory" in the first volume of his Second Witness series. My understanding of his main divergence from Skousen is that Gardner believes Joseph Smith put his own understanding of the text into his own words, which allows for significant translation errors to enter the text. It is not clear in what form Joseph Smith’s understanding of the text took place, so I simply refer to it as some sort of gestalt.
Due to the fact that my main interest lies in the Mesoamerican side of the equation, I will frame my responses within the “loose translation” theory, although my opinion is that Skousen’s interpretation of the witness statements is stronger. So while I accept that translation errors may have resulted in Joseph choosing a known word to describe something unknown to him, hence resulting in a naming error, the context of the statements containing the translation error should still make sense within the context of ancient Mesoamerica.