Church History
Joseph Smith’s Revelations, Doctrine and Covenants 79

“Doctrine and Covenants 79,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers (2020)

“Doctrine and Covenants 79,” Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers

Doctrine and Covenants 79

Revelation, 12 March 1832

Source Note

Revelation, Hiram Township, OH, 12 Mar. 1832. Featured version, titled “A Revelation given to Jerad Carter March 12th 1832 in Hiram Pordage County Ohio,” copied [between 12 Mar. and ca. 1 Apr. 1832] in Revelation Book 2, p. 12; handwriting of Frederick G. Williams; CHL. For more information, see the source note for Revelation Book 2 on the Joseph Smith Papers website.

Historical Introduction

Jared Carter spent much of late 1831 and early 1832 proselytizing in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont.1 A few weeks after returning to his home in Amherst, Ohio, he traveled to Hiram, Ohio, where JS was living in the home of John and Alice (Elsa) Johnson. Carter recorded in his journal that the purpose of his trip was to visit “the Seaer to enquier the will of the Lord concerning my minestry the ensuin[g] season.”2 On 12 March 1832, JS dictated a revelation directing Carter to preach the gospel again in the eastern United States. When Carter departed for his new mission on 15 April 1832, he likely had the original manuscript of the revelation or a copy of it in his possession.3 The revelation was probably originally inscribed by Sidney Rigdon, Jesse Gause, or Frederick G. Williams, who served as scribes for JS in 1832.4 Williams copied the revelation into Revelation Book 2, probably sometime before JS left for Missouri on 1 April 1832.

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Revelation for Jared Carter.

Revelation for Jared Carter. Joseph Smith dictated a revelation for early church elder Jared Carter on 12 March 1832 in Hiram, Ohio. The revelation directed him to travel and proselytize in the eastern United States. Handwriting of Frederick G. Williams. Revelation Book 2, p. 12, Church History Library, Salt Lake City. (Photograph by Welden C. Andersen.)

A Revelation given to Jerad [Jared] Carter March 12th 1832 in Hiram Pordage [Portage] County Ohio, ———5

[1]Verily verily I say unto you that it is my will that my Servant Jerad should go again into the eastern countries from place, to place, and from City, City, in the power of the ordinence wherewith he has been ordained6 proclaiming glad tidings of great joy even the everlasting gospel7 [2]and I will send upon him the comforter which shall teach him the truth and his way whither he shall go8 [3]and in as much as he is faithful I will crown him again with sheaves9 [4]wherefore let your heart be glad my servant Jerad and fear not saith your Lord even Jesus Christ Amen——

Notes

  1. Carter, Journal, 35–49.

  2. Carter, Journal, 53.

  3. Carter, Journal, 53–54. Carter recorded exact phrases from the revelation when discussing it in his journal. However, his journal appears to be a retrospective account, so he could have obtained a copy of the revelation after his return. (See Carter, Journal, 33–122.)

  4. See Scribal Directory, in JSP, MRB:683–684; Jennings, “Consequential Counselor,” 183; and Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 46–48.

  5. It is unknown whether this heading appeared in the original manuscript. The copy made by John Whitmer in Revelation Book 1 contains the heading “Revelation given March 12 1832 Hiram Portage Ohio.” (Revelation Book 1, p. 147, in JSP, MRB:271.)

  6. In his journal, Carter wrote that “the power of the ordinan[c]e where with I had been ordained … was to the high privilige of administering in the name of Jesus Christ even to seal on earth and to build up the Church of Christ and to work meracles in the name of Christ.”a JS stated earlier that “the order of the High priesthood is that they have power given them to seal up the Saints unto eternal life.”b This similar terminology, as well as Carter’s reference to “the high privilege,” suggests that “the ordinence wherewith he has been ordained” refers to Carter’s ordination to the high priesthood. Though the date of his ordination is unknown, Carter’s journal provides hints. It refers to him being given “the authority of an apostle” prior to 22 September 1831 and relates an event that occurred sometime between 6 June and 22 September 1831 in which he was “endowed with power from on high” and thereafter had the ability to cast out devils and heal the sick.c Later accounts of the June 1831 conference at which the high priesthood was first bestowed referred to its conferral as an “endowment” of power, while former church member Ezra Booth noted in October 1831 that many of the Saints had “been ordained to the High Priesthood, or the order of Milchesidec; and profess to be endowed with the same power as the ancient apostles were.”d (a. Carter, Journal, 53. b. Minutes, 25–26 Oct. 1831, in JSP, D2:82. c. Carter, Journal, 35. d. Corrill, Brief History, 18, in JSP, H2:145; Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. II,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 20 Oct. 1831, [3].)

  7. See Revelation, Sept. 1830–F [D&C 31:3], herein; and Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:40–43], herein.

  8. See Revelation, Sept. 1830–F [D&C 31:11], herein; and Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50:14], herein.

  9. “Sheaves” is used here as a metaphor for converts. (See Micah 4:12; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 497 [3 Nephi 20:18]; and Revelation, 25 Jan. 1832–A [D&C 75:5], herein; see also Carter, Journal, 123.)