“The Miraculous Translation of the Book of Mormon,” Liahona, Mar. 2024, United States and Canada Section.
The Miraculous Translation of the Book of Mormon
The scriptures and the scribes and witnesses of the Book of Mormon shed light on how the Prophet Joseph translated it “by the gift and power of God.”
Detail from Brother Joseph, by David Lindsley
In November 1845, Elder Wilford Woodruff (1807–98) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reflected in his journal on his love for the Book of Mormon. Thinking about how much he had read the book since he joined the Church in 1833, he wrote: “My soul delighteth much in its words, teaching, and prophesyings. And in its plainness. I rejoice in the goodness and mercy of the God of Israel in preserving the precious Book of Mormon and bringing it to light in our day and generation.”1
In our own day, President Russell M. Nelson has said, “The truths of the Book of Mormon have the power to heal, comfort, restore, succor, strengthen, console, and cheer our souls.”2
There are millions of women and men all over the world who have similarly felt the power of the Book of Mormon to change their lives and bring them closer to the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Because the Book of Mormon is so central to believers, it is natural to wonder just how the miracle of its translation took place. While it is not possible to fully explain or understand a miracle wrought “by the gift and power of God” (title page of the Book of Mormon), we can better understand the translation process by looking to the scriptures and the historical accounts left by the scribes, witnesses, and those close to Joseph Smith. These witnesses were certain Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true.
What Do the Scriptures Say about the Translation?
When the angel Moroni first appeared to Joseph to tell him of the work that God had for him to do, Moroni explained “that there were two stones … deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted ‘seers’ in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book” (Joseph Smith—History 1:35).
The use of sacred stones, specially prepared by the Lord to be used by seers to translate ancient records, is also referenced multiple times by the prophets in the Book of Mormon. The brother of Jared was given two sacred stones by the Lord to seal up with his writings so they could be used by some future seer to translate his record. The Lord declared, “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 3:24).
Mosiah, another seer, also possessed two stones that he used to translate the Jaredite records. Ammon explained that Mosiah had “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” (Mosiah 8:13). Mosiah “translated [the records] by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.
“Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages;
“And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord. …
“And whosoever has these things is called seer” (Mosiah 28:13–16).
Similar to Joseph Smith, Mosiah “did interpret the engravings by the gift and power of God” (Omni 1:20; emphasis added).
Because these sacred stones were prepared for use by a seer, they are sometimes referred to as seer stones. Though Joseph Smith would initially call the stones found with the plates “spectacles,” he would eventually use a biblical term for the sacred instruments, Urim and Thummim (see Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8).3 He came to use this term to describe other sacred stones as well, not just the ones found with the plates. For instance, even though President Brigham Young (1801–77) taught that Joseph gave the Urim and Thummim stones back with the plates after finishing the Book of Mormon translation,4 when Joseph showed a seer stone to Elder Woodruff in 1841, he referred to it as a Urim and Thummim.5
While the Book of Mormon primarily referred to a sacred translation device that had two stones bound together, it also referred to a single stone that would be part of the translation: “The Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light” (Alma 37:23).
President Woodruff described how Joseph Smith found this particular seer stone named Gazelem buried underground: “The seer stone known as ‘Gazelem’ … was shown of the Lord to the Prophet Joseph to be some thirty feet under ground, and which he obtained by digging under the pretense of excavating for a well.”6 Though that separate seer stone is less well known by many members than the stones found in the box with the gold plates, President Woodruff revered it as sacred. The day after he dedicated the Manti Utah Temple, he wrote in his journal that he “consecrated upon the Altar the Seers Stone that Joseph Smith found by Revelation some 30 feet under the Earth.”7
Reviewing the scriptural references to the stones might allow believers to conclude several things about the miraculous translation even before reading what witnesses and scribes had to say about the process:
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God prepared sacred stones to be used by a future seer to translate the gold plates (see Joseph Smith—History 1:35; Mosiah 28:13; Alma 37:23).
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The seer would look at or in the stones to translate (see Mosiah 8:13).
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There was more than one translation device composed of stones that God had prepared for the translation of unknown languages: the two stones given to the brother of Jared (see Ether 3:23), the two stones used by Mosiah (see Mosiah 28:13), and the single stone, Gazelem, mentioned in Alma 37:23.
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It is possible that the way the stone Gazelem functioned is that it would “shine forth in darkness unto light” (Alma 37:23).
What Did Joseph Smith Say about the Translation Process?
Joseph Smith did not publicly provide a detailed explanation of the miraculous translation. He consistently said that he translated the record “by the gift, and power of God” but also noted that he translated “through the medium of the Urim and Thummim.”8 In his earliest written explanation of the translation, Joseph wrote that even though he was not learned, “the Lord had prepared spectacles for to read the Book therefore I commenced translating the characters.”9 He also explained that the angel had said that “the Urim & Thummim was hid up with the record, and that God would give me power to translate it with the assistance of this instrument.”10
That miraculous process produced a nearly 600-page book in about 60 working days.11
What Did the Scribes and Witnesses Say about the Translation Process?
Joseph’s scribes, friends, and other witnesses of the translation provided many more details of the mechanics of translation.
Oliver Cowdery repeatedly testified of the miracle of the translation but provided few details. He told a group of Shakers in 1830 that there was “in the box with the plates two transparent stones in the form of spectacles” and that Joseph used them along with a hat to translate.12 At another time he explained that Joseph “found with the plates, from which he translated his book, two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.”13
Emma Smith, the Prophet’s wife and primary early scribe, related that Joseph used two different instruments to translate. The first was the device containing two stones found with the plates, and the second was a single stone that was “a dark color.”14 This stone is in the possession of the First Presidency, and an image of it was first published in the Liahona and Ensign magazines in 2015.15 Emma explained that Joseph translated by placing a stone or stones into his hat, and then he would dictate the translation he saw on the stones.16
Seer stone owned by Joseph Smith
Why would he place the sacred stones into his hat? Several witnesses of the translation explained that Joseph needed to make the area around the stone dark so he could see the words of the translation that would miraculously appear on the stone.17 Joseph Knight Sr., a close friend who provided paper to Joseph during the translation, explained the miracle this way: “The way [Joseph] translated was he put the Urim and Thummim into his hat and darkened his eyes,” and a sentence “would appear in bright … letters. Then he would tell the writer and he would write it. Then that would go away [and] the next sentence would come and so on.” After giving the explanation, Brother Knight testified of the translation, “So we see it was marvelous.”18
David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses, gave a similar description of translation. He explained that Joseph Smith “would put the seer stone into a hat … to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. … One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English.” Like Joseph Knight, David Whitmer heralded this process as miraculous and testified, “Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.”19
In the rebuilt home of Joseph and Emma Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, this is what the desk may have looked like as Joseph translated.
In an interview about the Book of Mormon, President Nelson explained the translation process this way: “We know they had the golden plates, covered usually. And Joseph used these: the Urim and Thummim, seer stones, in the hat. And it was easier for him to see the light when he’d take that position.”20
While we may not fully understand how the miracle of translation occurred, what matters most is that it resulted in the Book of Mormon. As President Nelson taught: “The great worth of the Book of Mormon lies not in its miraculous translation, wondrous as it was, nor in its stories that we read to our children. The great worth of the Book of Mormon is that it is another testament of Jesus Christ.”21 Believers can grow closer to Jesus Christ as they read the words He brought forth through the Prophet Joseph Smith.