Something I Didn't Know

Emma Smith, who acted as an early scribe for Joseph, gave this account in 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, and one time while he was translating he stopped suddenly, pale as a sheet, and said, ‘Emma, did Jerusalem have walls around it?’ When I answered, ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘Oh! [I didn’t know.] I was afraid I had been deceived.’ He had such a limited knowledge of history at that time that he did not even know that Jerusalem was surrounded by walls.”

(Edmund C. Briggs, “A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856,” Journal of History, Jan. 1916, p. 454.)

Quote of the Day

"One time I became so interested in the speed of the work [of translating the Book of Mormon] that was accomplished by Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith that I asked someone to research some of the other translations of scriptures for me to see how purely remarkable this work was. I found out that in translating the books of Moses from Hebrew to Greek, six men were called from each of the 12 tribes to perform the labor. Their project required 72 days, or 5,184 man days. Jerome was commissioned by the pope to translate the Bible from Hebrew to Latin; he worked on the project for 23 years, or 8,395 days. In the commission given by King James to translate the English version of the Bible from several other translations to what the king hoped would be the perfect English version, he selected 54 men who worked on the project for 4 years, or 78,840 man days."Now contrast that to the translation of the Book of Mormon, which for all intents and purposes started on 7 April 1829 and was completed by 30 June 1829-two men working 85 days, or 170 man days. It was truly a miracle. It could only have been done under the direction of the Lord."This great book is one tangible evidence that we have of the call of the Prophet Joseph Smith to bring about the long-awaited restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and again establish the Lord's Church on earth. According to prophecy, this time its establishment was to endure (see Isa. 2:2-3; Dan. 2:44). This being true, the Lord would carefully prepare his Church leadership to give continuity to the work."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998

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