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 BOOK
OF MORMONAN ACCOUNT WRITTEN BY THE HAND OF MORMON UPON PLATES TAKEN FROM THE PLATES OF NEPHI "I wish
also to mention here, that the title page of the Book of Mormon is a literal translation, taken from the very last
leaf, on the left hand side of the collection or book of plates, which contained the record which has been translated;
the language of the whole running the same as all Hebrew writing in general; and that, said title page is not by
any means a modern composition either of mine or of any other man's who has lived or does live in this generation."
(Smith, Joseph, Jr. Times and Seasons. 3:943.)The title page, while appearing first, is probably among the last things that were written by Moroni. This is Moroni’s introduction to the plates. Joseph Smith notes that this text comes from the very last leaf of the plates, on the left hand side, with the general text running right to left as in Hebrew rather than the left to right as in English. Thus the title page would have been the very last thing added to the plates, and serves as Moroni’s parting synopsis of his text. Moroni identifies Mormon as the "hand" that wrote the text. Of course there are other plates in the collection that were written by others, namely the small plates that were included in the collection, but it appears that both Mormon and Moroni considered them to be additions to the main work, rather than integral to it. It is therefore not only logical, but consistent to describe the work as that of Mormon. This ascription of Mormon as the "hand" is most likely an important identifier of the authority of the work as it is a description of Mormon’s function. Mormon is given as the "hand" both for the information, and for the imprimatur. It is official because it is stated to be official. Textual: One should not suppose that the reference to "the same as all Hebrew writing in general" has any specific meaning for the language on the plates other than the direction of the writing. The reference specifically notes the location of the title page, and is not dealing with anything other than the direction one would read the original plates, following the Hebrew convention rather than the English. Regardless of the nature of the language, the reading order makes sense to follow the Hebrew scheme, as that is what Nephi would have used as his model. Authorship: Daniel Ludlow notes that "virtually all... scholars and students of the Book of Mormon who have written commentary about the title page have reached exactly the same two conclusions: (1) the title page was written entirely by Moroni, and (2) he wrote it at two different times in his life.(Ludlow, Daniel. "The Title Page." In: The Book of Mormon: First Nephi, the Doctrinal Foundation. Religious Studies Center, 1988, p. 28.) Ludlow suggests, however, that Mormon may have written the first section, and Moroni the second. He notes that there is nothingin the first section that Mormon could not have written, and the repetition of phrases might suggest two people, as the same person would not have written obviously parallel phrases. (Ludlow, 1988, p. 30-31.) This suggestion is possible, but appears to require that Mormon consider the work finished, which is not apparent from the text of the Book of Mormon. At the beginning of Mormon chapter 8 we find some information about Mormon's opinion of the close of his work: Morm. 8:1 1 Behold I, Moroni, do finish the record of my father, Mormon. Behold, I have but few things to write, which things I have been commanded by my father. The statement that Moroni has things to write that were commanded by Mormon suggests that Mormon did not consider the work closed, and without that closure, the impetus to write a title page is much less. Ludlow's suggestion that the parallel phrasing might suggest two authors is actually an argument against two authors. In order to show two authors, Ludlow splits what I see as intentional parallelism, as noted below. The final reason for supposing that Moroni is the sole author is the physical placement of the plate, suggesting that it was the last thing written. To have had Mormon's hand, Moroni would have had to find some way to keep a single plate of text separate from the rest of the text he was entering. Moroni doesn't appear to have had the ability to create new plates during his years of wandering, and would have used those that were available. To continually move a single plate as it is continually moved to the end of the text would be awkward. That physical fact alone suggests that any final benediction/introduction of the work by Mormon would have been incorporated into the book of Mormon, rather than as a title page. Wherefore,
it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites—Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile— Written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation— Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed— To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof— Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile— The interpretation thereof by the gift of God. Moroni gives
a brief synopsis of the contents of the record, emphasizing the spiritual nature of the text rather than the historical.
He mentions that it is the abridgement of the records of a people, but very specifically notes that it comes by
prophecy and revelation.Literary: The Book of Mormon critical text attempts an attribution of each verse to the person who spoke or wrote it. They suggest that the first section of the title page, up until Moroni is mentioned, was written and attributable to Mormon. (Book of Mormon Critical Text, FARMS 1981, p. 1.) I would suggest that the structure of the text would indicate a single author, and that it would necessarily have to be Moroni, as he is clearly referenced in part of that structure. The line breaks indicated above are my own division in the sentences, but follow the locations of major attempts at punctuation in the original. These are logical breaks. They are logical, because each line follows in a parallel format. The format of each line consists of two parts. The first is a verbal phrase, and the second is a clause that provides some explanatory information about that verbal phrase. The verbal phrases are: Written to the Lamanites Written by way of commandment, Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord To come forth by the gift and power of God Sealed by the hand of Moroni, The interpretation thereof by the gift of God. The first set is easy to see because each line begins with "written." This is not accident. It is a parallelism of emphasis. The emphasis is on the text, or the writing, which is the same thing as the text. Thus the focus is on the things that are written, what they are, and what their purpose should be. The text is "written" to "come forth." In the second set we have a reversal of meanings, relying upon a pairing of "sealed" and "interpretation." While Mormons understand that there was a sealed part of the Book of Mormon, Moroni is not referring to that kind of sealing, but rather one of meaning. Moroni’s "seal" is broken by "interpretation." Once again, we must not presume that Moroni understood that we would not be able to read his language. He may well have assumed that the language would be accessible. However, he did understand that this record could not come forth without the intervention of God. Therefore, this is a revelatory interpretation that is breaking his seal of authority on the text. Variant: The earliest text of the title page comes from the manuscript copies of that are on the Federal Copyright forms, dated 11 June 1829 (Book of Mormon Critical Text, p. 1.) There are some minor differences between that manuscript and the text in our printed copies, though the printed copies follow the printer’s manuscript and the 1830 edition. The most interesting change was the addition of "up" in the printed version in three cases: Written and sealed [up]… And hid [up]… Sealed [up] by the hand of Moroni… These are interesting because they are additions designed to make more sense to a reader of English, but they interrupt the crisp flow of the text as it was first written. It is probable that the original text had the more compact verbs as they fit better into the flow of that first section. An
abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also, which is a record of the people of Jared, who were scattered at the
time the Lord confounded the language of the people, when they were building a tower to get to heaven—Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever— And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, manifesting himself unto all nations— And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ. Moroni adds
in the information on Ether precisely because it is an addition to the text. The Ether material may or may
not have been part of the design of the record as Mormon envisioned it. We don’t know if Mormon planned to introduce
it, but Moroni did, and therefore would have seen it as an addition to the work of his father, and worthy of comment.Moroni addresses the purposes of the book as showing the covenants of the Lord to "the remnant of the House of Israel. This needs to be read in the context of the earlier passage: "Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile…" The Lamanites are the remnant of Israel from the viewpoint of the Nephites, a traditional interpretation that dated to the first Nephi’s exegesis of Isaiah. The Lehites were seen as that remnant, both the Nephites and the Lamanites. By the time Moroni writes, he knows that only the Lamanites will survive, and therefore they become the "remnant of the House of Israel." The title page ends with perhaps the two most important statements. The first is that the ultimate purpose of the text is to teach of Jesus the Christ. The second is that this is a spiritual volume come through the hands of men, and that any mistakes will be due to the men, and not to the God who revealed and inspired it. TRANSLATED
BY JOSEPH SMITH, JUN.The first published
edition listed Joseph Smith, Jr. as the author, not the translator. This was not a change in the understanding
of Joseph’s relationship to the text, but rather a concession to form. The attribution of author was typical, but
translator is more accurate. Widstoe and Harris comment specifically on this change:"The title page of the Book of Mormon carries a brief account of the contents of the Book, translated from the plates. In addition the name of Joseph Smith, Jr., appears on the [p.28] title page in the first edition as author and proprietor. In later editions Joseph Smith's name occurs as translator. The title in the first edition and the subsequent change has led to much comment by unfriendly critics. In fact, however, it is a strong evidence of the truthfulness and sincerity of the young man. At no time did Joseph claim that he was anything else than a translator of the Book of Mormon. If he had said that he had invented the Book as a piece of fiction, he would have won universal praise. It was the miraculous element in the obtaining and translating of the plates which gave offense. He allowed his name to appear on the title page of the first edition as "author and proprietor" because the copyright law provided that the name of the author appear upon the title page. To meet the issue, as the only living person who could claim the Book, he allowed his name so to appear. A dishonest man, had he been one, would have been crafty enough to devise some means of circumventing the requirement, to avoid the storm of misunderstanding that would follow such a formal statement of authorship of a book declared to be of divine origin." ( John A. Widtsoe and Franklin S. Harris, Jr., Seven Claims of the Book of Mormon p.27). |
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| by Brant Gardner. Copyright 1998 |
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