A Timeline of the Book of Mormon Translation

I looked a bit at the timeline of the translation of the Book of Mormon to help me organize in my thoughts some of the main events related to the translation.  Here’s how I would lay out what happened from the time Joseph got the plates to the publication:

 

·        September 22, 1827: Joseph received the plates from the angel Moroni near Palmyra

·        December 1827: Joseph and Emma arrived in Harmony at her parents’ house, escaping the persecution of those who sought to steal the plates in New York.  Joseph hid the plates in a nearby hill because of objections from Emma’s father.

·        February 1828: Joseph and Emma moved into a small home near the Hale’s, allowing Joseph to begin translating in earnest.  Emma served as his scribe to begin with.  She commented that Joseph “could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter; let alone dictat[e] a book like the Book of Mormon.”  Martin Harris also took some of the translation with the ancient characters to three professional linguists, including Charles Anthon.

·        April – June 1828: Martin Harris served as scribe to Joseph and they finished the 116 pages

·        June 1828: Martin took the pages back to show is family and were subsequently lost

·        June 1828 – March 1829: The plates were taken from Joseph and he lost the ability to translate for a time; the gift was restored and he received the plates again.  Joseph started translating again but the work was slow

·        April 7, 1829 – June 30, 1829: The large majority of the translation was done with Oliver Cowdery as scribe working nearly full time.  On June 11^th Joseph filed for the copyright.  The translation finished at Fayette, New York in the Whitmer home. 

·        June 1829 – Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer are shown the plates and become the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon

·        August 1829 – E. B. Grandin agreed to print 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon

·        March 26, 1830 – The first copies of the Book of Mormon became available for sale

John Welsh noted the incredible feat it was for the majority of the Book of Mormon to be translated in a few short months between April and June of 1829.  He suggested that if Oliver and Joseph worked 8 hours a day at a speed of 10 words per minute, they would get it done in 56 full working days. It’s interesting to me how the Lord prepared Joseph through his experiences from the time he got the plates until Oliver arrived in harmony in April 1829.  In the year of a half since he first received the plates, Joseph had little to show for it in terms of translated material.  But he had learned how to translate through the power of God and how strict the commands of the Lord were in regard to the translation.   We are all blessed because of his subsequent diligence and commitment to bringing forth the Book of Mormon to the world.  That he and Oliver could produce the large majority of this incredibly complex and influential book in less than three months is a testimony to the hand of God that guided the process.  The most important fact about the translation is that it indeed was done through the power of God; as the Lord declared, “He has translated the book, even that part which I have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true” (D&C 17:6).  God be thanked for this divine book of scripture brought to us through Joseph Smith.