The Sealed Plates

[prismsplay]

Grant Hardy is one of my favorite Book of Mormon scholars. His The Book of Mormon: A Reader's

Edition (2003), his "Introduction" to Royal Skousen's The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text

(2009), and his Understanding the Book of Mormon (2010) are all useful to persons interested in

the Book of Mormon.

 

Even his errors are helpful. On page 586 of Hardy's The Book of Mormon: A Reader's Edition,

footnote "a" comments on Ether 4:1, which, in the 1920 text that Hardy employs, reads: "And the

Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord,

and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men

until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did King Mosiah ['King

Benjamin' in The Earliest Text] keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after

Christ should show himself unto his people." Footnote "a" states: "Apparently Mosiah [the younger]

only gave his people an oral summary, at Mosiah 28:11-18."

 

The error here is that Hardy assumed that the sealed writings of Jared were included in the 24 gold

plates. They were not. Here is a chronology concerning the sealed writings of the brother of Jared

and the 24 gold plates written by Ether:

 

1. The Lord showed himself to the brother of Jared (Ether 3:6-20).

 

2. The Lord gave the brother of Jared two stones, which constitute the Urim and Thummim, showed

"all things" to the brother of Jared, and commanded him to write what he saw and then seal it up

with the Urim and Thummim (Ether 3:21-28). We don't know whether or not the writings were on

metallic plates. We only know that they were written in the language of the Jaredites, which was the

unconfounded language of Adam, and that they were in some manner sealed. Any physical seal

could be removed. Translating what would later become a lost language would require using the

accompanying Urim and Thummim.

 

3. At the end of the Jaredite civilization, Ether produced his summary of it on 24 gold plates (Ether

1:1-6). None of the 24 plates were sealed. Therefore, they did not contain the writings of the

brother of Jared that were sealed.

 

4. Omni 20-22 states: "And it came to pass in the days of Mosiah [the elder], there was a large

stone brought unto him with engravings on it; and he did interpret the engravings by the gift and

power of God. And they gave an account of one Coriantumr [a contemporary of Ether], and the

slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt  with

them for the space of nine moons. It also spake a few words concerning his fathers. And his first

parents came out from the tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people."

Mosiah the elder's ability to interpret the engravings "by the gift and power of God" suggests that

he had access to the Urim and Thummim. Were they given to him by Ether?

 

5. King Mosiah the elder's son King Benjamin must have been given (perhaps by Ether) the sealed

writings of the brother of Jared, for King Benjamin kept them for revealment "after Christ should

show himself unto his people" (Ether 4:1).

 

6. The 24 gold plates written by Ether were discovered by a search party sent out by King Limhi

and were taken to King Limhi in the land of Nephi (Mosiah 8:5-19; 21:25-27).

 

7. King Mosiah the younger translated and published the 24 gold plates written by Ether (Mosiah

28:10-20).

 

8. Jesus Christ revealed to the surviving Nephites what was written and sealed up by the brother of

Jared (3 Nephi 26:3-5 with Ether 4:1-3). Notice especially Ether 4:2: "And after Christ truly had

showed himself unto his people he commanded that they [the sealed writings of the brother of

Jared] should be made manifest." The act of making them manifest would have required presenting

them in the Nephite language.

 

9. Mormon's abridgment of the plates of Nephi included two unabridged sets of plates, the smaller

plates of Nephi (1 Nephi through Omni), and a transcription or translation of the writings of the

brother of Jared, which Moroni would later quote from. The transcription or translation of the

writings of the brother of Jared was included to fulfill 2 Nephi 27:10-11: "For the book shall be

sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the

own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the

foundation of the world unto the end thereof. And the day cometh that the words of the book which

were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and

all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of

men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth." The small plates of Nephi would have

been made to conform to the dimensions of the large plates of Nephi, which are the same

dimensions that Mormon used in his abridgment of the large plates of Nephi. Since the sealed

plates included in the Book of Mormon were the same physical size as the other plates, it is unlikely

that they would have been on the same writing material used by the brother of Jared. The sealed

plates included with the Book of Mormon plates are probably a transcription or translation of the

original writings of the brother of Jared, which are probably preserved separately in Hill Cumorah (in

Mexico), where other sacred plates are kept.

 

10. Within Moroni's Book of Ether, which summarizes what was written by Ether on the 24 gold plates,

Moroni also quoted from the formerly sealed writings of the brother of Jared, which were  not included

in Ether's 24 gold plates. Ether 4:4-5 states: "Behold, I have written upon these plates  the very things

which the brother of Jared saw [Ether 3:6-27]; and there never were greater things made manifest

than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared. Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me

to write them; and I have written them." Moroni then sealed the transcription or translation of writings

of the brother of Jared and ordered the future translator of the Book of Mormon not to unseal them.

 

Here is an 1833 description of the Book of Mormon plates published in The Evening and the Morning Star 1:8:

 

"These plates were generally made from the sixteenth to the thirty second part of an inch thick

(of metal) and something like six by eight inches square, and fastened at the back with three

rings through which a rod was put to carry them, or hang them. The word of the Lord, the history

of the doings of the children of God, and their genealogy was engraved in a nice workmanlike

manner, upon them, in Hebrew, reformed Egyptian, &c. Such was the condition of the plates,

from which came the book of Mormon. As may be seen by an allusion in the book of Ether, all

that was on them is not translated; wherefore, as they are sacred, when the book of Mormon

was translated from them, they were again hid up to the Lord, to come forth again in his own due

time."

 

Here is Joseph Smith's 1842 description of the Book of Mormon plates published in Times and Seasons 3:707:

 

"These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold, each plate was six

inches wide and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with

engravings, in Egyptian characters and bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book with

three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a

part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully

engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction and much skill in

the art of engraving. With the records was found a curious instrument which the ancients called

'Urim and Thummim,' which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow fastened to

a breastplate."

 

Here is the beginning of a revelation in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants that was not included in

the 1833 Book of Commandments:

 

"SECTION XLII.

 

"Revelation to Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, June, 1829, given previous to their

viewing the plates containing the book of Mormon:

 

"1 Behold I say unto you, that you must rely upon my word, which if you do, with full purpose of

heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim

and Thummim, which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the

Lord face to face, and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on

the borders of the red sea; and it is by your faith that you shall obtain a view of them, even by that

faith which was had by the prophets of old."

 

Here is the most detailed description of the Urim and Thummim that we presently have:

 

" 'Do not be uneasy, Mother, all is right—see here, I have got a key.' I knew not what he meant, but

took the article of which he spoke into my hands, and, upon examination, found that it consisted of

two smooth three-cornered diamonds set in glass, and the glasses were set in silver bows, which

were connected with each other in much the same way as old-fashioned spectacles." [Biographical

Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and his Progenitors, Edition of 1880, chapter 23, page 107]

Edited September 21, 2013 by prismsplay

[Tiki]

10. Within Moroni's Book of Ether, which summarizes what was written by Ether on the 24 gold plates,

Moroni also quoted from the formerly sealed writings of the brother of Jared, which were not included

in Ether's 24 gold plates. Ether 4:4-5 states: "Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things

which the brother of Jared saw [Ether 3:6-27]; and there never were greater things made manifest

than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared. Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me

to write them; and I have written them." Moroni then sealed the transcription or translation of writings

of the brother of Jared and ordered the future translator of the Book of Mormon not to unseal them.

Ether 4:4-5 does not indicate that Moroni read from the sealed writings of the Brother of Jared. Moroni wrote that he had written the very things which the Brother of Jared saw, which would indicate that Moroni, a prophet, was given a vision of the very things which the brother of Jared saw.

[prismsplay]

10. Within Moroni's Book of Ether, which summarizes what was written by Ether on the 24 gold plates,

Moroni also quoted from the formerly sealed writings of the brother of Jared, which were not included

in Ether's 24 gold plates. Ether 4:4-5 states: "Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things

which the brother of Jared saw [Ether 3:6-27]; and there never were greater things made manifest

than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared. Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me

to write them; and I have written them." Moroni then sealed the transcription or translation of writings

of the brother of Jared and ordered the future translator of the Book of Mormon not to unseal them.

Ether 4:4-5 does not indicate that Moroni read from the sealed writings of the Brother of Jared. Moroni wrote that he had written the very things which the Brother of Jared saw, which would indicate that Moroni, a prophet, was given a vision of the very things which the brother of Jared saw.

 

During his ministry among them, Jesus Christ told the Nephites all that had been revealed to the brother of Jared, which had been kept sealed until then. Therefore, when Moroni quoted a portion of "the very things which the brother of Jared saw", referring to Ether 3:6-27, he was quoting from unsealed plates. Moroni is the one who sealed those plates, commanding a future translator not to touch them. Our generation is too wicked to be allowed to read them. Only after the cleansing judgments of God will the writings of the brother of Jared be "read upon the housetops" in fulfillment of prophecy.

Edited September 24, 2013 by prismsplay