Why doesnt the translation of the egyptian papyri found in 1967. The language of the book of mormon exhibits features typical of a translation from an ancient near eastern text as well as the stamp of nineteenthcentury english and the style of the king james version kjv of the bible. If the book of mormon was translated from egyptian,how did. Maybe neither, but the book of mormon translation for the word was more ideabased instead of literal, and so horse was used instead. The book of mormon came into the world through a series of miraculous events. It is clear, though, that t hese symbols are not the source of the book of abraham. And, as reported now in the latest book from the interpreter foundation matthew l. That is the reason so many saints have come to love the book. Some claim that because adieu is french, it shows that joseph smith composed the book of mormon, and not an ancient author. Why is the book of mormon written in king james english.
The fact that an arabic scholar such as this sees a. The book originated with egyptian papyri that joseph smith translated. Since the book of mormon s publication in 1830, significant progress has been made in the fields of egyptology, near eastern and precolumbian american archaeology, linguistics, and latterday saint history. Because god flashed it onto joseph smiths magic8ball rockinahat the same way that god flashed the kjv deuteroisaiah onto smiths magic rock. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of mormonism.
Translation of the caractors document book of mormon. While a select few did hear joseph refer to magical items, nobody ever saw a breastplate, spectacles, or ancient interpreter stones. Information and translations of book of mormon in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Any discussion of the meaning of the name mormon, must start by. When i see the word translate, it means to me that a scribe read a manuscript written in one language e. April 06, 1829 to june 16, 1829 translation of the book of mormon at this point we move to a daily analysis of the translation of the book of mormon. How did joseph smith translate the book of abraham. So if you interpret that these are the words of abraham instead of the actual penmanship of abraham then this. If it came from the book of mormon, the translation would be made easier by being able to compare it with the english text. Collected essays on onomastic wordplay and the temple in mormon scripture he has found them.
It is the meaning that is most important in the book of mormon, not the words. Why did joseph smith translate the book of mormon into jacobean english, not in use in 1830. The young man, however, had very little formal education and was incapable of writing a book on his own, let alone translating an ancient book written from an unknown language, known in the book of mormon as reformed egyptian. Josephs needs to gain the ability to translate might have been met as follows. This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists. The book of abraham issues translation problems mormonthink. Book of mormon translator converted the mormon urban. And i know for a fact, that i am the only person alive who could have translated this book first into egyptian, and then into afrikaans. Because it was a revelation from god to joseph smith. While there is much that is unknown about reformed egyptian, some clues about its nature emerge from a close reading of the book of mormon text and comparison with other. Two scholarly papers reference another source of reformed egyptian. Moroni indicates that he and his father mormon wrote in a script called reformed egyptian. I do know that there are egyptian elements in the book of mormon, including concepts, names, a phrase, and certain usages of english phrases that have equivalents in egyptian but not in hebrew, and that egyptian had an equivalent to our adieu whereas it is unattested in ancient hebrew.
The papyri contained egyptian hieroglyphics, a form of ancient writing. How to read egyptian hieroglyphs a stepbystep guide to teach yourself in 20, at a eulogy for nelson mandela, there was an imposter sign language translator on the podium to convey the speeches to the deaf community. Who translated the book of mormon text into english for. South african bom translation story making the rounds. Make sure you check back often to see other issues that we see as problematic for the mormon church. An inspired translation of the writings of abraham. Above all, were these words given by the gift and power of god. Book of mormon language the encyclopedia of mormonism. Skeptics of the book of mormon, on the other hand, often dismiss reformed egyptian as a fabrication by joseph smith. Why new testament words and phrases are in the book of mormon part 9. Translating the book of mormon religious studies center. If it were translated, it probably came from the 116 pages which were lost.
Arent mormons supposed go get married on alien planets or something. And, as we all know, our lives are guided in large measure by our perceptions. There are many hebrew literary forms found in the book of mormon. The mormon church hoped the book of abraham would vindicate joseph smith. It was in common use among latterday saints and others in josephs era. While translating the book of mormon, he used the urim and. A second explanation takes into consideration what joseph smith meant by the word translation. Many have wondered what reformed egyptian might be and why book of mormon recordkeepers wrote in such a script. The translated document is not the anthon transcript, though its commonly referred to as the original anthon transcript. The translation of the book of mormon into afrikaans. If the book of mormon was translated from egyptian,how did a french word get in it. Evidence of ancient egyptian and hebrew in the book of mormon. Name as key word is a potentially very important book. While a handful of egyptian words are identifiable, they are minimal compared to their hebrew correspondents.
Why did mormon and moroni write in reformed egyptian. For instance, over 50% of the book is couched in chiastic structures. Translations in context of book of mormon in englishgerman from reverso context. Indeed, as jensen and hauglid point out in their introductory remarks in the new volume, joseph smiths keen interest in egyptian writings may have stemmed in part from his belief that the writing system on the gold plates from which he translated the book of mormon had an egyptian component. On november 27, 1967 the metropolitan museum of art in new york city made available to the church certain papyri fragments that had once been in. Ever since, when i have seen the word mormon used in the media to describe usin a newspaper or a magazine or book or whateverthere flashes into my mind his statement, which has become my motto.
By its own terms, the book of mormon is a translation of an ancient book. This is a very curious fact because the book of mormon was not translated from the hebrew, but from the egyptian languagebut i digress. The book of mormon translation was completed here in june 1829. Book of mormonlanguagereformed egyptian fairmormon. But i have never heard of anyone translating a translated egyptian text back into egyptian in order to. The recently modified description creates ambiguity regarding the origin and nature of the text. He describes the yearning for afrikaansspeakers for a translation of the book of mormon. New joseph smith papers volume published book of mormon. Translation of the caractors document which contains reformed egyptian from the ancient book of mormon record. Who translated the book of mormon text into english for joseph smith to read. Arent mormons supposed go get married on alien planets or. Maybe the nephites called some other animal a horse and the book of mormon was translated literally, keeping the same name. The word translation typically assumes an expert knowledge of multiple languages.
Joseph smith, the movements founder, published the book of mormon in 1830 as a translation of these golden plates. Lds egyptologist doubts joseph smith translated the book. Again, it is the rate of translation, approximately 6. There are, in fact, at least 922 chiasma in the book of mormon. A few of the chapters in the book primarily relate to the bible. Remember, joseph smith claimed that god actually gave him the translation word by word from reformed egyptian hieroglyphics. He might have needed a sample of an english translation of reformed egyptian to learn to associate egyptian characters with english words or phrases. Egyptian was widely used in lehis day, but because poetic writing are skewed in translation, because prophetic writings were generally. In other words, contrary to both mormon and anti mormon claims, the hieratic priestly script transcribed in the margins of book of abraham manuscripts do not represent, even ostensibly, an egyptian text of the book. If your church ever needs an egyptian translation of the book of mormon, it is sitting in my office as we speak. He also stated the book of mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion joseph smiths history of the church, vol.
Scholarly reference works on languages do not, however, acknowledge the existence of either a reformed egyptian language or reformed egyptian script as it has been described in mormon belief. Much can be known about the coming forth of the english text of the book of mormon through a careful study of statements made by joseph smith, his scribes, and others closely associated with the translation of the book of mormon. How is it that lehi the first father in the book of mormon and his sons couldve known egyptian and writing on metal. The word of god essays on mormon scripture edited by dan vogel. Many typical hebrew language patterns have been identified in the book of mormon, though several are.
According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a 19thcentury translation of a record of ancient inhabitants of the american continent, which was written in a script which the book refers to as reformed egyptian. When joseph smith began translating the book of mormon in 1827. But if the scribe made a mistake, then the words would remain until the scribe made the proper correction. The previous description of the book of abraham read, a translation from some egyptian papyri that came into the hands of joseph smith in 1835, containing writings of the patriarch abraham. In fact, the book of mormon translation process was performed entirely without looking at the plates, which were either out of the room or said to have been covered with a cloth. If joseph smiths translation of the egyptian parchment could be discredited, and proven false, then doubt would be thrown also upon the genuineness of his translation of the book of mormon, and thus all his pretensions as a translator would be exposed and come to naught. Brothers according to those contemporaries of joseph smith who observed the book of mormon translation process, joseph smith did not look at or read from the golden plates while translating the book of mormon. Bringing together fifteen timely and thoughtprovoking discussions of mormon canon, the word of god asks to what extent scripture is historical and infallible and what it tells us about the nature of revelation. According to mormons then, the translation of the book of mormon from the egyptian plates, were produced by god gui ding smith word by word.
Adieu is simply one english word among many in the book of mormon translation. Greek and latin words and other problems in the book of mormon part 1 this is the first of several articles dealing with the problems in the book of mormon. Brother hanna said the book of mormon simply flowed back into the arabic language. The prophet joseph did not merely render an interpretation, but a word for word translation from the egyptian type of hieroglyphic into the english language. Thompson presented his reasons for concluding that joseph smith did not produce the book of abraham by translating it, as he claimed, from an egyptian papyrus scroll he had obtained in 1835. Book of mormon translation by joseph smith book of. John gee, two notes on egyptian script, journal of book of mormon studies, vol. Various engraved writings on metal plates, such as gold or copper, have been found, so its not like the book of mormon is the only volume of writings to be on metal, anciently.
1382 917 1214 1084 280 1025 1619 349 327 1510 993 1519 1083 1341 1063 1454 693 1417 1120 1110 897 763 1137 723 1356 1100 1402 1208 217 702 1287 278 121 1474 577