Modified Translation Essay comments

Thanks to Brant Gardner and Royal Skousen, there has been a renewed interest in the Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon Translation.

Related to this is the revised, shorter version of the essay found here:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/book-of-mormon-translation?lang=eng

I provided an analysis here:

https://www.ldshistoricalnarratives.com/p/gospel-topics-essay-on-translation.html

For ease of reference, here's that analysis:

Book of Mormon Translation	My comments
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org‌‌/study/history/topics/book-of-mormon-translation?lang=eng
Joseph Smith translated an ancient text “by the gift and power of God” to produce the Book of Mormon.	This is an excerpt from what Joseph actually said. It omits his reference to the Urim and Thummim.
His early work on the translation, with Emma Smith and Martin Harris serving as the main scribes, was lost in 1828.	Neither Emma nor Martin ever said which parts, exactly, they scribed.
Almost all of the present Book of Mormon text was translated during a three-month period between April and June 1829 with Oliver Cowdery as the scribe.	Joseph said he resumed translating after he received the plates and Urim and Thummim in September 1828. David Whitmer said it took 8 months, which suggests Joseph started translation in November. The earliest extant Original Manuscript has Oliver’s handwriting starting in Alma 11, which suggests Emma and/or Martin may have scribed Mosiah and the first part of Alma before Oliver arrived in Harmony.
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.	Particularly what Joseph and Oliver said.
The manuscript Joseph Smith dictated to Oliver Cowdery and others is known today as the original manuscript, about 28 percent of which still survives. This manuscript corroborates Joseph’s statements that he dictated the text from another language within a short time frame. For example, it includes errors that suggest the scribe heard words incorrectly rather than misread words copied from another manuscript. In addition, some grammatical constructions more characteristic of Near Eastern languages than English appear in the original manuscript, suggesting the base language of the translation was not English.1	All good points.
Joseph and his scribes wrote of two instruments used in translating the Book of Mormon.	This is misleading because of how it is written. Joseph never once “wrote of two instruments” as the article claims. Neither did Oliver. They both explained that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim as directed by Moroni. Other scribes, such as David and Emma, did write about two instruments, but they always made the distinction between the Urim and Thummim and the seer stone perfectly clear.
One instrument, called in the Book of Mormon the “interpreters,” is better known to Latter-day Saints today as the “Urim and Thummim.” Joseph found the interpreters buried in the hill with the plates.	This was better known to Latter-day Saints as the “Urim and Thummim” during Joseph’s lifetime than it is today. Modern LDS scholars have retroactively and anachronistically redefined the term “the Urim and Thummim” to apply to both the Nephite interpreters and the seer stone Joseph supposedly used to translate the plates.
The other instrument, which Joseph discovered in the ground years before he retrieved the plates, was a small oval stone, or “seer stone.” As a young man during the 1820s, Joseph, like others in his day, used a seer stone to look for lost objects and buried treasure. As he grew to understand his prophetic calling, he learned he could use this stone for the higher purpose of translating scripture.2	This is a combination of hearsay and speculative rationalization, all stated as fact.
Scribes and others who observed the translation left accounts giving insight into the process. Some accounts indicate Joseph studied the characters on the plates.	Joseph himself said he copied and translated the characters. He and Oliver said Joseph translated the engravings (D&C 10).
Most of the accounts speak of Joseph’s use of the interpreters or the seer stone. According to these accounts, Joseph placed either the interpreters or the seer stone in a hat, pressed his face into the hat to block out extraneous light, and spoke aloud the English words inspired by the instrument. The process as described brings to mind a passage from the Book of Mormon that speaks of God preparing “a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light.”3	The number of accounts is irrelevant because “most” of them came from one person: David Whitmer.
The scribes who assisted with the translation unquestionably believed Joseph translated by divine power. Joseph’s wife Emma believed the text of the Book of Mormon surpassed her husband’s writing abilities.	This is a euphemism for what Emma actually wrote. She claimed that Joseph couldn’t even write a good letter at the time, but Joseph’s cursive handwriting on the Original Manuscript is clear and legible, suggesting he had practiced.
Oliver Cowdery testified under oath in 1831 that Joseph “found with the plates, from which he translated his book, two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.”4	This is consistent with other accounts from Oliver.
Questions raised during the translation process led to many of the earliest revelations now recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants and to significant events like the restoration of the priesthood. The translation and publication of the Book of Mormon immediately preceded the organization of the Church in the spring of 1830.	All good.
Church Resources “Book of Mormon Translation,” Gospel Topics, topics.lds.org. “The Gold Plates and the Translation of the Book of Mormon,” josephsmithpapers.org. Royal Skousen and Robin Scott Jensen, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 3, Part 1: Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1–Alma 35, facsimile ed., vol. 3 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, eds. Ronald K. Esplin and Matthew J. Grow (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2015). Royal Skousen and Robin Scott Jensen, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 3, Part 2: Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, Alma 36–Moroni 10, facsimile ed., vol. 3 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, eds. Ronald K. Esplin and Matthew J. Grow (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2015).	The first reference goes to a SITH-promoting essay. The article in the JSP offers a list of all the references in the JSP, none of which state or support either SITH or M2C.   As noted previously, some of the JSP editorial content supports SITH and M2C, but none of the actual historical documents n the JSP do. They all reaffirm what Joseph and Oliver said about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.