As of 1990, the entire book of mormon was available in 36 languages. The nature of the original language of the book of mormon. 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. Almost all of the present book of mormon text was translated during a threemonth period between april and june 1829 with. Welch gave the annual book of mormon lecture entitled hours never to be forgotten for the laura f. This selections volume is being progressively replaced by full translations. Joseph smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light. The book of mormon has been translated into 88 languages, but latin and aramaic are not among them, even though latin is the prominent language for christianity, and aramaic was the primary language of the old testament. The book of mormons old testament portion bmot quotes heavily from the new testament of the bible. By 1968, the book of mormon was translated in only 18 languages.
He had translated about a third of the book of mormon into afrikaans, but it had been a long, tedious effort, and it was imperative that the translation be completed without further delay so that the building up of the church in south africa could progress with greater speed and with every possible advantage. He and several of his close associates testified that the translation was accomplished by the gift and power of god hc 1. Some latterday saints may not be aware that danish was the first foreign language into which the book of mormon was translated. Professor figures out book of mormon translation timeline. South african bom translation story making the rounds. By its own terms, the book of mormon is a translation of an ancient book.
As the video explains, some translators took considerable liberties in adapting the the harry potter books into the target language to better. We discourage this type of publication and call attention to the fact that the book of mormon was translated by the gift and power of god, who has declared that it is true. Includes languages spanish, portuguese, japanese, german, french, hungarian, chinese, korean and russian. The first nonenglish translation of the book of mormon was the danish edition in 1851. But the most significant conclusion supported by this research is the previously unimaginable fact that not only are large portions of the book of mormons original text written in phraseology completely obsolete in joseph smiths time, and spoken and written by virtually nobody on earth when the book of mormon was translated in 1829 and. Joseph smiths translation and publication of the book of mormon. Who translated the book of mormon text into english for. Josephs wife emma insisted that, at the time of translation, joseph could neither write nor dictate a coherent and wellworded letter, let alone dictate a book like the book of.
Joseph smith translated an ancient text by the gift and power of god to produce the book of mormon. Historians view the language patterns, phrases, and names in the book of mormon as evidence that it is not authentic. The first edition of the book of mormon after english was danish in 1851, followed by french, italian, welsh, and german in 1852. What translating harry potter reveals about the book of mormon. Joseph smith said that the book of mormon translation was performed by the gift and power of god the lost 116 pages of the book of mormon manuscript. The fictional tolkien land has not yet been opened for official proselytizing or missionary work, but with the translation of the book of mormon into elvish, a mission is sure to follow. The angel charged joseph smith to translate the book from the ancient language in which it was written. Joseph smith at the age of 16 maybe 14,15 or 17 was led to the site of the plates by the angel moroni, joseph was instructed not to remove the items until he was given permission. As of 2015, the book of mormon has been translated into 110 different languages spoken by over 76 percent of the worlds population, truly beginning to bring the book of mormon to, all nations, kindreds, tongues and. Because we do not have the original plates to examine, its impossible to identify the language used to make the ancient record. Book of mormonlanguagereformed egyptian fairmormon. Kosrae is an island in the federated states of micronesia. Book of mormon translation the church of jesus christ of latter. Who translated the book of mormon into spanish answers.
The miraculous translation of the book of mormon into. According to the lds church, is the book of mormon a translation from a foreign language. The day of casual claims about the language of the book of mormon is over, especially those general statements that the language is a crude imitation of the king james style, intermixed with joseph smiths dialectal usage. In how many languages have the book of mormon been. Afrikaans, the latest edition in the exhibit, was released in 1972. The book of mormon narrates the historical, religious, political, and military events that shaped and continue to inform the churchs teachings. His early work on the translation, with emma smith and martin harris serving as the main scribes, was lost in 1828. Until possible language affinities for jaredite names can be determined, all suggestions for etymologies of jaredite names must remain more speculative than substantive. However, the faithful assurance that it is a translation has not had an accompanying understanding of how that translation took place.
Joseph smith claimed that in 1827 an angel named moroni led him to a set of golden plates which he then translated by the gift and power of god. John gee, two notes on egyptian script, journal of book of mormon studies, vol. But over the past few decades, translation has accelerated. Portions of the book have been translated into another 20 languages. I dont know why latin was never done, but now it is, regrettably. Today, all or part of the book of mormon has been translated into 109 languages. Book of mormon language the encyclopedia of mormonism. As of april 2011, the book of mormon has been published in its entirety in 82 languages, with selections of the book available in an additional 25 languages. Selections from the book of mormon are available in 21 other languages. The book of mormon is available in print in various sizes, bindings, and colors.
Today, all or part of the book of mormon has been translated into 112 languages. There are at least185 quotations and 2,500 unique vocabulary words from the new testame. From time to time there are those who wish to rewrite the book of mormon into familiar or modern english. According to professor royal skousen, all eyewitnesses believed that joseph smith actually saw words in english, and there is evidence in the. The story recounted as a faith promoting aspect of this that he translated the text from english first into ancient egyptian, and then from there into. Many concepts from the book of mormon are present in this book notably 2000 stripling warriors, a liahonalike description of a metal device, the freeman movement, rod of iron, standard of liberty, brass plates, cataclysmic earthquakes followed by.
Eyewitness descriptions of the gold plates from which the book of mormon was translated. Smith translated the ancient language into english through divine revelation. For a translation into a foreign language, the natural next step would be to get editorial help from an educated native speaker of the target language. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints, which has translated the full book of mormon into 90 languages selections are offered in 21 others since the work was first printed in 1830, also. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints, which has translated the full book of mormon into 90 languages selections are offered in 21 others since the work was first printed in. 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. Some had waited all of their lifetimes to read the book of mormon in afrikaans. The lds version of the book of mormon has been translated into 83 languages and selections have been translated into an additional 25 languages. With that caveat, the onomasticon does offer etymologies for some jaredite names, especially if it is possible that some jaredite names were translated into nephite, or were otherwise. When he was told that the book of mormon was translated from the ancient egyptian or modified hebrew type of hieroglyphic into the english language by the prophet joseph smith, he became even more engrossed, for this was his native language and he knows much about the other semitic languages as well as the modern languages.
The nature of the original language nol continues the analysis of the book of mormon text that was begun in grammatical variation gv, parts 1 and 2 of volume 3 of the critical text, published in 2016. Book of mormon in 110 languages church of jesus christ. Sami hanna on semitic uniqueness and the book of mormon. The theory that joseph translated in the sense that he deciphered or rendered reformed egyptian, the language of the book of mormon, into english does not correlate with eyewitness accounts. Book of mormon written in modernday english grace for grace. The book of mormon is published in 112 languages, and many of them are available in multiple formats online. The weight of the book of mormon gold plates book of mormon translation timeframe. The book of mormon was written by a series of prophets from 600 b.
Fourteen centuries later, in 1823, the angel moroni led joseph smith to the plates hidden in a hillside in upstate new york. Translating the book of mormon religious studies center. These tables show all the versions of the book of mormon that have been translated. Lds literature favorites ebook selection translated in many foreign languages from lds leaders and authors. The book of mormon was presented to the world as the translation of an ancient text engraved on golden plates more than 180 years ago. The book of mormon is published in 112 languages, and many of them are available in multiple formats online in march 1830, 5,000 copies of the book of mormon were printed in the e. A possible conclusion from skousens work is that the book of mormon was translated into the english of an earlier era by a nonnative speaker of that language. I will now give you a description of the manner in which the book of mormon was translated. The entire book of mormon has been translated into 85 languages, and selections of the book of mormon have been translated into an additional 25 languages. The book of mormon was originally published in english in 1830 after having been translated by the power of god from the original language, which. From that humble beginning, today the church prints over 3 million copies a year on large web presses. Most evidence supports the idea that joseph and oliver began their work in april 1829 with the speech of benjamin mosiah 16, translated to the end of the book of moroni in may, then translated the title page, and finally translated the small plates of nephi 1 nephiomni and the words of mormon before the end of june welch and rathbone. Welch of brigham young university, delivered a powerful address on wednesday, november 8 on the timing of the translation of the book of mormon. Thus, the book of mormon was translated by the spirit of revelation using the seer stones.
The people described in the book of mormon came from ancient israel and so likely spoke hebrew in the beginning. Unable to provide them with church materials in their language, the church has felt inspired to flood middle earth with the book of mormon. Archaeologists and egyptologists have found no evidence that this language ever existed. The full book of mormon is available in 90 languages, plus american sign language, english braille, spanish braille, and language study editions not included in the full list of languages below. According to joseph smith, he translated the book of mormon from an original text which was engraved on metal plates. The book of mormon text contains logical impossibilities. The translation of the book of mormon into afrikaans. The language of the original text of the book of mormon. The book of mormon is now published in more than 80 languages, with selections available in another 25 languages.
Often, when we think about the translation of the book of mormon, we immediately think of how joseph smith miraculously translated its reformed egyptian characters into english. The story behind the first foreign translation of the book of mormon. This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists. In order for joseph smith to have translated the book of mormon, an english version of the bible, he would have had to translate from a manuscript written in a foreign language, whether it be the textus receptus, the latin vulgate, etc. Mormon scriptures to be translated into 34 additional languages. In the text, the ancient authors mentioned how precious the space was on the plates, and they gave as their reason for writing in egyptian or reformed egyptian that this language required less space than hebrew, their native. Willes center for book of mormon studies at the gordon b. Almost all of the present book of mormon text was translated during a. Several important questions derive from this work on the nature of the original language of the book of mormon.
Book of mormon in 110 languages, ensign, may 2015, 7 with recent publication in the kosraean language, the book of mormon has now been translated into 110 languages. The purpose of these physical instruments was to facilitate that revelatory process and assist joseph smith as he struggled to receive the inspired thoughts, feelings, meanings, and words as he translated the book of mormon by revelation. In that first work, royal skousen with the collaboration of stanford carmack, discussed all the editing that the book of mormon has undergone, in its manuscript. See an updated list of translations of the book of mormon. Book of mormon translations the encyclopedia of mormonism. Book of mormon translator converted the mormon urban. What is the original language of the book of mormon. The book of mormon has been translated in its entirety into 97 languages. Language availability of latterday saint scriptures.