The speed with which the Book of Mormon was translated

Parent page: Book of Mormon Translation

"Joseph Smith only about sixty-five working days to translate a book that, in the current edition, is 531 pages long"

John W. Welch:

One of the most amazing facts about the Book of Mormon is that it took Joseph Smith only about sixty-five working days to translate a book that, in the current edition, is 531 pages long. Historical details about the time it took to translate the book are remarkably well preserved, and they are corroborated by the independently consistent statements of numerous witnesses.^[1][2]

The Book of Mormon was produced at an estimated average rate of eight of our printed pages per day

Neal A. Maxwell:

One marvel is the very rapidity with which Joseph was translating—at an estimated average rate of eight of our printed pages per day! The total translation time was about sixty-five working days.^[3] By comparison, one able LDS translator in Japan, surrounded by reference books, language dictionaries, and translator colleagues ready to help if needed, indicated that he considered an output of one careful, final page a day to be productive. And he is retranslating from earlier Japanese to modern Japanese! More than fifty able English scholars labored for seven years, using previous translations, to produce the King James Version of the Bible, averaging about one precious page per day. The Prophet Joseph Smith would sometimes produce ten pages per day! ^[4][5]

Joseph did not revise or review his dictation

Neal A. Maxwell:

A second marvel of the Book of Mormon translation process is that from what we know, rarely would Joseph go back, review, or revise what had already been done. There was a steady flow in the translation. The Prophet's dictating resulted—just as the compositor, John H. Gilbert, remembered—in no paragraphing.

Emma Smith said of the inspired process: "After meals, or after interruptions, [Joseph] would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him."^[6] One who has dictated and been interrupted must usually resume by inquiring, "Now, where were we?" Not so with the Prophet!

If one were manufacturing a text, he would constantly need to cross-check himself, to edit, and to revise for consistency. Had the Prophet dictated and revised extensively, there would be more evidence of it. But there was no need to revise divinely supplied text. Whatever the details of the translation process, we are discussing a process that was truly astonishing!^[7]

"it was translated in a stunningly short amount of time. There was no time for outside research, rewriting, or polishing"

John W. Welch and Tim Rathbone:

Among the many amazing facts about the Book of Mormon is how little time it took for Joseph Smith to translate it. Recent research has shown more clearly than ever before that the Book of Mormon as we now have it was translated in a stunningly short amount of time. There was no time for outside research, rewriting, or polishing. Many contemporaneous historical documents sustain and validate the accuracy of Joseph Smith's account of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.....

[A] span of no more than sixty-five to seventy-five total days was likely involved in translating the Book of Mormon as we now have it, for an overall average of about seven to eight pages per day, conservatively estimated. At such a pace, only about a week could have been taken to translate all of 1 Nephi; a day and half for King Benjamin's speech.

Moreover, Joseph and Oliver could not spend all of that time concentrating on the translation. They also took time to eat, to sleep, to seek employment (once, to work for money when supplies ran out), to receive the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, to make at least one (and possibly two) trips to Colesville thirty miles away, to convert and baptize Hyrum and Samuel Smith (who came to Harmony at that time), to receive and record thirteen revelations that are now sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, to move on buckboard from Harmony to Fayette, to acquire the Book of Mormon copyright, to preach a few days and baptize several people near Fayette, to experience manifestations with the Three and Eight Witnesses, and to begin making arrangements for the Book of Mormon's publication.—(Click here to continue)^[8]

Oliver Cowdery: "These were days never to be forgotten...Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth"

Oliver Cowdery:

These were days never to be forgotten-to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated, with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, 'Interpreters,' the history, or record, called 'The Book of Mormon.'^[9]

Emma Smith: "he could at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him"

Joseph Smith III interviewed his mother Emma shortly before her death:

Question. Mother, what is your belief about the authenticity, or origin, of the Book of Mormon?

Answer. My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity - I have not the slightest doubt of it. I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired; for, when acting as his scribe, your father would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he could at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him. This was a usual thing for him to do. It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this; and, for one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible.^[10]

Notes

1. ↑ Statements include those of Joseph Smith, Emma Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Knight, John Gilbert, and others. For a thorough documentary treatment of this subject, see John W. Welch and Tim Rathbone, “The Translation of the Book of Mormon: Basic Historical Information,” FARMS Preliminary Report W&R-86, P.O. Box 7113, University Station, Provo, Utah 84602.
2. ↑ John W. Welch, "How long did it take Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Mormon?," I Have a Question, Ensign (January 1988)
3. ↑ John W. Welch, "How long did it take Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Mormon?" I Have a Question, Ensign, January 1988, 47.
4. ↑ See the bulletin Insights: An Ancient Window (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies), February 1986, 1.
5. ↑ Neal A. Maxwell, "By The Gift and Power of God," in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), Chapter 1, references silently removed—consult original for citations.
6. ↑ Joseph Smith III, "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," The Saints' Herald, 1 October 1879, 290.
7. ↑ Neal A. Maxwell, "By The Gift and Power of God," in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), Chapter 1, references silently removed—consult original for citations.
8. ↑ John W. Welch and Tim Rathbone, "How Long Did It Take to Translate the Book of Mormon?," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1992), Chapter 1.
9. ↑ Oliver Cowdery, Latter-day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 1:14 (1834).
10. ↑ Interview between Joseph Smith III and his mother Emma, "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," Saints Herald Vol. 26, No. 19 (1 Oct. 1879)