Even though Joseph had had the plates since fall 1827, he was unable to do much work on the translation until Oliver Cowdery came on the scene, April 5, 1829. He came to Palmyra to teach school and lived with the Smith family. It was there that he learned about Joseph and his responsibility to translate the plates. Oliver soon got to know David Whitmer and travelled to Harmony to be with the prophet.
In fact, shortly after Oliver’s arrival in Harmony, Joseph asked David Whitmer to transport them back to Palmyra because they were threatened with mob violence in Harmony. You’ll remember that David lived in Fayette, which is about halfway between Palmyra and Harmony. David was in the midst of his spring farming. He had some twenty acres of land to plow and decided that he’d first do the plowing and then go.
David Whitmer recorded: “I got up one morning to go to work as usual, and on going to the field, found that between five and seven acres of my land had been plowed under during the night. I don't know who did it; but it was done just as I would have done it myself, and the plow was left standing in the furrow. This enabled me to start sooner.” (Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol 1, Chapter X by B. H. Roberts)
Then while harrowing in a field of wheat before starting on his journey, David found to his surprise that he had accomplished more in a few hours than he usually did in two or three days. The next day he went out to spread plaster over a field, according to the custom of the farmers in that locality, when he found the work had already been done, and done well. David's sister, who lived near the field, told him that three strangers had appeared in the field the day before and spread the plaster with remarkable skill. She had presumed that they were men David had hired to do the work
The process of translation
Even more miraculous than the printing of the Book of Mormon is its translation. It took about 65 working days (“I Have a Question,” Ensign, Jan. 1988, 46–47), or about 3 months elapsed time to translate.
The Prophet himself said very little about the process of translation: Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record by the gift and power of God” is pretty much all he said about it.
Oliver didn’t say much more: I wrote with my own pen the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages), as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith, as he translated by the gift and power of God, by the means of the Urim and Thummim, or, as they are called by that book, 'Holy Interpreters'.
David Whitmer was a bit more specific on this subject. After describing how the Prophet would cover his head and shoulders with a blanket or a hat to obscure the light, and look through the Seer Stone, he said:
"In the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God and not by any power of man." (Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol 1, Chapter X, by B. H. Roberts)
Martin added that if the translation was correctly written, the sentence would disappear and another appear in its place; but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used.
The Seer Stone and Urim and Thumim were different instruments to aid in translating. Apparently sometimes the prophet used the Urim and Thumim, and sometimes the Seer Stone. Martin said that the Seer Stone differed in appearance entirely from the Urim and Thummim, which were two clear stones set in two rims, very much resembling spectacles, only they were larger.
B. H. Roberts reminds us: The translation of the Book of Mormon by means of the Interpreters and Seer Stone, was not merely a mechanical process. It required the utmost concentration of mental and spiritual force possessed by the Prophet, in order to exercise the gift of translation through the means of the sacred instruments provided for that work. (Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol 1, Chapter X, by B. H. Roberts)
Although when Joseph Smith died in 1844 he was well educated, having learned many things – including ancient languages such as Hebrew, when he was doing the translation he was truly the “unlearned man” referred to by Isaiah in Isaiah 29.
The speed of translation
Elder Neal A. Maxwell: 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 50 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 10 pages per day! (see the bulletin Insights: An Ancient Window [Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (F.A.R.M.S.), Feb. 1986], 1).
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. … 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’ (“Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” Saints’ Herald, 1 Oct. 1879, 290). One who has dictated and been interrupted must usually would resume by inquiring ‘Now, where were we?’ Not so with the Prophet Joseph Smith!
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!” (“By the Gift and Power of God,” Ensign, Jan. 1997, 39–40).
