Joseph Smith, DHC 2:25-2 wrote:I then gave a relation of my situation at the time I obtained the record, the persecutions I met with, and prophesied that I would stand and shine like the sun in the firmament, when my enemies and the gainsayers of my testimony shall be put down and cut off, and their names blotted out from among men.
The point I wish to make is that Smith viewed the sun, moon, and stars as objects in the firmament (sky) among the starry expanse of heaven.
Secret code names were used in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants to protect the identity of persons and places. Like Shinehah, these names were instituted in 1834 manuscripts before any Book of Abraham translation. The code name for Kirtland was Shinehah. The code name for the printing office was Lane-shine-house. It’s interesting that “Shine” was incorporated into other code names as well:
1) Shinelah: print
2) Shinelane: printing
It seems that there is a lot of Shine going on and it has everything to do with the printing of scripture in Kirtland for the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. Oliver Cowdery’s code name was “Olihah” and yes, that’s with a “hah” at the end. We can conclude at this time that Shinehah and words directly related to it have everything to do with Kirtland and the printing process.
Joseph Smith later gave section 117 of the Doctrine and Covenants in 1838:
D&C 117:8 wrote:Is there not room enough on the mountains of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and on the plains of Olaha Shinehah, or the land where Adam dwelt, that you should covet that which is but the drop, and neglect the more weighty matters?
Clearly, this Shinehah in 1838 is not referencing Kirtland but refers to lands in Missouri! So it seems that Smith is quite versatile in his Shinehah usage:
1) 1834 City of Kirtland
2) 1838 Land in Missouri
3) 1842 Sun in Outer Space
Notice particularly how the term “Olaha” is jointly used in conjunction with Shinehah! It has been speculated, and for good reason, the term Olea is a variant of Olaha which was Smith’s Egyptian moon in the Book of Abraham. Afterall, if Shinehah is the sun then Olaha must be the moon although spelled slightly different. So, in hindsight it appears that Smith borrowed the previous invented name of 1834 (Shinehah) and incorporated it later in 1838 as the land of Adam and finally in 1842 it was converted into the sun whereby Olaha became Olea the moon. Thus, it was a long journey and a literal transformation for Shinehah.
Now, with that said, apologists have dreamed up all kinds of ideas to justify these things. More speculation on their part in order to try and vindicate Smith’s erroneous translations. That seems to be something apologists are constantly having to do with all of Smith’s translations. They are constantly on the defense!