The Book of Mormon as Codex/Confessional Allegory

[Kishkumen]

Gotcha. I am accustomed to using the word translation in the Mormon context to refer to Smith’s process and instructions to Cowdery.

[Limnor]

Gotcha. I am accustomed to using the word translation in the Mormon context to refer to Smith’s process and instructions to Cowdery.

Kish - apologies for the brevity of my previous reply. And apologies for the length of this one lol

I am glad you expanded on your thought, because it served to spur additional study.

I looked back at D&C 8-9 and understand that it served as an instruction to Oliver.

The timeline of that revelation was April 1829. Considering a timeline in which Nephi-Omni were completed near the end of the writing process, I see alignment to Jacob.

Let me know what you think of the following:

1. Oliver commanded to “translate” those parts that have been hidden away in iniquity:

1833 Book of Commandments:

6:8 Therefore be diligent, stand by my servant Joseph faithfully in whatsoever difficult circumstances he may be, for the word’s sake. Admonish him in his faults and also receive admonition of him. Be patient; be sober; be temperate; have patience, faith, hope and charity.

6:12 Verily, verily I say unto you, that there are records which contain much of my gospel, which have been kept back because of the wickedness of the people; and now I command you, that if you have good desires, a desire to lay up treasures for yourself in heaven, then shall you assist in bringing to light, with your gift, those parts of my scriptures which have been hidden because of iniquity.

13 And now behold I give unto you, and also unto my servant Joseph, the keys of this gift, which shall bring to light this ministry; and in the mouth of two or three witnesses, shall every word be established.

8:3 O remember, these words and keep my commandments. Remember this is your gift. Now this is not all, for you have another gift, which is the gift of working with the rod: behold it has told you things

2. Oliver “translated” per the command of Nephi/Joseph:

Jacob 1 For behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; wherefore, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a commandment concerning the small plates, upon which these things are engraven.

2 And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write upon these plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious; that I should not touch, save it were lightly, concerning the history of this people which are called the people of Nephi.

3 For he said that the history of his people should be engraven upon his other plates, and that I should preserve these plates and hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation.

Jacob 2:2 Now, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, according to the responsibility which I am under to God, to magnify mine office with soberness,

3. Oliver includes the following:

Jacob 2:9 Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to admonish you according to your crimes,

Jacob 2:23 But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son.

4. A revelation follows:

D&C 9 BEHOLD I say unto you, my son, that, because you did not translate according to that which you desired of me, and did commence again to write for my servant Joseph, even so I would that you should continue until you have finished this record, which I have intrusted unto you: and then behold, other records have I, that I will give unto you power that you may assist to translate.

2 Be patient my son, for it is wisdom in me, and it is not expedient that you should translate at this present time. Behold the work which you are called to do, is to write for my servant Joseph; and behold it is because that you did not continue as you commenced, when you begun to translate, that I have taken away this privilege from you.

5. An interesting slip?

Jacob 1:18 For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph had been consecrated priests and teachers of this people, by the hand of Nephi.

Here’s the process Joseph laid out to Oliver in the April 1829 revelation:

1. I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost” (D&C 8:2–3)
2. “You have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me” (D&C 9:7)

Translation requires reasoning it out—I’d add use his imagination as at this point there were no plates to translate, or more accurately, there never were any to begin with— and to form his best understanding/wording before asking God—or perhaps more accurately, asking God through Joseph, as he had done previously regarding the longevity of the apostle John.

Oliver is then told to await a burning in the bosom, but D&C 9 presents another feedback loop - that God through Joseph would tell him whether it was right nor wrong.

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper ... ts-1833/24

[Kishkumen]

Gotcha. I am accustomed to using the word translation in the Mormon context to refer to Smith’s process and instructions to Cowdery.

Kish - apologies for the brevity of my previous reply. And apologies for the length of this one lol

I am glad you expanded on your thought, because it served to spur additional study.

I looked back at D&C 8-9 and understand that it served as an instruction to Oliver.

The timeline of that revelation was April 1829. Considering a timeline in which Nephi-Omni were completed near the end of the writing process, I see alignment to Jacob.

Let me know what you think of the following:

1. Oliver commanded to “translate” those parts that have been hidden away in iniquity:

1833 Book of Commandments:

6:8 Therefore be diligent, stand by my servant Joseph faithfully in whatsoever difficult circumstances he may be, for the word’s sake. Admonish him in his faults and also receive admonition of him. Be patient; be sober; be temperate; have patience, faith, hope and charity.

6:12 Verily, verily I say unto you, that there are records which contain much of my gospel, which have been kept back because of the wickedness of the people; and now I command you, that if you have good desires, a desire to lay up treasures for yourself in heaven, then shall you assist in bringing to light, with your gift, those parts of my scriptures which have been hidden because of iniquity.

13 And now behold I give unto you, and also unto my servant Joseph, the keys of this gift, which shall bring to light this ministry; and in the mouth of two or three witnesses, shall every word be established.

8:3 O remember, these words and keep my commandments. Remember this is your gift. Now this is not all, for you have another gift, which is the gift of working with the rod: behold it has told you things

2. Oliver “translated” per the command of Nephi/Joseph:

Jacob 1 For behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; wherefore, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a commandment concerning the small plates, upon which these things are engraven.

2 And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write upon these plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious; that I should not touch, save it were lightly, concerning the history of this people which are called the people of Nephi.

3 For he said that the history of his people should be engraven upon his other plates, and that I should preserve these plates and hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation.

Jacob 2:2 Now, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, according to the responsibility which I am under to God, to magnify mine office with soberness,

3. Oliver includes the following:

Jacob 2:9 Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to admonish you according to your crimes,

Jacob 2:23 But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son.

4. A revelation follows:

D&C 9 BEHOLD I say unto you, my son, that, because you did not translate according to that which you desired of me, and did commence again to write for my servant Joseph, even so I would that you should continue until you have finished this record, which I have intrusted unto you: and then behold, other records have I, that I will give unto you power that you may assist to translate.

2 Be patient my son, for it is wisdom in me, and it is not expedient that you should translate at this present time. Behold the work which you are called to do, is to write for my servant Joseph; and behold it is because that you did not continue as you commenced, when you begun to translate, that I have taken away this privilege from you.

5. An interesting slip?

Jacob 1:18 For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph had been consecrated priests and teachers of this people, by the hand of Nephi.

Here’s the process Joseph laid out to Oliver in the April 1829 revelation:

1. I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost” (D&C 8:2–3)
2. “You have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me” (D&C 9:7)

Translation requires reasoning it out—I’d add use his imagination as at this point there were no plates to translate, or more accurately, there never were any to begin with— and to form his best understanding/wording before asking God—or perhaps more accurately, asking God through Joseph, as he had done previously regarding the longevity of the apostle John.

Oliver is then told to await a burning in the bosom, but D&C 9 presents another feedback loop - that God through Joseph would tell him whether it was right nor wrong.

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper ... ts-1833/24

Very intriguing, yes. I have to confess that I am a little rusty in this area, but do you accept Metcalfe's Mosiah priority argument?

[Limnor]

TL;DR version:

Both Oliver and Jacob are placed in a secondary but essential role subordinate to the primary Nephi/Joseph, as the entrusted amanuensis and rebuker.

The Book of Commandments frames Oliver’s mission almost exactly as Nephi frames Jacob’s: a delegate commanded to preserve, expose, and testify of hidden or neglected truths.

In an allegorical reading, Joseph/Nephi authorizes Oliver/Jacob to take up that burden, with both texts emphasizing the weight of the task.

[Limnor]

Very intriguing, yes. I have to confess that I am a little rusty in this area, but do you accept Metcalfe's Mosiah priority argument?

I do. Though I’d expand it to include “the priority of what Alvin wrote” which I see as embedded in Ether and Zeniff’s story.

[Kishkumen]

I do. Though I’d expand it to include “the priority of what Alvin wrote” which I see as embedded in Ether and Zeniff’s story.

Fascinating! I am loving this. For many years, I have believed that Alvin was a much more important figure in the founding of Mormonism than people generally understand him to be. I have also believed that earliest Mormonism was more of a gathering of diviners than just a church founded by a lone prophet who did all of the work. The evidence instead suggests that Joseph was constantly working alongside others, even in his revelations.

[Limnor]

Agreed.

Thinking through counterpoints to the “Oliver is Jacob” scenario:

Why wouldn’t Joseph just cut out what Oliver “translated”?

1) by that time there was an audience who heard Oliver.

2) Oliver being told everything was wrong and should be cut out would result in a faltering of his belief in how Joseph was producing the work.

I’m curious to see if there is a break in Jacob that might reveal when Joseph retook the reins.

Maybe Jacob 5

[Limnor]

Kish - I conducted a brief study to see if there was a historical underpinning that would reflect a real-world source for the writings from Jacob 5 and on.

At the risk of renewing the “vinyard/vineyard debate, I discovered some interesting background.

But first, to recap, I believe Sidney provided a source text - now known as the lost 116 pages - in which he employed a device to “create” an ancient record to support his views and establish himself as the “Mosiah” figure who would “translate” the book that Alvin would find. Joseph usurped this role but he hung on to portions of what Rigdon provided - including but not limited to the writings of Moroni having to do with church organization and several controversial topics of which he disagreed with Campbell (infant baptism among them).

Included in those writings retained by Joseph were the prophets Zenock, Zenos, and Neum, as well as King Benjamin.

Evidence of this methodology includes the 3rd Epistle of Peter, which Dale Broadhurst says was probably penned by Rigdon and Walter Scott - Rigdon’s companion in the Campbellite movement.

The epistle is toward the end of the article and describes some of those controversies and the “ancient” answer, ascribed to the pen of Peter:

http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/1824Scot.htm

There is a Dialogue piece that provides insight into Rigdon’s conversion and 1820s ministry, and cites Rigdon as preaching a “gospel of restoration” prior to 1830.

The pre-1830 Restoration movement drew on passages like Romans 11 (the olive tree) and mapping scattering/gathering Israel motifs onto his hearers, which is exactly the kind of sermon culture where Jacob 5-style allegory thrives.

https://www.dialoguejournal.com/article ... Mormonism/

Alexander Campbell (pre-1830) used Romans 11/olive-tree in debate material, which is evidence the motif was active in the Stone-Campbell milieu Rigdon inhabited before 1830.

Campbell participated in a debate with W. L. McCalla in 1823 in which he discusses the “olive tree which the Apostle makes so much use of.” Campbell incorporated Romans 11 to argue Gentiles were grafted in by faith, and the olive tree was a proof for covenant inclusion/exclusion.

Jacob 5 serves as a reflection of the Campbell/Rigdon disagreement, with Zenos serving as the ancient voice, which in turn reflects Rigdon’s comfort with adding imagined voices to fill in scriptural gaps, such as the 3rd Epistle of Peter.

Thus, Jacob 5 can be read as reflecting the theological culture clash between Campbell’s “restoration by reason and scripture only” and Rigdon’s “restoration by allegory, revelation, and millennial drama.” Joseph “fired” Oliver, because he didn’t like what Oliver wrote, and broke out the writings Rigdon had provided beginning with Jacob 5.

http://sidneyrigdon.com/wht/whitrev1.htm

[Limnor]

Finally got some time to continue, though I am uncertain of my expectations of the board in doing so.

Ironically, I guess you could say my heart burns within me to express the truth of the Book of Mormon, and that this truth was revealed through study and prayer. I think a Mormon believer might say it was revealed to me by the power of God, which is kind of fun.

I’ve talked a little about Jacob and Oliver, and believe there is a link between the revelations to Oliver and what is written in Jacob. I didn’t get into thoughts on Sherem, but believe the characteristics of Sherem are a reflection of Sidney Rigdon.

Both were “learned preachers with command of language and scripture,” both were committed to Mosaic restorationism (in Rigdon’s case a return to primitive Christianity and Sherem in a return to the law of Moses)

While I see their argument as relatively flat and stilted, I do see the argument as a challenge to authority between Joseph (as Jacob who re-took the reins from Oliver’s attempt to “translate”) and Rigdon (as Sherem) reflecting who speaks for God and whose interpretation is authoritative.

Joseph won, though I think it is interesting to point out that Sherem/Sidney was turned over to be “smote” by God. This wouldn’t be the last time Sidney was smitten either, as later a similar fate befell him after a confrontation with Joseph.

All of that being written, I’ll turn to the meat of my explanation of what is reflected in the allegory within the AI thread.

The story, beginning near the end of Omni, begins:

“Behold, I will speak somewhat concerning Mosiah, who was made king over the land of Zarahemla; for behold, he being warned of the Lord that he should flee out of the land of Nephi”

Mosiah is warned to flee from an established community, similar to the fate of Rigdon who fled from the Baptists 1827–1828 after repeated disagreements over literal prophecy and Rigdon’s expectation of a coming “new dispensation.”

The flight into the wilderness by Mosiah reflects Rigdon’s move to the vicinity of Kirtland, where a more receptive audience awaited.

One of Rigdon’s opponents, Baptist elder Adamson Bentley, recalled in 1841:

“I know that Sidney Rigdon told me that there was a book coming out, the manuscript of which had been found engraved on gold plates, as much as two years before the Mormon book made its appearance or had been heard of by me.”

“He [Rigdon] told me often that he was teased by the Baptists for preaching that the prophecies would be literally fulfilled.”

Additionally, other early witnesses (Darwin Atwater and Thomas Clapp) said that Rigdon spoke of a book soon to come forth which would restore lost truths.

I see a correlation of this “teasing” in Mosiah 7:1:

“And now, it came to pass that after king Mosiah had had continual peace for the space of three years, he was desirous to know concerning the people who went up to dwell in the land of Lehi-Nephi, or in the city of Lehi-Nephi; for his people had heard nothing from them from the time they left the land of Zarahemla; therefore, they wearied him with their teasings.”

This verse then becomes an autobiographical echo: Rigdon, wearied by the teasing that followed his prediction of a “book to come,” sends forth envoys (Ammon - who I see as Parley P Pratt) to check on the status of the book.

Source that speaks to this correlation:

“In the year 1827 Joseph Smith began to talk of the Golden Bible, while Mr. Rigdon was at Kirtland, Ohio. But not long after this it appeared that a certain Parley P. Pratt, an intimate friend of Rigdon's, in the secret of the Golden Bible, was acquainted with Martin Harris... and also in the habit of traveling from Ohio to New York, and thus communicated between Rigdon, Smith, Harris, Cowdery, &c. His conversion was so easy, as well as that of S. Rigdon, to Mormonism, that the whole affair plainly showed, that Rigdon ascertained through Pratt, Harris, & Co., that Joseph Smith was bold enough in sin and cunning enough in the arts of deception to answer his purpose; and that the whole matter was arranged before the Golden Bible ever made its appearance in Kirtland, Ohio. Prior to 1827, Smith was pretending to find silver and gold, money and jewelry, about Palmyra, by looking into his peep-stone, but never dreamed of the Book of Mormon, until brought to him from Sidney Rigdon, by Pratt, Harris, or Cowdery.
(Mormonism Exposed Pittsburgh, 1842 pp. 5-6)”

From Pratt’s autobiography:

“About A. D. 1827, Messrs. A. Campbell, W. Scott, and S. Rigdon, with some others residing in Virginia, Ohio, &c., came off from the Baptists, and established a new Order, under the name of Reformed Baptists, or Disciples; and they were termed by their enemies, Campbellites, Ridgonites, &c. This reformation, as to its Doctrine consisted principally, of the Baptism of Repentance, for Remission of Sins, &c. And Mr. Rigdon, in particular, held to a literal fulfilment and application of the written word; and by this means he was an instrument to turn many from the false notions of Sectarian Traditions, to an understanding of the Prophecies, touching the great restoration of Israel, and the mighty revolutions of the last days.”

When Ammon/Pratt arrives, he finds King Limhi (who I see Martin Harris) who tells him that a prophet had been slain (Abinadi - who I see as Alvin) and that a mysterious record—the twenty-four plates—had been found but could not be translated until a seer was discovered.

Just as Ammon ventured out from Zarahemla under Mosiah’s spiritual authority, Pratt departs from Rigdon’s location in Kirtland, entering the region where the “lost record” (the Book of Mormon) was being proclaimed. Pratt finds Harris who possesses a record he cannot fully “interpret” without a spiritual key.

He then carries back the news to Rigdon, who has to adjust his approach, and is later confronted, and usurped, by Joseph.

What I have never seen by any reporting is the reflection within the book as presented above.

I realize this is a long and dense post, but hope it is well received.

Partial source listing below:

https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/47 ... mages.html

http://sidneyrigdon.com/criddle/pratttin.htm

[Limnor]

In 1820, the Palmyra–Manchester region of western New York was in the thick of the “burned-over district’s” revivalism. Contemporary sources describe camp meetings and Methodist circuits active near the Smith farm on Stafford Road. Alvin Smith, then twenty-two, was old enough to participate in these revivals and to absorb both their millennial expectation and their emotional conversion culture. The revival of 1820 in the Palmyra vicinity was attended by Alvin but later appropriated by Joseph into his first vision accounts. His father, Joseph Smith Sr., simultaneously maintained ties with a local Masonic lodge in Canandaigua and shared with his sons Masonic imagery of initiation, veils, and lost knowledge. These influences shape the opening allegory within Ether as appended by Alvin to the Rigdon abridgment of Spalding’s book: the Lord appearing behind the veil to the brother of Jared in Ether 3 becomes Joseph Sr. manifesting divine knowledge to Alvin—the father as the visible image of God. This is the conceptual seed of the later “Man-God” theology that Alvin inscribes into the early manuscript, intended to be hidden until the time was right. The record was “buried” with the interpreters, but later the interpreters are missing - reflecting two “discoveries” of the hidden records.

Meanwhile, Sidney Rigdon was living more than two hundred miles away, alternating between Pennsylvania and the Western Reserve of Ohio. A protégé of Alexander Campbell, he was experimenting with restorationist preaching and had access to stories circulating about Solomon Spalding’s unpublished “Manuscript Found,” which was being read in Conneaut, Ohio. Between 1822 and 1823, Rigdon’s own doctrinal essays emphasize primitive Christianity and the coming millennium. This is the period when Rigdon abridges or re-theologizes Spalding’s narrative, creating the kernel of the Ether story—the scattering of languages symbolizing sectarian division, abridged and expanded by Alvin. Late in 1822 he travels through Pittsburgh and Allegany County, preaching near lines of communication that would carry manuscripts east toward the Erie Canal corridor, where the Smiths resided, and formed an agreement in which the Smiths “discover” the record and translate it before an expected return to Rigdon/Mosiah for completion and implementation within his congregation and to bolster his theological arguments.

By 1823, the Smith family is settled on their Manchester farm. Alvin, described by neighbors as industrious and devout, begins blending Rigdon’s textual material with his father’s Masonic cosmology and his own revival-born idealism. The result is the Record of Zeniff, the first-person narrative later reflected in Mosiah 9–10. In this retelling, Zeniff’s return to the “goodly land” parallels Alvin’s belief that divine knowledge can be recovered through pure intention. The dialogue between Abinadi and King Noah in Mosiah 11–17 mirrors the tension between Alvin and his father’s generation—the prophetic son confronting the institutional patriarch. Historical records show Alvin’s sudden death on 19 November 1823, just two months after Joseph Jr. later claimed his first angelic visitation; the timing fuses biography and allegory, with Abinadi’s martyrdom standing for Alvin’s loss. Joseph Smith Jr, through “revelation from God,” reassures his father that the work will continue in spite of the death of Alvin.

At this same time, Martin Harris, a prosperous Palmyra farmer known for funding religious causes and printing ventures, becomes Alvin’s first external collaborator. He appears as Limhi, the loyal ally who helps preserve the written record and maintain its secrecy. Harris provides material support, copies sections of text, and acts as messenger to the broader reformist network. After Alvin’s sudden death in November 1823, Harris—bewildered by the silence of his prophetic friend—dispatches a small band of confidants to “discover what had happened,” echoing Mosiah 21 where Limhi sends explorers to seek the lost brethren. These emissaries return not with the living prophet but with fragments of the record and word of his demise. Shortly afterward, Parley P. Pratt (Ammon)—sent east by Rigdon (Mosiah)—meets Harris/Limhi and learns that “the prophet has been slain.” This meeting explains how Pratt comes to possess knowledge of the work and of its unfinished state, linking the Ohio reformers to the Palmyra household. Parley P. Pratt, then still in the Toronto-Lake Ontario region working as a canal laborer and self-educated preacher, is reported to have been traveling through upstate New York along the very routes that would have brought him near Palmyra by 1824, giving plausibility to the symbolic “journey to the land of Lehi-Nephi.”

After Alvin’s death, Oliver Cowdery, a distant cousin of the Smiths living near Poultney, Vermont, at the time, later teaching in New York by 1824, enters the symbolic narrative as Alma. Influenced by the writings of Ethan Smith, his later involvement is anticipated here: the young schoolteacher fleeing “into the wilderness” with fragments of Alvin’s spiritual ideas. His withdrawal echoes Alma’s flight from Noah’s court, carrying Abinadi’s words.

By the close of 1824, all the historical actors are positioned for the later emergence of the Restoration story. Rigdon has laid the theological and narrative groundwork in Ohio, Joseph Sr. and the Smith family have transformed it through Masonic and visionary symbolism in New York, Alvin has embodied it in writing and then in death, Oliver Cowdery stands ready to re-enter as the preserver of the record, and Pratt moves within reach as the future emissary. The allegory of Ether, traced through to Mosiah, maps precisely onto these years: a real network of reformist preachers and visionary farmers unknowingly constructing the mythos of a book yet to be revealed. Between 1820 and 1824 the essential story already exists—rooted in revival New York, restorationist Ohio, and a family’s fusion of Masonic mystery and millennial hope that envisions the divine appearing, quite literally, behind the veil.