Commenced translating in Sept. 1828.

[_deacon blues]

Those who speak of the Book of Mormon being translated in a miraculous amount of time usually ignore an account from Lucy's "History....". In it Lucy reports visiting Joseph and he tells her, "on the 22nd of September I had the joy and satisfaction of again receiving the Urim and thummim, with which I have again commenced translating, and Emma writes for me, but the angel said that the Lord would send me a scribe and I trust his promise will be verified."

I don't know how much Emma wrote, but this does put to lie those who say the whole book was written in approximately 60 days.

[_mentalgymnast]

Initially, she helped out a bit while Martin Harris was scribe.

The dates given above for the translation of the 118 pages are based upon an even distribution of the total number of pages translated through the period of time for the translation. ~118 pages were translated in 63 days, which yields an overall rate of ~1.87 pages per day. The figure of 118 pages translated instead of the typically referenced number of 116 pages is based upon D&C 10:41.

"Therefore, you shall translate the engravings which are on the plates of Nephi, down even till you come to the reign of king Benjamin, or until you come to that which you have translated, which you have retained;" [D&C 10:41]

Not all of the pages which Joseph Smith and Martin Harris translated were lost. This means that they actually translated more than 116 pages, but only 116 pages were taken by Martin Harris to Palmyra, and were lost. The lost pages were eventually replaced in our Book of Mormon by the small plates of Nephi, which begin with 1Nephi 1, and end (the plates being full) with Omni 30.

A good portion of the first 118 pages was lost via Martin Harris. When the translation continued later:

The Urim and Thummim was returned to the angel when Joseph Smith was given permission to give custody of the manuscript to Martin Harris. After the manuscript was lost and Joseph returned home, he humbled himself in prayer before the Lord and asked forgiveness for his transgression. The angel then appeared before him and handed him the Urim and Thummim, through which he inquired and received D&C 3. After receiving this revelation, Joseph was required to return both the Urim and Thummim and the Book of Mormon plates to the angel, who told him that if he was humble and penitent he would receive them again, and if he received them, it would be on the 22d of September 1828.

This interpretation is supported in a letter written by William E. McLellan to Joseph Smith III, from Independence, Mo, July & Sept 8, 1872:

"When Joseph Delivered the 116 pages of the translation to Martin Harris, his Plates, his Interpreters, and his gift were taken from him for some two months. The Plates and gift of translation were returned to him, but not the Interpreters. He translated the entire Book of Mormon by the use of a little stone he had in his possession before he obtained the plates."

...the timeline did a hard reset.

Here is a source you might find helpful:

http://www.eldenwatson.net/

scroll down to:

Approximate Book of Mormon Translation Timeline, Introduction page.

Click link.

scroll down to:

Approximate Book of Mormon Translation Timeline

Click link.

After the hard reset to the translation, the timeline for Book of Mormon translation comes back to the approximately sixty-five days.

Regards,
MG

[_Kishkumen]

This question has been argued back and forth forever. Apologists want to emphasize the miracle of this supposed sixty-five-day translation, while critics and historians would point out that Joseph Smith was long practiced in telling these kinds of tales, as Lucy Mack Smith points out, and that the actual dictation process is easily supplemented by composition efforts in the background in the period leading up to September 1828 and following. Even in our consideration of the reboot after the loss of the 116-page manuscript, we must be careful not to exaggerate Joseph's feat. What we have in the Book of Mormon we possess is, in many ways, just a new version of the text he had lost. It may have many new elements, but Smith was not starting from scratch. He well knew what he intended to write because he had already dictated something very similar.

[Guest]

Your phrase "the hard reset of translation" is inaccurate and misleading since as I pointed out, translation began, according to Joseph, soon after 9/22/1828. Maybe Oliver was faster, or wrote more than other scribes, but Joseph told his mother he had resumed translation long before Oliver showed up.

If you read the Eldon Watson timeline, he does take into account Emma doing significant work as a scribe.

[_mentalgymnast]

Your phrase "the hard reset of translation" is inaccurate and misleading since as I pointed out, translation began, according to Joseph, soon after 9/22/1828. Maybe Oliver was faster, or wrote more than other scribes, but Joseph told his mother he had resumed translation long before Oliver showed up.

Do want to point out where the problem is in Elden Watson's Book of Mormon Translation Timeline I linked to? Doesn't he have the timeline reset to somewhere between 60-65 days for the translation?

Where did he get it wrong?

Regards,
MG

[_SteelHead]

Joseph Smith had between the first report of the visit of Moroni and 6 years later to write the narrative. The 60 days is a non starter.

[_deacon blues]

Your phrase "the hard reset of translation" is inaccurate and misleading since as I pointed out, translation began, according to Joseph, soon after 9/22/1828. Maybe Oliver was faster, or wrote more than other scribes, but Joseph told his mother he had resumed translation long before Oliver showed up.

Do want to point out where the problem is in Elden Watson's Book of Mormon Translation Timeline I linked to? Doesn't he have the timeline reset to somewhere between 60-65 days for the translation?

Where did he get it wrong?

Regards,
MG

Please read the timeline months of about Dec. 1828 to March 1829 and note that Watson shows how he believes Emma, with Joseph dictating, wrote almost the entire book of Mosiah. Watson's work is a hypothetical timeline, but he clearly believes Emma (and possibly other scribes) did significant work before Oliver arrived on the scene.

[_Kishkumen]

Joseph Smith had between the first report of the visit of Moroni and 6 years later to write the narrative. The 60 days is a non starter.

Indeed. Come on, guys! Stop kidding yourselves! Don’t be Joe’s latest mark!

[_oliblish]

Has there been handwriting analysis of what remains of the original Book of Mormon manuscript? Do we know which scribes wrote which parts?

[_Lemmie]

Joseph Smith had between the first report of the visit of Moroni and 6 years later to write the narrative. The 60 days is a non starter.

Indeed. Come on, guys! Stop kidding yourselves! Don’t be Joe’s latest mark!

Deja vu all over again...

...But I have to say that I'd be disappointed if the timeline argument ever appears again in completely unchanged form, as if this thread never happened at all. Reusing it that way, like a fishing lure that didn't work today but might work next time, would be the kind of cynical move that gives apologetics a bad name....

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