How was the Book of Mormon translated?
The text inscribed on the gold plates was “reformed Egyptian” which was more compact than Hebrew, the language spoken by the people of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith used the power of God to translate the Book of Mormon, through the help of the Urim and Thummim, ancient seer stones. Although not explained in the Bible they are mentioned in the following references. (Ex. 28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; Deut. 33:8; 1 Sam. 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65) The translation was not easy and did take effort and faith on the part of Joseph Smith.3 The actual details of how the gold plates were translated is not known. During the translation process Joseph Smith sat with the plates and verbally gave the translation to a scribe, primarily Oliver Cowdery, although the prophet’s wife Emma and a few others acted as scribes for a short time. Concerning the translation Emma said, “After meals, or after interruptions, [Joseph] would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscri
