In Mosiah 8:9, we read
of the twenty-four plates of the people of Limhi and that they were made of “pure gold.” Some
opponents of the Church (e.g. Bill McKeever) claim that this disproves the claim by LDS
scholars and apologists that the plates of the Book of Mormon were tumbaga, a
Mesoamerican alloy of gold and copper. They reason that, as some LDS apologists
claim that plates composed only of gold would not be suited for engraving and
is one evidence of the plates that Joseph Smith translated were an alloy, this
verse disproves such a contention from the Book of Mormon itself.
The locution “pure
gold” appears a number of times in the Old Testament (e.g. Exo 25:11, 17, 24,
29, 31, 36, 38, 39). The term translated as “pure” is טָהוֹר which means “pure” in the
sense of “clean” (that is how it is used in Mal 1:11 with reference to the New Covenant sacrifice which would be a “clean” oblation). It does not necessitate
any mixture of metals (an alloy), only that the gold used in the composition of
the plates was “pure” or “clean” gold.
Suggested Reading on Tumbaga and the Book of Mormon
Plates