Saturday, November 8, 2014

Mosiah 8:9, "pure gold," and the composition of the Book of Mormon Plates

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



Malin L. Jacobs and John A. Tvedntes, Weight of the Gold Plates