1) OC indicated that JS would look at the interpreters and then look
in the hat. Perhaps at times he also put his seer stone in the hat? This is
tricky to square with the premise of him reading the dictation, but perhaps
not. 2) While it has recently been popular to accept that contrary to Joseph
Smith and Oliver Cowdery’s own statements, that, based principally on other’s
statements, that a seer stone was used for the translation of the Book of
Mormon after Joseph lost the plates and the interpreters, there are other
sources contrary to this position. Although perhaps less direct and reliable as
sources, they ought to be considered as at least outlining an alternate
possibility that squares more with Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery’s statement
but also accommodates the use of a hat. First, in an interview with Fayette
Lapham (1870), Joseph Smith, Sr. recounted that Joseph Smith did not lose the
interpreters when the plates were taken. In fact, he was able to use the
interpreters to see where the plates had been hidden, “among the rocks, in the
mountains.” He could also “read them as they were, as well as if they were
before him,” which is consistent with other descriptions that the plates were
in fact covered during translation. The interpreters were much more powerful
tools than simply being translators, as according to Joseph Smith, Sr., the
Liahona led to finding the interpreters, at which point the Liahona no longer
worked. It was no longer needed as the interpreters also functioned as
“directors.” The interpreters mentioned in Alma 37:21, 24 were originally
referred to as “directors” in the Original Manuscript (Skousen 2007, 2358–2361)
indicating the interpreters were able to still provide the direction that the
Liahona previously provided. So, if it is true that the interpreters were
not taken, how can this be squared with statements that a hat was used with a
seer stone placed in it? Joseph Knight Sr. indicated (referring to the time
that Joseph Smith originally began translating) that the “urim and thummim” was
placed into his hat (Jessee, 1976). In this context and time frame this
reference to the Urim and Thummim are referring to the interpreters. So, the
use of a hat noted by some observers is not inconsistent with the use of the interpreters.
In addition, although not evidenced in any statements, it is possible that at
least one interpreter stones may have been able to be removed from the bow. As
discussed later, the original Jaredite stones are not indicated to be in a bow
when prepared by the Lord, and the text in the Book of Mormon refers to only
one of the interpreter stones (Gazelem) being necessary for translation (Alma
37:23). (Jerry
Grover, September 9, 2022, emphasis in bold added)
Early in 1830 a man named Fayette Lapham visited Joseph Smith Sr. to
learn more about the still unpublished Book of Mormon. Lapham would years later
publish an account of their interview that relates enough information about the
finding of the plates to verify that the interview occurred. There are some
known inaccuracies in the recounting based on known information in the Book of
Mormon (e.g. the brass plates were described as papers) and some of the
recounting is not in the correct order, but the recounting is fairly accurate
in most other regards. As part of the interview, Joseph Sr. described Lehi’s
journey to the New World and related several of the book’s other narratives
(Lapham 1870). The relevant section of the Lapham interview is as follows:
After sailing a long time, they came to land, went on shore, and
thence they traveled through boundless forests, until, at length, they came to
a country where there were a great many lakes; which country had once been
settled by a very large race of men, who were very rich, having a great deal of
money. From some unknown cause, this nation had become extinct; “but that
money,” said Smith, “is here, now, every dollar of it.” When they, the Jews,
first beheld this country, they sent out spies to see what manner of country it
was, who reported that the country appeared to have been settled by a very
large race of men, and had been, to all appearances, a very rich agricultural
and manufacturing nation. They also found something of which they did not know
the use, but when they went into the tabernacle, a voice said, “What have you
got in your hand, there?” They replied that they did not know, but had come to
inquire; when the voice said, “Put it on your face, and put your face in a
skin, and you will see what it is.” They did so, and could see everything of
the past, present, and future; and it was the same spectacles that Joseph found
with the gold plates. The gold ball stopped here and ceased to direct them any
further.
The key pertinent elements in this recounting on this issue are that
Nephites initially came to a country that had a “great many lakes” and “had
once been settled by a very large race of men,” and “for some unknown cause the
nation had become extinct.” This is clearly referring to the land northward.
Further, when they first beheld the country they sent out spies and found it
“had been a very rich agricultural and manufacturing nation.” These spies also
found the “spectacles,” which had to be utilized in dim light or darkness. They
used them in their “tabernacle.” It is also noted that the “gold ball stopped”
them there and “ceased to direct them.”
It is notable that the interpreters mentioned in Alma 37:21, 24 were
originally referred to as “directors” in the Original Manuscript (Skousen 2007,
2358–2361) indicating the interpreters were able to still provide the direction
that the Liahona previously provided. (Jerry D. Grover, Jr., The Swords of Shule: Jaredite
Land Northward Chronology, Geography, and Culture in Mesoamerica [Provo,
Utah: Challex Scientific Publishing, 2018], 193-94)
