Emma Smith described how Joseph would correct mistakes in her scribing of the translation.

Date
Dec 28, 1856
Type
Interview
Source
Emma Hale Smith
Disaffected
Hearsay
Scribed Verbatim
Reprint
Late
Reference

Edmund C. Briggs, “A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856,” Journal of History 9 (October 1916): 454

Scribe/Publisher
Journal of History
People
Emma Hale Smith, Edmund C. Briggs, Joseph Smith, Jr.
Audience
General Public
PDF
PDF
Transcription

"When my husband was translating the Book of Mormon, I wrote a part of it, as he dictated each sentence, word for word, and when he came to proper names he could not pronounce, or long words, he spelled them out, and while I was writing them, if I made any mistake in spelling, he would stop me and correct my spelling, although it was impossible for him to see how I was writing them down at the time. Even the word Sarah he could not pronounce at first, but had to spell it, and I would pronounce it for him. When he stopped for any purpose at any time he would, when he commenced again, begin where he left off without any hesitation, and one time while he was translating he stopped suddenly, pale as a sheet, and said, 'Emma, did Jerusalem have walls around it?' When I answered 'Yes,' he replied 'Oh! I was afraid I had been deceived.' He had such a limited knowledge of history at that time that he did not even know that Jerusalem was surrounded by walls."

BHR Staff Commentary

This interview took place December 28, 1856.

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