Richard Packham argues that "steel" is anachronistic to the Book of Mormon.

Date
Apr 20, 2003
Type
Website
Source
Richard Packham
Excommunicated
Critic
Hearsay
Direct
Reference

Richard Packham, "A Linguist Look at Mormonism: Notes on Linguistic Problems in Mormonism," April 20, 2003, accessed January 17, 2023

Scribe/Publisher
Richard Packham
People
Richard Packham
Audience
Reading Public
Transcription

"Steel"

Another error influenced by mistranslations in the King James Version is the mention of "steel" and "iron." Others have pointed out that no evidence of iron-working or steel has been found in pre-Columbian America. But "steel" did not exist even in the Old World at the time Lehi supposedly left Jerusalem. Where the KJV mentions "steel" (three passages: one in a Psalm of David, one in Job, and one in Jeremiah) the original Hebrew text has either 'nechushah' or 'nechosheth,' both of which mean simply "copper" or "brass." Thus it appears that the author of the Book of Mormon believed that "steel" such as was common in the 19th century, was also known in Nephi's day.

The problem becomes more serious for the Book of Mormon, however, since it also uses the term in attributing the knowledge of steel-making to the Jaredites (Ether 7:9), just a few generations after they are supposed to have left the Old World at the time of the Tower of Babel (ca. 2200 B.C.?). Notice that the mention of steel does not imply that it is anything newly invented or previously unknown, but rather quite familiar.

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