Talk:Book of Ether

Translated and/or abridged

I don't know if we can say that Moroni actually translated the original Jaredite record. There's a ~600 year difference between the discovery of the 24 Jaredite plates and Moroni's inclusion of the text in his records. The Book of Mormon never says who first translated it or if Moroni retranslated it, though it does seem to imply that Mosiah son of Benjamin translated it. Alma the younger and Mormon both make references to the Jaredites and information that could be found on the plates. And it's also likely soon after Christ's visit, the record was translated and made known more fully per Ether 4:1-2. I personally think that abridged is the correct way to describe Moroni's role. But before I edited any more, I thought I'd put this out for discussion? (By the way, I was the 67.40.134.10 editor). FyzixFighter 18:45, 3 September 2005 (UTC)

For the purpose of this discussion, let's call these the Plates of Ether; "He that wrote this record was Ether." (Ether 1:6) These plates were found by the people of Limhi (Mulekites) before the Nephites arrived at Zarahemla. They had been translated several times. I think that the first translation was by Mosiah, who was told to not reveal the contents of the record until after Christ had visited the Nephites. I think that we agree that Moroni abridged the record because of what he wrote in Ether 1:4-5, "Therefore I do not write those things which transpired from the days of Adam until that time; ... I give not the full account, but a part of the account I give, from the tower down until they were destroyed." Moroni could have used such a previous translation.

But to the word that we don't yet agree on: translated. In Ether 1:2, Moroni writes, "And I take mine account from the twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether." I think that he took them directly (pre translation) rather than a previous transcript (post translation). But against my interpretation, he didn't write that he translated them on that he abridged them (but in different words). Val42 20:24, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

I see you're point and can live with the current revision. Maybe a comment about probable previous translations of the Plates of Ether though? I had originally suggested abridged based on the Brief Explanation. And after doing some searching through the church magazines, there are some references that say that Moroni translated and abridged the Plates of Ether - so I concede the point.— Preceding unsigned comment added by FyzixFighter (talk • contribs) 21:04, 3 September 2005‎

Book of Jared

The Book of Ether is also incorporated into the Book of Jared by Elders Samuel Stevens and Warren Parrish. http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Jared-Dispensation-Everlasting/dp/1490932348/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1373661965&sr=8-5&keywords=%22The+Book+of+Jared%22 — Prsaucer1958 (talk) 20:58, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

And? -- 208.81.184.4 (talk) 19:36, 5 August 2013 (UTC)