Talk:D&C 5:1-35

D&C 5

Hi Joe, I was recently re-reading something you wrote on Talk:Ex 7:1-5 you wrote:

I think the original of D&C 5:4 is of the utmost significance in reading anything from this dispensation: in the Book of Commandments, Joseph was simply told that he had a "gift to translate" and that he should "pretend to no other gift." There was none of the relativization of "until this work is completed, etc."

I realize that I'm taking your comment out of context so that might explain the answer to my question. Anyway here are my thoughts: 1) the word "first" suggests to me that in fact more gifts are going to be given 2) this isn't a general gift to translate but rather a gift to translate the Book of Mormon 3)specifically the phrases "until my purpose is fulfilled in this" and "until it is finished" suggest that Joseph may indeed get more gifts after he complets the translation of the Book of Mormon.

To me this seems to contradict what you are saying. Am I misunderstanding you, or maybe not seeing something in this verse you are?

--Matthew Faulconer 06:19, 2 Nov 2006 (UTC)

Ah, yes. I didn't realize that might be taken ambiguously. By "original" I meant "in the Book of Commandments, before it was changed for the 1835 D&C." Book of Commandments 4:2 reads: "and he [Joseph, it is third person in the "original"] has a gift to translate the book, and I have commanded him that he shall pretend to no other gift, for I will grant him no other gift." I was referring to this original wording. Joseph becomes a translator of "the book," which seems to me to be broader than "the Book of Mormon," though there may be reason to collapse it into just that. At any rate, Joseph as translator... --Joe Spencer 15:26, 2 Nov 2006 (UTC)