BOOK OF MORMON

WHY THE PLAIN READING

A great many readers find the Book of Mormon confusing, for a variety of reasons. And because they do, as has been mentioned in a recent General Conference, uncounted people read 1 Nephi but never even finish 2 Nephi, much less the rest of the Book of Mormon. To address this glaring problem, I began to modify the English translation of the text. I have NO interest in improving on scripture or in correcting anyone. I DO have a strong interest in making this important book’s message more accessible, and there is ample precedent for this.

To illustrate, years ago I learned that in the translation department of the Church they keep a copy of a “translator’s version” of the Book of Mormon. The translators from nearly all countries told Church leaders that many verses in the English translation were so incomprehensible to them that they could not translate the verses into their respective languages. So the Church created a plainer version of the Book of Mormon that clarified many, many verses. My friends from other countries—whose English is excellent—often tell me that when they can’t understand a verse in the English translation of the Book of Mormon, they read the same verse in the language of their native country, and suddenly it’s clear. Why? Because the translation in their native language came NOT from the original English translation we all have but from the “translator’s version” which has been simplified.

I have created “A Plain Reading of the Book of Mormon,” which makes thousands of changes in the words, grammar, and organization of the book without changing the principles or attempting to comment on them or clarify them—as in a commentary. The effort proved to be enormously illuminating and uplifting. I emphasize that I am writing this for clarity and do NOT claim to be offering a correction of anything. I made changes based on the following:

• Uncounted hours and intensive effort studying the scriptures myself over many decades. I taught seminary and institute for years, and have written several of my own commentaries.
• Massive readings in scholarly journals on the subjects of scripture, language, context, history and more—written both by LDS and non-LDS authors.
• The use of at least 28 other English versions of the Bible, like the New International Version, the New King James Bible, and many others, all reflecting the extensive study of hundreds of scholars.
• Dozens of LDS commentaries (on all the scriptures) and non-LDS commentaries (mostly about Isaiah)
• The context of a phrase within an entire sermon, the context of a phrase within the entire body of LDS scripture and doctrine, the context of a phrase in history, and more. Most verses cannot be understood without that context.
• Extensive use of the 1828 edition (first edition) of Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language. This is the English that (1) was known to Joseph Smith at the time he translated the Book of Mormon (1829) and (2) was known to the people in the early Church. The Book of Mormon was translated into that form of English for the use and benefit of the early Saints, but in many cases the meaning of a word in 1828 was not at all the same as the meaning of that same word in 2020, which will be discussed more below.
• Time and experience. In addition to decades of experience studying and teaching, recently I spent many hours rendering each chapter of the Book of Mormon into a Plain Reading.
• Inspiration. Creating this “Plain Reading” has been rewarding beyond words if only for the moments when I simply “knew” the next word to use, or when I suddenly understood—without using reasoning or intellect—a passage in a way that had always eluded me.

So what specific problems was I addressing as I made changes to the text?

CLARITY OF ORGANIZATION

A great many verses—close to half, as a rough estimate—are not organized in a way that the meaning is plainest. An introductory phrase will begin a verse, for example, but then the conclusion of that specific thought won’t be found until the end of the verse, with a long parenthetical thought in the middle. Sometimes the conclusion of the introductory phrase isn’t found for several verses. This is not “bad,” just grammatically tortured and confusing to most readers.

To illustrate, compare the published English version of the Book of Mormon to the Plain version in just two of hundreds of examples:

3 Nephi 16:4

3 Nephi 16:8-10

FITTING THE PART INTO THE WHOLE (ESPECIALLY IN ISAIAH)

To illustrate, see English vs Plain in 3 Nephi 21:10.

Christ is speaking in the verse before, but suddenly in verse 10, he refers to “my servant,” and we couldn’t have any idea who that was unless we knew that in this verse, he is quoting Isaiah—without telling us—who was actually quoting the Father talking about Christ. So I inserted a few words to clarify. In verse 9, Christ is speaking. In verse 10, Isaiah speaks, quoting the Father, who then speaks about Christ. In verse 11, Christ is speaking again. And Isaiah uses pronouns—he, him, them, I, and my, for example—indiscriminately, leaving most readers hopelessly confused. Hence, the need for clarification.

CHANGES IN THE MEANING OF WORDS

Over the years and centuries, the English language has evolved. A lot. And everyone is familiar with the Oxford English Dictionary, which has experienced so many revisions that now it is available only as an online subscription, because changes in meanings are made daily, along with the addition of new words (“texting,” for example, did not exist in the 1800s). The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), in fact, was begun with the title, “A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles,” because it demonstrated the evolution of each word’s meaning over hundreds of years of accumulated writings.

The first edition of the OED was published in 10 volumes, 15,490 pages, while the second edition was 20 volumes of 21,728 pages. We’re now many editions down the line from that.

Just a small sampling of words in the Book of Mormon whose meanings or uses have changed over the years:

In some cases, I changed a word because the meaning of the word has changed considerably from 1828—confusingly so. In other cases, I changed a word because it simply isn’t in common usage anymore, so it means little to nothing to most people now and is, therefore, again confusing.

Just a couple of examples of changes in word use:

REPETITION OF EVENTS AND PRINCIPLES

It’s not uncommon for the author to state a principle and then to say it again—in a slightly different way—in the same or next verse. The Hebrews often wrote in such couplets. Sometimes I simply combined the differences in the two statements to create one statement—more complete—of the principle or event.

REPETITION OF POSSESSIVES

English translation: “their stones and their arrows”

Plain: “their stones and arrows”

TOO MANY WORDS

People get lost in too many words. Excess words obscure the central event or principle. To illustrate: Suppose I want to know what a hummingbird looks like. You show me a picture of a single hummingbird. Gorgeous, I got it. But what if, instead, you show me a photo of a hummingbird surrounded by an abundance of trees, flowers, houses, rocks, and mountains? The bird is easily lost entirely.

Examples of too many words (and change in modern word usage):

PAST PERFECT

The past perfect (a verb preceded by “had”) is used when two events happened in the past, with one past action having occurred even before the other past action. An example of past perfect: “The telephone rang after we had left the house.” (Both the phone ringing and the leaving occurred in the past, but one occurred even more in the past than the other.)

In the Book of Mormon, the past perfect is commonly used when only one past event is described. For example, “Alma had journeyed to (wherever).”

Correct use now: “Alma traveled to . . .”

METAPHORS

The Hebrews used metaphors a lot, as did Jesus. Some of the Hebrew metaphors make no sense at all in our day, so occasionally I changed a word to make the meaning clear.

ISAIAH (alluded to earlier)

In one sentence, Isaiah can use the word “I” to reference (1) Christ, (2) God the Father, and (3) himself—all in one sentence. On occasion, I substitute the pronoun with WHO the pronoun refers to.

SUMMARY

In summary, when compared with the English translation of the Book of Mormon, A Plain Reading of the Book of Mormon is:

• Plainer, much easier to understand.
• More accurate FOR US, using words and meanings that correspond to our age, replacing words that simply would not be understood in our day.
• Easier to read, bringing order to convoluted sentence and paragraph structure that confuses the reader.
• A tool to help readers want to read more of the word of God.

English translation of the Book of Mormon

268,163 words with no verse numbers, chapter numbers, or chapter summaries

A Plain Reading of the Book of Mormon

195,623 words with no verse numbers, chapter numbers, or chapter summaries

A Plain Reading has removed 72,540 words (27% of the English translation), and it changed or rearranged about 80% of the rest.