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Goldplatten

2010-11-25T11:05:39Z

Routerone: I'm giving a reason then, the aspects of seeing the plates in a vision were just speculation and misinterpretations of quotes. There is more than enough evidence they saw and physically handled them

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter Day Saint movement|Latter Day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the faith. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. It is a matter of speculation whether these were actual metal plates, perhaps manufactured by Smith himself,<ref>Vogel, 98: "His remark that a plate was not quite as thick as common tin may have been meant to divert attention from the possibility that they were actually made from some material otherwise readily available to him. Indeed, his prohibition against visual inspection seems contrived to the skeptic who might explain that the would-be prophet constructed a set of plates to be felt through a cloth."</ref> or whether [[Book of Mormon witnesses|witnesses]] who claimed to have seen them based their testimony on what they had seen in visions. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no mainstream academic recognition.

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original "[[reformed Egyptian]]" language. Smith dictated a translation using a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]].

Smith eventually obtained testimonies from [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of men]] who said they had seen the plates.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

In the words of LDS historian [[Richard Bushman]], "For most modern readers, the [golden] plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact."<ref name="harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=58">{{harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=58}}.</ref> Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination. Most believing Mormons believe in the golden plates as a matter of faith.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several close associates]] of Joseph Smith,<ref>Only close associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828. The characters are not linked to any known language.]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref> Moreover, even in the more theologically conservative [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|LDS Church]], some adherents who accept the Book of Mormon as inspired scripture do not believe it is a literal translation of a physical historical record.<ref>"In the early 20th century, [[B. H. Roberts]], historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), entertained the notion that Joseph Smith was capable of producing the Book of Mormon himself. In 1999, Richard N. Ostling, a religion journalist, wrote that within "the loyal Mormon community, there is a moderate intellectual group that believes the Book of Mormon does have ancient roots but, as part of the process of revelation properly understood, is expressed through nineteenth-century thought processes....an ancient text mediated through the mind of Joseph Smith" (Osling 1999, 264).</ref>

Non-believers and some liberal Mormons have advanced naturalistic explanations for the story of the plates. For example, it has been theorized that the plates were fashioned by Joseph Smith or one of his associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref> that Joseph Smith had the ability to convince others of their existence through [[magic (illusion)|illusions]] or [[hypnosis]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Riley|1903|p=211}} (proposing the theory that Smith hypnotized his followers in a way that suggested to them that they had seen the plates).</ref> or that the plates were [[mysticism|mystical]] and should be understood in the context of Smith's historical era, when [[magic (paranormal)|magic]] was an accepted part of reality.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref> These theories are explored in the article ''[[Origin of the Book of Mormon]]''. Scholarly examinations of the book's historicity are discussed in the article ''[[Historicity of the Book of Mormon]]''.

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Smith seems to have used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

Smith's "[[translation]]" did not require any use of the plates themselves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Marquardt|2005|p=97}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=53}}.</ref> As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|pp=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and Martin Harris<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|pp=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who were shown the record by the same angel Moroni who appeared several times to Joseph Smith and who entrusted him with the plates. Although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=195–96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref>

Two other sets of alleged plates, the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were purportedly translated by [[James J. Strang|James Strang]], one of three major contenders to succeed Joseph Smith and the eventual leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]].<ref> The Voree Plates were alleged to have been written by an ancient inhabitant of what is now [[Burlington, Wisconsin]], while the Book of the Law of the Lord was alleged by Strang to be a translation of the [[Plates of Laban]] mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Neither of these alleged discoveries by Strang is accepted as authentic outside of the Strangite community.</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints, especially those within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For most Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-10-25T01:00:44Z

Routerone: Undid revision 392693761 by Mormography (talk) I agree with foxe. The fact that one of strang witnesses denied them makes it a certainty

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter Day Saint movement|Latter Day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the faith. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. It is a matter of speculation whether these were actual metal plates, perhaps manufactured by Smith himself,<ref>Vogel, 98: "His remark that a plate was not quite as thick as common tin may have been meant to divert attention from the possibility that they were actually made from some material otherwise readily available to him. Indeed, his prohibition against visual inspection seems contrived to the skeptic who might explain that the would-be prophet constructed a set of plates to be felt through a cloth."</ref> or whether [[Book of Mormon witnesses|witnesses]] who claimed to have seen them based their testimony on what they had seen in visions. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no mainstream academic recognition.

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original "[[reformed Egyptian]]" language. Smith dictated a translation using a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]].

Smith eventually obtained testimonies from [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of men]] who said they had seen the plates.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

In the words of LDS historian [[Richard Bushman]], "For most modern readers, the [golden] plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact."<ref name="harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=58">{{harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=58}}.</ref> Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination. Most believing Mormons believe in the golden plates as a matter of faith.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several close associates]] of Joseph Smith,<ref>Only close associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828. The characters are not linked to any known language.]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref> Moreover, even in the more theologically conservative [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|LDS Church]], some adherents who accept the Book of Mormon as inspired scripture do not believe it is a literal translation of a physical historical record.<ref>"In the early 20th century, [[B. H. Roberts]], historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), entertained the notion that Joseph Smith was capable of producing the Book of Mormon himself. In 1999, Richard N. Ostling, a religion journalist, wrote that within "the loyal Mormon community, there is a moderate intellectual group that believes the Book of Mormon does have ancient roots but, as part of the process of revelation properly understood, is expressed through nineteenth-century thought processes....an ancient text mediated through the mind of Joseph Smith" (Osling 1999, 264).</ref>

Non-believers and some liberal Mormons have advanced naturalistic explanations for the story of the plates. For example, it has been theorized that the plates were fashioned by Joseph Smith or one of his associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref> that Joseph Smith had the ability to convince others of their existence through [[magic (illusion)|illusions]] or [[hypnosis]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Riley|1903|p=211}} (proposing the theory that Smith hypnotized his followers in a way that suggested to them that they had seen the plates).</ref> or that the plates were [[mysticism|mystical]] and should be understood in the context of Smith's historical era, when [[magic (paranormal)|magic]] was an accepted part of reality.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref> These theories are explored in the article ''[[Origin of the Book of Mormon]]''. Scholarly examinations of the book's historicity are discussed in the article ''[[Historicity of the Book of Mormon]]''.

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Smith seems to have used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

Smith's "[[translation]]" did not require any use of the plates themselves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Marquardt|2005|p=97}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=53}}.</ref> As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|pp=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|pp=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=195–96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]]—also fraudulent—were translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]].

Some Latter Day Saints, especially those within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
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| title=[[The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi]]
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| title=[[Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God]]
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-19T21:42:18Z

Routerone: Undid revision 385750618 by Duke53 (talk) I added too much useful stuff in for it to be simply "reverted"

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith claimed to show the plates to a [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] gaining their signatures to say that they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbours.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> But despite speculation over whether he stated his experience was visionary or not, Harris bore testimony prior to his death that the plates were real.<ref>[George Godfrey, “Testimony of Martin Harris,” from an unpublished manuscript copy in the possession of his daughter, Florence (Godfrey) Munson of Fielding, Utah; quoted in Eldin Ricks, The Case of the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1971), 65–66. George Godfrey- The testimony of Martin Harris- page 65-66]</ref> As well as this, David Whitmer had alsotestified whole heartely that what he saw was real, placing speculation over a "vision" into question.<ref>[William E. McLellin, journal, 18 July 1831, reproduced in The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836, edited by Jan Shipps and John W. Welch (Urbana: Brigham Young University Studies and University of Illinois Press, 1994), 29 - The Journals of William E. McLellin- BYU University press- page 29]</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;" >

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| editor-link=Dean C. Jessee
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| last=Smith
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| last1=Van Wagoner
| first1=Richard S.
| last2=Walker
| first2=Steven C.
| title=Joseph Smith: The Gift of Seeing
| journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]]
|volume=15
|issue=2
| date=Summer 1982
| pages=48–68
| url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/dialogue,16483
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Vogel
| first=Dan
| title=Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet
| publication-place=Salt Lake City
| publisher=Signature Books
| year=2004
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Wade
| first=B.
| title=An Interesting Document
| newspaper=The Salt Lake Daily Tribune
|volume=19
|issue=8
| date=April 23, 1880
| url=http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/UT/tribune2.htm#042380
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Walker
| first=Ronald W.
| title=Martin Harris: Mormonism's Early Convert
| journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]]
|volume=19
|issue=4
| year=1986
| pages=29–43
| url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/dialogue,16264
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Whitmer
| title=The Golden Tables
| periodical=[[Chicago Times]]
| date=August 7, 1875
| url=http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/IL/mischig.htm#080775|first=John C.
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Whitmer
| first=David
| author-link=David Whitmer
| title=An Address to All Believers in Christ By A Witness to the Divine Authenticity of the ''Book of Mormon''
| place=Richmond, Missouri
| publisher=David Whitmer
| year=1887
| url=http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/address1.htm
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Whitmer
| first=David
| author-link=David Whitmer
| title=An Old Mormon's Closing Hours: David Whitmer, One of the Pioneers of That Faith, Passing Away
| journal=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]]
| date=January 24, 1888
| page=5
| url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/687454712.html?dids=687454712:687454712&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+24%2C+1888&author=DAVID+WHITMER&pub=Chicago+Daily+Tribune+(1872-1963)&edition=&startpage=5&desc=AN+OLD+MORMON%27S+CLOSING+HOURS.
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*{{Citation
| last=Williams
| first=Stephen
| title=Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory
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| publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]
| year=1991
}}.
*{{Citation
| editor-last=Woodard
| editor-first=Roger D.
| title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages
| publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
| year=2004
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Young
| first=Brigham
| author-link=Brigham Young
| contribution=The Priesthood and Satan—the Constitution and Government of the United States—Rights and Policy of the Latter-day Saints
| date=February 18, 1855
| title=[[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others]]
| editor-last=Watt
| editor-first=G.D.
| editor-link=George D. Watt
|volume=2
| place=Liverpool
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| publication-date=1855
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| pages=179–90
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*{{Citation
| last=Young
| first=Brigham
| author-link=Brigham Young
| contribution=Trying to Be Saints—Treasures of the Everlasting Hills—The Hill Cumorah—Obedience to True Principle the Key to Knowledge—All Enjoyment Comes from God—Organization—Duties of Officers—Final Results
| date=June 17, 1877
| title=[[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, His Two Counselors, and the Twelve Apostles]]
| editor1-last=Evans
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| editor2-first=Geo. F.
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| pages=36–45
}}.
</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Acht Zeugen

2010-09-19T13:39:57Z

Routerone: /* See also */

The '''Eight Witnesses''' were one of the two groups of witnesses who signed a statement (reprinted in the [[Book of Mormon]]) stating that they had seen the [[golden plates]] which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] said was his source material for the book. The other prominent group of [[Book of Mormon witnesses]] who said they saw the plates are called the [[Three Witnesses]].

==Testimony==
The testimony of the Eight Witnesses was first published at the end of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon and has been printed in nearly every edition since, although most subsequent editions moved the statement to the front of the book and included minor grammatical corrections.

<blockquote>Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jun., the Author and Proprietor of this work, has shewn unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shewn unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.</blockquote>

Unlike the Three Witnesses, the Eight testified that they both saw and handled the plates. Another difference is the Eight testified that they were shown the plates by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] rather than by an angel as had the Three Witnesses.<ref>According to Terryl Givens, Joseph invited the Eight "to a family prayer spot in the woods" and "matter-of-factly displayed to them the golden plates," whereas the Three were shown the plates "by an angel of God [who] came down from heaven." [[Terryl Givens]], ''By the Hand of Mormon'' (Oxford University Press, 2002), 40.</ref>

The call of the Eight probably also illustrates the significant Mormon doctrine of [[continuous revelation]] because in [[Doctrine and Covenants]] 5: 11-14 (revealed to Joseph Smith in March 1829) the Three Witnesses are told that they will be given power to see the golden plates, "''and to none else will I grant this power, to receive this same testimony among this generation."'' Nevertheless, in [[2 Nephi]] 27:13, the Three are told that ''"none other...shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God''."

==About the witnesses==

The Eight Witnesses were all members of the Whitmer or Smith families: [[Christian Whitmer]], [[Jacob Whitmer]], [[Peter Whitmer, Jr.]], [[John Whitmer]], [[Hiram Page]], [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], [[Hyrum Smith]], and [[Samuel Harrison Smith]]. Joseph Smith Sr. was Joseph's father, and Hyrum and Samuel H. Smith were his brothers. Christian, Jacob, Peter Jr. and John were David Whitmer's brothers, and Hiram Page was his brother-in-law.<ref>[[Richard Lyman Bushman]], ''[[Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling]]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 79: "Critics pointed out how many of the witnesses were members of the Smith and Whitmer families, implying that they signed out of loyalty or from a self-serving motive....The witnesses were no substitute for making the plates accessible to anyone for examination, but the testimonies showed Joseph—and God—answering doubters with concrete evidence, a concession to the needs of post-Enlightenment Christians."</ref>

In 1838, the Whitmer family became estranged from Joseph Smith Jr. during a leadership struggle in [[Far West, Missouri]], and all were excommunicated along with other dissenters and fled Caldwell County after receiving an ultimatum from the [[Danites]].<ref>Bushman, 337,339, 350-51. On June 17, [[Sidney Rigdon]] "preached [[Salt sermon|a vitriolic sermon]] based on the theme of salt losing its savor and being cast out and trodden underfoot....Soon after the sermon, eighty-three prominent members in Far West, many of them probably [[Danites]] by then, signed an ultimatum demanding the departure of the offenders....Fearing for their property and perhaps their lives, the dissenters fled." (355-51) In 1847, David, John, and Jacob Whitmer and Hiram Page were baptized into the newly formed [[Church of Christ (Whitmerite)|Church of Christ]] founded by [[William E. M'Lellin]]. In 1831, Joseph Smith received a revelation from God that John Whitmer should "write and keep a regular history" of the church (D&C 47). Whitmer did eventually write such a history, but one which concluded with a detailed description of what Whitmer considered the mistreatment that he and his family had received in Caldwell County. See Bruce N. Westerngren, ''From Historian to Dissident: The Book of John Whitmer'' (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1995).</ref> The Whitmers never rejoined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Yet despite the estrangement of the Whitmer family, there is little evidence that any of the Eight Witnesses denied his testimony to the authenticity of Book of Mormon or the golden plates—although one third-hand source, the former Mormon leader Stephen Burnett, said in 1838 that [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] had told him that "the eight witnesses never saw [the plates] & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it."<ref>Stephen Burnett letter to Lyman E. Johnson dated April 15, 1838. Typed transcript from Joseph Smith Papers, Letter book, April 20, 1837 - February 9, 1843, microfilm reel 2, pp. 64-66, LDS archives; quoted in "Facts On The Book Of Mormon Witnesses," Institute for Religious Research, retrieved from the Internet on 2/16/08 [http://irr.org/mit/bom-wit-pt2.html].</ref>

In addition to the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses, [[Mary Whitmer]], who took care of the house where much of the translation took place, said that the [[Angel Moroni]] showed her the plates as well.<ref>"John C. Whitmer Interview with Andrew Jenson and Edward Stevenson, 11 October 1888," in [[Dan Vogel]], ''Early Mormon Documents'' (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2003), V: 262.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
*[[Three Witnesses]]
*[[Book of Mormon witnesses]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/book_of_mormon/witnesses.html ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism''].
* [http://en.fairmormon.org/Three_Witnesses FAIR Mormon - Three Witnesses]- Apologetic bibliography and commentary.
* [http://irr.org/mit/bom-wit-pt1.html Book of Mormon Witnesses, Part 1]; [http://irr.org/mit/bom-wit-pt2.html The Book Of Mormon Witnesses, Part 2] - Critical commentary.

[[Category:Book of Mormon witnesses|8 witnesses]]
[[Category:Articles about multiple people]]

[[mwl:Uito teçtemunhas de l Lhibro de Mórmon]]
[[pt:Oito testemunhas do Livro de Mórmon]]

Acht Zeugen

2010-09-19T13:38:31Z

Routerone: /* External links */

The '''Eight Witnesses''' were one of the two groups of witnesses who signed a statement (reprinted in the [[Book of Mormon]]) stating that they had seen the [[golden plates]] which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] said was his source material for the book. The other prominent group of [[Book of Mormon witnesses]] who said they saw the plates are called the [[Three Witnesses]].

==Testimony==
The testimony of the Eight Witnesses was first published at the end of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon and has been printed in nearly every edition since, although most subsequent editions moved the statement to the front of the book and included minor grammatical corrections.

<blockquote>Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jun., the Author and Proprietor of this work, has shewn unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shewn unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.</blockquote>

Unlike the Three Witnesses, the Eight testified that they both saw and handled the plates. Another difference is the Eight testified that they were shown the plates by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] rather than by an angel as had the Three Witnesses.<ref>According to Terryl Givens, Joseph invited the Eight "to a family prayer spot in the woods" and "matter-of-factly displayed to them the golden plates," whereas the Three were shown the plates "by an angel of God [who] came down from heaven." [[Terryl Givens]], ''By the Hand of Mormon'' (Oxford University Press, 2002), 40.</ref>

The call of the Eight probably also illustrates the significant Mormon doctrine of [[continuous revelation]] because in [[Doctrine and Covenants]] 5: 11-14 (revealed to Joseph Smith in March 1829) the Three Witnesses are told that they will be given power to see the golden plates, "''and to none else will I grant this power, to receive this same testimony among this generation."'' Nevertheless, in [[2 Nephi]] 27:13, the Three are told that ''"none other...shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God''."

==About the witnesses==

The Eight Witnesses were all members of the Whitmer or Smith families: [[Christian Whitmer]], [[Jacob Whitmer]], [[Peter Whitmer, Jr.]], [[John Whitmer]], [[Hiram Page]], [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], [[Hyrum Smith]], and [[Samuel Harrison Smith]]. Joseph Smith Sr. was Joseph's father, and Hyrum and Samuel H. Smith were his brothers. Christian, Jacob, Peter Jr. and John were David Whitmer's brothers, and Hiram Page was his brother-in-law.<ref>[[Richard Lyman Bushman]], ''[[Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling]]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 79: "Critics pointed out how many of the witnesses were members of the Smith and Whitmer families, implying that they signed out of loyalty or from a self-serving motive....The witnesses were no substitute for making the plates accessible to anyone for examination, but the testimonies showed Joseph—and God—answering doubters with concrete evidence, a concession to the needs of post-Enlightenment Christians."</ref>

In 1838, the Whitmer family became estranged from Joseph Smith Jr. during a leadership struggle in [[Far West, Missouri]], and all were excommunicated along with other dissenters and fled Caldwell County after receiving an ultimatum from the [[Danites]].<ref>Bushman, 337,339, 350-51. On June 17, [[Sidney Rigdon]] "preached [[Salt sermon|a vitriolic sermon]] based on the theme of salt losing its savor and being cast out and trodden underfoot....Soon after the sermon, eighty-three prominent members in Far West, many of them probably [[Danites]] by then, signed an ultimatum demanding the departure of the offenders....Fearing for their property and perhaps their lives, the dissenters fled." (355-51) In 1847, David, John, and Jacob Whitmer and Hiram Page were baptized into the newly formed [[Church of Christ (Whitmerite)|Church of Christ]] founded by [[William E. M'Lellin]]. In 1831, Joseph Smith received a revelation from God that John Whitmer should "write and keep a regular history" of the church (D&C 47). Whitmer did eventually write such a history, but one which concluded with a detailed description of what Whitmer considered the mistreatment that he and his family had received in Caldwell County. See Bruce N. Westerngren, ''From Historian to Dissident: The Book of John Whitmer'' (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1995).</ref> The Whitmers never rejoined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Yet despite the estrangement of the Whitmer family, there is little evidence that any of the Eight Witnesses denied his testimony to the authenticity of Book of Mormon or the golden plates—although one third-hand source, the former Mormon leader Stephen Burnett, said in 1838 that [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] had told him that "the eight witnesses never saw [the plates] & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it."<ref>Stephen Burnett letter to Lyman E. Johnson dated April 15, 1838. Typed transcript from Joseph Smith Papers, Letter book, April 20, 1837 - February 9, 1843, microfilm reel 2, pp. 64-66, LDS archives; quoted in "Facts On The Book Of Mormon Witnesses," Institute for Religious Research, retrieved from the Internet on 2/16/08 [http://irr.org/mit/bom-wit-pt2.html].</ref>

In addition to the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses, [[Mary Whitmer]], who took care of the house where much of the translation took place, said that the [[Angel Moroni]] showed her the plates as well.<ref>"John C. Whitmer Interview with Andrew Jenson and Edward Stevenson, 11 October 1888," in [[Dan Vogel]], ''Early Mormon Documents'' (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2003), V: 262.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
*[[Three Witnesses]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/book_of_mormon/witnesses.html ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism''].
* [http://en.fairmormon.org/Three_Witnesses FAIR Mormon - Three Witnesses]- Apologetic bibliography and commentary.
* [http://irr.org/mit/bom-wit-pt1.html Book of Mormon Witnesses, Part 1]; [http://irr.org/mit/bom-wit-pt2.html The Book Of Mormon Witnesses, Part 2] - Critical commentary.

[[Category:Book of Mormon witnesses|8 witnesses]]
[[Category:Articles about multiple people]]

[[mwl:Uito teçtemunhas de l Lhibro de Mórmon]]
[[pt:Oito testemunhas do Livro de Mórmon]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-19T13:31:00Z

Routerone: Undid revision 385694822 by John Foxe (talk) You cant just revert all the work I have done. Take your spin and lies elsewhere

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith claimed to show the plates to a [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] gaining their signatures to say that they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbours.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> But despite speculation over whether he stated his experience was visionary or not, Harris bore testimony prior to his death that the plates were real.<ref>[George Godfrey, “Testimony of Martin Harris,” from an unpublished manuscript copy in the possession of his daughter, Florence (Godfrey) Munson of Fielding, Utah; quoted in Eldin Ricks, The Case of the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1971), 65–66. George Godfrey- The testimony of Martin Harris- page 65-66]</ref> As well as this, David Whitmer had alsotestified whole heartely that what he saw was real, placing speculation over a "vision" into question.<ref>[William E. McLellin, journal, 18 July 1831, reproduced in The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836, edited by Jan Shipps and John W. Welch (Urbana: Brigham Young University Studies and University of Illinois Press, 1994), 29 - The Journals of William E. McLellin- BYU University press- page 29]</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

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| title = Personal Writings of Joseph Smith
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| title=[[Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God]]
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T23:09:44Z

Routerone: /* Descriptions of the plates */

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith claimed to show the plates to a [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] gaining their signatures to say that they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbours.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> But despite speculation over whether he stated his experience was visionary or not, Harris bore testimony prior to his death that the plates were real.<ref>[George Godfrey, “Testimony of Martin Harris,” from an unpublished manuscript copy in the possession of his daughter, Florence (Godfrey) Munson of Fielding, Utah; quoted in Eldin Ricks, The Case of the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1971), 65–66. George Godfrey- The testimony of Martin Harris- page 65-66]</ref> As well as this, David Whitmer had alsotestified whole heartely that what he saw was real, placing speculation over a "vision" into question.<ref>[William E. McLellin, journal, 18 July 1831, reproduced in The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836, edited by Jan Shipps and John W. Welch (Urbana: Brigham Young University Studies and University of Illinois Press, 1994), 29 - The Journals of William E. McLellin- BYU University press- page 29]</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;" >

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| editor-link=Dean C. Jessee
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| last=Smith
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T23:08:36Z

Routerone: /* Descriptions of the plates */

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith claimed to show the plates to a [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] gaining their signatures to say that they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbours.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> But despite speculation over whether he stated his experience was visionary or not, Harris bore testimony prior to his death that the plates were real.<ref>[George Godfrey, “Testimony of Martin Harris,” from an unpublished manuscript copy in the possession of his daughter, Florence (Godfrey) Munson of Fielding, Utah; quoted in Eldin Ricks, The Case of the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1971), 65–66. George Godfrey- The testimony of Martin Harris- page 65-66]</ref>

As well as this, David Whitmer had alsotestified wholeheartely that what he saw was real.<ref>[William E. McLellin, journal, 18 July 1831, reproduced in The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836, edited by Jan Shipps and John W. Welch (Urbana: Brigham Young University Studies and University of Illinois Press, 1994), 29 - The Journals of William E. McLellin- BYU University press- page 29]</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;" >

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| title=Recollections of John H. Gilbert
| place=Palmyra, New York
| publisher=typescript located in Harold B. Lee Library, [[Brigham Young University]]
| date=September 8, 1892
| url=http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/JHGilbert.html
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*{{Citation
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| first=Terry
| title=By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion
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| title=Editor's note
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| title=Golden Bible
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| chapter=Affidavit of Isaac Hale
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| editor-last=Howe
| editor-first=Eber Dudley
| editor-link=Eber Dudley Howe
| title=[[Mormonism Unvailed]]
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| editor-last=Howe
| editor-first=Eber Dudley
| editor-link=Eber Dudley Howe
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| editor-first=Eber Dudley
| editor-link=Eber Dudley Howe
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| pages=251–53
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| author-link=Eber Dudley Howe
| title=[[Mormonism Unvailed]]
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| unused_data=DUPLICATE DATA: year=1976
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| title=Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History
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|volume=17
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|volume=7
| year=1870
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| title=A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ
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| title=The Faith and Visions of the Ancient Saints—The Same Great Blessing to be Enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints
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| last=Salisbury
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| journal=[[BYU Studies]]
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| url=https://byustudies.byu.edu/shop/PDFSRC/41.3Walker.pdf
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| last=Saunders
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| editor-last=Vogel
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| title=Early Mormon Documents
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| last=Saunders
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| contribution=Interview by William H. Kelley
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| editor-last=Vogel
| editor-first=Dan
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| title=Early Mormon Documents
|volume=2
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| publication-date=1998
| pages = 159–60
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| title=last Testimony of Sister Emma
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| url=http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/IL/sain1872.htm#100179
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| editor-last=Jessee
| editor-first=Dean C
| editor-link=Dean C. Jessee
| title = Personal Writings of Joseph Smith
| place = Salt Lake City
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| isbn=1-57345-787-6
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| title=[[Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God]]
| place=Kirtland, Ohio
| publisher=F. G. Williams & Co
| year=1835
| url=http://www.irr.org/mit/BOC/default.html
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| title=[[History of the Church]]
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| first1=Joseph, Jr.
| author1-link=Joseph Smith, Jr.
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| last4=Phelps
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| author4-link=W. W. Phelps (Mormon)
| last5=Richards
| first5=Willard
| author5-link=Willard Richards
| year=1839–1843
| chapter=[[History of the Church]], Ms. A–1
| editor-last=Jessee
| editor-first=Dean C
| editor-link=Dean C. Jessee
| title = Personal Writings of Joseph Smith
| publisher = [[Deseret Book]]
| publication-place=Salt Lake City
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| isbn=1-57345-787-6
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| last=Smith
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| last=Smith
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| last=Smith
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| editor-last=Casawall
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| last=Smith
| first=Lucy Mack
| author-link=Lucy Mack Smith
| title=[[Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations]]
| publisher=Liverpool: S.W. Richards
| year=1853
| url=http://relarchive.byu.edu/19th/descriptions/biographical.html
| format= – <sup>[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=author%3ASmith+intitle%3A%5B%5BBiographical+Sketches+of+Joseph+Smith+the+Prophet%2C+and+His+Progenitors+for+Many+Generations%5D%5D&as_publication=&as_ylo=1853&as_yhi=1853&btnG=Search Scholar search]</sup>
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| last=Stevenson
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| last =Tvedtnes
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| title =Review of Little Known Evidences of the Book of Mormon by Brenton G. Yorgason
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| volume =2
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| last1=Van Wagoner
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| last=Whitmer
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| title=[[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others]]
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| pages=36–45
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T23:05:08Z

Routerone: /* Descriptions of the plates */

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith claimed to show the plates to a [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] gaining their signatures to say that they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbours.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> Although despite this, David Whitmer testified wholeheartely that what he saw was real.<ref>[William E. McLellin, journal, 18 July 1831, reproduced in The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836, edited by Jan Shipps and John W. Welch (Urbana: Brigham Young University Studies and University of Illinois Press, 1994), 29 - The Journals of William E. McLellin- BYU University press- page 29]</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T20:24:10Z

Routerone:

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith claimed to show the plates to a [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] gaining their signatures to say that they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbours.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;" >

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| title = Personal Writings of Joseph Smith
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| title=[[Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God]]
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T20:15:09Z

Routerone: /* Translating the plates */ this is a synthetic interpretation of a source and self drawn conclusion- this is a widely heavily debated topic centred on indirect evidence.

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith eventually obtained testimonies from [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] saying they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbours.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;" >

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| title=The Hill Cumorah, And The ''Book Of Mormon''. The Smith Family, Cowdery, Harris, and Other Old Neighbors—What They Know
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| editor-link=Eber Dudley Howe
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| editor-link=Dean C. Jessee
| title=Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History
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| last=Smith
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| last=Smith
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| title=An Address to All Believers in Christ By A Witness to the Divine Authenticity of the ''Book of Mormon''
| place=Richmond, Missouri
| publisher=David Whitmer
| year=1887
| url=http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/address1.htm
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Whitmer
| first=David
| author-link=David Whitmer
| title=An Old Mormon's Closing Hours: David Whitmer, One of the Pioneers of That Faith, Passing Away
| journal=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]]
| date=January 24, 1888
| page=5
| url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/687454712.html?dids=687454712:687454712&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+24%2C+1888&author=DAVID+WHITMER&pub=Chicago+Daily+Tribune+(1872-1963)&edition=&startpage=5&desc=AN+OLD+MORMON%27S+CLOSING+HOURS.
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Williams
| first=Stephen
| title=Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory
| publication-place=Philadelphia
| publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]
| year=1991
}}.
*{{Citation
| editor-last=Woodard
| editor-first=Roger D.
| title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages
| publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
| year=2004
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Young
| first=Brigham
| author-link=Brigham Young
| contribution=The Priesthood and Satan—the Constitution and Government of the United States—Rights and Policy of the Latter-day Saints
| date=February 18, 1855
| title=[[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others]]
| editor-last=Watt
| editor-first=G.D.
| editor-link=George D. Watt
|volume=2
| place=Liverpool
| publisher=F.D. & S.W. Richards
| publication-date=1855
| url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/JournalOfDiscourses3,9594
| pages=179–90
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Young
| first=Brigham
| author-link=Brigham Young
| contribution=Trying to Be Saints—Treasures of the Everlasting Hills—The Hill Cumorah—Obedience to True Principle the Key to Knowledge—All Enjoyment Comes from God—Organization—Duties of Officers—Final Results
| date=June 17, 1877
| title=[[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, His Two Counselors, and the Twelve Apostles]]
| editor1-last=Evans
| editor1-first=D.W.
| editor2-last=Gibbs
| editor2-first=Geo. F.
|volume=19
| place=Liverpool
| publisher=William Budge
| publication-date=1878
| contribution-url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/JournalOfDiscourses3,1107
| pages=36–45
}}.
</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T20:12:09Z

Routerone: /* Background */ spelling

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith eventually obtained testimonies from [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] saying they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbours.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

Smith's "[[translation]]" did not require any use of the plates themselves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Marquardt|2005|p=97}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=53}}.</ref> As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T20:10:20Z

Routerone: /* Origin and historicity */ remove a sentence I feel is overrepeated

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith eventually obtained testimonies from [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] saying they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

Smith's "[[translation]]" did not require any use of the plates themselves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Marquardt|2005|p=97}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=53}}.</ref> As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T20:07:13Z

Routerone: /* The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition */ Im pretty sure 99% of people in the main LDS church accept the goldenplates. So this is rwoded

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith eventually obtained testimonies from [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] saying they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination. Most believing Mormons believe in the golden plates as a matter of faith.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only close associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

Smith's "[[translation]]" did not require any use of the plates themselves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Marquardt|2005|p=97}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=53}}.</ref> As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;" >

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| title = Personal Writings of Joseph Smith
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| title=[[Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God]]
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| title = Personal Writings of Joseph Smith
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| format= – <sup>[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=author%3ASmith+intitle%3A%5B%5BBiographical+Sketches+of+Joseph+Smith+the+Prophet%2C+and+His+Progenitors+for+Many+Generations%5D%5D&as_publication=&as_ylo=1853&as_yhi=1853&btnG=Search Scholar search]</sup>
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T20:04:38Z

Routerone: /* The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition */ add new ref+

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] clamed to have translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith eventually obtained testimonies from [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] saying they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination. Most believing Mormons believe in the golden plates as a matter of faith.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only close associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

Smith's "[[translation]]" did not require any use of the plates themselves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Marquardt|2005|p=97}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=53}}.</ref> As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref><ref>[*Doyle C. Fitzpatrick, The King Strang Story: AVindication of James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon [sic] King(Lansing, MI: National Heritage, 1970), 34-38; James J. Strang, the Beaver Island Mormon - pages 34-38]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints, especially those within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;" >

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| editor-link=Dean C. Jessee
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| last=Smith
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]

Goldplatten

2010-09-18T19:59:07Z

Routerone: Undid revision 385582915 by Duke53 (talk) you cant simply "undo" mass editing

[[Image:Joseph Smith receiving golden plates.jpg|225px|thumb|An 1893 engraving depicting [[Joseph Smith]]'s description of receiving artifacts from the [[angel Moroni]]. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which Smith called the ''[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]''. The [[sword of Laban]] and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.]]

According to [[Latter-day Saint movement|Latter-day Saint]] belief, the '''golden plates''' (also called the '''''gold plates''''' or in some 19th century literature, the '''''golden Bible''''')<ref>Use of the terms ''golden bible'' and ''gold Bible'' by both believers and non-believers dates from the late 1820s. See, for instance, {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' by [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}} (use of the term ''gold Bible'' in 1827–29 by believing Palmyra neighbors); {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}} (stating that by 1829 the plates were "generally known and spoken of as the 'Golden Bible'"). Use of these terms has been rare, especially by believers, since the 1830s.</ref> are the claimed source from which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] translated the [[Book of Mormon]], a [[sacred text]] of the Latter-day Saint movement. Some witnesses described the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}; {{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=600n65; 601n96}}. Vogel estimates that solid gold plates of the same dimensions would weigh about 140 pounds.</ref> being golden or brassy in color, and being composed of thin metallic pages engraved on both sides and bound with one or more rings. Smith told several stories about the origin and nature of the golden plates that are accepted by most Latter Day Saints as a matter of faith and sometimes also on the basis of [[apologetics|apologetic]] scholarship that thus far has received no academic recognition from non-believers

Smith said he found the plates on September 22, 1823 at [[Cumorah|a hill]] near his home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester, New York]] after an [[angel Moroni|angel]] directed him to a buried stone box. The angel at first prevented Smith from taking the plates because he had not followed the angel's instructions. In 1827, on his fourth annual attempt to retrieve the plates, Smith returned home with a heavy object wrapped in a frock, which he then put in a box. Though he allowed others to heft the box, he said that the angel had forbidden him to show the plates to anyone until they had been translated from their original [[reformed Egyptian]] language. Latter Day Saints claim that Smith translated the Plates through the "Gift and Power of God". He dictated the translation using by a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] in the bottom of a hat, which he placed over his face to view the words written within the stone.<ref>Although Smith's use of a single stone is well documented {{Harv|Wagoner|1982|pp=59–62}}, Smith said that his earliest translation used a set of stone spectacles called the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], which he found with the plates {{Harv|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Other than Smith himself, [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] was the sole known witness of the Urim and Thummim, which she said she had observed them when covered by a thin cloth {{harv|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> Smith published the translation in 1830 as the [[Book of Mormon]], completing it fully in just over a period of two months.

Smith eventually obtained testimonies from [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] saying they had seen the plates, although it is unclear whether these witnesses saw a physical object or a vision.<ref>It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref> After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to their [[angel Moroni|angelic guardian]]. Therefore, if the plates existed, they can not now be examined.

==Origin and historicity==
{{See also|Origin of the Book of Mormon|Historicity of the Book of Mormon}}

Since Joseph Smith said he returned the plates to [[angel Moroni|an angel]] after he finished translating them, their authenticity—if they existed—cannot be determined by direct physical examination. Most believing Mormons believe in the golden plates as a matter of faith.

Nevertheless, the golden plates were reportedly shown to [[Book of Mormon witnesses|a number of witnesses]] known by Joseph Smith,<ref>Only close associates of Joseph Smith were allowed to become official witnesses to the plates; he invited no strangers, or women, to view them. These witnesses, first a group of three, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, and then a group of eight—five members of the Whitmer family, Joseph Smith's father, and two of his brothers, Hyrum and Samuel—all said they "saw and hefted" the plates. See Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 23.</ref> and the [[Book of Mormon]] exists as its reputed translation. Thus, Mormon apologists and Mormon critics can debate indirect evidence only: they may ask whether the [[Book of Mormon]] narrative is consistent with science and history and whether its witnesses are credible.<ref>See generally {{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993}}, which outlines the main arguments for and against Book of Mormon authenticity.</ref>Mormon scholars have formed collaborations such as [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] to provide [[apologetics|apologetic]] answers to critical research about the golden plates and topics in the field of Mormon studies. Among these topics, the credibility of the plates has been, according to Bushman, a "troublesome item."<ref>"The Mormon sources constantly refer to the single most troublesome item in Joseph Smith's history, the gold plates on which the Book of Mormon was said to be written. For most modern readers, the plates are beyond belief, a phantasm, yet the Mormon sources accept them as fact." {{harvtxt|Bushman|2005}p=58}}. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)'' begin a chapter called "The Gold Bible" (259-277) with a question posed by liberal Mormon Brigham D. Madsen, "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons." (259)</ref>

[[Image:caractors large.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A reputed transcript of [[reformed Egyptian]] characters, which Smith said were copied from the golden plates in 1828]]

The [[Book of Mormon]] itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two [[pre-Columbian]] prophet-historians from around the year AD 400: [[Mormon (prophet)|Mormon]] and his son [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]]. Mormon and Moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Their script, according to the book, was described as "[[reformed Egyptian]]," a language unknown to linguists or Egyptologists.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|p=538}}. Standard language references such as {{Harvtxt|Daniels|Bright|1996}}; {{Harvtxt|Crystal|1997}}; and {{Harvtxt|Woodard|2004}} contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian". "Reformed Egyptian" is also not discussed in {{Harvtxt|Robinson|2002}}, although it is mentioned in {{harvtxt|Williams|1991}}.</ref> Historically, [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations have taught that the Book of Mormon's description of the plates' origin is accurate, and that the Book of Mormon is a translation of the plates.<ref>Book of Mormon (LDS edition), Introduction (expressing the LDS view that the Book of Mormon "is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas", and that the book is a translation of the golden plates "into the English language".)</ref> The [[Community of Christ]], however, while accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, no longer takes an official position on the historicity of the golden plates.<ref>McMurray, W. Grant, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp ("The proper use of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture has been under wide discussion in the 1970s and beyond, in part because of long-standing questions about its historicity and in part because of perceived theological inadequacies, including matters of race and ethnicity."). At the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference, President Stephen M. Veazey ruled a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" out of order. In so doing he stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church." Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|pp=98, 600 note 65}} (suggesting the plates were made of common tin). To former Mormon Dan Vogel, "construction of such a book would have been relatively easy. There were scraps of tin available on the Smith property and elsewhere in the vicinity, and during the several hours Joseph was separated from Emma the night they went to the hill and on other occasions, he could have easily set up shop in the cave on the other side of the hill or in some corner of the forest. Using a pair of metal shears, it would have been easy to cut a number of 6 x 8 sheets....A book made of tin plates of the dimensions ( 6 x 8 x 6 inches) described by Smith would have weighed between fifty and sixty pounds, corresponding to the weight that was mentioned by eye-witness accounts."</ref><ref>{{Harvtxt|Metcalfe|1993|p=178}}.</ref>

==Story of the golden plates==
The story of the golden plates consists of how, according to [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] and his contemporaries, the plates were found, received from the [[angel Moroni]], translated, and returned to the angel prior to the publication of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Joseph Smith is the only source for a great deal of the story because much of it occurred at times when he was the only human witness. Nevertheless, Smith told the story to his family, friends, and acquaintances; and many of these provided second-hand accounts. Other parts of the story are derived from the statements of those who knew Smith, including [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]] who said they saw the golden plates.

The best known elements of the golden plates story are found in an account told by Smith in 1838 and incorporated into the official church histories of some [[Latter Day Saint movement]] denominations.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a}};{{harvtxt|Roberts|1902|loc=ch.1-6}} (official history of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]); RLDS History of the Church, vol. 1, ch. 1-2 (official history of the [[Community of Christ]]).</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|The LDS Church]] has [[Biblical canon|canonized]] part of this 1838 account as part of its [[religious text|scripture]], [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|The Pearl of Great Price]].

===Background===
{{Main|Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.}}

During the [[Second Great Awakening]], [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] lived on his parents' farm near [[Palmyra (village), New York|Palmyra, New York]]. At the time churches in the region contended so vigorously for souls that western New York became known as the "[[burned-over district]]" because the fires of religious revivals had burned over it so often.<ref>Jan Shipps, "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition," University of Illinois Press, pp. 7</ref> Western New York was also noted for its participation in a "craze for treasure hunting."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bennett|1893}}. The treasure-seeking culture in early 19th century [[New England]] is described in {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=25–26}}.</ref> Beginning as a youth in the early 1820s, Smith was periodically hired, for about $14 per month, as a [[scrying|scryer]], using what were termed [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|"seer stones"]] in attempts to locate lost items and buried treasure.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}} (stating that he was what he called a "money digger", but saying that it "was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen dollars a month for it").</ref> Smith's contemporaries described his method for seeking treasure as putting the stone in a white [[stovepipe hat]], putting his face over the hat to block the light, and then "seeing" the information in the reflections of the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|pp=253–54}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|p=225}}; {{Harvtxt|Turner|1851|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}}; {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|pp=20–21}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}; {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}; {{Harvtxt|Mather|1880|p=199}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51, 54–55}}.</ref>

Smith did not consider himself to be a "peeper" or [[crystal gazing|"glass-looker,"]] a practice he called "nonsense."<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51,</ref> Rather, Smith and his family viewed their folk magical practices as [[spiritual gift]]s.<ref>Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51. [[Lucy Mack Smith]] later remembered that the family did not abandon its labor "to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation but whilst we worked with our hands we endeavored to remember the service of & the welfare of our souls."</ref> Although Smith later rejected his youthful treasure-hunting activities as frivolous and immaterial, he never repudiated the stones themselves nor denied their presumed power to find treasure; nor did he ever relinquish the magic culture in which he was raised.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=50–51}} Smith "never repudiated the stones or denied their power to find treasure. Remnants of the magical culture stayed with him to the end."; Jan Shipps, ''Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition,'' University of Illinois Press, 11.</ref> He came to view [[Seer stones (Latter Day Saints)|seeing with a stone]] in religious terms as the work of a "seer",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=51}}.</ref> and indeed, in his view a seer was even greater than a [[prophet]].<ref>Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:15-17.</ref> Joseph Smith's first stone, apparently the same one he used at least part of the time to translate the golden plates, was chocolate-colored and about the size of an egg,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1930|p=129}}. Roberts was at the time the official historian of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], and his opinion has considerable weight, given that the LDS Church attempted to downplay any influence of magic in early Latter Day Saint history.<{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}</ref> found in a deep well he helped dig for one of his neighbors.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}}; {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|pp=305–306}}. The stone was found in either 1819 ({{Harvnb|Tucker|1867|pp=19–20}} {{Harvnb|Bennett|1893}}) or 1822 {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=240}}.</ref> This stone may still be in the possession of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]] (a former president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]): "The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the [[Manti Utah Temple|Manti Temple]] when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is currently in the possession of the Church." ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 3: 225.</ref>

===Finding the plates===
According to Smith, he found the plates after he was directed to them by a heavenly messenger<ref>Smith referred to the visitor as an "angel of the Lord" at least as early as 1832 {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=4}}, and possibly as early as 1829 (''Early Mormon Documents'' 1:151-152). Some early accounts related by non-Mormons described this angel as a "spirit" ({{Harvnb|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvnb|Harris|1833|p=253}}; {{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}) or a "ghost" {{Harv|Burnett|1831}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}} (a later-published account using the "ghost" terminology). In 1838, however, Smith later said that the "angel" was a man who had been "dead, and raised again therefrom" {{Harv|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}.</ref> whom he later identified as the [[angel Moroni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|1835|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838b|pp=42–43}}. In distinction from his other accounts, Smith's 1838 autobiography said that the angel's name was Nephi {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; nevertheless, modern historians and Latter Day Saints generally refer to the angel as Moroni.</ref> According to the story, the angel first visited Smith's bedroom late at night, on September 22<ref>September 22 was listed in a local [[almanac]] as the [[autumn equinox|autumnal equinox]], which has led D. Michael Quinn to argue that the date had astrological significance in Smith's worldview ({{Harvnb|Quinn|1998|p=144}}; however, this ostensible astrological significance is never mentioned by Smith or his contemporaries.</ref> in 1822 or 1823.<ref>Smith's first mention of the angel in later histories is an appearance on the eve of September 22, 1823 {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=4}}; however, other accounts say or imply that the angel may have appeared a year earlier in 1822. Smith's first history in 1832 said the angel's first visit was on September 22, 1822, although he also said he was "seventeen years of age" {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}, which would have made the year 1823 (he turned 17 in December 1822). In 1835, after [[Oliver Cowdery]] initially dated the angel's visit to the "15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr's, age", Cowdery changed the statement to read the 17th year of his age (16 years old, or 1822)—but he said this visit in Smith's "17th year" occurred in 1823 {{Harv|Cowdery|1835a|p=78}}. Smith's father is quoted by an inquirer who visited his house in 1830 as saying that the first visit by the angel took place in 1822 but that he did not learn about it until 1823 {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. A Smith neighbor who said Smith told him the story in 1823 said the angel appeared "a year or two before" the death of Joseph's brother Alvin in November 1823.</ref> Moroni told Smith that the plates could be found buried in a prominent hill near his home, later called ''[[Cumorah]]'', a name taken from the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=4}} (identifying the hill, but not referring to it by a name); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}} (referring to the hill as ''[[Cumorah]]'').</ref> Before dawn, Moroni reappeared two more times and repeated the information.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=7}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref>

But the angel would not allow Smith to take the plates until he obeyed certain "commandments".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel told him to obey his charge concerning the plates, "otherwise I could not get them"); {{Harvtxt|Clark|1842|pp=225–26}} (the angel "told him that he must follow implicitly the divine direction, or he would draw down upon him the wrath of heaven"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=83}} (characterizing the angel's requirements as "commandments of God", and saying Smith could receive the plates "not only until he was willing, but able" to keep those commandments).</ref> Smith recorded some of these commandments, and contemporaries to whom he told the story said there were others, all of which are relevant to the modern debate about whether, or how closely, events of early Mormonism were related to the practice of contemporary [[folk magic]].<ref>See, e.g., {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}}.</ref> Smith's writings say that the angel required at least the following: (1) that he have no thought of using the plates for monetary gain,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (saying he was commanded to "have an eye single to the glory of God"); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}} (saying the angel commanded him to "have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God".)</ref> (2) that he tell his father about the vision,<ref>Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said he was commanded to tell his father during the third vision {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=81}}, but he disobeyed because he didn't think his father would believe him, and the angel appeared a fourth time to rebuke him and reiterate the commandment (82). Joseph Smith and his sister Katharine said the angel gave him the commandment in his fourth visit, but did not say whether he had received the commandment earlier that night ({{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=12}}). Smith's father is quoted by a skeptical interviewer to say that in 1830, Smith delayed telling his father about the vision for about a year {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said the angel commanded him to tell his entire family {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=9}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story that night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}.</ref> and (3) that he never show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvtxt|Hadley|1829}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> Smith's contemporaries who heard the story—both sympathetic and unsympathetic—generally agreed that Smith mentioned the following additional commandments: (4) that Smith take the plates and leave the site where they had been buried without looking back,<ref>This commandment is described in the account of [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]], a loyal Latter Day Saint friend of Smith's {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=2}}, and Willard Chase, an associate of Smith's in Palmyra during the 1820s {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Both Knight and Chase were treasure seekers, but while Knight remained a loyal follower until his death, Chase was a critic of Smith's by the early 1830s.</ref> and (5) that the plates never directly touch the ground until safe at home in a locked chest.<ref>There is agreement on this commandment by Smith's mother {{Harv|Smith|1853|pp=85–86}} and sister {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} and by two non-Mormons ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=242}}; {{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|p=305}}).</ref> Some unsympathetic listeners who heard the story from Smith or his father recalled that Smith had said the angel required him (6) to wear "black clothes" to the place where the plates were buried,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (an affidavit of Willard Chase, a non-Latter Day Saint treasure seeker who believed Smith wrongly appropriated his seer stone). Chase said he heard the story from Smith's father in 1827. Fayette Lapham, who traveled to Palmyra in 1830 to inquire about the Latter Day Saint movement and heard the story from Joseph Smith, Sr., said Smith was told to wear an "old-fashioned suit of clothes, of the same color as those worn by the angel", but Lapham did not specify what color of clothing the angel was wearing {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> (7) to ride a "black horse with a switchtail",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of Willard Chase, relating story heard from Smith's father in 1827). A friendly but non-believing Palmyra neighbor, Lorenzo Saunders, heard the story in 1823 from Joseph Smith, Jr., and also said Smith was to required to ride a black horse to the hill {{Harv|Saunders|1884b}}.</ref> (8) to call for the plates by a certain name,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (affidavit of the skeptical Willard Chase).</ref> and (9) to "give thanks to God."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders of Palmyra, who heard the story from Benjamin Saunders, who heard the story from Joseph Smith).</ref>

[[Image:Mormon Hill engraving (1841).gif|right|300px|thumb|An 1841 engraving of "[[Cumorah|Mormon Hill]]" (looking south), where Smith said he found the Golden Plates on the west side, near the peak.]]

In the morning, Smith began work as usual and did not mention the visions to his father<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}</ref> because, he said, he did not think his father would believe him.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=12}} (stating that Smith told the angel during the fourth visit that he was afraid his Father would not believe him).</ref> Smith said he then fainted because he had been awake all night, and while unconscious, the angel appeared a fourth time and chastised him for failing to tell the visions to his father.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=6}}.</ref> When Smith then told all to his father, he believed his son and encouraged him to obey the angel's commands.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=82}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother William, who was 11 at the time, said he also told the rest of his family that day prior to visiting the hill {{Harv|Smith:1883|pp=9–10}}, although he may have been remembering Smith tell the story the night ''after'' he visited the hill, according to their mother's recollection {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=83}}. Smith's sister Katharine said that Joseph told his father and the two oldest brothers Alvin and [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] the morning prior to visiting the hill, but Katharine was too young (10 years old) to understand what they were talking about {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}.</ref> Smith then set off to visit the hill, later stating that he used his seer stone to locate the place where the plates were buried<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1833|p=252}} (statement by Henry Harris, a non-Mormon Palmyra resident); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=163}} (statement by Martin Harris, a Latter Day Saint who became one of the Three Witnesses of the Golden Plates). According to one hearer of the account, Smith used the seer stone to follow a sequence of landmarks by horse and on foot until he arrived at the place the plates were buried.{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=305}}.</ref> but that he "knew the place the instant that [he] arrived there."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Smith said he saw a large stone covering a box made of stone (or possibly iron).<ref>Most accounts, including those written by Smith, say the plates were found in a stone box ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}; {{Harvnb|Whitmer|1875}}, calling it a "stone casket", and stating that Smith had to dig down for the box "two and a half or three feet"); according to two non-believing witnesses, however, Smith said they were buried in an iron box ({{Harvnb|Bennett|1831|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}).</ref> Using a stick to remove dirt from the edges of the stone cover, and prying it up with a lever,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}</ref> Smith saw the plates inside the box, together with other artifacts.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|pp=15–16}}. According to various accounts, these artifacts may have included a breastplate ({{Harvnb|Cowdery|1835b|p=196}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, saying it was the "breast-plate of Laban"), a set of large spectacles made of seer stones ({{Harvnb|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|1838a|p=16}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the Liahona, the sword of Laban ({{Harvnb|Lapham|1870|pp=306, 308}}; {{Harvnb|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}), the brass plates of Laban {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=13}}, the vessel in which the gold was melted, a rolling machine for gold plates, and three balls of gold as large as a fist {{Harv|Harris|1833|p=253}}.</ref>

===Unsuccessful retrieval attempts===
According to Smith's followers, Smith said he took the plates from the box, put them on the ground, and covered the box with the stone to protect the other treasures it contained.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Joseph Knight, Sr., a loyal life-long follower who had worked with Smith in treasure expeditions); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother, saying this occurred on Smith's ''second'' visit to the hill); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister, saying this occurred on Smith's ''third'' visit to the hill, but that it happened prior to their brother Alvin's death, which was in November 1823); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=197}} (account by Smith's second-in-command Oliver Cowdery, stating that when Smith was looking in the box for other artifacts, he hadn't yet removed the plates).</ref> Nevertheless, the accounts say, when Smith looked back at the ground after closing the box, the plates had once again disappeared into it.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account by Smith's mother); {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account by Smith's life-long friend Joseph Knight, Sr.); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister).</ref> According to two non-believing Palmyra residents, when Smith once again raised the stone and attempted to retrieve the plates, Smith saw something in the box like a toad that grew larger and struck him to the ground.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=242}} (account of Palmyra resident Willard Chase, who heard the story from Smith's father in 1827 and was a non-believer); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1884a}} (account of Benjamin Saunders, a sympathetic non-believer who heard the story from Joseph Smith in 1827); {{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (account of Orson Saunders, a non-believer who heard it from Benjamin Saunders).</ref> Although Smith's followers do not mention a toad-like creature, they agree with several non-believers that Smith said he was stricken by a supernatural force that hurled him to the ground as many as three times.<ref>Writing with Smith's assistance for a church periodical, Oliver Cowdery said that Smith was stricken three times with an ever increasing force, persisting after the second blow because he thought the plates were held by the power of an "enchantment" (like hidden-treasure stories he had heard) that could be overcome by physical exertion {{Harv|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}}. Smith's mother said he was stricken by a force but did not say how many times {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=86}}. Willard Chase said Smith was stricken at least twice {{Harv|Chase|1833|p=242}}. Fayette Lapham, who said he heard the story in about 1830 from Smith's father, said Smith was stricken three times with ever-increasing force {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=306}}. Two neighbors who heard the story from Smith in Harmony in the late 1820s said Smith was knocked down three times {{Harv|Lewis|Lewis|1879|p=1}}. Smith himself said he made three unsuccessful attempts to take the plates that day, but he did not mention his being stricken {{Harv|Smith|1832|p=3}}. Smith's sister Katharine stated that three times, "he felt a pressure pushing hom [him] away" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. [[David Whitmer]] said that the angel struck Smith three times with such force that he was knocked off the hill onto the surrounding plain and had to reascend it {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}.</ref>

Disconcerted by his inability to obtain the plates, Smith said he briefly wondered whether his experience had been a "dreem of Vision" [sic].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}.</ref> Concluding that it was not, he said he prayed asking why he had been barred from taking the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying Smith exclaimed, "why Cant I stur this Book?"); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}} (saying that Smith exclaimed, without premeditation, "Why can I not obtain this book?"); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying Smith asked, "Lord, what have I done, that I can not get these records?")</ref>

In response to his question, Smith said the angel appeared and told him he could not receive the plates because he "had been tempted of the advisary (sic) and saught (sic) the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandments that I should have".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (saying the angel said "you cant have it now", to which Smith responded, "when can I have it?" and the angel said "the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you".); {{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|pp=197–98}} (stating that although Smith "supposed his success certain", his failure to keep the "commandments" led to his inability to obtain them). In Smith's 1838 account he said the angel had already told him he would not receive the plates for another four years {{Harv|Smith|1838a|p=7}}. Smith's brother, who was 11 at the time, said "upon his return [he] told us that in consequence of his not obeying strictly the commandments which the angel had given him, he could not obtain the record until four years from that time" {{Harv|Smith|1883|p=10}}. Smith's sister Katharine (who was 10 at the time) said that Moroni told Smith, "You have not obeyed the commandments as you were commanded to; you must obey His commandments in every particular. You were not to lay them out of your hands until you had them in safe keeping" {{Harv|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}.</ref> According to Smith's followers, Smith had also broken the angel's commandment "not to lay the plates down, or put them for a moment out of his hands",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}.</ref> and according to a non-believer, Smith said "I had forgotten to give thanks to God" as required by the angel.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Saunders|1893}} (statement of Orson Saunders, who heard the account from his uncle Benjamin Saunders, who heard it from Smith in 1827).</ref>

Smith said the angel instructed him to return the next year, on September 22, 1824, with the "right person": his older brother Alvin.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}} (account of Joseph Knight, Sr., a life-long follower of Smith); {{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}} (account of Fayette Lapham, who became a skeptic after hearing the story from Smith's father in 1830); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (account of Smith's sister Katharine).</ref> Alvin died in November 1823, and Smith returned to the hill in 1824 to ask what he should do.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}}. {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=85}} (account of Smith's mother). About the time of the scheduled September 22, 1824 meeting with the angel that Alvin was to attend, there were rumors in Palmyra that Alvin's body had been dug up and dissected. To quell these rumors, Joseph's father brought witnesses to exhume the body three days after Joseph's reported meeting with the angel (September 25) and then ran a notice in a local newspaper stating that the body remained undisturbed—except, of course, by Smith, Sr. and the witnesses. {{Harv|Smith|1824}}.</ref> Smith said he was told to return the following year (1825) with the "right person"—although the angel did not tell Smith who that person might be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=14}} (saying the angel said, "You will know her when you see her.").</ref> For the visit on September 22, 1825, Smith may have attempted to bring his treasure-hunting associate Samuel T. Lawrence,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=243}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer and had been to the hill and knew what was there); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=164}} (identifying Samuel T. Lawrence as a practitioner of [[crystal gazing]]).</ref> but eventually, Smith determined after looking into his seer stone that the "right person" was Emma Hale, his future wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=2}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith "knew when he saw her that she was the one to go with him to get the records").</ref>

Smith said that he visited the hill "at the end of each year" for four years after the first visit in 1823,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1838a|p=7}}.</ref> but there is no record of him being in the vicinity of Palmyra between January 1826 and January 1827 when he returned to New York from Pennsylvania with his new wife.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=99–100}}.</ref> In January 1827, Smith visited the hill and then told his parents that the angel had severely chastised him for not being "engaged enough in the work of the Lord",<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}}.</ref> which may have meant that he had missed his annual visit to the hill in 1826.<ref>Smith's father is cited as stating Smith was late one year and missed the date for visiting the hill, and therefore was chastised by the angel {{Harv|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref>

===Receiving the plates===
The next annual visit on September 22, 1827 would be, Smith told associates, his last chance to receive the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3">{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> According to Brigham Young, as the scheduled final date to obtain the plates approached, several Palmyra residents expressed concern "that they were going to lose that treasure" and sent for a skilled [[necromancer]] from 60 miles (96 km) away, encouraging him to make three separate trips to Palmyra to find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|p=180}}.</ref> During one of these trips, the unnamed necromancer is said to have discovered the location, but was unable to determine the value of the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1855|pp=180–81}}.</ref> A few days prior to the September 22, 1827 visit to the hill, Smith's loyal treasure-hunting friends Josiah Stowell and [[Joseph Knight, Sr.]] traveled to Palmyra, in part, to be there during Smith's scheduled visit to the hill.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (Saying Knight went to Rochester on business, and then passed back through Palmyra so that he could be there on September 22); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=99}} (Smith's mother, stating Knight and Stowell arrived there September 20, 1827 to inquire on business matters, but stayed at the Smith home until September 22).</ref>

Another of Smith's former treasure-hunting associates, Samuel T. Lawrence, was also apparently aware of the approaching date to obtain the plates, and Smith was concerned he might cause trouble.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}} (saying Lawrence was a seer, had been to the hill, and knew what was there).</ref> Therefore, on the eve of September 22, 1827, the scheduled date for retrieving the plates, Smith dispatched his father to spy on Lawrence's house until dark. If Lawrence attempted to leave, the elder Joseph would have informed him that his son would "thrash the stumps with him" if he found him at the hill, but Lawrence never left his home.<ref name="Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3"/> Late at night, Smith took a horse and carriage to the hill [[Cumorah]] with his wife Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=100}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (Emma "didn't see the records, but she went with him").</ref> While Emma stayed in the wagon kneeling in prayer,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1853|p=164}}.</ref> Joseph walked to what he said was the site of the Golden Plates. Some time in the early morning hours, he said he retrieved the plates and hid them in a hollow log on or near Cumorah.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1850|p=104}} (Smith had cut away the bark of a decaying log, placed the plates inside, then covered the log with debris); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying Smith "brought them part way home and hid them in a hollow log").</ref> At the same time, Joseph said he received a pair of large spectacles he called the "[[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]]" or "Interpreters", with lenses consisting of two [[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|seer stones]], which he showed [[Lucy Mack Smith|his mother]] when he returned in the morning.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}. Smith's friend Joseph Knight said Smith was even more fascinated by the Interpreters than the plates {{Harv|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref>

Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]] to earn enough money to buy a solid lockable chest in which to put the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=101}}.</ref> By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith said he had been successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their share of the profits from what they viewed as part of a joint venture in treasure hunting.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167">{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> Spying once again on the house of Samuel Lawrence, Smith, Sr. determined that a group of ten to twelve of these men, including Lawrence and Willard Chase, had enlisted the talents of a renowned and supposedly talented seer from 60 miles (96 km) away, in an effort to locate where the plates were hidden by means of [[divination]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=102}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (saying that Smith's father "heard that they had got a conjurer, who they said would come and find the plates".</ref> When Emma heard of this, she rode a stray horse to Macedon and informed Smith, Jr.,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=103}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> who reportedly determined through his [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] that the plates were safe. He nevertheless hurriedly rode home with Emma.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=103–104}}.</ref>

Once home in [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], he said he walked to [[Cumorah]], removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked home through the woods and away from the road with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}.</ref> On the way, he said a man had sprung up from behind a log and struck him a "heavy blow with a gun." "Knocking the man down with a single punch, Joseph ran as fast as he could for about a half mile before he was attacked by a second man trying to get the plates. After similarly overpowering the man, Joseph continued to run, but before he reached the house, a third man hit him with a gun. In striking the last man, Joseph said, he injured his thumb."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|p=99}}{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}; {{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=246}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> He returned home with a dislocated thumb and other minor injuries.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=104–06}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb); {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}} (mentioning an injury to his side); {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}} (mentioning the dislocated thumb and an injury to his arm).</ref> Smith sent his father, [[Joseph Knight, Sr.|Joseph Knight]], and Josiah Stowell to search for the pursuers, but they found no one.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=105–06}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref>

Smith is said to have put the plates in a locked chest and hid them in his parents' home in Manchester.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=106}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> He refused to allow anyone, including his family, to view the plates or the other artifacts he said he had in his possession, although some people were allowed to heft them or feel what were said to be the artifacts through a cloth.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|169–70}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> A few days after retrieving the plates, Smith brought home what he said was an ancient breastplate, which he said had been hidden in the box at Cumorah with the plates. After letting his mother feel through a thin cloth what she said was the breastplate, he placed it in the locked chest.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=107}} (saying she saw the glistening metal, and estimating the breastplate's value at over 500 dollars).</ref>

The Smith home was approached "nearly every night" by villagers hoping to find the chest where Smith said the plates were kept.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=15}}.</ref> After hearing that a group of them would attempt to enter the house by force, Smith buried the chest under the hearth,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166–67}}.</ref> and the family was able to scare away the intended intruders.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=108}}.</ref> Fearing the chest might still be discovered, Smith hid it under the floor boards of his parents' old log home nearby, then being used as a [[cooper (profession)|cooper]] shop.<ref name="Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167"/> Later, Smith said he took the plates out of the chest, left the empty chest under the floor boards of the cooper shop, and hid the plates in a barrel of [[flax#Flax seed|flax]]. Shortly thereafter the empty box was discovered and the place ransacked by Smith's former treasure-seeking associates,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=107–09}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}.</ref> who had enlisted one of the men's sisters to find the hiding place by looking in her [[Seer stones in Mormonism|seer stone]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=109}} The [[scrying|seer]] was the sister of Willard Chase who said she had "found a green glass, through which she could see many very wonderful things".</ref>

===Translating the plates===
{{See also|Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830}}

Joseph Smith said that the plates were engraved in an unknown language, and Smith told associates that he was capable of reading and translating them. This translation took place mainly in [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony, Pennsylvania]] (now [[Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Oakland Township]]), Emma's hometown, where Smith and his wife had moved in October 1827 with financial assistance from a prominent, though superstitious, Palmyra landowner [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]].<ref>The local Presbyterian minister, Jesse Townsend, described Harris as a "visionary fanatic". A acquaintance, Lorenzo Saunders, said, "There can't anybody say word against Martin Harris...a man that would do just as he agreed with you. But he was a great man for seeing spooks." {{Harv|Walker|1986|p=35}}.</ref> The translation occurred in two phases: the first, from December 1827 to June 1828, during which Smith [[Anthon transcript|transcribed some of the characters]] and then dictated [[Lost 116 pages|116 manuscript pages]] to Harris, which were lost. The second phase began sporadically in early 1829 and then in earnest in April 1829 with the arrival of [[Oliver Cowdery]], a schoolteacher who volunteered to serve as Smith's full-time scribe. In June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to [[Fayette, New York]], completing the translation early the following month.

[[Image:JosephSmithTranslating.jpg|225px|thumb|right| Joseph Smith translating the golden plates.]]
Smith used scribes to write the words he said were a translation of the golden plates, dictating these words while peering into [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stones]], which he said allowed him to see the translation. Smith's translation ability evolved naturally out of his earlier treasure seeking,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=73}}.</ref> and he used a process that was "strikingly similar" to the way Smith used seer stones for treasure hunting.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}</ref> For the earliest phase of translation, Smith said that he translated using what he called the "[[Urim and Thummim]]"—a set of large spectacles with stones where the eye-pieces should be.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|1838a|p=5}}. Early followers of Smith used the term ''Urim and Thummim'' to refer both to these large spectacles and Smith's other seer stones, most notably one commonly called the "Chase stone" that Smith had found in a Palmyra well during the early 1820s{{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=171}}. {{Harvtxt|Tucker|1867|p=35}} (referring to the Urim and Thummim as "mammoth spectacles").</ref> There is no eye-witness testimony that Smith ever wore the large spectacles, although some witnesses understood that he placed them in his hat while translating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=169–70}}. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], one of Smith's scribes, is reported to have said that the spectacles were made for a giant, and would not have been wearable by Joseph Smith {{Harv|Anton|1834}}. [[David Whitmer]], another scribe, also said that the spectacles were larger than normal spectacles, and indicated that Smith placed them in his hat while translating, rather than wearing them {{Harv|Whitmer|1875}}. However, a man who interviewed Smith's father in 1830 said that Smith did at least some of the translation while wearing the spectacles {{Harv|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Witnesses did observe Smith using a single seer stone (not part of a set of spectacles) in the translation,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=265}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=59–62}} (containing an overview of witnesses to the translation process).</ref> the same brown stone Smith had earlier used for treasure seeking.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=172}}. Smith's father-in-law, Isaac Hale, said that the "manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref>

Consensus holds that Smith used a single stone during the second phase of translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1982|p=53}}.</ref> Smith placed the stone in a hat, buried his face in it to eliminate all outside light, and peered into the stone to see the words of the translation.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("Having placed the Urim and Thummim in his hat, Joseph placed the hat over his face, and with prophetic eyes read the invisible symbols syllable by syllable and word by word."). Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, stating that he watched Smith on several occasions: "The mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." ({{Harvnb|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|52–53}}, quoting W.W. Blair, ''Latter Day Saints' Herald'' 26 (15 Nov. 1879): 341, who was quoting Michael Morse). Smith's wife Emma stated that she took dictation from her husband as she sat next to him, and that he would put his face into a hat with the stone in it, dictating for hours at a time. {{Harv|Smith|1879|pp=536–40}}.</ref> A few times during the translation, a curtain or blanket was raised between Smith and his scribe or between the living area and the area where Smith and his scribe worked.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cook|1991|p=173}}. However, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, later to be the wife of scribe [[Oliver Cowdery]], said she had never seen a curtain raised between Smith and Cowdery or her brothers while translation took place in the Whitmer home {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|p=51}}.</ref> Sometimes Smith dictated to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] from upstairs or from a different room.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=14}}.</ref>

Smith's "[[translation]]" did not require any use of the plates themselves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Marquardt|2005|p=97}}; {{Harv|Van Wagoner|Walker|1982|pp=53}}.</ref> As he looked into the stone, Smith told his friends and family that the written translation of the ancient script appeared to him in English.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=170}}.</ref> There are several proposed explanations for how Smith composed his translation. In the 19th century, the most common explanation was that he [[Spalding–Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship|plagiarized the work]] from a manuscript written by [[Solomon Spaulding]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (most common 19th century theory); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=68}}.</ref> This theory is deemed to be repudiated by Smith's preeminent modern biographers.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=143–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=90–91}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=455 n.273}} (arguing that the theory has been repudiated).</ref> The most prominent modern theory is that Smith composed the translation in response to the provincial opinions of his time,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=69}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}}).</ref> perhaps while in a magical trance-like state.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|p=86}}; {{Harvtxt|Riley|1902|p=84, 195}}.</ref> As a matter of faith, [[Latter Day Saint]]s generally view the translation process as either an automatic process of transcribing text written within the stone,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=72}} (arguing that this transcription method is the only one consistent with the historical record).</ref> or an intuitive translation by Smith assisted by a [[Christian mysticism|mystical]] connection with God through the stone.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998}pp=479 n.302, 482 n.335}} (expressing his personal view shared by several other [[Mormon apologetics|Mormon apologists]], and noting that while this view might pose problems vis-à-vis the historical record, it helps explain the origin of the Book of Mormon's grammatical mistakes).</ref>

Smith's dictations were written down by a number of assistants including [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Smith]], [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], and notably, [[Oliver Cowdery]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Clark|1842}} ("Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris."); {{Harvtxt|Benton|1831}} ("Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the book, testified under oath, that said Smith...translated his book [with] two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates.").</ref> In May 1829, after Smith had lent [[lost 116 pages|116 un-duplicated manuscript pages]] to Martin Harris, and Harris had lost them, Smith dictated a revelation explaining that Smith could not simply re-translate the lost pages because his opponents would attempt to see if he could "bring forth the same words again."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|p=24}}.</ref> According to [[Grant Palmer]], Smith believed "a second transcription would be identical to the first. This confirms the view that the English text existed in some kind of unalterable, spiritual form rather than that someone had to think through difficult conceptual issues and idioms, always resulting in variants in any translation."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=7}}.</ref>

===Reputed location of the plates during translation===
When Joseph and Emma moved to Pennsylvania in October 1827, they transported a wooden box, which Smith said contained the plates, hidden in a barrel of beans.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=113}}; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=170}}.</ref> For a time the couple stayed in the home of Emma's father [[Isaac Hale]]; but when Smith refused to show Hale the plates, Hale banished the concealed objects from his house.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}.</ref> Afterward, Smith told several of his associates that the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}}; {{Harvtxt|Knight|1833|p=3}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=115}}.</ref> Emma said that she remembered the plates being on a table in the house, wrapped in a linen tablecloth, which she moved from time to time when it got in the way of her chores.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}.</ref> According to Smith's mother, the plates were also stored in a trunk on Emma's bureau.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=124}}.</ref> However, Smith did not require the physical presence of the plates in order to translate them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Stevenson|1882}}; {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–65}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1875}} ("The plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel."). [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods" {{Harv|Hale|1834|p=264}}. [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] said they were "hid in the mountains" {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

In April 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]' wife, [[Lucy Harris|Lucy]], visited Harmony with her husband and demanded to see the plates. When Smith refused to show them to her, she searched the house, grounds, and woods. According to Smith's mother, during the search Lucy was frightened by a large black snake and thus prevented from digging up the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=115–116}}. Lucy may have caused the "loss" of [[lost 116 pages|the 116 manuscript pages]], which Smith had lent her husband.</ref> As a result of Martin Harris' loss of the [[lost 116 pages|116 pages]] of manuscript, Smith said that between July and September 1828, the [[angel Moroni]] took back both the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] as a penalty for his having delivered "the manuscript into the hands of a wicked man."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=125}} (stating that the angel took back the Urim and Thummim, but referring to the revelation that stated the plates were taken too); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1832|p=5}} (referring only to the plates); {{Harvtxt|Phelps|1833|loc=9:1, p. 22}} (a revelation referring only to the plates and to Smith's "gift" to translate).</ref> According to Smith's mother, the angel returned the objects to Smith on September 22, 1828, the [[autumn equinox]] and the anniversary of the day he first received them.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=126}}.</ref>

In March 1829, Martin Harris visited Harmony and asked to see the plates. Smith told him that he "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself." Harris followed these directions but could not find the plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref>

In early June 1829, the unwanted attentions of locals around Harmony necessitated Smith's move to the home of [[David Whitmer]] and his parents in [[Fayette, New York]]. Smith said that during this move the plates were transported by the [[angel Moroni]], who put them in the garden of the Whitmer house where Smith could recover them. The translation was completed at the Whitmer home.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=137}}; {{Harvtxt|Salisbury|1895|p=16}}.</ref>

===Returning the plates===
{{Main|Cumorah}}

After translation was complete, Smith said he returned the plates to the angel, although he did not elaborate about this experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=141}}.</ref> According to accounts by several early Mormons, a group of Mormon leaders including [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]], and possibly others<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (mentioning only Smith and Cowdery); {{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52, 55}} (including David Whitmer in the list and describing Whitmer's account of the event, and citing William Horne Dame Diary, 14 January 1855, stating that [[Hyrum Smith]] was also in the group).</ref> accompanied Smith and returned the plates to a cave inside the [[Hill Cumorah]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=52}}.</ref> There, Smith is said to have placed the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records, and the [[Sword of Laban]] hanging on the cave wall.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}} (Young said he heard this from [[Oliver Cowdery]]).</ref> According to [[Brigham Young]]'s understanding, which he said he gained from Cowdery, on a later visit to the cave, the Sword of Laban was said to be unsheathed and placed over the plates, and inscribed with the words "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Young|1877|p=38}}.</ref>

Smith taught that part of the golden plates were "sealed".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707}}.</ref> This "sealed" portion is said to contain "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof".<ref>''Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7.</ref> Many Latter Day Saints believe that the plates will be kept hidden until a future time when the sealed part will be translated<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}.</ref> and, according to one early Mormon leader, transferred from the hill to one of the Mormon temples.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (quoting a statement by [[Orson Pratt]]).</ref>

[[David Whitmer]] is quoted as stating that he saw just the ''untranslated'' portion of the plates sitting on the table with the sword (and also a breastplate).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}} (citing reporter Edward Stevenson's 1877 interview with Whitmer).</ref> Apparently, Whitmer was aware of expeditions at Cumorah to locate the sealed portion of the plates through "science and mineral rods," which he said "testify that they are there".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Packer|2004|p=55}}. At least one Mormon scholar doubts the existence of a Cumorah cave and instead argues that early Mormons saw a vision of a cave in another location.{{Harvtxt|Tvedtnes|1990}}</ref>

==Descriptions of the plates==
{{Main|Book of Mormon witnesses}}

Smith said the [[angel Moroni]] had commanded him not to show the plates to any unauthorized person.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, Smith eventually obtained the written statement of [[Book of Mormon witnesses|several witnesses]]. It is unclear whether the witnesses believed they saw the plates with their physical eyes, or they "saw" the plates in a vision. For instance, although Martin Harris continued to testify to the truth of the [[Book of Mormon]] even when he was estranged from the church, at least during the early years of the movement, he "seems to have repeatedly admitted the internal, subjective nature of his visionary experience." <ref>Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', 2: 255. The foreman in the Palmyra printing office that produced the first Book of Mormon said that Harris "used to practice a good deal of his characteristic jargon and 'seeing with the spiritual eye,' and the like." [[Pomeroy Tucker]], ''Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism'' (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1867), 71 in ''EMD'', 3: 122. John H. Gilbert, the typesetter for most of the book, said that he had asked Harris, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" According to Gilbert, Harris "looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, 'No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." John H. Gilbert, "Memorandum," 8 September 1892, in ''EMD'', 2: 548. Two other Palmyra residents said that Harris told them that he had seen the plates with "the eye of faith" or "spiritual eyes." Martin Harris interviews with John A. Clark, 1827 & 1828 in ''EMD'', 2: 270; Jesse Townsend to Phineas Stiles, 24 December 1833, in ''EMD'', 3: 22. In 1838, Harris is said to have told an Ohio congregation that "he never saw the plates with his natural eyes, only in vision or imagination." Stephen Burnett to Lyman E. Johnson, 15 April 1838 in ''EMD'', 2: 291. A neighbor of Harris in Kirtland, Ohio, said that Harris "never claimed to have seen [the plates] with his natural eyes, only spiritual vision." Reuben P. Harmon statement, c. 1885, in ''EMD'', 2: 385.</ref>

According to some sources, Smith initially intended that the first authorized witness be his firstborn son;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1834}} (citing Martin Harris as stating in 1829 that Smith’s unborn son would translate the plates at the age of two (this son was stillborn), and thereafter, "you will see Joseph Smith, Jr. walking through the streets of Palmyra, with the Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breast-plate on, and a gold sword hanging by his side."); {{Harvtxt|Hale|1834|p=264}} (stating that the first witness would be "a young child”).</ref> but this child was stillborn in 1828.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Howe|1834|p=269}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|p=118}}.</ref> In March 1829, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] came to Harmony to see the plates, but was unable to find them in the woods where Smith said they could be found.<ref>In March 1829, Martin Harris returned to Harmony and wanted to see the plates firsthand. Smith reportedly told Harris that Smith "would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his tracks in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself"; after following these directions, however, Harris could not find the plates {{Harv|Hale|1834|pp=264–265}}.</ref> The next day,<ref>{{Harv|Hale|1834|p=265}}.</ref> Smith dictated a revelation stating that Harris could eventually qualify himself<ref>To qualify as a witness, Harris had to “humble himself in mighty prayer and faith” {{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=10–12}}.</ref> to be one of three witnesses with the exclusive right to "view [the plates] as they are".<ref>{{Harv|Phelps|1833|pp=11–12}}. Smith’s dictated text of the [[Book of Ether]] (chapter 2) also made reference to three witnesses, stating that the plates would be shown to them "by the power of God" {{Harv|Smith|1830|p=548}}.</ref>

By June 1829, Smith determined that there would be eight additional witnesses, a total of twelve including Smith.<ref>In June 1829, around the time these eleven additional witnesses were selected, Smith dictated a revelation commanding [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (two of the eventual [[Three Witnesses]]) to seek out twelve "disciples", who desired to serve, and who would "go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature", and who would be ordained to baptize and to ordain priests and teachers {{Harv|Phelps|1833|p=37}}. According to [[D. Michael Quinn]], this was a reference to selecting the [[witnesses of the Book of Mormon]], who would be a leading body of Smith's [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. Mormon religious and apologetic commentators understand this revelation as referring to the eventual (in 1835, six years later) formation of the first [[Quorum of the Twelve]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}</ref> During the second half of June 1829,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}.</ref> Smith took Harris, [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] (known collectively as the [[Three Witnesses]]),<ref>According to Smith's mother, upon hearing news in June 1929 that Smith had completed the translation of the plates {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] accompanied the Smith parents to the Whitmer home in [[Fayette, New York]], where Smith was staying {{Harv|Smith|1853|p=138}}, to inquire about the translation {{Harv|Roberts|1902|p=51}}. When Harris arrived, he joined with [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]] to request that the three be named as the [[Three Witnesses]], and Smith's dictated revelation designating the three of them as the witnesses {{Harv|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}.</ref> into woods in Fayette, New York, where they said they saw an angel holding the golden plates and turning the leaves.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}.</ref> The four also said they heard "the voice of the Lord" telling them that the translation of the plates was correct, and commanding them to testify of what they saw and heard.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|pp=54–55}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|loc=appendix}}. [[David Whitmer]] later stated that the angel showed them "the breast plates, the [[Liahona|Ball or Directors]], the [[Sword of Laban]] and other plates". ({{Harvtxt|Van Horn|1881}}; {{Harvtxt|Kelley|Blakeslee|1882}}; see also {{Harvtxt|Smith|1835|p=171}}.</ref> A few days later, Smith took a different group of [[Eight Witnesses]]<ref>The [[Eight Witnesses]] consisted of two groups: (1) the males of the Whitmer home, including [[David Whitmer]]'s father Peter, his brothers Christian, Jacob, and John, and his brother-in-law [[Hiram Page]]; and (2) the older males of the Smith family, including is father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]] and his brothers [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] and [[Samuel Harrison Smith|Samuel]].</ref> to a location near Smith's parents' home in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1853}}. Because of a foreclosure on their [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]] property, the Smith family was then living in a log cabin technically in [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]] ({{Harvnb|Smith|1883|p=14}}; {{Harvnb|Berge|1985}})</ref> where they said Smith showed them the golden plates.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1902|p=57}}. Though the Eight Witnesses did not refer, like the Three, to an angel or the voice of God, they said that they had hefted the plates and seen the engravings on them: “The translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship" {{Harv|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> Statements over the names of these men, apparently drafted by Joseph Smith,<ref>This is the conclusion of {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=195-96}}, who compared "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" to part of the Doctrine and Covenants written in 1829 (first published at {{Harvtxt|Smith|Cowdery|Rigdon|Williams|1835|p=171}}), and concluding that they show "the marks of common authorship". Palmer also compares a letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith dated June 14, 1829, quoting the language of this revelation (Joseph Smith letterbook (22 November 1835 to 4 August 1835), 5-6). Commentators generally agree that this letter refers to the revelation. See Larry C. Porter, "Dating the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood", ''Ensign'' (June 1979), 5.</ref> were published in 1830 as an appendix to the [[Book of Mormon]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830b|appendix}}.</ref> According to later statements ascribed to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], the witnesses viewed the plates in a vision and not with their "natural eyes."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gilbert|1892}} (during the printing of the Book of Mormon, when asked whether Harris had seen the plates with his bodily eyes, he replied, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye."); {{Harvtxt|Burnett|1838}} (Burnett "came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave away"); {{Harvtxt|Parrish|1838}} ("Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision, and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted."; Metcalf in ''EMD'', 2: 347 (quoting Harris, near the end of his long life, as saying he had seen the plates in "a state of entrancement"). Harris was resolute, however, as to his position that he had seen the plates in a vision. See Letter of Martin Harris, Sr., to Hanna B. Emerson, January 1871, Smithfield, Utah Territory, ''[[Saints' Herald]]'' 22 (15 October 1875):630, in ''EMD'' 2: 338 ("No man heard me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon, the administration of the angel that showed me the plates; nor the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the administration of Joseph Smith, Jr."). See also [[Richard Lloyd Anderson]], ''Investigating the ''Book of Mormon'' Witnesses'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book Company]], 1981), 118</ref>

In addition to Smith and the other eleven who claimed to be witnesses, a few other early Mormons said they saw the plates. For instance, Smith's mother [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said she had "seen and handled" the plates.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] also said they had examined the plates while they were wrapped in fabric.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1879}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref> Others said they had visions of the plates or had been shown the plates by an angel, in some cases years after Smith said he had returned the plates.<ref>For instances of people testifying to having seen the Golden Plates ''after'' Smith returned them to the angel, see the affirmations of John Young and Harrison Burgess in {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=201}}. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel. One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''Journal of Discourses'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

===Described format, binding, and dimensions===
[[Image:GoldenPlates.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Full-scale model of the Golden Plates based on Joseph Smith's description]]

The plates were said to be bound at one edge by a set of rings. In 1828, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], is reported to have said that the plates were "fastened together in the shape of a book by wires".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Anthon|1834|p=270}}.</ref> In 1859 Harris said that the plates "were seven inches [18 cm] wide by eight inches [20 cm] in length, and were of the thickness of plates of tin; and when piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches [10 cm] thick; and they were put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> [[David Whitmer]], another of the [[Three Witnesses]], was quoted by an 1831 Palmyra newspaper as having said the plates were "the thickness of tin plate; the back was secured with three small rings...passing through each leaf in succession".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831">{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}.</ref> Anomalously, [[Joseph Smith, Sr.|Smith's father]] is quoted as saying that the plates were only half an inch (1.27 centimeter) thick.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870|p=307}}.</ref> [[Lucy Mack Smith|Smith's mother]], who said she had "seen and handled" the plates, is quoted as saying they were "eight inches [20 cm] long, and six [15 cm] wide...all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27"/>

[[Hyrum Smith]] and [[John Whitmer]], also [[Eight Witnesses|witnesses in 1829]], are reported to have stated that the rings holding the plates together were, in Hyrum's words, "in the shape of the letter D, which facilitated the opening and shutting of the book".<ref>Statement by Hyrum Smith as reported by William E. McLellin in the ''Huron Reflector'', October 31, 1831. See also {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878|}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] and his younger brother [[William Smith (Mormonism)|William]] said they had examined the plates while wrapped in fabric. Emma said she "felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> William agreed that the plates could be rustled with one's thumb like the pages of a book.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}.</ref>

Joseph Smith did not provide his own published description of the plates until 1842, when he said in a letter that "each plate was six inches [15 cm] wide and eight inches [20 cm] long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were...bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches [15 cm] in thickness".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842}}.</ref>

===Described composition and weight===
The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=167}}; {{Harvtxt|Smith|1853|pp=102, 109, 113, 145}}; {{Harvtxt|Grandin|1829}}.</ref> When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the [[Eight Witnesses]] described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx">{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx.}}</ref> The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 8:5}}.</ref> In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted [[David Whitmer]], one of the [[Three Witnesses]], as having said that the plates were a "''whitish yellow'' color", with "three small rings of the same metal".<ref name="Harvtxt|Cole|1831"/>

[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]]'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,<ref>Joseph Smith History 1:34; {{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=165}}.</ref> and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=166}}</ref> "were lead or gold".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|p=169}}.</ref> Joseph's brother [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1884}}</ref>

Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Chase|1833|p=246}}.</ref> Smith's father [[Joseph Smith, Sr.]], who was one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lapham|1870}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1883}}.</ref> Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harris|1859|pp=166, 169}}.</ref> Joseph Smith's wife [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]] never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1879"/> Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vogel|2004|loc=p. 600, n. 65}}.</ref>

==="Sealed" portion===
According to Joseph Smith and others, the book of Golden Plates contained a "sealed" portion<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842|p=707"/> containing "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."<ref>Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 27:7. The "sealing" of apocalyptic revelations in a book has precedents in the [[Bible]]. See, for example, Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4, and Revelation 5:1–5. The Book of Mormon states that this vision was originally given to the [[Brother of Jared]], recorded by Ether on a set of 24 plates later found by [[Limhi]], and then "sealed up". Book of Mormon, Ether 1:2. According to this account, [[Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)|Moroni]] copied the plates of Limhi onto the sealed portion of the Golden Plates.</ref> Smith never described the nature of the seal, and the language of the [[Book of Mormon]] may be interpreted to describe a sealing that was spiritual, metaphorical,<ref>i.e. that the book was "sealed" in the sense that its contents were hidden or kept from public knowledge</ref> physical, or a combination of these elements.

The Book of Mormon refers to other documents and plates as being "sealed" to be revealed at some future time. For example, the [[Book of Mormon]] says the entire set of plates was "sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord"<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=title page}}</ref> and that separate records of [[John the Apostle]] were "sealed up to come forth in their purity" in the [[end times]].<ref>''Book of Mormon'', 1 Nephi 14:26</ref> One set of plates to which the Book of Mormon refers was "sealed up" in the sense that they were written in a language that could not be read.<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 3:22.</ref>

Smith may have understood the sealing to be a [[supernatural]] or spiritual sealing "by the power of God" (2 Nephi 27:10),<ref>{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|pp=195–196}}.</ref> an idea supported by a reference in the Book of Mormon to the "interpreters" ([[Seer stones and the Latter Day Saint movement|Urim and Thummim]]) with which Smith said they were buried or "sealed."<ref>Book of Mormon, Ether 4:5. According to [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]], anyone who looked into the "interpreters", "except by the command of God", would "perish" {{Harv|Harris|1859|p=166}}.</ref> Oliver Cowdery also stated that when Smith visited the hill, he was stricken by a supernatural force because the plates were "sealed by the prayer of faith."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cowdery|1835b|p=198}}.</ref>

Several witnesses described a physical sealing placed on part of the plates by Mormon or Moroni. [[David Whitmer]] said that when an angel showed him the plates in 1829, "a large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them,"<ref>David Whitmer interview, Chicago Tribune, 24 January 1888, in David Whitmer Interviews, ed. Cook, 221. Near the end of his life, Whitmer said that one section of the book was "loose, in plates, the other solid". {{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}.</ref> that the "sealed" part of the plates were held together as a solid mass "stationary and immovable,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}</ref> "as solid to my view as wood,"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> and that there were "perceptible marks where the plates appeared to be sealed"<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881">{{Harvtxt|Storey|1881}}</ref> with leaves "so securely bound that it was impossible to separate them."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Whitmer|1888}}. [[Orson Pratt]], who said he had spoken with many witnesses of the plates,{{Harv|Pratt|1859|p=30}}, assumed that Joseph Smith could "break the seal" if only he had been "permitted" {{Harv|Pratt|1877|pp=211–12}}.</ref> In 1842, [[Lucy Mack Smith]] said that some of the plates were "sealed together" while others were "loose."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Smith|1842b|p=27}}.</ref> The account of the [[Eight Witnesses]] says they saw the plates in 1829 and handled "as many of the leaves as [Joseph] Smith has translated," implying that they did not examine untranslated parts, such as the sealed portion.<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1830|loc=appx"/> In one interview, David Whitmer said that "about half" the book was unsealed;<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cole|1831}}; {{Harvtxt|Poulson|1878}}.</ref> in 1881, he said "about one-third" was unsealed.<ref name="Harvtxt|Storey|1881"/> Whitmer's 1881 statement is consistent with an 1856 statement by [[Orson Pratt]], an associate of Smith's who never saw the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|p=30}}.</ref> that "about two-thirds" of the plates were "sealed up".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1856|p=347}}.</ref>

===Claimed engravings===
{{Main|Reformed Egyptian}}
[[Image:Caractors large.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A transcription by [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] of characters he said were engraved on the Golden Plates]]

The Golden Plates were said to contain engravings in an ancient language that the Book of Mormon describes as [[Reformed Egyptian]].<ref>{{Harv|Smith|1830|loc=Mormon 9:32}}.</ref> Smith described the writing as "Egyptian characters...small, and beautifully engraved," exhibiting "much skill in the art of engraving."<ref name="Harvtxt|Smith|1842"/>

[[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]], said the plates had "fine engravings on both sides,"<ref>{{Harv|Roberts|1906|p=307}}.</ref> and [[Orson Pratt]], who did not see the plates himself but who had spoken with witnesses, understood that there were engravings on both sides of the plates, "stained with a black, hard stain, so as to make the letters more legible and easier to be read."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pratt|1859|pp=30–31}}.</ref>

==The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition==
{{Main|Mormonism and engraved metal plates}}

The golden plates are significant within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] because they are the reputed source for the [[Book of Mormon]], which [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] called the "most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Roberts|1908|p=461}}.</ref> However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]. In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the [[Kinderhook Plates]],<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}};{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=291}}: "The whole of Nauvoo soon buzzed with the discovery. The ''Times and Seasons'' published full reproductions as further proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and the printing office sold facsimiles at one dollar a dozen." The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, ''Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon,'' 117): ''"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth."'' The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the ''History of The Church'': ''"I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."'' More than six pages of ''History of the Church'', 5:372-79 discuss the Kinderhook plates, and Smith directed Reuben Hedlock to make woodcuts of the plates. {{Harvtxt|Palmer|2002|p=31}} "Church historians continued to insist on the authenticity of the Kinderhook plates until 1980 when an examination conducted by the Chicago Historical Society, possessor of one plate, proved it was a nineteenth-century creation." {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=490}}</ref> although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.<ref>Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.</ref> Two other sets of plates, called the [[Voree Plates]] and the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], were said to have been translated by [[James J. Strang]], one of a number of church members who claimed the right of succession after Smith's death and who became the leader of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]]. Although Strang's Plates had their own witnesses, one of them subsequentially admitted Strang's plates were fake (unlike Smith's witnesses).<ref>[Roger Van Noord, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 33-35,97, 102, 163, 219;- The life anf Assassination of James Jesse Strang- pages 33-35, 97, 102, 163, 219]</ref>

Some Latter Day Saints, especially those within the [[Community of Christ]], have doubted the historicity of the golden plates and downplayed their significance.<ref>W. Grant McMurray, "They "Shall Blossom as the Rose": Native Americans and the Dream of Zion," an address delivered February 17, 2001, accessed on Community of Christ website, September 1, 2006 at http://web.archive.org/web/20070817021355/http://cofchrist.org/docs/NativeAmericanConference/keynote.asp (referring to "long-standing questions about [the Book of Mormon's] historicity" which has provoked "discussion in the 1970s and beyond" about the proper use of the book in the religion); {{harvtxt|Ostling|1999|p=259}}: "'Were there really gold plates and ministering angels, or was there just Joseph Smith Seated at a table with his face in a hat dictating to a scribe a fictional account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas?' Resolving that problem haunts loyal Mormons. The blunt questioner quoted is Brigham D. Madsen, a liberal Mormon and onetime history teacher at Brigham Young University."</ref> For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of the golden plates are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.<ref>{{harvtxt|Givens|2003|p=37}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|Book of Mormon|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Mormonism and engraved metal plates]]
* [[Reformed Egyptian]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;" >

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| editor-first=Eber Dudley
| editor-link=Eber Dudley Howe
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| editor-first=Eber Dudley
| editor-link=Eber Dudley Howe
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| title=Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History
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|volume=7
| year=1870
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| last=Metcalfe
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| last=Salisbury
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| journal=[[BYU Studies]]
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| editor-last=Vogel
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| title=Early Mormon Documents
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| title=last Testimony of Sister Emma
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| editor-last=Jessee
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| editor-link=Dean C. Jessee
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| title=[[Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God]]
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| year=1835
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| last=Smith
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| last=Smith
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| last=Smith
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| editor-last=Casawall
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| title=The City of the Mormons; or, Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842
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| last=Smith
| first=Lucy Mack
| author-link=Lucy Mack Smith
| title=[[Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations]]
| publisher=Liverpool: S.W. Richards
| year=1853
| url=http://relarchive.byu.edu/19th/descriptions/biographical.html
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| last=Stevenson
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| title=[[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, His Two Counselors, and the Twelve Apostles]]
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| pages=36–45
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no105.htm#Plates Utah Lighthouse Ministry]: skeptical comments about the Golden Plates and their history.
*[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme10.shtml jefflindsay.com]: LDS apologetic discussion of other ancient metal records.
*[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/i%20have%20a%20question.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0#LPTOC2 LDS magazine ''Ensign'']: apologetics regarding the gold plates.

{{LDS|hide|hide|show}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Plates}}
[[Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Joseph Smith, Jr.]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon artifacts]]
[[Category:Lost documents]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint terms]]

[[ar:الصفائح الذهبية]]
[[es:Planchas de oro (mormonismo)]]
[[fr:Plaques d'or (mormonisme)]]
[[pt:Placas de ouro]]
[[simple:Golden plates]]