We know that Phelps had acquired a copy of Thomas Upham's translation of Jahn's Biblical Archaeology. I believe he had a copy of the 1832 (3rd) edition (I don't think in the sections I have worked with that there are significant changes from the second edition). It is more of an encyclopedia styled book. Apart from the section on Ezekiel, there are two other really important contributions to early Mormon discussions that I attach to this book. The first of these is the label Urim and Thummim, applied to the Nephite Interpreters. It seems quite likely that Phelps was the first to call the interpreters a Urim and Thummim based on his reading of Jahn's text. The second is that in a section of an editorial that Phelps wrote, in which he is quoting extensively from this book, he provides one of the earliest, detailed descriptions of the gold plates.Fence Sitter wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 8:04 pmI am doing research into the books that were used and or owned by Joseph Smith and the impact those books had on him and his work. We know Smith was familiar with Jahn's because he quoted from it in T&S Sept 1842. I would love to see more about the Phelps article. Can you provide more information on it and where I might find it?
You can find a copy of this text here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=714vAAAAYAAJ
So, to go back to Ezekiel, Phelps wrote in The Evening and Morning Star (Vol. 1, No. 8):
The book that I linked has this on P. 95-6:Ezek. also says: Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thy hand. The Bible for the stick of Judah, and the Book of Mormon for the stick of Joseph, in the hand of Ephraim, is all that need be said, upon these words, for no man ever pretended to know, (till the Book of Mormon came,) any thing about the tribe of Joseph, or his history, notwithstanding God had declared by the mouth of Hosea, That he had written the great things of his law to Ephraim; and they are counted a strange thing. The ancient and modern practice of reading sticks, wants but little elucidation. The common school-boy ought to know, that anciently, they wrote on parchment for common use, and rolled it round a stick; and, latterly, newspapers are put into a stick for public utility.
A veritable gold mine right? brass tablets (plates) connected by rings, sealed books, and so on (and as you note continued to be of interest since it is quoted in the T&S in 1842). In the same article (Phelp's article), he later makes this comment:Books being written upon very flexible materials, were rolled round a stick ; and, if they were very long, round two, from the two extremities. The reader unrolled the book to the place which he wanted, [greek text omitted] and rolled it up again when he had read it, [greek text], Luke 4: 17—20; whence the name [hebrew text] a volume, or thing rolled up, Ps. 40:7. Is. 34:4. Ezek. 2:9. 2 K. 19:14. Ezra 6:2. The leaves thus rolled round the stick, which has been mentioned, and bound with a string, could be easily sealed, Is. 29: 11. Dan. 12:4. Rev. 5:1. 6:7. Those books, which were inscribed on tablets of wood, lead, brass, or ivory, were connected together by rings at the back, through which a rod was passed to carry them by.
Since nothing with dimensions like this can be found in these texts, my assumption is that this is a description of the gold plates. And of course, it matches fairly well the description from the Wentworth Letter (March, 1842):It may be well to state, that the prophet of God, in ancient days, according to the accounts of men, kept their sacred records on plates of gold, and those of less consequence on plates of brass, copper, wood, &c., see Jahn's biblical archeology, Josephus, and others. These plates were generally made from the sixteenth to the thirty second part of an inch thick (of metal) and something like six by eight inches square, and fastened at the back with three rings through which a rod was put to carry them, or hang them. The word of the Lord, the history of the doings of the children of God, and their genealogy was engraved in a nice workmanlike manner, upon them, in Hebrew, reformed Egyptian, &c. Such was the condition of the plates, from which came the Book of Mormon.
Finally, Phelps is (I think) the first LDS member to call the Nephite interpreters a Urim and Thummim. He hints at it in July of 1832 (in Vol. 1, No. 2 of The Evening and Morning Star) when he discusses the nature of Teraphim: "They were even to do without the Teraphim, [Urim & Thummim, perhaps] or sacred spectacles or declarers; supposed to be the same called gods and images when Jacob fled, from Laban." He identifies the Urim and the Thummim with the Teraphim, and mentions the 'sacred spectacles' in the process. But he wouldn't really flesh this out until the January, 1833 article in which he writes: "The Book of Mormon, as a revelation from God, possesses some advantage over the old scripture: it has not been tinctured by the wisdom of man, with here and there an Italic word to supply deficiencies.-It was translated by the gift and power of God, by an unlearned man, through the aid of a pair of Interpreters, or spectacles-(known, perhaps, in ancient days as Teraphim, or Urim and Thummim)...". I suspect that some of this comes from Jahn's statement about Teraphim that "It appears from Ezekiel (ch. 21:21,) that responses were sought from them, the same as from Oracles. ... This is confirmed by 1 Sam. 15:23, where Teraphim are spoken of in connexion with the arts of divination." Whatever role Jahn's text played, Phelps had just obtained his copy in the summer of 1832, and his views (speculative and not accurate) that July solidified by January of 1833, and the connection (which was likely appealing for lots of reasons) spreads through the Mormon community and is codified in the changes to D&C Section 10 in 1835.These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold. Each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian characters, and 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 in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved.
I have a couple of additional notes that I am not sure I can decipher anymore. For what its worth, this text seemed to play a significant role in biblicizing (for lack of a better word) the early Mormon narratives of the production of the Book of Mormon.
