Revelation, circa 8 March 1831–B [D&C 47]

50th Commandment March 8th. 18311

In dating this revelation, Revelation Book 2 lists “March 7th. 1831” while the Book of Commandments simply has “March 1831.” (Revelation Book 2, p. 12; Book of Commandments 50.)
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A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ, Organized according to Law, on the 6th of April, 1830. Zion [Independence], MO: W. W. Phelps, 1833.

Given at Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

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Geauga Ohio— given to John [Whitmer]

27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...

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in consequenc of not feeling reconsiled to write at the request of Joseph with[o]ut a commandment &c2

John Whitmer likely created this heading when he copied the text into Revelation Book 1. In Revelation Book 2 a partial table of contents on a sheet attached to its frontispiece describes this revelation as “A Revelation to John Whitmer calling him to be a hystorian to the church.” (Revelation Book 2, Index, [1].)

Behold it is expedient that my servent John

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should write & keep a regulal [regular] history & assist my servent Joseph in Transcribing all things which shall be given him3

On 8 March 1831 or soon thereafter John Whitmer began “transcribing” (that is, copying) JS’s translation of the Old Testament while JS and Sidney Rigdon moved on to the New Testament, as they had been commanded in a revelation dictated a short time before. (Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 586; Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:60–61]; New Testament Revision 1, p. 1.)
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Faulring, Scott H., Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds. Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004.

New Testament Revision 1 / “A Translation of the New Testament Translated by the Power of God,” 1831. CCLA. Also available in Scott H. Faulring, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004), 153–228.

And again verily I say unto you that ye can can also lift [p. 79]

This revelation appointed John Whitmer

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to take up the work formerly done by Oliver Cowdery

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

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as scribe and recorder—and added a new responsibility. Cowdery, who was “called . . . to write for” JS by April 1829,1

Revelation, Apr. 1829–D [D&C 9:4]. Cowdery’s calling to write for JS may have been initiated even before they met in April 1829. JS’s circa summer 1832 history explains that Cowdery had seen both the Lord and the gold plates in a vision, an experience that encouraged him to travel to Harmony, Pennsylvania, to meet JS. (JS History, ca. Summer 1832, [6].)

was the principal scribe for the Book of Mormon and JS’s early revelations and, once the Church of Christ was organized in April 1830, kept minutes at meetings. He also served as scribe for early portions of JS’s inspired revision of the Bible. By the time of this revelation, however, Cowdery was away on a mission, and Whitmer had assumed some of Cowdery’s formal duties. He succeeded Cowdery as scribe for JS’s Bible revision2

Cowdery departed on his mission by late October 1830, after which John Whitmer became the primary scribe for the Bible revision, except for during a short period when Emma Smith wrote for JS. Sidney Rigdon, Jesse Gause, and Frederick G. Williams were the primary scribes for the Bible revision after November 1831. (See Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 43–47, 57–59, 63–73.)
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and also assisted JS in gathering and copying revelations, a work that culminated in the creation of a manuscript book of revelations.3

JS History, vol. A-1, 50; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation Book 1. In his role of recorder, Cowdery kept minutes for the 9 June 1830 conference and was there appointed “to keep the Church record and Conference Minutes until the next conference,” held 26 September 1830. At the 9 April 1831 conference, John Whitmer “was appointed to keep the Church record & history by the voice of ten Elders.” (Minutes, 9 June 1830; Minutes, 26 Sept. 1830; Minute Book 2, 9 Apr. 1831.)

The following revelation not only formalized Whitmer’s assignment to “assist my servent Joseph” in such writing duties but added that he should also “write & keep a regulal [regular] history.”4

Although Cowdery created many records upon which a history could be based, no formal narrative history written by him is known. Even so, Whitmer made clear in his own history that he saw his work as continuing the work that Cowdery had begun. Later, beginning in 1834, Cowdery wrote a series of letters that detailed aspects of early church history. (Whitmer, History, 1, 25; see also JSP, H1:38–89.)
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Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA.

JSP, H1 / Davidson, Karen Lynn, David J. Whittaker, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen, eds. Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories, 1832–1844. Vol. 1 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2012.

The revelation then reiterated this dual appointment, directing that Whitmer “Keep the Church Record & History continually for Oliver I have appointed to an other office.”5

Although Cowdery and Whitmer were JS’s primary scribes from 1828 to 1831, other scribes assisted JS on a more limited and temporary basis. These included, among others, Martin Harris, Samuel Smith, Emma Smith, Reuben Hale, Peter Whitmer Jr., and Sidney Rigdon. (See JSP, D1:11n45; and Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 43–48.)
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JSP, D1 / McKay, Michael Hubbard, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, Grant Underwood, Robert J. Woodford, and William G. Hartley, eds. Documents, Volume 1: July 1828–June 1831. Vol. 1 of the Document series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2013.

Before the establishment of the church, JS’s primary need for scribal assistance was for recording revelatory texts, as demonstrated by Cowdery

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’s work on the translation of the Book of Mormon as well as his careful recording of at least sixteen revelations. The need for other kinds of record keeping increased once the Church of Christ was organized. The first lines of a revelation recorded on 6 April 1830, the day of organization, proclaimed that “there Shall a Record be kept among you,”6

Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21:1].

and the church’s foundational “Articles and Covenants” commanded that a record of members be kept and that members be provided with certificates of good standing that could be presented to the various branches of the church.7

Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:81–84].

Cowdery responded by keeping these records until he departed in October 1830 for a mission to the American Indians. David Whitmer

7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...

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was temporarily appointed to record conference minutes,8

The minutes of the 26 September 1830 conference record the appointment of David Whitmer “to keep the Church records until the next Conference,” but there is no evidence that he fulfilled this responsibility. (Minutes, 26 Sept. 1830.)

and in March 1831, John Whitmer

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was appointed to replace Cowdery. About the time this revelation was dictated, John Whitmer began inscribing Revelation Book 1.

John Whitmer

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was a willing scribe but a reluctant historian. At the 9 April 1831 conference he responded affirmatively by keeping the minutes when “appointed to keep the Church record & history by the voice of ten Elders.”9

Minute Book 2, 9 Apr. 1831.

But according to Whitmer’s own history, when JS told him that in addition to keeping church records “you must also keep the Church history,” he initially declined: “I would rather not do it but observed that the will of the Lord be done, and if he desires it, I desire that he would manifest it through Joseph the Seer.”10

Whitmer, History, 24.
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Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA.

As a result of this conversation, JS dictated the revelation presented here. Whitmer likely composed its heading when copying it into Revelation Book 1, acknowledging that the text was dictated “in consequenc[e] of not feeling reconsiled to write at the request of Joseph with[o]ut a commandment.”

Prior to the dictation of this revelation, record keeping in the church was often sporadic and incomplete. After Whitmer

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was appointed church historian and recorder, the number of documents recording church history increased substantially. Minutes of church conferences generally contained more detail than they had previously, and Whitmer’s creation of Revelation Book 1 preserved most of JS’s early revelations. Whitmer also wrote a ninety-six-page narrative history that primarily described events from fall 1830 through the mid-1830s.11

The full text of Whitmer’s history is reproduced in JSP, H2:2–110.
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JSP, H2 / Davidson, Karen Lynn, Richard L. Jensen, and David J. Whittaker, eds. Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Historical Writings, 1831–1847. Vol. 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City, Church Historian’s Press, 2012.

Revelation, Kirtland Township

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, OH, to John Whitmer

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, ca. 8 Mar. 1831. Featured version, titled “50th Commandment March 8th. 1831,” copied [between ca. Mar. and June 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 79–80; handwriting of John Whitmer; CHL. Includes redactions.

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Editorial Title: Revelation, circa 8 March 1831–B [D&C 47]
ID #: 6506