Account of John, April 1829–C [D&C 7]

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Account of John, April 1829–C [D&C 7]
Source Note

Account of John,
Harmony Township
Located in northeastern Pennsylvania. Area settled, by 1787. Organized 1809. Population in 1830 about 340. Population in 1840 about 520. Contained Harmony village (no longer in existence). Josiah Stowell hired JS to help look for treasure in area, Oct. 1825...
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, Susquehanna Co., PA, Apr. 1829. Featured version, titled “7th. Commandment AD 1829,” copied [ca. Mar. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 13–14; handwriting of
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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; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.
Historical Introduction
In April 1829, JS dictated the following revelation, which in its first publication was described as the
translation
To produce a text from one written in another language; in JS’s usage, most often through divine means. JS considered the ability to translate to be a gift of the spirit, like the gift of interpreting tongues. He recounted that he translated “reformed Egyptian...
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of an ancient parchment written by the apostle John.
1
Book of Commandments 6.
Ancient writings besides the Book of Mormon began to interest JS and
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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not long after they started their translation of the
gold plates
A record engraved on gold plates, which JS translated and published as the Book of Mormon. The text explained that the plates were an abridgment of other ancient records and were written by an American prophet named Mormon and his son Moroni. The plates were...
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. The Book of Mormon manuscript itself mentioned several ancient texts,
2
The Book of Mormon mentions several ancient records, such as “the plates of brass,” “the plates of Nephi,” and twenty-four gold plates. The Bible also mentions ancient texts not included in its pages. (Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 153–154, 172 [Mosiah 1:3–6; 8:5–11]; see also, for example, Numbers 21:14; Joshua 10:13; and 1 Chronicles 29:29.)
and additionally, JS had dictated a revelation promising Cowdery the privilege, if he so desired, of translating “records which contain much of my gospel, which have been kept back because of the wickedness of the people.”
3
Revelation, Apr. 1829–A [D&C 6:26].
Then, as JS and Cowdery continued the Book of Mormon translation, a “difference of opinion” arose between them regarding a question left unanswered in the New Testament: whether “John the Apostle . . . died, or whether he continued” on earth until the second coming of Christ.
4
JS History, vol. A-1, 15.
The source of this disagreement was the final chapter of the Gospel of John, in which Jesus prophesied of the apostle Peter’s death. When Peter asked what would happen to his fellow apostle John, Jesus responded, “If I will that he should tarry till I come, what is that to thee?”
5
John 21:18–23.
Questions about the fate of John were common in JS’s time. For example, Adam Clarke, a noted Bible commentator, wrote, “For nearly eighteen hundred years, the greatest men in the world have been puzzled with this passage [John 21:22].”
6
Clarke, New Testament, 631; see also Henry, Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 957–959; and Scott, Holy Bible, 599.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Clarke, Adam. The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Text Carefully Printed from the Most Correct Copies of the Present Authorised Version, Including the Marginal Readings and Parallel Texts, with a Commentary and Critical Notes. . . . Vol. 1. New York: B. Waugh and T. Mason, for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1833.
Henry, Matthew. An Exposition of the Old and New Testament . . . with Practical Remarks and Observations. Edited by George Burder and Joseph Hughes. Vol. 5. Philadelphia: Ed. Barrington and Geo. D. Haswell, [1828].Henry, Matthew. An Exposition of the Old and New Testament. Vol. 1 of An Exposition of All the Books of the Old and New Testament. London: J. Clark, 1725.
Scott, Thomas, ed. The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, according to the Authorized Version: With Explanatory Notes and Practical Observations. Vol. 5. 9th American ed. Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong, 1823.
JS and Cowdery’s discussion of this issue possibly arose when they encountered a passage in the translation of the plates describing the biblical prophet Moses and the Book of Mormon prophet Alma as having been “taken up by the spirit, or buried by the hand of the Lord.”
7
Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 349 [Alma 45:19].

JS’s history reports that he and
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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“mutually agreed to settle it [their question] by the
Urim and Thummin
A device used to translate and receive revelation. In the Old Testament, the high priest of Israel used a device by this name to discern God’s will for Israel. The Book of Mormon gives an account of an ancient prophet, Mosiah, who translated records into ...
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, and the following is the word which we received.”
8
As noted, this revelation was said to be “translated from parchment, written and hid up” by John himself,
9
Book of Commandments 6. No account suggests that JS had this parchment in his possession; rather, he obtained the English translation of the parchment “by the Urim and Thummin.” (JS History, vol. A-1, 15.)
and the text begins in the first person, with John stating, “And the Lord said unto me,” followed by an account in which Jesus declares the respective fates of John and Peter.
10
Several weeks after recording this revelation, JS and Cowdery translated a similar account in the Book of Mormon in which Jesus asks the twelve Nephite disciples, “What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?” All but three echo Peter’s request to “speedily come” to the Lord. To the three, however, Jesus declares, “Ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, . . . desired of me.” (Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 509–510 [3 Nephi 28:1–2, 6].)
Footnotes
[1]
Book of Commandments 6.
[2]
The Book of Mormon mentions several ancient records, such as “the plates of brass,” “the plates of Nephi,” and twenty-four gold plates. The Bible also mentions ancient texts not included in its pages. (Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 153–154, 172 [Mosiah 1:3–6; 8:5–11]; see also, for example, Numbers 21:14; Joshua 10:13; and 1 Chronicles 29:29.)
[3]
Revelation, Apr. 1829–A [D&C 6:26].
[4]
[5]
John 21:18–23.
[6]
Clarke, New Testament, 631; see also Henry, Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 957–959; and Scott, Holy Bible, 599.
Clarke, Adam. The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Text Carefully Printed from the Most Correct Copies of the Present Authorised Version, Including the Marginal Readings and Parallel Texts, with a Commentary and Critical Notes. . . . Vol. 1. New York: B. Waugh and T. Mason, for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1833.
Henry, Matthew. An Exposition of the Old and New Testament . . . with Practical Remarks and Observations. Edited by George Burder and Joseph Hughes. Vol. 5. Philadelphia: Ed. Barrington and Geo. D. Haswell, [1828].Henry, Matthew. An Exposition of the Old and New Testament. Vol. 1 of An Exposition of All the Books of the Old and New Testament. London: J. Clark, 1725.
Scott, Thomas, ed. The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, according to the Authorized Version: With Explanatory Notes and Practical Observations. Vol. 5. 9th American ed. Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong, 1823.
[7]
Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 349 [Alma 45:19].
[8]
[9]
Book of Commandments 6. No account suggests that JS had this parchment in his possession; rather, he obtained the English translation of the parchment “by the Urim and Thummin.” (JS History, vol. A-1, 15.)
[10]
Several weeks after recording this revelation, JS and Cowdery translated a similar account in the Book of Mormon in which Jesus asks the twelve Nephite disciples, “What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?” All but three echo Peter’s request to “speedily come” to the Lord. To the three, however, Jesus declares, “Ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, . . . desired of me.” (Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 509–510 [3 Nephi 28:1–2, 6].)
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Account of John, April 1829–C [D&C 7] Revelation Book 1 Book of Commandments, 1833 Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 Account of John, April 1829–C, Frederick G. Williams Copy [D&C 7] History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] History, circa 1841, draft [Draft 3] History, circa 1841, fair copy “History of Joseph Smith” Doctrine and Covenants, 1844
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For he desiredst of me that he might bring souls unto me but thou desiredst that thou mightest come unto me in my kingdom I say unto thee Peter this was a good desire but my beloved hath undertaken a greater work Verily I say unto you ye shall both have according to your desires for ye both Joy in that which ye desired [p. 14]
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Editorial Title
Account of John, April 1829–C [D&C 7]
ID #
6463
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D1:47–48
Handwriting on This Page
John Whitmer