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Revelation, 30 August 1831 [D&C 63]

Source Note

Revelation, , OH, 30 Aug. 1831; copied [ca. 30 Aug. 1831]; handwriting of ; three pages; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes docket and archival marking.
Bifolium (a single sheet folded once to form two leaves) measuring 12⅜ × 7¾ inches (31 × 20 cm). At one time, the document was folded in half three more times—possibly for an initial pocket folding. At another time, the document was folded in half and then trifolded in the conventional filing pattern, and a docket was added by in graphite: “31 Augt. 1831—revelation | to Church & & | to Visit Church”.
This and several other revelations, along with many other personal and institutional documents kept by , were inherited by his daughter Mary Jane Whitney, who married Isaac Groo. This collection was passed down in the Groo family and donated by members of the family to the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University during the period 1969–1974.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Andrus et al., “Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 1825–1906,” 5–6.

    Andrus, Hyrum L., Chris Fuller, and Elizabeth E. McKenzie. “Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 1825–1906,” Sept. 1998. BYU.

Historical Introduction

Three days after JS arrived in , Ohio, from , Jackson County, Missouri, a 30 August revelation provided information about the gathering of the Saints to . As a later JS history explained, the identification of Independence as the “centre place” of made “‘the land of Zion’ . . . the most important temporal object” to church members. Despite Zion’s importance, much uncertainty still surrounded the process of gathering to Zion. Funds were required to purchase lands in and around Independence for the gathering. A 1 August 1831 revelation had intimated that not all of the Saints would migrate to Zion at once, and some members may have questioned how leaders would determine who would move. That same revelation also instructed that an epistle and subscription “be presented unto all the Churches to obtain money to be put into the hands of the ,” but who would take these documents to the different churches had not been determined. Compounding the problem of this uncertainty, JS, , and discovered upon their return to that “many [had] apostitized” in their absence. Coming on the heels of the antagonism that JS had apparently experienced from some of his company of on the return trip to Ohio, the knowledge that many others had fallen away was distressing: “We could not help beholding,” a later JS history recounts about this time period, “the exertions of Satan to blind the eyes of the people so as to hide the true light that lights every man that comes into the world.”
The 30 August revelation addressed many of the issues JS faced on his return to , providing instruction on how those who were to move to Zion would be selected, how quickly the Saints should gather to Zion, and how to prepare for Christ’s return to the earth. It condemned the wicked both in and out of the church, especially sign seekers and adulterers, and appointed and to raise money for Zion. As wrote the next day, the revelation gave instruction on how to “escape . . . the day of tribulation which is coming on the earth.” A passage in this revelation addressed the church members residing on “this farm,” indicating that JS dictated the revelation on the farm, where he had left his family in June and where many of the Saints traveling to in 1831 relocated.
served as scribe for this revelation. had a copy of the revelation in Cowdery’s handwriting, which may be the original inscription. However, the handwriting is so compact and neat that it is likely a fair copy made by Cowdery. He may have made it for Whitney and himself to take with them as they traveled together to the different churches. Whitney endorsed his copy with the date of 31 August 1831, likely an incorrect date. Other early copies of the revelation inscribed around this same time—including one that made in Revelation Book 1 and one that made in his book of revelations—bear the date of 30 August.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:3]; JS History, vol. A-1, 146.

  2. [2]

    Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:44, 51–52].

  3. [3]

    Whitmer, History, 33.

  4. [4]

    Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. VII,” Ohio Star (Ravenna), 24 Nov. 1831, [1]; JS History, vol. A-1, 146.

    Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.

  5. [5]

    Sidney Rigdon, Kirtland, OH, “to the Churches,” 31 Aug. 1831, copy, Sidney Rigdon, Collection, 1832–1858, CHL.

    Rigdon, Sidney. Collection, 1831–1858. CHL. MS 713.

  6. [6]

    Backman, Heavens Resound, 70; Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 309–310.

    Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.

    Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.

  7. [7]

    Similar fold markings are evident in Whitney’s copy of the revelation and a copy he owned of a letter Rigdon wrote to church congregations to encourage donations, which suggests that the two documents were carried together. (Sidney Rigdon, Kirtland, OH, “to the Churches,” 31 Aug. 1831, copy, Sidney Rigdon, Collection, 1832–1858, CHL.)

    Rigdon, Sidney. Collection, 1831–1858. CHL. MS 713.

  8. [8]

    Revelation Book 1, p. 104; Gilbert, Notebook, [45]–[54]. When William W. Phelps published this revelation in the February 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star, he also dated it 30 August 1831. (“A Revelation Given, August 30, 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1833, [6]–[7].)

    Gilbert, Algernon Sidney. Notebook of Revelations, 1831–ca. 1833. Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583, box 1, fd. 2.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Revelation, 30 August 1831 [D&C 63] Revelation Book 1 Revelation, 30 August 1831, as Recorded in Gilbert, Notebook [D&C 63] Revelations printed in The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832–June 1833 Book of Commandments, 1833 Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 Revelations printed in Evening and Morning Star, January 1835–June 1836 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [3]

and ye receive the spirit through prayer wherefore without this there remaineth condemnation. Let my servants Joseph & seek them a home as they are led taught through the spirit prayer by the spirit these things remain to overcome through patience that such may receive a more exceeding & eternal weight of glory otherwise a greater condemnation Amen.
Given by Joseph the in August 31, 1831 and written by —— [p. [3]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, 30 August 1831 [D&C 63]
ID #
1466
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D2:48–55
Handwriting on This Page
  • Oliver Cowdery

Footnotes

  1. [40]

    Since JS was living on the Morley farm (which the revelation instructed should be sold), he needed to find a new residence.

  2. [41]

    See 2 Corinthians 4:17.

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