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The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement. Joseph Smith, Jr. published the first English edition of the Book of Mormon in Palmyra, New York in 1830. Since then there have been several other English editions and several other translations and retranslations all based on this first edition. Translating the Book of Mormon into many languages is one way in which followers of Joseph Smith attempt to fulfill the following prophecy:

For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fullness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Doctrine and Covenants 90:11)

Translations are listed in the order of their publication. Many translations have their own interesting story. At the end of the article is a table comparing Book of Mormon translations with the 100 most popularly spoken languages of the world.

Contents 1 Nineteenth century translations 2 Early twentieth century translations (1903-1977) 3 Systematic translations (1971-1952) 4 Retranslations 5 Twenty-first Century Translation 6 The List 7 Footnotes 8 References

[edit] Nineteenth century translations

At first, translation efforts coincided with missionary work. That is, when missionaries arrived in a foreign country, they first attempted to learn the language and translate the Book of Mormon.

[edit] Early twentieth century translations (1903-1977)

Sixteen more, including the first in Asian languages and several in South Pacific tongues, appeared between 1903 and 1977 (Stocks 1992).

[edit] Systematic translations (1971-1952)

In 1971, in support of an expanding missionary program, the Church organized a Translation Services Department to direct a systematic program of scripture translation (Stocks 1992). Since it takes about five years to complete translation and printing of a complete book of Mormon (Rollins 1983), the new translation department's first project was to produce of a large number of translations of Selections from the Book of Mormon in order to place selected chapters in the hands of missionaries, general readers, and members as quickly as possible and to train translators (Stocks 1992). The Selections, chosen and approved by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, were the same in all these languages, and consisted of the following:

• 1 Nephi Chapters 1-7, 16-18
• 2 Nephi Chapters 1-4; 5:1-20; 9, 29, 31-33
• Enos
• Mosiah Chapters 2-5, 17, 18
• Alma Chapters 5, 11, 12, 32, 34, 39-42
• Helaman Chapters 13-16
• 3 Nephi Chapters 1, 8, 11-30
• 4 Nephi
• Mormon Chapters 1, 4, 6-9
• Moroni

These Selections volumes are being progressively replaced by full translations (Stocks 1992). After 1998 the Church stopped translating Selections from the Book of Mormon; each new approved translation will now be a full edition ^[1]. The Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles considers recommendations from Area Presidencies for new translations of the Book of Mormon ^[2]. Before the Book of Mormon is translated, Gospel Fundamentals and other basic doctrinal items such as the Articles of Faith are translated (if they haven’t been already) in order to establish standard terminology ^[3]. Translation work for the Book of Mormon is carried out by worthy, qualified members who are assigned specifically to the task ^[4].

[edit] Retranslations

Retranslations of early editions began in 1952 with the second translation into Spanish(Stocks 1992). Subsequently, the Japanese, Italian, and German editions were retranslated; other retranslations appeared as Selections from 1980 on(Stocks 1992). With the issuance of the 1981 English edition of the Book of Mormon (see Book of Mormon Editions), the Church Translation Department began systematically reviewing all existing translations, setting priorities for retranslation, and producing new editions more in conformity with the English format(Stocks 1992).

[edit] Twenty-first Century Translation

On December 29, 2000 translations of the Book of Mormon in five new languages rolled off the press, bringing to 100 the number of language translations ever completed(Jones 2001).

[edit] The List

1. English (1830): Joseph Smith, Jr. delivered the handwritten manuscript to a local printer in Palmyra, New York. The Doctrine and Covenants was published in 1835, and the Pearl of Great Price was published in 1851.
2. Danish (1851): Erastus Snow opened the Scandanavian Mission and commissioned Peter Olsen Hansen to translate the Book of Mormon into Danish (Stocks 1992). It was printed in 1851. The Doctrine and Covenants was published in 1852, and the Pearl of Great Price was published in 1882.
3. French (1852): John Taylor supervised while Curtis E. Bolton translated the Book of Mormon into French (Stocks 1992). The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price were published in 1958(Wilson 1976).
4. German (1852): John Taylor supervised while George P. Dykes translated the Book of Mormon into German (Stocks 1992). The Book of Mormon was published in 1852. The Doctrine and Covenants was published in 1876, and the Pearl of Great Price was published in 1882.
5. Italian (1852): At the same time Lorenzo Snow translated the Book of Mormon into Italian(Stocks 1992). The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price were first published in 1965. They were both retranslated. The triple combination was first published in 1982 ^[5].
6. Welsh (1852): John Davis translated the Book of Mormon into Welsh (Stocks 1992).
7. Hawaiian (1855): George Q. Cannon translated the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian in 1855 (Stocks 1992).
8. Spanish (1875): In 1875 Meliton G. Trejo and Daniel W. Jones produced the first translation of selections from the Book of Mormon into Spanish (Stocks 1992). This ninety-six-page document, comprising only the books of 1 and 2 Nephi, Omni, 3 Nephi, and Mormon, was the first partial translation (Stocks 1992). Trejo and James Z. Stewart completed a translation of the entire book into Spanish in 1886 (Stocks 1992).
9. Swedish (1878): The Book of Mormon was translated into Swedish in 1878 (Stocks 1992).
10. Maori (1889): The Book of Mormon was translated into Maori in 1889 (Stocks 1992).
11. Dutch (1890): The Book of Mormon was translated into Dutch in 1890 (Stocks 1992).
12. English Braille (1939): The Book of Mormon was published in English Braille in 1939. The Doctrine and Covenants was published in 1948. The Pearl of Great Price was published in 1952.
13. Chinese (1965): The Book of Mormon was first published in Chinese in December of 1965 ^[6]. The Chinese translation serves members in both Hong Kong and Taiwan even though there are differences between the two major dialects they speak; they share a common written language.
14. Thai (1976): The translation was first assigned on November 15, 1969 ^[7]. Nine people worked over a period of seven years in the translation, review, typing, editing, and proofreading of the book (‘‘News’’, 1977). Three thousand copies the Book of Mormon in Thai were printed in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, on October 17, 1976 ^[8].
15. Hindi (1982): Groundwork for the Hindi translation began in 1975 when Vijendra Sharma, a nonmember linguist living in Fiji, was asked to help (Rollins 1983). The text was then reviewed by several others and the polished translation, completed early in 1980, was typeset sometime later in New Delhi, India (Rollins 1983). Three thousand copies were printed in 1982 in Hong Kong, where most of the copies are stocked at the local Church distribution center (Rollins 1983).
16. Polish (1982): The Book of Mormon was translated into Polish by Maria Krolikowska (Rollins 1982). She was born and raised in Poland. She joined the Church while studying in Oxford England in 1966 (Rollins 1982). She worked as a translator of business correspondence, translating Polish to English and English to Polish(Rollins 1982). She served a mission for the Church to Alaska-British Columbia(Rollins 1982).
17. Tamil (1983): Daniel K. Shanthakumar, a member of the Church from Coimbatore, India, was asked in 1979 to translate the Book of Mormon into Tamil for Selections (Rollins 1983). After the text was reviewed in 1980, it was prepared for typesetting and printing in Sri Lanka, where it came off the press in mid-1982 (Rollins 1983). Copies of this translation are stocked in Sri Lanka (Rollins 1983).
18. Telugu (1983): Reverend P. Sreenivasam, an ordained Baptist minister became aware of the Book of Mormon after his daughter Elsie became interested in the Church and was baptized with her husband, Dharmaraju Edwin, in early 1977 in Western Samoa (Rollins 1983). Although eighty-two years of age and seriously ill, the good reverend felt a strong urge to translate into Telugu what he felt was a book of great value, and he began to do so immediately—at the rate of a little more than one page per day (Rollins 1983). Translation of Church materials into Telugu was approved in 1980, and by early 1981 the entire Book of Mormon had been translated into that language (Rollins 1983). As soon as the translation was completed, Brother and Sister Edwin typed the 700-page manuscript and delivered it to the First Presidency in March 1981 (Rollins 1983). The text was then reviewed by others, and selections from this translation were approved by the First Presidency (Rollins 1983). These were taken to Osmania University Press in Hyderabad, India, for typesetting, after which the typeset pages were returned to Salt Lake City, where the Telugu Selections was printed (Rollins 1983). This translation is available through area Church distribution centers (Rollins 1983).
19. Malagasy (1986): Malagasy is a language spoken by the people in the Madagascar, an island country off the east coast of Africa. Selections of the Book of Mormon were first published in 1986 (Olsen 2006). The first full edition of the Book of Mormon in Malagasy was published in 2000 (Olsen 2006).
20. Bislama (1986): Bislama is the language of the small island chain of Vanuatu located between Australia and Fiji in the South Pacific. Bislama is a language born of a meeting of English and French and based on Melanesian grammar. The islands, formerly known as the New Hebrides, were jointly ruled by the British and French until independent Vanuatu was established in 1980. Missionaries of the Fiji Suva Mission began translating the Book of Mormon in 1980 ^[9]. Philippe Gubbay, an island-born member, finished the translation^[10]. Selections were published in 1986.
21. Greek (1985): The translation of the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price in Greek was finished in 1985 ^[11]. LDS missionaries have been teaching the gospel in Greek for more than five years now, to Greek-speaking emigrants outside their native land ^[12].
22. Arabic (1985): In keeping with custom in Moslem areas, the Book of Mormon, as a holy book, contains no illustrations (‘‘News’’, 1985b). The geometric border design around the edge of each page indicates the volume is a sacred book and is to be read and handled reverently (‘‘News’’, 1985b).
23. Gilbertese (1989): The Church released editions of selections from the Book of Mormon in four additional languages—Shona, Lingala, Urdu, and Gilbertese—bringing to seventy-five the number of languages beyond English in which it is published ^[13].
24. Lingala (1989)
25. Shona (1989)
26. Urdu (1989)
27. Armenian – Eastern (2000): The first edition of the Book of Mormon in Western Armenian was published in 1937 (Olsen 2006). Because of conflict in the country, many Armenians became scattered to areas across the world. Eastern Armenian is the dialect spoken by the majority of those remaining in the country today. In 1997 a Latter-day Saint man in St. Petersburg, Russia felt prompted to return home to Armenia (Olsen 2006). A year later, that brother helped in the translation of the Book of Mormon, published in 2000, and then he became the translator of the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price (Olsen 2006). The Armenia Yerevan Mission was organized in 1999 as part of the Europe East Area ^[14]. Although they cannot proselyte, the full-time missionaries have worked with member referrals, and Church membership has grown steadily ^[15]. The Eastern Armenian Book of Mormon was published in 2000 (Olsen 2006). Distribution of this edition in Armenia began in May 2001 (Olsen 2006) to coincided with the 1,700th anniversary of Christianity in Armenia. During the year of elaborate celebrations, Latter-day Saint missionaries held open houses in two cities to introduce the newly published Armenian Book of Mormon to the people ^[16]. The first open house was held on March 3, 2001 in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia; another occurred in the second-largest city, Gyumri, on March 16 ^[17]. Although the open houses required hundreds of hours of preparation, the 57 referrals received from the 400 people who attended made the work worthwhile ^[18].
28. Amharic (2000): Amharic is spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Book of Mormon was first published in Amharic in December 2000 (Jones 2001).
29. Latvian (2000): Although some preparatory work was done beforehand, translation of the scriptures in Armenian, Latvian, and Lithuanian began in 1998 (Olsen 2006).
30. Lithuanian (2000): Although some preparatory work was done beforehand, translation of the scriptures in Armenian, Latvian, and Lithuanian began in 1998 (Olsen 2006).
31. Xhosa (2000): Xhosa is spoken in South Africa. The Book of Mormon was first published in Xhosa in December 2000 (Jones 2001).

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References