The Book of Mormon

Ether 3:1

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~2200 BC

1830 Edition

And it came to pass that the brother of Jared, (now the number of the vessels which had been prepared, was eight,) went forth unto the mount, which they called the mount Shelem, because of its exceeding height, and did moulten out of a rock sixteen small stones; and they were white and clear, even as transparent glass; and he did carry them in his hands upon the top of the mount, and cried again unto the Lord, saying,

Influences

Revelation 21:21 (KJV)
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

Changes

And it came to pass that the brother of Jared, (now the number of the vessels which had been prepared, was eight,) went forth unto the mount, which they called the mount Shelem, because of its exceeding height, and did moulten out of a rock sixteen small stones; and they were white and clear, even as transparent glass; and he did carry them in his hands upon the top of the mount, and cried again unto the Lord, saying,:

Simple English

The brother of Jared had prepared eight boats. He went up to a mountain they called Shelem because it was very high. He melted rock and made sixteen small stones. They were white and clear like glass. He carried them in his hands to the top of the mountain. He cried out to the Lord and said:

Paraphrase

The brother of Jared climbed the mountain they called Shelem—named for how high it stood. He’d prepared eight vessels for the journey, and now he carried sixteen small stones up with him. He’d melted them from rock until they were white and clear as glass. At the top of the mountain, he cried out to the Lord:

Notes

3:1-4

From an Latter-day Saint perspective, this verse can be seen as supporting the idea that God employs stones as instruments for revealing and guiding His people in miraculous ways. From a critical viewpoint, however, it is one of several passages in the Book of Mormon that appear to echo elements of Joseph Smith’s reported involvement with folk or occult practices. In that light, passages such as Ether 3:1–4, Ether 3:24, and Alma 37:23 may be viewed as paralleling his use of seer stones during the translation of the Book of Mormon. Similarly, the concept of “slipping” or “sinking” treasure due to curses—an idea associated with Joseph Smith’s milieu—is also reflected in Helaman 13:31–35.

The October 2015 issue of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints magazine Ensign includes a photograph of the seer stone and explains, "In fact, historical evidence shows that in addition to the two seer stones known as 'interpreters,' Joseph Smith used at least one other seer stone in translating the Book of Mormon, often placing it into a hat in order to block out light. According to Joseph's contemporaries, he did this in order to better view the words on the stone.... according to Martin Harris, Joseph also used one of his seer stones for convenience during the Book of Mormon translation. Other sources corroborate Joseph's changing translation instruments." —“Joseph the Seer,” Ensign, October 2015, 53.

“There was a company there in that neighborhood, who were digging for money supposed to have been hidden by the ancients… They dug for money in Palmyra, Manchester, also in Pennsylvania, and other places. When Joseph found this stone, there was a company digging in Harmony, PA., and they took Joseph to look in the stone for them, and he did so for a while, and then he told them the enchantment was so strong that he could not see, and they gave it up.” (Joel Tiffany, “Interview with Martin Harris,” Tiffany’s Monthly, August 1859).

“In frontier America, seer stones or “peep stones” were commonly used by lost object finders, people engaged in the widespread practice of lost treasure digging, and sometimes by people seeking to uncover the kind of truths we might call a private or police detective for today. It is unclear how much of this kind of activity Joseph Smith was involved in, except for water divining and treasure digging, which are widely attested.” -Eric A. Eliason, BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol.55, No.1, 2016.