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Revelation, 3 January 1833 [D&C 88:127–137]

Source Note

Revelation,
Kirtland Township

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

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, OH, 3 Jan. 1833. Featured version copied [between 22 Jan. and ca. 27 Feb. 1833] in Revelation Book 2, pp. 47–48; handwriting of
Frederick G. Williams

28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...

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; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 2.

Historical Introduction

According to the index in Revelation Book 2, the subject of this 3 January 1833 revelation is “instructions how to regulate the
Elders school

A term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...

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.”
1

Revelation Book 2, Index, [1].


On 27–28 December 1832, JS dictated a revelation directing the
elders

A male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...

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of the church to establish a school so that they could be taught in both “the doctrines, of the kingdom” and in temporal matters before proclaiming the gospel to the world “for the last time.” It also instructed the Saints in
Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

More Info
, Ohio, to build a “
house of God

The official name for the sacred edifice in Kirtland, Ohio, later known as the Kirtland temple; also the official name for other planned religious structures in Missouri. JS and the Latter-day Saints also referred to the House of the Lord in Kirtland as “...

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” that, among other things, would serve as a “house of Learning.”
2

Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:77–80, 84, 119, 122].


This 3 January revelation provided information on how the school was to be conducted in the House of the Lord, including how members of the school were to act when entering it. Little is known about the circumstances of the 3 January revelation, other than that it was dictated in Kirtland, probably in
Newel K. Whitney

3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...

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’s
white store

In Apr. 1826, Whitney purchased quarter-acre lot on northeast corner of Chardon and Chillicothe roads and built two-story, 1500-square-foot, white store. Mercantile store also functioned as Kirtland Mills post office. Whitney met JS at store, 4 Feb. 1831....

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, where JS and his family were staying.
Frederick G. Williams

28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...

View Full Bio
wrote the revelation as JS dictated it, but the original manuscript is not extant. Williams later copied the revelation into Revelation Book 2, probably between late January and late February 1833. On 11 January 1833, JS sent a copy of the 27–28 December 1832 revelation to
William W. Phelps

17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...

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and other leaders in
Jackson County

Settled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...

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, Missouri.
3

Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833.


It is unclear whether JS also included this revelation in that transmission, but Phelps published the revelation in the March 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star, titling it “Revelation Given Kirtland, Ohio, January 3, 1833.”
4

“Revelation Given Kirtland, Ohio, January 3, 1833,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Mar. 1833, [6].


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

Though it was presented in early manuscript sources and in The Evening and the Morning Star as separate from the 27–28 December 1832 revelation, the 3 January 1833 revelation was combined with that earlier revelation into one text in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, probably because the 3 January revelation included instructions for implementing the school required by the 27–28 December revelation.
5

In either late 1833 or early 1834, the 27–28 December revelation was published as a broadside, but it did not include the 3 January 1833 revelation. Publications thereafter included both revelations as a single text, along with additional verses at the end of the revelation that were first added in the 1835 edition. (See Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, who have assembled yourselves together, [Kirtland, OH: ca. Jan. 1834], copy at CHL [D&C 88–89]; Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7, 1835 ed. [D&C 88]; Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7, 1844 ed. [D&C 88]; “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:688–691; and “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1844, 5:704–705; see also Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:43–44.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, who have assembled yourselves together [D&C 88–89]. [Kirtland, OH: ca. Jan. 1834]. Copy at BYU.

Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

The two became so closely associated that when the 3 January revelation was reprinted in Evening and Morning Star (an 1835–1836 reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star), it was dated 27 December 1832.
6

“Revelation, Given December 27, 1832,” Evening and Morning Star, Mar. 1833 (May 1836), 156–157.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Evening and Morning Star. Edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star. Kirtland, OH. Jan. 1835–Oct. 1836.

Likewise, the heading for the combined revelations in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants listed the date as 27 December 1832.
7

Doctrine and Covenants 7, 1835 ed.


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation Book 2, Index, [1].

  2. [2]

    Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:77–80, 84, 119, 122].

  3. [3]

    Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833.

  4. [4]

    “Revelation Given Kirtland, Ohio, January 3, 1833,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Mar. 1833, [6].

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

  5. [5]

    In either late 1833 or early 1834, the 27–28 December revelation was published as a broadside, but it did not include the 3 January 1833 revelation. Publications thereafter included both revelations as a single text, along with additional verses at the end of the revelation that were first added in the 1835 edition. (See Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, who have assembled yourselves together, [Kirtland, OH: ca. Jan. 1834], copy at CHL [D&C 88–89]; Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7, 1835 ed. [D&C 88]; Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7, 1844 ed. [D&C 88]; “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:688–691; and “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1844, 5:704–705; see also Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:43–44.)

    Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, who have assembled yourselves together [D&C 88–89]. [Kirtland, OH: ca. Jan. 1834]. Copy at BYU.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

  6. [6]

    “Revelation, Given December 27, 1832,” Evening and Morning Star, Mar. 1833 (May 1836), 156–157.

    Evening and Morning Star. Edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star. Kirtland, OH. Jan. 1835–Oct. 1836.

  7. [7]

    Doctrine and Covenants 7, 1835 ed.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Revelation, 3 January 1833 [D&C 88:127–137] Revelation Book 2 Revelation Book 1 Revelations printed in The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832–June 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 48

in all your doings, in the house of the Lord, that it may become a sanctury, a tabernacle, of the holy spirit to your, edefication Amen
Given by Joseph the
seer

The Book of Mormon identified a seer as a “revelator, and a prophet also,” specifying, however, that a seer was “greater than a prophet.” A seer could “know of things which has past, and also of things which is to come.” The work of a seer included translation...

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, and writen by
Frederick [G. Williams]

28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...

View Full Bio
assistant scribe and councellor—— [p. 48]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, 3 January 1833 [D&C 88:127–137]
ID #
5375
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D2:346–348
Handwriting on This Page
  • Frederick G. Williams

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