Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57]
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Source Note
Revelation, , Jackson Co., MO, 20 July 1831. Featured version, titled “60 Commandment,” copied [ca. Sept. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 93–94; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.
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Historical Introduction
A 6 June 1831 revelation instructed JS, , and certain elders to travel to “the land of ,” which God would “consecrate” to his people. It further stated that if JS and Rigdon remained faithful, God would reveal to them the land of their inheritance. Leaving , Ohio, on 19 June 1831, JS reached , Jackson County, Missouri, on 14 July. After arriving in Independence, JS dictated this revelation on 20 July 1831 identifying “the land of Missorie” as the “land of promise.” recorded it in Revelation Book 1 as the “first Revelation given in Missorie.” In Independence, JS and his group—, , , and —met , , , and , who had reached Missouri by January 1831 to proselytize among the American Indians living just west of the Missouri state line. Some of the others assigned by the 6 June revelation to travel to Missouri arrived later in the month—apparently after the dictation of the 20 July revelation.According to the history JS initiated in 1838, JS spent time upon his arrival in ruminating on the situation of the American Indians living in the “wilderness” across the border. Perhaps because an earlier revelation explained that the city of Zion was to be built “among the Lamanites,” these meditations prompted him to ask questions about when and where the city would be built: “When will the wilderness blossom as the rose; when will Zion be built up in her glory, and where will thy Temple stand unto which all nations shall come in the last days?” In another account, JS remembered “viewing the country” before “seeking diligently at the hand of God”; according to that account, God “manifested himself unto me, and designated to me and others, the very spot upon which he designed to commence the work of the gathering, and the upbuilding of an holy city, which should be called Zion.” The revelation designated as the “Land of Zion,” established as the place at which to build the , and designated the spot on which to build the . It also provided instruction to , who was appointed a in February 1831, and , who was designated in June 1831 as an agent to the church, on purchasing lands and distributing them to church members so that the members could gather in Missouri. It further assigned Gilbert to open a store and to establish a printing operation.The original manuscript of this revelation is not extant. , who did not go to at this time, later copied it into Revelation Book 1, probably sometime after JS returned to from Missouri. In August 1831, wrote to his wife that “the commandments” given in Missouri would be “carr[ied] home” to Ohio by “our brethren.”
Footnotes
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1
Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:3, 5]. An earlier revelation indicated that land purchased for “an inheritance . . . shall be called the New Jerusalem.” The Book of Mormon contains references to God establishing the New Jerusalem, or the city of Zion, on the American continent. Nearly a year had passed since a September 1830 revelation had declared, “No man knoweth where the City shall be built But it shall be given hereafter Behold I say unto you that it shall be among the Lamanites.” (Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:65–66]; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 497, 566 [3 Nephi 20:22; Ether 13:3–6]; Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:9].)
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2
William W. Phelps, “Extract of a Letter from the Late Editor,” Ontario Phoenix (Canandaigua, NY), 7 Sept. 1831, [2]; JS History, vol. A-1, 126.
Ontario Phoenix. Canandaigua, NY. 1828–1832.
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3
Revelation Book 1, p. [208].
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4
Revelation, 20 July 1831, in Gilbert, Notebook, [34]–[36] [D&C 57]; JS History, vol. A-1, 126; William W. Phelps, “Extract of a Letter from the Late Editor,” Ontario Phoenix (Canandaigua, NY), 7 Sept. 1831, [2].
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.
Ontario Phoenix. Canandaigua, NY. 1828–1832.
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5
See Covenant of Oliver Cowdery and Others, 17 Oct. 1830; Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 Apr. 1831; Knight, Reminiscences, 9; and Jennings, “First Mormon Mission to the Indians,” 288–299. A 29 January 1831 letter from Cowdery states that they had arrived “a few days since.” Peter Whitmer Jr.’s later account, however, says the group arrived on 13 December 1830. Accounting for the travel time to Independence in the winter, it is highly unlikely that the group, which left Kirtland by 22 November, could have arrived in mid-December, which suggests that Cowdery’s contemporary account is more accurate. (Oliver Cowdery, Independence, MO, to the Church in Ohio, 29 Jan. 1831, in Letter to Hyrum Smith, 3–4 Mar. 1831; Whitmer, Journal, Dec. 1831, [1]; Givens and Grow, Apostle Paul of Mormonism, 42; see also Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. VII,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 24 Nov. 1831, [1].)
Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.
Jennings, Warren A. “The First Mormon Mission to the Indians,” Kansas Historical Quarterly 38 (Autumn 1971): 288–299.
Whitmer, Peter, Jr. Journal, Dec. 1831. CHL. MS 5873.
Givens, Terryl L., and Matthew J. Grow. Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
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6
Rigdon and Sidney and Elizabeth Van Benthusen Gilbert, for example, had decided to go by water from St. Louis to Independence, rather than overland, which delayed their arrival. (JS History, vol. A-1, 126–127.)
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7
Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:9]. Early church members sometimes referred to American Indians as “Lamanites.” The history of the people called the Lamanites is told in the Book of Mormon.
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8
JS History, vol. A-1, 127.
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9
JS, “To the Elders of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1835, 1:179. The “others” noted by JS may have referred to Harris, Partridge, Coe, Phelps, Cowdery, Whitmer, Peterson, and Williams. Sidney Gilbert’s copy of the revelation bears the notation “1st Commandment recd at Missouri after the arrival of Joseph Smith Jnr=M. Harris Edwd. Partridge=Joseph Coe & W.W. Phelps”—without mentioning himself or any of the others, who may not yet have arrived in Missouri at this point. (Gilbert, Notebook, [34].)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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.
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10
When embarking on his mission to preach to the Indians, Cowdery promised “to rear up a pillar as a witness where the Temple of God shall be built, in the glorious New-Jerusalem.” But it was this 20 July revelation that gave the first clear designation of the temple’s location. (Covenant of Oliver Cowdery and Others, 17 Oct. 1830.)
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11
Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:9]; Revelation, 8 June 1831 [D&C 53:4].
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12
See Historical Introduction to Revelation Book 1.
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13
Edward Partridge, Independence, MO, to Lydia Clisbee Partridge, 5–7 Aug. 1831, Edward Partridge, Letters, 1831–1835, CHL.
Partridge, Edward. Letters, 1831–1835. CHL. MS 23154.
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