Footnotes

1. [1]

   Revelation, 30 Dec. 1830 [D&C 37:3]; Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:32].  

2. [2]

   Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:3].  

3. [3]

   Whitmer, History, 12.  

4. [4]

   In addition to the Rider manuscript featured here, four other early handwritten versions of this revelation are extant. The versions are in Revelation Book 1, pp. 62–67; Gilbert, Notebook, [13]–[23]; Coltrin, Diary, [11]–[18]; and Hyde and Smith, Notebook, [12]–[22].  

   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.

   Coltrin, Zebedee. Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443.

   Hyde, Orson, and Samuel Smith. Notebook of Revelations and Missionary Memoranda, ca. Oct. 1831–ca. Jan. 1832. Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583, box 1, fd. 2.

5. [5]

   “Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Western Courier (Ravenna, OH), 1 Sept. 1831, [1]; “Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Painesville (OH) Telegraph, 13 Sept. 1831, [1].  

   Western Courier. Ravenna, OH. 1826–1833.

   Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.

6. [6]

   The five questions answered in this revelation, as found in early copies of the text, are “First Shall the Church come to gether into one place or continue in seperate establishments?”;a “Question 2d the Law regulating the Church in her present situation till the time of her gathering”;b “3rd How the Elders are to dispose of their families while they are proclaiming repentance or are otherwise engaged in the Service of the Church?”; “4th How far it is the will of the Lord that we Should have dealing with the wo[r]ld & how we Should conduct our dealings with them?”; and “5th What preperations we shall make for our Brethren from the East & when & how?”c In place of the second question, Revelation Book 1 has “The Law,” and Symonds Rider’s copy (the text featured here) has “The Law?” When John Whitmer copied the revelation into Revelation Book 1, the questions served as introductory headings to each section. However, when the revelation was later prepared for publication, Oliver Cowdery crossed out the questions.  

   (^aRevelation Book 1, p. 62. ^bGilbert, Notebook, [15]. ^cRevelation, 9 Feb. 1831.)

   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.

7. [7]

   Coltrin, Diary, [11]–[18]; “Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Western Courier (Ravenna, OH), 1 Sept. 1831, [1]; “Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Painesville (OH) Telegraph, 13 Sept. 1831, [1].  

   Coltrin, Zebedee. Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443.

   Western Courier. Ravenna, OH. 1826–1833.

   Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.

8. [8]

   Four of the five early manuscripts reference “the Law” in titling the second section.  

9. [9]

   Book of Commandments 44.  

10. [10]

    The 9 February and 23 February revelations appeared separately in the Book of Commandments in 1833, but the two revelations were combined when published in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. (Book of Commandments 44, 47; Doctrine and Covenants 13, 1835 ed.)  

11. [11]

    Only the Symonds Rider manuscript (featured below) includes the entirety of both texts. Revelation Book 1 includes the first four sections of the 9 February 1831 revelation and the last section of the 23 February revelation; Orson Hyde includes parts two, three, and four of the 9 February revelation, and the last two parts of the 23 February revelation. The Gilbert and Coltrin copies do not include the 23 February text (Revelation Book 1, pp. 62–67; Hyde and Smith, Notebook, [12]–[22]; Gilbert, Notebook, [13]–[23]; Coltrin, Diary, [11]–[18]; see also Revelation, 23 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:74–93].)  

    Hyde, Orson, and Samuel Smith. Notebook of Revelations and Missionary Memoranda, ca. Oct. 1831–ca. Jan. 1832. Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583, box 1, fd. 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.

    Coltrin, Zebedee. Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443.

12. [12]

    Whitmer explained, “The Lord manifested himself to Joseph the Revelater and gave commandment for me to go to the Ohio, and carry the commandments and revelations, with me, to comfort and strengthen my brethren in that land.” (Whitmer, History, 10.)  

13. [13]

    See Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:38–67].  

14. [14]

    Several months earlier, Hiram Page reported receiving a number of revelations, which were taken seriously by Oliver Cowdery and the Whitmers. (See Knight, History, 145–147; JS History, vol. A-1, 53–54; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28].)  

    Knight, Newel. History. Private possession. Copy in CHL. MS 19156.

15. [15]

    See Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 12 Nov. 1830; and JS History, vol. A-1, 78.  

16. [16]

    See Whitmer, History, 10; and George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 15 Nov. 1864, 11:2–4; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, Feb. 1831–A [D&C 43].  

    Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.

17. [17]

    Acts 2:44; see also “Fanaticism,” Connecticut Courant (Hartford), 12 July 1831, [1]. JS had recently dictated, as part of his Bible revision, an account of the people of Enoch, who were “of one heart and of one mind” and who had “no poor among them.” (Old Testament Revision 1, p. 16 [Moses 7:18].)  

    Connecticut Courant. Hartford, CT. 1764–.

18. [18]

    “Consecrate,” in American Dictionary.  

    An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.

19. [19]

    See Brewer, “Shakers of Mother Ann Lee,” 37–56; and Pitzer, “New Moral World of Robert Owen,” 88–134; see also May, “Communal Life and Values among the Mormons,” 135–158.  

    Brewer, Priscilla J. “The Shakers of Mother Ann Lee.” In America's Communal Utopias, edited by Donald E. Pitzer, 37–56. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997.

    Pitzer, Donald E. “The New Moral World of Robert Owen and New Harmony.” In America's Communal Utopias, edited by Donald E. Pitzer, 88–134. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997.

    May, Dean L. “One Heart and Mind: Communal Life and Values among the Mormons.” In America's Communal Utopias, edited by Donald E. Pitzer, 135–158. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997.

20. [20]

    See Historical Introductions to Revelation, Oct. 1830–A [D&C 32]; and to Revelation, Oct. 1830–B [D&C 33].  

21. [21]

    On 22 February 1831, JS wrote to Martin Harris: “We have received the laws of the Kingdom since we came here and the Disciples in these parts have received them gladly.” (Letter to Martin Harris, 22 Feb. 1831.)  

22. [22]

    For additional research about “the Law,” see Underwood, “Laws of the Church of Christ,” 108–141.  

    Underwood, Grant. “‘The Laws of the Church of Christ’ (D&C 42): A Textual and Historical Analysis.” In The Doctrine and Covenants: Revelations in Context, edited by Andrew H. Hedges, J. Spencer Fluhman, and Alonzo L. Gaskill, 108–141. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2008.