Revelation, April 1830–A [D&C 23:1–2]
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Source Note
Revelation, , Ontario Co., NY, to , Apr. 1830. Featured version, titled “18th. Commandment AD Ap[r]il 1830,” copied [ca. Mar. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, p. 29; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.
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Historical Introduction
Each of the following five revelations, which were dictated soon after the organization of the on 6 April 1830, addressed one of JS’s family members or a close associate who desired to know the Lord’s will concerning himself. All five texts include similar content and phrasing, and JS likely dictated them one after the other. recorded them separately in Revelation Book 1 and assigned the date “AD 1830” to each one. Though the editors of the Book of Commandments printed the revelations separately and gave each the date of 6 April 1830, that date appears to be in error and was dropped two years later, in 1835, when the Doctrine and Covenants combined the texts into a single document with a general “April, 1830” date. JS’s history and other sources suggest that the revelations date between the 6 April organization and an 11 April meeting, both of which took place in , New York.
Footnotes
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1
JS History, vol. A-1, 38.
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2
Four of the five revelations, including this one, indicate that the recipients were “under no condemnation.” In those for Hyrum Smith and Samuel Smith, “also” is added (“thou also art under no condemnation”), suggesting that they were dictated after this one to Oliver Cowdery, as Revelation Book 1 orders them. The revelation for Joseph Smith Sr. uses “also” in reference to “exhortation,” as does Samuel Smith’s revelation, again suggesting both order and the close relationship of these texts. In subsequent printed versions of these revelations, they were arranged in the same order as in Revelation Book 1. (See Revelation Book 1, pp. 29–30; Book of Commandments 17–21.)
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3
Doctrine and Covenants 45, 1835 ed.
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4
See JS History, vol. A-1, 37–39. The text featured here told Oliver Cowdery to “make known thy Calling,” another clue that JS likely dictated it after 6 April, since a revelation on that day named Cowdery “first Preacher of this Church.” (Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21:10–12].)
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