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November 2, 1835

On November 2, 1835, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, Frederick G. Williams, and others journeyed from Kirtland to nearby Willoughby, Ohio, to listen to a lecture by Dr. Daniel Peixotto, an accomplished Jewish physician whom Church leaders had already approached to teach them Hebrew.[1] After the lecture a question arose whether Oliver Cowdery or Frederick G. Williams should travel to New York City “to make arrangements respecting a book bindery” and to procure other materials needed to facilitate the study of Hebrew in Kirtland.[2] To settle the question, Joseph took the matter to the Lord, who responded with the present revelation that is preserved in his journal in an entry dated that same day.

The revelation instructs Williams not to travel to New York, although it did give him permission to preach the gospel to any family in the area. Instead, Oliver Cowdery was sent to be the Church’s agent to acquire the necessary materials. Sure enough, Oliver returned later that month with “a quantity of Hebrew books for the benefit of the school,”[3] and earnest study commenced in January 1836 under the tutelage of Joshua Seixas, Peixotto’s cousin. This was not a trifling matter for those who attended these Hebrew lessons, and so it makes sense that revelation was sought in this matter. One contemporary account, for instance, described how the Saints considered “the study of the Hebrew language to be a religious duty.”[4] As for Williams, it is unknown if he ever did preach to his relatives according to the privilege afforded to him in this revelation.

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Thus came the word of the Lord unto me, saying—it is not my will that my servant Frederick G. Williams should go to New York; but inasmuch as he wishes to go and visit his relatives that he may warn them to flee the wrath to come, let him go and see them. For that purpose, let that be his only business. And behold, in this thing he shall be blessed with power to overcome their prejudices. Verily, thus saith the Lord. Amen.

Notes

[1] JSP, J1:82. On the study of Hebrew in Kirtland, including the key figures involved, see Matthew J. Grey, “‘The Word of the Lord in the Original’: Joseph Smith’s Study of Hebrew in Kirtland,” in Approaching Antiquity: Joseph Smith and the Ancient World, ed. Lincoln H. Blumell, Matthew J. Grey, and Andrew H. Hedges (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2015), 249–302.

[2] JSP, J1:82.

[3] JSP, J1:107.

[4] Henry Caswall, America, and the American Church (London: J. G. & F. Rivington, 1839), 323.