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November 14, 1835

Throughout his ministry, Joseph Smith relied on clerks and scribes to compose, compile, copy, and preserve his revelations and other important documents. From Oliver Cowdery who was called to write the translation of the Book of Mormon (compare Doctrine and Covenants 9:4; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–67) to a cadre of clerks who served him in Nauvoo (including William Clayton, Willard Richards, and William W. Phelps), the Prophet surrounded himself with a small army of scribes and secretaries who dutifully preserved his papers.[1]

One of Joseph’s scribes during the Kirtland period was Warren Parrish, who joined the restored Church of Jesus Christ in the spring of 1833. After participating in the Camp of Israel expedition to Missouri in 1834 and serving missions to the southern United States in 1835, Parrish began scribing for the Prophet on October 29, 1835.[2] His duties ranged from keeping minutes for the Kirtland high council and the First Presidency to helping compile and preserve Joseph Smith’s history. This clerical appointment was ratified by the present revelation Joseph received on November 14, 1835. Among other things, this revelation promises that as a scribe Warren would “see much of [the Lord’s] ancient records, and shall know of hidden things, and shall be endowed with a knowledge of hidden languages.” In fulfillment of this, Warren assisted as a scribe in the translation of the Egyptian papyri Joseph Smith acquired in the summer of 1835 as well as in the associated project undertaken at that same time by the Prophet and others to study the Egyptian language.[3]

After years of faithful service, however, in the aftermath of the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society, Warren fell out with Joseph Smith. After leading a group of dissenters in Kirtland he was finally excommunicated in December 1837. In a February 5, 1838, letter to the Painesville Republican, published two months after his exit from the Church, Parrish mentioned how previous to his disaffection he had been the Prophet’s “intimate acquaintance” and referred to the revelation featured here. “I have been Smith’s private Secretary,” wrote Parrish, “called to fill this high and responsible station by revelation which I wrote myself as it dropped from the lips of the Prophet.”[4] Indeed, the manuscript for this revelation is in Parrish’s own hand,[5] a sad monument to his lost potential as “the Lord’s scribe for the Lord’s seer.”

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Thus came the word of the Lord unto me, saying—verily, thus saith the Lord unto my servant Joseph Smith Jr. concerning my servant Warren Parrish. Behold, his sins are forgiven him because of his desires to do the works of righteousness. Therefore, inasmuch as he will continue to hearken unto my voice, he shall be blessed with wisdom and with a sound mind, even above his fellows.

Behold, it shall come to pass in his day that he shall see great things shew forth themselves unto my people. He shall see much of my ancient records and shall know of hidden things and shall be endowed with a knowledge of hidden languages. And if he desires and shall seek it at my hand, he shall be privileged with writing much of my word, as a scribe unto me for the benefit of my people. Therefore, this shall be his calling until I shall order it otherwise in my wisdom; and it shall be said of him in a time to come, Behold Warren, the Lord’s scribe for the Lord’s seer whom he hath appointed in Israel. Therefore, if he will keep my commandments, he shall be lifted up at the last day. Even so. Amen.

Notes

[1] See further Dean C. Jessee, “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” BYU Studies 11, no. 4 (Summer 1971): 439–73; Richard Lyman Bushman and Dean C. Jessee, “Joseph Smith and His Papers: An Introduction,” in JSP, J1:xv–xli.

[2] JSP, J1:76.

[3] Parrish scribed either partially or fully the documents labeled today “Book of Abraham Manuscript–B” and “Book of Abraham Manuscript–C.” He also helped scribe the related texts “Egyptian Alphabet–C” and the “Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language.” See JSP, R4:203, 217. For different perspectives on the translation of the Book of Abraham and the associated Egyptian-language documents, see generally Brian M. Hauglid, “The Book of Abraham and the Egyptian Project: ‘A Knowledge of Hidden Languages,’” 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; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2015), 474–511; John Gee, An Introduction to the Book of Abraham (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017), 13–42; John Gee, “Prolegomena to a Study of the Egyptian Alphabet Documents in the Joseph Smith Papers,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 42 (2021): 77–98; Samuel Morris Brown, Joseph Smith’s Translation: The Words and Worlds of Early Mormonism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 193–232.

[4] Warren Parrish, letter to the editor of the Painesville Republican, February 5, 1838, in “Mormonism,” Painesville Republican 2, nos. 14–15 (February 15, 1838): 3, spelling in original.

[5] JSP, D5:51.