Redaction: The first thing to which we should pay attention is “I take mine account….” What we have in the book of Ether is not the book of Ether, but rather Moroni’s redaction of the book of Ether. Moroni will treat Ether is a somewhat similar way as did his father for all of the original sources that were available to him. He will cite them at times, and simply describe them at others.
Secondly, we should understand the nature of the source material that Moroni is using. We may begin by noting what he was not using. As part of the information available in Zarahemla was a large stone with engravings on it that dealt with the last king of the Jaredites, Coriantumr:
Omni 1:20-22
20 And it came to pass in the days of Mosiah, there was a large stone brought unto him with engravings on it; and he did interpret the engravings by the gift and power of God.
21 And they gave an account of one Coriantumr, and the slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.
22 It also spake a few words concerning his fathers. And his first parents came out from the tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; and the severity of the Lord fell upon them according to his judgments, which are just; and their bones lay scattered in the land northward.
See the discussion following Omni 1:20-22 for more information on the archaeological discovery of the La Mojarra stela that may have some relevance to the type of stela and text that was brought to Mosiah for translation. That stone was a king stela related to Coriantumr, the last king of the Jaredites. The book of Ether will tell the story of Coriantumr, but not from the standpoint of the more official king stela.
The text that is being used is the set of twenty four plates that were found by Limhi’s people during an expedition to gain assistance from Zarahemla, but which missed Zarahemla and discovered the land northward.
Mosiah 8:7-9
7 And the king said unto him: Being grieved for the afflictions of my people, I caused that forty and three of my people should take a journey into the wilderness, that thereby they might find the land of Zarahemla, that we might appeal unto our brethren to deliver us out of bondage.
8 And they were lost in the wilderness for the space of many days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla but returned to this land, having traveled in a land among many waters, having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind, having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as the hosts of Israel.
9 And for a testimony that the things that they had said are true they have brought twenty-four plates which are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold.
Limhi knew that there was information on the plates, but he was unable to read them. He asked Ammon if he knew who could translate them, and Ammon responded that Mosiah would be able to translate them, as he was a seer (Mosiah 8:12-17). The plates were eventually brought to Mosiah, and we have the following account of their translation:
Mosiah 28:11-17
11 Therefore he took the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, and also the plates of Nephi, and all the things which he had kept and preserved according to the commandments of God, after having translated and caused to be written the records which were on the plates of gold which had been found by the people of Limhi, which were delivered to him by the hand of Limhi;
12 And this he did because of the great anxiety of his people; for they were desirous beyond measure to know concerning those people who had been destroyed.
13 And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.
14 Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages;
15 And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of his people;
16 And whosoever has these things is called seer, after the manner of old times.
17 Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records, behold, it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time back until the creation of Adam.
We therefore have the original plates of Ether that were found by Limhi’s people, and we have a translation of that record by Mosiah. Our question now is whether Moroni made a fresh translation, or if he used the translation that was already available from Mosiah. That translation was available, as Mormon appears to reference it in Alma 37:21. There Mormon has Alma referencing the record of the twenty four plates without any indication that they should be translated again, or that Helaman would have any trouble reading them. The issue has nothing to do with understanding them, but rather with keeping information in them from the general populace. This suggests that there was a translation of the plates as well as the originals in the archives of the Nephites.
Which did Moroni use? Mosiah used the urim and thummim to make his translation (Mosiah 28:13) and we know that Moroni had the interpreters (urim and thummim) that he included specifically so that a future generation could read the part of vision of the brother of Jared to which he had sealed up the interpretation (Ether 4:5). It is therefore possible that Moroni made a fresh translation of the plates of Ether. However, it would appear redundant for him to translate what a prophet had already translated, and to do it for the purpose of making an abridgment of it. The better probability is that Moroni is using the translation of the twenty four plates made my Mosiah, and is abridging that record.