Moroni here mentions charity and will later include a letter from his father on the topic (Moro. 7). That letter evidently made a great impression on Moroni. Not only did he inscribe it in his record, but it is probably the source of his mention here. Once again, some of the particulars of the presentation reflect Joseph Smith’s understanding of King James language.
Translation: The explanation that love equals charity occurs both here and in Mormon’s letter (Moro. 7:47). It is necessary because the King James translators rendered the Greek agape as “charity,” and Joseph Smith followed that translation.
George Reynolds and Janne Sjodahl note in their classic commentary:
Special attention is called to the brief but important explanatory note: “Charity is Love.… ” The word translated “charity” in I Cor. 13 is “agape,” which also means “love.” It is so rendered in Luke 11:42 and Romans 5:5, 8. Why the authorized version has “charity” instead of “love” is not clear, unless the translators were anxious to avoid a word which, in their judgment, might be misunderstood by some readers. The version revised by the Anglo-American Bible Commission translates “love,” as required by the original.
Certainly the Greek meaning for agape includes the type of love of fellowman intended for “charity.” However, the connection between the Greek agape and the English alms-giving is most likely the early Christian feast that was called the agape. Reynolds and Sjodahl explain:
In the earliest days of the primitive church, a so-called love-feast, agape, was held in connection with the celebration of the sacrament, analogous to the passover. To these meals all the members were invited, and the poor were provided for by those who had means. At these gatherings contributions of money were also made and placed in the hands of the presiding elder, or bishop, for the maintenance of widows and orphans, for the care of the sick, and for such aid of prisoners and strangers as might be required and could be rendered. Money was also freely spent on the purchase of the freedom of slaves. Tertullian says of these love-feasts:
“However much it may cost us, it is real gain to incur such expense in the cause of piety; for we aid the poor by this refreshment; we do not sit down to it till we have first tasted of prayer to God; we eat to satisfy our hunger; we drink no more than befits the temperate; we feast as those who recollect that they are to spend the night in devotion; we converse as those who know that the Lord is an ear-witness. After water for washing hands, and lights have been brought in, every one is required to sing something to the praise of God, either from the Scriptures or from his own thoughts: by this means, if any one has indulged in excess, he is detected. The feast is closed with prayer.”
Tertullian is describing a shared meal, open to all the Christian community. In a world lacking social services, such regular agape-feasts were a great Christian innovation for alms-giving. Food given by those who could provide to those who could not was an excellent model for the type of charity understood in the Christian meaning of “charity.”
This relationship between charity and agape was naturally diluted by time and distance. Clearly, Moroni meant “love” in this passage but the King James Version’s influence on Joseph Smith prompted him to insert the familiar “charity” into these familiar phrases. That “translation,” however, is required only by Joseph’s environment, not the presence of this particular term on the plates. Whatever Reformed Egyptian was, it is highly unlikely that it reflected the same circumstances that led to “charity” as expressing God’s love but that then underwent a similar separation of meaning.