Reference: The give to tongues and the interpretation of tongues follows 1 Corinthians 12:11. In the Book of Mormon redaction of those phrases, the interpretation of tongues has become the interpretation of languages. This is an interesting shift for it moves the gift away from the Pauline reference of glossolalia (speaking in tongues) to a reference to specific languages. This is certainly the modern interpretation of the gift of tongues, but it was not the original reference in 1 Corinthians. This particular perspective is consistent with earlier uses of the same imagery in the Book of Mormon. In Omni we find:
Omni 1:25
25 And it came to pass that I began to be old; and, having no seed, and knowing king Benjamin to be a just man before the Lord, wherefore, I shall deliver up these plates unto him, exhorting all men to come unto God, the Holy One of Israel, and believe in prophesying, and in revelations, and in the ministering of angels, and in the gift of speaking with tongues, and in the gift of interpreting languages, and in all things which are good; for there is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord; and that which is evil cometh from the devil.
Translation: This set of gifts in Corinthians has had a continuous impact on the way the Nephite record was translated. The combination of elements in the Pauline set of gifts is found in several locations in the rest of the Book of Mormon. The examination of these instances can clarify our understanding of the nature of the translation process. We return to our Omni example as the earliest presence of the Pauline catalog of gifts of the Spirit:
Omni 1:25
25 And it came to pass that I began to be old; and, having no seed, and knowing king Benjamin to be a just man before the Lord, wherefore, I shall deliver up these plates unto him, exhorting all men to come unto God, the Holy One of Israel, and believe in prophesying, and in revelations, and in the ministering of angels, and in the gift of speaking with tongues, and in the gift of interpreting languages, and in all things which are good; for there is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord; and that which is evil cometh from the devil.
Omni gives us a set of gifts that come from God. At lease the gift of tongues is specifically mentioned as a gift, but the set matches with the items in the Pauline catalog. Prophecy is a direct match, with revelation are rather obvious parallel to prophesy, even though it is not part of the Pauline catalog. From that same set we have the ministering of angels, tongues, and interpretation. Of course the specific interpretation is that of languages rather than tongues. This shift in context occurs both here and in Moroni 10:16. In the Omni catalog, only the gift of revelation appears as an intrusion on the Pauline set, and it is a near replication of prophecy.
Alma 9:21
21 Having been visited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord; and having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of translation;
Alma’s catalog references Paul more extensively, but with less of an obvious parallel. The conversing with angels parallels the way in which Moroni has reinterpreted Paul’s discerning of spirits. Both the Alma usage and the Moroni usage shift the Pauline catalog in precisely the same direction. Additionally, the Alma catalog contains a direct parallel to the gift of tongues, and a rephrasing of the gift of teaching which shifts to the gift of preaching. In the Alma catalog of gifts, the gift of the Holy Ghost is made explicit, but that is also explicit in 1 Corinthians 12:7. The addition is the gift of translation.
3 Nephi 29:6
6 Yea, wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost!
The Pauline catalog is worked into a very different context in 3 Nephi. Here the list is used to create a catalog of traits that are can be denied by unbelievers. They are therefore pulled from the context of gifts and become a type of litmus paper of belief. The 3 Nephi catalog replicates prophecy, tongues, and healings. As in the Omni example, prophecy is reduplicated into revelation.
Mormon 9:7
7 And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues;
The catalog in Mormon is similar in usage to that of 3 Nephi. It becomes a set of expectations of the gospel that a non-believer might deny. Nevertheless, the set is clearly modeled on the Pauline catalog of gifts of the Spirit. Specific replications are prophecies, healings, speaking in tongues, and in this case, the interpretation of tongues rather than the interpretation of languages. The only addition is the now familiar reduplication of the prophecy into revelation.
It is obvious that the Pauline catalog of gifts of the spirit has influenced the translated text in each of these cases. That is the evidence. What is the meaning of the evidence? As in other cases, we have confirmation that Joseph’s understanding of the New Testament guided his selection of phrases used in the translation. This tells us important information about the relationship of the underlying plate text and the resulting English translation.
With the obvious parallels among the cited verses and the Pauline catalog from 1 Corinthians 12, we have a set of gifts that have two explanations. The first is that this particular set of gifts is finite and therefore known to the various prophets as a virtual set. This is possible, but less likely that the second alternative, which is that when the plate text reference anything similar to the set of the gifts of the spirit, the influence of the Pauline catalog guided the production of the English text. The plate text must therefore have a parallel but imprecise relationship to the English text. The assumption of a tight control over the production of the English text would presume that this particular Pauline catalog had some type of conceptual reality that dictated its use by Mormon as he wrote his text. If it were located only in Mormon it might still be possible that it was an understanding that Mormon had, but the presence of the catalog in Omni, which is part of the small plates and not the product of Mormon’s hands suggests that the similarities are due to the only common hand between the two sets of plates; Joseph Smith the translator.