Was Moses Translated

Daniel H. Ludlow

Joseph Fielding Smith answers this question "Yes" in these words: "Moses, like Elijah, was taken up without tasting death, because he had a mission to perform . . . and it had to be performed before the crucifixion of the Son of God, and it could not have been done in the spirit." (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:107, 110.) President Smith is referring here to the mission Moses performed on the mount of transfiguration when he appeared to the Savior and to Peter, James, and John. (See Matthew 17:1-13.)

Alma 45:19 would also seem to indicate that Moses was translated, wherein it states that Moses "was taken up by the Spirit, or buried by the hand of the Lord." These words also help to explain the real meaning of Deuteronomy 34:5-6, which states that the Lord "buried" Moses.

A Companion To Your Study of The Book of Mormon

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