David R. Hocking of Raleigh, North Carolina, is the chief editor of six annotated ancient texts. An annotated book provides additional information, explanations, photos, and charts, which enhance the understanding of the original text.
Hocking’s diligent dedication to providing a better understanding of spiritual subjects includes The Book of Mormon, The Book of Jasher, which is mentioned in the Bible (2 Samuel 1:18; Joshua 10:15) and means the correct record, The New Testament, The Five Books of Moses, The Book of Enoch, and The Book of Isaiah.
His annotated edition books illuminate these sacred texts by providing amazing additional insights, information, explanations, photos, and charts, which greatly enhance the understanding and appreciation of the original text.
High-Tech Advantage
These detailed, pictorial, and text volumes would not have been possible without the “High-Tech” advantage over “Type Setting”. Hocking’s diligent dedication and massive efforts using High-Tech publishing software technology have allowed him to enhance his publications by using red text for words of Deity, blue text for words of angels and quoted scripture, indentation of prophecies, and paragraph grouping for increased comprehension. David’s books are available on his website.
He now has completed 354 pages of “The Revelations of Joseph Smith, Jr. The Chronological History of the Restoration as Recorded in His Journal.” I have been so intrigued by all of David’s books. But, this seventh one in the series, I believe may be the most significant, and a major game changer. I reached out to David offering to help him with this annotated edition. It will be an amazing contribution to sacred literature.
I have already given David several suggestions in my enthusiasm for what he is doing, and he has included several of them in his newest updated volume. The following are some suggestions I have sent to him regarding the miraculous printing miracles associated with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon Printing Miracle – By David W. Allan
The Lord is in the details of our lives. The printing of the Book of Mormon was truly a miracle. The details of the life of Gordon L. Weight, who died in 2004 at the age of 72, is another case in point. He wrote the booklet, ‘Miracle on Palmyra’s Main Street,’ the year before he died. “Gordon is probably the only person on the planet who could have written with authenticity this booklet with the subtitle, ‘An ‘Old-Time’ Printer’s Perspective on Printing the Original Copies of the Book of Mormon.’ “The Book of Mormon has been criticized and praised for nearly 200 years. Now it is recognized and used by many non-LDS scholars and religious leaders. Many Jews have come to know the true Messiah by reading the Book of Mormon.
My good Jewish friend, Rob Kay, was fifteen years old when he picked up the Book of Mormon and immediately recognized it as a Hebrew document. He gave me permission to share his conversion story. My wife and I have Rob’s insightful Three Volume set in our home–showing the Hebraisms. I have read it five times.
It is particularly fascinating for me, because as he sections off the book many of them begin with one of the 1,800 Adamic phrases that I have found in our scriptures.
First Printing of the Book of Mormon
What Gordon Wright has done is shown in its first printing of the Book of Mormon we have several documented miracles. It would have been impossible for it to be printed as it was without “Divine assistance.” Thus, this second witness for Christ—a companion to the Bible—was brought forth “translated by the gift and power of God.” Because of its great importance, it was published in preparation for the coming of our Lord.
“For example, Joseph specified both the kind of type and the kind of paper for the Book of Mormon. However, the printer had neither or access to the same, but they were provided miraculously. The massive amount of ink for the printing of the 5,000 copies was also miraculously provided. Brother Weight, who had the expertise to say so, estimates a minimum of 22 ½ months to print and bind these 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon.
The Grandin Press had other printing responsibilities in addition such as a newspaper and other customer jobs. “Yet, the 5,000 printed copies were ready in time for the Lord to organize His Church on the 6th of April 1830.” They were printed and bound in a little over 6 months—a clearly documented miracle. It is like what George Washington said when we should not have won the Revolutionary War, but we did. He summarized it in two words, “Divine intervention.” This is like Jesus turning water into wine at Cana of Galilee (John 2).
The Divine Ratio
I was pondering these miracles in the early morning hours of the Vernal Equinox (20 March 2017, 4:28 AM Mountain Standard Time; I remember looking at the clock because of the significance of the impression), and had the feeling that the dimensions of this first printing were in the Divine ratio* or Golden Mean = 1.618… Having a replica, I got up and measured it. It was exact! Another fingerprint of the Lord. I have found no other book in our library with these exact dimensions, and we have well over two thousand books.
Copies of Gordon’s booklet on the Book of Mormon miracle can be obtained from his wife, Dorotha Wright: 4649 S. 345 E. Murray, UT 84107, (801) 262-9290 or palmyramainstreet@gmail.com.
“The Divine or golden ratio is found all over in nature. You find it with the five-pointed star, as an example. The ratio of the last two numbers in the Fibonacci series converges quickly to the Divine ratio. It is equal to (1 + square root of 5)/2–typically denoted by the Greek letter phi. In the case of the original copies of the Book of Mormon, the height is 7.5 inches, and the width is 4.635 inches, which equals 1.618…
In design, the golden or Divine ratio boils down to aesthetics, creating and appreciating a “sense of beauty through harmony and proportion.” And the Divine ratio is the only number equal to 1 plus its reciprocal: phi = 1 + 1/phi. So for the original copies of the Book of Mormon: 4.636/7.5 + 1 = phi.
The Typesetter for the Original Book of Mormon
Mr. John Henry Gilbert was working for Grandin Press and did the typesetting for the original Book of Mormon. David R. Hocking has become the “High-Tech” John Gilbert in providing these seven books in his series of annotated editions.
The popularity of David Hocking’s work is significantly increasing, and he now has sold over fifty thousand copies of his books. He has given several talks at the Book of Mormon Evidence Conferences and will be speaking at the next “Land of Promise” conference in Nephi, Utah on the 20th of October 2023 in the Nephi High School gymnasium.
Book of Mormon and Ancient Records
David Hocking has shown Joseph Smith to be a revealer of ancient records. Not only is the Book of Mormon the keystone of our religion, but David has shown that some content in the Book of Mormon came from ancient records that he could not have had access to when he was translating from the Golden Plates in 1829. As an example, Joseph revealing the Book of Moses is a second keystone of him being a Prophet of God and a revealer of ancient texts. In other words, Joseph’s revealing of these ancient records is a direct validation of his being a Prophet of God.
In addition, the infinite perfect atonement podcast gives further validation.
David W. Allan
Photo: David Hocking Personal Photo