"Windows"

Another anachronistic word in the Jaredite story, easily overlooked, is at Ether 2:22-23, where the brother of Jared is talking with God and reporting to him that he has constructed the vessels for the trans-oceanic voyage to America. The brother of Jared is truly smarter than God himself, since he has noticed something that God had overlooked, and God must ask for advice:

22 And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?

23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces.... [emphasis added]

What kind of windows would be "dashed in pieces" by ocean waves? A porthole, opened for light, cannot be dashed in pieces. Only a window covered with some translucent material such as glass would run this danger. Nowadays we think it only natural that windows for admitting light are provided with glass. And in Joseph Smith's day, window glass was very common. But at the time Jared's people were supposed to have lived, translucent windows were still several thousand years in the future. Windows were simply holes cut into the walls. There was no type of window in ancient times that could be "dashed in pieces" by ocean waves! The Book of Mormon is obviously talking about 19th century windows.

Of course, windows are mentioned frequently in the Bible. But they are not windows that could be "dashed in pieces." They are mere openings. The only Bible passage which might be thought to indicate that ancient windows had some translucent material is Isaiah 54:12, God's promise to Israel captive in Babylon, which in the KJV is translated: "I will make thy windows of agates." No other modern translation has "windows" here. The Revised Standard Version translates it "pinnacles," the Jerusalem Bible has "battlements," Today's English Version has "towers," and the Contemporary English Version has "fortresses," with a footnote that the Hebrew text is "difficult" here. In other words, modern scholars do not agree with the translators of the King James Version. Difficult or not, the Book of Mormon reproduces the KJV translation, at 3 Nephi 22:12.