The Book of Mormon makes the claim that at least some of the ancestors of Native American Indians originally came from Jerusalem.

If Native Americans originally came from ancient Israel, it would make sense that there would be some evidence of similarities.

The book View of the Hebrews written by Ethan Smith in 1823 presents that argument. This book was published seven years before the Book of Mormon and in roughly the same region of the United States. Ethan Smith argued that:

• Native Americans were descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
• These tribes were taken captive by the Assyrians
• They later migrated across the Bering land bridge into the Americas
• Their descendants became the Indigenous peoples of North and South America
• Converting them to Christianity would restore them to their lost religious heritage

Ethan Smith attempted to support this idea by showing what he believed were Jewish customs among Native Americans, including:

• purification rituals
• circumcision
• Hebrew sounding words
• references to Jehovah

Evidence suggests that Joseph Smith had access to this book, and later in his life he even cited it as supporting evidence that some scholars believed Native Americans had Israelite origins. By the time Joseph referenced it, the Book of Mormon had already been published for years. Joseph used it as outside support for a concept the Book of Mormon had already introduced.

The Book of Mormon as Plagiarism of View of the Hebrews

Roughly a century later, after the Solomon Spaulding theory had been debunked and critics were looking for another way to explain the existence of the Book of Mormon apart from divine revelation by the gift and power of God, critics of the Church began arguing that the loose idea of Native Americans having Hebrew origins was the primary source Joseph Smith used to fabricate the Book of Mormon.

In 1902 the claim was first made that Joseph borrowed ideas from Ethan Smith. Later in 1945, Fawn Brodie in her book No Man Knows My History promoted the theory that View of the Hebrews served as the conceptual source for Joseph Smith’s book.

Modern critics repeat the same list of supposed parallels. The CES Letter and other anti Mormon arguments often present those parallels as if they prove the Book of Mormon originated from Ethan Smith’s book.

Even modern AI searches often repeat the same claim. When I asked Grok about the Book of Mormon it immediately referenced View of the Hebrews as a source.

The book itself is not hidden or suppressed. BYU has published View of the Hebrews and made it freely available online so anyone can read it and compare the two books directly.

This makes it easy for anyone to find out for themselves.

Did the Book of Mormon actually derive from View of the Hebrews?

Or is it a completely independent book that has a few broad similarities.

To answer that question we can start by comparing the books themselves.

Comparing the Books in General

Word Count

View of the Hebrews: ~90,000 words
Book of Mormon: ~270,000 words

The Book of Mormon is roughly three times longer than View of the Hebrews. The majority of the Book of Mormon deals with material that never appears in Ethan Smith’s book.

Writing Style and Type of Book

What Is Plagiarism?

The books are very different, but the question critics raise is whether Joseph Smith borrowed the ideas.

A common definition of plagiarism is:

Presenting another person’s words, ideas, or work as one’s own without proper acknowledgment or citation.

Two common forms of plagiarism include:

Direct plagiarism
Copying text word for word without citation.

Mosaic plagiarism
Taking phrases, sentence structures, or ideas from a source and weaving them into a work without attribution, even if the wording is changed.

When scholars evaluate whether one text was derived from another, they usually look for:

• distinctive shared wording
• unique ideas that rarely appear elsewhere
• similar narrative structure
• a dense pattern of parallels in the same sections
• clear evidence that the author used the earlier source

I had my AI assistant comb through View of the Hebrews to find any examples of possible mosaic plagiarism. It found only two very loose possibilities.

View of the Hebrews	Book of Mormon
Refers to Native Americans as a “remnant of the tribes of Israel.”	Frequently refers to a “remnant of the house of Israel.”
Uses the phrase “bands of robbers” when describing violent groups.	Refers to organized criminal groups such as the Gadianton robbers as “bands of robbers.”

These examples are extremely general and would not qualify as plagiarism under normal literary standards.

First, the phrases themselves are short and common. A phrase like “remnant of Israel” comes directly from biblical language used throughout the Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. Both View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon draw heavily from the language and worldview of the Bible, so the appearance of the same biblical phrase in both books is expected.

Second, the phrase “bands of robbers” is a very common English expression used to describe groups of criminals. It does not represent a unique or distinctive wording that would indicate borrowing. The contexts in which the phrase appears in the two books are also completely different. In View of the Hebrews it is used as a general historical description, while in the Book of Mormon it refers to a specific narrative group known as the Gadianton robbers.

For scholars to identify plagiarism, they usually look for extended wording, distinctive phrases, or repeated sentence structures that appear in both works. Two or three shared words that already exist in biblical or common English language do not meet that standard.

General themes that already circulated widely within a culture usually carry very little weight when scholars evaluate claims of plagiarism.

When the actual texts of View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon are compared, there is no distinctive shared wording, repeated phrases, or matching names and narratives. There is no evidence of direct copying or mosaic borrowing. If any influence existed, it would have to be limited to broad cultural themes.

Comparing the Main Themes

To explore the comparison further I asked my AI assistant to identify the major themes of both books.

Do the Main Themes Indicate Plagiarism?

The themes by themselves do not demonstrate plagiarism.

Historical and literary analysis requires stronger evidence such as shared wording, unique concepts, similar narrative structure, or clear evidence of direct borrowing.

The themes listed above were common topics in early nineteenth century religious discussion. Ideas about the scattering of Israel, the restoration of Israel, and missionary work among Native Americans appeared in sermons, books, and religious debates across New England.

Shared cultural ideas are usually treated by historians as part of a broader intellectual environment rather than proof that one specific book served as the source for another.

Examining the Historical Record

No Evidence Joseph Smith Saw the Book Before the Book of Mormon

Critics attempt to connect Joseph Smith to Ethan Smith through Oliver Cowdery.

Oliver’s family attended a congregation where Ethan Smith once served as pastor. Critics assume that Oliver therefore knew Ethan Smith’s theories and later shared them with Joseph while acting as the primary scribe for the Book of Mormon.

The timeline creates problems for this theory.

Joseph Smith had already spent years with the plates and had begun translating portions of the record before he met Oliver Cowdery in Harmony, Pennsylvania in the spring of 1829.

Joseph first reported receiving information about the record from Moroni in September of 1823, before the first, very limited edition of View of the Hebrews was printed.

Ethan Smith lived for years after the Book of Mormon was published. He never accused Joseph Smith of borrowing from his book. Contemporary critics who had access to both books also never made that connection.

The plagiarism theory appears decades later, and only took off more than a century later.

Parallels Between the Books

While there are a few broad similarities between the books, many of the proposed parallels become weaker when actually examined.

Scholar John Welch examined the comparison and found that the supposed parallels are superficial or describe very different ideas which provide further evidence that Joseph was not at all influenced by View of the Hebrews.

1. Lost Ten Tribes vs Lehi’s Family

View of the Hebrews argues that Native Americans descended from the Ten Lost Tribes exiled by Assyria in 722 BC.

The Book of Mormon describes a small family leaving Jerusalem around 600 BC from the tribe of Joseph. These are not Lost Tribes but came straight from Jerusalem with a different starting point of the migration.

2. Migration Theory vs Revealed Journey

Ethan Smith suggested migration across Asia and the Bering region.

The Book of Mormon describes ocean voyages directed by God. It includes a detailed account of ship building and the voyage by sea.

3. Native American Customs

View of the Hebrews attempts to prove Hebrew customs survived among Native Americans.

The Book of Mormon never makes that argument. It has no discussion whatsoever of modern Native Americans.

4. Civilized vs Uncivilized Groups

Ethan Smith refers to mound builders and later tribes.

The Book of Mormon describes Nephites, Lamanites, and other groups within a detailed narrative without ever identifying the actual region or people in which they would become.

5. Sacred Interpreters

View of the Hebrews references the biblical Urim and Thummim as the sacred instrument used by ancient Israelite priests for receiving divine guidance.

The Book of Mormon, however, describes interpreters discovered with the plates themselves. The text never uses the term Urim and Thummim. That label was applied later by early Latter-day Saints as a biblical comparison for the seer stones Joseph Smith used in the translation process, which differs from the priestly device described by Ethan Smith.

6. Wars and Destruction

Both books mention wars destroying societies. Wars destroying civilizations appear as one of the most common themes throughout history and literature.

7. Pride and Moral Decline

Both works warn about pride. That theme appears frequently in the Bible and Christian preaching.

8. Restoration of Israel

Both books mention Israel’s restoration. This belief was widely discussed in Protestant religious circles during the early 1800s.

9. Ancient Records

Ethan Smith speculated that ancient peoples may have kept records.

The Book of Mormon claims to be the record itself.

10. Name Similarities

Some critics compare names like Ethan and Ether. The similarity ends with the spelling.

Welch’s analysis shows that many of the proposed parallels come from shared biblical ideas or broad cultural beliefs rather than detailed literary borrowing.

Ethan Smith’s Evidence of Hebraic Origins of the Native Americans

If Ethan Smiths theory is accurate, this is remarkable evidence that the Native American people do indeed include a connection with ancient Hebrews, just like the Book of Mormon claims. This is evidence of the Book of Mormon.

Ethan Smith also tried to support his theory by pointing to words and names he believed sounded similar to Hebrew. He relied on reports from missionaries and earlier writers who claimed some Native tribes used chants that sounded like “hallelujah” or words resembling “Yo-hewah” when referring to the Great Spirit. Ethan Smith believed these sounds preserved fragments of ancient Hebrew language among Native Americans.

Many of these ideas came from earlier writers like James Adair and Elias Boudinot. They compared sounds in Native languages to Hebrew without formal linguistic study.

Joseph Smith never used these arguments in the Book of Mormon. If he had been relying on Ethan Smith’s book, if he were trying to provide evidence to convince people that the Book of Mormon was a record of Native Americans,  it would make sense that he would repeat what Ethan Smith considered some of his strongest evidence had he known it.

Surface Level Similarities

There are a few surface level similarities between the two books. That should not be surprising. Both authors lived in a culture that discussed Israel, the Bible, and the origins of Native Americans.

But most of the Book of Mormon has nothing to do with Ethan Smith’s theory. Large sections of the book focus on prophetic teachings, detailed narratives, the ministry of Jesus Christ among the Nephites, and doctrinal sermons that never appear in View of the Hebrews.

The climax or central point of the Book of Mormon is Jesus’s visit to the Americas. View of the Hebrews does not mention Jesus visiting Native Americans at all.

The evidence suggests it is far more likely that Joseph Smith never saw or knew anything about View of the Hebrews at the time he translated the gold plates. Even if he had borrowed a few of the broad and mostly unrelated ideas found in Ethan Smith’s book, that still does not explain where the rest of the Book of Mormon came from.

Conclusion

Ethan Smith proposed that Native Americans had connections to ancient Israel. That idea circulated in religious discussions in the early 1800s. These

The Book of Mormon presents a detailed record describing migrations from Jerusalem, centuries of history, prophetic teachings, and the appearance of Jesus Christ to the people in the Americas.

The two books address very different purposes and tell very different stories.

The most reasonable conclusion is that Ethan Smith recognized that some Native American traditions and biblical ideas intersected in interesting ways. The Book of Mormon presents a much larger and more detailed narrative with the purpose to bring souls to Jesus Christ.

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