Translation of Beings
- Kent P. Jackson, "Joseph Smith's Commentary on the Bible", Genesis 5:24; Moses 7:69, p. 19
Translation a power of the priesthood.
Translated beings live in terrestrial order as ministering angels and have not yet entered into a fulness.
- Enoch 71:1-5(Lumpkin) 70:1-7(Laurence)
Enoch "translated" to heaven.
The word seem to refer to the individual being physically relocated.
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. "
Notes
Translation is typically compared with Transfiguration as being a more permanent state. As Joseph Smith describes, however, the state of translated beings is not a permanent one.
If The Book of Enoch is to be taken as a guide in this matter (and, of course, there may be linguistic translation issues regarding the terminology), the term "translation" denotes a physical relocation. This description of things is immediately appealing as it seems to fit in with what is known about the subject from more reliable sources.
This is, indeed, in keeping with the definition of the word translation, and is in fact a common usage in the field of physics.
Hebrews 11:5 seems to take this meaning as correct, saying that Enoch "was not found, because God had translated him".