Joseph Smith was a poorly educated man. Most historians agree that he had completed the third grade - although this claim is made without the benefit of supporting school records.
Joseph almost lost a leg due to infection when he was an eight year boy. He was forced to stay indoors and hobble around on a crutch for at least two years walked thereafter with a noticeable limp.
Joseph had no vocational training such as carpentry, black smithing, gun smithing, harness mending or saddle making.
Joseph came from a large family - his parents, Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, had 11 children. Joseph's family was impoverished - Smith Sr. was a failure at every endeavor he tried and could not hold a steady job.
In other words, Joseph was an uneducated person who was unable to perform manual labor, could not work as a tradesman, and could not live on an inheritance.
L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, once said that he founded his cult because it was the quickest and easiest way he could think of to make a lot of money. In her famous biography of Joseph Smith, the noted historian Fawn Brodie convincingly argued the same applied to Joseph. He founded Mormonism because he couldn't think of a better way to make money.
When Moroni visited Joseph Smith in 1823 he told him that “God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.”
A true prophecy indeed.
In other words, Joseph was an uneducated person who was unable to perform manual labor, could not work as a tradesman, and could not live on an inheritance.
If you cannot turn to the original Hebrew for possible meanings, it is sometimes helpful to try other translations. It is interesting to note that the Prophet Joseph Smith recommended such possible study procedures. He said:
“Our latitude and longitude can be determined in the original Hebrew with far greater accuracy than in the English version. There is a grand distinction between the actual meaning of the prophets and the present translation.” (See Documentary History of the Church, vol, 5, pp. 339–45.)
With reference to something of value noted in another translation of a part of the Bible, he once said:
“I have an old edition of the New Testament in the Latin, Hebrew, German and Greek languages. I have been reading he German and find it to be the most nearly correct translation, and to correspond nearest to the revelations which God has given to me for the last fourteen years.” (Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 614.)
From ---> http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=8003438d9b76b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
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The influence of German and German people seems to have matured in the Prophet Joseph Smith before his death in 1844. He apparently had gained some understanding of the German language, for in his last public speech, given at the funeral of a man named King Follett, he remarked, "I have been reading the German, and find [the Lutheran Bible] to be the most (nearly) correct translation, and to correspond nearest to the revelations which God has given to me for the last fourteen years."12 In the same sermon, the acknowledged climax of the Prophet's career, he translated into English while reading from the German Bible and added, "I know the text is true. I call upon all you Germans who know that it is true to say, Eye [sic]. (Loud shouts of 'Aye.')"13 A few days later Joseph Smith made further reference to this subject: "The Germans are an exalted people. The old German translators are the most nearly correct—most honest of any of the translators."14
"Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany . . . the Standard of Truth has been erected," wrote Joseph Smith in his famous 1842 Wentworth Letter, adding, "no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing."15 The church founder also stated that "out of the different German tribes will yet some day a great nation grow and in these countries many would yet hear and accept the Gospel."16 When the Prophet made this statement, Germany was divided into many small states, and unification would not occur until 1871, at the beginning of the Second Reich. Joseph Smith is also quoted as saying that thousands and tens of thousands of the House of Israel are among the German-speaking people.17
(From ---> http://ash.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=11&num=1&id=295&cat_id=311 )