The Twelve and the Seventy

Two traveling bodies, defined by what distinguishes them from every other office: they are the ones who go. The revelations that constitute them are unusually specific about jurisdiction — where their authority reaches, whose direction they act under, and where their decisions cannot be appealed.

What this page maps. Modern revelation, reported as the text gives it. This page is about the modern quorums the Doctrine and Covenants constitutes; the twelve chosen in the Book of Mormon are a separate matter with their own page (The Twelve Disciples), and the wiki makes no identification between the two groups. Men named in the verse text are given as the text gives them. Dates, places, and occasions are not in this wiki’s source text and are not stated.

Account

Constituted, and defined by their calling

“The twelve traveling councilors are called to be the Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world—thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling” (D&C 107:23); “The Seventy are also called to preach the gospel, and to be especial witnesses unto the Gentiles and in all the world—thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling” (D&C 107:25). The two definitions are built on the same frame, with one word changed — “special” for the Twelve, “especial” for the Seventy — and one scope narrowed: the Seventy’s witness is “unto the Gentiles and in all the world” (D&C 107:25).

Their jurisdiction is stated in a chain. “The Twelve are a Traveling Presiding High Council, to officiate in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Presidency of the Church, agreeable to the institution of heaven; to build up the church, and regulate all the affairs of the same in all nations, first unto the Gentiles and secondly unto the Jews” (D&C 107:33); “The Seventy are to act in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Twelve or the traveling high council, in building up the church and regulating all the affairs of the same in all nations, first unto the Gentiles and then to the Jews—” (D&C 107:34); “The Twelve being sent out, holding the keys, to open the door by the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and first unto the Gentiles and then unto the Jews” (D&C 107:35).

The obligation to travel is what marks them off: “And these seventy are to be traveling ministers, unto the Gentiles first and also unto the Jews” (D&C 107:97); “Whereas other officers of the church, who belong not unto the Twelve, neither to the Seventy, are not under the responsibility to travel among all nations, but are to travel as their circumstances shall allow, notwithstanding they may hold as high and responsible offices in the church” (D&C 107:98).

The Seventy’s own presidency is described as expandable: “it is according to the vision showing the order of the Seventy, that they should have seven presidents to preside over them, chosen out of the number of the seventy” (D&C 107:93); “And the seventh president of these presidents is to preside over the six” (D&C 107:94); “And these seven presidents are to choose other seventy besides the first seventy to whom they belong, and are to preside over them” (D&C 107:95); “And also other seventy, until seven times seventy, if the labor in the vineyard of necessity requires it” (D&C 107:96).

Two further duties are assigned to the Twelve directly: “It is the duty of the traveling high council to call upon the Seventy, when they need assistance, to fill the several calls for preaching and administering the gospel, instead of any others” (D&C 107:38); “It is the duty of the Twelve, in all large branches of the church, to ordain evangelical ministers, as they shall be designated unto them by revelation—” (D&C 107:39); and “It is the duty of the Twelve, also, to ordain and set in order all the other officers of the church” (D&C 107:58). Their decisions are the ones from which no appeal lies (D&C 102:31, see The Councils of the Church).

The charge to the one who holds the keys among them

A revelation addressed to “my servant Thomas” (D&C 112:1) states the arrangement inside the quorum: “Verily I say unto you, my servant Thomas, thou art the man whom I have chosen to hold the keys of my kingdom, as pertaining to the Twelve, abroad among all nations—” (D&C 112:16); “That thou mayest be my servant to unlock the door of the kingdom in all places where my servant Joseph, and my servant Sidney, and my servant Hyrum, cannot come” (D&C 112:17); “For on them have I laid the burden of all the churches for a little season” (D&C 112:18). The delegation runs one step further: “whosoever ye shall send in my name, by the voice of your brethren, the Twelve, duly recommended and authorized by you, shall have power to open the door of my kingdom unto any nation whithersoever ye shall send them—” (D&C 112:21).

The charge to the quorum is not flattering. “And pray for thy brethren of the Twelve. Admonish them sharply for my name’s sake, and let them be admonished for all their sins, and be ye faithful before me unto my name” (D&C 112:12); “And after their temptations, and much tribulation, behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them” (D&C 112:13); “Exalt not yourselves; rebel not against my servant Joseph” (D&C 112:15); “Cleanse your hearts and your garments, lest the blood of this generation be required at your hands” (D&C 112:33). The address itself is even-handed about the man it addresses: “Verily I say unto you, there have been some few things in thine heart and with thee with which I, the Lord, was not well pleased” (D&C 112:2), followed immediately by “therefore, all thy sins are forgiven thee” (D&C 112:3).

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () The charge to the whole quorum is assembled out of Gospel commands: - D&C 112:14: “Now, I say unto you, and what I say unto you, I say unto all the Twelve: Arise and gird up your loins, take up your cross, follow me, and feed my sheep.” - John 21:16: “He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

Divergences reported: in the Gospel the command is the answer to a question put three times to one man; in the revelation it is the last item in a chain of four imperatives addressed to twelve. “feed my sheep” stands at three distinct frozen verses in the corpus: these two and John 21:17. The chain’s other elements stand elsewhere in the corpus too — “take up your cross” at three frozen verses, including 3 Nephi 12:30 and D&C 23:6 — disclosed, not paired.

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () The reason given for sending them: - D&C 112:23: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.” - Isaiah 60:2: “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.”

Divergences reported: the prophetic verse is future (“shall cover”), the revelation present (“covereth”); the revelation inserts “the minds of” (D&C 112:23) into the prophet’s “gross darkness the people” (Isaiah 60:2); and the prophetic verse’s second half — the Lord arising, the glory seen — has no counterpart in the revelation, which turns instead to corruption and to a coming day of wrath (D&C 112:24). “gross darkness” stands at three distinct frozen verses in the corpus: these two and Jeremiah 13:16.

Where the judgment begins is stated in the same passage, and it is not abroad: “And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord” (D&C 112:25); “First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord” (D&C 112:26).

Filling the places

Two short revelations deal with the quorum’s membership as vacancies arise. One instructs a named man to settle his affairs “that he may perform a mission unto me next spring, in company with others, even twelve including himself, to testify of my name and bear glad tidings unto all the world” (D&C 114:1), and states a general rule in its second and last verse: “For verily thus saith the Lord, that inasmuch as there are those among you who deny my name, others shall be planted in their stead and receive their bishopric” (D&C 114:2).

The other fills the places by name: “Verily, thus saith the Lord: Let a conference be held immediately; let the Twelve be organized; and let men be appointed to supply the place of those who are fallen” (D&C 118:1); “Let my servant John Taylor, and also my servant John E. Page, and also my servant Wilford Woodruff, and also my servant Willard Richards, be appointed to fill the places of those who have fallen, and be officially notified of their appointment” (D&C 118:6). The same revelation sets a departure and a place: “And next spring let them depart to go over the great waters, and there promulgate my gospel, the fulness thereof, and bear record of my name” (D&C 118:4); “Let them take leave of my saints in the city of Far West, on the twenty-sixth day of April next, on the building-spot of my house, saith the Lord” (D&C 118:5). The date in that verse is part of the verse text and is reported as such; it is not a headnote date, and the wiki adds no year, since the verse supplies none.

Who is fallen, and why, is not stated in these verses beyond the two clauses quoted — “those who are fallen” (D&C 118:1) and “those among you who deny my name” (D&C 114:2). The wiki does not supply names or reasons the text withholds.

Significance

The most exact thing in this material is jurisdiction. Every body named is given a direction it acts under, a field it acts in, and a relation to the others: the Seventy under the Twelve, the Twelve under the Presidency, all of them “first unto the Gentiles and secondly unto the Jews” (D&C 107:33). Even the promise of expansion is bounded by a number and a condition — “until seven times seventy, if the labor in the vineyard of necessity requires it” (D&C 107:96).

Beside that, the personal charge in section 112 reads very differently: sharp admonition, an acknowledged fault, forgiveness, and a warning that the judgment starts at home (D&C 112:25). The wiki reports both registers and does not smooth the difference between the constitution of an office and the address to the men holding it.

Key references

D&C 102:30–32 — the Twelve’s decisions, and the absence of appeal from them
D&C 107:23–26, 107:33–39 — the two quorums defined; jurisdiction and direction
D&C 107:93–98 — the seven presidents; seventy times seven; who must travel and who need not
D&C 112:12–26, 112:33 — keys among the Twelve; admonition; where judgment begins
D&C 114:1–2, D&C 118:1–6 — vacancies, and the four named to fill them

Offices of the Church · The Councils of the Church · The Charge to the Ministry · The Twelve Disciples · Index · Connections

Sources

Doctrine and Covenants sections 102, 107, 112, 114, and 118 (verse text only; headnotes excluded). Cross-references quoted from John 21 and Isaiah 60; 3 Nephi 12, D&C 23, and Jeremiah 13 are cited, not quoted, inside disclosures.

Every quote is verbatim from the frozen source text, cited to its exact reference and checked character-for-character; no quote crosses a verse boundary. Two connection records are registered on this page, both [textual] and both asserted_by: wiki. No identification is made between the modern quorum this page describes and the twelve chosen in the Book of Mormon; the date at D&C 118:5 is quoted from the verse text and is not supplemented from any excluded apparatus. Phrase distributions are counts of distinct frozen verses in the corpus, derived by search at the time of writing.