Alma 10:2. Handwriting on the Wall
The story of the prophet Aminadi interpreting the writing made by the finger of God on the wall of the temple (Alma 10:2) was taken by Joseph Smith from the biblical story of Daniel in Daniel 5:5.
Since Joseph Smith was acquainted with the Bible, surely he must have known that the stories were very similar. He undoubtedly knew that the story of Daniel’s interpretation of the handwriting occurred after the destruction of Jerusalem and that Lehi, who left Jerusalem before its destruction, could not possibly have had a copy of the book of Daniel. So why would he perpetrate so obvious a “fraud”? Or is God able to write on more than one wall at different times? After all, we are told in Exodus 31:18 that the tables of the law had been written by the finger of God! Shouldn’t we assume that what worked for the Lord once might work again? For example, he made it possible for the Israelites to cross on dry ground at the Red Sea in the time of Moses (Exodus 14:16-29) and at the Jordan river in the time of Joshua (Joshua 3:7-17). He later divided the waters of the Jordan again for both Elijah (2 Kings 2:7-9) and Elisha (2 Kings 2:12-14).