The Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyrs for and of the Book of Mormon in all senses of the word. Today the term "martyr" has come to primarily mean one who willingly suffers or dies for their religious beliefs. But, the word's origin is Greek and literally meant a “witness.” “There is nothing accidental just as there is nothing devised in a martyr’s end,” wrote the Latter-day Saint scholar Hugh Nibley. “He assumes the obligation to be a witness, knowing full well what that dangerous duty entails. The Prophet who was put to death [in 1844] was a true martyr and a true prophet in the strictest and holiest sense of the word.”