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1 Nephi
This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume examines the first two books of Nephi, with articles on focusing on the experiences and writings of the first two Book of Mormon prophets. Contents “Nephi’s Outline” Noel B. Reynolds “Lehi’s Personal Record: Quest for a Missing Source” S. Kent Brown “1 and 2 Nephi: An Inspiring Whole” Frederick W. Axelgard “The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon” Noel B. Reynolds “The Throne-Theophany and Prophetic Commission in 1 Nephi: A Form-Critical Analysis” Blake T. Ostler “The Psalm of Nephi: A Lyric Reading” Steven P. Sondrup “The Political Dimension in Nephi’s Small Plates” Noel B. Reynolds
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles that look at literary aspects of the Book of Mormon, including a lyric reading of Nephi’s psalm, the exodus pattern and Moses typology in the book, the literary context that affected its acceptance in England in 1837, a comparison of the Book of Mormon with the Narrative of Zosimus, and even an analysis of the book’s purported verbosity. Contents “The Book of Mormon in the English Literary Context of 1837” Gordon K. Thomas “The Psalm of Nephi: A Lyric Reading” Steven P. Sondrup “The Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon” S. Kent Brown “The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon” Noel B. Reynolds “The Throne-Theophany and Prophetic Commission in 1 Nephi: A Form-Critical Analysis” Blake T. Ostler “The Treaty/Covenant Pattern in King Benjamin’s Address (Mosiah 1–6)” Stephen D. Ricks “The Narrative of Zosimus and the Book of Mormon” John W. Welch “More Than Meets the Eye: Concentration of the Book of Mormon” Steven C. Walker “Taste and Feast: Images of Eating and Drinking in the Book of Mormon” Richard Dilworth Rust “The ‘Perfect Pattern’: The Book of Mormon as a Model for the Writing of Sacred History” Eric C. Olson
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Nephi’s vision (1 Nephi 13) shows how parts of the Bible have been removed and that “many do stumble” because of it.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Come, Follow Me
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Come, Follow Me
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Come, Follow Me
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Come, Follow Me
Nephi and his brothers referred to Jerusalem as “that great city” (1 Nephi 2:13). Their opposing views about it became a point of contention that tore Lehi’s family in two, and their memories of it influenced the cultural perspective of their descendants in the New World for dozens of generations. The people known as Lamanites longed after it as a lost paradise and named one of their lands of settlement in its honor (Alma 21:1). Among the Nephites it exemplified the dire consequences of unbelief (Helaman 8:20). But what was the Jerusalem of Lehi’s day really like?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
FARMS’s publication earlier this year of Glimpses of Lehi’s Jerusalem was a significant milestone in Book of Mormon studies. The prodigious effort marshaled the research talents of 19 BYU scholars in a multidisciplinary reconstruction of Lehi’s Old World environment. Those who acquaint themselves with this groundbreaking research will read 1 Nephi with new eyes—with a greater awareness of the sociocultural context and lifeways of Lehi’s world.
The pivotal point in history was the coming of Christ. No greater prophecies exist that looked forward to Christ than the Book of Mormon; they are unexcelled for their detail and clarity. 1 Nephi 15 declares the restoration of the Jews. Lamanites have been victims of their conqueror’s injustice, but their hour of bondage is passing (1 Nephi 15, 2 Nephi 30). Miracles performed among the Nephites can be arranged into three categories: healing the sick and raising the dead, deliverance of God’s servants, and the punishment of the wicked.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
An extract from the Book of Mormon concerning the dispersion and gathering of Israel (1 Nephi 22).
Finds that ancient scribes, both non-biblical and biblical, took many liberties in their translations. Suggests that up to 30 percent of the original text of the Old Testament may have been deleted as the angel told Nephi would occur (1 Nephi 13:23).
A Masters of Arts thesis that presents the process of producing the paintings of “Coriantumr resting upon his sword before slaying Shiz” (Ether 15:30), “An angel of the Lord appearing before Laman and Lemuel” (1 Nephi 3:28), “The Vision of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah” (Mosiah 27:11), and “Christ calling Nephi from among the multitude” (3 Nephi 11:18).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Utilizing techniques adapted from literary criticism, this paper investigates the narrative structure of the Book of Mormon, particularly the relationship between Nephi’s first-person account and Mormon’s third-person abridgment. A comparison of the order and relative prominence of material from 1 Nephi 12 with the content of Mormon’s historical record reveals that Mormon may have intentionally patterned the structure of his narrative after Nephi’s prophetic vision—a conclusion hinted at by Mormon himself in his editorial comments. With this understanding, readers of the Book of Mormon can see how Mormon’s sometimes unusual editorial decisions are actually guided by an overarching desire to show that Nephi’s prophecies have been dramatically and literally fulfilled in the history of his people.
Abstract: Many Book of Mormon students are aware that several locations along Lehi’s Trail through the Arabian Peninsula now have surprising and impressive evidence of plausibility, including the River Laman, Valley of Lemuel, Nahom, and Bountiful. One specific named location that has received much less attention is Shazer, a brief hunting stop mentioned in only two verses. After reviewing the potential etymology of the name, Warren Aston provides new information from discoveries made during field work in late 2019 at the prime candidate for the Valley of Lemuel, discoveries that lead to new understanding about the path to Shazer. Contrary to previous assumptions about Lehi’s journey, Aston shows there was no need to backtrack through the Valley of Lemuel to begin the “south-southeast” journey toward Shazer. It appears that Nephi’s description of crossing the river from the family’s campsite and then going south-southeast toward Shazer is exactly what can be done from the most likely candidate for a campsite in the most likely candidate for the Valley of Lemuel. In light of fieldwork and further information, Aston also reviews the merits of several locations that have been proposed for Shazer and points to a fully plausible, even probable, location for Shazer. The account of Shazer, like Nahom, the River of Laman/Valley of Lemuel, and Bountiful, may now be a fourth Arabian pillar anchoring and supporting the credibility of the Book of Mormon’s Old World account.
And it came to pass that we did take our tents
and depart into the wilderness, across the river Laman.
And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of four days,
nearly a south-southeast direction,
and we did pitch our tents again;
and we did call the name of the place Shazer.
And it came to pass that we did take our bows and our arrows,
and go forth into the wilderness to slay food for our families;
and after we had slain food for our families
we did return again to our families in the wilderness,
to the place of Shazer.
—1 Nephi 16:12-14.
Book of Mormon Topics > Places > Ancient Near East > Arabia > Shazer
Abstract: The significance of the ongoing studies into the potential location of the Old World “Bountiful,” which Nephi reminds us was “prepared of the Lord” (1 Nephi 17:5), and is documented in great detail by him, can hardly be overstated. Bountiful’s resources had to be truly substantial and unique to enable the Lehites to recover from years of land travel from Jerusalem and to build a ship capable of reaching the New World. Exploration and scientific studies of the Dhofar region of southern Oman, the only section of the Arabian coast containing the feature Nephi describes, continue to the present. Here I briefly discuss, chronologically, recent developments of special significance to Book of Mormon studies.
Abstract: Lehi’s dream symbolically teaches us about many aspects of Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation. The central message of Lehi’s dream is that all must come unto Jesus Christ in order to be saved. Each of us has the choice to pursue the path that leads to eternal joy and salvation or to choose a different way and experience undesirable outcomes. In this paper, elements of Lehi’s dream and supporting scriptures are analyzed to see how they relate to key aspects of the plan of salvation and our journey through life.
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Plan of Salvation
This article states that English, the language of translation employed by Joseph Smith, retains the original thought, personal writing styles, distinctive patterns, and unique phraseology belonging to each of the ancient writers and prophets of the Book of Mormon. Barker also discusses the language of the gold plates, which has been described as being a combination of the “learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians” (1 Nephi 12), and as “reformed Egyptian” (Mormon 9:32). Too little is known about the characters of reformed Egyptian, which had been “altered” by the Nephites (Mormon 9:32).
Terryl Givens has set Joseph Smith in the religious and cultural context of his time and raised many important issues. I should like to take a few of these issues and set them in another context, that of preexilic Jerusalem. I am not a scholar of Mormon texts and traditions. I am a biblical scholar specializing in the Old Testament, and until some Mormon scholars made contact with me a few years ago, I would never have considered using Mormon texts and traditions as part of my work. Since that initial contact I have had many good and fruitful exchanges and have begun to look at these texts very closely. I am still, however, very much an amateur in this area. What I offer can only be the reactions of an Old Testament scholar: are the revelations to Joseph Smith consistent with the situation in Jerusalem in about 600 BCE? Do the revelations to Joseph Smith fit in that context, the reign of King Zedekiah, who is mentioned at the beginning of the First Book of Nephi, which begins in the “first year of the reign of Zedekiah” (1 Nephi 1:4)? Zedekiah was installed as king in Jerusalem in 597 BCE.
Abstract: Name as Key-Word brings together a collection of essays, many of them previously published, whose consistent theme is exploring examples of onomastic wordplay or puns in Mormon scripture in general and the Book of Mormon in particular. Without a knowledge of the meaning of these names, the punning in the scriptural accounts would not be recognized by modern English readers. Exploring the (probable) meanings of these names helps to open our eyes to how the scriptural authors used punning and other forms of wordplay to convey their messages in a memorable way.
Review of Matthew L. Bowen, Name as Key-Word: Collected Essays on Onomastic Wordplay and the Temple in Mormon Scripture (Salt Lake City: The Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books, 2018). 408 pp., $24.95.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: During Christ’s mortal ministry at Jerusalem, his teachings often drew upon the writings of Isaiah, Moses, and other prophets with whom his audience was familiar. On the other hand, Christ never seems to quote Nephi, Mosiah, or other Book of Mormon prophets to the Jews and their surrounding neighbors, despite being the ultimate source for their inspired writings. It is because of this apparent confinement to Old Testament sources that intertextual parallels between the words of Christ in Matthew 23–24 and the words of Samuel the Lamanite in Helaman 13–15 jump out as intriguing. This paper explores the intertextual relationship between these chapters in Helaman and Matthew and suggests that the parallels between these texts can be attributed to a common source available to both Samuel and Christ, the writings of the prophet Zenos.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Lehi’s dream of the tree of life, recorded in 1 Nephi 8, was a familial dream as father Lehi was primarily concerned for the eternal salvation of his posterity. Susan Easton Black discusses Lehi’s role as patriarch in his family—his counsel and leadership, his love for his family, and his heartache for Laman and Lemuel who chose not to partake of the fruit—and compares his life with that of Joseph Smith Sr.
Abstract: The Book of Mormon features an esoteric exchange between the prophet Nephi and the Spirit of the Lord on an exceedingly high mountain. The following essay explores some of the ways in which an Israelite familiar with ancient religious experiences and scribal techniques might have interpreted this event. The analysis shows that Nephi’s conversation, as well as other similar accounts in the Book of Mormon, echoes an ancient temple motif. As part of this paradigm, the essay explores the manner in which the text depicts the Spirit of the Lord in a role associated with members of the divine council in both biblical and general Near Eastern conceptions. .
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The Semitic/Hebrew name Samuel (šĕmûʾēl) most likely means “his name is El” — i.e., “his name [the name that he calls upon in worship] is El” — although it was also associated with “hearing” (šāmaʿ) God (e.g., 1 Samuel 3:9–11). In the ancient Near East, the parental hope for one thus named is that the son (and “his name”) would glorify El (a name later understood in ancient Israel to refer to God); or, like the biblical prophet Samuel, the child would hear El/God (“El is heard”). The name šĕmûʾēl thus constituted an appropriate symbol of the mission of the Son of God who “glorified the name of the Father” (Ether 12:8), was perfectly obedient to the Father in all things, and was the Prophet like Moses par excellence, whom Israel was to “hear” or “hearken” in all things (Deuteronomy 18:15; 1 Nephi 22:20; 3 Nephi 20:32). Jesus may have referred to this in a wordplay on the name Samuel when he said: “I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead” (3 Nephi 23:9). Samuel the Lamanite had particularly emphasized “believ[ing] on the name” of God’s Son in the second part of his speech (see Helaman 14:2, 12–13) in advance of the latter’s coming. Samuel thus seems to use a recurrent or thematic rhetorical wordplay on his own name as an entry point to calling the Nephites to repent and return to living the doctrine of Christ, which activates the blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Mormon took great care to show that all of the signs and prophecies that Samuel gave the Nephites of Zarahemla were fulfilled at the time of Jesus’s birth, death, and resurrection as Jesus glorified the Father’s name in every particular, and found further fulfillment in some particulars during Mormon’s own life and times.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Omni greatly revered his ancestors and their personal accounts on the small plates of Nephi. A close examination of Omni’s brief autobiography (Omni 1:1–3) evidences borrowing from all four of his predecessors’ writings. Moreover, his self-description, “I of myself am a wicked man,” constitutes far more than a confession of religious dereliction. That self-assessment alludes to Nephi’s autobiographical wordplay on his name in terms “good” and “having been born of goodly parents” and his grandfather Enos’s similarly self-referential wordplay in describing his own father Jacob as a “just man.” Omni’s name most likely represents a hypocoristic form of a longer theophoric name, *ʾomnîyyāhû (from the root *ʾmn), meaning “Yahweh is [the object of] my faith” or “Yahweh is my guardian [or, nursing father],” but could also be heard or understood as a gentilic, “faithful one” or “trustworthy one.” These observations have implications for Omni’s stated defense of his people the Nephites (traditionally, the “good” or “fair ones”) against the Lamanites, those who had dwindled in “unbelief” (cf. Hebrew lōʾ-ʾēmun). In the end, Omni’s description of himself as “a wicked man” should be viewed in the context of his reverence for “goodly” and “just” ancestors and brought into balance with those sacred trusts in which he did prove faithful: preserving his people, his genealogy, and the small plates themselves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: This article examines Jacob’s statement “God hath taken away his plainness from [the Jews]” (Jacob 4:14) as one of several scriptural texts employing language that revolves around the Deuteronomic canon formulae (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32 [13:1]; cf. Revelation 22:18‒19). It further examines the textual dependency of Jacob 4:13‒14 on Nephi’s earlier writings, 1 Nephi 13 and 2 Nephi 25 in particular. The three texts in the Hebrew Bible that use the verb bʾr (Deuteronomy 1:5; 27:8; Habakkuk 2:2) — each having covenant and “law” implications — all shed light on what Nephi and Jacob may have meant when they described “plain” writing, “plain and precious things [words],” “words of plainness,” etc. Jacob’s use of Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree as a means of describing the Lord’s restoring or re-“adding” what had been “taken away,” including his use of Isaiah 11:11 (Jacob 6:2) as a hermeneutical lens for the entire allegory, further connects everything from Jacob 4:14 (“God hath taken away”) to Jacob 6:2 with the name “Joseph.” Genesis etiologizes the name Joseph in terms of divine “taking away” (ʾāsap) and “adding” (yōsēp; Genesis 30:23‒24; cf. Numbers 36:1‒5). God’s “tak[ing] away his plainness” involved both divine and human agency, but the restoration of his plainness required divine agency. For Latter-day Saints, it is significant the Lord accomplished this through a “Joseph.”.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Plainness
Abstract: Paronomasia in the Hebrew text of Exodus creates narrative links between the name Miriam (Mary) and the “waters” (mayim) of the Re[e]d Sea from which Israel is “pulled” and the nearby “bitter” waters of Marah. Nephi sees Mary (Mariam), the mother of Jesus, associated with the “love of God,” and thus to both “the tree of life” and “the fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25) vis-à-vis “the fountain of filthy water” (1 Nephi 12:16). Mormon was named after “the land of Mormon” (3 Nephi 5:12). He associates his given name with “waters,” which he describes as a “fountain of pure water” (Mosiah 18:5), and with the good “desires” and “love” that Alma the Elder’s converts manifest at the time of their baptism (Mosiah 18:8, 10‒11, 21, 28). Mormon’s accounts of the baptisms of Alma the Elder’s people, Limhi’s people, the people at Sidom (Alma 15:13), and a few repentant Nephites at Zarahemla who responded to Samuel the Lamanite’s preaching (Helaman 16:1), anticipate Jesus’s eventual reestablishment of the church originally founded by Alma, the baptism of his disciples, and their reception of the Holy Ghost — “that which they most desired” (see 3 Nephi 19:9‒14, 24). Desire serves as a key term that links all of these baptismal scenes. Mormon’s analogy of “the bitter fountain” and its “bitter water” vis-à-vis the “the good fount” and its “good water” — which helps set up his discussion of “the pure love of Christ,” which “endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47‒48) — should be understood against the backdrop of Lehi’s dream as Nephite “cultural narrative” and the history of Alma the Elder’s people at the waters of Mormon. As Mormon’s people lose the “love [which] endureth by faith unto prayer” (Moroni 8:26; see also Moroni 8:14‒17; 9:5) they become like the “bitter fountain” (Moroni 7:11) and do not endure to the end in faith, hope, and charity on the covenant path (cf. 2 Nephi 31:20; Moroni 7:40‒88; 8:24‒26). The name Mormon (“desire is enduring” or “love is enduring”), as borne by the prophet-editor of the Book of Mormon, embraces the whole cloud of these associations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: In 1 Nephi 16:13–14, Nephi mentions the name Shazer as a toponym the Lehite clan bestowed on a site in western Arabia “four days” journey south-southeast of the valley of Laman. The Lehites used this site as a base camp for a major hunting expedition. A footnote to the first mention of the name Shazer in the 1981 and 2013 Latter-day Saint editions of the Book of Mormon has virtually enshrined “twisting, intertwining” as the presumed meaning of this toponym. However, the structure of Nephi’s text in 1 Nephi 16:12–13 suggests that the name Shazer serves as the bracketing for a chiastic description of the Lehites’ hunting expedition from the site. This chiasm recommends hunting as a possible starting point for seeking a more precise etymology for Shazer, one related to food supply. Consequently, I briefly argue for Shazer as a Semitic word (possibly also a loanword from an Old Arabic dialect) and a close cognate with both Hismaic šaṣar (“young gazelle,” plural šaṣr) and Arabic šaṣara (a type of “gazelle”).
Abstract: In two related prophecies, Moroni employs an apparent wordplay on the name Joseph in terms of the Hebrew idiom (lōʾ) yôsîp … ʿôd (+ verbal component), as preserved in the phrases “they shall no more be confounded” (Ether 13:8) and “that thou mayest no more be confounded” (Moroni 10:31). That phraseology enjoyed a long currency within Nephite prophecy (e.g., 1 Nephi 14:2, 15:20), ultimately having its source in Isaiah’s prophecies regarding Jerusalem/Zion (see, for example, Isaiah 51:22; 52:1– 2; 54:2–4). Ether and Moroni’s prophecy in Ether 13 that the Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem would “no more be confounded” further affirms the gathering of Israel in general and the gathering of the seed of Joseph in particular.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The name Jacob (yaʿăqōb) means “may he [i.e., God] protect,” or “he has protected.” As a hypocoristic masculine volitive verbal form,
it is a kind of blessing upon, or prayer on behalf of the one so named that he will receive divine protection and safety (cf. Deuteronomy 33:28). Textual evidence from Nephi’s writings suggests that his brother Jacob’s protection was a primary concern of their parents, Lehi and Sariah. Lehi saw Nephi as the specific means of divine protection for Jacob, his “first born in the wilderness.” Moreover, the term “protector” is used twice in LDS scripture, in both instances by Jacob himself (2 Nephi 6:2; Jacob 1:10), this in reference to Nephi, who became the “great protector” of the Nephites in general and Jacob in particular. All of the foregoing is to be understood against the backdrop of the patriarch Jacob’s biography. Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, and Enos all expressed their redemption in terms reminiscent of their ancestor Jacob’s being “redeemed … from all evil,” a process which included Jacob “wrestling” a divine “man” and preparing him to be reconciled to his estranged brother by an atoning “embrace.” Mormon employed the biblical literary etymology of the name Jacob, in the terms “supplant,” “usurp,” or “rob” as a basis for Lamanite accusations that Nephites had usurped them or “robbed” them of their birthright. Mormon, aware of the high irony, shows that the Gadianton [Gaddianton] robbers take up the same polemic. The faithful Lehites, many of whom were descendants of two Jacobs, prayed “May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection” (3 Nephi 4:30). By and large, they enjoyed the God of Jacob’s protection until they ceased to call upon their true protector for it.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: Nephi’s preservation of the conditional “first blessing” that Lehi bestowed upon his elder sons (Laman, Lemuel, and Sam) and the sons of Ishmael, contains a dramatic wordplay on the name Ishmael in 2 Nephi 1:28–29. The name Ishmael — “May El hear [him],” “May El hearken,” or “El Has Hearkened” — derives from the Semitic (and later Hebrew) verb šāmaʿ (to “hear,” “hearken,” or “obey”). Lehi’s rhetorical wordplay juxtaposes the name Ishmael with a clustering of the verbs “obey” and “hearken,” both usually represented in Hebrew by the verb šāmaʿ. Lehi’s blessing is predicated on his sons’ and the sons of Ishmael’s “hearkening” to Nephi (“if ye will hearken”). Conversely, failure to “hearken” (“but if ye will not hearken”) would precipitate withdrawal of the “first blessing.” Accordingly, when Nephi was forced to flee from Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, Lehi’s “first blessing” was activated for Nephi and all those who “hearkened” to his spiritual leadership, including members of Ishmael’s family (2 Nephi 5:6), while it was withdrawn from Laman, Lemuel, the sons of Ishmael, and those who sympathized with them, “inasmuch as they [would] not hearken” unto Nephi (2 Nephi 5:20). Centuries later, when Ammon and his brothers convert many Lamanites to the truth, Mormon revisits Lehi’s conditional blessing and the issue of “hearkening” in terms of Ishmael and the receptivity of the Ishmaelites. Many Ishmaelite-Lamanites “hear” or “hearken” to Ammon et al., activating Lehi’s “first blessing,” while many others — including the ex-Nephite Amalekites/Amlicites — do not, thus activating (or reactivating) Lehi’s curse.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Nephi’s record on the small plates includes seven distinct scenes in which Nephi depicts the anger of his brethren against him. Each of these scenes includes language that recalls Genesis 37:5‒10, 20, the biblical scene in which Joseph’s brothers “hate him yet the more [wayyôsipû ʿôd] for his dreams and for his words” because they fear that he intends to “reign” and to “have dominion” or rule over them (Genesis 37:8). Later, they plot to kill him (Genesis 37:20). Two of these “anger” scenes culminate in Nephi’s brothers’ bowing down before him in the same way that Joseph’s brothers bowed down in obeisance before him. Nephi permutes the expression wayyôsipû ʿôd in terms of his brothers’ “continuing” and “increasing” anger, which eventually ripens into a hatred that permanently divides the family. Nephi uses language that represents other yāsap/yôsîp + verbal-complement constructions in these “anger” scenes, usage that recalls the name Joseph in such a way as to link Nephi with his ancestor. The most surprising iteration of Nephi’s permuted “Joseph” wordplay occurs in his own psalm (2 Nephi 4:16‒35).
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: The best explanation for the name “Nephi” is that it derives from the Egyptian word nfr, “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” “fair,” “beautiful.” Nephi’s autobiographical wordplay on his own name in his self-introduction (and elsewhere throughout his writings) revolves around the evident meaning of his name. This has important implications for how the derived gentilic term “Nephites” was understood over time, especially among the Nephites themselves. Nephi’s early ethno-cultural descriptions of his people describe them as “fair” and “beautiful” (vis-à-vis the Lamanites). These early descriptions subsequently become the basis for Nephite ethno-cultural self-perceptions. The Nephites’ supposition that they were the “good” or “fair ones” was all too frequently at odds with reality, especially when Nephite “chosenness” was understood as inherent or innate. In the end the “good” or “fair ones” fell (Mormon 6:17‒20), because they came to “delight in everything save that which is good” (Moroni 9:19). The Book of Mormon thus constitutes a warning against our own contemporary cultural and religious tendency toward exceptionalism. Mormon and Moroni, like Nephi their ancestor through his writings on the small plates, endeavor through their own writing and editorial work to show how the “unbelieving” descendants of the Nephites and Lamanites can again become the “good” and the “fair ones” by choosing to come unto Christ, partaking of his “goodness,” and doing the “good” stipulated by the doctrine of Christ.
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Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The most likely etymology for the name Zoram is a third person singular perfect qal or pôʿal form of the Semitic/Hebrew verb *zrm, with the meaning, “He [God] has [is] poured forth in floods.” However, the name could also have been heard and interpreted as a theophoric –rām name, of which there are many in the biblical Hebrew onomasticon (Ram, Abram, Abiram, Joram/Jehoram, Malchiram, etc., cf. Hiram [Hyrum]/Huram). So analyzed, Zoram would connote something like “the one who is high,” “the one who is exalted” or even “the person of the Exalted One [or high place].” This has important implications for the pejoration of the name Zoram and its gentilic derivative Zoramites in Alma’s and Mormon’s account of the Zoramite apostasy and the attempts made to rectify it in Alma 31–35 (cf. Alma 38–39). The Rameumptom is also described as a high “stand” or “a place for standing, high above the head” (Heb. rām; Alma 31:13) — not unlike the “great and spacious building” (which “stood as it were in the air, high above the earth”; see 1 Nephi 8:26) — which suggests a double wordplay on the name “Zoram” in terms of rām and Rameumptom in Alma 31. Moreover, Alma plays on the idea of Zoramites as those being “high” or “lifted up” when counseling his son Shiblon to avoid being like the Zoramites and replicating the mistakes of his brother Corianton (Alma 38:3-5, 11-14). Mormon, perhaps influenced by the Zoramite apostasy and the magnitude of its effects, may have incorporated further pejorative wordplay on the Zoram-derived names Cezoram and Seezoram in order to emphasize that the Nephites had become lifted up in pride like the Zoramites during the judgeships of those judges. The Zoramites and their apostasy represent a type of Latter-day Gentile pride and apostasy, which Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni took great pains to warn against.
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Mormon, as an author and editor, was concerned to show the fulfillment of earlier Nephite prophecy when such fulfillment occurred. Mormon took care to show that Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman, fulfilled their father’s prophetic and paranetic expectations regarding them as enshrined in their given names — the names of their “first parents.” It had been “said and also written” (Helaman 5:6-7) that Nephi’s and Lehi’s namesakes were “good” in 1 Nephi 1:1. Using onomastic play on the meaning of “Nephi,” Mormon demonstrates in Helaman 8:7 that it also came to be said and written of Nephi the son of Helaman that he was “good.” Moreover, Mormon shows Nephi that his brother Lehi was “not a whit behind him” in this regard (Helaman 11:19). During their lifetimes — i.e., during the time of the fulfillment of Mosiah’s forewarning regarding societal and political corruption (see Mosiah 29:27) that especially included secret combinations — Nephi and Lehi stood firm against increasingly popular organized evil.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: As John Gee noted two decades ago, Nephi is best explained as a form of the Egyptian word nfr, which by Lehi’s time was pronounced neh-fee, nay-fee, or nou-fee. Since this word means “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair,” I subsequently posited several possible examples of wordplay on the name Nephi in the Book of Mormon, including Nephi’s own autobiographical introduction (1 Nephi 1:1: “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents … having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God”). It should be further pointed out, however, that Nephi also concludes his personal writings on the small plates using the terms “good” and “goodness of God.” This terminological bracketing constitutes a literary device, used anciently, called inclusio or an envelope figure. Nephi’s literary emphasis on “good” and “goodness” not only befits his personal name, but fulfills the Lord’s commandment, “thou shalt engraven many things … which are good in my sight” (2 Nephi 5:30), a command which also plays on the name Nephi. Nephi’s autobiographical introduction and conclusion proved enormously influential on subsequent writers who modeled autobiographical and narrative biographical introductions on 1 Nephi 1:1-2 and based sermons — especially concluding sermons — on Nephi’s “good” conclusion in 2 Nephi 33. An emphasis in all these sermons is that all “good”/“goodness” ultimately has its source in God and Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The names Mary and Mormon most plausibly derive from the Egyptian word mr(i), “love, desire, [or] wish.” Mary denotes “beloved [i.e., of deity]” and is thus conceptually connected with divine love, while Mormon evidently denotes “desire/love is enduring.” The text of the Book of Mormon manifests authorial awareness of the meanings of both names, playing on them in multiple instances. Upon seeing Mary (“the mother of God,” 1 Nephi 11:18, critical text) bearing the infant Messiah in her arms in vision, Nephi, who already knew that God “loveth his children,” came to understand that the meaning of the fruit-bearing tree of life “is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore it is the most desirable above all things” (1 Nephi 11:17-25). Later, Alma the Elder and his people entered into a covenant and formed a church based on “love” and “good desires” (Mosiah 18:21, 28), a covenant directly tied to the waters of Mormon: Behold here are the waters of Mormon … and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God … if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized …?”; “they clapped their hands for joy and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts” (Mosiah 18:8-11). Alma the Younger later recalled the “song of redeeming love” that his father and others had sung at the waters of Mormon (Alma 5:3-9, 26; see Mosiah 18:30). Our editor, Mormon, who was himself named after the land of Mormon and its waters (3 Nephi 5:12), repeatedly spoke of charity as “everlasting love” or the “pure love of Christ [that] endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47-48; 8:16-17; 26). All of this has implications for Latter-day Saints or “Mormons” who, as children of the covenant, must endure to the end in Christlike “love” as Mormon and Moroni did, particularly in days of diminishing faith, faithfulness, and love (see, e.g., Mormon 3:12; contrast Moroni 9:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Nephi quotes or alludes to four distinct Old Testament passages — Genesis 22:18; Isaiah 29:14; Isaiah 49:22–23; and Isaiah 52:10 — twice each in 1 Nephi 22:6, 8–12. These four texts form the basis of his description of how the Lord would bring to pass the complete fulfillment of the promises in the Abrahamic covenant for the salvation of the human family. These texts’ shared use of the Hebrew word gôyim (“nations” [> kindreds], “Gentiles”) provides the lexical basis for Nephi’s quotation and interpretation of these texts in light of each other. Nephi uses these texts to prophesy that the Lord would act in the latter-days for the salvation of the human family. However, Nephi uses Isaiah 29:14 with its key-word yôsīp (yôsip) to assert that iterative divine action to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant — taking the form of “a marvelous work and a wonder” — would be accomplished through a “Joseph.” Onomastic wordplay involving the names Abram⁄Abraham and Joseph constitute key elements in 1 Nephi 22:8–12.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Abstract: The verbal expression “we might have enjoyed,” as used in a complaint that Nephi attributes to his brothers, “we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance” (1 Nephi 17:21), reflects a use of the Hebrew verb yrš in its progressive aspect, “to enjoy possession of.” This meaning is evident in several passages in the Hebrew Bible, and perhaps most visibly in the KJV translation of Numbers 36:8 (“And every daughter, that possesseth [Hebrew yōrešet] an inheritance [naḥălâ] in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy [yîršû] every man the inheritance [naḥălat] of his fathers”) and Joshua 1:15 (“then ye shall return unto the land of your possession [lĕʾereṣ yĕruššatkem or, unto the land of your inheritance], and enjoy it [wîrištem ʾôtāh].” Examining Laman and Lemuel’s complaint in a legal context helps us better appreciate “land[s] of … inheritance” as not just describing a family estate, but as also expressing a seminal Abrahamic Covenant concept in numerous Book of Mormon passages, including the covenant implications of the resettlement of the converted Lamanites and reconverted Zoramites as refugees in “the land of Jershon” (“place of inheritance”).
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > Joshua
Old Testament Scriptures > Judges
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
In his analysis of Mosiah 1:2–6 and 1 Nephi 1:1–4, John A. Tvedtnes notes that in many instances “Nephite writers relied on earlier records as they recorded their history.”1 He makes a convincing argument that the description of King Benjamin teaching his sons “in all the language of his fathers” (Mosiah 1:2) is modeled on Nephi’s account.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: Nephi, in composing his psalm (2 Nephi 4:15–35), incorporates a poetic idiom from Psalm 18:10 (2 Samuel 22:11) and Psalm 104:3 to describe his participation in a form of divine travel. This experience constituted a part of the vision in which he saw “the things which [his] father saw” in the latter’s dream of the tree of life (see 1 Nephi 11:1–3; 14:29–30). Nephi’s use of this idiom becomes readily apparent when the range of meaning for the Hebrew word rûaḥ is considered. Nephi’s experience helps our understanding of other scriptural scenes where similar divine travel is described.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: Nephi’s writings exhibit a distinctive focus on “good” and divine “goodness,” reflecting the meaning of Nephi’s Egyptian name (derived from nfr) meaning “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair.” Beyond the inclusio playing on his own name in terms of “good” and “goodness” (1 Nephi 1:1; 2 Nephi 33:3–4, 10, 12), he uses a similar inclusio (2 Nephi 5:30–31; 25:7–8) to frame and demarcate a smaller portion of his personal record in which he incorporated a substantial portion of the prophecies of Isaiah (2 Nephi 6–24). This smaller inclusio frames the Isaianic material as having been incorporated into Nephi’s “good” writings on the small plates with an express purpose: the present and future “good” of his and his brothers’ descendants down to the latter days.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: In the latter part (1 Nephi 13–14) of his vision of the tree of life (1 Nephi 11–14), Nephi is shown the unauthorized human diminution of scripture and the gospel by the Gentile “great and abominable church” — that plain and precious things/words, teachings, and covenants were “taken away” or otherwise “kept back” from the texts that became the Bible and how people lived out its teachings. He also saw how the Lord would act to restore those lost words, teachings, and covenants among the Gentiles “unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks” (1 Nephi 14:1). The iterative language of 1 Nephi 13 describing the “taking away” and “keeping back” of scripture bears a strong resemblance to the prohibitions of the Deuteronomic canon-formula texts (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:31 [MT 13:1]). It also echoes the etiological meanings attached to the name Joseph in Genesis 30:23–24 in terms of “taking away” and “adding.” Nephi’s prophecies of scripture and gospel restoration on account of which “[the Gentiles] shall be no more [cf. Hebrew lōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd] brought down into captivity, and the house of Israel shall no more [wĕlōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd] be confounded” (1 Nephi 14:2) and “after that they were restored, they should no more be confounded [(wĕ)lōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd], neither should they be scattered again [wĕlōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd]” (1 Nephi 15:20) depend on the language of Isaiah. Like other Isaiah-based prophecies of Nephi (e.g., 2 Nephi 25:17, 21; 29:1–2), they echo the name of the prophet through whom lost scripture and gospel covenants would be restored — i.e., through a “Joseph.”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
“In what follows, I propose that Nephi’s purpose clause ’that ye may have hope’ has direct reference to Isaiah 49:22–23 and, in particular, to the prophetic promise ’they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.’ The connection becomes clearer when we examine the meaning of the Hebrew verb employed by Isaiah, qāwâ, which means not only ’to wait’ (as in KJV Isaiah 49:23) but more precisely ’to hope’ (as reflected in the derived nouns tiqwâ and miqweh, both denoting ’hope’). Further examination reveals that Nephi considered Isaiah 49:22–23 one of Isaiah’s most important prophecies. Isaiah’s prophetic promise regarding the gathering and restoration of Israel in Isaiah 49:22–23 is deeply rooted in the Abrahamic covenant (compare Genesis 22:18 and 1 Nephi 22:6–12) and anticipation of its fulfillment. Nephi’s concept of hope is thus similarly rooted in waiting for and expecting the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant.” [Author]
Reprints selected Book of Mormon passages in a form that makes them appear more poetic, including 1 Nephi 1:1-2, 1 Nephi 3:27- 37, 2 Nephi 1:25-39, and Jacob 2:34-43. (Verses are numbered according to RLDS.)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Abstract: Later in his life, former Palmyra resident Fayette Lapham recounted with sharp detail an 1830 interview he conducted with Joseph Smith Sr. about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Among the details he reports that Lehi’s exodus from Jerusalem occurred during a “great feast.” This detail, not found in the published Book of Mormon, may reveal some of what Joseph Sr. knew from the lost 116 pages. By examining the small plates account of this narrative in 1 Nephi 1−5, we see not only that such a feast was possible, but that Lehi’s exodus and Nephi’s quest for the brass plates occurred at Passover. This Passover setting helps explain why Nephi killed Laban and other distinctive features of Lehi’s exodus. Read in its Passover context, the story of Lehi is not just the story of one man’s deliverance, but of the deliverance of humankind by the Lamb of God. The Passover setting in which it begins illuminates the meaning of the Book of Mormon as a whole.
[Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from Chapter 7 of the author’s new book, The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon’s Lost Stories (Salt Lake City: Kofford Books, 2019).].
Book of Mormon Topics > General Topics > Passover
Old Testament Scriptures > Leviticus
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Old Testament Scriptures > Joshua
Abstract: A series of three Patheos posts on the subject of Nahom rings out-of-tune bells all over the place.
In many places in the Book of Mormon, the authors refer to writings known to them but not included in the book. One of these is the record of Lehi. Nephi reported that he made “an abridgment of the record of my father” (1 Nephi 1:17), which he included on his own original (large) plates. An English translation of that abridgment was included in the 116 pages of manuscript translation lost by Martin Harris in 1828. Someday we will have that record restored; meanwhile, we can discover some of what it contained because both Nephi and Jacob included parts from it in their records.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Writes concerning the symbolical nature of the tree of life in Old and New World cultures. The Book of Mormon treatment of the tree of life (1 Nephi 11-15) clarifies and adds greater significance to the subject than does the Bible.
The 35th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium This newest addition to the Sperry Symposium series celebrates the writing of the New Testament and the faithful service of those who brought that book of sacred scripture into existence. The chapters of this volume, presented on the Brigham Young University campus on October 27–28, 2006, explore the New Testament’s origin and examine ancient scriptural evidence on a variety of topics, ranging from the earliest ancient manuscripts to the contributions of Joseph Smith to our understanding of the New Testament. A great deal of interest has been generated lately in the origin, early history, and reliability of the documents that make up the New Testament. Books and motion pictures have exposed us to many new ideas relating to New Testament studies. This volume, although not responding directly to any of those works, puts into print the research of faithful Latter-day Saint scholars who have explored the earliest evidence for the New Testament and have asked hard questions concerning it. Indeed, the New Testament presents us with many questions. We do not know, for example, when and under what circumstances many of the documents were written. We do know that “plain and precious things” were removed from the scriptural text (1 Nephi 13:28), but because the original manuscripts do not exist, how can we find out what those things were and when they were lost? What can we say about the traditional attributions of the Gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? What can we say about how those and other books were collected to form the New Testament? Do the ancient manuscripts provide answers? What does modern revelation teach us? How the New Testament Came to Be deals with these and other questions as it explores the writing and compilation of the New Testament. The authors, though they may not always interpret the evidence in the same way, have in common a strong commitment to the centrality of the sacred mission of Jesus Christ and a belief that modern revelation is an indispensable guide for reading and understanding the New Testament.
Abstract: Lehi’s dream in 1 Nephi 8 and Nephi’s related vision in 1 Nephi 11–14 contain many features related to the biblical garden of Eden, including most prominently the tree of life. A close reading of the features of Lehi’s dream in light of the earliest Book of Mormon text shows further similarities to the biblical garden, suggesting that the setting of Lehi’s dream is actually the garden of Eden. But the differences are also informative. These include both substantive features absent from the biblical Eden and differences in the language used to describe the features. Many of the variant features are also found in other ancient creation accounts. In view of these observations, it is likely the Book of Mormon presupposes a variant account of the garden of Eden. This variant account forms the backdrop for Lehi’s dream and for other references to the garden in the Book of Mormon.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
In keeping with the Lord’s promises in the Book of Mormon that the land of America should be free from monarchical forms of government and slavery, the U.S. government has adopted many policies to protect America and fulill the prophecy that it would be a “choice land above all others” (1 Nephi 13:30). Two inspired measures that assist in the preservation of America are the Constitution and the Monroe Doctrine.
Abstract: This paper compares the Book of Mormon’s subordinate that usage with what is found in the King James Bible, pseudo-archaic writings, and the greater textual record. In this linguistic domain, the Book of Mormon manifests as thoroughly archaic, and it surpasses all known pseudo-archaic writings in breadth and depth of archaism. The implications of this set of linguistic data indicate that the translation as originally dictated by Joseph Smith cannot plausibly be explained as the result of Joseph’s own word choices, but it is consistent with the hypothesis that the wording was somehow provided to him.
Book of Mormon excerpt with an archaic subordinate that:“after that they had hid themselves, I Nephi crept into the city”
(1 Nephi 4:5)1
Abstract: The Mormon Theology Seminar has produced two volumes of essays exploring 1 Nephi 1 on Lehi’s initial visions, and Jacob 7 on the encounter with Sherem. These essays provide valuable insights from a range of perspectives and raise questions for further discussion both of issues raised and regarding different paradigms in which scholars operate that readers must navigate.
Review of Adam S. Miller, ed., A Dream, a Rock, and a Pillar of Fire: Reading 1 Nephi 1 (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2017), 140 pp., $15.95.
Review of Adam S. Miller and Joseph M. Spencer, eds., Christ and Antichrist: Reading Jacob 7 (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2017), 148 pp., $15.95.
[I]t would be foolish to ignore an avenue that could potentially provide new insights into the Book of Mormon narrative.
.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
A photograph of a page of the original manuscript translation of the Book of Mormon showing 1 Nephi 2:2 to 1 Nephi 3:18.
A manual containing forty- two lessons for teachers of adult Sunday School classes. Each lesson consists of: “(1) the object or purpose for which the lesson is taught, (2) lesson sections, each with a heading that indicates its content, and (3) suggested methods for presenting these sections” The manual contains charts and commentaries on selected passages.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The Doctrine of Salvation (the Doctrine of Christ) is found clearly in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine of Exaltation (the Nauvoo Doctrine or Doctrine of the Father), which deals with temple ordinances, is present in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon does reveal and illuminate the “covenant which God the Father made to the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . . the ‘work of the Father’ (1 Nephi 14:17)”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
The remarkable vision of Nephi in 1 Nephi 13 speaks concerning the Savior’s visit to America, Columbus’ crossing the ocean, and the “plain and precious” truths of the gospel in the Book of Mormon that would come forth.
A monument in Chiapas, Mexico (the Lehi Stone) has several correlations with the Book of Mormon tree of life pericope (1 Nephi 8, 11). Author provides a drawing and brief explanation of the monument.
Gives a point-by- point precis of the Book of Mormon contents, from 1 Nephi to Moroni.
Abstract: I present evidence of two priesthoods in the Jewish Bible: an Aaronite priesthood, held by Aaron and passed down through his descendants; and a higher Mushite priesthood, held not only by Moses and his descendants but also by other worthy individuals, such as Joshua, an Ephraimite. The Mushite priests were centered in Shiloh, where Joshua settled the Ark of the Covenant, while the Aaronites became dominant in the Jerusalem temple. Like Joshua, the prophet Lehi, a descendant of the northern tribe of Manasseh, held the higher priesthood. His ministry, as recounted in the Book of Mormon, demonstrates four characteristics that show a clear connection to his ancestors’ origins in the northern Kingdom of Israel: (1) revelation through prophetic dreams, (2) the ministry of angels, (3) imagery of the Tree of Life, and (4) a positive attitude toward the Nehushtan tradition. These traits are precisely those which scholarship, based on the Documentary Hypothesis, attributes to texts in the Hebrew Bible that originated in the northern Kingdom of Israel rather than in Judah.
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
After attending a conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls the author suggests that the Dead Sea Scrolls are some of the other books mentioned in 1 Nephi 13:38-41.
This article deals with Lehi’s migration from Jerusalem and discusses the river Laman (1 Nephi 2:6). Quoting from the W. M. Flinders Petrie journal that recalls an expedition in Sinai, Crowley presents possible locations for the river Laman and the valley of Lemuel. A map of the region is included in the article.
A narrative of Nephi’s return with his brothers to obtain the brass plates from Laban (1 Nephi 2-4).
During a personal crisis of any kind individuals should remember the words of 1 Nephi 15:8, “Have ye inquired of the Lord?” Author cites several stories as examples.
Summarizes the book of 1 Nephi and provides a map of the Arabian Peninsula that traces the possible route of Lehi.
A pamphlet comparing 1 Corinthians 15:25-32 with 2 Nephi 9:24, and Mosiah 15:8, 16:8 and 1 Nephi 11:26-27. Those who believe in genealogical temple work for the dead do not understand the scriptures.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: A traditional reading of Nephi’s chronicle of the trek through Arabia relies heavily on two verses in 1 Nephi 17. In verse 4, Nephi states that they “did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.” In verse 5, he reports that “we did come to the land which we called Bountiful.” The almost universal interpretation of these verses is that of sequential events: eight years traversing the arid desert of Western Arabia following which the Lehites entered the lush Bountiful for an unspecified time to build the ship. A question with the traditional reading is why a trip that could have taken eight months ostensibly took eight years. It may be that Nephi gave us that information. His “eight years” could be read as a general statement about one large context: the “wilderness” of all of Arabia. In other words, the “eight years in the wilderness” may have included both the time in the desert and the time in Bountiful. In this paper I examine the basis for such an alternative reading.
Violence and non-violence in the Book of Mormon is examined including the killing of Laban (1 Nephi 4), the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies (Alma 24) and King Benjamin’s address (Mosiah 4).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Faulconer discusses the evolution of his testimony of the Book of Mormon; years passed before he recognized the importance of that book to his life as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After reading an article explaining the tree of life that is written about in 1 Nephi, he gained a deeper understanding of the purpose of the Book of Mormon—that the book prepares members of the church to enter into covenants with God in the temple and explains what those covenants are. In addition to that objective, the book testifies of and brings people to Jesus Christ.
The latter-day restoration of the gospel included the restoration of much significant truth to the Bible. It brought about the restoration of biblical history that had been lost and the restoration of biblical texts that had been changed or omitted or were in need of clarification. More important, it included the restoration of biblical doctrine that had been either removed, distorted, or simply misinterpreted by a world that did not enjoy the fulness of the gospel.
Shortly after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint was organized, the Prophet Joseph Smith was instructed by the Lord to undertake a careful reading of the Bible to revise and make corrections in accordance with the inspiration that he would receive. The result was a work of profound significance for the Church that included the revelation of many important truths and the restoration of many of the “precious things” that the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi had foretold would be taken from the Bible (1 Ne. 13:23–29). In June 1830 the first revealed addition to the Bible was set to writing. Over the next three years, the Prophet made changes, additions, and corrections as were given him by divine inspiration while he filled his calling to provide a more correct translation for the Church. Collectively, these are called the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), a name first applied in the 1970s, or the New Translation, as Joseph Smith and others in his day referred to it.
Book of Moses Topics > Basic Resources > Joseph Smith Translation (JST), Primary Manuscripts and Parallel Editions
Old Testament Topics > Bible: Joseph Smith Translation (JST)
Reproduces 1 Nephi 1:1, 1 Nephi 6:8-9; 2 Nephi 3:24-66 (RLDS versification) to demonstrate the elements of Hebrew poetry found in each passage. Briefly discusses poetic parallelism.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
The author rearranges the order in which Joseph Smith “composed” the Book of Mormon in order to explain textual problems. 1 Nephi through Words of Mormon are placed last according to handwriting analysis and subjects covered.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
This article argues that the Mexican people are a chosen race of people. According to Isaiah 29:4 they have been brought down in the dust. However, they are descendants of Joseph, through Lehi (1 Nephi 5:14) and they will be redeemed (2 Nephi 30:5-6).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
A two-page full-color cartoon depiction that recalls Nephi building the ship to carry the family to the promised land (1 Nephi 17-18).
Nephi was a younger son of a wealthy family. As one who might not inherit his father's business, it is possible that he was trained for another profession. One of the high-status professions open to him would have been a scribe. Beyond the fact that Nephi produced at least three written works (1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, and the nonextant large-plate book of Lehi), there are other evidences in his writing that betray the kind of traning scribes received. His early professional training may have been an important preparation for his later role in establishing his people as a true people of the book.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the fourth installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope you find it helpful.]
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Writing
Review of Royal Skousen, Robin Scott Jensen, eds., The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations Volume 3, Part 1: Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi–Alma 35 (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2015). pp 575. $89.99.
Abstract: All of the volumes in the Joseph Smith Papers series are beautifully presented, with important photographic and excellent typographic versions of the texts. This volume continues by providing this treatment for the Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The Liahona’s faith-based functionality and miraculous appearance have often been viewed as incongruous with natural law. This paper attempts to reconcile the Liahona to scientific law by displaying similarities between its apparent mechanisms and ancient navigation instruments called astrolabes. It further suggests the Liahona may have been a wedding dowry Ishmael provided to Lehi’s family. The paper displays the integral connection Nephi had to the Liahona’s functionality and how this connection more clearly explains the lack of faith displayed by Nephi’s band during the journey than traditional conceptions of its faith-based functionality.
“Yet I will say with regard to miracles, there is no such thing save to the ignorant — that is, there never was a result wrought out by God or by any of His creatures without there being a cause for it. There may be results, the causes of which we do not see or understand, and what we call miracles are no more than this — they are the results or effects of causes hidden from our understandings … [I]t is hard to get the people to believe that God is a scientific character, that He lives by science or strict law, that by this He is, and by law He was made what He is; and will remain to all eternity because of His faithful adherence to law. It is a most difficult thing to make the people believe that every art and science and all wisdom comes from Him, and that He is their Author.”
— Brigham Young.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Scriptural passages in the Book of Mormon, Bible, and Doctrine and Covenants suggest that forgiven sins may not always remain so. In order to bring safety to the soul one must forgive others and “endure to the end” (1 Nephi 7:69).
The death and burial of Ishmael at Nahom (see 1 Nephi 16:34-39) can puzzle readers who are uncertain about how the story fits into Nephi’s overall account or uncertain about why the incident is included at all. This section, however, is one of those parts of the Book of Mormon that contain hints of a deeper meaning than what appears on the surface. At least one important meaning of the Nahom episode is connected with the word Nahom itself.
Abstract: Modern readers too often and easily misread modern assumptions into ancient texts. One such notion is that when the reader encounters repeated stories in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Herodotus, or numerous other texts, the obvious explanation that requires no supporting argument is that one text is plagiarizing or copying from the other. Ancient readers and writers viewed such repetitions differently. In this article, I examine the narratives of a young woman or girl dancing for a king with the promise from the ruler that whatever the dancer wants, she can request and receive; the request often entails a beheading. Some readers argue that a story in Ether 8 and 9, which has such a dance followed by a decapitation, is plagiarized from the gospels of Mark and Matthew: the narrative of the incarceration and death of John the Baptist. The reader of such repeated stories must study with a mindset more sympathetic to the conceptual world of antiquity in which such stories claim to be written. Biblical and Book of Mormon writers viewed such repetitions as the way God works in history, for Nephi asserts that “the course of the Lord is one eternal round” (1 Nephi 10:19), a claim he makes barely after summarizing his father’s vision of the tree of life, a dream he will repeat, expand upon, and make his own in 1 Nephi chapters 11–15 (and just because it is developed as derivative from his father’s dream in some way, no reader suggests it be taken as a plagiaristic borrowing). Nephi’s worldview is part of the shared mental system illustrated by his eponymous ancestor — Joseph, who gave his name to the two tribes of Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh, the latter through which Lehi traced his descent (Alma 10:3) — for youthful Joseph boasts two dreams of his ascendance over his family members, interprets the two dreams of his fellow inmates, and articulates the meaning of Pharaoh’s two dreams, followed by his statement of meaning regarding such [Page 2]repetitions: “And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (Genesis 41:32). O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know the dancer from the dance? W. B. Yeats “Among the Schoolchildren”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Children’s game based on Lehi’s vision (1 Nephi 8).
1 Nephi 3:37-44 explains how Nephi desired to see the things his father saw. The angel asked if he believed that what his father saw was true. When Nephi replied positively the angel praised him for his faith in the Son of God. Faith and a desire to know the truth of what we hear produces answers to prayers.
Abstract: This note explores a literary comparison between Nephi’s confronting of Laban and shrinking from the act of shedding blood, to Jesus’s experience in the Garden of Gethsemane of shrinking from the act of shedding blood. Comparing these two stories suggests that we can profitably read Nephi’s experience with Laban as Nephi’s personal Gethsemane.
Abstract: Deuteronomy 17:14–20 represents the most succinct summation in the Bible of criteria for kingship. Remarkably, the Book of Mormon narrative depicts examples of kingship that demonstrate close fidelity to the pattern set forth in Deuteronomy 17 (e.g., Nephi, Benjamin, or Mosiah II) or the inversion of the expected pattern of kingship (e.g., king Noah). Future research on Book of Mormon kingship through the lens of Deuteronomy 17:14–20 should prove fruitful.
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: Nephi is the prototypical wise son of the Wisdom tradition. As Proverbs advocates that a wise man cherishes the word of God, so Nephi cherishes the words of the wise. Nephi’s record begins with a declaration of his upbringing in the Wisdom tradition and his authenticity and reliability as a wise son and scribe (1 Nephi 1:1–3). His is a record of the learning of the Jews — a record of wisdom. If the Wisdom tradition is a foundation for Nephi’s scribal capabilities and outlook, perhaps the principles and literary skills represented by the scribal Wisdom tradition constitute the “learning of the Jews” that Nephi references so early in his account. Thus, if Nephi’s is a record of the learning of the Jews — a record of wisdom — we would be wise to read it with Wisdom — that is, through the lens of ancient Israelite and Middle Eastern Wisdom traditions.
“Wisdom cries out [from the dust]”
(Proverbs 1:20).
Abstract: Most scholars agree that sôd, when used in relationship to God, refers to the heavenly council, which humans may sometimes visit to learn divine mysteries or obtain a prophetic message to deliver to humankind. Biblical texts on this subject can be compared to passages in Latter-day Saint scripture (e.g., 1 Nephi 1:8-18; Abraham 3:22-23). In this article, William Hamblin succinctly summarizes this concept and argues that the Latter-day Saint temple endowment serves as a ritual and dramatic participation in the divine council of God, through which God reveals to the covenanter details of the plan of salvation — the hidden meaning and purpose of creation and the cosmos.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See William J. Hamblin, “The Sôd of Yhwh and the Endowment,” in Ancient Temple Worship: Proceedings of The Expound Symposium 14 May 2011, ed. Matthew B. Brown, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Stephen D. Ricks, and John S. Thompson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 189–94. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/ancient-temple-worship/.].
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Divine Council
Book of Mormon Topics > General Topics > Temples
Abstract: In the Hebrew Bible, the Sôd of God was a council of celestial beings who consulted with God, learned His sôd/secret plan, and then fulfilled that plan. This paper argues that the LDS endowment is, in part, a ritual reenactment of the sôd, where the participants observe the sôd/council of God, learn the sôd/secret plan of God, and covenant to fulfill that plan.
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Old Testament Scriptures > Job
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Review of Joseph M. Spencer, 1 Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 146 pages. $9.99 (paperback).
Abstract: Joseph Spencer’s intimate familiarity with the Book of Mormon text, based upon years of close textual study and informed by a well- developed theological sensibility, is in full evidence in this lead-off volume in Neal A. Maxwell Institute’s new series of books on the various books of the Book of Mormon. Leaving to prophets and apostles the responsibility for “declaring official doctrine,” this new series approaches the book with the tools of the “scholarly practice” of theology. In Spencer’s case at least, his practice is understood to be (1) informed by an emphasis on grace that is skeptical of claims of personal righteousness and (2) very much engaged with contemporary moral and social issues grounded in a fundamental concern for “equality.” Accordingly, Spencer’s reading is much more interested in “what God is doing in history with what we call the Abrahamic covenant” than with the more popular (non-scholarly) concerns of “everyday faithful living;” it is also more interested in Nephi’s “realistic” and “mature” regret over his youthful over-boldness than in his confident statements of righteous faith. In the end, Spencer’s extremely careful but theologically tendentious reading alerts us very skillfully to certain features of Nephi’s imperfect humanity but reveals a consistent preoccupation with any possible faults in the prophet that might be extracted from an ingenious reading of the text. Finally, concerning women in the Book of Mormon, Spencer again expertly raises provocative questions about barely heard female voices but is too eager to frame these questions from the standpoint of the “modern sensibility” of “sexual egalitarianism.”.
Book of Mormon Topics > Criticisms and Apologetics > Book Reviews
This article discusses how, although being born of “goodly parents” (1 Nephi 1:1) is an ideal situation, not all children have this opportunity and privilege. However, everyone may become “goodly parents” to their own children in ways that the Book of Mormon teaches.
This article discusses how Alma 31:16-18 contains the prayer offered by the apostate Zoramites. They declare themselves the chosen and elect of God. 1 Nephi 1:20 tells us that the chosen are such because of their faith. Alma adds repentance and good works to faith (Alma 13:1, 3-4, 10). “The Lord chooses those who in faith choose him!”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Provides an outline for studying the Book of Mormon from 1 Nephi through the Book of Alma. Gives a summary of each section and a list of “vital lessons” that may be learned, i.e., the mysteries of God, purpose of the Book of Mormon, tree of life, etc.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Nephi was the only Book of Mormon author to receive what might be called a classical Hebrew education. He had ambivalent feelings about his training—indeed, he specifically noted that the tradition would end with himself: “I . . . have not taught my children after the manner of the Jews” (2 Nephi 25:6; see vv. 1–2). So it is not surprising that he remains the most literate, book-learned of the Nephite prophets. That is to say, his writings exhibit the most connections with earlier prophecies and texts, and he structures his teachings in a way that suggests he is working from written documents. In particular, he is eager to tie his own visions of the future of the House of Israel to the words of Isaiah, and his commentary at 1 Nephi 22—where he weaves phrases from the two Isaiah chapters he has just quoted into a new revelatory discourse—is a masterpiece of prophetic interpretation. The same style of commentary, which by placing familiar phrases into new contexts reinterprets as it explains, is found in a slightly more diffuse form at 2 Nephi 25–30.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Harris cites many examples of one language being written with another alphabet—transliteration. This he does to support the claim of the Book of Mormon that Hebrew was written with Reformed Egyptian characters (Mormon 9:32-33; 1 Nephi 1:2). Mentions the discovery by Sir Flinders Petrie of some writings in the Peninsula of Sinai that were in the Hebrew language but written “in Egyptian hieratic characters somewhat changed”
Study of the varied metaphorical levels of the Book of Mormon continues to yield new insights into the message and meaning of that book. Several prominent typological readings of aspects of the Book of Mormon have been published, but despite calls for such an effort, little inquiry into its possible archetypal levels, or what has been called “the mythic dimension” of the book, has yet been undertaken. As an initial attempt at such an endeavor, I compare certain events described in 1 Nephi with the elements of one prominent mythic archetype, the hero’s journey, as elucidated by Joseph Campbell in his famous The Hero with a Thousand Faces. A strong correlation between the hero’s journey archetype and the events from 1 Nephi is intriguing and seems to demonstrate at least the presence of mythic patterns in the Book of Mormon. This leads to some preliminary conclusions about what the apparent presence of such patterns might signify.
A brief biographical sketch of Christopher Columbus, showing how he fulfills the prophecies in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 3:147, RLDS versification). The article also discusses the timing of Columbus’s voyage and why the Americas had been kept hidden (2 Nephi 1:16-21, RLDS versification).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Notes that the phrase “state of awful woundedness” (1 Nephi 13:32) in the original and printer’s manuscripts was replaced in the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon with the phrase “state of awful blindness” Then Heater references Alma 32 and writes concerning the power of the word.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
When a group of LDS scholars collaborated in 1994 under the auspices of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies to publish a book on the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5, few substantial works on olive production in the ancient world existed. Now, two new archaeological books add a wealth of information to our understanding of the importance of the olive in ancient life. The first mention of the olive in the Book of Mormon is found in Lehi’s prediction of the Babylonian captivity and the coming of the Lamb of God. Lehi compared the house of Israel to an olive tree whose branches would be broken off and scattered upon all the face of the earth (1 Ne. 10:12). After being scattered,the house of Israel would be gathered and the natural branches of the olive tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, would be grafted in, or come to a knowledge of the true Messiah (1 Ne. 10:14). In this passage, Lehi probably drew upon Zenos’s allegory, found on the plates of brass. In incredible horticultural detail, that allegory compares the house of Israel to an olive tree. Yet that Old World information was apparently lost among Lehi’s descendants in the New World. After the fifth chapter of Jacob, the olive is not mentioned again in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Topics > Flora and Fauna
Old Testament Topics > Olive Oil
At the beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi writes, “The fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved” (1 Nephi 6:4; emphasis added). He later writes, “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). The pinnacle of the Book of Mormon occurred in 3 Nephi when Jesus Christ personally ministered to the Nephites and Lamanites. Clearly the central purpose of those writing on the plates was to invite and persuade each of us to come unto Jesus Christ, helping us understand his redeeming role.Jesus Christ is the central figure in the Book of Mormon. Ancient prophets in the western hemisphere consistently pointed to His life and atoning sacrifice. For example, Nephi wrote, “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). After His Resurrection, Jesus Christ personally ministered to the Nephites and taught them. This volume shares important reminders about how to focus on Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The word Gentiles appears 141 times in the Book of Mormon (the singular Gentile appears only five times.) It appears more frequently than key words such as baptize, resurrection, Zion, and truth. The word Gentiles does not appear with equal frequency throughout the Book of Mormon; in fact, it appears in only five of its fifteen books: 1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, 3 Nephi, Mormon, and Ether. Additionally, Book of Mormon speakers did not say Gentiles evenly. Some speakers said the word much less often than we might expect while others used it much more. Nephi1 used Gentiles the most (43 times), and Christ Himself used it 38 times. In addition to analyzing which speakers used the word, this study shows distinctive ways in which Book of Mormon speakers used this word.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The 2007 BYU Easter Conference Followers of Jesus Christ since the beginning have referred to their Savior as the Lamb of God. While down by the River Jordan, John the Baptist was baptizing those who desired to follow the Savior. When the Savior approached the Baptist, John declared, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). After John baptized Jesus, he bore record “that he had baptized the Lamb of God” (1 Nephi 10:10). The next day, when John and two of his disciples saw Jesus, the Baptist again proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36). Three years later the Savior brought his Twelve Apostles to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. As Jews from all over the Roman Empire made pilgrimage to Herod’s Temple, firstborn male lambs without blemish were offered up as sacrifice, commemorating that God had physically delivered his people from their bondage to Pharaoh. During that same Passover, Jesus, the firstborn spirit son of God and the only mortal to live a perfect life, prepared himself to be offered up as a sacrifice in order to spiritually deliver God’s children from their bondage to Satan. This volume celebrates the life and sacrifice of the Lamb of God. ISBN 978-0-8425-2693-7
The Zoramite narratives of Alma 31-35 and Alma 43-44 are richly symbolic accounts woven with many subtle details regarding the imporatnce of costly apparel and riches as an outward evidence of pride. This literary analysis focuses on how Mormon as editor structured the Zoramite narrative and used clothing as a metaphor to show the dangers of pride and the blessings afforded by humble adherence to God’s teachings and covenants. The Zoramite’s pride--as evidenced by their focus on costly apparel, gold, silver, and fine goods (Alma 31:24-25, 28)--competes with the foundational Book of Mormon teaching that the obedient will “ prosper in the land” (1 Nephi 4:14; Mosiah 1:7). The story deveops this tension between pride and true prosperity by employing the metaphor of clothing to set up several dramatic ironies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: In this article, Paul Hoskisson discusses the question of whether Janus parallelism, a sophisticated literary form found in the Hebrew Bible and elsewhere in manuscripts of the ancient Near East, might also be detected in the Book of Mormon. Because the Book of Mormon exists only in translation, answering this question is not a simple matter. Hoskisson makes the case that 1 Nephi 18:16 may provide the first plausible example of Janus parallelism in the Book of Mormon. [Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See Paul Hoskisson, “Janus Parallelism: Speculation on a Possible Poetic Wordplay in the Book of Mormon,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 151–60. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Parallelism
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: A little more than 40 years ago, Cyrus Gordon discovered and described for the first time an ancient literary technique which he had found in the Hebrew Bible, and he gave it a name — a Janus parallel. That is why no one, more than 40 years ago, could have faked a Hebrew Janus parallel in an English translation of an ancient document. But, as I reasoned, if Janus parallels were a Hebrew literary device at the time Lehi left Jerusalem (for an analog see chiasmus), then such parallels probably can be found in the Book of Mormon. In this article I describe the technical methodology for discovering Janus parallels in an English translation, and I provide two new examples.
Gives a brief translation and publication of the history of the Book of Mormon and explains the relationships between the two “original” manuscripts and the early editions of the book. Makes a textual comparison of the verbal dictation manuscript, the publisher’s manuscript, and the 1830 edition of Book of Mormon for a section composed of 1 Nephi 2:10-28. Concludes that the RLDS manuscript (the publisher’s) is the better of the two.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
An collection of essays on themes from the first half of the Book of Mormon. This work is reviewed in R.258.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The 35th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium This newest addition to the Sperry Symposium series celebrates the writing of the New Testament and the faithful service of those who brought that book of sacred scripture into existence. The chapters of this volume, presented on the Brigham Young University campus on October 27–28, 2006, explore the New Testament’s origin and examine ancient scriptural evidence on a variety of topics, ranging from the earliest ancient manuscripts to the contributions of Joseph Smith to our understanding of the New Testament. A great deal of interest has been generated lately in the origin, early history, and reliability of the documents that make up the New Testament. Books and motion pictures have exposed us to many new ideas relating to New Testament studies. This volume, although not responding directly to any of those works, puts into print the research of faithful Latter-day Saint scholars who have explored the earliest evidence for the New Testament and have asked hard questions concerning it. Indeed, the New Testament presents us with many questions. We do not know, for example, when and under what circumstances many of the documents were written. We do know that “plain and precious things” were removed from the scriptural text (1 Nephi 13:28), but because the original manuscripts do not exist, how can we find out what those things were and when they were lost? What can we say about the traditional attributions of the Gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? What can we say about how those and other books were collected to form the New Testament? Do the ancient manuscripts provide answers? What does modern revelation teach us? How the New Testament Came to Be deals with these and other questions as it explores the writing and compilation of the New Testament. The authors, though they may not always interpret the evidence in the same way, have in common a strong commitment to the centrality of the sacred mission of Jesus Christ and a belief that modern revelation is an indispensable guide for reading and understanding the New Testament. ISBN 9-7815-9038-6279
A detailed commentary on Stela 5, beginning with some comparisons of Near Eastern depictions of the tree of life and continuing with a long section identifying points of contact with the tree of life parable in 1 Nephi. Some illustrations are included.
An early description of Stela 5 from Chiapas, Mexico, which depicts a tree of life motif. Compares features on the stone that correspond to similar artistic objects in Mesopotamia. Relates Stela 5 to the tree of life vision in 1 Nephi and concludes that Stela 5 was infiuenced by the Book of Mormon tree of life story.
This article discusses specific archaeological findings and a number of legends that deal with the book of 1 Nephi. It further argues that neither Solomon Spaulding nor Joseph Smith could have known about the archaeological findings nor the legends.
A story for children recalling when Nephi’s brothers bound him, the power of the Lord loosened the cords, and Nephi forgave his brothers (1 Nephi 7).
Abstract: In 1 Nephi 1:16–17, Nephi tells us he is abridging “the record of my father.” The specific words Nephi uses in his writings form several basic but important patterns and features used repeatedly by Nephi and also by other Book of Mormon writers. These patterns and features provide context that appears to indicate that Nephi’s abridgment of Lehi’s record is the third-person account found in 1 Nephi 1:4 through 2:15 and that Nephi’s first-person account of his own ministry begins in 1 Nephi 2:16.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Defends Book of Mormon statements that some truths have been lost from the Bible through the process of translation. Affirms that the Book of Mormon was translated by the power of God. Cites Nephi’s testimony concerning the Bible beginning in 1 Nephi 3.
In 1 Nephi 1:1-2,we find a most significant chiasm which directs us to the importance of understanding the “Learning of the |ews.”
One way to read the Book of Mormon is to be attentive to ways in which it comes across as a translated text. Being mindful of this is wise, because all translations—even inspired translations—lose something of the primary language, particularly as meanings shift when words are rendered into the vocabulary or idioms of the target language. While the exact nature of the original language used by Abinadi, Ammon, Aaron, or Mormon is unknown, the English text of the Book of Mormon gives helpful hints. Two passages (1 Ne. 1:2 and Morm. 9:32–33) suggest that Egyptian and Hebrew elements were found in the language used by Book of Mormon speakers and writers, which allows present-day scholars to look for places where the current translation displays these elements. This article suggests a possible connection between three Book of Mormon passages and a Hebrew word with a wide semantic range—a range that appears to be reflected quite purposefully in the English translation of these three passages in the books of Mosiah and Alma. That Hebrew word is netzach.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The first 450 years of Nephite history are dominated by two main threads: the ethno-political tension between Nephites and Lamanites and religious tension between adherents of rival theologies. These rival Nephite theologies are a Mantic theology that affirms the existence of Christ and a Sophic theology that denies Christ. The origin of both narrative threads lies in the Old World: the first in conflicts between Nephi and Laman, the second in Lehi’s rejection of King Josiah’s theological and political reforms. This article focuses on these interrelated conflicts. It suggests that Zoram, Laman, Lemuel, Sherem, and the Zeniffites were Deuteronomist followers of Josiah. The small plates give an account of how their Deuteronomist theology gradually supplanted the gospel of Christ. As the small plates close, their last author, Amaleki, artfully confronts his readers with a life-defining choice: having read the Book of Mormon thus far, will you remain, metaphorically, with the prophets in Zarahemla and embrace the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, or will you return to the land of Nephi and the theology you believed and the life you lived before you read the Book of Mormon?.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: There is a kinship between Lehi and Joseph Smith. They are linked to each other by similar first visions, and they faced roughly the same theological problem. Resisted by elites who believe God is a Solitary Sovereign, both prophets affirm the pluralistic religion of Abraham, which features a sôd ’ĕlôhim (Council of Gods) in which the divine Father, Mother, and Son sit. These prophets are likewise linked by their last sermons: Lehi’s parting sermon/blessings of his sons and Joseph’s King Follett discourse. Along with the first visions and last sermons, the article closely reads Lehi’s dream, Nephi’s experience of Lehi’s dream, and parts of the Allegory of the Olive Tree, John’s Revelation, and Genesis, all of which touch on the theology of the Sôd (Council).
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Divine Council
Abstract: While some scholars have suggested that the doctrine of theosis — the transformation of human beings into divine beings — emerged only in Nauvoo, the essence of the doctrine was already present in the Book of Mormon, both in precept and example. The doctrine is especially well developed in 1 Nephi, Alma 19, and Helaman 5. The focus in 1 Nephi is on Lehi and Nephi’s rejection of Deuteronomist reforms that erased the divine Mother and Son, who, that book shows, are closely coupled as they, the Father, and Holy Ghost work to transform human beings into divine beings. The article shows that theosis is evident in the lives of Lehi, Sariah, Sam, Nephi, Alma, Alma2, Ammon2, Lamoni, Lamoni’s wife, Abish, and especially Nephi2. The divine Mother’s participation in the salvation of her children is especially evident in Lehi’s dream, Nephi’s vision, and the stories of Abish and the Lamanite Queen.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: A recent graduate thesis proposes an intriguing new means for discerning if the Book of Mormon is historic or not. By looking at Book of Mormon references to David and the Psalms, the author concludes that it cannot be the product of an ancient Jewish people and that it is, instead, the result of Joseph Smith’s “plagiarism” from the Bible and other sources. This paper examines the author’s claims, how they are applied to the Book of Mormon, and proposes points the author does not take into consideration. While the author is to be congratulated for taking a fresh perspective on the Book of Mormon, ultimately his methodology fails and his conclusions fall flat.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Abstract: A novel theory for the origins of Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life has been offered by Rick Grunder, who argues that the story was inspired by a June 1829 visit to Rochester where Joseph could have seen a “great and spacious building,” a river, an iron railing, and even fruit trees. The purported source for the great and spacious building, the Reynolds Arcade, has even been suggested by one critic as a place where Joseph might have found “rare maps,” such as a map of Arabia that could have guided his fabrication of Lehi’s trail. As beautiful as such theories may be to their champions, they utterly fail to account for Nephi’s text.
Among the shortcomings of Grunder’s theory and creative extensions of it, the timing is problematic, for Joseph’s visit to Rochester likely occurred well after 1 Nephi was dictated. The proposed parallels offer little explanatory power for Book of Mormon creation. (For comparison, two online appendices for this article have been provided to illustrate how interesting random parallels can be found that may be more compelling than those Grunder offers.
) Further, any inspiration from a visit to Rochester as the plates of Nephi were being translated fails to account for the influence of Lehi’s vision and Nephi’s text on other portions of the Book of Mormon that were translated long before Joseph’s trip to Rochester. Finally, Nephi’s account of the vision of the Tree of Life and surrounding text cannot be reasonably explained by Grunder’s theory of last-minute fabrication inspired by Rochester or by any other theory of modern fabrication, as it is far too rooted in the ancient world and far too artfully crafted to have come from Joseph Smith and his environment.
Abstract: The Arabian Peninsula has provided a significant body of evidence related to the plausibility of Nephi’s account of the ancient journey made by Lehi’s family across Arabia. Relatively few critics have seriously considered the evidence, generally nitpicking at details and insisting that the evidences are insignificant. Recently more meaningful responses have been offered by well educated writers showing familiarity with the Arabian evidences and the Book of Mormon. They argue that Nephi’s account is not historical and any apparent evidence in its favor can be attributed to weak LDS apologetics coupled with Joseph’s use of modern sources such as a detailed map of Arabia that could provide the name Nahom, for example. Further, the entire body of Arabian evidence for the Book of Mormon is said to be irrelevant because Nephi’s subtle and pervasive incorporation of Exodus themes in his account proves the Book of Mormon is fiction. On this point we are to trust modern Bible scholarship (“Higher Criticism”) which allegedly shows that the book of Exodus wasn’t written until long after Nephi’s day and, in fact, tells a story that is mere pious fiction, fabricated during or after the Exile.
There were high-end European maps in Joseph’s day that did show a place name related to Nahom. Efforts to locate these maps anywhere near Joseph Smith have thus far proved unsuccessful. But the greater failure is in the explanatory power of any theory that posits Joseph used such a map. Such theories do not account for the vast majority of impressive evidences for the plausibility of Nephi’s account of the journey through Arabia (e.g., remarkable candidates for Bountiful and the River Laman, the plausibility of the eastward turn after Nahom). They do not explain why one obscure name among hundreds was plagiarized — a name that would have the good fortune of later being verified as a genuine ancient tribal name present in the right region in Lehi’s day. More importantly, theories of fabrication based on modern maps ignore the fact that Joseph and his peers never took advantage of the impressive Book of Mormon evidence that was waiting to be discovered on such maps. That discovery would not come until 1978, and it has led to many remarkable finds through modern field work since then. Through ever better maps, exploration, archaeological work, and other scholarly work, our knowledge of the Arabian Peninsula has grown dramatically from Joseph’s day. Through all of this, not one detail in the account of Lehi’s Trail has been invalidated, though questions remain and much further work needs to be done. Importantly, aspects that were long ridiculed have become evidences for the Book of Mormon. There is a trend here that demands respect, and no mere map from Joseph’s day or even ours can account for this.
As for the Exodus-based attack, yes, many modern scholars deny that the Exodus ever happened and believe the story was fabricated as pious fiction well after 600 bc. But this conclusion does not represent a true consensus and is not free from bias and blindness. The Exodus-based attack on the Book of Mormon ultimately is a case where a weakness in biblical evidence from Egypt is used to challenge the strength of Book of Mormon evidence from Egypt’s neighbor to the east, the Arabian Peninsula. We will see that there are good reasons for the absence of evidence from Egypt, and yet abundant evidence that the Exodus material interwoven in Nephi’s account could have been found on the brass plates by 600 bc. The absence of archaeological evidence for Israel’s exodus from Egypt and the chaos in the many schools of modern biblical scholarship do not trump hard archaeological, geographical, and other evidence from the Arabian Peninsula regarding Lehi’s exodus.
We will see that some of the most significant strengths of the Book of Mormon have not been turned into weaknesses. Indeed, the evidence from Arabia continues to grow and demands consideration from those willing to maintain an open mind and exercise a particle of faith.
Abstract: The Arabian Peninsula has provided a significant body of evidence related to the plausibility of Nephi’s account of the ancient journey made by Lehi’s family across Arabia. Relatively few critics have seriously considered the evidence, generally nitpicking at details and insisting that the evidences are insignificant. Recently more meaningful responses have been offered by well educated writers showing familiarity with the Arabian evidences and the Book of Mormon. They argue that Nephi’s account is not historical and any apparent evidence in its favor can be attributed to weak LDS apologetics coupled with Joseph’s use of modern sources such as a detailed map of Arabia that could provide the name Nahom, for example. Further, the entire body of Arabian evidence for the Book of Mormon is said to be irrelevant because Nephi’s subtle and pervasive incorporation of Exodus themes in his account proves the Book of Mormon is fiction. On this point we are to trust modern Bible scholarship (“Higher Criticism”) which allegedly shows that the book of Exodus wasn’t written until long after Nephi’s day and, in fact, tells a story that is mere pious fiction, fabricated during or after the Exile.
There were high-end European maps in Joseph’s day that did show a place name related to Nahom. Efforts to locate these maps anywhere near Joseph Smith have thus far proved unsuccessful. But the greater failure is in the explanatory power of any theory that posits Joseph used such a map. Such theories do not account for the vast majority of impressive evidences for the plausibility of Nephi’s account of the journey through Arabia (e.g., remarkable candidates for Bountiful and the River Laman, the plausibility of the eastward turn after Nahom). They do not explain why one obscure name among hundreds was plagiarized — a name that would have the good fortune of later being verified as a genuine ancient tribal name present in the right region in Lehi’s day. More importantly, theories of fabrication [Page 248]based on modern maps ignore the fact that Joseph and his peers never took advantage of the impressive Book of Mormon evidence that was waiting to be discovered on such maps. That discovery would not come until 1978, and it has led to many remarkable finds through modern field work since then. Through ever better maps, exploration, archaeological work, and other scholarly work, our knowledge of the Arabian Peninsula has grown dramatically from Joseph’s day. Through all of this, not one detail in the account of Lehi’s Trail has been invalidated, though questions remain and much further work needs to be done. Importantly, aspects that were long ridiculed have become evidences for the Book of Mormon. There is a trend here that demands respect, and no mere map from Joseph’s day or even ours can account for this.
As for the Exodus-based attack, yes, many modern scholars deny that the Exodus ever happened and believe the story was fabricated as pious fiction well after 600 bc. But this conclusion does not represent a true consensus and is not free from bias and blindness. The Exodus-based attack on the Book of Mormon ultimately is a case where a weakness in biblical evidence from Egypt is used to challenge the strength of Book of Mormon evidence from Egypt’s neighbor to the east, the Arabian Peninsula. We will see that there are good reasons for the absence of evidence from Egypt, and yet abundant evidence that the Exodus material interwoven in Nephi’s account could have been found on the brass plates by 600 bc. The absence of archaeological evidence for Israel’s exodus from Egypt and the chaos in the many schools of modern biblical scholarship do not trump hard archaeological, geographical, and other evidence from the Arabian Peninsula regarding Lehi’s exodus.
We will see that some of the most significant strengths of the Book of Mormon have not been turned into weaknesses. Indeed, the evidence from Arabia continues to grow and demands consideration from those willing to maintain an open mind and exercise a particle of faith.
Abstract: A discussion is presented on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, including the departure of the young man into a faraway land, his return, and the welcome he received from his father. To better understand the cultural significance of this story, a Middle Eastern scholar (Kenneth Bailey) is referenced. The prodigal son breaks his father’s heart when he leaves home, but at the same time his older brother fails in his duty to his family. The father in the parable represents Christ, who is seen to take upon himself the shame of his returning boy and later of his older brother. The reinstatement of the prodigal son is confirmed by the actions of the father, who embraces him, dresses him in a robe, puts shoes on his feet, has a ring placed on his finger, brings him into his house, and kills the fatted calf for him. These actions have deep gospel and cultural significance. The older son’s failure to come into the feast for his brother is a public insult to his father, and his words to his father in the courtyard are a second public insult. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is shown to be similar to other stories from the scriptures, including Jesus’s meal with Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36–43), the Parable of the Man and His Great Supper (Luke 14:16–24), the Parable of the King and His Son’s Wedding (Matthew 22:2–14), and Lehi’s dream in 1 Nephi 8. Consistent elements across these stories include a feast/meal, a male authority figure who initiates or invites others to the feast, well-to-do guests who refuse the invitation, their criticism of the host of the feast and their fellowman, an application of grace, and the presence of the less favored individuals at the feast at the end of the stories. It is shown that the prodigal son represents the publicans and sinners of Jesus’s day, while the older son represents the scribes and Pharisees. Emphasis is placed on the remarkable countercultural and benevolent role played by the father/patriarch in these stories.
Discusses fulfillment of prophecy given in 1 Nephi 13:14. Columbus and Indian oppression was foretold centuries ago, and prophecies yet remain to be fulfilled in the future.
Discusses fulfillment of prophecy given in 1 Nephi 13:14. Columbus and Indian oppression was foretold centuries ago, and prophecies yet remain to be fulfilled in the future.
Discusses fulfillment of prophecy given in 1 Nephi 13:14. Columbus and Indian oppression was foretold centuries ago, and prophecies yet remain to be fulfilled in the future.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Topics > Adam and Eve [see also Fall]
Old Testament Topics > Women in the Old Testament
Abstract: Nothing was more terrifying in the ancient world than a siege. Besiegers disregarded normal conventions of war and either utterly slaughtered or enslaved a city’s residents. Nephi used siege warfare imagery — including fire arrows, blinding, and being led away into captivity — to teach his brothers the importance of holding fast to Christ’s iron rod (see 1 Nephi 15:24). By analyzing this scripture and the vision of the Tree of Life in context of ancient siege warfare, we learn how Satan besieges God’s people, cuts off their access to the Tree of Life, draws them away through scorn, blinds them, and yokes them with a yoke of iron. Christ, in contrast, extends his iron rod through Satan’s siege, inviting us to hold fast to his word, accept him as our covenant family head, and join him in his work by speaking his word. Those who act on Christ’s invitation will find safety and joy in Christ’s kingdom.
Historical narratives are extracted from the Book of Mormon and quoted verbatim to create a Book of Mormon history. The selections are arranged in historical order from 1 Nephi to Mormon, with the exception of the book of Ether, which is placed last.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Address quoting Moroni’s title page, testimony of the Three Witnesses, Ezekiel 37:15-20, 1 Nephi 29:8, Nephi’s vision of the latter days, and various prophecies about the Jews. Exhorts listeners to repent and serve God. Shows how the Book of Mormon and other latter-day scriptures complement the Bible and provide the fullness of the gospel.
Authors inevitably make assumptions about their readers as they write. Readers likewise make assumptions about authors and their intentions as they read. Using a postmodern framing, this essay illustrates how a close reading of the text of 1 and 2 Nephi can offer insight into the writing strategies of its author. This reading reveals how Nephi differentiates between his writing as an expression of his own intentions and desires, and the text as the product of divine instruction written for a “purpose I know not.” In order to help his audience understand the text in this context, Nephi as the author interacts with his audience through his rhetorical strategy, pointing towards his own intentions, and offering reading strategies to help them discover God’s purposes in the text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Since the Book of Mormon contradicts itself, the Bible, and the LDS church, the statement in 1 Nephi 13:12 traditionally interpreted as a prophecy of Columbus’s arrival in America was obviously not written before 1492, making the Book of Mormon “at best a pious fraud”
This article discusses Lehi’s prophecy regarding “a man among the Gentiles” (Columbus) who would be “wrought upon” by the Holy Ghost and travel “forth upon many waters” (1 Nephi 13:12). The author presents evidence from Columbus’s journals and letters that supports the claim that he was an inspired man who accomplished “a thing more divine than human to have found that way never before known to go to the east where the spices grow” (Sebastian Cabot).
In part of his vision recorded in the Book of Mormon, Nephi saw Columbus who would discover the New World (1 Nephi 13:12-13).
Series of articles intended for Relief Society course study. Discusses importance of the Book of Mormon, its coming forth (i.e., the translation, the witnesses, the publication, Joseph Smith), brief overview of its contents, and explains the text from 1 Nephi 1 through Alma 58. Each article features several questions that are helpful in synthesizing and applying the Book of Mormon to daily life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The first chapter of 1 Nephi may be the most read in all of Mormon scripture. But beyond its veneer of familiarity, its substance remains shadowed by a host of contextual and theological questions. The papers collected in this volume offer theological readings that draw on careful examinations of 1 Nephi 1’s structure and literary details to explore questions about Lehi’s world, the nature of revelation, the problem of suffering, and the promised Messiah.
1 Nephi Chapter 14
1 Nephi Chapter 15
1 Nephi Chapter 16
1 Nephi Chapter 17
1 Nephi Chapter 2
1 Nephi Chapter 18
1 Nephi Chapter 19
1 Nephi Chapter 20
1 Nephi Chapter 21
1 Nephi Chapter 22
1 Nephi Chapter 3
1 Nephi Chapter 4
1 Nephi Chapter 5
1 Nephi Chapter 6
1 Nephi Chapter 7
1 Nephi Preface
1 Nephi Chapter 8 (8:1-9:1)
1 Nephi Chapter 9 (9:2-9:6)
1 Nephi Chapter 1
1 Nephi Chapter 10
1 Nephi Chapter 11
1 Nephi Chapter 12
1 Nephi Chapter 13
Includes a very lengthy quote of the book, God’s Message to the Human Soul, by John Watson. The Bible’s main theme is the fellowship of man with God. The same can be said of the Book of Mormon. To show this the author quotes 1 Nephi 6:4-6 and Moroni 10:30-32.
Abstract: A careful examination of the Abrahamic covenant, as contained in Leviticus 26, and the covenant established with the Lehites during their exodus to the New World, found in 1 Nephi 2, shows deliberate similarities. These similarities are important to understand, as the role of covenant is central in both ancient Israelite practice and current Latter-day Saint theology.
Old Testament Scriptures > Leviticus
Abstract: Did Nephi intentionally use chiasmus in his writings? An analysis of fifteen multi-level chiasm candidates in Nephi’s writings demonstrates a high statistical probability (99%+) that the poetic form was used intentionally by Nephi but only during two specific writing periods. This finding is buttressed by further analysis, which reveals a clear and unexpected literary pattern for which Nephi seems to have reserved his usage of chiasmus. The nature of obedience is a major theme in Nephi’s writings, and he regularly employed chiasms to explore the topic early in his writings. After a period during which he discontinued use of the technique, he returned to the poetic device toward the end of his life to signal a significant shift in his thoughts on the topic of obedience.
Abstract: How long did it take Nephi to compose his portions of the “small account?” Careful text analysis and data mining suggest that “Nephi’s” texts may have been composed across periods as great as forty years apart. I propose a timeline with four distinct periods of composition. The merits of this timeline are weighed, and some thoughts are explored as to how this timeline alters the reader’s perceptions of Nephi. The net effect is that Nephi becomes more sympathetic, more personable, and more relatable as his record progresses and that the totality of Nephi’s writings are best understood and interpreted when the factor of time is considered. .
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the first of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988-90. Part one contains twenty-nine lectures focusing on 1 Nephi through Mosiah 5. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Virtually all that is known of the world in which Lehi is purported to have lived has been discovered within the last hundred years, mostly within the last thirty. How does this information check with that in the book of 1 Nephi? A classic reflection on Lehi’s world in Arabia: poetry, tree of life, family affairs, politics, imagery, travel, tents, and foods. One of the first attempts to test the Book of Mormon against known geographical and cultural details in the regions where Lehi probably traveled in the Old World.
Lehi in the Desert and the World of the Jaredites (1952)
Lehi in the Desert and the World of the Jaredites (1980)
Lehi in the Desert and the World of the Jaredites. An unedited reprinting of the original version (1987)
Lehi in the Desert; The World of the Jaredites; There Were Jaredites (1988)
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Reprinted in The Prophetic Book of Mormon, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 8.
Relevant to 1 Nephi 13:11–12, this brief article gives historical evidence showing that Columbus was moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Characters > Christopher Columbus
Originally printed in The Instructor.
Relevant to 1 Nephi 13:11–12, this brief article gives historical evidence showing that Columbus was moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Characters > Christopher Columbus
There are certain things about the Book of Mormon that we must notice at the beginning to get off on the right foot. . . . The opening of the Book of Mormon concerns our people, and it concerns also our world. To start, this lecture looks at the biographical nature of 1 Nephi and moves on to Nephi’s heritage and legacy.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
Also called “Souvenirs from Lehi’s Jerusalem.“
Lehi had full baggage. Remember, his people were especially prepared to transfer the culture from one world to the other. We want to find out first what happened to Jeremiah because that’s very much in the story of Lehi. The reason we are bringing this up is that there are some marvelous documents that have appeared “out of the blue“ right from Lehi’s day.
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 1 Nephi
Also called “The Days of King Zedekiah: ’There Came Many Prophets.’“
Nephi has the four qualities that Matthew Arnold attributes to Homer. The Book of Mormon has them; I don’t know anything else that has them. If you were to be asked, “What is the significance of the Lachish Letters for the Book of Mormon?“ They are immensely important.
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 1 Nephi
Let’s review quickly the first book of Nephi.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 1 Nephi
Also called “In the Wilderness.“
The Book of Mormon is a handbook; it’s everything. It’s all in there, far more than you think.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 1 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 1 Nephi
A discussion about the Tree of Life.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 1 Nephi
We were noting that chapter ten of 1 Nephi deals with the Jaws. Chapter eleven does something else. Chapter twelve deals with the New World version: Israel in the New World, the Book of Mormon people. Chapter thirteen deals with the Gentiles and the whole world; it takes the world view.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 1 Nephi
Also called “The Liahona and Murmurings in the Wilderness.“
We start out with the last place to look if we want to find information. It starts out, “I returned to the tent of my father.“
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 1 Nephi
Now, we’ve got the seventeenth chapter, the seventh verse, when the Lord says, you will make a boat: “Thou shalt construct a ship.“ He didn’t have time to scout around for the necessary metals. The Lord told him, I can tell you where to get them. We said they were adept in ores: where to find ores, and how to make the bellows.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 1 Nephi
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
A valuable passage about fire-making in 1 Nephi furnishes the perfect clue to the nature of Lehi’s contacts in the desert. He avoided all contact whenever possible. This behavior is perfectly consistent with the behavior of modern Arabs and with known conditions in the desert in Lehi’s day. The whole story of Lehi’s wandering centers about his tent, which in Nephi’s account receives just the proper emphasis and plays just the proper role. Another authentic touch is Lehi’s altar-building and sacrificing. The troubles and tensions within Lehi’s own family on the march, and the way they were handled and the group led and controlled by Lehi’s authority are entirely in keeping with what is known of conditions both today and in ancient times. The description of the role and the behavior of women in 1 Nephi are also perfectly consistent with what is known of actual conditions from many sources.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
Long ago Sigmund Freud showed that dreams are symbolic, that they take their familiar materials from everyday life and use them to express the dreamer’s real thoughts and desires. Lehi’s dreams have a very authentic undertone of anxiety, of which the writer of 1 Nephi himself seems not fully aware; they are the dreams of a man heavily burdened with worries and responsibilities. The subjects of his unrest are two: the dangerous project he is undertaking and the constant opposition and misbehavior of some of his people, especially his two eldest sons. It may be instructive for the student to look for these two themes in the dreams discussed here. This lesson is devoted to pointing out the peculiar materials of which Lehi’s dreams are made: the images, situations, and dream-scenery, which, though typical, can only come from the desert world in which Lehi was wandering. These thirteen snapshots of desert life are submitted as evidence for that claim.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
Reprinted in CWHN 8:49-53. Relevant to 1 Nephi 13:11-12, this brief article gives historical evidence showing that Columbus was moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
Examines prophecies in the Book of Mormon and relates them to historical events of the twentieth century. Prophecies are classified as follows: (1) the vision of Nephi—1 Nephi 3:210-216 (RLDS scriptures); (2) the prophecy of Nephi—2 Nephi 11:116-117; (3) the word of Christ relative to gentile disobedience—3 Nephi 9:64-71, and the return of the Jews —3 Nephi 9:85-101; (4) warning to Gentile America—Ether 1:29-35.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Do you want to expand and deepen your study of the Book of Mormon? If so, you will find what you’re looking for in this commentary written by gospel scholars D. Kelly Ogden and Andrew C. Skinner. This volume is the first of a two-volume, reader-friendly exploration of the book of scripture that is the keystone of our religion. It incorporates sound doctrinal commentary with quotations from General Authorities and explanations of difficult passages—all sprinkled generously with the authors’ own experiences to illustrate great lessons and personal applications. Interspersed with the commentary are feature articles that offer new glimpses into such topics as angels who have come to earth, names and titles of God, Israel and Zion in Latter-day Saint usage, the Isaiah chapters of First and Second Nephi, the allegory of the olive tree, and prophecies of Christ. Highly informative and easy to read, this commentary on the Book of Mormon provides stimulating views that complement the scriptures. It will be treasured by anyone who wishes to understand more fully the teachings of those whom the Lord called in the land of promise to testify of him.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Utilizing techniques adapted from literary criticism, this paper investigates the narrative structure of the Book of Mormon, particularly the relationship between Nephi’s first-person account and Mormon’s third-person abridgment. A comparison of the order and relative prominence of material from 1 Nephi 12 with the content of Mormon’s historical record reveals that Mormon may have intentionally patterned the structure of his narrative after Nephi’s prophetic vision—a conclusion hinted at by Mormon himself in his editorial comments. With this understanding, readers of the Book of Mormon can see how Mormon’s sometimes unusual editorial decisions are actually guided by an overarching desire to show that Nephi’s prophecies have been dramatically and literally fulfilled in the history of his people.
Insights can be gained by considering the eight-year wilderness sojourn of Lehi’s company through the eyes of the women who were there. Leaving the comforts of civilization for the difficulties of the desert would have been very challenging. While the record in 1 Nephi mentions nine women, Sariah was the only one identified by name. Nephi records Sariah’s struggles as well as her testimony. The record of the women in 1 Nephi communicates much about the need to seek and receive one’s own witness of truth.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Old Testament Topics > Prophets and Prophecy
A collection of statements made by General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints concerning Book of Mormon passages. Volume one begins with statements by Church leaders concerning 1 Nephi to Words of Mormon; volume two contains statements dealing with Mosiah and Alma; volume three with the books Helaman to Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
An interesting phenomenon concerning 1 and 2 Nephi is that parts of the latter book draw on the tree of life vision that Nephi and his father shared, as recorded in 1 Nephi 8, 11–15. In an earlier FARMS Update, John A. Tvedtnes demonstrated that Nephi drew on this vision when composing the psalm in 2 Nephi 4. Further study suggests the likelihood that Nephi’s exhortation in 2 Nephi 31 was similarly informed by that sublime vision.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Commenting on 1 Nephi 13-14, Penrose identifies the great and abominable church as “all the institutions among mankind in all ages that are led into error . . . and which lead mankind away from the true God and the true faith”
Compares Nephi’s vision (1 Nephi 13) to the manner in which history unfolded on the American continent. Columbus was inspired, the Pilgrims came out of captivity, the gentiles fought against England, and America became a land of liberty and prosperity as Nephi prophesied.
Asherah was the chief goddess of the Canaanites. She was El’s wife and the mother and wet nurse of the other gods. At least some Israelites worshipped her over a period from the conquest of Canaan in the second millennium before Christ to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC (the time of Lehi’s departure with his family). Asherah was associated with trees—sacred trees. The rabbinic authors of the Jewish Mishna (second–third century ad) explain the asherah as a tree that was worshipped. In 1 Nephi 11, Nephi considers the meaning of the tree of life as he sees it in vision. In answer, he receives a vision of “a virgin, . . . the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.” The answer to his question about the meaning of the tree lies in the virgin mother with her child. The virgin is the tree in some sense and Nephi accepted this as an answer to his question. As an Israelite living at the end of the seventh century and during the early sixth century before Christ, he recognized an answer to his question about a marvelous tree in the otherwise unexplained image of a virginal mother and her divine child—not that what he saw and how he interpreted those things were perfectly obvious. What he “read” from the symbolic vision was culturally colored. Nephi’s vision reflects a meaning of the “sacred tree” that is unique to the ancient Near East. Asherah is also associated with biblical wisdom literature. Wisdom, a female, appears as the wife of God and represents life.
Abstract: The Interpreter Foundation welcomes faithful ideas, insights, and manuscripts from people of all backgrounds. In this brief essay, I share some that were recently shared with me regarding Lehi’s vision of the tree of life, as recorded in 1 Nephi 8. Among other things, Lehi seems to have been shown that the divine offer of salvation extends far beyond a small elite. As Peter exclaims in the King James rendering of Acts 10:34, “God is no respecter of persons.” Other translations render the same words as saying that he doesn’t “play favorites” or “show partiality.” The passage in James 1:5 with which the Restoration commenced clearly announces that, if they will simply ask, God “giveth to all men liberally.”.
Abstract: Khor Rori, which forms the mouth of Wadi (Valley) Darbat, is the largest inlet along the Dhofar coast of southern Arabia. The khor was excavated into a harbor by the erosive action of the river that flows through Wadi Darbat. In ancient times, Khor Rori was the only harbor in the Dhofar Region that could accommodate large sailing ships. The first colonizers of Khor Rori, who arrived around the ninth century bc, must have realized that this particular khor, because of its morphology, was an ideal natural port for trading their frankincense with other seafaring nations. Because Khor Rori has long been considered an important candidate for Bountiful and offers the advantage of not only the rich vegetation in Wadi Darbat and good sources of flowing water, it is also a safe harbor where a ship could have been built — indeed, the harbor would later become a busy port noted for building ships and much trade. This article provides updates since the original publications about Khor Rori, better documenting its advantages and exploring the possibility that essential raw materials for shipbuilding and shipwright expertise might have already existed at Khor Rori in Nephi’s day.
Unorthodox presentation of the Book of Mormon text (1 Nephi—Jarom) as a history of the Hebrews. Says nothing about Joseph Smith or the origin of the Book of Mormon. Places the ancient Nephites in the present day New England area of the United States. Numerous footnotes provide commentary.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
A booklet comprising 1 Nephi of the Book of Mormon, with several headings.
Presents the first section of 1 Nephi as the “book of Lehi” Says nothing about the name Book of Mormon, its origins, or Joseph Smith, but entitles his series the American Indian Bible. Has no commentary or notes.
This article is a missionary proclamation including an account of the origin of the Book of Mormon and its purpose. It quotes from 1 Nephi, concerning the “great and abominable Church.”
A missionary proclamation including an account of the origin of the Book of Mormon and its purpose. Quotes from 1 Nephi, concerning the “great and abominable Church”
Pratt, who has been called to conduct missionary work in “the southland,” quotes 2 Nephi 1:1-11, 1 Nephi 13, 2 Nephi 30, and 3 Nephi 21 that speak of the fall, final gathering, and redemption of the Lamanites.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
The author narrates 1 Nephi 1-10, pointing out the instances where pride or humility played an important part in the narrative.
Abstract: Jeffrey R. Chadwick has previously called attention to the name ŚRYH (Seraiah/Sariah) as a Hebrew woman’s name in the Jewish community at Elephantine. Paul Y. Hoskisson, however, felt this evidence was not definitive because part of the text was missing and had to be restored. Now a more recently published ostracon from Elephantine, which contains a sure attestation of the name ŚRYH as a woman’s name without the need of restoration, satisfies Hoskisson’s call for more definitive evidence and makes it more likely that the name is correctly restored on the papyrus first noticed by Chadwick. The appearance of the name Seraiah/Sariah as a woman’s name exclusively in the Book of Mormon and at Elephantine is made even more interesting since both communities have their roots in northern Israel, ca. the eighth–seventh centuries BCE.
Abstract: The “tongue of angels”
has long been a point of interest to Latter-day Saints, who wonder whether it really is as simple as speaking under the influence of the Spirit or if it might mean something more. Drawing on the structure of Nephi’s record and the interactions with angels that Nephi recorded, we learn that this notion of speaking with the tongue of angels has connections with ancient Israelite temple worship and the divine council. Nephi places the act of speaking with the tongue of angels at the culmination of a literary ascent, where one must pass through a gate (baptism) and by a gatekeeper (the Holy Ghost). This progression makes rich allusions to imagery in the visions of Lehi, Nephi, and Isaiah, where these prophets were brought into the presence of the Lord, stood in the divine council, and were commissioned to declare the words of the Lord. Nephi’s carefully crafted narrative teaches that all are both invited and commanded to follow the path that leads to entrance into the Lord’s presence, and ultimately grants membership into the heavenly assembly.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Over the last few years, several Latter-day Saint scholars have commented on how the socio-religious setting of Judah in the late-seventh century bc informs and contextualizes our reading of the Book of Mormon, especially that of 1 and 2 Nephi. Particular emphasis has been placed on how Lehi and Nephi appear to have been in opposition to certain changes implemented by the Deuteronomists at this time, but Laman’s and Lemuel’s views have only been commented on in passing. In this paper, I seek to contextualize Laman and Lemuel within this same socio-religious setting and suggest that, in opposition to Lehi and Nephi, they were supporters of the Deuteronomic reforms.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
It was not long after the Book of Mormon was published before Nephi’s statement that he wrote using “the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians” (1 Nephi 1:2) started raising eyebrows. It has continued to perplex even the best LDS scholars, who have put forward no fewer than five different interpretations of the passage. Some have even pointed out that there seems to be no logical reason for Nephi’s statement, since anyone who could read the text would know what language it was written in.
I suggest that the reason the phrase has remained hard to interpret is that Nephi’s statement continues to be interpreted without any context. And this is so despite the fact that Egyptian writing by Israelite scribes has been known and attested to in Nephi’s very time period since at least the 1960s. Though Latter-day Saint scholars have known and written about these writings, they have generally used them just as evidence for the Book of Mormon or to bolster support for preexisting theories about Nephi’s language, rather than using those texts to create a context in which Nephi’s statement can be interpreted.
A strong case has been made by John A. Tvedtnes and Jeffrey R. Chadwick that Lehi was a metalworker by profession. Although the text gives several indications of Nephi’s (and by implications, Lehi’s) familiarity with the craft of working metals, prominent Book of Mormon scholar John L. Sorenson nonetheless disagreed with this assessment on the grounds that, “it would be highly unlikely that a man who had inherited land and was considered very wealthy (1 Nephi 3:25) would have been a metalworker, for the men in that role tended to be of lower social status and were usually landless.” More recent findings, however, are changing the picture.
Abstract: Latter-day Saint scholars generally agree that “the place called… Nahom,” where Ishmael was buried (1 Nephi 16:34) is identified as the Nihm tribal region in Yemen. Significantly, a funerary stela with the name y s1mʿʾl — the South Arabian equivalent of Ishmael — was found near the Nihm region and dated to ca. 6th century bc. Although it cannot be determined with certainty that this is the Ishmael from the Book of Mormon, circumstantial evidence suggests that such is a possibility worth considering.
Abstract: The story of the Israelites getting bitten in the wilderness by “fiery serpents” and then being miraculously healed by the “serpent of brass” (Numbers 21:4–9) is one of the most frequently told stories in scripture — with many of the retellings occurring in the Book of Mormon. Nephi is the first to refer to the story, doing so on two different occasions (1 Nephi 17:41; 2 Nephi 25:20). In each instance, Nephi utilizes the story for different purposes which dictated how he told the story and what he emphasized. These two retellings of the brazen serpent narrative combined to establish a standard interpretation of that story among the Nephites, utilized (and to some extent developed) by later Nephite prophets. In this study, each of the two occasions Nephi made use of this story are contextualized within the iconography and symbolism of pre-exilic Israel and its influences from surrounding cultures. Then, the (minimal) development evident in how this story was interpreted by Nephites across time is considered, comparing it to the way ancient Jewish and early Christian interpretation of the brazen serpent was adapted over time to address specific needs. Based on this analysis, it seems that not only do Nephi’s initial interpretations fit within the context of pre-exilic Israel, but the Book of Mormon’s use of the brazen serpent symbol is not stagnant; rather, it shows indications of having been a real, living tradition that developed along a trajectory comparable to that of authentic ancient traditions.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: Biblical “minimalists” have sought to undermine or de-emphasize the significance of the Tel Dan inscription attesting to the existence of the “house of David.” Similarly, those who might be called Book of Mormon “minimalists” such as Dan Vogel have marshaled evidence to try to make the nhm inscriptions from south Arabia, corresponding to the Book of Mormon Nahom, seem as irrelevant as possible. We show why the nhm inscriptions still stand as impressive evidence for the historicity of the Book of Mormon.
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > Joshua
Old Testament Scriptures > Judges
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: In this important paper, Noel Reynolds extends his 1980 argument for the chiastic structure of 1 Nephi to demonstrate that 2 Nephi can be seen as a matching structure with a similar nature. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that chiasmus is not a phenomenon that confines itself to the details of words and phrases at the level of scriptural verses but can extend to much larger units of meaning, allowing the rhetorical beauty and emphasis of their overall messages to shine more brilliantly when they are considered as purposefully crafted wholes.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original. See Noel B. Reynolds, “Chiastic Structuring of Large Texts: Second Nephi as a Case Study,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 333–50. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Chiasmus
Abstract: This study provides students of the Book of Mormon with the first comprehensive analysis of the many ways in which the word “spirit” is used in that volume of scripture. It demonstrates how the titles “Holy Ghost,” “Spirit of God,” “Spirit of the Lord,” “Holy Spirit,” and “the Spirit” are used interchangeably to refer to the third member of the Godhead. It also shows that the Holy Ghost was understood to be a separate being. The analysis is thoroughly integrated with scholarly studies of references to the spirit (rûah) in the Hebrew Bible. The functions of the Holy Ghost are also identified and explained.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: In 2012 Joseph Spencer published an analysis of 1st and 2nd Nephi that interprets a phrase in 1 Nephi 19:5 as implying the true break in Nephi’s writings is not between the two scriptural books we now use but rather to be found at the end of 2 Nephi 5 and that the spiritual core (the “more sacred part”) of the small plates is in 2 Nephi chapters 6–30. In this essay I have mobilized several arguments from the canons of literary interpretation and basics of the Hebrew language to demonstrate that this starting point for Spencer’s interpretation of Nephi’s writings is seriously flawed.
[Editor’s Note: This paper repeatedly refers to three passages in which Nephi distinguishes his large and small plates projects. For convenience, the version of those passages from the Critical Text Project are fully provided in Appendix 1.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: In previous and pending publications I have proposed interpretations of various features of Nephi’s writings. In this paper I undertake a comprehensive discussion of the seven passages in which Nephi and his successor Jacob explain the difference between the large and the small plates and describe the divinely mandated profile for each. While most readers of the Book of Mormon have been satisfied with the simple distinction between the large plates in which the large plates are a comprehensive historical record of the Nephite experience and the small plates are a record of selected spiritual experiences, including revelations and prophecies, that approach has been challenged in some academic writing. What has been missing in this literature is a comprehensive and focused analysis of all seven of the textual profiles for these two Nephite records. In the following analysis, I invoke the insights of Hebrew rhetoric as developed by Hebrew Bible scholars over the past half century to articulate a vision of how these scattered explanations are designed and placed to support the larger rhetorical structures Nephi has built into his two books. The conclusions reached support the traditional approach to these texts.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Abstract: This paper brings together contemporary Ancient Near East scholarship in several fields to construct an updated starting point for interpretation of the teachings of the Book of Mormon. It assembles findings from studies of ancient scribal culture, historical linguistics and epigraphy, Hebrew rhetoric, and the history and archaeology of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant, together with the traditions of ancient Israel to construct a contextualized perspective for understanding Lehi, Nephi, and their scribal training as they would have been understood by their contemporaries. Lehi and Nephi are shown to be the beneficiaries of the most advanced scribal training available in seventh-century BCE Jerusalem and prominent bearers of the Josephite textual tradition. These insights give much expanded meaning to Nephi’s early warning that he had been “taught somewhat in all the learning of [his] father” (1 Nephi 1:1). This analysis will be extended in a companion paper to provide the framework that enables the recognition and tracking of an official Nephite scribal school that ultimately provided Mormon with the records that he abridged to produce our Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Noel Reynolds explains how Nephi’s writings can be read in part as a political tract that documents the legitimacy of Nephi’s rule. He discusses the traditions of the Lamanites and Nephites, the events chronicled in the small plates of Nephi, the typologies of Moses and Joseph in Nephi’s writings, and he gives a chiastic analysis of 1 Nephi 3-5.
Abstract: Commentaries on Nephi’s first book tend to interpret the fraternal struggles it reports as historical facts that are meant primarily to invite readers’ evaluative responses. While recognizing the historical character of the facts marshalled by Nephi, this paper will argue that the author transposes that history into an allegory meant to inspire his readers in all times and places to abandon prevailing metaphors of life that are focused on the attainment of worldly goods and pleasures. In their place, Nephi offers the revealed metaphor of life as a day of probation taught to him and his father in their great visions. God’s plan of salvation revealed to them made it clear that the welfare of each human being for eternity would be determined by a divine judgment on how effectively their lives had been transformed by their adherence to the gospel of Jesus Christ in mortality. The message of 1 Nephi is that all men and women are invited to let the Spirit of the Lord soften their hearts and lead them into his covenant path wherein he can prepare them to enter into his presence at the end.
Sets forth biblical prophecies that relate to the Book of Mormon, tells the historical facts surrounding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and provides commentary on 1 Nephi.
Summarizes the book of 1 Nephi and provides a map of the Arabian Peninsula that traces the possible route of Lehi.
Review of Studies in Scripture: 1 Nephi to Alma 29 (1987); and Studies in Scripture: Alma 30 to Moroni (1988), edited by Kent P. Jackson.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Nahom, a proper name given as the burial place of Ishmael in 1 Nephi 16:34, compellingly correlates archaeologically, geographically, and historically to the site of Nehem on the Arabian peninsula. However, as this article exhibits, some of the linguistic and etymological evidence given to connect the Book of Mormon Nahom to the Arabian Nehem is somewhat problematic.
Abstract: In this essay Stephen Ricks takes a close look at the literary structure of a psalm, reintroducing us to chiasmus both in modern and ancient texts, including the Book of Mormon, then uses this literary structure to show how the psalm contains the basic historic credo of the Israelites, as seen in Deuteronomy and mirrored in 1 Nephi 17. Ricks then goes on to show how an essential part of the psalm is a covenant (“a binding agreement between man and God, with sanctions in the event of the violation of the agreement”), which ties it back to the temple. Ricks shows this by pointing out the points of covenant: Preamble, review of God’s relations with Israel, terms of the covenant, formal witnesses, blessings and curses, and reciting the covenant and depositing the text. This form is maintained in Exodus 19, 20, 23, and 24, and in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 1-6. Psalm 105 follows this form, too. In the sacrament prayers, which in Mormon understanding is a covenant, points 1 to 5 are also present.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.
See Stephen D. Ricks, “Psalm 105: Chiasmus, Credo, Covenant, and Temple,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 157–170. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/temple-insights/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: This study considers the Book of Mormon personal names Josh, Nahom, and Alma as test cases for the Book of Mormon as an historically authentic ancient document.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Gives examples of truths the world would have lost if the Book of Mormon had not been brought forth (Alma 41:10; 2 Nephi 2:24-25; 1 Nephi 3:7; Ether 12:26-27). The Book of Mormon corrects some errors in the philosophies and religions of men.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article produces a Mormon view of the historical-critical method of biblical source analysis. “The methods . . . of higher criticism we recognize as proper; but we must disagree as to the correctness of many of the conclusions arrived at by that method.” The author deals with the literary critics by delivering logic against logic, but also establishes the spiritual nature of the Book of Mormon. The first part covers chronology and 1 Nephi.
Bearing witness of the Father and of the Son—and especially of the Son—seems to be the major function of the Holy Ghost, Supreme Witness for God (1 Nephi 12:18).
In 1 Nephi 13–14, Nephi describes major characteristics of the great and abominable church: it persecutes and slays the Saints of God; it seeks wealth and luxury; it is characterized by sexual immortality; it has excised plain and precious things from the scriptures; it has dominion over all the earth; and its fate is destruction by a world war. Nephi’s vision, known as an apocalyptic vision in biblical literature, corresponds well to features of Babylon as described in the apocalyptic Revelation of John (Revelation 17). Clearly, the earliest apostate church and the great and abominable church are the same. A suggested description for this phenomenon, avoiding a denominational name, is hellenized Christianity.
RSC Topics > A — C > Apostasy
One of the complaints leveled against Lehi by his rebellious sons Laman and Lemuel and his wife, Sariah, was that he was a “visionary man” (1 Nephi 2:11; 5:2). Although this term does not appear in the King James translation of the Bible, it accurately reflects the Hebrew word hazon, meaning divine vision.1 Although this Hebrew term appears in connection with true prophets of God, it is also sometimes written with a negative connotation, describing false prophets, especially in the writings of Lehi’s contemporary Jeremiah (Jeremiah 14:14; 23:16).
Swords are an important weapon in the Book of Mormon narrative. The prophet Ether reported that in the final battle of the Jaredites, King Coriantumr, with his sword, “smote off the head” of his relentless enemy Shiz (Ether 15:30). Swords were also used by the earliest Nephites (2 Nephi 5:14) and were among the deadly weapons with which that people were finally “hewn down” at Cumorah by their enemies (Mormon 6:9–10). While the text suggests that some Jaredites and early Nephites may have had metal weaponry (1 Nephi 4:9; 2 Nephi 5:14; Mosiah 8:10–11; Ether 7:9), references to metal weapons, including metal swords, are rare.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Zoram, the servant of Laban, is a character from the Book of Mormon who is only mentioned a few times and on whom little information is given. This article analyzes what information is given in the Book of Mormon and contextualizes its historical background, all coupled with the observations of Latter-day Saint Church leaders and scholars. Insight is provided concerning Zoram’s Hebraic descent in the tribe of Manasseh and his working duties under Laban’s command, along with how all this affected his role in assisting Lehi’s family. The meaning of his name in Hebrew and possible correlations to the meaning of his life’s events are explained. The oath between Nephi and Zoram is discussed, and the debate regarding whether Zoram was a slave or servant is addressed, to show that he was likely a free servant.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Notes briefly some problems he sees with the Book of Mormon and archaeology: the horse did not exist in Mesoamerica contemporaneously with the Nephites; natives with white skin and beards migrated in the Paleo- Mesolithic period; there are no remains of the Middle-Eastern seeds the Nephites planted (1 Nephi 18:25); many aspects of Nephite culture are not evidenced by archaeology.
An update on the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon into various languages, and the mention of certain scriptures that pose translation problems (e.g., 1 Nephi 16:10, 2 Nephi 1:22, 1 Nephi 5:16, Jacob 7:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Topics > Bible: Joseph Smith Translation (JST)
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Exodus
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > Judges
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 6:13–7 — Enoch
Explores themes found in 1 Nephi: the Nephite sojourn in the wilderness, the tree of life, Nephi’s vision, the olive tree, and the Liahona.
RSC Topics > L — P > Prophets
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Uses biblical scriptures to prove the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, gives summary of 1 Nephi, discusses plates (who wrote them, what language was used, their size and description). Explains how Joseph Smith found the plates in the Hill Cumorah, and gives a history of the founding of the LDS church.
The record translated and published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon was composed by Mormon and other authors in some sequence. Here at last we can read the text in its sequence of composition. The result is an utterly original reading of the Book of Mormon. This reading reveals surprises within the text itself. The biography of Mormon composed over three decades shapes the historical narrative; an original introduction to the earliest (and lost) abridgment is recovered from what is now called 3 Nephi; and a groundbreaking revision of the received tradition regarding the Small and Large Plates of Nephi is brought forward. Additional essays by the editor introduce evidence for an order of composition by Mormon, Moroni, and others. Material is presented that 1 Nephi was added in June 1829, and compiled from additional plates recovered from Cumorah. Other essays give new insights into the role of lineage in the transmission of records, speculate on an alternate history of the “lost leaves” of 1828, and introduce a theory of translation essential for scholarly study of the Book of Mormon. And happily, the text has been freed from the constraints of column and verse, and oriented to the epic and historic genres more appropriate for its wingspan and tragic grandeur, for appreciating the complexity of its composition. [Publisher]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article discusses Matthew 12:39 to show that there are no contradictions between 1 Nephi 3:7 and D&C 84:4. The author concludes that the injunction of the Lord to build a temple was hampered by such opposition that the plan of the Lord was merely postponed—”the purposes of the Lord will prevail.”
Abstract: The Book of Mormon purports to be a record that originates from the ancient Near East. The authors of the book claim an Israelite heritage, and throughout the pages of the text can be seen echoes of Israelite religious practice and ideology. An example of such can be seen in how the Book of Mormon depicts God’s divine council, a concept unmistakably found in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). Recognizing the divine council in both the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Mormon may help us appreciate a more nuanced understanding of such theological terms as “monotheism” as well as bolster confidence in the antiquity of the Nephite record.
“I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing beside him to the right and to the left of him” (1 Kings 22:19 NRSV).
“He saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God” (1 Nephi 1:8).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Abstract: Chapters from Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon use the King James Bible as a base text yet frequently vary from it in minor ways, particularly in the earliest text of the Book of Mormon. A disproportionate number of these variants are due to the omission or replacement of words italicized in the KJV. Many of the minor variants were eliminated by the printer for the 1830 edition or by Joseph Smith himself for the 1837 edition, but others remain. Some of the minor variants are easily explained as errors of dictation, transcription, or copying, but others are not so readily accounted for. While some are inconsequential, others negatively affect Isaiah’s text by confusing its meaning or violating grammatical norms. Most have no clear purpose. The disruptive character of these variants suggests they are secondary and were introduced by someone who was relatively uneducated in English grammar and unfamiliar with the biblical passages being quoted. They point to Joseph Smith, the unlearned man who dictated the Book of Mormon translation. Even so, it seems unlikely that a single individual would have intentionally produced these disruptive edits. They are better explained as the product of the well-intentioned but uncoordinated efforts of two individuals, each trying to adapt the Book of Mormon translation for a contemporary audience. Specifically, many of these variants are best explained as the results of Joseph Smith’s attempts to restore missing words to a text from which some words (those italicized in the KJV) had been purposefully omitted by a prior translator. The proposed explanation is consistent with witness accounts of the Book of Mormon translation that portray Joseph Smith visioning a text that was already translated into English. It is also supported by an 1831 newspaper article that describes Joseph Smith dictating one of the Book of Mormon’s biblical chapters minus the KJV’s italicized words. An understanding of the human element in the Book of Mormon translation can aid the student of scripture in distinguishing the “mistake of men” from those variants that are integral to the Book of Mormon’s Bible quotations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Topics > Translation and Publication > KJV
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Abstract: Joseph Smith used the term the Urim and Thummim to refer to the pair of seer stones, or “interpreters,” he obtained for translating the Book of Mormon as well as to other seer stones he used in a similar manner. According to witness accounts, he would put the stone(s) in a hat and pull the hat close around his face to exclude the light, and then he would see the translated text of the Book of Mormon. By what property or principle these stones enabled Joseph Smith to see the translated text has long been a matter of conjecture among Mormons, but the stones have commonly been understood as divinely powered devices analogous to the latest human communications technology. An alternative view, presented here, is that the stones had no technological function but simply served as aids to faith. In this view, the stones did not themselves translate or display text. They simply inspired the faith Joseph Smith needed to see imaginative visions, and in those visions, he saw the text of the Book of Mormon, just as Lehi and other ancient seers saw sacred texts in vision. Although Joseph Smith also saw visions without the use of stones, the logistics of dictating a book required the ability to see the translated text at will, and that was what the faith-eliciting stones would have made possible. And now he translated them by the means of those two stones.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: In describing the operation of the spindles in the Liahona, Nephi’s statement that “the one pointed the way” in 1 Nephi 16:10 is frequently taken to mean that one of the two spindles indicated the direction to travel. However, Nephi’s apparent use of the Hebrew word האחד (ha’echad)
may imply a different mechanism in which the direction was being shown when both operated as one. If so, there may be added symbolism of unity and oneness inherent in Nephi’s and Alma’s descriptions of the Liahona. Additionally, I provide a detailed analysis of words and phrases used by Nephi and Alma to describe the Liahona which potentially reveal intriguing Hebrew wordplay in the text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Dictionaries, especially Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, can be useful and informative resources to help us better understand the language of the Book of Mormon. This article compares definitions of words and phrases found in the book of 1 Nephi, using Webster’s 1828 dictionary and the New Oxford American Dictionary as references. By comparing these two dictionaries, we can see how word usage and meanings have changed since the original publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830. We can also gain a greater appreciation of the text of the Book of Mormon in a way that its first readers probably understood it.
Abstract: The Book of Mormon sheds light on a “great mystery” located in John 10:16 (D&C 10:64). In this paper, using a comparative method that traces intersecting pastoral imagery, I argue that John 10:16–18 (as opposed to merely John 10:16) not only refers to Jesus’s visit to the Lehites in Bountiful and the lost tribes of Israel (the standard LDS view), but that it has a scripturally warranted covenant-connection to the emergence and dissemination of the Nephite record. Specifically, the Book of Mormon, according to the Good Shepherd (3 Nephi 15:12–16:20), effectively serves as his recognizable voice to the inhabitants of the earth across time and space. The Nephite record has come forth so that the Lord’s sheep (those who hear his voice in and through that record in the final dispensation) may be safely gathered into the fold before he comes in glory to reign as a second King David. The Nephite record’s coming forth to eventually establish peace on earth was foretold by prophets such as Isaiah (Isaiah 52:7–10), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:23–25; 37:15–26), and Nephi (1 Nephi 13:34–37, 40–14:2; 1 Nephi 22:16–28). The value of this comparative approach is to recast our understanding of various passages of scripture, even as additional value is assigned to the Nephite record as the covenant of peace.
“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
One of the best-known sections of the Book of Mormon tells the story of the journey of Lehi and his family from Jerusalem to the new promised land in the American continent. Yet, since the small plates were intended to contain the “things of God” (1 Nephi 6:4), why was this account included on the small plates while other things that seem to be more the “things of God” (such as the “many things which [Lehi] saw in visions and in dreams”—1 Nephi 1:16) were left out? Quite probably, Nephi, the author of this section, consciously wrote his account of the wilderness journey in a way that would remind the reader of the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. He did this to prove that God loved and cared for the Nephites, just as the Exodus from Egypt was proof of God’s favor for the children of Israel. Therefore, this story of the journey truly is about the things of God and does belong on the small plates.
In response to his calling as a member of the First Presidency, Tanner quotes Nephi who said “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded” (1 Nephi 3:7).
The world of the Nephite nation was born out of the world of seventh century bc Jerusalem. The traditions and tragedies of the nation of Judah set the stage for what would happen over the next ten centuries of Book of Mormon history. In his opening statements, Nephi tells of an explosion of divinely commissioned ministers preaching in the holy city. He declares that Jerusalem was a place of “many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent” (1 Nephi 1:4). Nephi alludes to the prophetic service of Jeremiah (c. bc 626-587), Zephaniah (c. bc 640-609, Obadiah (c. bc 587), Nahum2 Habakkuk, Urijah, and possibly many others. This disproportionate number of prophets in the city was accompanied by an increasing wave of imitators. Amidst this apparent competition between valid and invalid prophetic representatives, Jeremiah sets a standard of who can be trusted in this visionary arena. As Stephen Smoot has written, “The Book of Mormon exhibits, in many respects, an intimate familiarity with ancient Israelite religious concepts. One such example is the Book of Mormon’s portrayal of the divine council. Following a lucid biblical pattern, the Book of Mormon provides a depiction of the divine council and several examples of those who were introduced into the heavenly assembly and made partakers in divine secrets.” It is this rich heritage of prophetic representatives of deity that so richly influenced Book of Mormon authors. Of these many prophets who were actively preaching in Jerusalem, Jeremiah stands out in Nephi’s writings (1 Nephi 5:13; 7:14). Jeremiah continues to be an influence on Nephite culture throughout their history (Helaman 8:20; cf. 3 Nephi 19:4). It will be Jeremiah’s writings that will influence the Nephite perspective on “Call Narratives” and views of the “Divine Council” throughout the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Abstract: This study assesses some of the interpretations of the name Liahona, which are unsatisfactory from a linguistic perspective. Since a dialect of Hebrew is the most likely underlying language of the Book of Mormon, the approach taken in this study parses the word Liahona into three meaningful segments in Hebrew: l-iah-ona; a Biblical Hebrew transliteration would be l-Yāh-Ɂōnấ. This name is a grammatical construction that attaches the prepositional prefix l- to Yāh, the name of “the Lord,” followed by the noun *Ɂōnấ. The preposition l- in this context denotes the following name as the agent or the one who is responsible for the following noun, i.e., l-Yāh designates the Lord as the agent, author, or producer of the *Ɂōnấ. Languages are complex, and etymological conjectures in ancient languages are hypothetical; therefore, the explanations and justifications presented here, of necessity, are speculative in nature. Etymological explanations have to involve the complexity of linguistics and sound changes. The hoped-for result of this study is that a simple and reasonable explanation of the meaning of Liahona will emerge from the complexity, and a more reasonable translation of Liahona will be the result.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Lists verses where mistakes were made by the engraver of gold plates and the way in which the engraver corrected them. These include 1 Nephi 2:41, 1 Nephi 3:245, and Alma 14:112 (RLDS versification).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Though the Book of Mormon expressly states that it is written in the “language of the Egyptians,” (1 Nephi 1:2), nevertheless, it quite clearly reflects a number of Hebrew idioms and contains numerous Hebrew words. This is no doubt due to the fact that the Nephites retained the Hebrew language, albeit in an altered form (See Mormon 9:35). Moreover, it is not impossible that the plates themselves contained Hebrew words, idioms,and syntax written in Egyptian cursive script (Moroni’s “reformed Egyptian”—see Mormon 9:32). In this present treatise, we will not be concerned so much with the methodology involved in the writing of the Book of Mormon as with the evidence for the use of Hebrew expressions, or of expressions akin thereto. Only the more important examples will be cited.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In the heading before chapter 1 of 1 Nephi, we find Nephi’s outline of his record. It begins, “An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons,” and ends, “This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.” Sometimes these signposts appear before a section to tell us what is to come. Other times, they appear at the end to explain, recap, or mark the end of what has been said. For lack of a better word, I call them colophons, though technically colophons are notes or guidelines after a text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
A booklet that presents a book-by-book summary of the contents of the Book of Mormon from 1 Nephi—Moroni. Suggests that young people may be wise to devote their attention to the lives of Book of Mormon prophets and leave the words of Isaiah until they have more background to aid their understanding.
Gives a brief overview of the setting and author of 1 Nephi up to the period of Lehi’s examination of the plates of brass. Includes notes and comments on the first several verses of 1 Nephi, including a discussion of Hebrew terms.
Text of 1 Nephi is arranged according to parallelistic and poetic style. Includes notes and comparisons of different editions of the Book of Mormon.
Gospel Doctrine Sunday School manual published in Tahitian. Contains 46 lessons. Lessons begin with 1 Nephi and continue through Moroni.
A study aid that covers the first one-half of the Book of Mormon. Comprises approximately 206 historical questions, with scriptural references and approximately 167 doctrinal questions, also with scriptural references.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The Book of Mormon begins at a pivotal point in Israelite history and in the history of the ancient Near East more broadly. With the fall of Assyria and the power vacuum that grew out of Assyria’s demise, questions of sovereignty were of paramount concern. It was at that time that Lehi led his family into the wilderness after witnessing the impending destruction of Jerusalem in vision. Nephi, “desir[ing] to know the things that his father had seen” (1 Nephi 11:1), describes his own vision, where he saw the coming of the “Son of God” (1 Nephi 11:7), the destruction of his own people, and the “formation of a great church” (1 Nephi 13:4) that would “destroy the saints of God” (1 Nephi 13:9). These elements, along with others in Nephi’s vision, seem to reflect the underlying insecurity of the time concerning divinely appointed sovereignty and the right to rule. Because of the deeply personal nature of Nephi’s vision and its pressing relevance, we might expect it to contain elements that represent the cultural and social realities of his time. When we approach Nephi’s vision in this way, surprising parallels can be found between the “great church” of his vision and the Assyrian Empire. These parallels help provide a new context for viewing Nephi’s vision that can heighten our awareness of the loving kindness the “Son of God” displays as the universal sovereign.
Lehi’s dream of the tree of life is well known in Latter- day Saint circles. Its relationship to the vision of Nephi (1 Nephi 11–14), however, may not be so well known. This paper examines the proposition that Nephi’s vision was an expansive, prophetic interpretation of Lehi’s dream of the tree of life; gives an alternate interpretation of Lehi’s dream as a guide to the afterlife; and links Lehi’s dream, the Garden of Eden, and the temple.
This article demonstrates certain similarities existing between texts in 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon and a little-known document entitled “The Narrative of Zosimus.” The Narrative’s core material was written originally in Hebrew and appears to be at least as old as the time of Christ, and perhaps much older. There is no evidence that any knowledge about the Narrative of Zosimus existed in any English-speaking land prior to the publication of the Book of Mormon.
John W. Welch, “Narrating Homicide Chiastically: Why Scriptures about Killings Use Chiasmus,” examines eight chiastic structures that pertain to homicides—three legal texts and five homicide narratives. The legal texts include “The Case of the Blasphemer (Leviticus 24:13–23)” and “The Law of Homicide (Numbers 35).” The narratives include “Abimelech’s Killing of Seventy of His Brothers (Judges 9:56–57)”; “The Case of Phinehas (Numbers 25)”; and “The Slaying of Laban (1 Nephi 4:4–27).” Welch concludes that these eight structures assist readers in recognizing the broader context of each homicide passage and “to discern the key central point on which the case turns.” Welch’s paper also contributes on a further level by cataloguing thirteen possible reasons why authors employed chiasmus when narrating a homicide. These purposes include, “propelling logic and persuasiveness,” “creating order,” “restoring equilibrium,” “processing circumstances,” “probing relevancy,” and “reinforcing memory.”
With fears of faith crisis and disaffection rising like seawater, Latter-day Saint apologetic discourse has gone forth, like Noah’s dove, in search of living branches in which the sap runs. Defenders of the faith, including those addressed here, have returned with new academic sophistication, new critical interpretations, and new methods to address doubt among Latter-day Saints. In this review essay, I propose a pair of critical terms, the semantic and the performative, with which to consider this new apologetic discourse. I open with a brief reading of chapters 8 and 11 of 1 Nephi-Lehi’s dream of the tree and Nephi’s messianic vision-which, I’ll argue, offer a neat bifocal lens with which to consider these two modes of religious expression.
The author argues that the Nephites possessed the higher priesthood during the era before the resurrected Jesus visited the Nephites (citing 1 Nephi 5:14-16, Alma 10:3, Mosiah 25:21, and others).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Comments upon several prophecies concerning the Lamanites, e.g., 1 Nephi 7:15 prophesies of their scattering by the gentiles and 1 Nephi 7:17, 18 prophesies that the Lamanites will be nourished by the Gentiles.
A testimony that Columbus was inspired by God, to support 1 Nephi 13:10-12. Includes a brief summary of Columbus’s life, highlighting points that show he was inspired, and quotes Columbus’s words that God made him the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth, which is spoken of in the book of Revelation, and showed him the spot where to find it.
Editor’s Note: This article is drawn from a chapter in Samuel Zinner’s new book entitled Textual and Comparative Explorations in 1 and 2 Enoch (Provo, UT: The Interpreter Foundation/Eborn Books, 2014). The book is now available online for purchase (e.g., Amazon, FairMormon Bookstore) and will be available in selected bookstores in October 2014. The other new temple books from Interpreter are also now available for purchase. Click here for more details.
The essay traces lines of continuity between ancient middle eastern traditions of Asherah in her various later Jewish, Christian, and Mormon forms. Especially relevant in Jewish texts are Lady Wisdom (Proverbs 8; Sirach 24; Baruch 3-4), Daughter of Zion (Lamentations; Isaiah); Lady Zion and Mother Jerusalem (4 Ezra), Binah in kabbalah etc. The divine feminine in the Jewish-Christian texts Odes of Solomon 19 and Shepherd of Hermas is examined, as well as in Pauline Christian texts, namely, the Letter to the Galatians and the writings of Irenaeus (Against Heresies and Apostolic Preaching). Dependence of Hermas on the Parables of Enoch is documented. The essay identifies parallels between some of the above ancient sources and traditions about Zion and other forms of the feminine divine in 19th century America, specifically in the Mormon scriptures (Moses 7 and Nephi 11). While recognizing the corporate nature of the Enochic city of Zion in Moses 7, the essay argues that this Zion also parallels the hypostatic Lady Zion of Jewish canonical and extracanonical scriptures, especially 4 Ezra. The essay also points how the indigenous trope of Mother Earth parallels forms of the divine feminine stretching from the ancient middle eastern Asherah, the Jewish Lady Wisdom and Shekhinah, the Christian Holy Spirit, to the Mormon Enochic Zion.
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 6:13–7 — Enoch
2 Nephi
This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume examines the first two books of Nephi, with articles on focusing on the experiences and writings of the first two Book of Mormon prophets. Contents “Nephi’s Outline” Noel B. Reynolds “Lehi’s Personal Record: Quest for a Missing Source” S. Kent Brown “1 and 2 Nephi: An Inspiring Whole” Frederick W. Axelgard “The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon” Noel B. Reynolds “The Throne-Theophany and Prophetic Commission in 1 Nephi: A Form-Critical Analysis” Blake T. Ostler “The Psalm of Nephi: A Lyric Reading” Steven P. Sondrup “The Political Dimension in Nephi’s Small Plates” Noel B. Reynolds
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part 1,by Royal Skousen, is the first part of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. Covering the title page through 2 Nephi 10, it analyzes every significant variant in the original and printer’s manuscripts and in 20 important editions of the Book of Mormon (from the 1830 edition to the 1981 edition). The task of this volume is to use the earliest textual sources and patterns of systematic usage to recover the original English-language text. Available August 2004.
FARMS and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the release of part 2 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 2 analyzes the text from 2 Nephi 11 through Mosiah 16.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
The prophetic teachings in 2 Nephi offer great hope and comfort as America is threatened by the crisis of World War I. Other prophecies in the Book of Mormon add to the testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God.
The pivotal point in history was the coming of Christ. No greater prophecies exist that looked forward to Christ than the Book of Mormon; they are unexcelled for their detail and clarity. 1 Nephi 15 declares the restoration of the Jews. Lamanites have been victims of their conqueror’s injustice, but their hour of bondage is passing (1 Nephi 15, 2 Nephi 30). Miracles performed among the Nephites can be arranged into three categories: healing the sick and raising the dead, deliverance of God’s servants, and the punishment of the wicked.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
A common method to scripture study among Latter-day Saints is to search a broad range of verses by topic. While certainly useful, such a fragmented approach does not illuminate thematic elements and patterns that emerge only when surveying entire sections of scripture. To illustrate, the author of this article analyzes the first two books in the Book of Mormon, 1 and 2 Nephi. He suggests that Nephi was following an outline, and he identifies two dominant themes: Nephi’s emphasis on record keeping and his constant association between events of his own time and events recorded in ancient scriptures. The author concludes that a more holistic approach to scripture study presents challenges to the reader but has great merit.
Provides a summary description of 2 Nephi in sections: Lehi’s admonitions and testament to his posterity before his death (1:1-4:11); Lehi pronounces blessings on all his children and Nephi writes a small historical segment (4:12-5:34); a sermon by Jacob (chapters 6-10), and a lengthy written discourse from Nephi (chapters 11-33) in which he quotes large portions of Isaiah.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
At the time Jacob gave his speech in 2 Nephi 6–10, the Nephites had already been driven from two lands of inheritance and felt an ongoing concern of being cut off from God’s promises. Belnap illustrates that Jacob’s speech answers these concerns through emphasizing and expounding on the covenantal relationship made possible by God acting as the Divine Warrior. Jacob quotes Isaiah passages in his discourse and in some instances makes his own additions to emphasize important aspects. He illustrates how the Divine Warrior provides the hardships, knowledge, and power for an individual to become a divine warrior, and he discusses the Divine Warrior’s defeat over the monster of Death. The promises made by the Divine Warrior can provide hope and assurance to all.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Perhaps no theme in the Book of Mormon resonates so powerfully to modern readers as that of separation from and reconciliation with God. The sense of being cut off, isolated, or driven out is attested throughout the book. Similarly, messages from the Book of Mormon prophets of hope, reconciliation, and communion with God seek to alleviate the fears and depression that arise from loneliness or abandonment. This theme is particularly evident in Jacob’s great speech recorded in 2 Nephi 6–10 and the two “last” speeches from Moroni in Mormon 8 and Moroni 10. Jacob and Moroni both address separation from and reconciliation with God, providing a template for the reader to understand their own experiences. In particular, these prophets quote the words of Isaiah to teach how sacred covenants reconcile us to God.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
This article says that the precepts of men are in conflict with the principles of God. Those who choose to follow the revelations of God are not deceived (2 Nephi 4:34; 28:14). The Lord does not give reasons for every commandment, some things need to be taken on faith. Only by loving God first can we best love and serve our fellowmen.
Abstract: Captain Moroni cites a prophecy regarding Joseph of Egypt and his posterity that is not recorded in the Bible. He accompanies the prophecy with a symbolic action to motivate his warriors to covenant to be faithful to their prophet Helaman and to keep the commandments lest God would not preserve them as he had Joseph.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Nephi warned future readers that the Book of Mormon was not a history (2 Nephi 5:32-33). Rather, the book is an instrument to bring people to Christ. Nephi, Lehi, Abinadi, Jacob, Alma, and other prophets knew the mission of Christ and taught it.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: This essay makes a compelling argument for Jacob, the brother of Nephi, having deep knowledge of ancient Israelite temple ritual, concepts, and imagery, based on two of Jacob’s sermons in 2 Nephi 9 and Jacob 1-3. For instance, he discusses the duty of the priest to expiate sin and make atonement before the Lord and of entering God’s presence. Jacob quotes temple-related verses from the Old Testament, like Psalm 95. The allusions to the temple are not forced, but very subtle. Of course, Jacob’s central topic, the atonement, is a temple topic itself, and its opposite, impurity, is also expressed by Jacob in terms familiar and central to an ancient temple priest. The temple is also shown as a gate to heaven.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.
See David E. Bokovoy, “Ancient Temple Imagery in the Sermons of Jacob,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 171–186. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/temple-insights/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Abstract: In sermons and writings, Jacob twice quotes the prophecy of Isaiah 11:11 (“the Lord [ʾădōnāy] shall set his hand again [yôsîp] the second time to gather the remnant of his people”). In 2 Nephi 6:14 and Jacob 6:2, Jacob uses Isaiah 11:11 as a lens through which he interprets much lengthier prophetic texts that detail the restoration, redemption, and gathering of Israel: namely, Isaiah 49:22–52:2 and Zenos’s Allegory of the Olive Trees (Jacob 5). In using Isaiah 11:11 in 2 Nephi 6:14, Jacob, consistent with the teaching of his father Lehi (2 Nephi 2:6), identifies ʾădōnāy (“the Lord”) in Isaiah 11:11 as “the Messiah” and the one who will “set himself again the second time to recover” his people (both Israel and the righteous Gentiles who “believe in him”) and “manifest himself unto them in great glory.” This recovery and restoration will be so thoroughgoing as to include the resurrection of the dead (see 2 Nephi 9:1–2, 12–13). In Jacob 6:2, Jacob equates the image of the Lord “set[ting] his hand again [yôsîp] the second time to recover his people” (Isaiah 11:11) to the Lord of the vineyard’s “labor[ing] in” and “nourish[ing] again” the vineyard to “bring forth again” (cf. Hebrew yôsîp) the natural fruit (Jacob 5:29–33, 51–77) into the vineyard. All of this suggests that Jacob saw Isaiah 49:22–52:2 and Zenos’s allegory (Jacob 5) as telling essentially the same story. For Jacob, the prophetic declaration of Isaiah 11:11 concisely summed up this story, describing divine initiative and iterative action to “recover” or gather Israel in terms of the verb yôsîp. Jacob, foresaw this the divine action as being accomplished through the “servant” and “servants” in Isaiah 49–52, “servants” analogous to those described by Zenos in his allegory. For Jacob, the idiomatic use of yôsîp in Isaiah 11:11 as he quotes it in 2 Nephi 6:14 and Jacob 6:2 and as repeated throughout Zenos’s allegory (Jacob 5) reinforces the patriarch Joseph’s statement preserved in 2 Nephi 3 that this figure would be a “Joseph” (yôsēp).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Abstract: Moses 1:41 echoes or plays on the etymological meaning of the name Joseph — “may he [Yahweh] add,” as the Lord foretells to Moses the raising up of a future figure through whom the Lord’s words, after having been “taken” (away) from the book that Moses would write, “shall be had again among the children of men.” Moses 1:41 anticipates and employs language reminiscent of the so-called biblical canon formulas, possible additions to biblical texts meant to ensure the texts’ stability by warning against “adding” or “diminishing” (i.e., “taking away”) from them (e.g., Deuteronomy 4:2; 5:22 [MT 5:18]; 12:32 [MT 13:1]; cf. Revelation 22:18– 19). This article presupposes that the vision of Moses presents restored text that was at some point recorded in Hebrew.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 1 — Visions of Moses
Abstract: Although not evident at first glance, shared terminology and phraseology in Malachi 3:1 (3 Nephi 24:1) and Moroni 7:29–32 suggest textual dependency of the latter on the former. Jesus’s dictation of Malachi 3–4 to the Lamanites and Nephites at the temple in Bountiful, as recorded and preserved on the plates of Nephi, helped provide Mormon a partial scriptural and doctrinal basis for his teachings on the ministering of angels, angels/messengers of the covenant, the “work” of “the covenants of the Father,” and “prepar[ing] the way” in his sermon as preserved in Moroni 7. This article explores the implications of Mormon’s use of Malachi 3:1. It further explores the meaning of the name Malachi (“[Yahweh is] my messenger,” “my angel”) in its ancient Israelite scriptural context and the temple context within which Jesus uses it in 3 Nephi 24:1.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Abstract: Beyond his autobiographic use of Joseph’s name and biography, Nephi also considered the name Joseph to have long-term prophetic value. As a Semitic/Hebrew name, Joseph derives from the verb yāsap (to “add,” “increase,” “proceed to do something,” “do something again,” and to “do something more”), thus meaning “may he [God] add,” “may he increase,” or “may he do more/again.” Several of the prophecies of Isaiah, in which Nephi’s soul delighted and for which he offers extensive interpretation, prominently employ forms of yāsap in describing iterative and restorative divine action (e.g., Isaiah 11:11; 26:15; 29:14; cf. 52:1). The prophecy of the coming forth of the sealed book in Isaiah 29 employs the latter verb three times (Isaiah 29:1, 14, and 19). Nephi’s extensive midrash of Isaiah 29 in 2 Nephi 25–30 (especially 2 Nephi 27) interpretively expands Isaiah’s use of the yāsap idiom(s). Time and again, Nephi returns to the language of Isaiah 29:14 (“I will proceed [yôsīp] to do a marvelous work”), along with a similar yāsap-idiom from Isaiah 11:11 (“the Lord shall set his hand again [yôsîp] … to recover the remnant of his people”) to foretell the Latter-day forthcoming of the sealed book to fulfill the Lord’s ancient promises to the patriarch. Given Nephi’s earlier preservation of Joseph’s prophecies regarding a future seer named “Joseph,” we can reasonably see Nephi’s emphasis on iterative divine action in his appropriation of the Isaianic use of yāsap as a direct and thematic allusion to this latter-day “Joseph” and his role in bringing forth additional scripture. This additional scripture would enable the meek to “increase,” just as Isaiah and Nephi had prophesied. “May [God] Add”/“May He Increase”.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
The Hebrew Bible explains the meaning of the personal and tribal name “Judah”—from which the term “Jews” derives—in terms of “praising” or “thanking” (*ydy/ydh). In other words, the “Jews” are those who are to be “praised out of a feeling of gratitude.” This has important implications for the Lord’s words to Nephi regarding Gentile ingratitude and antisemitism: “And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them?” (2 Nephi 29:4). Gentile Christian antisemitism, like the concomitant doctrine of supersessionism, can be traced (in part) to widespread misunderstanding and misapplication of Paul’s words regarding Jews and “praise” (Romans 2:28-29). Moreover, the strongest scriptural warnings against antisemitism are to be found in the Book of Mormon, which also offers the reassurance that the Jews are still “mine ancient covenant people” (2 Nephi 29:4-5) and testifies of the Lord’s love and special concern for them.
Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains several quotations from the Hebrew Bible that have been juxtaposed on the basis of shared words or phrases, this for the purpose of interpreting the cited scriptural passages in light of one another. This exegetical technique — one that Jesus himself used — came to be known in later rabbinic times as Gezera Shawa (“equal statute”). In several additional instances, the use of Gezera Shawa converges with onomastic wordplay. Nephi uses a Gezera Shawa involving Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 twice on the basis of the yāsap verb forms yôsîp/yôsīp (2 Nephi 25:17 and quoting the Lord in 2 Nephi 29:1) to create a stunning wordplay on the name “Joseph.” In another instance, King Benjamin uses Gezera Shawa involving Psalm 2:7, 2 Samuel 7:14, and Deuteronomy 14:1 (1–2) on the basis of the Hebrew noun bēn (“son”; plural bānîm, bānôt, “sons” and “daughters”) on which to build a rhetorical wordplay on his own name. This second wordplay, which further alludes to Psalm 110:1 on account of the noun yāmin (“right hand”), was ready-made for his temple audience who, on the occasion of Mosiah’s coronation, were receiving their own “endowment” to become “sons” and “daughters” at God’s “right hand.” The use of Gezera Shawa was often christological — e.g., Jacob’s Gezera Shawa on (“stone”) in Jacob 4:15–17 and Alma’s Gezera Shawa on Zenos’s and Zenock’s phrase “because of thy Son” in Alma 33:11–16 (see Alma 33:4 17). Taken together, these examples suggest that we should pay more attention to scripture’s use of scripture and, in particular, the use of this exegetical practice. In doing so, we will better discern the messages intended by ancient prophets whose words the Book of Mormon preserves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: This article examines Jacob’s statement “God hath taken away his plainness from [the Jews]” (Jacob 4:14) as one of several scriptural texts employing language that revolves around the Deuteronomic canon formulae (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32 [13:1]; cf. Revelation 22:18‒19). It further examines the textual dependency of Jacob 4:13‒14 on Nephi’s earlier writings, 1 Nephi 13 and 2 Nephi 25 in particular. The three texts in the Hebrew Bible that use the verb bʾr (Deuteronomy 1:5; 27:8; Habakkuk 2:2) — each having covenant and “law” implications — all shed light on what Nephi and Jacob may have meant when they described “plain” writing, “plain and precious things [words],” “words of plainness,” etc. Jacob’s use of Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree as a means of describing the Lord’s restoring or re-“adding” what had been “taken away,” including his use of Isaiah 11:11 (Jacob 6:2) as a hermeneutical lens for the entire allegory, further connects everything from Jacob 4:14 (“God hath taken away”) to Jacob 6:2 with the name “Joseph.” Genesis etiologizes the name Joseph in terms of divine “taking away” (ʾāsap) and “adding” (yōsēp; Genesis 30:23‒24; cf. Numbers 36:1‒5). God’s “tak[ing] away his plainness” involved both divine and human agency, but the restoration of his plainness required divine agency. For Latter-day Saints, it is significant the Lord accomplished this through a “Joseph.”.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Plainness
Abstract: Paronomasia in the Hebrew text of Exodus creates narrative links between the name Miriam (Mary) and the “waters” (mayim) of the Re[e]d Sea from which Israel is “pulled” and the nearby “bitter” waters of Marah. Nephi sees Mary (Mariam), the mother of Jesus, associated with the “love of God,” and thus to both “the tree of life” and “the fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25) vis-à-vis “the fountain of filthy water” (1 Nephi 12:16). Mormon was named after “the land of Mormon” (3 Nephi 5:12). He associates his given name with “waters,” which he describes as a “fountain of pure water” (Mosiah 18:5), and with the good “desires” and “love” that Alma the Elder’s converts manifest at the time of their baptism (Mosiah 18:8, 10‒11, 21, 28). Mormon’s accounts of the baptisms of Alma the Elder’s people, Limhi’s people, the people at Sidom (Alma 15:13), and a few repentant Nephites at Zarahemla who responded to Samuel the Lamanite’s preaching (Helaman 16:1), anticipate Jesus’s eventual reestablishment of the church originally founded by Alma, the baptism of his disciples, and their reception of the Holy Ghost — “that which they most desired” (see 3 Nephi 19:9‒14, 24). Desire serves as a key term that links all of these baptismal scenes. Mormon’s analogy of “the bitter fountain” and its “bitter water” vis-à-vis the “the good fount” and its “good water” — which helps set up his discussion of “the pure love of Christ,” which “endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47‒48) — should be understood against the backdrop of Lehi’s dream as Nephite “cultural narrative” and the history of Alma the Elder’s people at the waters of Mormon. As Mormon’s people lose the “love [which] endureth by faith unto prayer” (Moroni 8:26; see also Moroni 8:14‒17; 9:5) they become like the “bitter fountain” (Moroni 7:11) and do not endure to the end in faith, hope, and charity on the covenant path (cf. 2 Nephi 31:20; Moroni 7:40‒88; 8:24‒26). The name Mormon (“desire is enduring” or “love is enduring”), as borne by the prophet-editor of the Book of Mormon, embraces the whole cloud of these associations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: The name Jacob (yaʿăqōb) means “may he [i.e., God] protect,” or “he has protected.” As a hypocoristic masculine volitive verbal form,
it is a kind of blessing upon, or prayer on behalf of the one so named that he will receive divine protection and safety (cf. Deuteronomy 33:28). Textual evidence from Nephi’s writings suggests that his brother Jacob’s protection was a primary concern of their parents, Lehi and Sariah. Lehi saw Nephi as the specific means of divine protection for Jacob, his “first born in the wilderness.” Moreover, the term “protector” is used twice in LDS scripture, in both instances by Jacob himself (2 Nephi 6:2; Jacob 1:10), this in reference to Nephi, who became the “great protector” of the Nephites in general and Jacob in particular. All of the foregoing is to be understood against the backdrop of the patriarch Jacob’s biography. Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, and Enos all expressed their redemption in terms reminiscent of their ancestor Jacob’s being “redeemed … from all evil,” a process which included Jacob “wrestling” a divine “man” and preparing him to be reconciled to his estranged brother by an atoning “embrace.” Mormon employed the biblical literary etymology of the name Jacob, in the terms “supplant,” “usurp,” or “rob” as a basis for Lamanite accusations that Nephites had usurped them or “robbed” them of their birthright. Mormon, aware of the high irony, shows that the Gadianton [Gaddianton] robbers take up the same polemic. The faithful Lehites, many of whom were descendants of two Jacobs, prayed “May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection” (3 Nephi 4:30). By and large, they enjoyed the God of Jacob’s protection until they ceased to call upon their true protector for it.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: Nephi’s preservation of the conditional “first blessing” that Lehi bestowed upon his elder sons (Laman, Lemuel, and Sam) and the sons of Ishmael, contains a dramatic wordplay on the name Ishmael in 2 Nephi 1:28–29. The name Ishmael — “May El hear [him],” “May El hearken,” or “El Has Hearkened” — derives from the Semitic (and later Hebrew) verb šāmaʿ (to “hear,” “hearken,” or “obey”). Lehi’s rhetorical wordplay juxtaposes the name Ishmael with a clustering of the verbs “obey” and “hearken,” both usually represented in Hebrew by the verb šāmaʿ. Lehi’s blessing is predicated on his sons’ and the sons of Ishmael’s “hearkening” to Nephi (“if ye will hearken”). Conversely, failure to “hearken” (“but if ye will not hearken”) would precipitate withdrawal of the “first blessing.” Accordingly, when Nephi was forced to flee from Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, Lehi’s “first blessing” was activated for Nephi and all those who “hearkened” to his spiritual leadership, including members of Ishmael’s family (2 Nephi 5:6), while it was withdrawn from Laman, Lemuel, the sons of Ishmael, and those who sympathized with them, “inasmuch as they [would] not hearken” unto Nephi (2 Nephi 5:20). Centuries later, when Ammon and his brothers convert many Lamanites to the truth, Mormon revisits Lehi’s conditional blessing and the issue of “hearkening” in terms of Ishmael and the receptivity of the Ishmaelites. Many Ishmaelite-Lamanites “hear” or “hearken” to Ammon et al., activating Lehi’s “first blessing,” while many others — including the ex-Nephite Amalekites/Amlicites — do not, thus activating (or reactivating) Lehi’s curse.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Nephi’s record on the small plates includes seven distinct scenes in which Nephi depicts the anger of his brethren against him. Each of these scenes includes language that recalls Genesis 37:5‒10, 20, the biblical scene in which Joseph’s brothers “hate him yet the more [wayyôsipû ʿôd] for his dreams and for his words” because they fear that he intends to “reign” and to “have dominion” or rule over them (Genesis 37:8). Later, they plot to kill him (Genesis 37:20). Two of these “anger” scenes culminate in Nephi’s brothers’ bowing down before him in the same way that Joseph’s brothers bowed down in obeisance before him. Nephi permutes the expression wayyôsipû ʿôd in terms of his brothers’ “continuing” and “increasing” anger, which eventually ripens into a hatred that permanently divides the family. Nephi uses language that represents other yāsap/yôsîp + verbal-complement constructions in these “anger” scenes, usage that recalls the name Joseph in such a way as to link Nephi with his ancestor. The most surprising iteration of Nephi’s permuted “Joseph” wordplay occurs in his own psalm (2 Nephi 4:16‒35).
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: As John Gee noted two decades ago, Nephi is best explained as a form of the Egyptian word nfr, which by Lehi’s time was pronounced neh-fee, nay-fee, or nou-fee. Since this word means “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair,” I subsequently posited several possible examples of wordplay on the name Nephi in the Book of Mormon, including Nephi’s own autobiographical introduction (1 Nephi 1:1: “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents … having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God”). It should be further pointed out, however, that Nephi also concludes his personal writings on the small plates using the terms “good” and “goodness of God.” This terminological bracketing constitutes a literary device, used anciently, called inclusio or an envelope figure. Nephi’s literary emphasis on “good” and “goodness” not only befits his personal name, but fulfills the Lord’s commandment, “thou shalt engraven many things … which are good in my sight” (2 Nephi 5:30), a command which also plays on the name Nephi. Nephi’s autobiographical introduction and conclusion proved enormously influential on subsequent writers who modeled autobiographical and narrative biographical introductions on 1 Nephi 1:1-2 and based sermons — especially concluding sermons — on Nephi’s “good” conclusion in 2 Nephi 33. An emphasis in all these sermons is that all “good”/“goodness” ultimately has its source in God and Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The biblical Hebrew collocation pinnâ derek or pannû derek (cf. Egyptian Ἰr wꜣ.t [n]), often rendered “prepare the way” or “prepare a way” in English, is an evident stylistic feature of Nephi’s writings. The most basic meaning of this idiom is “clear my way,” which is how it is rendered in 2 Nephi 4:33. Zenos’s use of “prepare the way” (Jacob 5:61, 64) in the context of “clear[ing] away” bad branches also reflects this most basic meaning.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Abstract: Nephi, in composing his psalm (2 Nephi 4:15–35), incorporates a poetic idiom from Psalm 18:10 (2 Samuel 22:11) and Psalm 104:3 to describe his participation in a form of divine travel. This experience constituted a part of the vision in which he saw “the things which [his] father saw” in the latter’s dream of the tree of life (see 1 Nephi 11:1–3; 14:29–30). Nephi’s use of this idiom becomes readily apparent when the range of meaning for the Hebrew word rûaḥ is considered. Nephi’s experience helps our understanding of other scriptural scenes where similar divine travel is described.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: The prophecies in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 are third-generation members of the same family of texts derived from Isaiah 11:11–12 and Isaiah 29:4, all of which ultimately rely on yāsap (yôsîp or yôsip) idioms to describe the gathering of Israel and the concomitant coming forth of additional scripture. Mormon, following Nephi, apparently engages in a specific kind of wordplay on the name Joseph in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 that ultimately harks back to the divine promises made to Joseph in Egypt (2 Nephi 25:21; see also especially 2 Nephi 3:4–16, Genesis 50:24–34 JST) and to his descendants. This wordplay looks forward to the name and role of the prophetic translator through whom additional scripture “[would] be brought again” and “[would] come again” in the last days.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Abstract: Nephi’s writings exhibit a distinctive focus on “good” and divine “goodness,” reflecting the meaning of Nephi’s Egyptian name (derived from nfr) meaning “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair.” Beyond the inclusio playing on his own name in terms of “good” and “goodness” (1 Nephi 1:1; 2 Nephi 33:3–4, 10, 12), he uses a similar inclusio (2 Nephi 5:30–31; 25:7–8) to frame and demarcate a smaller portion of his personal record in which he incorporated a substantial portion of the prophecies of Isaiah (2 Nephi 6–24). This smaller inclusio frames the Isaianic material as having been incorporated into Nephi’s “good” writings on the small plates with an express purpose: the present and future “good” of his and his brothers’ descendants down to the latter days.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: In the latter part (1 Nephi 13–14) of his vision of the tree of life (1 Nephi 11–14), Nephi is shown the unauthorized human diminution of scripture and the gospel by the Gentile “great and abominable church” — that plain and precious things/words, teachings, and covenants were “taken away” or otherwise “kept back” from the texts that became the Bible and how people lived out its teachings. He also saw how the Lord would act to restore those lost words, teachings, and covenants among the Gentiles “unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks” (1 Nephi 14:1). The iterative language of 1 Nephi 13 describing the “taking away” and “keeping back” of scripture bears a strong resemblance to the prohibitions of the Deuteronomic canon-formula texts (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:31 [MT 13:1]). It also echoes the etiological meanings attached to the name Joseph in Genesis 30:23–24 in terms of “taking away” and “adding.” Nephi’s prophecies of scripture and gospel restoration on account of which “[the Gentiles] shall be no more [cf. Hebrew lōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd] brought down into captivity, and the house of Israel shall no more [wĕlōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd] be confounded” (1 Nephi 14:2) and “after that they were restored, they should no more be confounded [(wĕ)lōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd], neither should they be scattered again [wĕlōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd]” (1 Nephi 15:20) depend on the language of Isaiah. Like other Isaiah-based prophecies of Nephi (e.g., 2 Nephi 25:17, 21; 29:1–2), they echo the name of the prophet through whom lost scripture and gospel covenants would be restored — i.e., through a “Joseph.”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: To the ancient Israelite ear, the name Ephraim sounded like or connoted “doubly fruitful.” Joseph explains the naming of his son Ephraim in terms of the Lord’s having “caused [him] to be fruitful” (Genesis 41:52). The “fruitfulness” motif in the Joseph narrative cycle (Genesis 37–50) constitutes the culmination of a larger, overarching theme that begins in the creation narrative and is reiterated in the patriarchal narratives. “Fruitfulness,” especially as expressed in the collocation “fruit of [one’s] loins” dominates in the fuller version of Genesis 48 and 50 contained in the Joseph Smith Translation, a version of which Lehi and his successors had upon the brass plates. “Fruit” and “fruitfulness” as a play on the name Ephraim further serve to extend the symbolism and meaning of the name Joseph (“may he [God] add,” “may he increase”) and the etiological meanings given to his name in Genesis 30:23–24). The importance of the interrelated symbolism and meanings of the names Joseph and Ephraim for Book of Mormon writers, who themselves sought the blessings of divine fruitfulness (e.g., Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob), is evident in their use of the fuller version of the Joseph cycle (e.g., in Lehi’s parenesis to his son Joseph in 2 Nephi 3). It is further evident in their use of the prophecies of Isaiah and Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree, both of which utilize (divine) “fruitfulness” imagery in describing the apostasy and restoration of Israel (including the Northern Kingdom or “Ephraim”).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Reprints selected Book of Mormon passages in a form that makes them appear more poetic, including 1 Nephi 1:1-2, 1 Nephi 3:27- 37, 2 Nephi 1:25-39, and Jacob 2:34-43. (Verses are numbered according to RLDS.)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
There is no greater Christian experience than that of Nephi as recorded in 2 Nephi 4. Nephi traverses from the agony of spiritual battle with the hosts of darkness through various levels of assurance, obtaining relief, gratitude, then victory. Nephi’s conflict provides an example to missionaries who must look to God.
Review of George B. Handley, If Truth Were A Child: Essays, (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2019), 253 pp. $19.99 (paperback).
Abstract: George B. Handley challenges his readers to reevaluate conventional definitions of truth and the approaches they employ to define their own truths. He argues that the individual quest for truth should include as many available resources as possible, whether those resources are secular or religious. His framework of intellectual and religious experience allows him to discuss truth in the context of literary theory and of the events that shaped his own faith. My review focuses on four themes: balancing experience and learning, balancing the individual and the community, balancing answers and faith, and balancing individual readings of holy texts. Ultimately, Handley’s discussion of those themes gives readers the tools to navigate the current public discourse more effectively, empowering them to look beyond their own perspectives to discover the good in everyone and find balance in their lives.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Lehi, in his inal farewell to his family, stated that he “must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return” (2 Nephi 1:14). Inasmuch as similar words appear in the writings of William Shakespeare, Church critics believe that Joseph Smith borrowed the Book of Mormon statement from Shakespeare. However, in the ruins of Mexico similar words have been found to have been used in an ancient funeral speech.
2 Nephi 27:20, 22, 24
wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee. . .Wherefore when thou hast read the words which I have commanded thee . . .the Lord shall say unto him that shall read the words that shall be delivered him.
Abstract: In 2
Nephi, it is suggested that the Lord answers prayers but that requests made in prayer should not violate some kind of standard that would make them “amiss.” This undefined standard most likely excludes many prayers requesting immunity from those conditions of mortality which all mortals accepted and embraced with great enthusiasm in the great Council in Heaven. However, except for limited latter-day explanations of that great conference, our eager acceptance of all details of the conditions of mortality did not carry over into mortal memory. Consequently, when we request exemption from those conditions joyfully endorsed in premortal time, perhaps many qualify for the “prayers amiss” category. Exceptions from mortal conditions are granted only for divine and sometimes incomprehensible purposes.
Shows how the Torah was revealed. Argues that the Bible is incomplete and that the Book of Mormon should be esteemed as highly as the Bible. Uses Ezekiel 37:16-17, 2 Nephi 29, and Moroni 10 in his discussion of the importance of the Book of Mormon.
RSC Topics > G — K > Gospel of Jesus Christ
RSC Topics > G — K > Holy Ghost
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
This article discusses a prophecy made by Nephi (2 Nephi 30:3), which states that many Gentiles of the last days will believe the words of the Book of Mormon. The author believes that the great numbers of persons who read and accept the Book of Mormon in this era demonstrate eloquent fulfillment of this prophecy.
A cantata paraphrased from 1 and 2 Nephi.
This article shows that Nephi once taught of the unfortunate condition of mankind when they cease to trust in God and to rely on “the precepts of men and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost” (2 Nephi 28:26). One of the evil doctrines of our education system is sex education in our schools. The “new morality” fails to make the distinction between right and wrong. Personal agency is in jeopardy.
A pamphlet comparing 1 Corinthians 15:25-32 with 2 Nephi 9:24, and Mosiah 15:8, 16:8 and 1 Nephi 11:26-27. Those who believe in genealogical temple work for the dead do not understand the scriptures.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
The Book of Mormon teaches us that for true freedom to exist, there must be a law (2 Nephi 2:10-16).
Reproduces 1 Nephi 1:1, 1 Nephi 6:8-9; 2 Nephi 3:24-66 (RLDS versification) to demonstrate the elements of Hebrew poetry found in each passage. Briefly discusses poetic parallelism.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
This article argues that the Mexican people are a chosen race of people. According to Isaiah 29:4 they have been brought down in the dust. However, they are descendants of Joseph, through Lehi (1 Nephi 5:14) and they will be redeemed (2 Nephi 30:5-6).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the fifth installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope you find it helpful.]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Writing
Nephi was a younger son of a wealthy family. As one who might not inherit his father's business, it is possible that he was trained for another profession. One of the high-status professions open to him would have been a scribe. Beyond the fact that Nephi produced at least three written works (1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, and the nonextant large-plate book of Lehi), there are other evidences in his writing that betray the kind of traning scribes received. His early professional training may have been an important preparation for his later role in establishing his people as a true people of the book.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: This essay addresses the reasons many persons have left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In particular, there are those who publicly assert the Church is not led by inspired leaders so they can feel at peace about their decision to leave it. One common argument used to justify their estrangement is the “Samuel Principle,” which ostensibly would require God to allow his followers on earth to go astray if they chose any level of unrighteousness. Problems with this interpretation are presented including examples from religious history that show that God’s primary pattern has been to call his errant followers to repentance by raising up righteous leaders to guide them. Also explored are the common historical events that dissenters often allege have caused the Church to apostatize. The notion that the Church and the “Priesthood” could be separate entities is examined as well. The observation that Church leaders continue to receive divine communication in order to fulfill numerous prophecies and that a significant number of completely devout Latter-day Saints have always existed within the Church, obviating the need for any dissenting movement, is discussed. In addition, several common scriptural proof-texts employed by some dissenters and their ultimate condition of apostasy are analyzed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Nephi was the only Book of Mormon author to receive what might be called a classical Hebrew education. He had ambivalent feelings about his training—indeed, he specifically noted that the tradition would end with himself: “I . . . have not taught my children after the manner of the Jews” (2 Nephi 25:6; see vv. 1–2). So it is not surprising that he remains the most literate, book-learned of the Nephite prophets. That is to say, his writings exhibit the most connections with earlier prophecies and texts, and he structures his teachings in a way that suggests he is working from written documents. In particular, he is eager to tie his own visions of the future of the House of Israel to the words of Isaiah, and his commentary at 1 Nephi 22—where he weaves phrases from the two Isaiah chapters he has just quoted into a new revelatory discourse—is a masterpiece of prophetic interpretation. The same style of commentary, which by placing familiar phrases into new contexts reinterprets as it explains, is found in a slightly more diffuse form at 2 Nephi 25–30.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
A brief biographical sketch of Christopher Columbus, showing how he fulfills the prophecies in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 3:147, RLDS versification). The article also discusses the timing of Columbus’s voyage and why the Americas had been kept hidden (2 Nephi 1:16-21, RLDS versification).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Lehi’s blessing of Joseph in 2 Nephi follows a chiastic structure that emphasizes the importance of coming to a knowledge of the covenants of the fathers.
At the beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi writes, “The fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved” (1 Nephi 6:4; emphasis added). He later writes, “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). The pinnacle of the Book of Mormon occurred in 3 Nephi when Jesus Christ personally ministered to the Nephites and Lamanites. Clearly the central purpose of those writing on the plates was to invite and persuade each of us to come unto Jesus Christ, helping us understand his redeeming role.Jesus Christ is the central figure in the Book of Mormon. Ancient prophets in the western hemisphere consistently pointed to His life and atoning sacrifice. For example, Nephi wrote, “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). After His Resurrection, Jesus Christ personally ministered to the Nephites and taught them. This volume shares important reminders about how to focus on Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The word Gentiles appears 141 times in the Book of Mormon (the singular Gentile appears only five times.) It appears more frequently than key words such as baptize, resurrection, Zion, and truth. The word Gentiles does not appear with equal frequency throughout the Book of Mormon; in fact, it appears in only five of its fifteen books: 1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, 3 Nephi, Mormon, and Ether. Additionally, Book of Mormon speakers did not say Gentiles evenly. Some speakers said the word much less often than we might expect while others used it much more. Nephi1 used Gentiles the most (43 times), and Christ Himself used it 38 times. In addition to analyzing which speakers used the word, this study shows distinctive ways in which Book of Mormon speakers used this word.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The brass plates version of Isaiah 2:2, as contained in 2 Nephi 12:2, contains a small difference, not attested in any other pre-1830 Isaiah witness, that not only helps clarify the meaning but also ties the verse to events of the Restoration. The change does so by introducing a Hebraism that would have been impossible for Joseph Smith, the Prophet, to have produced on his own.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
There are two ways to read a text, through exegesis and through eisegesis. The first means, approximately, “reading out of the text,” while the second means, approximately, “reading into the text.” Both are legitimate ways of approaching a text. Anyone who reads the scriptures will at times engage in both exegesis and eisegesis, whether knowingly or unwittingly. Therefore, the more conscientiously and consciously we engage in rigorous and careful exegesis and eisegesis, the better the chance that our reading of the scriptures will truly enlighten the mind and provide substance for the soul. I will illustrate both approaches using the term familiar spirit found in 2 Nephi 26:12, Isaiah 29:4, and 1 Samuel 28.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Explains that 2 Nephi 12:70 and Jacob 3:140-47 prophesy of the coming forth of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Latter-day Saint discussion of chastity often include Moroni 9:9 because of its suggestion that “chastity and virtue” constitute “that which is most dear and precious above all things:’ The verse also says, however, that people can be “deprived” of chastity and virtue by the violence of rape. For the prophet Mormon, the Nephites’ actions in Moriantum exceed “this great abomination of the Lamanites;’ which involved “feed[ing] the women upon the flesh of their husbands, and the children upon the flesh of their fathers” (Moroni 9:8). Mormon’s strong language aims to condemn the rapists, not their victims. Using the verse to teach about chastity, though, invites interpretation from the perspective of the victims, which raises the question of what it means to understand chastity and virtue as something of which a person can be deprived, passively, by another. Such passive loss of virtue runs strongly contrary to LDS teaching about agency, including those rooted in Book of Mormon passages like 2 Nephi 2, with the consequence that victims of sexual abuse or assault can be made to feel guilty for sins that are not their own.
The term friend is often used to express a covenantal agreement between two individuals. Such was the case between Zoram and Nephi (2 Nephi 1:55, RLDS versification). Other examples include Isaiah 41:8, 2 Chronicles 20:7, and Zechariah 13:6.
The term friend is often used to express a covenantal agreement between two individuals. Such was the case between Zoram and Nephi (2 Nephi 1:55, RLDS versification). Other examples include Isaiah 41:8, 2 Chronicles 20:7, and Zechariah 13:6.
Both Lehi and Jeremiah denominate Joseph of Egypt (2 Nephi 3) as the “righteous branch,” an expression that generally refers to Christ. This fact suggests that Lehi possessed or had access to a copy of Jeremiah’s writings or that Nephi and Jeremiah were acquaintances.
RSC Topics > Q — S > Salvation
Abstract: Lehi’s son Jacob was troubled by a great theological mystery of his and our day — the problem of evil. If God is both all good and all-powerful, how is it possible for the world to be so full of human and natural evils? Jacob was able to elicit from the Lord responses to the question of why He permits evil to flourish in this world. The Lord elucidates the perennial problem of evil for Jacob and us in three distinct genres and at three different levels of abstraction: at a metaphysical level in a philosophical patriarchal blessing, at a concrete level in the history of the emerging Nephite political economy, and in the Allegory of the Olive Tree.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Review of Terryl Givens, 2nd Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 124 pages. $9.95 (paperback).Abstract: Terryl Givens’s well-written and enjoyable book does much to equip readers of the Book of Mormon with new tools to appreciate the riches of a text often viewed as the most difficult part of the Book of Mormon. Givens helps us recognize Nephi’s sorrow over Jerusalem and his passionate hope and joy centered in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He helps us understand the weightier matters that Nephi focuses on to encourage us to accept the covenants of the Lord and to be part of Zion. Readers will better respect 2 Nephi as a vital part of the Restoration with content critically important for our day.
Book of Mormon Topics > Criticisms and Apologetics > Book Reviews
Abstract: Janus parallelism, a tool evident in ancient Hebrew poetry, is documented at some length by Scott B. Noegel in Janus Parallelism in the Book of Job, which I recently reviewed. Since the authorship of Job predates the removal of the Lehites from Jerusalem, this tool may have been available to writers in the Book of Mormon. While we do not have the original text to analyze wordplays in the original language, it may be possible to apply some of the cases considered by Noegel to find remnants of related “polysensuous” wordplays that might have been present in the original text or to consider other previously proposed wordplays that may include a Janus-like aspect.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Job
RSC Topics > G — K > Grace
RSC Topics > L — P > Obedience
Notes that the word “condescension” relative to God’s relationship to the world is used three times by Nephi, twice in his dream of the tree of life, and once in his psalm (2 Nephi 4:26). Proposes that there are three applications to this word in those passages: (1) the birth of Christ, (2) his mortal ministry, and (3) his mercies. Discusses the significance of the christological hymn in Philippians 2:5-8. [D.M.]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Topics > Joseph and Asenath
Among the more puzzling passages in the Book of Mormon is 2 Nephi 19:1. It is a modification of Isaiah 9:1 as contained in the King James Bible. The modifications made specifically in 2 Nephi 19:1 have long been puzzling for textual critics and other students of the Book of Mormon and a point of attack among critics of Joseph Smith. Several solutions have been proposed for the questions that have arisen, but each is found wanting given various considerations regarding the historical context of both Isaiah and Nephi’s writing and the correlative correct translation of Isaiah 9:1. Any solution to “the Red Sea problem” in 2 Nephi 19:1 must account for all data presented in Isaiah 9:1 and 2 Nephi 19:1. This paper proposes a new solution that accounts for all the data.
RSC Topics > A — C > Atonement of Jesus Christ
RSC Topics > D — F > Doctrine
RSC Topics > D — F > Fall of Adam and Eve
Verse-by-verse doctrinal comments on 1 and 2 Nephi. Introductory essays include “Why the Book of Mormon,” “Doctrinal Contributions of the Book of Mormon,” and “Testimony of the Book of Mormon” This work is reviewed in M.304 and in V.045.
Authors inevitably make assumptions about their readers as they write. Readers likewise make assumptions about authors and their intentions as they read. Using a postmodern framing, this essay illustrates how a close reading of the text of 1 and 2 Nephi can offer insight into the writing strategies of its author. This reading reveals how Nephi differentiates between his writing as an expression of his own intentions and desires, and the text as the product of divine instruction written for a “purpose I know not.” In order to help his audience understand the text in this context, Nephi as the author interacts with his audience through his rhetorical strategy, pointing towards his own intentions, and offering reading strategies to help them discover God’s purposes in the text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
The Monroe Doctrine states that the United States government will overthrow any type of monarchy set up on the western continent. This corresponds with the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 10:11-14 where it says that no king will be set upon the American continent. The south side of the pyramid of Zochicako tells of a destruction in the land that Morris relates to the destruction before Christ appeared on the American continent (3 Nephi 8-9).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Also called “’Encircled . . . in the Arms of His Love’: Oneness with God and the Atonement.“
We start out with 2 Nephi, and we really get into some pretty deep stuff.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
We are on the second chapter of 2 Nephi, perhaps the hardest chapter in the book. It’s about the Law of Moses.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
Also called “Lehi’s Family: Blessings and Conflict.“
2 Nephi 3 is a genealogical chapter, and it has strange phenomena in it which occur in genealogy all the time.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
Also called “Jacob’s Teachings on the Atonement and Judgment.“
The Book of Mormon was hand-delivered by an angel. There’s every evidence that it was, so let’s look at it.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
We have come to those chapters where Nephi talks about Isaiah. He gives his explanation in chapter 25, and that’s what interests us.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
Now, Nephi is in his prophetic vein, and he is going to take us all the way.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
We are on 2 Nephi 29. The Lord is talking about when He sets His hand again in these last days the second time to recover His people. There are no “God’s privileged people.“ He loves one as much as the other.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
Also called “Rejecting the Word of God.“
We are on 2 Nephi 32, and are things going downhill fast. Here’s the first generation that has already gone bad, and Nephi is just terribly depressed. He ends on a down note, and then his brother Jacob takes it up.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jacob
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
One of the most revealing things about Lehi is the nature of his great eloquence. It must not be judged by modern or western standards, as people are prone to judge the Book of Mormon as literature. In this lesson, we take the case of a bit of poetry recited extempore by Lehi to his two sons to illustrate certain peculiarities of the Oriental idiom and especially to serve as a test-case in which a number of very strange and exacting conditions are most rigorously observed in the Book of Mormon account. Those are the conditions under which ancient desert poetry was composed. Some things that appear at first glance to be most damning to the Book of Mormon, such as the famous passage in 2 Nephi 1:14 about no traveler returning from the grave, turn out on closer inspection to provide striking confirmation of its correctness.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Identifying the poetic forms in the Book of Mormon enables readers to appreciate its beautiful literary style and gain a better understanding of its message. The form-critical analysis of psalms, first outlined by Hermann Gunkel in 1926, demonstrates sharp similarities between Nephi’s psalm and similar psalms in the Old Testament. Nephi’s psalm plainly follows the format and substance of the individual lament as described by Gunkel and elaborated by numerous subsequent scholars. As in other instances of Hebrew poetic forms in the Book of Mormon, understanding and appreciating the psalm, more particularly the personal lament, can offer new insights into 2 Nephi 4:16–35 and make its message of hope and trust more powerful and personal.
Examines prophecies in the Book of Mormon and relates them to historical events of the twentieth century. Prophecies are classified as follows: (1) the vision of Nephi—1 Nephi 3:210-216 (RLDS scriptures); (2) the prophecy of Nephi—2 Nephi 11:116-117; (3) the word of Christ relative to gentile disobedience—3 Nephi 9:64-71, and the return of the Jews —3 Nephi 9:85-101; (4) warning to Gentile America—Ether 1:29-35.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The Third Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU In this volume, twenty-two scholars comment knowledgeably on a variety of themes evoked by the prophetic words of Isaiah, Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob as given in 2 Nephi. Contributors discuss doctrines of Christ such as repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Fall, the Atonement, hope, endurance, the name of Jesus Christ as revealed to the Nephites, and the Nephite diligence in teaching and transmitting the gospel. Comments on the early Nephite period deepen our appreciation for Nephi’s spiritual strength. Although many perspectives are offered here, its underlying purpose is to illumine, clarify, and reinforce the gospel of Jesus Christ. ISBN 0-8849-4699-1
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > A — C > Baptism
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 3 — Garden of Eden
RSC Topics > D — F > Doctrine
RSC Topics > D — F > Eternal Life
RSC Topics > G — K > Holy Ghost
An interesting phenomenon concerning 1 and 2 Nephi is that parts of the latter book draw on the tree of life vision that Nephi and his father shared, as recorded in 1 Nephi 8, 11–15. In an earlier FARMS Update, John A. Tvedtnes demonstrated that Nephi drew on this vision when composing the psalm in 2 Nephi 4. Further study suggests the likelihood that Nephi’s exhortation in 2 Nephi 31 was similarly informed by that sublime vision.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Abstract: This review essay looks at certain problematical issues in the recently published collection of essays honoring Latter-day Saint historian Richard Lyman Bushman. Problems emerge from the title itself, “To Be Learned is Good,” as a result of the failure to note that the Book of Mormon passage “To be learned is good” is a conditional statement. In addition, since these essays are billed as “Essays on Faith and Scholarship,” it is odd most of them do not touch on this subject at all. I examine four essays in depth, including Adam Miller’s “Christo-Fiction, Mormon Philosophy, and the Virtual Body of Christ,” which is offered as a form of clarifying Mormon philosophy but provides more confusion than clarification. Jared Hickman’s essay, “The Perverse Core of Mormonism: The Book of Mormon, Genetic Secularity, and Messianic Decoloniality,” presents Mormonism as a religion that has much in common with Marxism, Frantz Fanon, and Sean Coulhard. While not as bold as Hickman, Patrick Mason looks at Mormonism as a modern religion and suggests that premodern thinkers are largely irrelevant to Mormonism and the modern world. Mason argues that “Mormonism is a religion that could meaningfully converse with modern philosophies and ideologies from transcendentalism, liberalism, and Marxism.” I discuss the weaknesses of this view. Attention is also given to the distinction between apologetics and “Mormon Studies” that arise from essays by Grant Wacker, Armand Mauss, Terryl Givens, and Brian D. Birch, who suggests “‘a methodological pluralism’” in approaching Mormon studies. I note that several of the essays in this volume are worthy of positive note, particularly those by Bushman himself, Mauss (who does address the presumed theme of the book), Givens, Mauro Properzi, and Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye (who also addresses the titled theme of the book in a most engaging manner).
Review of J. Spencer Fluhman, Kathleen Flake, and Jed Woodworth, eds., To Be Learned is Good: Essays on Faith and Scholarship in Honor of Richard Lyman Bushman (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2017). 368 pp. $24.56 (hardcover).
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Some Latter-day Saint commentators deem a phrase that appears in 2 Nephi 12:16 but not in the parallel passage in Isaiah 2:16—“and upon all ships of the sea”—as evidence that the Book of Mormon preserves a version of this verse from the brass plates that is more complete than the Hebrew or King James readings. One scholar’s conclusions in this regard are reviewed and then critiqued for ignoring the complexities of the ancient Hebrew and Greek versions of the Bible. The authors examine Isaiah 2:16 in its broader literary context, noting that the 2 Nephi reading alters a pattern of synonymous couplets; analyze the Greek and Hebrew texts of the verse; and relate their findings to the Book of Mormon reading. They discuss the inherent limitations of textual criticism in this kind of study and conclude that LDS and non-LDS scholars are open to different interpretive possibilities owing to the role that faith plays in one’s approach to and interpretation of textual evidence.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Pratt, who has been called to conduct missionary work in “the southland,” quotes 2 Nephi 1:1-11, 1 Nephi 13, 2 Nephi 30, and 3 Nephi 21 that speak of the fall, final gathering, and redemption of the Lamanites.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Some authors have claimed that Lehi’s teachings on the fall of Adam are so similar to teachings prevalent in nineteenth-century America that they must be the source for 2 Nephi 2. However, this paper demonstrates that the bulk of well-recognized scholarly authority attributes teachings very similar to those in 2 Nephi 2 to preexilic and exilic biblical writers such as Hosea and Ezekiel. Thus, Lehi’s teachings are more consistent with a preexilic/exilic Israelite context than with a nineteenth-century American context.
Over the last few years, several Latter-day Saint scholars have commented on how the socio-religious setting of Judah in the late-seventh century bc informs and contextualizes our reading of the Book of Mormon, especially that of 1 and 2 Nephi. Particular emphasis has been placed on how Lehi and Nephi appear to have been in opposition to certain changes implemented by the Deuteronomists at this time, but Laman’s and Lemuel’s views have only been commented on in passing. In this paper, I seek to contextualize Laman and Lemuel within this same socio-religious setting and suggest that, in opposition to Lehi and Nephi, they were supporters of the Deuteronomic reforms.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Abstract: The story of the Israelites getting bitten in the wilderness by “fiery serpents” and then being miraculously healed by the “serpent of brass” (Numbers 21:4–9) is one of the most frequently told stories in scripture — with many of the retellings occurring in the Book of Mormon. Nephi is the first to refer to the story, doing so on two different occasions (1 Nephi 17:41; 2 Nephi 25:20). In each instance, Nephi utilizes the story for different purposes which dictated how he told the story and what he emphasized. These two retellings of the brazen serpent narrative combined to establish a standard interpretation of that story among the Nephites, utilized (and to some extent developed) by later Nephite prophets. In this study, each of the two occasions Nephi made use of this story are contextualized within the iconography and symbolism of pre-exilic Israel and its influences from surrounding cultures. Then, the (minimal) development evident in how this story was interpreted by Nephites across time is considered, comparing it to the way ancient Jewish and early Christian interpretation of the brazen serpent was adapted over time to address specific needs. Based on this analysis, it seems that not only do Nephi’s initial interpretations fit within the context of pre-exilic Israel, but the Book of Mormon’s use of the brazen serpent symbol is not stagnant; rather, it shows indications of having been a real, living tradition that developed along a trajectory comparable to that of authentic ancient traditions.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
RSC Topics > T — Z > Testimony
2 Nephi 10 prophesies that a king will never be raised up unto the gentiles upon the land. Reynolds tells of the tragic fates of Louis Napoleon and Maximilian who tried to establish an empire in Mexico (1861) after the Book of Mormon had come forth and warns all people against attempting such a thing.
2 Nephi 10 prophesies that a king will never be raised up unto the gentiles upon the land. Reynolds tells of the tragic fates of Louis Napoleon and Maximilian who tried to establish an empire in Mexico (1861) after the Book of Mormon had come forth and warns all people against attempting such a thing.
Abstract: In this important paper, Noel Reynolds extends his 1980 argument for the chiastic structure of 1 Nephi to demonstrate that 2 Nephi can be seen as a matching structure with a similar nature. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that chiasmus is not a phenomenon that confines itself to the details of words and phrases at the level of scriptural verses but can extend to much larger units of meaning, allowing the rhetorical beauty and emphasis of their overall messages to shine more brilliantly when they are considered as purposefully crafted wholes.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original. See Noel B. Reynolds, “Chiastic Structuring of Large Texts: Second Nephi as a Case Study,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 333–50. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Chiasmus
Abstract: The Book of Mormon repeatedly outlines a six-part definition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but most writers within the book refer to only two or three of them at a time in a biblical rhetorical device called merismus. Throughout the scriptures, the term “come unto Christ” in its many forms is used as part of these merisms to represent enduring to the end. This article examines the many abbreviations of the gospel, connects the phrase “come unto Christ” with enduring to the end, and discusses some of the alternate uses of these types of phrases.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: Although scholarly investigation of the Book of Mormon has increased significantly over the last three decades, only a tiny portion of that effort has been focused on the theological or doctrinal content of this central volume of LDS scripture. This paper identifies three inclusios that promise definitions of the doctrine or gospel of Jesus Christ and proposes a cumulative methodology to explain how these definitions work. This approach reveals a consistently presented, six-part formula defining “the way” by which mankind can qualify for eternal life. In this way the paper provides a starting point for scholarly examinations of the theological content of this increasingly influential religious text. While the names of the six elements featured in Mormon’s gospel will sound familiar to students of the New Testament, the meanings he assigns to these may differ substantially from traditional Christian discourse in ways that make Mormon’s characterization of the gospel or doctrine of Christ unique. The overall pattern suggested is a dialog between man and God, who initially invites all people to trust in Christ and repent. Those who respond by repenting and seeking baptism will be visited by fire and by the Holy Ghost, which initiates a lifelong interaction, leading the convert day by day in preparation for the judgment, at which she may finally be invited to enter the kingdom of God.Editor’s Note: This article was published originally in an international theological journal and is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community with minor revisions, updates, and edits included. See Noel B. Reynolds, “The Gospel according to Mormon,” Scottish Journal of Theology 68:2 (2015), 218-34. doi: 10.1017/S003693061500006X.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Lehi and his people understood their own times in terms of types and shadows from the past. God’s leading the family out of Jerusalem and reinstituting his covenant with Lehi in a new promised land can be understood only by comparison with the exodus and the roles of Lehi and Nephi in terms of Moses. This article identifies fourteen Mosiac themes and circumstances that Lehi invoked in his sermon recorded in 2 Nephi 1 and illustrates close parallels with these themes in Deuteronomy. Lehi may have compared himself to Moses as a rhetorical device to help his children see the divine direction behind his actions. In his final words to his children, Lehi invokes Moses’ farewell address to the Israelites. In so doing, Lehi casts himself in a role similar to that of Moses. Nephi portrays himself in similar terms on the small plates, apparently following the pattern set by his father.
Old Testament Topics > Moses
Old Testament Topics > Types and Symbols
Abstract: In 2012 Joseph Spencer published an analysis of 1st and 2nd Nephi that interprets a phrase in 1 Nephi 19:5 as implying the true break in Nephi’s writings is not between the two scriptural books we now use but rather to be found at the end of 2 Nephi 5 and that the spiritual core (the “more sacred part”) of the small plates is in 2 Nephi chapters 6–30. In this essay I have mobilized several arguments from the canons of literary interpretation and basics of the Hebrew language to demonstrate that this starting point for Spencer’s interpretation of Nephi’s writings is seriously flawed.
[Editor’s Note: This paper repeatedly refers to three passages in which Nephi distinguishes his large and small plates projects. For convenience, the version of those passages from the Critical Text Project are fully provided in Appendix 1.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Abstract: In previous and pending publications I have proposed interpretations of various features of Nephi’s writings. In this paper I undertake a comprehensive discussion of the seven passages in which Nephi and his successor Jacob explain the difference between the large and the small plates and describe the divinely mandated profile for each. While most readers of the Book of Mormon have been satisfied with the simple distinction between the large plates in which the large plates are a comprehensive historical record of the Nephite experience and the small plates are a record of selected spiritual experiences, including revelations and prophecies, that approach has been challenged in some academic writing. What has been missing in this literature is a comprehensive and focused analysis of all seven of the textual profiles for these two Nephite records. In the following analysis, I invoke the insights of Hebrew rhetoric as developed by Hebrew Bible scholars over the past half century to articulate a vision of how these scattered explanations are designed and placed to support the larger rhetorical structures Nephi has built into his two books. The conclusions reached support the traditional approach to these texts.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Nephi tells the story of the founding events of the Nephite people in such a way that his readers will see him as a second Moses. Although Nephi’s use of the Moses typology has been previously noted, what has not been noticed before is that his father, Lehi, also employs this same typology in his farewell address in 2 Nephi 1-4 in order to persuade his descendants of his own divine calling and of their new covenant relationship to the same God who had given the promised land to ancient Israel. The fact that Nephi and Lehi both saw themselves as Moses figures demonstrates their awareness of a recognizable feature of preexilic Israelite literature that has only recently been explicated by Bible scholars.
Old Testament Topics > Moses
Old Testament Topics > Types and Symbols
Abstract: This essay harnesses the late twentieth-century discovery of Hebrew rhetoric by Bible scholars to identify Lehi’s dream as the foundation of the carefully constructed unity in Nephi’s writings and to identify previously unrecognized elements of that dream which are distributed throughout his final work. The teachings and prophecies in 1 and 2 Nephi are shown to derive from their shared dream/vision. Further, the entirety of Nephi’s writings in the Small Plates is shown to be a tightly designed rhetorical production that establishes the centrality of Christ’s identity, mission, and teachings for current and future generations of Lehi’s descendants and ultimately for the entire world. For decades, interpreters of the Book of Mormon and its teachings have singled out the vision of the tree of life given first to Lehi and subsequently to his son Nephi as one of the book’s most prominent elements that require careful study. While literary and visual artists continue to find inspiration in the human dramas retold throughout the book, the text itself features visualizations1 of its basic doctrinal messages: (1) God on his throne in heavenly council, (2) the tree of life with the straight and narrow path, the iron rod, and the great and spacious building, and (3) the allegory of the olive tree. As I will explain below, those three visual images are part of Lehi’s and Nephi’s great vision and provide the blueprint for the complex of covenant history and [Page 232]doctrinal teaching recorded by multiple authors throughout the entire book. This article will trace that blueprint in the structure and content of Nephi’s Small Plates with limited side glances at the rest of the text.
RSC Topics > D — F > Eternal Life
RSC Topics > G — K > Gospel of Jesus Christ
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2015 annual Society of Biblical Literature meeting, November 23, 2015, in Atlanta, Georgia. 1. See Noel B. Reynolds, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ as Taught by the Nephite Prophets;’ BYU Studies 31/3 (1991): 31-50; and Noel B. Reynolds, “The Gospel according to Mormon;’ Scottish Journal of Theology 68/2 (2015): 218-34 doi:10.1017/ S003693061500006X. 2. Inclusio is a common technique used by biblical writers to mark off a text unit by repeating at the end of the unit a word or phrase or sentence used at the beginning. These three Book of Mormon passages are marked off with obvious inclusios featuring “the doctrine of Christ;’ “this is my doctrine;’ and “this is my gospel” respectively. While Nephi constructed the first, the second two are embedded in the material quoted from Jesus Christ. In “Chiastic Structuring of Large Texts: Second Nephi as a Case Study;’ publication pending, I demonstrate that 2 Nephi can be read as a series of thirteen inclusios arranged to provide a chiastic structure to the book that also communicates his principal thesis.
The promises of the Book of Mormon found in Alma and 2 Nephi are being fulfilled and the Lamanites are bearing witness of its truthfulness.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Answers the question that a little boy asked, “Why are people?” It cannot be answered in the Old or in the New Testament The Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 2:24-25) teaches the purpose of God in the creation.
Gives examples of truths the world would have lost if the Book of Mormon had not been brought forth (Alma 41:10; 2 Nephi 2:24-25; 1 Nephi 3:7; Ether 12:26-27). The Book of Mormon corrects some errors in the philosophies and religions of men.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
2 Nephi 2:11-14 presents a brilliant philosophical discussion on the idea that there must be opposition in all things. The very existence of humanity depends upon these opposites.
Jesus came that he might redeem the children of men from the Fall, and because they are redeemed they are free (2 Nephi 2:22-27). Resurrection from the dead is as universal as death—therefore Jesus is referred to as the Redeemer.
Sets forth the necessity of sharing the restored gospel knowledge with others. Mormonism has a unique understanding of God and man’s purpose. He expounds upon 2 Nephi 2:25; discusses the prophecies in the Book of Mormon concerning the gentiles and America.
“Men are that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 11:25-27). The resurrected man can die no more, his spirit and body will never be divided again, and thus will progress through the eternities if he wills it so (Alma 11:45).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Joy comes from experiencing and knowing opposites, and then choosing the better part (2 Nephi 2:25).
The doctrine of free agency is strongly set forth (2 Nephi 2:26-27; Alma 29:4).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Tabernacle discourse explaining the LDS perspective on Jesus’ role as the Savior of mankind. Quotes Nephi’s words (2 Nephi 25), King Benjamin’s speech, and modern revelation. Discusses the role of the twelve Nephite apostles, the role of faith, and the conditions of salvation.
2 Nephi 2:24-25 constitutes a great message to the world. The only way to obtain perfect wisdom is from perfect knowledge.
Swords are an important weapon in the Book of Mormon narrative. The prophet Ether reported that in the final battle of the Jaredites, King Coriantumr, with his sword, “smote off the head” of his relentless enemy Shiz (Ether 15:30). Swords were also used by the earliest Nephites (2 Nephi 5:14) and were among the deadly weapons with which that people were finally “hewn down” at Cumorah by their enemies (Mormon 6:9–10). While the text suggests that some Jaredites and early Nephites may have had metal weaponry (1 Nephi 4:9; 2 Nephi 5:14; Mosiah 8:10–11; Ether 7:9), references to metal weapons, including metal swords, are rare.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The Lord told Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, “Look unto me in every thought” (D&C 6:36). In the ordinance of the sacrament we covenant each week to “always remember him,” that we “may always have his Spirit” to be with us (D&C 20:77). The Book of Mormon testifies that “all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all thing that are upon the face of it” (Alma 30:44). Thus, God has given all things as a type or representation of Christ to help us remember Him (see 2 Nephi 11:4; Helaman 8:24). The key to understanding the things of God is to see Christ in them, including His creations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Testimony that chiasmus in 2 Nephi 2 validates the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Analyzes 2 Nephi 3 and finds that a choice seer will be a blessing to the descendants of Lehi. The choice seer may be Jesus Christ, whose work was the Book of Mormon.
An update on the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon into various languages, and the mention of certain scriptures that pose translation problems (e.g., 1 Nephi 16:10, 2 Nephi 1:22, 1 Nephi 5:16, Jacob 7:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Ruth
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Job
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Old Testament Scriptures > Exodus
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Exodus
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Near the end of his life, the prophet Nephi referred to the day of judgment and declared that we, the readers of the Book of Mormon, will stand face to face with him before the bar of Christ (2 Nephi 33:11). Similarly, the prophets Jacob and Moroni referred to meeting us when we appear before “the pleasing bar” of God to be judged.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Prophesying of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, Nephi foretold that an unlearned man would be asked by God to read the words of a book after a learned man had failed to do so. The unlearned man was initially unwilling, claiming, “I am not learned” (2 Nephi 27:19). One interpretation of Nephi’s account is that Joseph Smith could not translate the Book of Mormon before the meeting of Martin Harris and Charles Anthon. Early historical accounts are consistent with this interpretation. However, according to Joseph Smith—History 1:64, Harris did take a translation to Anthon. Although this translation has not been found, evidence exists of similarities between this document and documents produced during the preliminary stages of the translation of the Book of Abraham. These similarities suggest that the document taken to Anthon was a preliminary and unsuccessful attempt to translate the Book of Mormon, during which Joseph Smith studied the translation problem out in his own mind as he qualified himself to receive the revealed translation from God.
Abstract: Some have seen evidence of anti-Masonic rhetoric in the Book of Mormon and cite 2 Nephi 26:22 in support of this theory, since Satan leads sinners “by the neck with a flaxen cord.” It is claimed that this is a reference to Masonic initiation rituals, which feature a thick noose called a cable-tow or tow-rope. Examining the broader rhetorical context of 2 Nephi demonstrates that the “flaxen cord” more likely refers to something slight and almost undetectable. To test this hypothesis, I undertake a survey of the use of the phrase flaxen cord in 19th century publications. I also examine analogous phrases from the Bible. I examine fifty examples, seven of which are excluded because they do not contain enough information to support either claim. Of the remaining 43 examples, a full two-thirds (67%) describe a cord that is trivial or easily snapped. Only 7% denote a thick, strong rope, and 17% describe a thin rope that is strong. Given (1) the rhetorical context of 2 Nephi, (2) an expression that usually refers to a cord of trivial thickness and strength, and (3) virtually all poetic, scriptural, or allegorical uses imply fragility, the evidence overwhelmingly contradicts the anti-Masonic thesis.
This article discusses how Jacob (2 Nephi 9) taught concerning the Atonement and mission of Jesus Christ, and our debt to him. Out of love members of the Church should show deep gratitude by obedience and in humble prayer.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
This article discusses how Lehi and the Nephites are referred to as “Jews” in several Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants passages (2 Nephi 30:4; D&C 19:27; D&C 57:4), even though they were literal descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh (Alma 10:3). They were Jews not so much by actual descent as by citizenship, having lived in Jerusalem in the kingdom of Judah, or through intermarriage.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Many say they would believe the Book of Mormon if the plates were on display. Smith explains that the Lord works by faith (2 Nephi 27:22-23). There are, however, the testimonies of the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses who testify that the plates existed.
The early and persistent claim that Joseph Smith quoted Shakespeare in the Book of Mormon fails to take into account the broader context of sources. Much closer parallels than Shakespeare are available in the Bible as well as in ancient Near Eastern literature. Indeed, the constellation of ideas about death expressed in 2 Nephi 1:13–15 fits that ancient Near Eastern context in several powerful ways—ways that belie the claim that Joseph Smith plagiarized Shakespeare.
Because by far the greatest portion of the Book of Mormon is narrative—though admittedly in several different ways—other literary modes embedded in the narrative flow are less obvious and consequently less easily identified and read in terms of their own unique generic conventions. One such passage occurs in the fourth chapter of 2 Nephi, verses 16 though 35, a passage that is often referred to as the “Psalm of Nephi,” at least since Sidney Sperry provided this formulation in his commentary on the Book of Mormon. The question to be discussed with reference to these verses is not whether they are a psalm in the biblical sense of the term but rather the nature and extent of their poetic qualities and some of the most central interpretive implications inextricably connected with their lyricism.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > G — K > Grace
RSC Topics > Q — S > Salvation
This book makes public the results of a project sponsored by the Mormon Theology Seminar. The question driving the papers collected in this volume is the following: How does the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi read, rework, and repurpose the writings of the biblical prophet Isaiah? Each essay in this volume addresses an aspect of the complex relationship between Nephi and Isaiah, ranging from the question of what is at stake when one prophet retools the work of another to the question of how Nephi uses the words of Isaiah to outline the significance of the sealed gold plates to which he contributed. Opening the question concerning the relationship between the Bible and the Book of Mormon, this volume extends an invitation to each reader to continue the conversation. [Publisher]
Nephi’s adoration of the words of Isaiah has puzzled many readers of the Book of Mormon. What does Nephi’s reading and repurposing of the biblical prophet suggest about the nature of prophecy and scripture study? Six scholars of the Mormon Theology Seminar address these and other questions in Reading Nephi Reading Isaiah. By shedding new light on this particular scriptural text, these essays provide exemplary models for improved scripture study.
Abstract: Chapters from Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon use the King James Bible as a base text yet frequently vary from it in minor ways, particularly in the earliest text of the Book of Mormon. A disproportionate number of these variants are due to the omission or replacement of words italicized in the KJV. Many of the minor variants were eliminated by the printer for the 1830 edition or by Joseph Smith himself for the 1837 edition, but others remain. Some of the minor variants are easily explained as errors of dictation, transcription, or copying, but others are not so readily accounted for. While some are inconsequential, others negatively affect Isaiah’s text by confusing its meaning or violating grammatical norms. Most have no clear purpose. The disruptive character of these variants suggests they are secondary and were introduced by someone who was relatively uneducated in English grammar and unfamiliar with the biblical passages being quoted. They point to Joseph Smith, the unlearned man who dictated the Book of Mormon translation. Even so, it seems unlikely that a single individual would have intentionally produced these disruptive edits. They are better explained as the product of the well-intentioned but uncoordinated efforts of two individuals, each trying to adapt the Book of Mormon translation for a contemporary audience. Specifically, many of these variants are best explained as the results of Joseph Smith’s attempts to restore missing words to a text from which some words (those italicized in the KJV) had been purposefully omitted by a prior translator. The proposed explanation is consistent with witness accounts of the Book of Mormon translation that portray Joseph Smith visioning a text that was already translated into English. It is also supported by an 1831 newspaper article that describes Joseph Smith dictating one of the Book of Mormon’s biblical chapters minus the KJV’s italicized words. An understanding of the human element in the Book of Mormon translation can aid the student of scripture in distinguishing the “mistake of men” from those variants that are integral to the Book of Mormon’s Bible quotations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Topics > Translation and Publication > KJV
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Abstract: The author introduces a syntactic technique known as “enallage”—an intentional substitution of one grammatical form for another. This technique can be used to create distance or proximity between the speaker, the audience, and the message. The author demonstrates how king Limhi skillfully used this technique to teach his people the consequences of sin and the power of deliverance through repentance.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Contents:
Rooted and Built Up in Christ / Carlos E. Asay
The Old Testament: An Indispensable Foundation / George A. Horton
Noah, the Ark, the Flood: A Pondered Perspective / James R. Christianson
The Seed of Abraham in the Latter Days / Bruce A. Van Orden
Genesis 22: The Paradigm for True Sacrifice in Latter-day Israel / Andrew C. Skinner
Trust in the Lord: Exodus and Faith / S. Kent Brown
Kibroth-Hattaavah: The Graves of Lust / Jeff O’Driscoll
The Latter-day Significance of Ancient Temples / Richard O. Cowan
Joseph and Joseph: “He Shall Be Like Unto Me” (2 Nephi 3:15) / Ann N. Madsen, Susan Easton Black
“Has Thou Considered My Servant Job?” / John S. Tanner
Prophets: How Shall We Know Them? / Joseph F. McConkie
Jesus’ Commandment to Search the Words of Isaiah / L. LaMar Adams
A Latter-day Saint Reading of Isaiah in the Twentieth Century: The Example of Isaiah 6 / Paul Y. Hoskisson
Micah, the Second Witness with Isaiah / Monte S. Nyman
The Restoration of the Tribes of Israel in the Writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel / Stephen D. Ricks
The Last Shall Be First and the First Shall Be Last / LaMar E. Garrard
Daniel: Ancient Prophet for the Latter Days / H. Dean Garrett
Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: A Latter-day Prophecy of Joel, Peter, and Moroni Examined / Alan K. Parrish
Malachi and the Latter Days / Rex C. Reeve Jr
Justification, Ancient and Modern / Chauncey C. Riddle
Ancient Hebrew “Psychology”: A Radical Option for Educators in the Latter Days / Neil J. Flinders, Paul Wangemann
The Restoration as Covenant Renewal / David Rolph Seely
Joseph Smith’s Use of the Old Testament / Grant Underwood
The Brass Plates: An Inspired and Expanded Version of the Old Testament / Robert L. Millet
The Old Testament: Voice from the Past and Witness for the Lord Jesus Christ / Robert J. Matthews
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Topics > Symposia and Collections of Essays
Nephi quotes from the book of Isaiah because of its relevance to his people and to all men. He highlights the message of Christ’s appearance and atonement. The latter-day prophecies, both those which have been fulfilled and those that are yet to be fulfilled, are cited and explained. Israel will be restored in the latter days, but warnings accompany this glorious prophecy. The enemies of Zion will be confounded.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
A typescript of six lectures. The author presents a discussion on reformed Egyptian, the books of 2 Nephi, Alma, and 3 Nephi, and the question regarding Isaiah in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
The Book of Mormon clearly teaches God’s plan in respect to the afterlife. Death is necessary for all individuals (2 Nephi 2:22-25). This life is the time to prepare to meet God (Alma 34:32, 34-35). In the spirit world there is a division of people who await the resurrection (Alma 40:9-14). There will be a judgment and all will be given a just reward according to their actions and desires (Alma 41:3-5, 2 Nephi 9:14).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Nephi1 represents the sacred record that becomes the Book of Mormon as a new brass serpent to heal the nations. Nephi’s typological project is reasonable given that he self-identifies with Moses, his family’s scriptures and compass are made of brass, and he consistently describes reading as an act of seeing, looking, or believing. Nephi understands from Isaiah that the book he (Nephi) prepares — and that he has so much to say about — will become an ensign, or sign, that will be lifted up and heal the nations that have stumbled in blindness. Nephi’s project emerges most fully in 2 Nephi 25, the introductory material to an extended prophecy wherein he points the Jewish people to their Messiah, a figure he equates with Moses’s raised serpent and Jesus Christ.
Abstract: The Book of Mormon sheds light on a “great mystery” located in John 10:16 (D&C 10:64). In this paper, using a comparative method that traces intersecting pastoral imagery, I argue that John 10:16–18 (as opposed to merely John 10:16) not only refers to Jesus’s visit to the Lehites in Bountiful and the lost tribes of Israel (the standard LDS view), but that it has a scripturally warranted covenant-connection to the emergence and dissemination of the Nephite record. Specifically, the Book of Mormon, according to the Good Shepherd (3 Nephi 15:12–16:20), effectively serves as his recognizable voice to the inhabitants of the earth across time and space. The Nephite record has come forth so that the Lord’s sheep (those who hear his voice in and through that record in the final dispensation) may be safely gathered into the fold before he comes in glory to reign as a second King David. The Nephite record’s coming forth to eventually establish peace on earth was foretold by prophets such as Isaiah (Isaiah 52:7–10), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:23–25; 37:15–26), and Nephi (1 Nephi 13:34–37, 40–14:2; 1 Nephi 22:16–28). The value of this comparative approach is to recast our understanding of various passages of scripture, even as additional value is assigned to the Nephite record as the covenant of peace.
“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Few verses in the Book of Mormon are as problematic and controversial as 2 Nephi 4:35 (LDS 5:21). Critics of the Book of Mormon have routinely pointed to this verse and its reference to Lamanites receiving a “skin of blackness” as evidence of racism and racist theology in Mormonism’s sacred scriptures. The verse has also failed to escape ridicule in pop-cultural depictions of Mormonism, as seen most recently in the hit Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon. The verse and its interpretation are of perennial interest to readers of the Book of Mormon, believing or not, since the racial stance of the volume seems to center around the interpretation of the passage.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
The first line of Nephi’s Psalm (found in 2 Nephi 4:16– 35) matches perfectly the iambic pentameter of Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia, more commonly known among Latter-day Saints as the hymn Be Still, My Soul. Because of this coincidence, John S. Tanner decided to write lyrics based on Nephi’s Psalm, called I Love the Lord, after which he solicited the help of Ronald J. Staheli in composing a musical arrangement based on Finlandia. Tanner later wrote another adaptation of Nephi’s Psalm, called Sometimes My Soul, using the tune of an American folk song. He explains the process of writing these two songs and the accompanying challenges.
2 Nephi 4:16-35 shares much of the character and attitude of Nephi. The Song of Nephi begins with a feeling of despair and ends with an inspiring prayer of commitment to a better way of life. It is a pattern to follow on the road to repentance.
Catherine Thomas emphasizes that a condition of peace is necessary in order for us to experience the companionship of the Spirit. We are prone to experience troubled relationships, but we can by our own volition elect to develop a satisfying sense of at-one-ment with our associates. The Book of Mormon describes dysfunctional families, including Lehi’s. Nephi explains in his psalm (2 Nephi 4) that how we are judged will not be based on what others do to us, but on how we react to them.
Abstract: General historical consensus holds that synagogues originated before the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, and therefore probably originated during the Babylonian captivity. The suggestion in Philo and Josephus that synagogues may have originated during the exodus was discredited by some historians in the 17th century, yet the Book of Mormon speaks of synagogues, sanctuaries, and places of worship in a manner which suggests that Lehi and his party brought some form of synagogal worship with them when they left Jerusalem around 600 BC. This essay revisits the most up to date scholarship regarding the origin of the synagogue and suggests that the Book of Mormon record provides ample reason to look for the origins of the synagogue much earlier that has become the academic custom.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Leviticus
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: John S. Thompson explores scholarly discussions about the relationship of the Egyptian tree goddess to sacred trees in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the temple. He describes related iconography and its symbolism in the Egyptian literature in great detail. He highlights parallels with Jewish, Christian, and Latter-day Saint teachings, suggesting that, as in Egyptian culture, symbolic encounters with two trees of life — one in the courtyard and one in the temple itself — are part of Israelite temple theology and may shed light on the difference between Lehi’s vision of the path of initial contact with Tree of Life and the description of the path in 2 Nephi 31 where the promise of eternal life is made sure.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See John S. Thompson, “The Lady at the Horizon: Egyptian Tree Goddess Iconography and Sacred Trees in Israelite Scripture and Temple Theology,” in Ancient Temple Worship: Proceedings of The Expound Symposium 14 May 2011, ed. Matthew B. Brown, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Stephen D. Ricks, and John S. Thompson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 217–42. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/ancient-temple-worship/.].
Book of Mormon Topics > General Topics > Temples
Book of Mormon Topics > General Topics > Tree of Life
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
This study explores the influence of the King James Bible (KJV) on the Book of Mormon (BM) by examining how the BM appropriates and adapts the text of the J source of the Pentateuch-a narrative strand from Genesis to Deuteronomy-and weaves phrases, ideas, motifs, and characters into the text. I identify the full range of influence of the J source of the Pentateuch on the text of the BM in Part II, and then analyze the use of Gen. 2-4 in its own literary context, in ancient sources, and finally in the BM. Through close reading and analysis the study highlights the gaps between the meaning of Gen. 2-4 in its own literary context and the way that the BM interprets its themes and overall message. The BM employs a thoroughly 19th century American- Christian worldview in both its use of the J source and its interpretation of that important text. This study has important implications for BM studies broadly and for historical-critical studies of the BM in particular. Moving forward, BM studies will need to grapple with the heavy influence that the KJV had on the composition of the BM. Past studies have identified limited influence of the KJV on the text for several reasons, but whatever the reasons it is clear that there are specific ways to move the field forward. Studies have focused on the block quotations of Isaiah in the BM, and some have explored the use of Sermon on the Mount in 3 Nephi and other portions of the text. Unfortunately, there are very few studies that have attempted to broaden the scope and look at the influen ce of a larger section of the KJV and its more subtle uses throughout the entire BM It is my hope that this study can be a stepping-stone of sorts for future work. I have looked specifically at how the BM uses parts of Genesis through Deuteronomy, but this leaves the door open to exploring the influence of any and all of the other parts of the KJV and their influence on the text of the BM.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Moses Topics > Literary and Textual Studies of the Book of Moses
The author sees the publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls to be a catalyst for bringing the Bible and Book of Mormon together (2 Nephi 3:12).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
An introduction to the Book of Mormon, its people and records. 2 Nephi 28-30 presents what the Book of Mormon says concerning conditions today.
A typewritten paraphrase of 1 and 2 Nephi geared especially for the American Indian. Divided into 300 verses. Emphasizes Indians as the audience to whom the messages are addressed. Refers to God and Christ as “the Great Spirit”
Inasmuch as the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon changes the phrase “white and delightsome” (2 Nephi 30:6) to read “pure and delightsome” (having reference to the Lamanites), the Book of Mormon is not to be trusted.
RSC Topics > T — Z > Testimony
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
The prophet Nephi declared that the Lord speaks to his people “according to their language, unto their understanding” (2 Nephi 31:3). Religious beliefs are an integral part of a culture’s shared “language,” and the ways in which individuals interpret supernatural manifestations is typically mediated through their cultural background. The hierophanies recorded in Latter-day Saint canon directly reflect the unique cultural background of the individuals who witnessed them. This paper analyzes several distinct hierophanies witnessed by prophets in both the Old and New Worlds and discusses the cultural context in which such manifestations occur, which aids modern readers in obtaining a greater understanding of the revelatory process recounted in these texts.
Jacob
This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles that look at doctrines in the Book of Mormon, including resurrection, the allegory of the olive tree, and the appearance of Jesus Christ to the brother of Jared. Contents “The Doctrine of the Resurrection as Taught in the Book of Mormon” Robert J. Matthews “Explicating the Mystery of the Rejected Foundation Stone: The Allegory of the Olive Tree” Paul Y. Hoskisson “The Gospel of Jesus Christ as Taught by the Nephite Prophets” Noel B. Reynolds “‘Never Have I Showed Myself unto Man’: A Suggestion for Understanding Ether 3:15a” Kent P. Jackson Personal Essay: “Watermelons, Alma 32, and the Experimental Method” Joseph Thomas Hepworth Review of The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5 Reviewed by David B. Honey
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
On 30 October John L. Clark, emeritus instructor in the Church Educational System, spoke on the topic “Painting Out the Messiah: Theologies of the Dissidents.” Clark began by showing that Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob all taught specifically about the Messiah but that dissidents like Sherem and Nehor opposed their teachings with “theologies” that denied Christ’s redemptive role and godhood, thereby causing many believers to lose faith. Clark then examined the arguments of the dissidents in the Book of Mormon to show what the prophets were teaching and what the objections to those teachings were. He discusses this topic at length in an article in the current issue of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, mailed along with this newsletter.
Literary analysis provides useful tools in the study of sacred texts, including the Book of Mormon. For the author, three transforming events that enhanced her study of the Book of Mormon included reading the book in earnest as a complex and masterful literary text, the entrance of the Spirit into her study of the book, and a prayerful desire to experience the great change of heart described by King Benjamin and Alma. Nephi begins his record with sincerity and honesty and serves notice that he intends to prepare a true record. The opposition between Nephi and his brothers Laman and Lemuel illustrates well Lehi’s teachings on the necessity of opposition in all things. More subtly, the reader notes a contrast between the characters and personalities of Nephi and Jacob. Jacob is portrayed as an empathetic and compassionate person who was tutored by exile and isolation.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Enos, the son of Jacob, grandson of Lehi, recorded his own touching testimony and the promises that the Lord made to him concerning the Nephite records and his Nephite and Lamanite brothers. His mighty efforts to pray brought him a remission of his own sins.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
The Book of Omni records the brief writings of several authors, Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, who were not spiritual leaders, but were descendants of Jacob.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Jacob had great faith, saw a vision of the Messiah, presented powerful exhortations, and succeeded Nephi as leader of his people.
Abstract: This paper reviews the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob’s proscription against plural marriage, arguing that the verses in Jacob 24–30 should be interpreted in a Law of Moses context regarding levirate marriage, by which a man was responsible for marrying his dead brother’s wife if that brother died before having an heir. I also review how these verses have been used in arguments for and against plural marriage, and how levirate marriage practices worked in Mosaic tradition.
Review of The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5 (1994), edited by Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch.
Provides a summary description of 2 Nephi in sections: Lehi’s admonitions and testament to his posterity before his death (1:1-4:11); Lehi pronounces blessings on all his children and Nephi writes a small historical segment (4:12-5:34); a sermon by Jacob (chapters 6-10), and a lengthy written discourse from Nephi (chapters 11-33) in which he quotes large portions of Isaiah.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
At the time Jacob gave his speech in 2 Nephi 6–10, the Nephites had already been driven from two lands of inheritance and felt an ongoing concern of being cut off from God’s promises. Belnap illustrates that Jacob’s speech answers these concerns through emphasizing and expounding on the covenantal relationship made possible by God acting as the Divine Warrior. Jacob quotes Isaiah passages in his discourse and in some instances makes his own additions to emphasize important aspects. He illustrates how the Divine Warrior provides the hardships, knowledge, and power for an individual to become a divine warrior, and he discusses the Divine Warrior’s defeat over the monster of Death. The promises made by the Divine Warrior can provide hope and assurance to all.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Perhaps no theme in the Book of Mormon resonates so powerfully to modern readers as that of separation from and reconciliation with God. The sense of being cut off, isolated, or driven out is attested throughout the book. Similarly, messages from the Book of Mormon prophets of hope, reconciliation, and communion with God seek to alleviate the fears and depression that arise from loneliness or abandonment. This theme is particularly evident in Jacob’s great speech recorded in 2 Nephi 6–10 and the two “last” speeches from Moroni in Mormon 8 and Moroni 10. Jacob and Moroni both address separation from and reconciliation with God, providing a template for the reader to understand their own experiences. In particular, these prophets quote the words of Isaiah to teach how sacred covenants reconcile us to God.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
Nephi warned future readers that the Book of Mormon was not a history (2 Nephi 5:32-33). Rather, the book is an instrument to bring people to Christ. Nephi, Lehi, Abinadi, Jacob, Alma, and other prophets knew the mission of Christ and taught it.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Lehi, Jacob, King Benjamin, mothers, and other characters are honored as being great Book of Mormon teachers.
Lehi’s exodus to the promised land is only the first of a series of exoduses occurring throughout the Book of Mormon. Indeed, Lehi’s exodus becomes mere precedent for later flights into the wilderness by Nephi, Mosiah, Alma1, Limhi, and the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. For the Nephites, continuing exodus is not merely historical fact. Understanding the biblical exodus as a type and shadow, the Nephites come to see their wandering as a metaphor of their spiritual condition. Thus, even centuries after Lehi’s arrival in the promised land, Nephite prophets recognize their status as “wanderers in a strange land” (Alma 13:23). As did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Nephites also looked beyond their temporal land of promise “for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Abstract: This essay makes a compelling argument for Jacob, the brother of Nephi, having deep knowledge of ancient Israelite temple ritual, concepts, and imagery, based on two of Jacob’s sermons in 2 Nephi 9 and Jacob 1-3. For instance, he discusses the duty of the priest to expiate sin and make atonement before the Lord and of entering God’s presence. Jacob quotes temple-related verses from the Old Testament, like Psalm 95. The allusions to the temple are not forced, but very subtle. Of course, Jacob’s central topic, the atonement, is a temple topic itself, and its opposite, impurity, is also expressed by Jacob in terms familiar and central to an ancient temple priest. The temple is also shown as a gate to heaven.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.
See David E. Bokovoy, “Ancient Temple Imagery in the Sermons of Jacob,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 171–186. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/temple-insights/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
“The Book of Mormon is a text published in 1830 and considered a sacred work of scripture by adherents of the Latter-day Saint movement. Although written 200 years later, it exhibits many linguistic features of the King James translation of the Bible. Such stylistic imitation has been little studied, though a notable exception is Sigelman & Jacoby (1996). Three hypotheses are considered: that this is a feature of 19th century religious texts, and the Book of Mormon adopts the style of its genre as a religious text; that this is a feature of translations of ancient texts, and the Book of Mormon adopts the style of its genre as a purported translation of ancient records; that Joseph Smith, who produced the Book of Mormon, absorbed the idiom of the King James Bible and used it in his writings generally. A selection of 19th century religious and translated texts are evaluated, along with personal letters of Joseph Smith, with consideration given to a wide range of archaic features, including lexemes, morpho-syntactic features, and idiomatic expressions. The rates are compared to those in the King James Bible and to the Corpus of Historical American English, which serves as a control for 19th century usage.” [Author]
Abstract: In sermons and writings, Jacob twice quotes the prophecy of Isaiah 11:11 (“the Lord [ʾădōnāy] shall set his hand again [yôsîp] the second time to gather the remnant of his people”). In 2 Nephi 6:14 and Jacob 6:2, Jacob uses Isaiah 11:11 as a lens through which he interprets much lengthier prophetic texts that detail the restoration, redemption, and gathering of Israel: namely, Isaiah 49:22–52:2 and Zenos’s Allegory of the Olive Trees (Jacob 5). In using Isaiah 11:11 in 2 Nephi 6:14, Jacob, consistent with the teaching of his father Lehi (2 Nephi 2:6), identifies ʾădōnāy (“the Lord”) in Isaiah 11:11 as “the Messiah” and the one who will “set himself again the second time to recover” his people (both Israel and the righteous Gentiles who “believe in him”) and “manifest himself unto them in great glory.” This recovery and restoration will be so thoroughgoing as to include the resurrection of the dead (see 2 Nephi 9:1–2, 12–13). In Jacob 6:2, Jacob equates the image of the Lord “set[ting] his hand again [yôsîp] the second time to recover his people” (Isaiah 11:11) to the Lord of the vineyard’s “labor[ing] in” and “nourish[ing] again” the vineyard to “bring forth again” (cf. Hebrew yôsîp) the natural fruit (Jacob 5:29–33, 51–77) into the vineyard. All of this suggests that Jacob saw Isaiah 49:22–52:2 and Zenos’s allegory (Jacob 5) as telling essentially the same story. For Jacob, the prophetic declaration of Isaiah 11:11 concisely summed up this story, describing divine initiative and iterative action to “recover” or gather Israel in terms of the verb yôsîp. Jacob, foresaw this the divine action as being accomplished through the “servant” and “servants” in Isaiah 49–52, “servants” analogous to those described by Zenos in his allegory. For Jacob, the idiomatic use of yôsîp in Isaiah 11:11 as he quotes it in 2 Nephi 6:14 and Jacob 6:2 and as repeated throughout Zenos’s allegory (Jacob 5) reinforces the patriarch Joseph’s statement preserved in 2 Nephi 3 that this figure would be a “Joseph” (yôsēp).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Abstract: Genesis 30:23–24 offers a double etiology for Joseph in terms of “taking away”/“gathering” (ʾāsap) and “adding” (yāsap). In addition to its later narratological use of the foregoing, the Joseph cycle (Genesis 37–50) evidences a third dimension of onomastic wordplay involving Joseph’s kĕtōnet passîm, an uncertain phrase traditionally translated “coat of many colours” (from LXX), but perhaps better translated, “coat of manifold pieces.” Moroni1, quoting from a longer version of the Joseph story from the brass plates, refers to “Joseph, whose coat was rent by his brethren into many pieces” (Alma 46:23). As a military and spiritual leader, Moroni1 twice uses Joseph’s torn coat and the remnant doctrine from Jacob’s prophecy regarding Joseph’s coat as a model for his covenant use of his own coat to “gather” (cf. ʾāsap) and rally faithful Nephites as “a remnant of the seed of Joseph” (Alma 46:12–28, 31; 62:4–6). In putting that coat on a “pole” or “standard” (Hebrew nēs — i.e., “ensign”) to “gather” a “remnant of the seed of Joseph” appears to make use of the Isaianic nēs-imagery of Isaiah 11:11–12 (and elsewhere), where the Joseph-connected verbs yāsap and ʾāsap serve as key terms. Moroni’s written-upon “standard” or “ensign” for “gathering” the “remnant of the seed of Joseph” constituted an important prophetic antetype for how Mormon and his son, Moroni2, perceived the function of their written record in the latter-days (see, e.g., 3 Nephi 5:23–26; Ether 13:1–13).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Joseph (Ancient Egypt)
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Gather
Abstract: Omni greatly revered his ancestors and their personal accounts on the small plates of Nephi. A close examination of Omni’s brief autobiography (Omni 1:1–3) evidences borrowing from all four of his predecessors’ writings. Moreover, his self-description, “I of myself am a wicked man,” constitutes far more than a confession of religious dereliction. That self-assessment alludes to Nephi’s autobiographical wordplay on his name in terms “good” and “having been born of goodly parents” and his grandfather Enos’s similarly self-referential wordplay in describing his own father Jacob as a “just man.” Omni’s name most likely represents a hypocoristic form of a longer theophoric name, *ʾomnîyyāhû (from the root *ʾmn), meaning “Yahweh is [the object of] my faith” or “Yahweh is my guardian [or, nursing father],” but could also be heard or understood as a gentilic, “faithful one” or “trustworthy one.” These observations have implications for Omni’s stated defense of his people the Nephites (traditionally, the “good” or “fair ones”) against the Lamanites, those who had dwindled in “unbelief” (cf. Hebrew lōʾ-ʾēmun). In the end, Omni’s description of himself as “a wicked man” should be viewed in the context of his reverence for “goodly” and “just” ancestors and brought into balance with those sacred trusts in which he did prove faithful: preserving his people, his genealogy, and the small plates themselves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: This article examines Jacob’s statement “God hath taken away his plainness from [the Jews]” (Jacob 4:14) as one of several scriptural texts employing language that revolves around the Deuteronomic canon formulae (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32 [13:1]; cf. Revelation 22:18‒19). It further examines the textual dependency of Jacob 4:13‒14 on Nephi’s earlier writings, 1 Nephi 13 and 2 Nephi 25 in particular. The three texts in the Hebrew Bible that use the verb bʾr (Deuteronomy 1:5; 27:8; Habakkuk 2:2) — each having covenant and “law” implications — all shed light on what Nephi and Jacob may have meant when they described “plain” writing, “plain and precious things [words],” “words of plainness,” etc. Jacob’s use of Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree as a means of describing the Lord’s restoring or re-“adding” what had been “taken away,” including his use of Isaiah 11:11 (Jacob 6:2) as a hermeneutical lens for the entire allegory, further connects everything from Jacob 4:14 (“God hath taken away”) to Jacob 6:2 with the name “Joseph.” Genesis etiologizes the name Joseph in terms of divine “taking away” (ʾāsap) and “adding” (yōsēp; Genesis 30:23‒24; cf. Numbers 36:1‒5). God’s “tak[ing] away his plainness” involved both divine and human agency, but the restoration of his plainness required divine agency. For Latter-day Saints, it is significant the Lord accomplished this through a “Joseph.”.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Plainness
Abstract: The Book of Enos constitutes a brief literary masterpiece. A close reading of Enos’s autobiography reveals textual dependency not only on 1 Nephi 1:1-2 and Genesis 32–33, but also on earlier parts of the Jacob Esau cycle in Genesis 25, 27. Enos’s autobiographical allusions to hunting and hungering serve as narrative inversions of Esau’s biography. The narrative of Genesis 27 exploits the name “Esau” in terms of the Hebrew verb ʿśh/ʿśy (“make,” “do”). Enos (“man”) himself incorporates paronomastic allusions to the name “Esau” in terms of ʿśh/ʿśy in surprising and subtle ways in order to illustrate his own transformation through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. These wordplays reflect the convergence (in the Genesis narratives) of the figure of Esau before whom Jacob bows and whom he embraces in reconciliation with the figure of the divine “man” with whom Jacob wrestles. Finally, Enos anticipates his own resurrection, divine transformation, and final at-one-ment with the Lord in terms of a clothing metaphor reminiscent of Jacob’s “putting on” Esau’s identity in Genesis 27.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Abstract: The name Jacob (yaʿăqōb) means “may he [i.e., God] protect,” or “he has protected.” As a hypocoristic masculine volitive verbal form,
it is a kind of blessing upon, or prayer on behalf of the one so named that he will receive divine protection and safety (cf. Deuteronomy 33:28). Textual evidence from Nephi’s writings suggests that his brother Jacob’s protection was a primary concern of their parents, Lehi and Sariah. Lehi saw Nephi as the specific means of divine protection for Jacob, his “first born in the wilderness.” Moreover, the term “protector” is used twice in LDS scripture, in both instances by Jacob himself (2 Nephi 6:2; Jacob 1:10), this in reference to Nephi, who became the “great protector” of the Nephites in general and Jacob in particular. All of the foregoing is to be understood against the backdrop of the patriarch Jacob’s biography. Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, and Enos all expressed their redemption in terms reminiscent of their ancestor Jacob’s being “redeemed … from all evil,” a process which included Jacob “wrestling” a divine “man” and preparing him to be reconciled to his estranged brother by an atoning “embrace.” Mormon employed the biblical literary etymology of the name Jacob, in the terms “supplant,” “usurp,” or “rob” as a basis for Lamanite accusations that Nephites had usurped them or “robbed” them of their birthright. Mormon, aware of the high irony, shows that the Gadianton [Gaddianton] robbers take up the same polemic. The faithful Lehites, many of whom were descendants of two Jacobs, prayed “May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection” (3 Nephi 4:30). By and large, they enjoyed the God of Jacob’s protection until they ceased to call upon their true protector for it.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The most likely etymology for the name Zoram is a third person singular perfect qal or pôʿal form of the Semitic/Hebrew verb *zrm, with the meaning, “He [God] has [is] poured forth in floods.” However, the name could also have been heard and interpreted as a theophoric –rām name, of which there are many in the biblical Hebrew onomasticon (Ram, Abram, Abiram, Joram/Jehoram, Malchiram, etc., cf. Hiram [Hyrum]/Huram). So analyzed, Zoram would connote something like “the one who is high,” “the one who is exalted” or even “the person of the Exalted One [or high place].” This has important implications for the pejoration of the name Zoram and its gentilic derivative Zoramites in Alma’s and Mormon’s account of the Zoramite apostasy and the attempts made to rectify it in Alma 31–35 (cf. Alma 38–39). The Rameumptom is also described as a high “stand” or “a place for standing, high above the head” (Heb. rām; Alma 31:13) — not unlike the “great and spacious building” (which “stood as it were in the air, high above the earth”; see 1 Nephi 8:26) — which suggests a double wordplay on the name “Zoram” in terms of rām and Rameumptom in Alma 31. Moreover, Alma plays on the idea of Zoramites as those being “high” or “lifted up” when counseling his son Shiblon to avoid being like the Zoramites and replicating the mistakes of his brother Corianton (Alma 38:3-5, 11-14). Mormon, perhaps influenced by the Zoramite apostasy and the magnitude of its effects, may have incorporated further pejorative wordplay on the Zoram-derived names Cezoram and Seezoram in order to emphasize that the Nephites had become lifted up in pride like the Zoramites during the judgeships of those judges. The Zoramites and their apostasy represent a type of Latter-day Gentile pride and apostasy, which Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni took great pains to warn against.
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The biblical etiology (story of origin) for the name “Cain” associates his name with the Hebrew verb qny/qnh, “to get,” “gain,” “acquire,” “create,” or “procreate” in a positive sense. A fuller form of this etiology, known to us indirectly through the Book of Mormon text and directly through the restored text of the Joseph Smith Translation, creates additional wordplay on “Cain” that associates his name with murder to “get gain.” This fuller narrative is thus also an etiology for organized evil—secret combinations “built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:22–23; 11:15). The original etiology exerted a tremendous influence on Book of Mormon writers (e.g., Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Mormon, and Moroni) who frequently used allusions to this narrative and sometimes replicated the wordplay on “Cain” and “getting gain.” The fuller narrative seems to have exerted its greatest influence on Mormon and Moroni, who witnessed the destruction of their nation firsthand — destruction catalyzed by Cainitic secret combinations. Moroni, in particular, invokes the Cain etiology in describing the destruction of the Jaredites by secret combinations. The destruction of two nations by Cainitic secret combinations stand as two witnesses and a warning to latter-day Gentiles (and Israel) against building up these societies and allowing them to flourish.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 4–6:12 — Grand Council in Heaven, Adam and Eve
Abstract: In this brief note, I will suggest several instances in which the Book of Mormon prophet Enos utilizes wordplay on his own name, the name of his father “Jacob,” the place name “Peniel,” and Jacob’s new name “Israel” in order to connect his experiences to those of his ancestor Jacob in Genesis 32-33, thus infusing them with greater meaning. Familiarity with Jacob and Esau’s conciliatory “embrace” in Genesis 33 is essential to understanding how Enos views the atonement of Christ and the ultimate realization of its blessings in his life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains several quotations from the Hebrew Bible that have been juxtaposed on the basis of shared words or phrases, this for the purpose of interpreting the cited scriptural passages in light of one another. This exegetical technique — one that Jesus himself used — came to be known in later rabbinic times as Gezera Shawa (“equal statute”). In several additional instances, the use of Gezera Shawa converges with onomastic wordplay. Nephi uses a Gezera Shawa involving Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 twice on the basis of the yāsap verb forms yôsîp/yôsīp (2 Nephi 25:17 and quoting the Lord in 2 Nephi 29:1) to create a stunning wordplay on the name “Joseph.” In another instance, King Benjamin uses Gezera Shawa involving Psalm 2:7, 2 Samuel 7:14, and Deuteronomy 14:1 (1–2) on the basis of the Hebrew noun bēn (“son”; plural bānîm, bānôt, “sons” and “daughters”) on which to build a rhetorical wordplay on his own name. This second wordplay, which further alludes to Psalm 110:1 on account of the noun yāmin (“right hand”), was ready-made for his temple audience who, on the occasion of Mosiah’s coronation, were receiving their own “endowment” to become “sons” and “daughters” at God’s “right hand.” The use of Gezera Shawa was often christological — e.g., Jacob’s Gezera Shawa on (“stone”) in Jacob 4:15–17 and Alma’s Gezera Shawa on Zenos’s and Zenock’s phrase “because of thy Son” in Alma 33:11–16 (see Alma 33:4 17). Taken together, these examples suggest that we should pay more attention to scripture’s use of scripture and, in particular, the use of this exegetical practice. In doing so, we will better discern the messages intended by ancient prophets whose words the Book of Mormon preserves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The biblical Hebrew collocation pinnâ derek or pannû derek (cf. Egyptian Ἰr wꜣ.t [n]), often rendered “prepare the way” or “prepare a way” in English, is an evident stylistic feature of Nephi’s writings. The most basic meaning of this idiom is “clear my way,” which is how it is rendered in 2 Nephi 4:33. Zenos’s use of “prepare the way” (Jacob 5:61, 64) in the context of “clear[ing] away” bad branches also reflects this most basic meaning.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Abstract: The prophecies in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 are third-generation members of the same family of texts derived from Isaiah 11:11–12 and Isaiah 29:4, all of which ultimately rely on yāsap (yôsîp or yôsip) idioms to describe the gathering of Israel and the concomitant coming forth of additional scripture. Mormon, following Nephi, apparently engages in a specific kind of wordplay on the name Joseph in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 that ultimately harks back to the divine promises made to Joseph in Egypt (2 Nephi 25:21; see also especially 2 Nephi 3:4–16, Genesis 50:24–34 JST) and to his descendants. This wordplay looks forward to the name and role of the prophetic translator through whom additional scripture “[would] be brought again” and “[would] come again” in the last days.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Abstract: This study builds upon Hugh Nibley’s insightful observation that several Book of Mormon passages reflect “the ritual embrace that consummates the final escape from death in the Egyptian funerary texts and reliefs” as expressing the meaning of Christ’s Atonement. This study further extends Nibley’s observations on Jacob’s “wrestle” as a divine “embrace” to show that Lehi’s, Nephi’s, and their successors’ understanding of the divine embrace is informed by their ancestor’s “wrestle” with a “man” (Genesis 32:24–30) and reconciliation with his brother (Genesis 33:4–10). Examples of the divine embrace language and imagery throughout the Book of Mormon go well beyond what Nibley noted, evoking the Psalms’ depictions of Jehovah whose “wings” offered protection in the ritual place of atonement. Book of Mormon “divine embrace” texts have much to teach us about Jesus Christ, his love, the nature of his Atonement, and the temple.
Abstract: To the ancient Israelite ear, the name Ephraim sounded like or connoted “doubly fruitful.” Joseph explains the naming of his son Ephraim in terms of the Lord’s having “caused [him] to be fruitful” (Genesis 41:52). The “fruitfulness” motif in the Joseph narrative cycle (Genesis 37–50) constitutes the culmination of a larger, overarching theme that begins in the creation narrative and is reiterated in the patriarchal narratives. “Fruitfulness,” especially as expressed in the collocation “fruit of [one’s] loins” dominates in the fuller version of Genesis 48 and 50 contained in the Joseph Smith Translation, a version of which Lehi and his successors had upon the brass plates. “Fruit” and “fruitfulness” as a play on the name Ephraim further serve to extend the symbolism and meaning of the name Joseph (“may he [God] add,” “may he increase”) and the etiological meanings given to his name in Genesis 30:23–24). The importance of the interrelated symbolism and meanings of the names Joseph and Ephraim for Book of Mormon writers, who themselves sought the blessings of divine fruitfulness (e.g., Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob), is evident in their use of the fuller version of the Joseph cycle (e.g., in Lehi’s parenesis to his son Joseph in 2 Nephi 3). It is further evident in their use of the prophecies of Isaiah and Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree, both of which utilize (divine) “fruitfulness” imagery in describing the apostasy and restoration of Israel (including the Northern Kingdom or “Ephraim”).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Review of Jana Riess, “‘There Came a Man’: Sherem, Scapegoating, and the Inversion of Prophetic Tradition,” in Christ and Antichrist: Reading Jacob 7, eds. Adam S. Miller and Joseph M. Spencer (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2017), 17 pages (chapter), 174 pages (book).
Abstract: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute recently published a book on the encounter between Jacob and Sherem in Jacob 7. Jana Riess’s contribution to this volume demonstrates the kind of question-asking and hypothesis formation that might occur on a quick first pass through the text, but it does not demonstrate what obviously must come next, the testing of those hypotheses against the text. Her article appears to treat the text as a mere afterthought. The result is a sizeable collection of errors in thinking about Jacob and Sherem.
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Review of Adam S. Miller, “Reading Signs or Repeating Symptoms,” in Christ and Antichrist: Reading Jacob 7, eds. Adam S. Miller and Joseph M. Spencer (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2017), 10 pages (chapter), 174 pages (book).
Abstract. The Neal A. Maxwell Institute recently published a volume on the encounter between Jacob and Sherem in Jacob 7. Adam Miller’s contribution to this book is a reiteration of views he published earlier in his own volume. One of Miller’s claims is that Jacob made a false prediction about the reaction Sherem would have to a sign if one were given him — an assertion that is already beginning to shape the conventional wisdom about this episode. This shaping is unfortunate, however, since the evidence indicates that this view of Jacob’s prediction is a mistake. Once we see this, it is easier to avoid other mistakes that seem evident in Miller’s approach.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract. A chapter of Adam Miller’s Future Mormon concerns Jacob’s encounter with Sherem in Jacob 7. While novel, Miller’s treatment of Jacob and Sherem appears inadequate. He overlooks features of the text that seem to subvert his unconventional conclusions about them. This essay identifies a number of such matters, falling in four major categories, and shares thoughts on the need for perspective when discussing Jacob’s conduct — or the conduct of any prophet, for that matter. It also highlights the jeopardy we face of being the second group to fall for Sherem’s lies.
Reprints selected Book of Mormon passages in a form that makes them appear more poetic, including 1 Nephi 1:1-2, 1 Nephi 3:27- 37, 2 Nephi 1:25-39, and Jacob 2:34-43. (Verses are numbered according to RLDS.)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Presents evidences of the Book of Mormon, including: the Book of Mormon omits the letters q, x, or w from proper names, does not use contractions, indicative of a Hebrew language; omits from the book of Ether references to the priesthood, the law of Moses, stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and other references that are Israelite, except for commentary inserted by Moroni. Also argues that Joseph Smith did not use the published writings of Del Rio, who visited ruins in America in 1767, as he translated the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
A study guide booklet presenting lessons from the book of Jacob.
In many places in the Book of Mormon, the authors refer to writings known to them but not included in the book. One of these is the record of Lehi. Nephi reported that he made “an abridgment of the record of my father” (1 Nephi 1:17), which he included on his own original (large) plates. An English translation of that abridgment was included in the 116 pages of manuscript translation lost by Martin Harris in 1828. Someday we will have that record restored; meanwhile, we can discover some of what it contained because both Nephi and Jacob included parts from it in their records.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
This book, written by Mormon apostle George Q. Cannon, covers the life of one of the larger figures within Mormon scripture, the prophet Nephi. Utilizing both the Book of Mormon and sources contemporary to his time, Elder Cannon presents a picture of Nephi and what his life, surroundings, and circumstances could have been.
Lehi Commanded to Embark upon the Ship—Food Prepared for the Voyage—Jacob and Joseph—Did the Ship have Sails?—Voyages and Ships of Egyptians—Dancing and Rudeness of Laman and Others at Sea—Nephi Remonstrates—Is Treated Harshly and Bound Hand and Foot by his Brothers—Lehi and Sariah very Sick—Four Days of Terrible Tempest—Compass Would not Work—Driven Back Before the Wind—Terror of Laman and Lemuel—Nephi’s Patience and Self-Control—The Lord Shows Forth His Power—Nephi Released—The Ship Steered in Right Course—His Prayer Answered and Tempest Quelled—Reach the Promised Land
Travelers’ Descriptions of Land Once Occupied by Nephites—Cradle of an Imperial Race—The Productions of the Land in Modern Times Agree with Description of Same in Book of Mormon—Rapid Recovery from Effects of Disastrous Commotions and Wars Accounted for—Healthy Climate—Remarkable Longevity—Jacob, Enos, Jarom and Omni—Longevity of Indians in Ecuador and Peru
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Travel Many Days in the Wilderness—Call the Land Nephi—Did They Journey Northward?—Location of Land Nephi—River Sidon and Magdalena—Land of Zarahemla—Twenty-two Days’ Travel from Nephi—Did not Land of Nephi Extend Considerably South?—Zeniff’s Return to the Land of Nephi—Was that the Land Settled by Nephi, the First?—Mosiah, King of Zarahemla—Reasons for Thinking Nephi to be Distinguishing Name of an Extensive Region—Nephites Would Spread Over the Country in Four Hundred Years—Did Nephi and Company Travel as far North as Ecuador?—Followed by Lamanites—Jacob and Enos Respecting Lamanites—Nephi’s Description of the Land—Bolivia and Peru—Cities and Settlements Called After Founders—Additional Reasons for Thinking Nephi and Company did not Settle so far North—Boundaries of Lands Occupied by Nephites and Lamanites—South America Called Lehi, North America Called Mulek
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Nephi’s Commandment to Jacob Concerning Small Plates—Nephi Anoints a Man to be King—His Successors in Kingly Dignity Called by his Name—Patriarchal Government—Jacob Presided Over the Church—King Mosiah’s Mode of Life—Seers as Well as Kings—Was There a Change of Dynasty?—Kingly and Priestly Authority United in Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: The Mormon Theology Seminar has produced two volumes of essays exploring 1 Nephi 1 on Lehi’s initial visions, and Jacob 7 on the encounter with Sherem. These essays provide valuable insights from a range of perspectives and raise questions for further discussion both of issues raised and regarding different paradigms in which scholars operate that readers must navigate.
Review of Adam S. Miller, ed., A Dream, a Rock, and a Pillar of Fire: Reading 1 Nephi 1 (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2017), 140 pp., $15.95.
Review of Adam S. Miller and Joseph M. Spencer, eds., Christ and Antichrist: Reading Jacob 7 (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2017), 148 pp., $15.95.
[I]t would be foolish to ignore an avenue that could potentially provide new insights into the Book of Mormon narrative.
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Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
In a previous report I showed how the Book of Mormon’s portrayal of Nephi, son of Lehi, compares favorably to a preexilic Hebrew wisdom tradition reconstructed by biblical scholar Margaret Barker.1 This report highlights further connections between the Book of Mormon and traditions from ancient Israel that Barker asserts “have been lost but for the accidents of archaeological discovery and the evidence of pre-Christian texts preserved and transmitted only by Christian hands.”
Discusses the different “ites” of the Book of Mormon. The Nephites were divided into Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, and Zoramites, and the Lamanites were divided into Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. Defines several terms, including five different definitions of the term “Lamanite.”
Discusses the different “ites” of the Book of Mormon. The Nephites were divided into Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, and Zoramites, and the Lamanites were divided into Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. Deines several terms, including ive different deinitions of the term “Lamanite”
The Doctrine of Salvation (the Doctrine of Christ) is found clearly in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine of Exaltation (the Nauvoo Doctrine or Doctrine of the Father), which deals with temple ordinances, is present in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon does reveal and illuminate the “covenant which God the Father made to the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . . the ‘work of the Father’ (1 Nephi 14:17)”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Religious instruction has been central to Brigham Young University’s unique mission since the beginning. Religious Education faculty and staff members identify with those whose commission it was in ancient times “to teach the word of God among all the people” (Helaman 5:14; see also Alma 23:4; 38:15; 2 Timothy 4:2). Therefore, it has been their desire, as it was with two of Lehi’s sons, to teach . . . the word of God with all diligence” (Jacob 1:19). This book tells the story of BYU’s efforts to fulfill the Savior’s commission. ISBN 978-0-8425-2708-8
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The prophet Zenos outlined the history of Israel in the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5. Author includes a graph depicting the scattering and gathering of Israel.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Explains the use of adieu at the end of Jacob. Although a French word, its use is justiied by its deinition and as a itting ending for the chiasmus in the last verse of Jacob.
The people of Lehi were so few in number that they were a quiet and solemn race, with few amusements, but with an oppressing sense of the vastness of the land which they occupied, and of their own insignificance. Nor was there entire peace amongst them, for Laman and Lemuel, with others, were still fractious and turbulent. In course of time Lehi felt that his earthly life was near its close, for he was aged and in failing health. So he called to him his sons and daughters and the other members of his colony, and blessed them in the same manner as his forefather Jacob blessed his family before he died. Lehi also prophesied many things that should happen to his posterity after him, for he was possessed of much of the Spirit of the Lord. After he had done this he died and was buried.
Scarcely was Lehi buried than trouble arose. Laman and Lemuel with their friends, would not be led by Nephi. They asserted” that they were the elder brothers, and theirs was the right to rule. They would not recognize Nephi’s authority, though they knew that God had appointed him to be their leader. So, by the command of Heaven, the two parties separated. Nephi, and those who would listen to him, moved away, and left those who clung to Laman in possession of their first home. Those who went with Nephi were his own family, Zoram, Sam, Jacob and Joseph, and their families, and some others whose names the Book of Mormon does not give. Henceforth those who belonged to this branch of Lehi’s house were known as Nephites, after Nephi, their leader; while those who remained with Laman were called Lamanites. The Nephites were those who believed in the warnings and revelations of God; while the Lamanites rejected His word and did not keep His commandments. After many days’ journey the Nephites pitched their tents and began to build up a new home. To the land they now occupied they gave the name of Nephi, while the region they left in the possession of the Lamanites is frequently called “The Land of their First Possession.”
As soon as possible after the arrival of Nephi and his people at their new home, which they called the Land of Nephi, they commenced to build a temple to the Most High God. This they were compelled to do, in order that they might observe the requirements of the law of Moses, as God had commanded them. For without a temple they could not offer the sacrifices and burnt offerÂings required by that law; and it was then in force to all the house of Israel, of which the Nephites were a branch, and so continued until the great sacriÂfice was offered up on Mount Calvary, of which all others were but types. So to fulfill the law, temples were built by the Nephites in every land that they colonized; and in different parts of the Book of Mormon we read of temples being built by them in the lands of Nephi, Lehi-Nephi, Zarahemla, BountiÂful and other places. Less than fifty years B. C. one historian states (HelaÂman 3:14): “But behold a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the acÂcount of the Lamanites, and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contenÂtions, and dissensions, and their preachÂing, and their prophecies, and their shipping, and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues, and their sanctuaries * * * cannot be contained in this work. ” That the Nephites by thus building temples in every land in which they dwelt were simply carrying out the commandments of God is proved by His word to His people in these days, wherein he says: “Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your meÂmorials for your sacrifices, by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places, wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.” (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 124:39.) The temple built in the land of Nephi was evidently patterned after that built by Solomon, for it was to be used for the same purposes; but, as the prinÂciples of the Gospel were taught to the Nephites as well as the Mosaic law, it is reasonable to suppose that many of the ordinances now administered in temples were also performed there. The most marked difference between the Temple of Solomon and that of Nephi was that the latter “was not built of so many precious things” as the former. We are also justified in believing, as it was built by a very small people, and was simply intended to meet their needs, that it was probably smaller than the temple at Jerusalem. To build one as large as that of Solomon would have been an almost impossible task for a people so few in numbers. Still this is but conjecture, as Nephi is entirely silent with regard to the dimensions of the building. This temple was occasionally, if not ordinarily, used for the public gatherings of the Nephites. Jacob, the brother of Nephi, used it for such a purpose (Jacob 2:2). This was also the case with the one afterwards erected in the city of Zarahemla; when King Benjamin desired to give his last address to his people’ and present his successor (his son, Mosiah II,) he directed that the people should be gathered at that temple to hear his words. (Mosiah 2:1).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Written at least lifteen years after the death of Joseph Smith, but in the lirst person to express Joseph Smith’s views as understood by the author. Quotes Jacob 2 to condemn polygamy and repudiates the idea of celestial marriage.
Abstract: The phrase “Brethren, adieu” (Jacob 7:27) has been criticized over the years as an obvious anachronism in the Book of Mormon. That criticism holds no validity whatsoever, as others have pointed out, since many English words have French origins. It’s worth considering, though, a deeper meaning of the word. In French, it carries a nuance of finality — that the separation will last until a reunion following death (à Dieu, or until God). This deeper meaning of adieu appears to have been known by Shakespeare and frontier Americans although the second meaning is not generally recognized by English speakers today. However, Jacob 7:27 appears to reflect this deeper meaning as do certain uses of another valediction in the Book of Mormon — that of farewell. With the deeper meaning of adieu in mind, the parallel structure in Jacob 7:27 — “down to the grave,” reflecting the finality of adieu — becomes more apparent. The question of whether Joseph Smith was aware of the deeper meaning of adieu is taken up by looking at how the word was used in the Joseph Smith Papers. The take-away is that rather than reflecting an error on the part of Joseph Smith, the word adieu, with its deeper nuance of finality until God, is not only an appropriate term, it appears to strengthen rather than undermine the case for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article argues that the Mexican people are a chosen race of people. According to Isaiah 29:4 they have been brought down in the dust. However, they are descendants of Joseph, through Lehi (1 Nephi 5:14) and they will be redeemed (2 Nephi 30:5-6).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
An illustrated story for children about Jacob and Sherem.
For children, cartoon story of the animosity that Laman and Lemuel felt toward Nephi, and Nephi’s need to leave and find a new home after Lehi’s death. Depicts the way the records were kept by Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, and Enos.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Jacob, younger brother of Nephi, became the second scribe of the gold plates, delivered a powerful temple sermon, called the people to repentance, taught the allegory of the Olive Tree, and defeated the anti-Christ Sherem.
The author rewrites, on a child’s level, topics such as Lehi’s vision and journey into the wilderness, Nephi and the brass plates, Nephi building a ship, the faith of Jacob, Abinadi, Alma, Amulek, Ammon, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, Helaman, Samuel the Lamanite, the brother of Jared, and Moroni hiding the brass plates.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
A children’s story of Jacob from the time he was born in the wilderness to his meeting with Sherem, the anti-Christ.
Review of Heroes from the Book of Mormon (1995), by Deseret Book
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Jacob F. Gates relates the interview which his father, Jacob Gates, had with Oliver Cowdery in 1849. In response to Gates’ questions, Oliver Cowdery testified that the Book of Mormon “was translated by the gift and power of God” and that he had received the priesthood by an angel whose hand “I felt…as plainly as I could feel yours.”
Review of James E. Faulconer, Mosiah: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 135 pages. $9.95 (paperback).Abstract: The Maxwell Institute for the Study of Religion has released another book in its series The Book of Mormon: Brief Theological Introductions. This book by James E. Faulconer more than ably engages five core elements of the book of Mosiah, exploring their theological implications. Faulconer puzzles through confusing passages and elements: why is the book rearranged so that it isn’t in chronological order? What might King Benjamin mean when he refers to the nothingness of humans? And what might Abinadi mean when he declares that Christ is both the Father and the Son? The most interesting parts of the introduction to Mosiah are those chapters that sort through the discussion of politics as both Alma1 and Mosiah2 sort out divine preferences in constitutional arrangements as the Nephites pass through a political revolution that shifts from rule by kings to rule by judges. Faulconer asserts that no particular political structure is preferred by God; in the chapter about economic arrangements, Faulconer (as in his analysis of political constitutions) asserts that deity doesn’t endorse any particular economic relationship.
My kingdom is not of this world.
John 18:36
I believe in God, but I detest theocracy. For every Government consists of mere men and is, strictly viewed, a makeshift; if it adds to its commands “Thus saith the Lord,” it lies, and lies dangerously.
C.S. Lewis, “Is Progress Possible”
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8‒9
Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is
impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him;
wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.
Jacob 4:8.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: In the October 2015 issue of The Journal of Mormon History, Gary Bergera presents a richly illustrated article, “Memory as Evidence: Dating Joseph Smith’s Plural Marriages to Louisa Beaman, Zina Jacobs, and Presendia Buell” (95–131). It focuses on a page from the “Historian’s Private Journal,” which Bergera dates to “specifically September or thereabouts” of 1866 (99). Wilford Woodruff’s handwriting on that page describes Joseph Smith’s plural marriage sealings and dates his marriage to Louisa Beaman to “May 1840,” to Zina Huntington on “October 27, 1840,” to Presendia Huntington on “December 11, 1840,” and also to Rhoda Richards on “June 12, 1843.” The first three dates on the historian’s document are important, as Bergera explains: “If accurate, Woodruff’s record not only pushes back the beginnings of Joseph Smith earliest Nauvoo plural marriage by a year but it also requires that we reevaluate what we think we know — and how we know it — about the beginnings of LDS polygamy” (95–96). The key question is whether the information on that page can be considered “accurate” in light of other available documents dealing with these plural sealings. During the remaining thirty-four pages of the article, Bergera presents an argument that 1840, not 1841, is the most reliable year for the Prophet’s earliest Nauvoo plural unions. This essay examines why his analysis of the records appears to be incomplete and his conclusions problematic.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
This article states that experiencing soul satisfying circumstances is better when one is not alone. Sharing such experiences with loved ones increases the satisfaction, as is exemplified in the Book of Mormon. Examples of such phenomena include Lehi, who tastes of the fruit of the Tree of Life and desires to share; Enos, who prays for his brethren; and the sons of Mosiah and Alma, who shared their experiences as missionaries following their conversion.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
When a group of LDS scholars collaborated in 1994 under the auspices of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies to publish a book on the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5, few substantial works on olive production in the ancient world existed. Now, two new archaeological books add a wealth of information to our understanding of the importance of the olive in ancient life. The first mention of the olive in the Book of Mormon is found in Lehi’s prediction of the Babylonian captivity and the coming of the Lamb of God. Lehi compared the house of Israel to an olive tree whose branches would be broken off and scattered upon all the face of the earth (1 Ne. 10:12). After being scattered,the house of Israel would be gathered and the natural branches of the olive tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, would be grafted in, or come to a knowledge of the true Messiah (1 Ne. 10:14). In this passage, Lehi probably drew upon Zenos’s allegory, found on the plates of brass. In incredible horticultural detail, that allegory compares the house of Israel to an olive tree. Yet that Old World information was apparently lost among Lehi’s descendants in the New World. After the fifth chapter of Jacob, the olive is not mentioned again in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Topics > Flora and Fauna
Old Testament Topics > Olive Oil
Old Testament Topics > Flora and Fauna
While Jacob records 15,000 words in the Book of Mormon, he is often underappreciated, perhaps living in the shadow of his older brother Nephi. This study illustrates how Nephi, King Benjamin, and Moroni used Jacob’s words and expanded the influence of his literary legacy.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
At the beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi writes, “The fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved” (1 Nephi 6:4; emphasis added). He later writes, “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). The pinnacle of the Book of Mormon occurred in 3 Nephi when Jesus Christ personally ministered to the Nephites and Lamanites. Clearly the central purpose of those writing on the plates was to invite and persuade each of us to come unto Jesus Christ, helping us understand his redeeming role.Jesus Christ is the central figure in the Book of Mormon. Ancient prophets in the western hemisphere consistently pointed to His life and atoning sacrifice. For example, Nephi wrote, “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). After His Resurrection, Jesus Christ personally ministered to the Nephites and taught them. This volume shares important reminders about how to focus on Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Elder Jeffrey Holland bears testimony of the Book of Mormon as the keystone of Mormonism. The Book of Mormon is either what it says it is, and Joseph Smith’s account of its origin is true, or it and the Prophet are simply discredited. Three great witnesses of Christ in the Book of Mormon are Nephi, Jacob, and Isaiah.
Old Testament Topics > Types and Symbols
In teaching Book of Mormon at Brigham Young University over the past quarter century, I have rarely found a student, whether true freshman or returned missionary, who knows what the word mark means in Jacob 4:14.1 Most of them know that the mark symbolizes Christ in this verse, but they do not know what a mark is. That is, if a mark symbolizes Christ, then mark must be something in real life other than Christ. In fact, most Book of Mormon readers justifiably feel satisfied and uplifted by relying on what they think mark means in this verse. While it is true that great lessons can be learned from this verse by relying simply on the symbolic meaning of mark, when the meaning of mark as it fell from the Prophet’s lips while translating becomes clear, whole new, additional dimensions of understandings of Jacob’s warning begin to unfold.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Explains that 2 Nephi 12:70 and Jacob 3:140-47 prophesy of the coming forth of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Narrative poems about Book of Mormon characters and situations. Topics include Lehi, Sam, Jacob, the tree of life vision, the waters of Mormon, and King Noah. The poet empathizes, for example, with Sam confessing his love for the family home in Jerusalem. Yet when the vision came, he never looked back.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Quotes exclusively from Dewey Farnsworth’s The Americas before Columbus and the scriptures (Genesis 49:22-26, John 10:16) to show that American Indians are descended form the House of Israel and were acquainted with biblical stories (e.g., House of Noah, Abraham, Jacob) prior to contact with Europeans.
A biographical sketch of each of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon (with the exception of Hyrum Smith, and Joseph Smith Sr.). Underscores the fact that the witnesses never denied their experience of handling the plates. Mary Musselman Whitmer, the mother of the five Whitmer sons who were witnesses, is also identified.
A biographical sketch of each of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon (with the exception of Hyrum Smith, and Joseph Smith Sr.). Underscores the fact that the witnesses never denied their experience of handling the plates. Mary Musselman Whitmer, the mother of the five Whitmer sons who were witnesses, is also identified.
Clark Johnson examines sermons given by Jacob, Benjamin, and the Savior to Nephites gathered at their respective temples. He analyzes some of the high points to see how they taught “the doctrine of the temple,” giving particular attention to the teachings of the atonement and the contingent covenants covered in the ordinances taught by King Benjamin. Johnson also discusses Christ’s beatitudes in succession.
A story for children that recounts Enos’s experiences as he went into the forest and prayed (Jacob 7:27; Enos).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Abstract: The first 450 years of Nephite history are dominated by two main threads: the ethno-political tension between Nephites and Lamanites and religious tension between adherents of rival theologies. These rival Nephite theologies are a Mantic theology that affirms the existence of Christ and a Sophic theology that denies Christ. The origin of both narrative threads lies in the Old World: the first in conflicts between Nephi and Laman, the second in Lehi’s rejection of King Josiah’s theological and political reforms. This article focuses on these interrelated conflicts. It suggests that Zoram, Laman, Lemuel, Sherem, and the Zeniffites were Deuteronomist followers of Josiah. The small plates give an account of how their Deuteronomist theology gradually supplanted the gospel of Christ. As the small plates close, their last author, Amaleki, artfully confronts his readers with a life-defining choice: having read the Book of Mormon thus far, will you remain, metaphorically, with the prophets in Zarahemla and embrace the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, or will you return to the land of Nephi and the theology you believed and the life you lived before you read the Book of Mormon?.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: Lehi’s son Jacob was troubled by a great theological mystery of his and our day — the problem of evil. If God is both all good and all-powerful, how is it possible for the world to be so full of human and natural evils? Jacob was able to elicit from the Lord responses to the question of why He permits evil to flourish in this world. The Lord elucidates the perennial problem of evil for Jacob and us in three distinct genres and at three different levels of abstraction: at a metaphysical level in a philosophical patriarchal blessing, at a concrete level in the history of the emerging Nephite political economy, and in the Allegory of the Olive Tree.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
A tract defending the LDS understanding of the condemnation of polygamy set forth in Jacob 2. The writer notes that polygamy is only permitted when the Lord commands it.
Abstract: Janus parallelism, a tool evident in ancient Hebrew poetry, is documented at some length by Scott B. Noegel in Janus Parallelism in the Book of Job, which I recently reviewed. Since the authorship of Job predates the removal of the Lehites from Jerusalem, this tool may have been available to writers in the Book of Mormon. While we do not have the original text to analyze wordplays in the original language, it may be possible to apply some of the cases considered by Noegel to find remnants of related “polysensuous” wordplays that might have been present in the original text or to consider other previously proposed wordplays that may include a Janus-like aspect.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Job
Abstract: In light of Noel Reynolds’ hypothesis that some material in the Book of Moses may have been present on the brass plates that Nephi used, one may wonder if Nephi or other authors might also have drawn upon the use of chains in the Book of Moses. Further examination of this connection points to the significance of the theme of “dust” in Lehi’s words and the surrounding passages from Nephi and Jacob, where it can involve motifs of covenant keeping, resurrection, and enthronement. Recognizing the usage of dust-related themes in the Book of Mormon can enhance our understanding of the meaning and structure of several portions of the text. An appeal to the Book of Mormon’s use of dust may also help fill in some gaps in the complex chiastic structure of Alma 36 (to be treated in Part 3) and add meaning to other portions of that “voice from the dust,” the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
This article is an essay for youth about prayer, using Enos as the model.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Just as Moses had appointed Joshua as the secular leader and Aaron as the spiritual leader of the people, so too had Nephi anointed a king as the secular leader and Jacob the spiritual leader. Jacob provides valuable lessons on polygamy and the outcome of the anti-Christ such as Sherem.
A brief discussion of the seven prophets after Jacob and before King Benjamin. Maeser also summarizes the events that these prophets recorded.
This article discusses the writings in the Bible and Book of Mormon that use the term “isles” and discusses what land is referred to by the prophets.
RSC Topics > L — P > Law of Moses
RSC Topics > L — P > Priesthood
Tells of Jacob’s teachings on the Atonement.
A devotional address concentrating on Jacob’s observation of people who “miss the point” or “look beyond the mark”
Joseph McConkie offers a profile of the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob and discusses two themes taught by Jacob—the scattering and gathering of Israel and his testimony of the mission of Christ. The current gathering in Israel is temporal, not spiritual. From the Book of Mormon perspective, the gentiles are those who come from the gentile nations, even if they are of Ephraim, and are not Jewish nationals.
Consideration of doctrines taught in the books of Jacob to Mosiah, discussed verse-by-verse or in clusters of verses. Each section includes a heading, one or more verses quoted from the Book of Mormon, and then a commentary by the authors. This work is reviewed in M.304 and in V.045.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Review of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Volume I: First and Second Nephi (1987), and Volume II: Jacob through Mosiah (1988), by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet. The faith of the Nephites and the language of the Book of Mormon tends to be harmonized with certain contemporary statements about Mormon beliefs. The Book of Mormon should be more than a resource for theology. Rather than seeking confirmation for what we already know, we should search for the meaning and message of the text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
The Book of Mormon’s Jacob chapter 7 focuses on a dramatic showdown between Sherem, a defender of the Mosaic tradition, and Jacob, a prophet who views the Mosaic law as dead in light of what he calls “the doctrine of Christ.” The papers collected in this volume offer theological readings of this Book of Mormon chapter that draw on Jacob 7’s structure and literary details to illuminate key themes like law, family, prayer, mourning, and messianic time. Includes contributions from Jana Riess, Kimberly M. Berkey, Adam S. Miller, Jacob Rennaker, Jeremy Walker, Joseph M. Spencer, Jenny Webb, and Sharon J. Harris.
In the spirit of President Ezra Taft Benson’s plea to take the Book of Mormon more seriously, this discussion contains a sweeping review of Book of Mormon doctrines and the crucial role the book plays in the restoration. Robert Millet summarizes the highlights of the teachings of Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, King Benjamin, Abinadi, Alma the Younger, Samuel the Lamanite, Jesus Christ, Mormon, and Moroni, and delineates prominent themes throughout the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Robert Millet defines the terms Israel, Jew, and gentile and recommends avoiding a narrow definition of these terms when reading about Israel and the gentiles in the Book of Mormon. He explains that the Jews are the descendants of those who lived in the kingdom of Judah, and that the remnant of Jacob spoken of in the Book of Mormon is not limited to the Lamanites. Millet further relates that the Book of Mormon plays a role in the gathering of Israel, and that the scattering and gathering of Israel typify the fall and the atonement.
The Book of Mormon is not an ordinary history, it is a book with a purpose. It is a “new witness” for Jesus Christ. Its greatest purpose is to convince Jews and Gentiles that Jesus is the Christ. Out of 239 chapters only seventy-five have no relationship with the things of God. The testimony of Nephi and Jacob sustain the idea that the Book of Mormon was written to bear testimony of Jesus Christ.
Also called “Jacob’s Teachings on the Atonement and Judgment.“
The Book of Mormon was hand-delivered by an angel. There’s every evidence that it was, so let’s look at it.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
Also called “Rejecting the Word of God.“
We are on 2 Nephi 32, and are things going downhill fast. Here’s the first generation that has already gone bad, and Nephi is just terribly depressed. He ends on a down note, and then his brother Jacob takes it up.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 2 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jacob
We’re on the book of Jacob. I’ve decided that more than any book in the Book of Mormon this has the ring of absolute truth, historical and everything else.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jacob
Also called “The Olive Tree; The Challenge of Sherem.“
In the fourth chapter of Jacob he rings the gong in verses 13 and 14. What he is talking about here is absolutely basic. Notice that verse 13 is one philosophy of life, and verse 14 is the other philosophy of life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jacob
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Enos
Also called “The Struggle of Enos.“
Enos is an important book. It’s just one chapter, you notice, but what a chapter!
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Enos
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jarom
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Omni
Also called “Apostasy; The Gospel and World Religions.“
We begin with Helaman 3:30: “And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.” To sit down—it uses that a number of times in the Book of Mormon. Remember, you’re invited to go into the tent and sit down—have place with us. What he’s talking about is the old Mosaic law, which was abolished after Lehi left Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed. It was never the same after that. These people were familiar with the old custom—that going in and sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is very important.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
The Third Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU In this volume, twenty-two scholars comment knowledgeably on a variety of themes evoked by the prophetic words of Isaiah, Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob as given in 2 Nephi. Contributors discuss doctrines of Christ such as repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Fall, the Atonement, hope, endurance, the name of Jesus Christ as revealed to the Nephites, and the Nephite diligence in teaching and transmitting the gospel. Comments on the early Nephite period deepen our appreciation for Nephi’s spiritual strength. Although many perspectives are offered here, its underlying purpose is to illumine, clarify, and reinforce the gospel of Jesus Christ. ISBN 0-8849-4699-1
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Shows how the four Book of Mormon abridgers—Nephi, Jacob, Mormon, and Moroni—saw our day and directed their writings accordingly.
The Fourth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU The remarks of this volume are centered on the small plates of Nephi—Jacob through the Words of Mormon. The greatness of Lehi’s son Jacob is brought out, with special reference to his remarkable grasp of the doctrine of the Atonement, his powerful preaching about Christ, and his affirmations as to the central role of Christ in all gospel dispensations. Enos, Amaleki, and the anti-Christ Sherem are other topics discussed. Clarification is given on the structure of the Book of Mormon in terms of the large and the small plates of Nephi, the plates of Mormon (the abridgment), and the Words of Mormon. Latter-day Saint scholars who have experience the spiritual power of the Book of Mormon share here their insights on specific themes. ISBN 0-8849-4734-3
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Exults over the spiritual promises for the American Indians and contrasts their glorious destiny with the downfall of the Nephites at the time of Mormon. Refers to Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
A series that tells the stories of some of the lesser-known figures in the Book of Mormon: Jacob a Nephite apostate, Jarom, Zoram, Muloki, Samuel the Lamanite, Antipas, and Teancum.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
There were four families who were charged with the care of the plates that contained the records of the Nephites. Jacob’s family, King Benjamin’s family, Alma and his family, and Mormon and his son Moroni. The author provides a dated list of the historians.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Reynolds discusses how the Nephites and Lamanites were able to outlast and overcome the armies of the Gadianton Robbers. Although peace reigned for a time, the government eventually collapsed under the actions of traitors and apostates who sought power, and the people reverted to tribal orders for protection. Among these, one Jacob – who styled himself a king and founded the city of Jacobugath – receives prominent mention. With this collapse, as detailed by Reynolds, the reign of the judges ended.
The Nephites and Lamanites Separate—The Nephites seek a New Home— Nephi Chosen King—He Builds a Temple—Instructs his People in the Arts of Peace—War with the Lamanites—The Sword of Laban—Nephi’s Death—Jacob, his Brother, Becomes the Chief Priest—Jacob’s Teachings on Marriage
The Condition of the Lamanites—Sherem, the First Anti-Christ—His Recantation and Dreadful End
Enos, the Son of Jacob—The Nephites and Lamanites of his Day—His Testimony and Prophecies
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Jacob the Zoramite—His Characteristics—The Strategy by Which Mulek Was Taken—The Fierce Battle between Jacob and the Nephite Forces—Jacob’s Death
Reynolds discusses how the Nephites and Lamanites were able to outlast and overcome the armies of the Gadianton Robbers. Although peace reigned for a time, the government eventually collapsed under the actions of traitors and apostates who sought power, and the people reverted to tribal orders for protection. Among these, one Jacob – who styled himself a king and founded the city of Jacobugath – receives prominent mention. With this collapse, as detailed by Reynolds, the reign of the judges ended.
There were four families who were charged with the care of the plates that contained the records of the Nephites. Jacob’s family, King Benjamin’s family, Alma and his family, and Mormon and his son Moroni. The author provides a dated list of the historians.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The Book of Mormon peoples repeatedly indicated that they were descendants of Joseph, the son of Jacob who was sold into Egypt by his brothers. The plates of brass that they took with them from Jerusalem c. 600 bce provided them with a version of many Old Testament books and others not included in our Hebrew Bible. Sometime after publishing his translation of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith undertook an inspired revision of the Bible. The opening chapters of his version of Genesis contain a lot of material not included in the Hebrew Bible. But intriguingly, distinctive phraseology in those chapters, as now published in Joseph Smith’s Book of Moses, also show up in the Book of Mormon text. This paper presents a systematic examination of those repeated phrases and finds strong evidence for the conclusion that the version of Genesis used by the Nephite prophets must have been closely similar to Joseph Smith’s Book of Moses.
[Editor’s Note: This paper appeared first in the 1990 festschrift published to honor Hugh W. Nibley.
It is reprinted here as a convenience for current scholars who are interested in intertextual issues regarding the Book of Mormon. It should be noted that Interpreter has published another paper that picks up this same insight and develops considerable additional evidence supporting the conclusions of the original paper.
This reprint uses footnotes instead of endnotes, and there are two more footnotes in this reprint than there are endnotes in the original paper.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 4–6:12 — Grand Council in Heaven, Adam and Eve
Book of Moses Topics > Source Criticism and the Documentary Hypothesis
Book of Mormon Topics > Ancient Texts > Brass Plates
Abstract: In previous and pending publications I have proposed interpretations of various features of Nephi’s writings. In this paper I undertake a comprehensive discussion of the seven passages in which Nephi and his successor Jacob explain the difference between the large and the small plates and describe the divinely mandated profile for each. While most readers of the Book of Mormon have been satisfied with the simple distinction between the large plates in which the large plates are a comprehensive historical record of the Nephite experience and the small plates are a record of selected spiritual experiences, including revelations and prophecies, that approach has been challenged in some academic writing. What has been missing in this literature is a comprehensive and focused analysis of all seven of the textual profiles for these two Nephite records. In the following analysis, I invoke the insights of Hebrew rhetoric as developed by Hebrew Bible scholars over the past half century to articulate a vision of how these scattered explanations are designed and placed to support the larger rhetorical structures Nephi has built into his two books. The conclusions reached support the traditional approach to these texts.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
The Bible describes a bifurcated world in which God bids, commands, and teaches the people he has created to follow him in the way of righteousness, and in which the devil leads people into wickedness. This way of seeing things surfaces explicitly in various texts and is known among scholars as the Doctrine of the Two Ways. While the same teaching has been noticed in the Book of Mormon, there is as yet no study that examines the Book of Mormon presentations systematically to identify the ways in which they might follow any of the ancient versions of the Two Ways doctrine, or the ways in which these might feature original formulations. In this article, Noel Reynolds shows that the Book of Mormon writers did retain most elements of the earliest biblical teaching, but with enriched understandings and original formulations of the Doctrine of the Two Ways in their prophetic teachings. He documents twelve exemplary passages in the Book of Mormon that explicitly refer to two paths or ways and assesses the extent to which these follow or vary from each other or from Jewish and Christian models.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
In the Book of Mormon, the allegory of the olive tree—written by a prophet named Zenos and later quoted by the prophet Jacob to his people—stands out as a unique literary creation worthy of close analysis and greater appreciation. Besides its exceptional length and exquisite detail, this text conveys important teachings, deep emotion, and wisdom related to God’s tender devotion and aspirations for the house of Israel on earth.In The Allegory of the Olive Tree, 20 scholars shed light on the meaning, themes, and rhetorical aspects of the allegory, as well as on its historical, cultural, and religious backgrounds. In so doing, they offer answers to questions about the significance of olive tree symbolism in the ancient Near East, who Zenos was, the meaning of the allegory, what it teaches about the relationship between God and his people, how it might relate to other ancient texts, the accuracy of the horticultural and botanical details in the text, and much more.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Short biographical sketches of Jacob and King Benjamin. Jacob saw the Redeemer in his youth and recorded the prophecy of Zenos. Benjamin was an able warrior and wise and industrious leader.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
This article discusses the meaning of the word “isle” as contained in biblical and Book of Mormon geography. Roberts agrees with Mansfield that Jacob’s reference to the lands of the Book of Mormon as an “isle of the sea” means a body of land (however large) reached by crossing an ocean.
Literary authorship analysis using stylometry and wordprints. Several contributors to the Book of Mormon were examined Mormon, Nephi, Alma the Younger, Moroni, Jesus Christ, Jacob, and Isaiah. The 1830 edition was used. The conclusion is that the “results give every indication that there are multiple authors in the Book of Mormon”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Sometime after the death of his father Jacob, Enos wrote that the Nephites raised “flocks of herds, and flocks of all manner of cattle of every kind, and goats, and wild goats” (Enos 1:21). While contemporary archaeology thus far has not yielded evidence of pre-Columbian goats, anthropologist John L. Sorenson has suggested that Book of Mormon peoples, like the Spanish writers of a later time, may have considered some species of pre-Columbian deer to be a kind of goat.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
An update on the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon into various languages, and the mention of certain scriptures that pose translation problems (e.g., 1 Nephi 16:10, 2 Nephi 1:22, 1 Nephi 5:16, Jacob 7:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Old Testament Scriptures > Exodus
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezra/Nehemiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Daniel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
The Prophet Joseph Smith described the Restoration as a bringing forth of treasures of “things new and old,”1 and indeed modern revelation has shed great light on ancient truths. From Oliver Cowdery’s commentary on Zephaniah published in The Evening and the Morning Star in 1833 to the present outpouring of publications in preparation for the Sunday School course of study on the Old Testament in 1998, Latter-day Saints have generated a wealth of writings on the Old Testament which examine anew this ancient book of scripture in light of the Restoration. Through the spectacles of the Restoration we are able to remember the patriarchs Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and the great things the Lord has done for our fathers. We are able to understand the covenants the Lord has made in past dispensations and in the latter days. We are also able to better comprehend the writings of ancient prophets such as Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel and to discern from them the timeless message of repentance, the themes of scattering and gathering, and the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah—first in the flesh to atone for the sins of the world and again at the end of time. Just as the Old Testament provides a foundation for reading the rest of the scriptures, the light of the Restoration can reveal hidden treasures in the Old Testament. This bibliography is an attempt to guide readers to this treasury of “things new and old.”Criteria for Inclusion. This bibliography is meant to be a comprehensive listing of books and articles written by Latter-day Saints to Latter-day Saints about the Old Testament from 1830 through 1997. To be included, a book or an article must be primarily on an Old Testament topic. Consequently we have not included New Testament, Book of Mormon, or Pearl of Great Price topics unless they are specifically related to the Old Testament.2 Nor have we included writings on apocryphal or pseudepigraphical books unless they are relevant to the Old Testament. We have included general conference addresses published in the Ensign (1971–), but we have not included conference talks before this time. We have included a few articles by non-Latter-day Saints aimed at an LDS audience, but have not included biblical studies presented by LDS scholars in non-LDS settings.The Old Testament has been the course of study in Sunday School from September 1972 to August 1974 and September 1980 to August 1982, and from January to December in 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998. Numerous Old Testament items have been published in those years. The articles that appear weekly in the Church News and coordinate with Sunday School lessons have not been included in this bibliography.The following periodical or recurring sources were surveyed for this bibliography: BYU Studies (1959–); Church Educational System symposia and manuals; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints manuals; Contributor (1879–1896); Dialogue (1966–); Encyclopedia of Mormonism; Ensign (1971–); The Evening and the Morning Star (1832–34); Improvement Era (1897–1970); Millennial Star (1840–1970); New Era (1971–); Sperry Symposia; Sunstone (1981–); theses and dissertations at BYU; and Young Woman’s Journal (1889–1929).Three Lists. The entries are organized in three overlapping lists. First, all entries are listed by author’s names with complete bibliographic information and a very short abstract in cases where the contents of the publications are not adequately described by their titles. This is followed by a list of the entries organized by canonical books of the Old Testament. A third listing is divided into subject categories. All the entries are found in the author list and are found again listed either in the canonical or the subject categories. Many entries are found both in the canonical listing as well as in one or more subject listings.Gaining Access. Most, if not all, of the entries in this bibliography are available at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU. Many of them are readily available on the shelves, but some are kept in Special Collections. The bibliography itself can be accessed electronically at http://humanities.byu.edu/BYU Studies/homepage.htm.Acknowledgments. This bibliography began with a work by Dane Robertson entitled Index of Mormon Literature on the Old Testament, compiled for the History and Religion Library at BYU, which included entries up through 1981. Originally we intended to simply update that index, but in the course of our work we adopted somewhat different criteria for collecting and organizing the entries, and we ended up surveying the corpus of LDS writings again. We remain indebted to this earlier work. Many have worked in various capacities on the bibliography over the last several years: Eryn Johnson Gibson, Brian Jones, Jennifer Hammond Merrill, Becky Schulthies, and Luke Todd have worked through Religious Education on compiling, typing, abstracting, and checking the entries. Daniel B. McKinlay helped with the compilation. Jennifer Hurlbut, David Allred, and the interns and staff at BYU Studies rechecked and formatted the entries.We invite corrections and additions. A master list is kept in electronic form and can readily be expanded and reorganized. Hopefully, a supplement can someday be issued including future publications and additions to this bibliography. This work is one of collection and description. We have not attempted to evaluate the entries in terms of scholarly accuracy or doctrinal correctness.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Briefly discusses some of the characteristics of Jacob, son of Lehi. Jacob is portrayed as a man to whom others look for an example of spiritual living.
Book review.
Abstract: Royal Skousen’s essay shed light on enigmatic references in Jacob 6:13 and Moroni 10:34 to “the pleasing bar of God.” After establishing that the term “pleading bar” is an appropriate legal term, he cites both internal evidence and the likelihood of scribal errors as explanations for why “pleasing bar,” instead of the more likely “pleading bar,” appears in current editions of the Book of Mormon.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See Royal Skousen, “The Pleading Bar of God,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 413–28. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.]
.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Carl T. Cox has graciously provided me with a new account of Moroni showing the Book of Mormon plates to Mary Whitmer (1778-1856), wife of Peter Whitmer Senior. Mary was the mother of five sons who were witnesses to the golden plates: David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses; and Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, John Whitmer, and Peter Whitmer Junior, four of the eight witnesses.
For a long time we have known that Mary Whitmer was also shown the plates. These accounts are familiar and derive from David Whitmer and John C. Whitmer (the son of John Whitmer). For comparison’s sake, I provide here two versions of their accounts (in each case, I have added some paragraphing).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Near the end of his life, the prophet Nephi referred to the day of judgment and declared that we, the readers of the Book of Mormon, will stand face to face with him before the bar of Christ (2 Nephi 33:11). Similarly, the prophets Jacob and Moroni referred to meeting us when we appear before “the pleasing bar” of God to be judged.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article discusses Bible predictions that have been associated with the Book of Mormon—the prophetic blessings that Jacob gave Joseph and his two sons, the oracles in Micah and Isaiah, parts of Isaiah 29, Ezekiel 37, and John 10.
This article discusses how Jacob (2 Nephi 9) taught concerning the Atonement and mission of Jesus Christ, and our debt to him. Out of love members of the Church should show deep gratitude by obedience and in humble prayer.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Review of Deidre Nicole Green, Jacob: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 148 pages. $9.99 (paperback).Abstract: Deidre Nicole Green, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, offers an analysis of the theology of the book of Jacob with her new contribution to the Institute’s brief theological introduction series to the Book of Mormon. Green focuses on the theology of social justice in Jacob’s teachings, centering much of her book on how the Nephite prophet framed issues of atonement and salvation on both personal and societal levels. Her volume offers some intriguing new readings of otherwise familiar Book of Mormon passages.
Book of Mormon Topics > Criticisms and Apologetics > Book Reviews
This second of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the authors have learned from Nibley. Nearly every major subject that Dr. Nibley has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the sacrament covenant in Third Nephi, the Lamanite view of Book of Mormon history, external evidences of the Book of Mormon, proper names in the Book of Mormon, the brass plates version of Genesis, the composition of Lehi’s family, ancient burials of metal documents in stone boxes, repentance as rethinking, Mormon history’s encounter with secular modernity, and Judaism in the 20th century.
A microanthropological examination of what the text reveals regarding the composition and demography of Lehi’s party from the beginning of their sojourn in the Arabian wilderness to their arrival in the promised land.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Hugh Nibley > Scholarship, Footnotes, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, CWHN, Editing > Book of Mormon
Abstract: The Book of Mormon story of Jacob and Sherem has been evaluated and interpreted from many different viewpoints over the years. In his retelling of the story, Jacob crafted a cautionary tale of religious hubris and self-importance that can serve as an important lesson for members of the church today. In this paper I use various methodologies to examine the interaction between Jacob and Sherem — including comparative scriptural analysis, semantics, and Hebraic syntax and structural elements — in an attempt to increase our understanding of the relationship between Jacob and Sherem.
The Book of Mormon exhibits the intimate relationship between God and his people. The brother of Jared’s experience is a fine example. The driving force of the prophets was moral and religious, rather than economic and political. Social injustice was condemned by Nephi, Jacob, Alma, and Captain Moroni. Although little is said about the status of the family, respect for women and family affection are standard. Workers were well treated and friendship was promoted between Nephites and Lamanites. The Book of Mormon displays a high caliber of personal religion and brotherhood.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Although the beginning of Nephi’s record only mentions sons, Joseph Smith says the record of Lehi in the 116 missing manuscript pages refers to at least two of Ishmael’s sons marrying Lehi’s daughters. Nephi himself mentions his sisters at the end of his record. As no mention is made of further births to Lehi and Sariah after Jacob and Joseph, the assumption can be made that these sisters are the daughters who married Ishmael’s sons.
The patriarchal blessings that Lehi bestows upon his children and grandchildren are filled with important doctrinal and historical details and contain many prophetic elements. Lehi and Nephi share the vision of the tree of life, a fine example of symbolic prophecy. Perhaps the finest example of prophetic literature in the Book of Mormon deals with the coming of Christ. The prophetic dialogue in the Book of Mormon can be divided into five parts.
The most significant allegory in the Book of Mormon is the allegory of the tame and wild olive tree, which appears in Jacob 5. Six different types of prayers are found in the Book of Mormon. Perhaps the best example of a true song is “The Song of the Vineyard,” actually a quotation from Isaiah. There is only one example of an extended genealogy, that of Ether, the last Jaredite prophet.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Gives the “outstanding characteristics” of three great men in the Book of Mormon—Nephi, Jacob, and Enos. Nephi was faithful and a great spiritual leader, Jacob believed and defended the sanctity of the home, and Enos received “an unshakable faith” in God.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Reprints the title page, lists (in order) the books of the Book of Mormon, and gives the account of Moroni’s visit that is also found in the Pearl of Great Price. Contains many excerpts from the book itself, with writings from Nephi, Isaiah, Jacob, King Benjamin, King Mosiah, Alma, Helaman, Captain Moroni, Pahoran, Mormon, and Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The writings of Jacob and his descendants form part of the small plates, a section of the Book of Mormon that Mormon included intact, presumably without editing. Only on the small plates may Joseph Smith have found someone’s “handwriting” other than that of Mormon or Moroni. Speaking in the first person, Jacob and his descendants seem more individual, even in translation, than other writers whose words were more obviously edited by Mormon and Moroni. From Jacob through Omni, the record displays the complex variety one expects of a text written by many hands. The stylistic diversity of Jacob and his descendants is a powerful witness that we are dealing with material written by several ancient authors rather than by one person in early nineteenth-century New York.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Abstract: The doctrine of resurrection was taught by Lehi and Jacob among the first Nephites but was not mentioned again in the record until the time of Abinadi, perhaps 350 years later. In the court of King Noah that doctrine and the idea of a suffering Messiah who would bear the sins of his people and redeem them, were heresies and Abinadi paid for them with his life. While Abinadi’s testimony converted Alma1 and the doctrine of the resurrection inspired Alma2 after his conversion, it was a source of schism in the church at Zarahemla along lines that remind us of the Sadducees at Jerusalem. The doctrine of the resurrection taught in the Book of Mormon is a precursor to the doctrine now understood by the Latter-day Saints in the light of modern revelation. One example is that the Nephite prophets used the term first resurrection differently than we do. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the way that the doctrine of resurrection develops in the Book of Mormon, is that it develops consistently. That consistency bears further testimony to the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith. He could not have done that by himself.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: The Book of Mormon’s first anti-Christ, Sherem, “came among” the Nephites before their first generation was ended. Because he was an eloquent believer in the Law of Moses, there has been a variety of surmise as to his background. Was he a Lamanite, or a Jaredite or Mulekite trader? Was his presence among the separated Nephites evidence of early interaction between the Nephites and other civilisations in Nephite lands from the time of their first arrival? This short article reviews the various suggestions about Sherem’s identity and suggests he was most likely a descendant of the original Lehite party but that his identity was purposely suppressed so as not to give him more credibility than he deserved.
A 49-chapter commentary on Zenos’s parable of the olive tree in Jacob 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
The world of the Nephite nation was born out of the world of seventh century bc Jerusalem. The traditions and tragedies of the nation of Judah set the stage for what would happen over the next ten centuries of Book of Mormon history. In his opening statements, Nephi tells of an explosion of divinely commissioned ministers preaching in the holy city. He declares that Jerusalem was a place of “many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent” (1 Nephi 1:4). Nephi alludes to the prophetic service of Jeremiah (c. bc 626-587), Zephaniah (c. bc 640-609, Obadiah (c. bc 587), Nahum2 Habakkuk, Urijah, and possibly many others. This disproportionate number of prophets in the city was accompanied by an increasing wave of imitators. Amidst this apparent competition between valid and invalid prophetic representatives, Jeremiah sets a standard of who can be trusted in this visionary arena. As Stephen Smoot has written, “The Book of Mormon exhibits, in many respects, an intimate familiarity with ancient Israelite religious concepts. One such example is the Book of Mormon’s portrayal of the divine council. Following a lucid biblical pattern, the Book of Mormon provides a depiction of the divine council and several examples of those who were introduced into the heavenly assembly and made partakers in divine secrets.” It is this rich heritage of prophetic representatives of deity that so richly influenced Book of Mormon authors. Of these many prophets who were actively preaching in Jerusalem, Jeremiah stands out in Nephi’s writings (1 Nephi 5:13; 7:14). Jeremiah continues to be an influence on Nephite culture throughout their history (Helaman 8:20; cf. 3 Nephi 19:4). It will be Jeremiah’s writings that will influence the Nephite perspective on “Call Narratives” and views of the “Divine Council” throughout the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
The colonists living in the new United States after the American War for Independence were faced with the problem of forming new identities once they could no longer recognize themselves, collectively or individually, as subjects of Great Britain. After the French Revolution American politicians began to weed out the more radical political elements of the newly formed United States, particularly by painting one of the revolution’s biggest defenders, Thomas Paine, as unworthy of the attention he received during the American War for Independence, and fear ran throughout the states that an anarchic revolution like the French Revolution could bring the downfall of the nation. State, local, and regional organizations sprang up to fight Jacobinism, the legendary secret group of murderers and anarchists that fought against the French government.
This distressing situation gave rise to new literature that sought to describe the “real” origins and background of Jacobinism in the War in Heaven and in Eden, and a new movement against Jacobinism was established. Fears about the organization of secret societies did not wane in the decades after the French Revolution, but worsened in the last half of the 1820s when a Freemason, William Morgan, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in connection to an exposé of Masonry he had written. Most Americans assumed that Freemasons had abducted and murdered Morgan in order to keep their oaths and rites secret.
One influential early American who was influenced by this socio-historical was Joseph Smith, Jr., the founding prophet of Mormonism. Smith interpreted the Eden narrative in light of the movement against secret societies, and literary motifs common to anti-Jacobin literature during the period provided language and interpretive strategies for understanding the Eden narrative that would influence how Smith produced his new scripture. Only a few months after the publication of the Book of Mormon Smith edited the version of Eden found there into the text of the Bible itself and made the biblical narrative conform to the version found in the Book of Mormon through his own revisions and additions.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Moses Topics > Literary and Textual Studies of the Book of Moses
According to the “purpose principle,” everything in the Book of Mormon is there for a purpose. In Jacob 1:4 Jacob writes that he should engraven the heads of preaching, revelation, or prophesying on the plates. As used here, “heads” is a Hebraism meaning the most important or best of such teachings.
According to the “purpose principle,” everything in the Book of Mormon is there for a purpose. In Jacob 1:4 Jacob writes that he should engraven the heads of preaching, revelation, or prophesying on the plates. As used here, “heads” is a Hebraism meaning the most important or best of such teachings.
Lehi may have viewed Jacob (“my first-born in the wilderness”) and Joseph as replacement sons for the disobedient Laman and Lemuel. Scriptural parallels include Manasseh and Ephraim as replacements for Reuben and Simeon, and Seth for Abel.
Lehi, though unable to convince his older sons to follow the Lord, was very successful with both Nephi and Jacob. The speeches and writings of Jacob clearly show that he remembered the admonitions given to him by his dying father and that he shared Lehi’s teachings—including some of his verbiage—with other members of the family. Jacob’s life and his teachings found in the Book of Mormon stand as a memorial to his father’s faith and parental love.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
An apologetic work attempting to demonstrate evidence supporting Mormon beliefs. The authors provide a review of some of the evidence tending to support the Book of Mormon’s complexity and authenticity. Among the topics discussed pertaining to the Book of Mormon are the Eleven Witnesses, archaeology, linguistic complexities, proper names, the allegory in Jacob 5, the Nephite monetary system, modern philosophies predicted by Book of Mormon writers, and others.
Jacob 7:26 has often been noted for its pathos and nostalgia. A close reading of the verse finds that these effects result from the author’s own problematic family relationships, specifically Jacob’s troubled relationship with his older brothers, Laman and Lemuel, who have potentially hated him since his birth because of his position and alignment with Nephi. While Nephi seeks reconciliation with his brothers, Jacob seeks redemption as a healing of a preexistent family breach. In other words, Jacob seeks sealing. This emphasis on sealing can be seen in his temporal orientation, which simultaneously looks toward the past as the source of the family conflict and toward the future (through Enos) as the ongoing hope for the family’s eventual healing.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
John Welch discusses Nephi’s commandment to his son Jacob that a record be kept on the small plates. Welch delineates the obligations entailed in Nephi’s commandment and suggests that descendants of Jacob—Enos, Jarom, Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki—felt a strong sense of duty to see that it was fulfilled.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
“A KnoWhy is a short essay… about some brief historical, archaeological, cultural, linguistic, literary, legal, devotional, or prophetic insight in the Book of Mormon. Individually, these pieces are about very specific topics: knowing why Nephi wrote in Egyptian (chapter 5), knowing why Jacob talked about polygamy (chapter 64), knowing why Abinadi was ’scourged’ with faggots (chapter 93), or knowing why Alma would talk about Melchizedek (chapter 117). In many cases, we profess less-than-definitive answers, but rather offer some reasons for why these things might be as they are in the Book of Mormon. As a collective body, these KnoWhys provide more than possible answers to specific questions. Combined, they are about knowing why the Book of Mormon is amazing, knowing why it is beautiful, knowing why it speaks to our hearts and minds so powerfully, knowing why it is so uniquely inspiring, and ultimately knowing why the Book of Mormon is true in so many ways.” [Editors]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Points out that Jacob 2:39 does not condone polygamy.
The author reports of his visit to Palmyra, Manchester, and the Hill Cumorah, outlines many of the features of the Book of Mormon: the history and prophecy in the book, reference to Zion, America as a land of liberty, the relationship of Joseph and Judah, and Jesus Christ in America.
In Jacob’s sermon on immorality (Jacob 2) polygamy is not forbidden. What is forbidden is the taking of wives and concubines without the sanction of God.
A description of the book of Jacob, its organization and content. It seems to have three parts: a discourse by Jacob at the temple calling his people to repentance; prophecies of the Atonement of Christ, his rejection by the Jews, and the scattering and gathering of Israel; and the confrontation with the anti-christ, Sherem.
Review of The Book of Mormon: Jacob through Words of Mormon, To Learn with Joy (1990), edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Enos, the son of Jacob, grandson of Lehi, recorded his own touching testimony and the promises that the Lord made to him concerning the Nephite records and his Nephite and Lamanite brothers. His mighty efforts to pray brought him a remission of his own sins.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
The Book of Jarom was written by Jarom, son of Enos, who excuses his brevity by calling attention to limited space and lack of new doctrine.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Enos presents a positive model of how prayer is to be conducted.
Describes the historical setting of the Nephites and Lamanites during the time of Enos, provides a brief summary of the book of Enos, and then focuses upon Enos, a man of great faith.
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Old Testament Topics > Prophets and Prophecy
Abstract: During Christ’s mortal ministry at Jerusalem, his teachings often drew upon the writings of Isaiah, Moses, and other prophets with whom his audience was familiar. On the other hand, Christ never seems to quote Nephi, Mosiah, or other Book of Mormon prophets to the Jews and their surrounding neighbors, despite being the ultimate source for their inspired writings. It is because of this apparent confinement to Old Testament sources that intertextual parallels between the words of Christ in Matthew 23–24 and the words of Samuel the Lamanite in Helaman 13–15 jump out as intriguing. This paper explores the intertextual relationship between these chapters in Helaman and Matthew and suggests that the parallels between these texts can be attributed to a common source available to both Samuel and Christ, the writings of the prophet Zenos.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: In sermons and writings, Jacob twice quotes the prophecy of Isaiah 11:11 (“the Lord [ʾădōnāy] shall set his hand again [yôsîp] the second time to gather the remnant of his people”). In 2 Nephi 6:14 and Jacob 6:2, Jacob uses Isaiah 11:11 as a lens through which he interprets much lengthier prophetic texts that detail the restoration, redemption, and gathering of Israel: namely, Isaiah 49:22–52:2 and Zenos’s Allegory of the Olive Trees (Jacob 5). In using Isaiah 11:11 in 2 Nephi 6:14, Jacob, consistent with the teaching of his father Lehi (2 Nephi 2:6), identifies ʾădōnāy (“the Lord”) in Isaiah 11:11 as “the Messiah” and the one who will “set himself again the second time to recover” his people (both Israel and the righteous Gentiles who “believe in him”) and “manifest himself unto them in great glory.” This recovery and restoration will be so thoroughgoing as to include the resurrection of the dead (see 2 Nephi 9:1–2, 12–13). In Jacob 6:2, Jacob equates the image of the Lord “set[ting] his hand again [yôsîp] the second time to recover his people” (Isaiah 11:11) to the Lord of the vineyard’s “labor[ing] in” and “nourish[ing] again” the vineyard to “bring forth again” (cf. Hebrew yôsîp) the natural fruit (Jacob 5:29–33, 51–77) into the vineyard. All of this suggests that Jacob saw Isaiah 49:22–52:2 and Zenos’s allegory (Jacob 5) as telling essentially the same story. For Jacob, the prophetic declaration of Isaiah 11:11 concisely summed up this story, describing divine initiative and iterative action to “recover” or gather Israel in terms of the verb yôsîp. Jacob, foresaw this the divine action as being accomplished through the “servant” and “servants” in Isaiah 49–52, “servants” analogous to those described by Zenos in his allegory. For Jacob, the idiomatic use of yôsîp in Isaiah 11:11 as he quotes it in 2 Nephi 6:14 and Jacob 6:2 and as repeated throughout Zenos’s allegory (Jacob 5) reinforces the patriarch Joseph’s statement preserved in 2 Nephi 3 that this figure would be a “Joseph” (yôsēp).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Abstract: Omni greatly revered his ancestors and their personal accounts on the small plates of Nephi. A close examination of Omni’s brief autobiography (Omni 1:1–3) evidences borrowing from all four of his predecessors’ writings. Moreover, his self-description, “I of myself am a wicked man,” constitutes far more than a confession of religious dereliction. That self-assessment alludes to Nephi’s autobiographical wordplay on his name in terms “good” and “having been born of goodly parents” and his grandfather Enos’s similarly self-referential wordplay in describing his own father Jacob as a “just man.” Omni’s name most likely represents a hypocoristic form of a longer theophoric name, *ʾomnîyyāhû (from the root *ʾmn), meaning “Yahweh is [the object of] my faith” or “Yahweh is my guardian [or, nursing father],” but could also be heard or understood as a gentilic, “faithful one” or “trustworthy one.” These observations have implications for Omni’s stated defense of his people the Nephites (traditionally, the “good” or “fair ones”) against the Lamanites, those who had dwindled in “unbelief” (cf. Hebrew lōʾ-ʾēmun). In the end, Omni’s description of himself as “a wicked man” should be viewed in the context of his reverence for “goodly” and “just” ancestors and brought into balance with those sacred trusts in which he did prove faithful: preserving his people, his genealogy, and the small plates themselves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: This article examines Jacob’s statement “God hath taken away his plainness from [the Jews]” (Jacob 4:14) as one of several scriptural texts employing language that revolves around the Deuteronomic canon formulae (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32 [13:1]; cf. Revelation 22:18‒19). It further examines the textual dependency of Jacob 4:13‒14 on Nephi’s earlier writings, 1 Nephi 13 and 2 Nephi 25 in particular. The three texts in the Hebrew Bible that use the verb bʾr (Deuteronomy 1:5; 27:8; Habakkuk 2:2) — each having covenant and “law” implications — all shed light on what Nephi and Jacob may have meant when they described “plain” writing, “plain and precious things [words],” “words of plainness,” etc. Jacob’s use of Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree as a means of describing the Lord’s restoring or re-“adding” what had been “taken away,” including his use of Isaiah 11:11 (Jacob 6:2) as a hermeneutical lens for the entire allegory, further connects everything from Jacob 4:14 (“God hath taken away”) to Jacob 6:2 with the name “Joseph.” Genesis etiologizes the name Joseph in terms of divine “taking away” (ʾāsap) and “adding” (yōsēp; Genesis 30:23‒24; cf. Numbers 36:1‒5). God’s “tak[ing] away his plainness” involved both divine and human agency, but the restoration of his plainness required divine agency. For Latter-day Saints, it is significant the Lord accomplished this through a “Joseph.”.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Plainness
Abstract: The Book of Enos constitutes a brief literary masterpiece. A close reading of Enos’s autobiography reveals textual dependency not only on 1 Nephi 1:1-2 and Genesis 32–33, but also on earlier parts of the Jacob Esau cycle in Genesis 25, 27. Enos’s autobiographical allusions to hunting and hungering serve as narrative inversions of Esau’s biography. The narrative of Genesis 27 exploits the name “Esau” in terms of the Hebrew verb ʿśh/ʿśy (“make,” “do”). Enos (“man”) himself incorporates paronomastic allusions to the name “Esau” in terms of ʿśh/ʿśy in surprising and subtle ways in order to illustrate his own transformation through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. These wordplays reflect the convergence (in the Genesis narratives) of the figure of Esau before whom Jacob bows and whom he embraces in reconciliation with the figure of the divine “man” with whom Jacob wrestles. Finally, Enos anticipates his own resurrection, divine transformation, and final at-one-ment with the Lord in terms of a clothing metaphor reminiscent of Jacob’s “putting on” Esau’s identity in Genesis 27.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Abstract: The name Jacob (yaʿăqōb) means “may he [i.e., God] protect,” or “he has protected.” As a hypocoristic masculine volitive verbal form,
it is a kind of blessing upon, or prayer on behalf of the one so named that he will receive divine protection and safety (cf. Deuteronomy 33:28). Textual evidence from Nephi’s writings suggests that his brother Jacob’s protection was a primary concern of their parents, Lehi and Sariah. Lehi saw Nephi as the specific means of divine protection for Jacob, his “first born in the wilderness.” Moreover, the term “protector” is used twice in LDS scripture, in both instances by Jacob himself (2 Nephi 6:2; Jacob 1:10), this in reference to Nephi, who became the “great protector” of the Nephites in general and Jacob in particular. All of the foregoing is to be understood against the backdrop of the patriarch Jacob’s biography. Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, and Enos all expressed their redemption in terms reminiscent of their ancestor Jacob’s being “redeemed … from all evil,” a process which included Jacob “wrestling” a divine “man” and preparing him to be reconciled to his estranged brother by an atoning “embrace.” Mormon employed the biblical literary etymology of the name Jacob, in the terms “supplant,” “usurp,” or “rob” as a basis for Lamanite accusations that Nephites had usurped them or “robbed” them of their birthright. Mormon, aware of the high irony, shows that the Gadianton [Gaddianton] robbers take up the same polemic. The faithful Lehites, many of whom were descendants of two Jacobs, prayed “May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection” (3 Nephi 4:30). By and large, they enjoyed the God of Jacob’s protection until they ceased to call upon their true protector for it.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: As John Gee noted two decades ago, Nephi is best explained as a form of the Egyptian word nfr, which by Lehi’s time was pronounced neh-fee, nay-fee, or nou-fee. Since this word means “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair,” I subsequently posited several possible examples of wordplay on the name Nephi in the Book of Mormon, including Nephi’s own autobiographical introduction (1 Nephi 1:1: “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents … having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God”). It should be further pointed out, however, that Nephi also concludes his personal writings on the small plates using the terms “good” and “goodness of God.” This terminological bracketing constitutes a literary device, used anciently, called inclusio or an envelope figure. Nephi’s literary emphasis on “good” and “goodness” not only befits his personal name, but fulfills the Lord’s commandment, “thou shalt engraven many things … which are good in my sight” (2 Nephi 5:30), a command which also plays on the name Nephi. Nephi’s autobiographical introduction and conclusion proved enormously influential on subsequent writers who modeled autobiographical and narrative biographical introductions on 1 Nephi 1:1-2 and based sermons — especially concluding sermons — on Nephi’s “good” conclusion in 2 Nephi 33. An emphasis in all these sermons is that all “good”/“goodness” ultimately has its source in God and Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: In this brief note, I will suggest several instances in which the Book of Mormon prophet Enos utilizes wordplay on his own name, the name of his father “Jacob,” the place name “Peniel,” and Jacob’s new name “Israel” in order to connect his experiences to those of his ancestor Jacob in Genesis 32-33, thus infusing them with greater meaning. Familiarity with Jacob and Esau’s conciliatory “embrace” in Genesis 33 is essential to understanding how Enos views the atonement of Christ and the ultimate realization of its blessings in his life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains several quotations from the Hebrew Bible that have been juxtaposed on the basis of shared words or phrases, this for the purpose of interpreting the cited scriptural passages in light of one another. This exegetical technique — one that Jesus himself used — came to be known in later rabbinic times as Gezera Shawa (“equal statute”). In several additional instances, the use of Gezera Shawa converges with onomastic wordplay. Nephi uses a Gezera Shawa involving Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 twice on the basis of the yāsap verb forms yôsîp/yôsīp (2 Nephi 25:17 and quoting the Lord in 2 Nephi 29:1) to create a stunning wordplay on the name “Joseph.” In another instance, King Benjamin uses Gezera Shawa involving Psalm 2:7, 2 Samuel 7:14, and Deuteronomy 14:1 (1–2) on the basis of the Hebrew noun bēn (“son”; plural bānîm, bānôt, “sons” and “daughters”) on which to build a rhetorical wordplay on his own name. This second wordplay, which further alludes to Psalm 110:1 on account of the noun yāmin (“right hand”), was ready-made for his temple audience who, on the occasion of Mosiah’s coronation, were receiving their own “endowment” to become “sons” and “daughters” at God’s “right hand.” The use of Gezera Shawa was often christological — e.g., Jacob’s Gezera Shawa on (“stone”) in Jacob 4:15–17 and Alma’s Gezera Shawa on Zenos’s and Zenock’s phrase “because of thy Son” in Alma 33:11–16 (see Alma 33:4 17). Taken together, these examples suggest that we should pay more attention to scripture’s use of scripture and, in particular, the use of this exegetical practice. In doing so, we will better discern the messages intended by ancient prophets whose words the Book of Mormon preserves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The biblical Hebrew collocation pinnâ derek or pannû derek (cf. Egyptian Ἰr wꜣ.t [n]), often rendered “prepare the way” or “prepare a way” in English, is an evident stylistic feature of Nephi’s writings. The most basic meaning of this idiom is “clear my way,” which is how it is rendered in 2 Nephi 4:33. Zenos’s use of “prepare the way” (Jacob 5:61, 64) in the context of “clear[ing] away” bad branches also reflects this most basic meaning.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
In his analysis of Mosiah 1:2–6 and 1 Nephi 1:1–4, John A. Tvedtnes notes that in many instances “Nephite writers relied on earlier records as they recorded their history.”1 He makes a convincing argument that the description of King Benjamin teaching his sons “in all the language of his fathers” (Mosiah 1:2) is modeled on Nephi’s account.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: To the ancient Israelite ear, the name Ephraim sounded like or connoted “doubly fruitful.” Joseph explains the naming of his son Ephraim in terms of the Lord’s having “caused [him] to be fruitful” (Genesis 41:52). The “fruitfulness” motif in the Joseph narrative cycle (Genesis 37–50) constitutes the culmination of a larger, overarching theme that begins in the creation narrative and is reiterated in the patriarchal narratives. “Fruitfulness,” especially as expressed in the collocation “fruit of [one’s] loins” dominates in the fuller version of Genesis 48 and 50 contained in the Joseph Smith Translation, a version of which Lehi and his successors had upon the brass plates. “Fruit” and “fruitfulness” as a play on the name Ephraim further serve to extend the symbolism and meaning of the name Joseph (“may he [God] add,” “may he increase”) and the etiological meanings given to his name in Genesis 30:23–24). The importance of the interrelated symbolism and meanings of the names Joseph and Ephraim for Book of Mormon writers, who themselves sought the blessings of divine fruitfulness (e.g., Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob), is evident in their use of the fuller version of the Joseph cycle (e.g., in Lehi’s parenesis to his son Joseph in 2 Nephi 3). It is further evident in their use of the prophecies of Isaiah and Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree, both of which utilize (divine) “fruitfulness” imagery in describing the apostasy and restoration of Israel (including the Northern Kingdom or “Ephraim”).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Travelers’ Descriptions of Land Once Occupied by Nephites—Cradle of an Imperial Race—The Productions of the Land in Modern Times Agree with Description of Same in Book of Mormon—Rapid Recovery from Effects of Disastrous Commotions and Wars Accounted for—Healthy Climate—Remarkable Longevity—Jacob, Enos, Jarom and Omni—Longevity of Indians in Ecuador and Peru
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Travel Many Days in the Wilderness—Call the Land Nephi—Did They Journey Northward?—Location of Land Nephi—River Sidon and Magdalena—Land of Zarahemla—Twenty-two Days’ Travel from Nephi—Did not Land of Nephi Extend Considerably South?—Zeniff’s Return to the Land of Nephi—Was that the Land Settled by Nephi, the First?—Mosiah, King of Zarahemla—Reasons for Thinking Nephi to be Distinguishing Name of an Extensive Region—Nephites Would Spread Over the Country in Four Hundred Years—Did Nephi and Company Travel as far North as Ecuador?—Followed by Lamanites—Jacob and Enos Respecting Lamanites—Nephi’s Description of the Land—Bolivia and Peru—Cities and Settlements Called After Founders—Additional Reasons for Thinking Nephi and Company did not Settle so far North—Boundaries of Lands Occupied by Nephites and Lamanites—South America Called Lehi, North America Called Mulek
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
The prophet Zenos outlined the history of Israel in the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5. Author includes a graph depicting the scattering and gathering of Israel.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
At the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, there lived in Jerusalem a worthy, prayerful man named Lehi. At that time many prophets of God came to the Jews, calling upon them to repent of their sins, or the great city of Jerusalem would be destroyed. Lehi, hearing these prophecies, prayed to the Lord with all his heart in behalf of his people. As he prayed a pillar of fire came and dwelt on a rock before him, and many things were then shown him by the Lord which caused him much sorrow and fear. When he returned to his home in Jerusalem he was carried away in a vision. The heavens were opened to his view, and he saw God sitting upon His throne, surrounded by vast hosts of angels who in songs, were praising the Lord. Then he saw a bright and holy Being who was followed by twelve others, come down out of heaven on to this earth. These were Jesus Christ, our Lord, and His Apostles. Then in the vision, Jesus came to Lehi and gave him a book, which he bade him read. When Lehi did so he found it contained the word of the Lord against Jerusalem; that because of its great wickedness it should be destroyed, many of its people should be slain and many should be carried away 1 captive into Babylon. When Lehi learned these terrible truths he went forth among the people, pleading with them to repent and reform, lest these judgments come upon them. But the inhabitants of Jerusalem, at that time, would not give heed to the warnings of the servants of God, and they mocked at Lehi, and sought to take away his life, as they had the prophets of earlier times, whom they had cast out, and stoned and slain. Elijah they had cast out. Zenos they had slain. Zechariah they had stoned. Isaiah they had sawn asunder, and Jeremiah, who prophesied at the same time as Lehi, they imprisoned and otherwise abused.
Abstract: The book of Enos is considered to be a short, one-chapter treatise on prayer, yet it is more. Close examination of its text reveals it to be a text structurally centered on Christ and the divine covenant. Enos seeks and obtains from Him a covenant to preserve the records of the Nephites for the salvation of the Lamanites. Enos prays not only for his own remission of sins but also for the salvation both of his own people, the Nephites, and also of the Lamanites. He yearns in faith that the Lord will preserve the records of his people for the benefit of the Lamanites. This article outlines a possible overall chiastic structure of vv. 3–27 as well as a centrally situated smaller chiasm of vv. 15–16a, which focus on Christ and His covenant with Enos. The voice of the Lord speaks to the mind of Enos seven times, and the proposed chiastic structure of the text is meaningfully related to those seven divine communications. We have the Book of Mormon in our day because of the faithful prayers and faithful labors of prophets like Enos and because of the promises they received from Christ, whose covenant to preserve the records is made the focal point at the center of the Enos text.
Relates names from New World inscriptions to names or titles in the Book of Mormon. Names of calendar months and other titles were associated with Book of Mormon words such as Laman, Mulek, Enos, Laban, Benjamin, Nephi, and so forth.
Cartoon pages for children telling the story of how Enos went into the wilderness to pray.
An illustrated story for children about Enos.
A children’s version of Enos and his prayer.
For children, cartoon story of the animosity that Laman and Lemuel felt toward Nephi, and Nephi’s need to leave and find a new home after Lehi’s death. Depicts the way the records were kept by Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, and Enos.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Review of Heroes from the Book of Mormon (1995), by Deseret Book
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article states that experiencing soul satisfying circumstances is better when one is not alone. Sharing such experiences with loved ones increases the satisfaction, as is exemplified in the Book of Mormon. Examples of such phenomena include Lehi, who tastes of the fruit of the Tree of Life and desires to share; Enos, who prays for his brethren; and the sons of Mosiah and Alma, who shared their experiences as missionaries following their conversion.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
When a group of LDS scholars collaborated in 1994 under the auspices of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies to publish a book on the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5, few substantial works on olive production in the ancient world existed. Now, two new archaeological books add a wealth of information to our understanding of the importance of the olive in ancient life. The first mention of the olive in the Book of Mormon is found in Lehi’s prediction of the Babylonian captivity and the coming of the Lamb of God. Lehi compared the house of Israel to an olive tree whose branches would be broken off and scattered upon all the face of the earth (1 Ne. 10:12). After being scattered,the house of Israel would be gathered and the natural branches of the olive tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, would be grafted in, or come to a knowledge of the true Messiah (1 Ne. 10:14). In this passage, Lehi probably drew upon Zenos’s allegory, found on the plates of brass. In incredible horticultural detail, that allegory compares the house of Israel to an olive tree. Yet that Old World information was apparently lost among Lehi’s descendants in the New World. After the fifth chapter of Jacob, the olive is not mentioned again in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Topics > Flora and Fauna
Old Testament Topics > Olive Oil
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
A story for children that recounts Enos’s experiences as he went into the forest and prayed (Jacob 7:27; Enos).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
There are several names in the Book of Mormon—such as Zenephi, Zenos, and Zenock—that look as though they are composed of scriptural names (Nephi, Enos, Enoch, and so forth) with different forms of a z-prefix that might mean “son of ” or “descendant of.” This article proposes that the names Zenephi Zenos, Zenock, and Cezoram incorporate the names of other Book of Mormon or biblical individuals and the Egyptian pin-tail duck hieroglyph, represented by the morpheme se-/ze-, which denotes filiation with these ancestors. If this hypothesis is accurate, it could provide insight into some aspects of the structure of the language of the Book of Mormon and could also reveal information about Book of Mormon naming practices and genealogical lineages of the people who received these names.
RSC Topics > L — P > Prayer
Abstract: The first 450 years of Nephite history are dominated by two main threads: the ethno-political tension between Nephites and Lamanites and religious tension between adherents of rival theologies. These rival Nephite theologies are a Mantic theology that affirms the existence of Christ and a Sophic theology that denies Christ. The origin of both narrative threads lies in the Old World: the first in conflicts between Nephi and Laman, the second in Lehi’s rejection of King Josiah’s theological and political reforms. This article focuses on these interrelated conflicts. It suggests that Zoram, Laman, Lemuel, Sherem, and the Zeniffites were Deuteronomist followers of Josiah. The small plates give an account of how their Deuteronomist theology gradually supplanted the gospel of Christ. As the small plates close, their last author, Amaleki, artfully confronts his readers with a life-defining choice: having read the Book of Mormon thus far, will you remain, metaphorically, with the prophets in Zarahemla and embrace the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, or will you return to the land of Nephi and the theology you believed and the life you lived before you read the Book of Mormon?.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: Janus parallelism, a tool evident in ancient Hebrew poetry, is documented at some length by Scott B. Noegel in Janus Parallelism in the Book of Job, which I recently reviewed. Since the authorship of Job predates the removal of the Lehites from Jerusalem, this tool may have been available to writers in the Book of Mormon. While we do not have the original text to analyze wordplays in the original language, it may be possible to apply some of the cases considered by Noegel to find remnants of related “polysensuous” wordplays that might have been present in the original text or to consider other previously proposed wordplays that may include a Janus-like aspect.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Job
This article is an essay for youth about prayer, using Enos as the model.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
These materials were reprinted in Since Cumorah (1967/1970), with two large additions and a deletion; and reprinted again, with corrections and a collation of materials with those published in the book, as Since Cumorah, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 7. The changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon.
Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Dead Sea Scrolls
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The purpose of the somewhat labored pages that follow is to lead up to better things by giving the reader some idea of what we are dealing with, of the scope and nature of the writings that are now being read with wonder and amazement by students of religion, and of the strange doctrine and baffling problems they present.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Dead Sea Scrolls
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Studies the Dead Sea Scrolls related to wording found in the New Testament previously thought to be peculiar to that book alone.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A discussion of the Christian Apocrypha as compared with the Jewish Apocrypha.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Studies the Logia and compares it with other early religious writings.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Discusses the history of keeping secrets within religions and within scriptures.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Continues the discussion from the previous installment.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A discussion of original Christian writings versus ones that replaced those when they were lost and what students of such literature might learn from looking at both.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The conclusion to the three part article about the secrecy in the primitive church and how that influenced it during its time and after it was lost.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Looks at how quickly people changed Christianity after the apostles’ deaths, especially in regards to the secret teaching God had given to the apostles while they were alive.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A comparison of the imagery of the “Plan“ of Salvation as found in the Book of Mormon and the Bible.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A comparison of the imagery of the “Plan“ of Salvation as found in the Book of Mormon and the Bible.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A comparison of the histor of Zenos in the Book of Mormon and an unnamed prophet of the Thanksgiving Hymns.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A comparison of the allegory of the olive tree with Hymn 10 of the Thanksgiving Hymns from Qumran.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jacob
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Discusses recent discoveries that cast new light on the identity of the unknown prophet Zenos and are producing information “that no man dreamed of” concerning the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Suggests that any investigation of the Book of Mormon will bring up more problems, not solutions, meaning our prejudices may show answers as solutions, but we don’t always understand things correctly.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Science
“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at the changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon. Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Continues the discussion from “Problem, Not Solutions.”
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Science
Even after forty years of research, new insights are still to be found in the Book of Mormon. Examples come from the episode at the waters of Sebus, wordprinting, Enos and the princes of India, Isabel as a Phoenician name, the Zoramites as dissenters, and clear statements about God and man, riches, economics, and repentance.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Criticisms and Apologetics
Also called “The Olive Tree; The Challenge of Sherem.“
In the fourth chapter of Jacob he rings the gong in verses 13 and 14. What he is talking about here is absolutely basic. Notice that verse 13 is one philosophy of life, and verse 14 is the other philosophy of life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jacob
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Enos
Also called “The Struggle of Enos.“
Enos is an important book. It’s just one chapter, you notice, but what a chapter!
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Enos
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jarom
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Omni
Originally presented as a talk given at the Sunstone 1988 Book of Mormon Lecture Series, 10 May 1988, at the Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Utah.
Even after forty years of research, new insights are still to be found in the Book of Mormon. Examples come from the episode at the waters of Sebus, wordprinting, Enos and the princes of India, Isabel as a Phoenician name, the Zoramites as dissenters, and clear statements about God and man, riches, economics, and repentance.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Criticisms and Apologetics
Originally printed in An Approach to the Book of Mormon (1957).
Long before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, Robert Eisler called attention to the existence of societies of ancient sectaries, including the early Christians, who fled to the desert and formed pious communities there after the manner of the order of Rekhabites (Jeremiah 35). More recently, E. Kdsemann and U. W. Mauser have taken up the theme, and the pope himself has referred to his followers as “the Wayfaring Church,” of all things. No aspect of the gospel is more fundamental than that which calls the Saints out of the world; it has recently been recognized as fundamental to the universal apocalyptic pattern and is now recognized as a basic teaching of the prophets of Israel, including the Lord Himself. It is the central theme of the Book of Mormon, and Lehi’s people faithfully follow the correct routine of flights to the desert as their stories now merge with new manuscript finds from the Dead Sea and elsewhere. And while many Christian communities have consciously sought to imitate the dramatic flight into the wilderness, from monastic orders to Pilgrim fathers, only the followers of Joseph Smith can claim the distinction of a wholesale, involuntary, and total expulsion into a most authentic wilderness. Now, the Book of Mormon is not only a typical product of a religious people driven to the wilds (surprisingly we have learned since 1950 that such people had a veritable passion for writing books and keeping records) but it actually contains passages that match some of the Dead Sea Scrolls almost word for word. Isn’t that going a bit too far? How, one may ask, would Alma be able to quote from a book written on the other side of the world among people with whom his own had lost all contact for five hundred years? Joseph Smith must have possessed supernatural cunning to have foreseen such an impasse, yet his Book of Mormon explains it easily: Alma informs us that the passages in question are not his, but he is quoting them directly from an ancient source, the work of an early prophet of Israel named Zenos. Alma and the author of the Thanksgiving Scroll are drawing from the same ancient source. No wonder they sound alike.
“Churches in the Wilderness” (1988)
“Chapter 16: Churches in the Wilderness” (1989)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Dead Sea Scrolls
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Characters > Enoch
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Characters > Mahaway, Mahujah, Mahijah
Originally printed in An Approach to the Book of Mormon (1957).
Long before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, Robert Eisler called attention to the existence of societies of ancient sectaries, including the early Christians, who fled to the desert and formed pious communities there after the manner of the order of Rekhabites (Jeremiah 35). More recently, E. Kdsemann and U. W. Mauser have taken up the theme, and the pope himself has referred to his followers as “the Wayfaring Church,” of all things. No aspect of the gospel is more fundamental than that which calls the Saints out of the world; it has recently been recognized as fundamental to the universal apocalyptic pattern and is now recognized as a basic teaching of the prophets of Israel, including the Lord Himself. It is the central theme of the Book of Mormon, and Lehi’s people faithfully follow the correct routine of flights to the desert as their stories now merge with new manuscript finds from the Dead Sea and elsewhere. And while many Christian communities have consciously sought to imitate the dramatic flight into the wilderness, from monastic orders to Pilgrim fathers, only the followers of Joseph Smith can claim the distinction of a wholesale, involuntary, and total expulsion into a most authentic wilderness. Now, the Book of Mormon is not only a typical product of a religious people driven to the wilds (surprisingly we have learned since 1950 that such people had a veritable passion for writing books and keeping records) but it actually contains passages that match some of the Dead Sea Scrolls almost word for word. Isn’t that going a bit too far? How, one may ask, would Alma be able to quote from a book written on the other side of the world among people with whom his own had lost all contact for five hundred years? Joseph Smith must have possessed supernatural cunning to have foreseen such an impasse, yet his Book of Mormon explains it easily: Alma informs us that the passages in question are not his, but he is quoting them directly from an ancient source, the work of an early prophet of Israel named Zenos. Alma and the author of the Thanksgiving Scroll are drawing from the same ancient source. No wonder they sound alike.
“Chapter 16: Churches in the Wilderness” (1989)
“Churches in the Wilderness” (2004)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Dead Sea Scrolls
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Characters > Enoch
Originally printed in An Approach to the Book of Mormon (1957).
Long before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, Robert Eisler called attention to the existence of societies of ancient sectaries, including the early Christians, who fled to the desert and formed pious communities there after the manner of the order of Rekhabites (Jeremiah 35). More recently, E. Kdsemann and U. W. Mauser have taken up the theme, and the pope himself has referred to his followers as “the Wayfaring Church,” of all things. No aspect of the gospel is more fundamental than that which calls the Saints out of the world; it has recently been recognized as fundamental to the universal apocalyptic pattern and is now recognized as a basic teaching of the prophets of Israel, including the Lord Himself. It is the central theme of the Book of Mormon, and Lehi’s people faithfully follow the correct routine of flights to the desert as their stories now merge with new manuscript finds from the Dead Sea and elsewhere. And while many Christian communities have consciously sought to imitate the dramatic flight into the wilderness, from monastic orders to Pilgrim fathers, only the followers of Joseph Smith can claim the distinction of a wholesale, involuntary, and total expulsion into a most authentic wilderness. Now, the Book of Mormon is not only a typical product of a religious people driven to the wilds (surprisingly we have learned since 1950 that such people had a veritable passion for writing books and keeping records) but it actually contains passages that match some of the Dead Sea Scrolls almost word for word. Isn’t that going a bit too far? How, one may ask, would Alma be able to quote from a book written on the other side of the world among people with whom his own had lost all contact for five hundred years? Joseph Smith must have possessed supernatural cunning to have foreseen such an impasse, yet his Book of Mormon explains it easily: Alma informs us that the passages in question are not his, but he is quoting them directly from an ancient source, the work of an early prophet of Israel named Zenos. Alma and the author of the Thanksgiving Scroll are drawing from the same ancient source. No wonder they sound alike.
“Churches in the Wilderness” (1989)
“Churches in the Wilderness” (2004)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Dead Sea Scrolls
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Characters > Enoch
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
The Fourth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU The remarks of this volume are centered on the small plates of Nephi—Jacob through the Words of Mormon. The greatness of Lehi’s son Jacob is brought out, with special reference to his remarkable grasp of the doctrine of the Atonement, his powerful preaching about Christ, and his affirmations as to the central role of Christ in all gospel dispensations. Enos, Amaleki, and the anti-Christ Sherem are other topics discussed. Clarification is given on the structure of the Book of Mormon in terms of the large and the small plates of Nephi, the plates of Mormon (the abridgment), and the Words of Mormon. Latter-day Saint scholars who have experience the spiritual power of the Book of Mormon share here their insights on specific themes. ISBN 0-8849-4734-3
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Exults over the spiritual promises for the American Indians and contrasts their glorious destiny with the downfall of the Nephites at the time of Mormon. Refers to Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
This thesis consists of drawings illustrating men and events in the Book of Mormon, with an attempt to capture emotional and spiritual expressions. Illustrations include Nephi, Enos, Omni, Mormon and Moroni. The author/artist explains in detail the techniques he used in the drawings.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Review of Sharon J. Harris, Enos, Jarom, Omni: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 144 pages. $9.95 (paperback).Abstract: Sharon Harris, a professor of English at Brigham Young University, offers an analysis of the theology of the “small books” of Enos, Jarom, and Omni in this next installment of The Book of Mormon: Brief Theological Introductions by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Harris argues that the theology of these small books focuses on the covenant with the Nephites and Lamanites, the importance of genealogy, and the role kenosis plays in several of these Book of Mormon prophets. Harris presents both new and familiar readings of these compact books, providing a fair contribution to their study.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Criticisms and Apologetics > Book Reviews
The Nephite civilization began with highly intelligent and learned leaders who were well acquainted with geography and astronomy. They had access to unpolluted scriptures, including the otherwise unknown writings of Zenos, Zenock, Neum, and Ezias. They may have been familiar with the books of Abraham and Joseph.
Enos, the Son of Jacob—The Nephites and Lamanites of his Day—His Testimony and Prophecies
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Jarom—Omni—Amaron—Chemish—Abinadom—Amaleki—Mosiah—Review of Nephite History for Four Hundred Years
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Enos rose to prominent leadership through his humility, faith, and concern for others. This is evidenced by his prayer while hunting in the forest.
The Nephite civilization began with highly intelligent and learned leaders who were well acquainted with geography and astronomy. They had access to unpolluted scriptures, including the otherwise unknown writings of Zenos, Zenock, Neum, and Ezias. They may have been familiar with the books of Abraham and Joseph.
In the Book of Mormon, the allegory of the olive tree—written by a prophet named Zenos and later quoted by the prophet Jacob to his people—stands out as a unique literary creation worthy of close analysis and greater appreciation. Besides its exceptional length and exquisite detail, this text conveys important teachings, deep emotion, and wisdom related to God’s tender devotion and aspirations for the house of Israel on earth.In The Allegory of the Olive Tree, 20 scholars shed light on the meaning, themes, and rhetorical aspects of the allegory, as well as on its historical, cultural, and religious backgrounds. In so doing, they offer answers to questions about the significance of olive tree symbolism in the ancient Near East, who Zenos was, the meaning of the allegory, what it teaches about the relationship between God and his people, how it might relate to other ancient texts, the accuracy of the horticultural and botanical details in the text, and much more.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Short biographical sketches of Jacob and King Benjamin. Jacob saw the Redeemer in his youth and recorded the prophecy of Zenos. Benjamin was an able warrior and wise and industrious leader.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Sometime after the death of his father Jacob, Enos wrote that the Nephites raised “flocks of herds, and flocks of all manner of cattle of every kind, and goats, and wild goats” (Enos 1:21). While contemporary archaeology thus far has not yielded evidence of pre-Columbian goats, anthropologist John L. Sorenson has suggested that Book of Mormon peoples, like the Spanish writers of a later time, may have considered some species of pre-Columbian deer to be a kind of goat.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
The Book of Mormon first mentions a weapon called a cimeter during the time of Enos (some time between about 544 and 421 bc). Speaking of his people’s Lamanite enemies, Enos says, “their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax” (Enos 1:20). Later, in the first and second centuries bc, the weapon was part of the armory of both Nephites and Lamanites in addition to swords and other weapons (Mosiah 9:16; 10:8; Alma 2:12; 43:18, 20, 37; 60:2; Helaman 1:14).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezra/Nehemiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Daniel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Cites the teachings and prophecies of Zenos included in the Book of Mormon to demonstrate his importance as a prophet.
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Gives the “outstanding characteristics” of three great men in the Book of Mormon—Nephi, Jacob, and Enos. Nephi was faithful and a great spiritual leader, Jacob believed and defended the sanctity of the home, and Enos received “an unshakable faith” in God.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
The writings of Jacob and his descendants form part of the small plates, a section of the Book of Mormon that Mormon included intact, presumably without editing. Only on the small plates may Joseph Smith have found someone’s “handwriting” other than that of Mormon or Moroni. Speaking in the first person, Jacob and his descendants seem more individual, even in translation, than other writers whose words were more obviously edited by Mormon and Moroni. From Jacob through Omni, the record displays the complex variety one expects of a text written by many hands. The stylistic diversity of Jacob and his descendants is a powerful witness that we are dealing with material written by several ancient authors rather than by one person in early nineteenth-century New York.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains little information about what the Brass Plates contain. Nephi said it was a larger record than the Hebrew Bible brought to America by the Gentiles. But it could not have contained the records of Old Testament prophets who wrote after Lehi’s party left Jerusalem or the New Testament. We know it contained some writings from Zenos, Zenock, Neum, and Ezias, but what else could it have contained? Though the proposal from modern biblical source criticism that the Christian Bible is the product of redactors sometimes working with multiple sources is distasteful to many Christians, this article suggests this scholarship should not trouble Latter-day Saints, who celebrate Mormon’s scriptural abridgement of ancient American scripture. This article also revisits the insights of some Latter-day Saint scholars who have suggested the Brass Plates are a record of the tribe of Joseph, and this may explain its scriptural content. The eight verses from Micah 5, which Christ quoted three times during His visit to the Nephites and which did not previously appear in Mormon’s abridgment, receive close analysis.
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
A 49-chapter commentary on Zenos’s parable of the olive tree in Jacob 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Lehi, though unable to convince his older sons to follow the Lord, was very successful with both Nephi and Jacob. The speeches and writings of Jacob clearly show that he remembered the admonitions given to him by his dying father and that he shared Lehi’s teachings—including some of his verbiage—with other members of the family. Jacob’s life and his teachings found in the Book of Mormon stand as a memorial to his father’s faith and parental love.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Jacob 7:26 has often been noted for its pathos and nostalgia. A close reading of the verse finds that these effects result from the author’s own problematic family relationships, specifically Jacob’s troubled relationship with his older brothers, Laman and Lemuel, who have potentially hated him since his birth because of his position and alignment with Nephi. While Nephi seeks reconciliation with his brothers, Jacob seeks redemption as a healing of a preexistent family breach. In other words, Jacob seeks sealing. This emphasis on sealing can be seen in his temporal orientation, which simultaneously looks toward the past as the source of the family conflict and toward the future (through Enos) as the ongoing hope for the family’s eventual healing.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Demonstrates Book of Mormon’s influence on youth. Stories of Alma the Younger, Enos, Ammon, Joseph Smith, and Jesus Christ are especially applicable; the Book of Mormon gives youth a “cause” with which to identify.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
John Welch discusses Nephi’s commandment to his son Jacob that a record be kept on the small plates. Welch delineates the obligations entailed in Nephi’s commandment and suggests that descendants of Jacob—Enos, Jarom, Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki—felt a strong sense of duty to see that it was fulfilled.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Children’s illustrated story of Zeniff and his people.
The chronology of the use of plant imagery
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Old Testament Topics > Types and Symbols
Presents an outline of several Book of Mormon subjects: (1) priests in the Book of Mormon—finds that Book of Mormon priests were after the order of Melchizedek; (2) the choice seer—the choice seer was to come from the tribe of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. This seer will be named Lehi and he will be weak in speaking and will need a spokesman. This criteria does not fit Joseph Smith; (3) Zion—suggests that Zion is a spiritual condition not a literal gathering; (4) the parable of Zenos—outlines its contents, stressing the need for obedience and an ultimate cleansing.
Jarom
The Book of Jarom was written by Jarom, son of Enos, who excuses his brevity by calling attention to limited space and lack of new doctrine.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Abstract: Omni greatly revered his ancestors and their personal accounts on the small plates of Nephi. A close examination of Omni’s brief autobiography (Omni 1:1–3) evidences borrowing from all four of his predecessors’ writings. Moreover, his self-description, “I of myself am a wicked man,” constitutes far more than a confession of religious dereliction. That self-assessment alludes to Nephi’s autobiographical wordplay on his name in terms “good” and “having been born of goodly parents” and his grandfather Enos’s similarly self-referential wordplay in describing his own father Jacob as a “just man.” Omni’s name most likely represents a hypocoristic form of a longer theophoric name, *ʾomnîyyāhû (from the root *ʾmn), meaning “Yahweh is [the object of] my faith” or “Yahweh is my guardian [or, nursing father],” but could also be heard or understood as a gentilic, “faithful one” or “trustworthy one.” These observations have implications for Omni’s stated defense of his people the Nephites (traditionally, the “good” or “fair ones”) against the Lamanites, those who had dwindled in “unbelief” (cf. Hebrew lōʾ-ʾēmun). In the end, Omni’s description of himself as “a wicked man” should be viewed in the context of his reverence for “goodly” and “just” ancestors and brought into balance with those sacred trusts in which he did prove faithful: preserving his people, his genealogy, and the small plates themselves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Travelers’ Descriptions of Land Once Occupied by Nephites—Cradle of an Imperial Race—The Productions of the Land in Modern Times Agree with Description of Same in Book of Mormon—Rapid Recovery from Effects of Disastrous Commotions and Wars Accounted for—Healthy Climate—Remarkable Longevity—Jacob, Enos, Jarom and Omni—Longevity of Indians in Ecuador and Peru
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Abstract: The first 450 years of Nephite history are dominated by two main threads: the ethno-political tension between Nephites and Lamanites and religious tension between adherents of rival theologies. These rival Nephite theologies are a Mantic theology that affirms the existence of Christ and a Sophic theology that denies Christ. The origin of both narrative threads lies in the Old World: the first in conflicts between Nephi and Laman, the second in Lehi’s rejection of King Josiah’s theological and political reforms. This article focuses on these interrelated conflicts. It suggests that Zoram, Laman, Lemuel, Sherem, and the Zeniffites were Deuteronomist followers of Josiah. The small plates give an account of how their Deuteronomist theology gradually supplanted the gospel of Christ. As the small plates close, their last author, Amaleki, artfully confronts his readers with a life-defining choice: having read the Book of Mormon thus far, will you remain, metaphorically, with the prophets in Zarahemla and embrace the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, or will you return to the land of Nephi and the theology you believed and the life you lived before you read the Book of Mormon?.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Also called “The Struggle of Enos.“
Enos is an important book. It’s just one chapter, you notice, but what a chapter!
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Enos
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jarom
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Unorthodox presentation of the Book of Mormon text (1 Nephi—Jarom) as a history of the Hebrews. Says nothing about Joseph Smith or the origin of the Book of Mormon. Places the ancient Nephites in the present day New England area of the United States. Numerous footnotes provide commentary.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
A series that tells the stories of some of the lesser-known figures in the Book of Mormon: Jacob a Nephite apostate, Jarom, Zoram, Muloki, Samuel the Lamanite, Antipas, and Teancum.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Review of Sharon J. Harris, Enos, Jarom, Omni: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 144 pages. $9.95 (paperback).Abstract: Sharon Harris, a professor of English at Brigham Young University, offers an analysis of the theology of the “small books” of Enos, Jarom, and Omni in this next installment of The Book of Mormon: Brief Theological Introductions by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Harris argues that the theology of these small books focuses on the covenant with the Nephites and Lamanites, the importance of genealogy, and the role kenosis plays in several of these Book of Mormon prophets. Harris presents both new and familiar readings of these compact books, providing a fair contribution to their study.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Criticisms and Apologetics > Book Reviews
Jarom—Omni—Amaron—Chemish—Abinadom—Amaleki—Mosiah—Review of Nephite History for Four Hundred Years
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Reynolds describes the Nephite people of Jarom’s time. Zoram was the commander of the Nephite armies around 81 B.C. He led the Nephites to free Nephite prisoners.
Abstract: With a selection of a few notable examples (Zoram, Jarom, Omni, and Mosiah) that have been analyzed by the ongoing Book of Mormon names project, Stephen Ricks argues that “proper names in the Book of Mormon are demonstrably ancient.”
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See Stephen D. Ricks, “Proper Names from the Small Plates: Some Notes on the Personal Names Zoram, Jarom, Omni, and Mosiah,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 351–58. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The writings of Jacob and his descendants form part of the small plates, a section of the Book of Mormon that Mormon included intact, presumably without editing. Only on the small plates may Joseph Smith have found someone’s “handwriting” other than that of Mormon or Moroni. Speaking in the first person, Jacob and his descendants seem more individual, even in translation, than other writers whose words were more obviously edited by Mormon and Moroni. From Jacob through Omni, the record displays the complex variety one expects of a text written by many hands. The stylistic diversity of Jacob and his descendants is a powerful witness that we are dealing with material written by several ancient authors rather than by one person in early nineteenth-century New York.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In recent years, a large number of ancient writings have been found in and around Israel. While many of these include names found in the Bible and other ancient texts, others were previously unattested in written sources. Some of these previously unattested names, though unknown in the Bible, are found in the Book of Mormon. The discovery of these Hebrew names in ancient inscriptions provides remarkable evidence for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and provides clear refutation of those critics who would place its origin in nineteenth-century America. This article explores several Book of Mormon proper names that are attested from Hebrew inscriptions. Names included are Sariah, Alma, Abish, Aha, Ammonihah, Chemish, Hagoth, Himni, Isabel, Jarom, Josh, Luram, Mathoni, Mathonihah, Muloki, and Sam—none of which appear in English Bibles.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
John Welch discusses Nephi’s commandment to his son Jacob that a record be kept on the small plates. Welch delineates the obligations entailed in Nephi’s commandment and suggests that descendants of Jacob—Enos, Jarom, Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki—felt a strong sense of duty to see that it was fulfilled.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Omni
The Book of Omni records the brief writings of several authors, Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, who were not spiritual leaders, but were descendants of Jacob.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
I have total confidence and faith in the wisdom and omniscience of a loving, merciful Heavenly Father—to be dependent upon him and yet to communicate with him, I must make faithful personal effort on a never-ending basis.
Heavenly Father is intimately interested in hearing from us and that He is omnipresent and available to listen at all times.
Abstract: Omni greatly revered his ancestors and their personal accounts on the small plates of Nephi. A close examination of Omni’s brief autobiography (Omni 1:1–3) evidences borrowing from all four of his predecessors’ writings. Moreover, his self-description, “I of myself am a wicked man,” constitutes far more than a confession of religious dereliction. That self-assessment alludes to Nephi’s autobiographical wordplay on his name in terms “good” and “having been born of goodly parents” and his grandfather Enos’s similarly self-referential wordplay in describing his own father Jacob as a “just man.” Omni’s name most likely represents a hypocoristic form of a longer theophoric name, *ʾomnîyyāhû (from the root *ʾmn), meaning “Yahweh is [the object of] my faith” or “Yahweh is my guardian [or, nursing father],” but could also be heard or understood as a gentilic, “faithful one” or “trustworthy one.” These observations have implications for Omni’s stated defense of his people the Nephites (traditionally, the “good” or “fair ones”) against the Lamanites, those who had dwindled in “unbelief” (cf. Hebrew lōʾ-ʾēmun). In the end, Omni’s description of himself as “a wicked man” should be viewed in the context of his reverence for “goodly” and “just” ancestors and brought into balance with those sacred trusts in which he did prove faithful: preserving his people, his genealogy, and the small plates themselves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: As John Gee noted two decades ago, Nephi is best explained as a form of the Egyptian word nfr, which by Lehi’s time was pronounced neh-fee, nay-fee, or nou-fee. Since this word means “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair,” I subsequently posited several possible examples of wordplay on the name Nephi in the Book of Mormon, including Nephi’s own autobiographical introduction (1 Nephi 1:1: “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents … having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God”). It should be further pointed out, however, that Nephi also concludes his personal writings on the small plates using the terms “good” and “goodness of God.” This terminological bracketing constitutes a literary device, used anciently, called inclusio or an envelope figure. Nephi’s literary emphasis on “good” and “goodness” not only befits his personal name, but fulfills the Lord’s commandment, “thou shalt engraven many things … which are good in my sight” (2 Nephi 5:30), a command which also plays on the name Nephi. Nephi’s autobiographical introduction and conclusion proved enormously influential on subsequent writers who modeled autobiographical and narrative biographical introductions on 1 Nephi 1:1-2 and based sermons — especially concluding sermons — on Nephi’s “good” conclusion in 2 Nephi 33. An emphasis in all these sermons is that all “good”/“goodness” ultimately has its source in God and Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Travelers’ Descriptions of Land Once Occupied by Nephites—Cradle of an Imperial Race—The Productions of the Land in Modern Times Agree with Description of Same in Book of Mormon—Rapid Recovery from Effects of Disastrous Commotions and Wars Accounted for—Healthy Climate—Remarkable Longevity—Jacob, Enos, Jarom and Omni—Longevity of Indians in Ecuador and Peru
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
No abstract available.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
An extensive discussion of the book of Omni. Examines the personalities, geography, and plates of Omni, and presents charts and illustrations.
Abstract: A favorite scripture of many faithful saints is Alma 7 where it describes how the Savior came to Earth to understand, in the flesh, not only human sin, but human suffering. He did this in order to succor and heal us. Despite its obvious appeal, two points may seem curious to some readers. First, the doctrinal power of verses 11–13, which form a chiasm, has as its apex not the “mercy in succoring us,” as might be expected, but the “in the flesh” detail. Why? Upon closer examination, it appears that, in addition to performing the Atonement, Christ needed a mortal experience in order to add a complete experiential knowledge to his omniscient cognitive knowledge. That could only be obtained, in its fulness, “according to the flesh,” hence the emphasis in the chiasm. A second possible curiosity is that Alma ends his beautiful teaching with his brief testimony, which lends an air of closure. Then, the topic appears to change completely and seemingly inexplicably to a discussion of repentance and baptism. Again, why? Closer examination reveals that the next two verses (14–15) form a second chiasm. If the first chiasm can be viewed as a statement of what Christ offers us, the second may be viewed as what we offer Christ. He runs to us in 7:11–13; we run to him in 7:14–15. When viewed together, the two chiasms form a two-way covenantal relationship, which Alma promises will result in our eternal salvation.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The verb to seal occurs some 34 times in the Book of Mormon. In most of these instances the verb takes (is followed by) a direct object referring to such things as the law, a book, records, words, an account, an epistle, an interpretation, revelation, the truth, and the stone interpreters. Twice, however, the verb to seal takes a person as a direct object that is qualified by a possessive pronoun: Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. (Mosiah 5:15; emphasis added)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Jesus is the great Mediator. Through omnipotent and omniscient, all-powerful and all-knowing, He is our friend.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Abstract: The brief accounts written by Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, taken alone, don’t always inspire confidence in their righteousness. Nevertheless, when the specific words used by these men and all relevant context are taken into consideration, it’s reasonable to conclude that each of these authors of the book of Omni was a prophet of God.
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Omni
Obviously we cannot completely control the events that come at us daily, but we can indeed control the worthwhileness of those events. We worship an omniscient God and know that “all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The first 450 years of Nephite history are dominated by two main threads: the ethno-political tension between Nephites and Lamanites and religious tension between adherents of rival theologies. These rival Nephite theologies are a Mantic theology that affirms the existence of Christ and a Sophic theology that denies Christ. The origin of both narrative threads lies in the Old World: the first in conflicts between Nephi and Laman, the second in Lehi’s rejection of King Josiah’s theological and political reforms. This article focuses on these interrelated conflicts. It suggests that Zoram, Laman, Lemuel, Sherem, and the Zeniffites were Deuteronomist followers of Josiah. The small plates give an account of how their Deuteronomist theology gradually supplanted the gospel of Christ. As the small plates close, their last author, Amaleki, artfully confronts his readers with a life-defining choice: having read the Book of Mormon thus far, will you remain, metaphorically, with the prophets in Zarahemla and embrace the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, or will you return to the land of Nephi and the theology you believed and the life you lived before you read the Book of Mormon?.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Isaiah’s role as a witness of God’s foreknowledge and omnipotence
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Reprinted in Mormonism and Early Christianity, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 4. 370–90.
In his volume The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, Nibley describes in great detail initiation and ritual and coronation procedures among the Egyptians. The appendix in this book includes temple-related lectures of Cyril of Jerusalem and other early documents. In the present essay, Nibley provides a context for this study and his many others, which, almost without his being aware of it, have formed the background of his temple preoccupation over three decades. He shows how incredibly mixed and diffuse and varied are traditions growing out of temple worship in the religions of the Far East, as with those of the Middle East. The power of the temple idea to invade the minutest detail of life is demonstrated. Inconclusive though many scholarly studies remain about a philosophy or matrix to make sense of all the data, Nibley believes there are connections and symmetries and correspondences which again point to one conclusion: historically, civilizations—indeed civilization itself—have revolved around the temple. This essay and his preceding one provide an omnibus introduction to the more specialized studies that follow.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Temples > Ancient Temples
Also called “The Struggle of Enos.“
Enos is an important book. It’s just one chapter, you notice, but what a chapter!
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Enos
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Jarom
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Omni
Also called “The End of the Small Plates; The Coronation of Mosiah.“
Well, now we’ve got to the point where in one verse they take care of the history of a larger people than the Nephites. It simply says they crossed the ocean and landed here, and that was that.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Omni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Words of Momon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This thesis consists of drawings illustrating men and events in the Book of Mormon, with an attempt to capture emotional and spiritual expressions. Illustrations include Nephi, Enos, Omni, Mormon and Moroni. The author/artist explains in detail the techniques he used in the drawings.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Review of Sharon J. Harris, Enos, Jarom, Omni: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 144 pages. $9.95 (paperback).Abstract: Sharon Harris, a professor of English at Brigham Young University, offers an analysis of the theology of the “small books” of Enos, Jarom, and Omni in this next installment of The Book of Mormon: Brief Theological Introductions by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Harris argues that the theology of these small books focuses on the covenant with the Nephites and Lamanites, the importance of genealogy, and the role kenosis plays in several of these Book of Mormon prophets. Harris presents both new and familiar readings of these compact books, providing a fair contribution to their study.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Topics > Criticisms and Apologetics > Book Reviews
Jarom—Omni—Amaron—Chemish—Abinadom—Amaleki—Mosiah—Review of Nephite History for Four Hundred Years
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: With a selection of a few notable examples (Zoram, Jarom, Omni, and Mosiah) that have been analyzed by the ongoing Book of Mormon names project, Stephen Ricks argues that “proper names in the Book of Mormon are demonstrably ancient.”
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See Stephen D. Ricks, “Proper Names from the Small Plates: Some Notes on the Personal Names Zoram, Jarom, Omni, and Mosiah,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 351–58. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The term Christology refers to the presentation of the life and nature of Jesus Christ. The purpose of this essay is to explore King Benjamin’s Christology (see Mosiah 3), to consider its similarities to that found in the Gospel of Mark, and to explore some implications of Benjamin’s Christology. Christology is often described as being on a continuum from low (which emphasizes the human nature of Jesus) to high (which emphasizes his divine nature). It is definitely the case that Benjamin’s description of Jesus contains elements of a high Christology since he begins by describing Jesus as “the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity” (Mosiah 3:5). Yet the very next line describes Jesus as “dwell[ing] in a tabernacle of clay” (Mosiah 3:5), which reflects a decidedly low Christology. This emphasis on the mortal nature of Jesus continues as Benjamin relates at length Jesus’s physical suffering (see Mosiah 3:7).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Archaeologists consider the La Mojarra Stela, discovered in 1986, to be the most important key to understanding the spread of Mesoamerican writing and calendrical practices. Some Book of Mormon believers wonder if this is the stone of Coriantumr (Omni 1:35-40). Included are photographs of the stone.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Sidney Sperry discusses whether the Cumorah in New York is the only one or whether there is another Cumorah somewhere in Central America. He looks at evidence in the books of Ether, Mormon, Mosiah, and Omni, as well as various scholarly opinions about the matter. There is no explanation of how the Hill Cumorah in New York came to be called Cumorah or how, if there are indeed two Cumorahs, the plates were transported from one to the other.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
He who is omnipotent really does not need us to move the wheel or to build anything for Him. It is not His ultimate objective to cover the world with chapels and temples. That is a means to His end, and I believe we can all easily quote that end, His ultimate objective: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” I believe that He cares more about the shoulder than about the wheel—that wheel is how we are moved to come home to Him. The wheel, the work, is a blessing to us. This is important. The work is a blessing.
The writings of Jacob and his descendants form part of the small plates, a section of the Book of Mormon that Mormon included intact, presumably without editing. Only on the small plates may Joseph Smith have found someone’s “handwriting” other than that of Mormon or Moroni. Speaking in the first person, Jacob and his descendants seem more individual, even in translation, than other writers whose words were more obviously edited by Mormon and Moroni. From Jacob through Omni, the record displays the complex variety one expects of a text written by many hands. The stylistic diversity of Jacob and his descendants is a powerful witness that we are dealing with material written by several ancient authors rather than by one person in early nineteenth-century New York.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > G — K > God the Father
RSC Topics > G — K > Godhead
John Welch discusses Nephi’s commandment to his son Jacob that a record be kept on the small plates. Welch delineates the obligations entailed in Nephi’s commandment and suggests that descendants of Jacob—Enos, Jarom, Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki—felt a strong sense of duty to see that it was fulfilled.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Series of five articles with evidence of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon—there were two races of ancient Americans, the Jaredites in North America and the Nephites in South America (Omni 1:23 and Alma 22:30-34); American Indians are of Hebrew origin; there is evidence of ancient metal engraving on tablets in book form; the Peruvians believe they originated from a people led by four brothers; there is evidence of advanced civilizations, ancient coins, and ancient implements on the American continent; there is evidence of great destruction at the crucifixion of Christ and that the Messiah was known to ancient Americans.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
The author rearranges the order in which Joseph Smith “composed” the Book of Mormon in order to explain textual problems. 1 Nephi through Words of Mormon are placed last according to handwriting analysis and subjects covered.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Abstract: At the end of 2012, Jack M. Lyon and Kent R. Minson published “When Pages Collide: Dissecting the Words of Mormon.” They suggest that there is textual evidence that supports the idea that Words of Mormon 12-18 is the translation of the end of the previous chapter of Mosiah. The rest of the chapter was lost with the 116 pages, but this text remained because it was physically on the next page, which Joseph had kept with him.
In this paper, the textual information is examined to determine if it supports that hypothesis. The conclusion is that while the hypothesis is possible, the evidence is not conclusive. The question remains open and may ultimately depend upon one’s understanding of the translation process much more than the evidence from the manuscripts.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: Deuteronomy 17:14–20 represents the most succinct summation in the Bible of criteria for kingship. Remarkably, the Book of Mormon narrative depicts examples of kingship that demonstrate close fidelity to the pattern set forth in Deuteronomy 17 (e.g., Nephi, Benjamin, or Mosiah II) or the inversion of the expected pattern of kingship (e.g., king Noah). Future research on Book of Mormon kingship through the lens of Deuteronomy 17:14–20 should prove fruitful.
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Despite sporadic attempts to sideline the name Mormon in favor of “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints,” it continues to be used as the most ubiquitous moniker for the Church. Members of the Church are known as “Mormons.” It appears in the title of the keystone publication of the Restoration, The Book of Mormon. Within the book bearing this name, Mormon is, firstof all, the name of the waters in the forest of Mormon (Mosiah 18:8; Alma 5:3) in the land of Mormon (Mosiah 18:30). Of course, Mormon is also the name of the military leader who abridged the Nephite records (Words of Mormon 1:1, 3; Mormon 1:1; 2:1).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Abstract: I propose that our current Words of Mormon in the Book of Mormon was originally a second chapter of the book of Mosiah following an initial chapter that was part of the lost 116 pages. When Joseph Smith gave the first 116 pages to Martin Harris, he may have retained a segment of the original manuscript that contained our Words of Mormon, consistent with the Lord’s reference “that which you have translated, which you have retained” (D&C 10:41). A comprehensive review of contextual information indicates that the chapter we call Words of Mormon may actually be the first part of this retained segment.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
The little book entitled Words of Mormon has long been a puzzle, including as it does a number of ambiguous passages and two seemingly distinct parts. In this brief note, I focus primarily on just one such ambiguity-Mormon’s use of “these” in verse 18-in an attempt to show that the whole of the book is much more complete and coherent than has been previously thought. It may be also that the Lord’s “wise purpose[s]” (Words of Mormon 1:7) are more expansive than has generally been supposed. In verse 18, Mormon notes three causes behind the establishment of peace among King Benjamin’s people: (1) “these;’ (2) Benjamin’s labor “with all [his] might…and… faculty,” and (3) “the prophets.” The most immediate question is, To what does “these” refer? One option is verse 16’s “the holy prophets.” However, given the specific mention of “the prophets” as the third cause, this first approach seems unlikely.
Mormon, the last historian of the Book of Mormon, inserted his commentary along with the small plates of Nephi after examining their content and finding them to be very valuable. They were put there for the special purpose of converting his people in the last days. They replaced the lost 116 pages.
Also called “The End of the Small Plates; The Coronation of Mosiah.“
Well, now we’ve got to the point where in one verse they take care of the history of a larger people than the Nephites. It simply says they crossed the ocean and landed here, and that was that.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Omni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Words of Momon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
The Fourth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU The remarks of this volume are centered on the small plates of Nephi—Jacob through the Words of Mormon. The greatness of Lehi’s son Jacob is brought out, with special reference to his remarkable grasp of the doctrine of the Atonement, his powerful preaching about Christ, and his affirmations as to the central role of Christ in all gospel dispensations. Enos, Amaleki, and the anti-Christ Sherem are other topics discussed. Clarification is given on the structure of the Book of Mormon in terms of the large and the small plates of Nephi, the plates of Mormon (the abridgment), and the Words of Mormon. Latter-day Saint scholars who have experience the spiritual power of the Book of Mormon share here their insights on specific themes. ISBN 0-8849-4734-3
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A collection of statements made by General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints concerning Book of Mormon passages. Volume one begins with statements by Church leaders concerning 1 Nephi to Words of Mormon; volume two contains statements dealing with Mosiah and Alma; volume three with the books Helaman to Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Gives many examples of idioms used in the Book of Mormon that translate naturally back into Hebrew. Covers Words of Mormon through Moroni, continuing a similar study by E. Craig Bramwell. Includes a table of Book of Mormon verses that contain wording similar to biblical passages.
“This thesis has been a study of possible lexical Hebraisms occurring in the Book of Mormon in the sections entitled ’The Words of Mormon’ through ’Moroni.’ A Hebraism was defined as any word of phrase which appeared to be a literal rendering of a Hebrew lexicographic mode of speech, in that the English had a usage or connotation which was not normal; whereas, if translated literally into Hebrew it would represent standard usage. Nearly two hundred such items were found, some one hundred twenty of which were discussed in the body of the thesis. Of these, nouns contributed over sixty examples, verbs more than thirty and the remainder were distributed among the rest of the parts of speech. This accumulation of Hebraisms could be evidence either of Joseph Smith’s exceptional ability to recall biblical wording while under the influence of the Holy Spirit or evidence of Hebraic wording in the original coming through in Joseph Smith’s translation.” [Author]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > G — K > Gold Plates
Describes the date and purpose of the book entitled the Words of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
An analysis of the Words of Mormon to Helaman, including Mormon’s abridgment between the small and large plates of Nephi. The teachings of Benjamin, Mosiah, Abinadi, Alma, and his son, Alma the Younger. Helaman’s and Shiblon’s writings in the book of Alma are set forth. Alma the Younger is to the Book of Mormon as Paul is to the New Testament. The book of Helaman covers fifty years of Nephite history.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
The writings of Jacob and his descendants form part of the small plates, a section of the Book of Mormon that Mormon included intact, presumably without editing. Only on the small plates may Joseph Smith have found someone’s “handwriting” other than that of Mormon or Moroni. Speaking in the first person, Jacob and his descendants seem more individual, even in translation, than other writers whose words were more obviously edited by Mormon and Moroni. From Jacob through Omni, the record displays the complex variety one expects of a text written by many hands. The stylistic diversity of Jacob and his descendants is a powerful witness that we are dealing with material written by several ancient authors rather than by one person in early nineteenth-century New York.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In the heading before chapter 1 of 1 Nephi, we find Nephi’s outline of his record. It begins, “An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons,” and ends, “This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.” Sometimes these signposts appear before a section to tell us what is to come. Other times, they appear at the end to explain, recap, or mark the end of what has been said. For lack of a better word, I call them colophons, though technically colophons are notes or guidelines after a text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Review of The Book of Mormon: Jacob through Words of Mormon, To Learn with Joy (1990), edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Mosiah
This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles that look at literary aspects of the Book of Mormon, including a lyric reading of Nephi’s psalm, the exodus pattern and Moses typology in the book, the literary context that affected its acceptance in England in 1837, a comparison of the Book of Mormon with the Narrative of Zosimus, and even an analysis of the book’s purported verbosity. Contents “The Book of Mormon in the English Literary Context of 1837” Gordon K. Thomas “The Psalm of Nephi: A Lyric Reading” Steven P. Sondrup “The Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon” S. Kent Brown “The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon” Noel B. Reynolds “The Throne-Theophany and Prophetic Commission in 1 Nephi: A Form-Critical Analysis” Blake T. Ostler “The Treaty/Covenant Pattern in King Benjamin’s Address (Mosiah 1–6)” Stephen D. Ricks “The Narrative of Zosimus and the Book of Mormon” John W. Welch “More Than Meets the Eye: Concentration of the Book of Mormon” Steven C. Walker “Taste and Feast: Images of Eating and Drinking in the Book of Mormon” Richard Dilworth Rust “The ‘Perfect Pattern’: The Book of Mormon as a Model for the Writing of Sacred History” Eric C. Olson
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
FARMS and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the release of part 2 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 2 analyzes the text from 2 Nephi 11 through Mosiah 16.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Reader is asked to match a scriptural reference in Mosiah with nine different hypothetical situations. An activity for youth.
Reader is asked to match a scriptural reference in Mosiah with nine different hypothetical situations. An activity for youth.
Mosiah sought to teach his people that great iniquity and destruction characterizes the rule of monarchs.
A Masters of Arts thesis that presents the process of producing the paintings of “Coriantumr resting upon his sword before slaying Shiz” (Ether 15:30), “An angel of the Lord appearing before Laman and Lemuel” (1 Nephi 3:28), “The Vision of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah” (Mosiah 27:11), and “Christ calling Nephi from among the multitude” (3 Nephi 11:18).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > T — Z > Teaching the Gospel
RSC Topics > T — Z > Testimony
Abstract: The present work analyzes the narrative art Mormon employs, specifically Mormon’s unique strategies for personalized and personal messaging, which can be seen in how Mormon connects the narration of the baptism at the waters of Mormon in Mosiah chapter 18 with his self- introductory material in 3 Nephi chapter 5. In these narratives, Mormon seems to simultaneously present an overt personalized message about Christ and a covert personal connection to Alma1 through the almost excessive repetition of his own name. Mormon discreetly plants evidence to suggest his intention for the careful re-reader to discover that Mormon was a 12th generation descendant of the first Alma. Mormon’s use of personalizing and personal messages lends emotive power to his narratives and shines a light on Mormon’s love for Christ’s church.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Mormon
Book of Mormon Topics > Places > Americas > Book of Mormon Geography > Waters of Mormon
Abstract: The prophet Mormon’s editorial skill brings the narrative of the Zeniffites alive with a complex tumble of viewpoints, commentary, and timelines. Mormon seems to apply similar narrative strategies as those used in the Bible in his approach to abridging the history of his people. A comparative reading of the various accounts in the Zeniffite story provides the close reader with a deep picture of Limhi, the tragic grandson of the founding king, Zeniff, and the son of the iniquitous King Noah. Noah’s wicked rule brought his people into bondage. His conflicted son Limhi’s efforts to free the people, although well meaning, often imperiled his people. Fortunately, Limhi’s proclivity for making poor judgments did not extend to his acceptance of the gospel. In fact, coexistent with the repeated errors Limhi makes in the narrative lies one of his greatest strengths, his willingness to accept correction. This is a vital characteristic necessary for the repentance required by the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what redeemed Limhi from his comedy of errors. It is this quality that can also redeem us all. Limhi’s love for his father, in the end, did not doom him to make the same mistakes Noah did. When the messengers from God came, Limhi listened and accepted their message. Mormon’s characterization strategies described here are a credit to his art and support the hypothesis that he is an inheritor of the poetics of biblical narrative. His narrative strategies not only characterize the cast in his narrative, but also characterize him. The care Mormon took in crafting his abridgment reveal his observational prowess. He saw God’s hand in his people’s history, and he went to great lengths to teach his readers how to see it too. His characterization of Limhi is a personal message about how wickedness and tyranny affect individuals.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
King Mosiah, son of Benjamin, began his reign during a period of peace, reigning over a people who were righteous.
A brief note describing the lives and contributions of the final three Nephite kings, Mosiah, Benjamin and Mosiah II.
Due to the preaching of the sons of Mosiah, many Lamanites converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and became righteous.
King Mosiah and his people migrated and eventually united with the people of Zarahemla. King Mosiah became the ruler of both peoples.
The book of Mosiah covers a vast amount of history and is carefully structured to give an interpretive and analytical perspective.
This paper looks closely and critically at how the Nephite prophets dealt with the records of the Jaredites as the text of the Book of Mormon itself presents these dealings. 1 It questions unspoken assumptions that often pervade discussions of these records and of how record keepers from King Mosiah2 to Moroni managed them. It asks, for example, whether Mormon could realistically have taken on the task of preparing the abridgment of Jaredite history found in the book of Ether. It also challenges the idea that Moroni wrote the book of Ether only because Mormon did not have time to do so, suggesting instead that Moroni’s role in preserving the Jaredite legacy was his own unique commission from the Lord. These questions are part of my appeal for a fundamental reconsideration of the roles played by the key actors who handled the Jaredite records.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Just as modern missionaries can learn much from the methods of the sons of Mosiah, we can learn much about strengthening wavering members from the example of Alma the Younger in his remarkable reform of the Nephites in Zarahemla. A careful study of Alma 4–16 shows that Alma the Younger models many important principles of activation that are helpful to us today. This study examines principles of activation derived from the account of Alma’s labors among the apostate Nephites, particularly in the city of Zarahemla in Alma 4 and 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: During Christ’s mortal ministry at Jerusalem, his teachings often drew upon the writings of Isaiah, Moses, and other prophets with whom his audience was familiar. On the other hand, Christ never seems to quote Nephi, Mosiah, or other Book of Mormon prophets to the Jews and their surrounding neighbors, despite being the ultimate source for their inspired writings. It is because of this apparent confinement to Old Testament sources that intertextual parallels between the words of Christ in Matthew 23–24 and the words of Samuel the Lamanite in Helaman 13–15 jump out as intriguing. This paper explores the intertextual relationship between these chapters in Helaman and Matthew and suggests that the parallels between these texts can be attributed to a common source available to both Samuel and Christ, the writings of the prophet Zenos.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
For the Nephites, the sixteenth year of the reign of the judges was tremendously difficult. The arrival of the people of Ammon, in itself an incredible disruption of Nephite society, precipitated a battle, which Mormon describes as a “tremendous battle; yea, even such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land from the time Lehi left Jerusalem’’ (Alma 28:2). The dead, we are told, were not counted due to their enormous number. These events compounded the pre-existing struggles that resulted from the sociopolitical fallout from the reforms of Mosiah. Though Alma 30:5 suggests that all is well in Zarahemla during the seventeenth year of the reign of the judges, the events of the next year and half, the eighteenth year, belie this peace. Within this span, the Nephites exploded in two separate, but related, political conflagrations: (1) the secession of the inhabitants of Antionum from the greater Nephite community, and (2) the civil war spearheaded by Amalickiah. But prior to both of these events came Korihor.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Lehi’s exodus to the promised land is only the first of a series of exoduses occurring throughout the Book of Mormon. Indeed, Lehi’s exodus becomes mere precedent for later flights into the wilderness by Nephi, Mosiah, Alma1, Limhi, and the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. For the Nephites, continuing exodus is not merely historical fact. Understanding the biblical exodus as a type and shadow, the Nephites come to see their wandering as a metaphor of their spiritual condition. Thus, even centuries after Lehi’s arrival in the promised land, Nephite prophets recognize their status as “wanderers in a strange land” (Alma 13:23). As did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Nephites also looked beyond their temporal land of promise “for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Abstract: The Book of Mormon features an esoteric exchange between the prophet Nephi and the Spirit of the Lord on an exceedingly high mountain. The following essay explores some of the ways in which an Israelite familiar with ancient religious experiences and scribal techniques might have interpreted this event. The analysis shows that Nephi’s conversation, as well as other similar accounts in the Book of Mormon, echoes an ancient temple motif. As part of this paradigm, the essay explores the manner in which the text depicts the Spirit of the Lord in a role associated with members of the divine council in both biblical and general Near Eastern conceptions. .
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
More than ten years ago, Stephen Ricks and John Tvedtnes presented a case for interpreting the Book of Mormon proper noun Zarahemla as a Hebraic construct meaning “seed of compassion” or “child of grace, pity, or compassion.” The authors theorized: It may be that the Mulekite leader was given that name because his ancestor had been rescued when the other sons of King Zedekiah were slain during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. [See Mosiah 25:2.] To subsequent Nephite generations, it may have even suggested the deliverance of their own ancestors from Jerusalem prior to its destruction or the anticipation of Christ’s coming.
Royal sonship is a key theme of Mosiah 1–6, including King Benjamin’s seminal address at the temple in Zarahemla (Mosiah 2–5) on the occasion of his son Mosiah’s enthronement. Benjamin, however, caps this covenant sermon, not with an assertion of his son’s royal status and privileges, but with a radical declaration of his people’s royal rebirth (or adoption) as “ the children of Christ, his sons and his daughters” (Mosiah 5:7) and their potential enthronement at God’s “ right hand” (5:9). Similar to rhetorical wordplay involving proper names found in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and other ancient texts, Benjamin’s juxtaposition of “sons”/“daughters” and the “right hand” constitutes a deliberate wordplay on his own name, traditionally taken to mean “son of the right hand.” The name of Christ, rather than Benjamin’s own name, is given to all his people as a new name—a “throne” name. However, he warns them against refusing to take upon them this throne name and thus being found “on the left hand of God” (5:10), a warning that also constitutes an allusion to his name. Benjamin’s ultimate hope is for his people’s royal, divine sonship/daughterhood to be eternally “sealed.”
Abstract: Three times in his narrative Mormon recounts the Lord’s oracle (revelation) to Mosiah II regarding his sons undertaking a mission among the Lamanites (Mosiah 28:7, Alma 17:35, and Alma 19:23). In all three instances, the Lord’s promises of deliverance revolve around the meaning of the name Mosiah (“Yahweh is Deliverer” or “Yahweh is Savior”), emphasizing that the Lord (Hebrew yhwh) himself would act in his covenant role as môšîaʿ in delivering Mosiah’s sons, and sparing Ammon in particular. In two of the iterations of the oracle, Mosiah 28:7 and Alma 19:23, we find additional wordplay on the name Ammon (“faithful”) in terms of “many shall believe” (Hebrew yaʾămînû) in the first instance and ʾĕmûnâ (“faith,” “faithfulness”) in the latter. In Alma 19:23 the Lord also employs an additional wordplay on his own name, Yahweh (Jehovah), to emphasize his ability to bring to pass his promises to Mosiah regarding Ammon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Deliver
Abstract: Paronomasia in the Hebrew text of Exodus creates narrative links between the name Miriam (Mary) and the “waters” (mayim) of the Re[e]d Sea from which Israel is “pulled” and the nearby “bitter” waters of Marah. Nephi sees Mary (Mariam), the mother of Jesus, associated with the “love of God,” and thus to both “the tree of life” and “the fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25) vis-à-vis “the fountain of filthy water” (1 Nephi 12:16). Mormon was named after “the land of Mormon” (3 Nephi 5:12). He associates his given name with “waters,” which he describes as a “fountain of pure water” (Mosiah 18:5), and with the good “desires” and “love” that Alma the Elder’s converts manifest at the time of their baptism (Mosiah 18:8, 10‒11, 21, 28). Mormon’s accounts of the baptisms of Alma the Elder’s people, Limhi’s people, the people at Sidom (Alma 15:13), and a few repentant Nephites at Zarahemla who responded to Samuel the Lamanite’s preaching (Helaman 16:1), anticipate Jesus’s eventual reestablishment of the church originally founded by Alma, the baptism of his disciples, and their reception of the Holy Ghost — “that which they most desired” (see 3 Nephi 19:9‒14, 24). Desire serves as a key term that links all of these baptismal scenes. Mormon’s analogy of “the bitter fountain” and its “bitter water” vis-à-vis the “the good fount” and its “good water” — which helps set up his discussion of “the pure love of Christ,” which “endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47‒48) — should be understood against the backdrop of Lehi’s dream as Nephite “cultural narrative” and the history of Alma the Elder’s people at the waters of Mormon. As Mormon’s people lose the “love [which] endureth by faith unto prayer” (Moroni 8:26; see also Moroni 8:14‒17; 9:5) they become like the “bitter fountain” (Moroni 7:11) and do not endure to the end in faith, hope, and charity on the covenant path (cf. 2 Nephi 31:20; Moroni 7:40‒88; 8:24‒26). The name Mormon (“desire is enduring” or “love is enduring”), as borne by the prophet-editor of the Book of Mormon, embraces the whole cloud of these associations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: Royal and divine sonship/daughterhood (bānîm = “children”/“sons,” bānôt = “daughters”) is a prevalent theme throughout the Book of Mosiah. “Understanding” (Hebrew noun, bînâ or tĕbûnâ; verb, bîn) is also a key theme in that book. The initial juxtaposition of “sons” and “understanding” with the name “Benjamin” (binyāmîn, “son of the right hand”) in Mosiah 1:2–7 suggests the narrator’s association of the underlying terms with the name Benjamin likely on the basis of homophony. King Benjamin repeatedly invokes “understand” in his speech (forms of “understand” were derived from the root *byn in Hebrew; Mosiah 2:9, 40; 4:4; cf. 3:15) — a speech that culminates in a rhetorical wordplay on his own name in terms of “sons”/“children,” “daughters,” and “right hand” (Mosiah 5:7, 9). “Understand,” moreover, recurs as a paronomasia on the name Benjamin at key points later in the Book of Mosiah (Mosiah 8:3, 20; 26:1–3), which bring together the themes of sonship and/or “understanding” (or lack of thereof) with King Benjamin’s name. Later statements in the Book of Mosiah about “becoming” the “children of God” or “becoming his sons and daughters” (Mosiah 18:22; 27:25) through divine rebirth allude to King Benjamin’s sermon and the wordplay on “Benjamin” there. Taken as a literary whole, the book of Mosiah constitutes a treatise on “becoming” — i.e., divine transformation through Christ’s atonement (cf. Mosiah 3:18–19). Mormon’s statement in Alma 17:2 about the sons of Mosiah having become “men of a sound understanding” thus serves as a fitting epilogue to a narrative arc begun as early as Mosiah 1:2.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Becoming
Book of Mormon Topics > General Topics > King Benjamin’s Speech
Abstract: The toponym Shilom likely derives from the Semitic/Hebrew root š-l-m, whence also the similar-sounding word šālôm, “peace,” derives. The first mention of the toponym Shilom in Zeniff’s record — an older account than the surrounding material and an autobiography — occurs in Mosiah 9:6 in parallel with Zeniff’s mention of his intention to “possess the land in peace” (Mosiah 9:5). The language and text structure of Mosiah 9:5‒6 thus suggest a deliberate wordplay on Shilom in terms of šālôm. Zeniff uses the name Shilom as a point of irony throughout his brief royal record to emphasize a tenuous and often absent peace between his people and the Lamanites.
Abstract: Mormon describes Alma the Younger’s “go[ing] about secretly” to destroy the church that his father, Alma the Elder, had established (Mosiah 27:8–10), this as a narratalogical inversion of that period when Alma the Elder “went about privately” teaching the words of Abinadi and establishing a church “that it might not come to the knowledge of the king” (Mosiah 18:1–6). In Mosiah 27:10, Mormon subtly reworks Alma the Younger’s autobiographical statement preserved in Alma 36:6, adding in the former passage a word rendered “secretly” to create a midrashic or interpretive pun on the name Alma, echoing the meaning of the Semitic root ʿlm, “hide,” “conceal”). Mosiah 27:8–10 contains additional language that evokes the introduction of the name Alma in the Book of Mormon (at first in terms of ʿelem [“young man”] but also in terms of the homonymous root ʿlm) in Mosiah 17:2–4 but also re-invokes allusions in the latter passage to Mosiah 14:1 (Isaiah 53:1).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: From an etiological perspective, the Hebrew Bible connects the name Noah with two distinct but somewhat homonymous verbal roots: nwḥ (“rest”) and nḥm (“comfort,” “regret” [sometimes “repent”]). Significantly, the Enoch and Noah material in the revealed text of the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis (especially Moses 7–8) also connects the name Noah in a positive sense to the earth’s “rest” and the Lord’s covenant with Enoch after the latter “refuse[d] to be comforted” regarding the imminent destruction of humanity in the flood. The Book of Mormon, on the other hand, connects the name Noah pejoratively to Hebrew nwḥ (“rest”) and nḥm (“comfort” and “repentance” [regret]) in a negative evaluation of King Noah, the son of Zeniff. King Noah causes his people to “labor exceedingly to support iniquity” (Mosiah 11:6), gives “rest” to his wicked and corrupt priests (Mosiah 11:11), and anesthetizes his people in their sins with his winemaking. Noah and his people’s refusal to “repent” and their martyring of Abinadi result in their coming into hard bondage to the Lamanites. Mormon’s text further demonstrates how the Lord eventually “comforts” Noah’s former subjects after their “sore repentance” and “sincere repentance” from their iniquity and abominations, providing them a typological deliverance that points forward to the atonement of Jesus Christ.
“Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” (Isaiah 49:13).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 8 — Noah
Abstract: The best explanation for the name “Nephi” is that it derives from the Egyptian word nfr, “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” “fair,” “beautiful.” Nephi’s autobiographical wordplay on his own name in his self-introduction (and elsewhere throughout his writings) revolves around the evident meaning of his name. This has important implications for how the derived gentilic term “Nephites” was understood over time, especially among the Nephites themselves. Nephi’s early ethno-cultural descriptions of his people describe them as “fair” and “beautiful” (vis-à-vis the Lamanites). These early descriptions subsequently become the basis for Nephite ethno-cultural self-perceptions. The Nephites’ supposition that they were the “good” or “fair ones” was all too frequently at odds with reality, especially when Nephite “chosenness” was understood as inherent or innate. In the end the “good” or “fair ones” fell (Mormon 6:17‒20), because they came to “delight in everything save that which is good” (Moroni 9:19). The Book of Mormon thus constitutes a warning against our own contemporary cultural and religious tendency toward exceptionalism. Mormon and Moroni, like Nephi their ancestor through his writings on the small plates, endeavor through their own writing and editorial work to show how the “unbelieving” descendants of the Nephites and Lamanites can again become the “good” and the “fair ones” by choosing to come unto Christ, partaking of his “goodness,” and doing the “good” stipulated by the doctrine of Christ.
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Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The biographical introduction of Alma the Elder into the Book of Mormon narrative (Mosiah 17:2) also introduces the name Alma into the text for the first time, this in close juxtaposition with a description of Alma as a “young man.” The best explanation for the name Alma is that it derives from the Semitic term ǵlm (Hebrew ʿelem), “young man,” “youth,” “lad.” This suggests the strong probability of an intentional wordplay on the name Alma in the Book of Mormon’s underlying text: Alma became “[God’s] young man” or “servant.” Additional lexical connections between Mosiah 17:2 and Mosiah 14:1 (quoting Isaiah 53:1) suggest that Abinadi identified Alma as the one “to whom” or “upon whom” (ʿal-mî) the Lord was “reveal[ing]” his arm as Abinadi’s prophetic successor. Alma began his prophetic succession when he “believed” Abinadi’s report and pled with King Noah for Abinadi’s life. Forced to flee, Alma began his prophetic ministry “hidden” and “concealed” while writing the words of Abinadi and teaching them “privately.” The narrative’s dramatic emphasis on this aspect of Alma’s life suggests an additional thread of wordplay that exploits the homonymy between Alma and the Hebrew root *ʿlm, forms of which mean “to hide,” “conceal,” “be hidden,” “be concealed.” The richness of the wordplay and allusion revolving around Alma’s name in Mosiah 17–18 accentuates his importance as a prophetic figure and founder of the later Nephite church. Moreover, it suggests that Alma’s name was appropriate given the details of his life and that he lived up to the positive connotations latent in his name.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Mormon, as an author and editor, was concerned to show the fulfillment of earlier Nephite prophecy when such fulfillment occurred. Mormon took care to show that Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman, fulfilled their father’s prophetic and paranetic expectations regarding them as enshrined in their given names — the names of their “first parents.” It had been “said and also written” (Helaman 5:6-7) that Nephi’s and Lehi’s namesakes were “good” in 1 Nephi 1:1. Using onomastic play on the meaning of “Nephi,” Mormon demonstrates in Helaman 8:7 that it also came to be said and written of Nephi the son of Helaman that he was “good.” Moreover, Mormon shows Nephi that his brother Lehi was “not a whit behind him” in this regard (Helaman 11:19). During their lifetimes — i.e., during the time of the fulfillment of Mosiah’s forewarning regarding societal and political corruption (see Mosiah 29:27) that especially included secret combinations — Nephi and Lehi stood firm against increasingly popular organized evil.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: As John Gee noted two decades ago, Nephi is best explained as a form of the Egyptian word nfr, which by Lehi’s time was pronounced neh-fee, nay-fee, or nou-fee. Since this word means “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair,” I subsequently posited several possible examples of wordplay on the name Nephi in the Book of Mormon, including Nephi’s own autobiographical introduction (1 Nephi 1:1: “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents … having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God”). It should be further pointed out, however, that Nephi also concludes his personal writings on the small plates using the terms “good” and “goodness of God.” This terminological bracketing constitutes a literary device, used anciently, called inclusio or an envelope figure. Nephi’s literary emphasis on “good” and “goodness” not only befits his personal name, but fulfills the Lord’s commandment, “thou shalt engraven many things … which are good in my sight” (2 Nephi 5:30), a command which also plays on the name Nephi. Nephi’s autobiographical introduction and conclusion proved enormously influential on subsequent writers who modeled autobiographical and narrative biographical introductions on 1 Nephi 1:1-2 and based sermons — especially concluding sermons — on Nephi’s “good” conclusion in 2 Nephi 33. An emphasis in all these sermons is that all “good”/“goodness” ultimately has its source in God and Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The names Mary and Mormon most plausibly derive from the Egyptian word mr(i), “love, desire, [or] wish.” Mary denotes “beloved [i.e., of deity]” and is thus conceptually connected with divine love, while Mormon evidently denotes “desire/love is enduring.” The text of the Book of Mormon manifests authorial awareness of the meanings of both names, playing on them in multiple instances. Upon seeing Mary (“the mother of God,” 1 Nephi 11:18, critical text) bearing the infant Messiah in her arms in vision, Nephi, who already knew that God “loveth his children,” came to understand that the meaning of the fruit-bearing tree of life “is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore it is the most desirable above all things” (1 Nephi 11:17-25). Later, Alma the Elder and his people entered into a covenant and formed a church based on “love” and “good desires” (Mosiah 18:21, 28), a covenant directly tied to the waters of Mormon: Behold here are the waters of Mormon … and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God … if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized …?”; “they clapped their hands for joy and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts” (Mosiah 18:8-11). Alma the Younger later recalled the “song of redeeming love” that his father and others had sung at the waters of Mormon (Alma 5:3-9, 26; see Mosiah 18:30). Our editor, Mormon, who was himself named after the land of Mormon and its waters (3 Nephi 5:12), repeatedly spoke of charity as “everlasting love” or the “pure love of Christ [that] endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47-48; 8:16-17; 26). All of this has implications for Latter-day Saints or “Mormons” who, as children of the covenant, must endure to the end in Christlike “love” as Mormon and Moroni did, particularly in days of diminishing faith, faithfulness, and love (see, e.g., Mormon 3:12; contrast Moroni 9:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: As in Hebrew biblical narrative, wordplay on (or play on the meaning of) toponyms, or “place names,” is a discernable feature of Book of Mormon narrative. The text repeatedly juxtaposes the toponym Jershon (“place of inheritance” or “place of possession”) with terms inherit, inheritance, possess, possession, etc. Similarly, the Mulekite personal name Zarahemla (“seed of compassion,” “seed of pity”), which becomes the paramount Nephite toponym as their national capital after the time of Mosiah I, is juxtaposed with the term compassion. Both wordplays occur and recur at crucial points in Nephite/Lamanite history. Moreover, both occur in connection with the migration of the first generation Lamanite converts. The Jershon wordplay recurs in the second generation, when the people of Ammon receive the Zoramite (re)converts into the land of Jershon, and wordplay on Zarahemla recurs subsequently, when the sons of these Lamanite converts come to the rescue of the Nephite nation. Rhetorical wordplay on Zarahemla also surfaces in important speeches later in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains several quotations from the Hebrew Bible that have been juxtaposed on the basis of shared words or phrases, this for the purpose of interpreting the cited scriptural passages in light of one another. This exegetical technique — one that Jesus himself used — came to be known in later rabbinic times as Gezera Shawa (“equal statute”). In several additional instances, the use of Gezera Shawa converges with onomastic wordplay. Nephi uses a Gezera Shawa involving Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 twice on the basis of the yāsap verb forms yôsîp/yôsīp (2 Nephi 25:17 and quoting the Lord in 2 Nephi 29:1) to create a stunning wordplay on the name “Joseph.” In another instance, King Benjamin uses Gezera Shawa involving Psalm 2:7, 2 Samuel 7:14, and Deuteronomy 14:1 (1–2) on the basis of the Hebrew noun bēn (“son”; plural bānîm, bānôt, “sons” and “daughters”) on which to build a rhetorical wordplay on his own name. This second wordplay, which further alludes to Psalm 110:1 on account of the noun yāmin (“right hand”), was ready-made for his temple audience who, on the occasion of Mosiah’s coronation, were receiving their own “endowment” to become “sons” and “daughters” at God’s “right hand.” The use of Gezera Shawa was often christological — e.g., Jacob’s Gezera Shawa on (“stone”) in Jacob 4:15–17 and Alma’s Gezera Shawa on Zenos’s and Zenock’s phrase “because of thy Son” in Alma 33:11–16 (see Alma 33:4 17). Taken together, these examples suggest that we should pay more attention to scripture’s use of scripture and, in particular, the use of this exegetical practice. In doing so, we will better discern the messages intended by ancient prophets whose words the Book of Mormon preserves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The historian who wrote 2 Kings 23:5 and Mormon, who wrote Mosiah 11:5, used identical expressions to describe King Josiah’s and King Noah’s purges of the priests previously ordained and installed by their fathers. These purges came to define their respective kingships. The biblical writer used this language to positively evaluate Josiah’s kingship (“And he put down [w<ĕhišbît] the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained”), whereas Mormon levies a negative evaluation against Noah (“For he put down [cf. Hebrew (wĕ)hišbît] all the priests that had been consecrated by his father”). Mormon employs additional “Deuteronomistic” language in evaluating Mosiah, Noah, and other dynastic Book of Mormon leaders, suggesting that the evident contrast between King Noah and King Josiah is deliberately made.
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
In his analysis of Mosiah 1:2–6 and 1 Nephi 1:1–4, John A. Tvedtnes notes that in many instances “Nephite writers relied on earlier records as they recorded their history.”1 He makes a convincing argument that the description of King Benjamin teaching his sons “in all the language of his fathers” (Mosiah 1:2) is modeled on Nephi’s account.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Thanks to the work of Hugh Nibley, Paul Hoskisson, Terrence Szink, and others, the plausibility of Alma as a Semitic name is no longer an issue. Hoskisson has noted that “Alma” derives from the root ‘lm (< *ǵlm) with the meaning “youth” or “lad,” corroborating Nibley’s earlier suggestion that “Alma” means “young man” (cf. Hebrew ‘elem,עלם). Significantly, “Alma” occurs for the first time in the Book of Mormon text as follows: “But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken” (Mosiah 17:2; emphasis in all scriptural citations is mine). This first occurrence of “Alma” is juxtaposed with a description matching the etymological meaning of the name, suggesting an underlying wordplay: Alma (‘lm’) was an ‘elem. A play on words sharing a common root is a literary technique known as polyptoton.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: This article examines Mormon’s comparison of Moroni, the Nephite military leader, to Ammon, the son of Mosiah, in Alma 48:18 and how Mormon’s use and repetition of ʾmn-related terminology (“faithful,” “firm,” “faith,” “verily [surely]”) in Alma 48:7–17 lays a foundation for this comparison. Ammon’s name, phonologically and perhaps etymologically, suggests the meaning “faithful.” Mormon goes to extraordinary lengths in the Lamanite conversion narratives to show that Ammon is not only worthy of this name, but that his faithfulness is the catalyst for the transition of many Lamanites from unbelief to covenant faithfulness. Thus, in comparing Moroni directly to Ammon, Mormon makes a most emphatic statement regarding Moroni’s covenant faithfulness. Moreover, this comparison reveals his admiration for both men.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
We Latter-day Saints are temple-centered people. So were the Nephites. But what do we know about their temple worship, how it worked and what it was for? How was it even possible for the Nephites to observe the Mosaic rituals without the Levitical priesthood, the Aaronite high priest, and the Ark of the Covenant? And given that our temple worship today isn’t about animal sacrifice, what, if anything, does their temple worship have to do with ours? Critics, and even friendlier outside observers like Harold Bloom, have sometimes come away from reading the Book of Mormon—in Bloom’s case not reading it very much—but they’ve sometimes come away thinking that there isn’t much “Mormon-ism” in the book. Let’s see whether our exploration of temple themes in the Nephite narratives contradicts this or bears it out.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
King Benjamin stated that “the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been since the fall of Adam” (Mosiah 3:19). Brigham Young declared mankind God’s noblest work, but when Adam and Eve fell from the presence of God they were brought into an unnatural state, in contact with influences of an evil nature. The “natural man” spoken of by King Benjamin is equivalent to President Young’s “unnatural man.” Both refer to mankind that has been estranged from God.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
The end justifies the means, so these stories are designed to increase interest in the Book of Mormon. Hundreds of books have been written founded on the Bible, and there are some wonderfully colorful accounts of the founding of Christianity in Judea, Alexandria, and Rome. It is surprising that more has not been done dealing with the ancient history of the western world. Several of these stories were first published in the Improvement Era, and acknowledgment is made to that magazine for the encouragement it extended to the author, who traveled twice to Mexico and excavated among the ruins there to gain information at first hand. If any boy or girl, after perusing these pages, is inspired to turn direct to the beautiful and simple language of the Book of Mormon itself, the purpose of “The Cities of the Sun” has been accomplished.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Nephi’s Commandment to Jacob Concerning Small Plates—Nephi Anoints a Man to be King—His Successors in Kingly Dignity Called by his Name—Patriarchal Government—Jacob Presided Over the Church—King Mosiah’s Mode of Life—Seers as Well as Kings—Was There a Change of Dynasty?—Kingly and Priestly Authority United in Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Travel Many Days in the Wilderness—Call the Land Nephi—Did They Journey Northward?—Location of Land Nephi—River Sidon and Magdalena—Land of Zarahemla—Twenty-two Days’ Travel from Nephi—Did not Land of Nephi Extend Considerably South?—Zeniff’s Return to the Land of Nephi—Was that the Land Settled by Nephi, the First?—Mosiah, King of Zarahemla—Reasons for Thinking Nephi to be Distinguishing Name of an Extensive Region—Nephites Would Spread Over the Country in Four Hundred Years—Did Nephi and Company Travel as far North as Ecuador?—Followed by Lamanites—Jacob and Enos Respecting Lamanites—Nephi’s Description of the Land—Bolivia and Peru—Cities and Settlements Called After Founders—Additional Reasons for Thinking Nephi and Company did not Settle so far North—Boundaries of Lands Occupied by Nephites and Lamanites—South America Called Lehi, North America Called Mulek
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Participle adjuncts in the Book of Mormon are compared with those in the other writings of Joseph Smith and with English in general. Participle adjuncts include present participle phrases, e.g., “having gained the victory over death” (Mosiah 15:8); present participle clauses, e.g., “he having four sons” (Ether 6:20), and a double-subject adjunct construction, known as the coreferential subject construction, where both subjects refer to the same thing, as in “Alma, being the chief judge . . . of the people of Nephi, therefore he went up with the people” (Alma 2:16). The Book of Mormon is unique in the occurrences of extremely long compound adjunct phrases and coreferential subject constructions, indicating that Joseph Smith used a very literal translation style for the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The Book of Mormon discusses both the seer and priestcraft. Mosiah 5:79-80 presents the deinition of a seer. Priestcraft is confounded by both the written word and by the living prophet, seer, and revelator who holds powers from God.
An 1881 diary entry made by Charles Lowell Walker states that the Prophet Joseph Smith identiied a key location to Book of Mormon geography. He spoke of a great temple that was located in Central America. The River Copan was anciently called the River of Nephi. A second account by Mosiah Lyman Hancock substantiates Walker’s entry. Maps are included.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
In Alma 26:2, the Nephite Christian missionary Ammon asks his brothers, “What great blessings has [God] bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?” Having been quite successful in his endeavors, Ammon answers his own question by stating that he and his brothers “have been made instruments in the hands of God” (Alma 26:3). The phrasing seems self-explanatory: Ammon and his brothers are tools God uses to “bring about this great work’’ (Alma 26:3).1 Yet just a verse later, Ammon appears to confuse the metaphor when he commends his brothers: “The field is ripe and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might” (Alma 26:5). Here, it is not the missionaries who are instruments, but rather they are the ones who use instruments. Are Ammon and his brethren tools in the hands of God? Or do they use tools (sickles) to reap a harvest of souls? And what does it mean to be an “instrument”? Using this passage as a springboard, I will look more generally at the use of language concerning tools, instruments, and weapons in the writings attributed to Mormon in the Book of Mormon. Key, in my view, is a comparison, carefully woven, between the sons of Mosiah and the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Reading King Benjamin’s speech, we come upon a passage in which the verb list is used four times: “Beware lest there shall arise contentions among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit. . . . For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul. . . . The man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness” (Mosiah 2:32, 33, 37).
Deals with the story of Ammon, the son of Mosiah, who served King Lamoni, and the subsequent conversion of the king, his family, and the people (Alma 17-19).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A narrative about King Benjamin and his address at the temple (Mosiah 1-6).
It has been claimed that the breastplate that Joseph Smith said accompanied the gold plates was unhistorical, but a recent book has reported a skeleton found wearing a breastplate of brass. Also found was a stone covered with hieroglyphs, which the author compares to the engraven stone interpreted by Mosiah.
As soon as possible after the arrival of Nephi and his people at their new home, which they called the Land of Nephi, they commenced to build a temple to the Most High God. This they were compelled to do, in order that they might observe the requirements of the law of Moses, as God had commanded them. For without a temple they could not offer the sacrifices and burnt offerÂings required by that law; and it was then in force to all the house of Israel, of which the Nephites were a branch, and so continued until the great sacriÂfice was offered up on Mount Calvary, of which all others were but types. So to fulfill the law, temples were built by the Nephites in every land that they colonized; and in different parts of the Book of Mormon we read of temples being built by them in the lands of Nephi, Lehi-Nephi, Zarahemla, BountiÂful and other places. Less than fifty years B. C. one historian states (HelaÂman 3:14): “But behold a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the acÂcount of the Lamanites, and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contenÂtions, and dissensions, and their preachÂing, and their prophecies, and their shipping, and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues, and their sanctuaries * * * cannot be contained in this work. ” That the Nephites by thus building temples in every land in which they dwelt were simply carrying out the commandments of God is proved by His word to His people in these days, wherein he says: “Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your meÂmorials for your sacrifices, by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places, wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.” (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 124:39.) The temple built in the land of Nephi was evidently patterned after that built by Solomon, for it was to be used for the same purposes; but, as the prinÂciples of the Gospel were taught to the Nephites as well as the Mosaic law, it is reasonable to suppose that many of the ordinances now administered in temples were also performed there. The most marked difference between the Temple of Solomon and that of Nephi was that the latter “was not built of so many precious things” as the former. We are also justified in believing, as it was built by a very small people, and was simply intended to meet their needs, that it was probably smaller than the temple at Jerusalem. To build one as large as that of Solomon would have been an almost impossible task for a people so few in numbers. Still this is but conjecture, as Nephi is entirely silent with regard to the dimensions of the building. This temple was occasionally, if not ordinarily, used for the public gatherings of the Nephites. Jacob, the brother of Nephi, used it for such a purpose (Jacob 2:2). This was also the case with the one afterwards erected in the city of Zarahemla; when King Benjamin desired to give his last address to his people’ and present his successor (his son, Mosiah II,) he directed that the people should be gathered at that temple to hear his words. (Mosiah 2:1).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Soon after the arrival of the Nephites in their new home, they desired that Nephi should be their king, which he, in reality, was in all but the name. For he was their leader and guide, their high priest and prophet, and in time of war their general and commander. But Nephi was desirous that they should have no king. He, doubtless, preferred that they should recognize God as their King, but to comply with their wishes he consented, and as their king, did for them all the good that was in his power. Under his wise and beneficent rule the Nephites increased and prospered greatly. So much did they love him because of his goodness, that when he died they called his immediate successors second Nephi, third Nephi, and so on, no matter what their individual names were. How long this practice continued we are not told, but we find that the last three kings (Mosiah I., Benjamin, Mosiah II.) were called by their own particular names. The separation of the followers of Laman and Nephi brought about a further fulfillment of the word of the Lord. He had promised that Nephi should be a ruler and teacher to his brethren, which he was until they strove to kill him after the death of Lehi. Then the Lord commanded him to leave the rebellious portion of the community to themselves and take the obedient to a new land. In this new land he became their king, while the others, by this division, were bereft of the priesthood; they had none who could approach God, and consequently, as had been foretold, they were cut off from His presence. The result of this was that they rapidly sank into barbarism; while the Nephites, enlightened of the Lord and led by His servants, increased in numbers and wealth, and developed many admirable traits of genuine civilization. Shortly before his death Nephi anointed another man to succeed him on the throne.
Gregory Steven Dundas offers a detailed reading of governmental forms in the Book of Mormon in the context of other ancient civilizations. He makes the case that democracy was almost unknown in the ancient world and that nearly all people assumed that kingship was the best form of government. This makes King Mosiah’s decision to implement a form of democracy (elected judges) among the Nephites a significant aberration. Dundas also argues convincingly that, contrary to what moderns might assume, this early form of democracy did not fare very well. As soon as the system of judges was in place, significant and repeated challenges to it arose and eventually resulted in the collapse of this particular form of government.
The first section of this work focuses on “the political theory of the Book of Mormon” Several political aspects are treated, including the founding of the Nephite republic (Mosiah 29:10-29), the welfare of the state (Alma 4:11-12, 15-20), and the ideal Christian society (4 Nephi 1-3, 16-17).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
A pamphlet comparing 1 Corinthians 15:25-32 with 2 Nephi 9:24, and Mosiah 15:8, 16:8 and 1 Nephi 11:26-27. Those who believe in genealogical temple work for the dead do not understand the scriptures.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Violence and non-violence in the Book of Mormon is examined including the killing of Laban (1 Nephi 4), the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies (Alma 24) and King Benjamin’s address (Mosiah 4).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
In this essay James Faulconer, a BYU professor of philosophy and dean of honors, outlines some general suggestions for scripture study. He presents his extensive notes on Mosiah 4 to show the treasures that can be found by careful and thorough scripture study. His study methods include considering context, examining word meaning, and looking for patterns.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > G — K > Judgment
RSC Topics > Q — S > Scriptures
It was during Mosiah’s reign that Zeniff’s group returned to the land of Nephi. Upon the return of both the people of Zeniff and Alma, the great statesmanship and wisdom of King Mosiah was most apparent. He stressed the responsibility of each man in a democratic society to bear his share in the decisions, cost, and labor of government.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A children’s story of the angel that appeared to Alma the Younger and the four sons of Mosiah and how they were converted by this experience.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the fifth installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope you find it helpful.]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Writing
Abstract: At the end of 2012, Jack M. Lyon and Kent R. Minson published “When Pages Collide: Dissecting the Words of Mormon.” They suggest that there is textual evidence that supports the idea that Words of Mormon 12-18 is the translation of the end of the previous chapter of Mosiah. The rest of the chapter was lost with the 116 pages, but this text remained because it was physically on the next page, which Joseph had kept with him.
In this paper, the textual information is examined to determine if it supports that hypothesis. The conclusion is that while the hypothesis is possible, the evidence is not conclusive. The question remains open and may ultimately depend upon one’s understanding of the translation process much more than the evidence from the manuscripts.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Analysis of comparative data and historical background indicates that the quotations in Mosiah 7–22 are historically accurate. Further examination of the quotations of Limhi shows that they depend heavily on other sources. This implies some things about the character of Limhi and provides as well attendant lessons for our own day.
The verb to seal occurs some 34 times in the Book of Mormon. In most of these instances the verb takes (is followed by) a direct object referring to such things as the law, a book, records, words, an account, an epistle, an interpretation, revelation, the truth, and the stone interpreters. Twice, however, the verb to seal takes a person as a direct object that is qualified by a possessive pronoun: Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. (Mosiah 5:15; emphasis added)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Review of Brent Lee Metcalfe. “The Priority of Mosiah: A Prelude to Book of Mormon Exegesis.” In New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology, and Review of Edwin Firmage Jr. “Historical Criticism and the Book of Mormon: A Personal Encounter.” In American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon, and Review of Susan Staker. “Secret Things, Hidden Things: The Seer Story in the Imaginative Economy of Joseph Smith.” In American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon
Positivist historiography has always maintained an impermeable boundary between history and literature. But positivism is itself a historical sediment whose time is now past. Recent literary theory and historiography emphasize the continuities between history and literature. Under the domination of historiography by a positivist epistemology (from about 1880 to 1960), history attempted to free itself from its literary heritage. More recently theorists from a number of disciplines have recognized that history, both ancient and modern, has been informed by literary motifs, themes, and strategies. The repetition of the exodus literary pattern, for example, through the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Christian history does nothing to bring into question the historical status of the events. The exodus patterns evident in Mosiah do not force the Book of Mormon to surrender historical claims just because they also happen to be literary.
Review of James E. Faulconer, Mosiah: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 135 pages. $9.95 (paperback).Abstract: The Maxwell Institute for the Study of Religion has released another book in its series The Book of Mormon: Brief Theological Introductions. This book by James E. Faulconer more than ably engages five core elements of the book of Mosiah, exploring their theological implications. Faulconer puzzles through confusing passages and elements: why is the book rearranged so that it isn’t in chronological order? What might King Benjamin mean when he refers to the nothingness of humans? And what might Abinadi mean when he declares that Christ is both the Father and the Son? The most interesting parts of the introduction to Mosiah are those chapters that sort through the discussion of politics as both Alma1 and Mosiah2 sort out divine preferences in constitutional arrangements as the Nephites pass through a political revolution that shifts from rule by kings to rule by judges. Faulconer asserts that no particular political structure is preferred by God; in the chapter about economic arrangements, Faulconer (as in his analysis of political constitutions) asserts that deity doesn’t endorse any particular economic relationship.
My kingdom is not of this world.
John 18:36
I believe in God, but I detest theocracy. For every Government consists of mere men and is, strictly viewed, a makeshift; if it adds to its commands “Thus saith the Lord,” it lies, and lies dangerously.
C.S. Lewis, “Is Progress Possible”
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8‒9
Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is
impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him;
wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.
Jacob 4:8.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A review of David Charles Gore, The Voice of the People: Political Rhetoric in the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2019). 229 pp. $15.95 (paperback).
Abstract: David Gore’s book The Voice of the People: Political Rhetoric in the Book of Mormon is a welcome reading of Book of Mormon passages which engage in conversation with the biblical politeia — those parts of the Hebrew Bible that explore the constituent parts of the Israelite governance under judges and kings. Gore asserts that the Book of Mormon politeia in Mosiah is in allusive dialogue not just with the Bible but also the Jaredite experience of kingship in Ether. This allusive (intertextual) feature is present not just in the Book of Mormon but any text (Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and other writings) in the biblical tradition. The textual connection is conveyed when the biblical Noah is a type and King Noah the anti-type. The same is true of the biblical Gideon, who is a narrative bridge between the period of the judges and the transformation to monarchy; the Book of Mormon Gideon serves a similar typological function, bridging the reign of kings to the period of judges. Our modern notions of federalism and democracy owe much to the biblical legacy of covenant and republicanism, and although the Book of Mormon political structures share some features with modern federalism, the roots of both go deep into the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Mormon politeia, also a branch of that biblical political legacy, requires that readers understand that filiation, and demands awareness of the dialogue between the Book of Mormon and the Bible on the subject, so such reading can enrich our understanding of both Hebraic scriptures.
[Page 2]There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book we read becomes luminous with manifold allusion. Every sentence is doubly significant, and the sense of our author is as broad as the world.1—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Everything in the universe goes by indirection. There are no straight lines.2—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The story often referred to as Alma’s conversion narrative is too often interpreted as a simplistic plagiarism of Paul’s conversion-to-Christianity story in the book of Acts. Both the New and Old Testaments appropriate an ancient narrative genre called the prophetic commissioning story. Paul’s and Alma’s commissioning narratives hearken back to this literary genre, and to refer to either as pilfered is to misunderstand not just these individual narratives but the larger approach Hebraic writers used in composing biblical and Book of Mormon narrative. To the modern mind the similarity in stories triggers explanations involving plagiarism and theft from earlier stories and denies the historicity of the narratives; ancient writers — especially of Hebraic narrative — had a quite different view of such concerns. To deny the historical nature of the stories because they appeal to particular narrative conventions is to impose a mistaken modern conceptual framework on the texts involved. A better and more complex grasp of Hebraic narrative is a necessary first step to understanding these two (and many more) Book of Mormon and biblical stories.
The idea of conversion has both a history and a geography.1
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A minor story in the Book of Mormon provides an example of how complex the task of reading the book can be. It also illustrates how much richer our understanding can be when we remember that the Book of Mormon is an ancient record with connections to other ancient records, particularly the Old Testament. In the book of Mosiah, a band of wicked priests hid in the wilderness and kidnapped some young women to be their wives (see 20:1-5). This story can be read as an adventure tale. If looked at carefully, however, it shows the kind of connections between the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament that demonstrate that the Book of Mormon is an ancient book.
The Book of Mosiah records events from 200 B.C. to 91 B.C. and is chronologically complex. It is filled with rich religious symbolism and significant political events. The text includes King Benjamin’s address, the records of Zeniff, Alma the Elder, and Mosiah, and the first reference to the Jaredites. Its underlying theme emphasizes deliverance from physical and/or spiritual bondage.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Deuteronomy 17:14–20 represents the most succinct summation in the Bible of criteria for kingship. Remarkably, the Book of Mormon narrative depicts examples of kingship that demonstrate close fidelity to the pattern set forth in Deuteronomy 17 (e.g., Nephi, Benjamin, or Mosiah II) or the inversion of the expected pattern of kingship (e.g., king Noah). Future research on Book of Mormon kingship through the lens of Deuteronomy 17:14–20 should prove fruitful.
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
This article states that experiencing soul satisfying circumstances is better when one is not alone. Sharing such experiences with loved ones increases the satisfaction, as is exemplified in the Book of Mormon. Examples of such phenomena include Lehi, who tastes of the fruit of the Tree of Life and desires to share; Enos, who prays for his brethren; and the sons of Mosiah and Alma, who shared their experiences as missionaries following their conversion.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The Book of Mormon is clearly a didactic text, with its narrators using plainness, explicitness, and repetition to keep the message clear and straightforward. However, Hardy offers a more in-depth analysis of the text’s rhetorical design that also reveals it as a literary text. The Book of Mormon is both a primer for judgment and a guidebook for sanctification. Parallel narratives are compared through clusters of similar narrative elements or phrasal borrowing between the multiple accounts. In Mosiah, Mormon tells the story of the bondage and delivery of Alma and his people after recounting the story of the bondage of the people of Limhi. Hardy explains that ambiguity, indirection, comparison, and allusions are all used to suggest the larger context of these two narratives. The ability to read the book as a guidebook for sanctification, rather than just as a straightforward didactic primer, will provide insight and guidance in the process of living a faithful life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The Zoramite narratives of Alma 31-35 and Alma 43-44 are richly symbolic accounts woven with many subtle details regarding the imporatnce of costly apparel and riches as an outward evidence of pride. This literary analysis focuses on how Mormon as editor structured the Zoramite narrative and used clothing as a metaphor to show the dangers of pride and the blessings afforded by humble adherence to God’s teachings and covenants. The Zoramite’s pride--as evidenced by their focus on costly apparel, gold, silver, and fine goods (Alma 31:24-25, 28)--competes with the foundational Book of Mormon teaching that the obedient will “ prosper in the land” (1 Nephi 4:14; Mosiah 1:7). The story deveops this tension between pride and true prosperity by employing the metaphor of clothing to set up several dramatic ironies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > A — C > Book of Mormon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
RSC Topics > G — K > Heaven
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sabbath
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
Despite sporadic attempts to sideline the name Mormon in favor of “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints,” it continues to be used as the most ubiquitous moniker for the Church. Members of the Church are known as “Mormons.” It appears in the title of the keystone publication of the Restoration, The Book of Mormon. Within the book bearing this name, Mormon is, firstof all, the name of the waters in the forest of Mormon (Mosiah 18:8; Alma 5:3) in the land of Mormon (Mosiah 18:30). Of course, Mormon is also the name of the military leader who abridged the Nephite records (Words of Mormon 1:1, 3; Mormon 1:1; 2:1).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Review of The Book of Mormon: Mosiah, Salvation Only through Christ (1991), edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr.
A story for children telling of the conversion of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah (Mosiah 27, 29 and Alma 2-8) and relating the ministry of Alma the Younger in Ammonihah (Alma 13-15).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The conversion of Alma, priest of Noah and his ministry at the waters of Mormon (Mosiah 18:23-25) is the topic of this children’s story.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A children’s story recalling the experiences of Gideon (Mosiah 19-22; Alma 1; 2:20; 6:7).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
For children, the courageous story of Abinadi as he bears witness before King Noah (Mosiah 11-17).
A review of the book The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh who claim that the law as taught in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jesus’ sayings (Matthew 5:17-19), and Paul’s teachings (Romans 3:21-23; Galatians 2:16-17) do not harmonize. Stevens says the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 8:3-11, 28- 29, 89-91; Mosiah 1:113, 116; 3 Nephi 7:4-12 [RLDS versification]) shows that Paul’s teachings and Christ’s are harmonious.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: Alma refers to Gazelem in his instructions to his son Helaman in Alma 37:23. This article proposes and explores the concept of identifying Gazelem as a Jaredite seer. Other theories of the identity of Gazelem are addressed in this article but not explored in depth. It discusses the full context of Alma’s words, the Jaredite secret combinations and their oaths, Gazelem’s seer stone, and the Nephite interpreters. Additionally, it proposes a possible timeline that Gazelem lived among the Jaredites. It also discusses the usage of “Gazelam” as a substitute name for Joseph Smith in early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: I propose that our current Words of Mormon in the Book of Mormon was originally a second chapter of the book of Mosiah following an initial chapter that was part of the lost 116 pages. When Joseph Smith gave the first 116 pages to Martin Harris, he may have retained a segment of the original manuscript that contained our Words of Mormon, consistent with the Lord’s reference “that which you have translated, which you have retained” (D&C 10:41). A comprehensive review of contextual information indicates that the chapter we call Words of Mormon may actually be the first part of this retained segment.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
One way to read the Book of Mormon is to be attentive to ways in which it comes across as a translated text. Being mindful of this is wise, because all translations—even inspired translations—lose something of the primary language, particularly as meanings shift when words are rendered into the vocabulary or idioms of the target language. While the exact nature of the original language used by Abinadi, Ammon, Aaron, or Mormon is unknown, the English text of the Book of Mormon gives helpful hints. Two passages (1 Ne. 1:2 and Morm. 9:32–33) suggest that Egyptian and Hebrew elements were found in the language used by Book of Mormon speakers and writers, which allows present-day scholars to look for places where the current translation displays these elements. This article suggests a possible connection between three Book of Mormon passages and a Hebrew word with a wide semantic range—a range that appears to be reflected quite purposefully in the English translation of these three passages in the books of Mosiah and Alma. That Hebrew word is netzach.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The first 450 years of Nephite history are dominated by two main threads: the ethno-political tension between Nephites and Lamanites and religious tension between adherents of rival theologies. These rival Nephite theologies are a Mantic theology that affirms the existence of Christ and a Sophic theology that denies Christ. The origin of both narrative threads lies in the Old World: the first in conflicts between Nephi and Laman, the second in Lehi’s rejection of King Josiah’s theological and political reforms. This article focuses on these interrelated conflicts. It suggests that Zoram, Laman, Lemuel, Sherem, and the Zeniffites were Deuteronomist followers of Josiah. The small plates give an account of how their Deuteronomist theology gradually supplanted the gospel of Christ. As the small plates close, their last author, Amaleki, artfully confronts his readers with a life-defining choice: having read the Book of Mormon thus far, will you remain, metaphorically, with the prophets in Zarahemla and embrace the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, or will you return to the land of Nephi and the theology you believed and the life you lived before you read the Book of Mormon?.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: Mormon is a historian with a literary sensibility and considerable literary skill. Though his core message is readily apparent to any competent reader, his history nevertheless rewards close reading. Its great scope means that much that is said must be said by implication. And its witness of Christ is sometimes expressed through subtle narrative parallels or through historical allegory. This article focuses on parallel narratives that feature Ammon1 and Ammon2, with special attention to the allegorical account of Ammon2 at the waters of Sebus. To fully comprehend the power of the testimony of Christ that Mormon communicates in his Ammon narratives, readers must glean from textual details an understanding of the social and political context in which the narratives unfold. ((Peter Eubanks, Brant Gardner, Grant Hardy, and two reviewers at Interpreter read and helpfully commented on an a previous draft of this article.)).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
This article discusses how Aaron chided Ammon for boasting, but Ammon reminded his brother that he did not boast in his own strength, but in the strength of God. Spiritual strength is needed to serve in our earthly missions, thus we must be attuned to God through repentance, faith, good works, and continual prayer.
Abstract: Janus parallelism, a tool evident in ancient Hebrew poetry, is documented at some length by Scott B. Noegel in Janus Parallelism in the Book of Job, which I recently reviewed. Since the authorship of Job predates the removal of the Lehites from Jerusalem, this tool may have been available to writers in the Book of Mormon. While we do not have the original text to analyze wordplays in the original language, it may be possible to apply some of the cases considered by Noegel to find remnants of related “polysensuous” wordplays that might have been present in the original text or to consider other previously proposed wordplays that may include a Janus-like aspect.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Job
The Book of Mormon contains powerful and priceless principles relating to the preaching of God’s word to His children. Although various principles relating to missionary work are found throughout the Book of Mormon, nowhere is this more evident than in Alma 17 and 18. This chapter seeks to help students and teachers of the restored gospel identify and implement a few of these potent principles that can help all of us have greater success in missionary work.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > L — P > Missionary Work
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
A brief summary of the events recorded in the Book of Mosiah. Maeser mentions King Mosiah2, Abinadi, Limhi, Gideon, and King Noah, and the expedition of Ammon.
Consideration of doctrines taught in the books of Jacob to Mosiah, discussed verse-by-verse or in clusters of verses. Each section includes a heading, one or more verses quoted from the Book of Mormon, and then a commentary by the authors. This work is reviewed in M.304 and in V.045.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
The author discusses King Mosiah’s political discourse in which he introduces a democratic government and does away with the autocratic government system of kings. Democratic laws that were implemented into the Nephite judicial system at this time include the right to appeal, capital punishment, cross examination, and religious freedom.
Review of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Volume I: First and Second Nephi (1987), and Volume II: Jacob through Mosiah (1988), by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet. The faith of the Nephites and the language of the Book of Mormon tends to be harmonized with certain contemporary statements about Mormon beliefs. The Book of Mormon should be more than a resource for theology. Rather than seeking confirmation for what we already know, we should search for the meaning and message of the text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
A novel that retells the doings of Alma the Younger—his experiences with his father in Helan, his conversion, his friendship with the sons of Mosiah, and his dramatic missionary experiences.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the first of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988-90. Part one contains twenty-nine lectures focusing on 1 Nephi through Mosiah 5. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
473 pp. Transcripts of 27 lectures.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the second of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part two contains twenty-seven lectures focusing on Mosiah 6 through Alma 41. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Also called “The End of the Small Plates; The Coronation of Mosiah.“
Well, now we’ve got to the point where in one verse they take care of the history of a larger people than the Nephites. It simply says they crossed the ocean and landed here, and that was that.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Omni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Words of Momon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
What we have here is a very good lesson on the subject of fear and trembling.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
King Benjamin’s speech and why it’s important, part 1.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Kingship; Covenants.“
A discussion about Mosiah 6 and what it has to do with Mosiah’s kingship and the covenants the Nephites made after King Benjamin’s speech.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Stable Civilizations; The Search for the Lost Colony.“
We come to chapter 7 now. The Book of Mormon tells us things we don’t like to be told. If it told us only what we wanted to hear, of course, we wouldn’t need it. But that’s the only part of the scriptures we are willing to accept. Well, here we go.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Ammon and Limhi; The Record of Zeniff.“
We are on chapter 8 of Mosiah, and it is absolutely staggering what’s in here. We can’t stop for everything, but nevertheless it’s jammed in here.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “War and Defenses.“
We are on Mosiah 10:8, and things begin to happen that have a familiar ring. They try again here. Zeniff sent out his spies, and [the Lamanite king] is watchful and doesn’t miss a thing. This attack doesn’t go so well, but notice the situation and how they do it.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Abinadi’s Message.“
We are on chapter 12 of Mosiah where Abinadi comes among them. He gains entrance in disguise, and once in the midst of them, he throws off the disguise. That is a common device of the prophets.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “The Fulness of the Gospel; Human Nature.“
We are told that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel. That has often been challenged. Does it have everything in it? Well, what is the gospel? What is a fullness of the gospel?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Abinadi and Alma.“
Now with Mosiah 17 comes a series of extremely interesting and significant stories. He really pours it on here. After Abinadi gave his sermon, what was the reaction? “The king commanded that the priests should take him and cause that he should be put to death.” And it’s very obvious why.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “King Noah; The Daughters of the Lamanites.“
King Noah is one of the most clearly drawn characters in the Book Mormon. He is drawn as a great artist would do it, by what he does and not by what he says. It’s very subtle throughout the Book of Mormon here.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Dealing with Enemies; Kingship.“
We are on chapters 20 and 21 of Mosiah, on the important subject of how to deal with an enemy in just about every situation that comes up. It’s marvelous how these things are analyzed here. You get the impression that it really was carefully edited.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Amulon and Alma.“
Now we come to one of the most satisfying parts of the Book of Mormon. This is what historiography should be. It’s full of drama, personality, and all sorts of things.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Believers and Apostates.“
Mosiah 26 is an enormously important chapter, and the first verse is very impressive. Well, the first thing we notice is the tremendous speed with which things move in the Book of Mormon. This generation was alive in the time of King Benjamin, and all that has happened. It impresses one how much has happened in how short a time.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Alma’s Conversion; Mosiah’s Translating.“
Now this story about Alma’s conversion and confrontation with the angel is immensely important. It’s as important as anything in the Book of Mormon, and it’s directly applicable to us. These things concern us very closely. The issue to be decided is this: Which world shall we take seriously? What kind of name will we give the real one?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Treatise on Power; Priestcraft.“
We are in Mosiah 29:34 where he is talking about the king. These chapters are a magnificent treatise on power; that’s the thesis here. You won’t find a better one anywhere.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
473 pp. Transcripts of 27 lectures.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the second of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part two contains twenty-seven lectures focusing on Mosiah 6 through Alma 41. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
In the writer’s opinion, this lesson presents the most convincing evidence yet brought forth for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Very likely, the reader will be far from sharing this view, since the force of the evidence is cumulative and based on extensive comparative studies that cannot be fully presented here. Still the evidence is so good, and can be so thoroughly tested, that we present it here for the benefit of the reader who wishes to pursue the subject further. Since Gressmann, Jeremias, Mowinckel, and many others began their studies at the start of the century, a vast literature on the subject of the Great Assembly at the New Year and the peculiar and complex rites performed on that occasion has been brought forth. Yet nowhere can one find a fuller description of that institution and its rites than in the Book of Mormon. Since “patternism” (as the awareness of a single universal pattern for all ancient year rites is now being called) is a discovery of the last thirty years, the fact that the now familiar pattern of ritual turns up in a book first published almost 130 years ago is an extremely stimulating one. For it is plain that Mosiah’s account of the Great Year Rite among the Nephites is accurate in every detail, as can be checked by other year-rites throughout the world.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
The Fifth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU King Benjamin’s monumental address on service and the Savior; the powerful testimony and the martyrdom of the prophet Abinadi; the moving conversion stories of both Alma the Elder and Alma the Younger; the deliverance of Nephites from Lamanite bondage—this is the historically and doctrinally rich material of which this volume’s papers draw their themes. Other questions and issues are explored: What specific, vital lessons about following living prophets, making and keeping covenants, and developing Christlike qualities can parents draw from the book of Mosiah to teach to their children, and how can they effectively teach them those lessons? What political and social insights, as well as warnings, are implied by the similarities between the Nephite system of judges and the constitutional system of the United States? Other topics include an in-depth look at the priesthood calling and practices, the process of spiritual rebirth, and lessons on bondage. ISBN 0-8849-4816-1
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The Sixth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU Nineteen papers on a variety of topics related to the largest book in the Book of Mormon, Alma, make up this volume. These topics include the relevance of the book of Alma to our modern situation, classic discourses of Alma the Younger, the doctrinal and spiritual understanding afforded by Alma’s counsel to his son Corianton, and an enlightening look at the anti-Christ Korihor. The missionary experiences of the sons of Mosiah and Captain Moroni are also discussed. The conclusions drawn in these papers reflect the authors’ testimony of what Alma himself knew to be true: that God’s word has—and always will have—“a great tendency to lead the people to do that which [is] just.” ISBN 0-8849-4841-2
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A group of speeches given at an annual Book of Mormon symposium at Brigham Young University. Subjects include King Benjamin, Noah, the Atonement, government, the natural man, Abinadi, priesthood, church discipline in Mosiah, and more.
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A collection of statements made by General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints concerning Book of Mormon passages. Volume one begins with statements by Church leaders concerning 1 Nephi to Words of Mormon; volume two contains statements dealing with Mosiah and Alma; volume three with the books Helaman to Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
An important part of drawing nearer to God is coming to know and understand Him through the scriptures He has given us—especially the Book of Mormon, since it contains many plain and precious truths missing from our current Bible. Although most Book of Mormon passages are easy to understand, some are more difficult, such as Abinadi’s teachings about the Father and the Son in Mosiah 15:2–5. Yet Mormon’s inclusion of these words in his abridgment suggests that the Lord wants us to have these teachings and wants us to understand them. Accordingly, many have written about what Abinadi taught—that Jesus Christ is the Father and the Son—and have provided valuable insights and explanations. In these discussions, however, a satisfactory explanation of why Abinadi spoke this way appears to be unaddressed. Abinadi’s teachings can help us know God better and thereby draw nearer to Him if we (1) correctly interpret the why and what of his message and (2) apply his teachings in our study of the scriptures.
RSC Topics > D — F > Elohim
RSC Topics > L — P > Old Testament
A series of lectures covering the following topics: “Book of Mormon Chronology,” “The Mosiah Dynasty,” “Abinadi,” “Great Missionaries,” and “Book of Mormon Theology”
A series of five lectures. Topics include: why we should have new revelation in addition to the Bible; mission of Jesus Christ clarified; the gathering of the house of Israel must be accomplished; one who reads the Book of Mormon must read it faithfully and know if it is true or false; the book of Mosiah is important in explaining the doctrine of the final judgment.
One of the key messages of the Book of Mormon is that the human soul must change, must progress, must become. The Book of Mormon is, in effect, a handbook of change, with the Lord seeking to motivate mighty change within us by using the lives and teachings of the Book of Mormon protagonists as the means to teach us how to become. At the heart of the Book of Mormon, in the books of Mosiah and Alma, Alma the Younger makes the subject of change, progression, and becoming the very essence of his life and sermons, and thus Alma the Younger becomes a quintessential standard of how to become like God.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > G — K > Humility
This article explores the connection between Alma’s mission to the Zoramites in Alma 31 and the mass Lamanite conversion in Helaman 5, which occurs in part because the Lamanites who are intent on killing Nephi and Lehi in prison remember the teachings of Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom delivered to the Zoramites decades earlier. This reading demonstrates that Alma’s mission to the Zoramites is not a failure, as some commentators have suggested; in fact, the eventual positive impact of the Zoramite mission readily compares to the success enjoyed by the sons of Mosiah among the Lamanites. This article also suggests that Mormon’s lengthy war narrative at the end of the book of Alma can be read as a literary unit designed in part to show, as Alma hoped and predicted at the outset of his Zoramite mission, that the word of God (at least eventually) has a “more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else” (Alma 31:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Discusses the missionary activities of the sons of Mosiah in twenty chapters.
This article examines the book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon in order to study the doctrine and pres-ence of the priesthood in Book of Mormon times.
Abstract: Alma’s conversion experience was both unusual and unusually powerful, and yet he fervently wished that he could provide others with the same experience. So much so, in fact, that he actually feared that he might be sinning in his wish by seeming to oppose the will of God. Increasingly, though, I find myself sharing that wish. My involvement with the Interpreter Foundation can correctly be regarded as one manifestation of that fact. I invite others to join us.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Daniel Peterson examines the book of Mosiah as an initial step in determining the overall doctrine of priesthood in the Book of Mormon. He attempts to account for every verse in the book of Mosiah that deals, either directly or indirectly, with questions of priesthood and authority. He discusses the priesthood in the small plates, the roles of priests, whether early Nephite priests were ordained, and the church in the days of Mosiah2.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > L — P > Priesthood
RSC Topics > D — F > Forgiveness
RSC Topics > G — K > Judgment
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Lays out the monetary measurement of the Nephites as codified by Mosiah. The coins are named after people or places. Barley seems to have been the standard of measurement, just as was the case from the races from which the English people sprang.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
Aaron chose missionary service over the opportunity to serve as king and suffered hardship and inhumane treatment to preach the gospel to the Lamanites. Though little is known about him, the Book of Mormon sets forth the greatness of his character.
Jarom—Omni—Amaron—Chemish—Abinadom—Amaleki—Mosiah—Review of Nephite History for Four Hundred Years
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Causes that Led to the Migration from the Land of Nephi—The People of Zarahemla—Mulek and his Colony—The Fusion of the Two Nations—Mosiah made King— His Happy Reign
The Reign of King Benjamin—The Progress of his People—His Last Great Speech—He Establishes the Church of Christ—All the People Covenant with God—Mosiah II. Anointed King
Mosiah’s Good Reign—The Circumstances of his Advent—He Assembles the People—The Baptism of Limhi—Churches Organized Throughout the Land
The Unbelief of the Youth of Zarahemla—The Younger Alma and the Sons of Mosiah—They Encourage the Persecutions Against the Church—They are Met by an Angel —His Message—Alma’s Awful Condition—His Vision and Testimony—The Changed Life of the Young Men
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The Growth of the People in Zarahemla—They Build Many Cities—Mosiah’s Sons Desire to Take a Mission to the Lamanites—Mosiah Inquires of the Lord—The Divine Answer
Mosiah’s Sons Refuse the Kingdom—He Grants the People a Constitution—The People to Elect their Rulers—Alma, the Younger, First Chief Judge
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The Mission of the Sons of Mosiah to the Lamanites—Their Journey in the Wilderness—Ammon Brought before King Lamoni—The Conflict at the Waters of Sebus— The Miraculous Conversion of Lamoni and his Family—Abish the Waiting Woman
Ammon and Lamoni Start for the Land of Middoni—They Meet the Old King— His Rage at Seeing Ammon—He Endeavors to Kill his Son—Aaron and his Brethren Liberated—A Sketch of their Labors and Sufferings—The Conversion of Lamoni’s Father and his Household
The King Issues a Proclamation—The Results of the Labors of the Sons of Mosiah—The People of Anti-Nephi-Lehi—They Bury their Weapons of War—Are Massacred by the Thousand—They Remove to the Territory of the Nephites, who give them the Land of Jershon
Review of the Mission of the Sons of Mosiah—Its Importance and Great Length —Its Results to Both Races—The Dates of its Leading Occurrences
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi.” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”: Zarahemla and the land of Nephi.
Lays out the monetary measurement of the Nephites as codified by Mosiah. The coins are named after people or places. Barley seems to have been the standard of measurement, just as was the case from the races from which the English people sprang.
Aaron chose missionary service over the opportunity to serve as king and suffered hardship and inhumane treatment to preach the gospel to the Lamanites. Though little is known about him, the Book of Mormon sets forth the greatness of his character.
A series of essays on Book of Mormon geography. To the earlier Nephites “the whole of North America was known as the land of Mulek, and South America as the land of Lehi” From the period of Mosiah until Christ South America was “divided into two grand divisions”
Lays out the monetary measurement of the Nephites as codified by Mosiah. The coins are named after people or places. Barley seems to have been the standard of measurement, just as was the case from the races from which the English people sprang.
Four-part series. For 120 years following the death of King Mosiah, the Nephites were under the rule of the Judges. Their rule was not always peaceful nor their government stable. There were internal as well as external enemies. Priestcrafts and corruption were introduced by Nehor, Amlici, Korihor, and others. The decline in Nephite morality led to the existence of the Gadianton robbers. Samuel the Lamanite preached repentance but few received his words.
A description of the life and activities of two lesser-known characters of the Book of Mormon, Antipus and Muloki. Antipus was a Nephite military leader until about 62 B.C. and Muloki was a fellow missionary of the four sons of Mosiah.
Abstract: This study provides students of the Book of Mormon with the first comprehensive analysis of the many ways in which the word “spirit” is used in that volume of scripture. It demonstrates how the titles “Holy Ghost,” “Spirit of God,” “Spirit of the Lord,” “Holy Spirit,” and “the Spirit” are used interchangeably to refer to the third member of the Godhead. It also shows that the Holy Ghost was understood to be a separate being. The analysis is thoroughly integrated with scholarly studies of references to the spirit (rûah) in the Hebrew Bible. The functions of the Holy Ghost are also identified and explained.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: In this essay Stephen Ricks takes a close look at the literary structure of a psalm, reintroducing us to chiasmus both in modern and ancient texts, including the Book of Mormon, then uses this literary structure to show how the psalm contains the basic historic credo of the Israelites, as seen in Deuteronomy and mirrored in 1 Nephi 17. Ricks then goes on to show how an essential part of the psalm is a covenant (“a binding agreement between man and God, with sanctions in the event of the violation of the agreement”), which ties it back to the temple. Ricks shows this by pointing out the points of covenant: Preamble, review of God’s relations with Israel, terms of the covenant, formal witnesses, blessings and curses, and reciting the covenant and depositing the text. This form is maintained in Exodus 19, 20, 23, and 24, and in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 1-6. Psalm 105 follows this form, too. In the sacrament prayers, which in Mormon understanding is a covenant, points 1 to 5 are also present.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.
See Stephen D. Ricks, “Psalm 105: Chiasmus, Credo, Covenant, and Temple,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 157–170. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/temple-insights/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: With a selection of a few notable examples (Zoram, Jarom, Omni, and Mosiah) that have been analyzed by the ongoing Book of Mormon names project, Stephen Ricks argues that “proper names in the Book of Mormon are demonstrably ancient.”
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See Stephen D. Ricks, “Proper Names from the Small Plates: Some Notes on the Personal Names Zoram, Jarom, Omni, and Mosiah,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 351–58. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Mosiah 2:5 provides the reader of the Book of Mormon with new insights about Israelite-Nephite family structure. In a passage set during what John A. Tvedtnes has persuasively argued is the Feast of Tabernacles, we read: “And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest.”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
The first six chapters of Mosiah are remarkable in several ways. They contain King Benjamin’s farewell address, one of the most memorable sermons we have on record. They also give us a picture of how Mosiah succeeded his father, Benjamin, to the Nephite throne. Many features of the ceremony that was involved reflect the traditions of ancient Israelite culture. First is the significance of the office of king. Second is the coronation ceremony for the new king. The details of this ceremony have parallels in Israel and other ancient Near Eastern societies and even in other parts of the world. Finally, the order of events reported in these chapters reflects the “treaty-covenant” pattern well known in ancient Israel and the ancient Near East. My discussion of these three sets of features will show how faithfully the Book of Mormon reflects these Old World practices and beliefs.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Roberts discusses the peculiarities of succession in the Nephite kingship, both in the land of Nephi and later in the land of Zarahemla, while also presenting a summary history of the governance of the people of Nephi up to the point of King Mosiah, the son of King Benjamin.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts relates the reunion of the people of Zeniff and Alma the Elder with the Nephites at Zarahemla. He discusses the bloody revolutions throughout history and compares them to the peaceful “revolution” undertaken by King Mosiah at the end of his reign by changing the mode of government to what Robert characterizes as a “republic” under the reign of the judges. Some modes of operation of the new government are discussed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts gives us a brief summary of the efforts of Alma the Younger and Amulek in Ammonihah, as well as the success of the sons of Mosiah in their missionary labors among the Lamanites. He details the persecution of the people of Ammon and their seeking refuge among the Nephites and the several wars of conquest attempted by the Lamanites in the following years. He mentions the childhood and upbringing of Captain Moroni during these conflicts and his victory over Zerahemnah.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts discusses the peculiarities of succession in the Nephite kingship, both in the land of Nephi and later in the land of Zarahemla, while also presenting a summary history of the governance of the people of Nephi up to the point of King Mosiah, the son of King Benjamin.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts relates the reunion of the people of Zeniff and Alma the Elder with the Nephites at Zarahemla. He discusses the bloody revolutions throughout history and compares them to the peaceful “revolution” undertaken by King Mosiah at the end of his reign by changing the mode of government to what Robert characterizes as a “republic” under the reign of the judges. Some modes of operation of the new government are discussed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts gives us a brief summary of the efforts of Alma the Younger and Amulek in Ammonihah, as well as the success of the sons of Mosiah in their missionary labors among the Lamanites. He details the persecution of the people of Ammon and their seeking refuge among the Nephites and the several wars of conquest attempted by the Lamanites in the following years. He mentions the childhood and upbringing of Captain Moroni during these conflicts and his victory over Zerahemnah.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Refers to Jesus as the “Creator of all things,” as well as “the Father of Heaven and of Earth” This same thought is repeated in the Book of Mormon by Mosiah, Alma, Nephi, and Moroni in connection with the idea that Jesus is “the Creator”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
An account of the government and politics of the Nephites prior to and during the time of the Nephite republic as described in the book of Mosiah. Main emphasis is on Captain Moroni and his leadership.
Review of “The Priority of Mosiah: A Prelude to Book of Mormon Exegesis” (1993), by Brent Lee Metcalf.
The Book of Mormon first mentions a weapon called a cimeter during the time of Enos (some time between about 544 and 421 bc). Speaking of his people’s Lamanite enemies, Enos says, “their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax” (Enos 1:20). Later, in the first and second centuries bc, the weapon was part of the armory of both Nephites and Lamanites in addition to swords and other weapons (Mosiah 9:16; 10:8; Alma 2:12; 43:18, 20, 37; 60:2; Helaman 1:14).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Swords are an important weapon in the Book of Mormon narrative. The prophet Ether reported that in the final battle of the Jaredites, King Coriantumr, with his sword, “smote off the head” of his relentless enemy Shiz (Ether 15:30). Swords were also used by the earliest Nephites (2 Nephi 5:14) and were among the deadly weapons with which that people were finally “hewn down” at Cumorah by their enemies (Mormon 6:9–10). While the text suggests that some Jaredites and early Nephites may have had metal weaponry (1 Nephi 4:9; 2 Nephi 5:14; Mosiah 8:10–11; Ether 7:9), references to metal weapons, including metal swords, are rare.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Repetition appears purposefully within Book of Mormon narratives as a principle of reinforcement and confirmation. It seems that every important action, event, or character is repeated in the Book of Mormon. These repetitions emphasize the law of witnesses at work within the book (e.g., “in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established”; Ether 5:4). Further, they underscore the relevance of one character or action to people living in a different time, and they link narratives together with what Robert Alter calls “type-scenes.” Analyzed in detail as particularly striking are threefold repetitions in Nephi’s task to retrieve the brass plates and repetition of the word “power” in the missionary endeavor of the sons of Mosiah. Larger repeated narratives treat escape and travel to a promised land; repentance; and the nature, rise, and effect of secret combinations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Old Testament Scriptures > Joshua
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Topics > Literary Aspects
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Very often in my work on the critical text of the Book of Mormon, I have discovered cases where the text reads inappropriately. Book of Mormon researchers have typically attempted to find some circumstance or interpretation to explain a difficult reading, but in many cases I have found that difficult readings are actually the result of simple scribal errors.
Abstract: The new edited volume Abinadi: He Came Among Them in Disguise, from the Book of Mormon Academy, is a valuable contribution to Book of Mormon studies. It should find a wide audience and stimulate greater and deeper thinking about the pivotal contributions of Abinadi to the Book of Mormon. It should, however, not be considered the end of the conversation. This review discusses the volume’s importance within Book of Mormon scholarship generally. It also highlights certain valuable contributions from each of the authors, and points out places where more can be said and deeper analysis is needed.
Review of Shon D. Hopkin, ed. Abinadi: He Came Among Them in Disguise (Provo and Salt Lake City, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, and Deseret Book, 2018), 404 pp. $27.99.
The Book of Mormon teachings concerning the resurrection appear in the books of Mosiah and Alma. These teachings are harmonious with biblical teachings.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
This article presents a brief historical sketch of what is known about the Urim and Thummim, from the brother of Jared, Abraham, Moses, Mosiah, and Joseph Smith.
This article states that there have been many intelligent, honest men who never heard the gospel and will not be held accountable for their sins, for their acts were done in faith and obedience to what they had been taught.
This article asserts that the Nephites did indeed have a church organization before the days of Alma, and that Lehi, King Benjamin, and King Mosiah each had a church organization. Whenever and wherever there were gospel ordinances administered by a minister there was a church organization.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Exhorts members of the LDS faith to read the Book of Mormon. Discusses prophecy concerning Christ’s birth in the land of Jerusalem and the covenant of Mosiah 5:7. Concludes with testimony, and points out the effectiveness of testimony and knowledge against those critical of the Book of Mormon.
The term Christology refers to the presentation of the life and nature of Jesus Christ. The purpose of this essay is to explore King Benjamin’s Christology (see Mosiah 3), to consider its similarities to that found in the Gospel of Mark, and to explore some implications of Benjamin’s Christology. Christology is often described as being on a continuum from low (which emphasizes the human nature of Jesus) to high (which emphasizes his divine nature). It is definitely the case that Benjamin’s description of Jesus contains elements of a high Christology since he begins by describing Jesus as “the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity” (Mosiah 3:5). Yet the very next line describes Jesus as “dwell[ing] in a tabernacle of clay” (Mosiah 3:5), which reflects a decidedly low Christology. This emphasis on the mortal nature of Jesus continues as Benjamin relates at length Jesus’s physical suffering (see Mosiah 3:7).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: The recently released Abinadi: He Came Among Them in Disguise, a new book from Brigham Young University’s Book of Mormon Academy, offers readers multidisciplinary approaches to Mosiah 11–17 that highlight the literary, historical, and doctrinal richness of the story of Abinadi. Students and scholars of the Book of Mormon are sure to benefit greatly from this new volume.
Review of Shon D. Hopkin, ed. Abinadi: He Came Among Them in Disguise (Provo and Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, and Deseret Book, 2018), 404 pp. $27.99.
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Abstract: The Book of Mormon purports to be a record that originates from the ancient Near East. The authors of the book claim an Israelite heritage, and throughout the pages of the text can be seen echoes of Israelite religious practice and ideology. An example of such can be seen in how the Book of Mormon depicts God’s divine council, a concept unmistakably found in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). Recognizing the divine council in both the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Mormon may help us appreciate a more nuanced understanding of such theological terms as “monotheism” as well as bolster confidence in the antiquity of the Nephite record.
“I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing beside him to the right and to the left of him” (1 Kings 22:19 NRSV).
“He saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God” (1 Nephi 1:8).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
In touring southern Guatemala, many FARMS patrons traveled west of the capital city to visit Lake Atitlán, one of the most photogenic spots in Central America. Tour guides have told thousands that the beautiful “waters of Mormon” beloved by Alma and his people (see Mosiah 18:30) might well be Lake Atitlán. The Nephite record also tells us that a city called Jerusalem, which was constructed by Lamanites led by Nephite dissenters, was located “away joining the borders of Mormon” (Alma 21:1–2).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A study aid designed to assist individuals in their study of the book of Mosiah. Contains commentary and discussion questions.
Abstract: The interpreters were a pair of seer stones used by Book of Mormon prophets and provided to Joseph Smith for translating the Nephite record. Martin Harris described them as two white, marble- like stones that could be looked into when placed in a hat. Joseph Smith described them as spectacles with which he could read the record and later as two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow. Others described them as smooth stones, diamonds, or glasses. Reconciling these various descriptions and determining the actual appearance of the interpreters requires an assessment of the credibility of each source and an understanding of how the interpreters were used in translating. It also requires an understanding of how words such as glasses, transparent, and diamonds were used in Joseph Smith’s day, particularly in reference to seer stones. An assessment of the various descriptions of the interpreters in light of these factors lends support to both Martin Harris’s and Joseph Smith’s accounts. By these accounts, the interpreters were smooth, mostly white, perhaps translucent stones set in a long metal frame. Although they superficially resembled eyeglasses, the stones were set much too far apart to be worn as such. They were not clear like eyeglasses but were transparent in the sense that they, like other seer stones, could be “looked into” by a person gifted as a seer of visions.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Joseph Smith used the term the Urim and Thummim to refer to the pair of seer stones, or “interpreters,” he obtained for translating the Book of Mormon as well as to other seer stones he used in a similar manner. According to witness accounts, he would put the stone(s) in a hat and pull the hat close around his face to exclude the light, and then he would see the translated text of the Book of Mormon. By what property or principle these stones enabled Joseph Smith to see the translated text has long been a matter of conjecture among Mormons, but the stones have commonly been understood as divinely powered devices analogous to the latest human communications technology. An alternative view, presented here, is that the stones had no technological function but simply served as aids to faith. In this view, the stones did not themselves translate or display text. They simply inspired the faith Joseph Smith needed to see imaginative visions, and in those visions, he saw the text of the Book of Mormon, just as Lehi and other ancient seers saw sacred texts in vision. Although Joseph Smith also saw visions without the use of stones, the logistics of dictating a book required the ability to see the translated text at will, and that was what the faith-eliciting stones would have made possible. And now he translated them by the means of those two stones.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Abstract: When the sons of Mosiah were returning from their preaching among the Lamanites, Ammon was accused by his brother Aaron of boasting. This article demonstrates how Ammon’s response to this charge employed wordplay involving the Hebrew roots ה-ל-ל (h-l-l) and ש-מ-ח (s-m-ch). Identifying and understanding Ammon’s use of wordplay helps us to appreciate the complexity and conceptual richness of his message.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: The author introduces a syntactic technique known as “enallage”—an intentional substitution of one grammatical form for another. This technique can be used to create distance or proximity between the speaker, the audience, and the message. The author demonstrates how king Limhi skillfully used this technique to teach his people the consequences of sin and the power of deliverance through repentance.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
The Lamanites in the Book of Mormon are descendants of the Nephite, Mulekite, and Lamanite peoples. They were a scourge to the Nephites to keep them faithful to the Lord. They survived because they observed the Lord’s commandments regarding marriage. When the elder Mosiah and his followers left, the remaining body of Nephites were probably either destroyed or became Lamanites. Once the Lamanites understood the Lord’s word, they were very faithful and renounced their previous living style. Out of this milieu came Samuel, the Lamanite prophet.
An analysis of the Words of Mormon to Helaman, including Mormon’s abridgment between the small and large plates of Nephi. The teachings of Benjamin, Mosiah, Abinadi, Alma, and his son, Alma the Younger. Helaman’s and Shiblon’s writings in the book of Alma are set forth. Alma the Younger is to the Book of Mormon as Paul is to the New Testament. The book of Helaman covers fifty years of Nephite history.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Sidney Sperry discusses whether the Cumorah in New York is the only one or whether there is another Cumorah somewhere in Central America. He looks at evidence in the books of Ether, Mormon, Mosiah, and Omni, as well as various scholarly opinions about the matter. There is no explanation of how the Hill Cumorah in New York came to be called Cumorah or how, if there are indeed two Cumorahs, the plates were transported from one to the other.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Reprints the title page, lists (in order) the books of the Book of Mormon, and gives the account of Moroni’s visit that is also found in the Pearl of Great Price. Contains many excerpts from the book itself, with writings from Nephi, Isaiah, Jacob, King Benjamin, King Mosiah, Alma, Helaman, Captain Moroni, Pahoran, Mormon, and Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The book of Mosiah is a cultic history of the reign of Mosiah2, structured around three royal ceremonies in 124, 121, and 92–91 BC. On each of these occasions, newly discovered scriptures were read to the people, stressing the dangers of monarchical government and celebrating the deliverance of the people and the revelation of Jesus Christ. This book existed independently hundreds of years before Mormon engraved it onto the gold plates. The most likely occasion for the writing of such a book was in the aftermath of Mosiah’s death when Alma the Younger needed to undermine the Amlicite bid to reestablish the monarchy.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The book of Ether is an edited version of the twenty-four gold plates found by Limhi and translated by Mosiah. Its themes include secret combinations, the importance of following prophets, and wickedness brings destruction. It teaches of Christ’s premortal spirit body, that Three Witnesses would testify of the Book of Mormon, and that a New Jerusalem will be built in the western hemisphere.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article discusses the significance of major scriptural personalities, contrasting the lessons we can learn from the positive and negative experiences of such individuals with the role models set for us in Christ and little children. Internal textual sources relate to the composition of the book of Mosiah within the context of a particular literary tradition and style. According to one argument, the text employs a “dialectical” style or stylistic device based on the “law of opposition in all things,” which juxtaposes individuals, such as righteous and wicked kings, to illuminate gospel principles. Several Old World and Book of Mormon perspectives give insight on royal treasures, symbolism, and iconography (including objects such as the Liahona and the sword of Laban). The article also contrasts views of religious freedom, taxation, and agency and responsibility, and compares duties of parents and kings.
Abstract: The doctrine of resurrection was taught by Lehi and Jacob among the first Nephites but was not mentioned again in the record until the time of Abinadi, perhaps 350 years later. In the court of King Noah that doctrine and the idea of a suffering Messiah who would bear the sins of his people and redeem them, were heresies and Abinadi paid for them with his life. While Abinadi’s testimony converted Alma1 and the doctrine of the resurrection inspired Alma2 after his conversion, it was a source of schism in the church at Zarahemla along lines that remind us of the Sadducees at Jerusalem. The doctrine of the resurrection taught in the Book of Mormon is a precursor to the doctrine now understood by the Latter-day Saints in the light of modern revelation. One example is that the Nephite prophets used the term first resurrection differently than we do. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the way that the doctrine of resurrection develops in the Book of Mormon, is that it develops consistently. That consistency bears further testimony to the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith. He could not have done that by himself.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The world of the Nephite nation was born out of the world of seventh century bc Jerusalem. The traditions and tragedies of the nation of Judah set the stage for what would happen over the next ten centuries of Book of Mormon history. In his opening statements, Nephi tells of an explosion of divinely commissioned ministers preaching in the holy city. He declares that Jerusalem was a place of “many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent” (1 Nephi 1:4). Nephi alludes to the prophetic service of Jeremiah (c. bc 626-587), Zephaniah (c. bc 640-609, Obadiah (c. bc 587), Nahum2 Habakkuk, Urijah, and possibly many others. This disproportionate number of prophets in the city was accompanied by an increasing wave of imitators. Amidst this apparent competition between valid and invalid prophetic representatives, Jeremiah sets a standard of who can be trusted in this visionary arena. As Stephen Smoot has written, “The Book of Mormon exhibits, in many respects, an intimate familiarity with ancient Israelite religious concepts. One such example is the Book of Mormon’s portrayal of the divine council. Following a lucid biblical pattern, the Book of Mormon provides a depiction of the divine council and several examples of those who were introduced into the heavenly assembly and made partakers in divine secrets.” It is this rich heritage of prophetic representatives of deity that so richly influenced Book of Mormon authors. Of these many prophets who were actively preaching in Jerusalem, Jeremiah stands out in Nephi’s writings (1 Nephi 5:13; 7:14). Jeremiah continues to be an influence on Nephite culture throughout their history (Helaman 8:20; cf. 3 Nephi 19:4). It will be Jeremiah’s writings that will influence the Nephite perspective on “Call Narratives” and views of the “Divine Council” throughout the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
In the approximately sixty passages alluding to the priesthood in the Book of Mormon, the offices of the priesthood were given to individuals who “labored diligently” to teach the people of Christ. The role between secular and non-secular was not separated in the Book of Mosiah. Priesthood leaders were ordained by one central figure, the high priest. The roles of church and state separated when Alma the Younger applied himself wholly to the duties of the priesthood. Following Christ’s appearance, twelve disciples were chosen and the role of high priest disappeared. The author ends with a call to return to the equality of members taught in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Types in the scriptures are important for us to understand in order to get all we can from the scriptures. The Lehite’s journey in the wilderness is a type of our spiritual journey, Nephite warfare descriptions are types, and the 158 years between Mosiah2 and the coming of Christ is a type of the period of restoration and the second coming.
The phrase “come unto Christ” (or similar phraseology) is found 43 times in the Book of Mormon. This phrase “describes a covenant relationship,” a spiritual covenant made before baptism (see Mosiah 18:10; 21:32-33). “To become as a little child” (3 Nephi 9:22) is synonymous with coming unto Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Examines the possibility that the 158 years covered from the “Reign of King Mosiah II in 124 B.C. to the coming of Christ in A.D. 34” is a type of the Second Coming of Christ.
A series of five lectures dealing with five Book of Mormon families. The Lehite family featured two opposite characters—Nephi and Laman. The family of Mosiah included Mosiah1, Benjamin, Mosiah2, and his four sons. The house of Alma represents “the greatest of the ruling houses in the Book of Mormon” This family included Alma1 and Alma2, Helaman1, Helaman2, Nephi, Lehi, and others. The family of Mormon (Mormon and Moroni) witnessed the decline and fall of the Nephite nation. The family of Christ is represented by those who become his spiritual sons and daughters.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Expressions similar to “that which is to come” (Mosiah 3:1) refer specifically to Christ. Numerous prophets prophesy of Christ and the good news of his atoning influence in our lives.
This second of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the authors have learned from Nibley. Nearly every major subject that Dr. Nibley has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the sacrament covenant in Third Nephi, the Lamanite view of Book of Mormon history, external evidences of the Book of Mormon, proper names in the Book of Mormon, the brass plates version of Genesis, the composition of Lehi’s family, ancient burials of metal documents in stone boxes, repentance as rethinking, Mormon history’s encounter with secular modernity, and Judaism in the 20th century.
Similarities between King Mosiah’s coronation and ancient Middle Eastern coronation rites.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Hugh Nibley > Scholarship, Footnotes, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, CWHN, Editing > Book of Mormon
The immediate situation that prompted Mosiah to institute a system of judges to govern the Nephites was the departure of his four sons. The people asked that Aaron be appointed king, but he and his brothers had gone to the land of Nephi to preach to the Lamanites and had renounced their claims to the monarchy (see Mosiah 29:1–6).
In the heading before chapter 1 of 1 Nephi, we find Nephi’s outline of his record. It begins, “An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons,” and ends, “This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.” Sometimes these signposts appear before a section to tell us what is to come. Other times, they appear at the end to explain, recap, or mark the end of what has been said. For lack of a better word, I call them colophons, though technically colophons are notes or guidelines after a text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
In abridging the account of the Nephite gathering under King Benjamin, Mormon stated, “And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses” (Mosiah 2:3). Under Mosaic law, first-lings, or firstborn animals, were dedicated to the Lord, meaning they were given to the priests, who were to sacrifice them and consume the flesh (see Exodus 13:12–15; Numbers 18:17). The exception to this rule was the firstborn lambs used for the Passover meal, which all Israel was to eat (see Exodus 12:5–7).
King Benjamin’s address is well known to readers of the Book of Mormon and is often quoted in devotional contexts. The address marks the transition between two great kings of Nephite history: Benjamin and Mosiah. It is also a moment of teaching and of testimony for the old king. From that point on, the people are officially called by the name of Christ. Another moment of teaching and of popular commitment occurs in the Book of Mosiah, although it receives less attention: the address given by King Mosiah and Alma the Elder when the latter’s people arrive in Zarahemla (reported in Mosiah 25). The aim of this brief research note is to underline commonalities between Mosiah’s address and King Benjamin’s address and to suggest that both form part of a larger trend in Nephite institutions, a trend that changes the depth of Nephite religious and political institutions.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Types are a pattern for the future and reveal an understanding that God is in control. Every future event between the present and the millennium has been foretold through types in the scriptures. Types contained in the Book of Mormon include Lehi’s journey in the wilderness, Nephites/Lamanites, warfare, and the 158 years between Mosiah as king and the coming of Christ.
A brief report on the possible origins and meaning of select Book of Mormon proper names—i.e., Mormon, Cumorah, Shiblon, and Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A brief report on the possible origins and meaning of select Book of Mormon proper names—i.e., Mormon, Cumorah, Shiblon, and Mosiah.
Analyzes the “rhetorical vision” in the Book of Mormon by looking at examples of discourse in the record, such as King Benjamin’s address and the missionary discussions given by the sons of Mosiah. Demonstrates how salvation is proclaimed through the spoken word.
The Book of Mormon has come under frequent fire from its critics for allegedly quoting portions of the New Testament before the New Testament was written. A classic example of this is the famous phrase from 1 Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Clear allusions to this passage are made by three Book of Mormon prophets: Abinadi (Mosiah 16:8), Aaron (Alma 22:14), and Mormon (Mormon 7:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
On August 16, 1967, Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Serving in the LDS South German mission at the time, in the city of Regensburg, Welch attended a lecture on the New Testament. He there learned of chiasmus and how it provides evidence of Hebraic origins. After reviewing a book dealing with literary art in the Gospel of Matthew, he began his analysis of the Book of Mormon for evidence of chiasmus. His first identification of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon was in Mosiah 5, but examples of chiastic style have since been found throughout the book. Welch wrote his master’s thesis on chiasmus and continued study on the subject. Though rational arguments cannot generate a testimony of the truthfulness of the book, the presence of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon gives credence to its origins.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Plausible birth- and death-dates are developed for the lineages of Lehi, Mosiah1, Alma the Elder, and Jared, with resulting insights into the lives of Book of Mormon prophets. The article includes a chart of comparative life spans of Book of Mormon characters.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: This paper looks at the Book of Mormon through the lens of library science and the concept of archival provenance. The Nephites cared deeply about their records, and Mormon documented a thorough chain of custody for the plates he edited. However, ideas of archival science and provenance are recent developments in the western world, unknown to biblical authors or to anyone at Joseph Smith’s time. Understanding this aspect of Mormon’s authorship and Joseph Smith’s translation provides additional evidence to the historical validity of the Book of Mormon.
The author argues that the Nephites possessed the higher priesthood during the era before the resurrected Jesus visited the Nephites (citing 1 Nephi 5:14-16, Alma 10:3, Mosiah 25:21, and others).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Contains lessons that address the question, “Is the Book of Mormon necessary?” Discusses the Jaredite and Mulekite histories, Lehi’s exodus from Jerusalem and journey to the promised land, Nephi’s leadership, Zeniff’s people and Alma’s establishment of the Church in the Waters of Mormon, Alma the Younger’s missionary service, missionary work of the sons of Mosiah, the sons of Alma the Younger, Captain Moroni, Helaman, signs of Christ’s coming, Mormon’s abridgment, Moroni’s preservation of the records, and the purpose of the Book of Mormon as a basis for the Restoration and proof that God speaks today.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
This article describes how Ammon received the miraculous power of God as the result of obedience to God. It claims that individuals qualify for the Lord’s work by diligent study. and power is invested in them by prayer and fasting, and there must be a desire to serve.
Claims that the Book of Mormon is a product of plagiarism from the earlier historical romance of Spaulding. The laws given by Mosiah bear a close resemblance to laws existent in the United States. The most interesting law was against the practice of polygamy, which many Mormons practiced in 1900.
Alma2 and the sons of Mosiah were miraculously converted to Jesus and his gospel. Alma’s missionary experiences may be compared to the ministry of Jesus Christ who also accepted a lower station in life to serve his fellowmen and was subject to mockery and humiliation.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Nephite apostates turned away from true worship in consistent and predictable ways throughout the Book of Mormon. Their beliefs and practices may have been the result of influence from the larger socioreligious context in which the Nephites lived. A Mesoamerican setting provides a plausible cultural background that explains why Nephite apostasy took the particular form it did and may help us gain a deeper understanding of some specific references that Nephite prophets used when combating that apostasy. We propose that apostate Nephite religion resulted from the syncretization of certain beliefs and practices from normative Nephite religion with those attested in ancient Mesoamerica. We suggest that orthodox Nephite expectations of the “heavenly king” were supplanted by the more present and tangible “divine king.”.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Alma
This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles that look at doctrines in the Book of Mormon, including resurrection, the allegory of the olive tree, and the appearance of Jesus Christ to the brother of Jared. Contents “The Doctrine of the Resurrection as Taught in the Book of Mormon” Robert J. Matthews “Explicating the Mystery of the Rejected Foundation Stone: The Allegory of the Olive Tree” Paul Y. Hoskisson “The Gospel of Jesus Christ as Taught by the Nephite Prophets” Noel B. Reynolds “‘Never Have I Showed Myself unto Man’: A Suggestion for Understanding Ether 3:15a” Kent P. Jackson Personal Essay: “Watermelons, Alma 32, and the Experimental Method” Joseph Thomas Hepworth Review of The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5 Reviewed by David B. Honey
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This compilation of articles on the temple doctrines and ordinances is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies and from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. This volume features articles on Nauvoo temple doctrines, the law of adoption, the 1877 commencement of endowments and sealings for the dead, prayer circles, and temple elements in ancient religious communities. Contents “Doctrine and the Temple in Nauvoo” by Larry C. Porter and Milton V. Backman Jr. “The Practice of Rebaptism at Nauvoo” by D. Michael Quinn “The Law of Adoption: One Phase of the Development of the Mormon Concept of Salvation, 1830–1900” by Gordon Irving “Believing Adoption” by Samuel M. Brown “‘Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept’: Reflections on the 1877 Commencement of the Performance of Endowments and Sealings of the Dead” by Richard E. Bennett “‘Which Is the Wisest Course?’: The Transformation in Mormon Temple Consciousness, 1870–1898” by Richard E. Bennett “Latter-day Saint Prayer Circles” by D. Michael Quinn “Temple Worship and a Possible Reference to a Prayer Circle in Psalm 24” by Donald W. Parry “Clothed Upon: A Unique Aspect of Christian Antiquity” by Blake T. Ostler “Temple Elements in Ancient Religious Communities” by Brent J. Schmidt “Meanings and Functions of Temples” by Hugh W. Nibley “Latter-Day Saint Temple Worship and Activity” by Immo Luschin “Temple Recommend” by Robert A. Tucker “Temple President and Matron” by David H. Yarn Jr. and Marilyn S. Yarn “Administration of Temples” by Robert L. Simpson “Salvation of the Dead” by Elma Fugal “Family History, Genealogy” by David H. Pratt “Temple Ordinances” by Allen Claire Rozsa “Baptism for the Dead: LDS Practice” by H. David Burton “Baptism for the Dead: Ancient Sources” by Krister Stendahl “Washings and Anointings” by Donald W. Parry “Endowment” by Alma P. Burton “Prayer Circle” by George S. Tate “Garments” by Evelyn T. Marshall “Sealing Power” by David H. Yarn Jr. “Temple Sealings” by Paul V. Hyer “Eternal Marriage” by James T. Duke “Patriarchal Order of the Priesthood” by Lynn A. McKinlay “Born in the Covenant” by Ralph L. Cottrell Jr. “Holy of Holies” by Lyle Cahoon “Altar” by Bruce H. Porter “LDS Temple Dedications” by D. Arthur Haycock “Hosanna Shout” by Lael J. Woodbury “Temples through the Ages” by Stephen D. Ricks “History of LDS Temples from 1831 to 1990” by Richard O. Cowan “Kirtland Temple” by Keith W. Perkins “Nauvoo Temple” by Don F. Colvin “Salt Lake Temple” by Marion Duff Hanks “Endowment Houses” by Lamar C. Berrett “Freemasonry and the Temple” by Kenneth W. Godfrey
Recounts the story of Amulek, a missionary companion to Alma in the city of Ammonihah whose call came from God through an angel.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The FARMS Review of Books has a long tradition of providing its readers with insightful and substantive reviews of books on the Book of Mormon, Mormon studies, and Christian studies, as well as those books that attack the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The latest issue does not disappoint. It contains reviews and responses to 18 books or articles on diverse topics, such as ancient Nephite culture, the conversion of Alma, hidden ancient records, the temple, the LDS concept of the nature of God, and the ark of the covenant.
Nephi and his brothers referred to Jerusalem as “that great city” (1 Nephi 2:13). Their opposing views about it became a point of contention that tore Lehi’s family in two, and their memories of it influenced the cultural perspective of their descendants in the New World for dozens of generations. The people known as Lamanites longed after it as a lost paradise and named one of their lands of settlement in its honor (Alma 21:1). Among the Nephites it exemplified the dire consequences of unbelief (Helaman 8:20). But what was the Jerusalem of Lehi’s day really like?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
One of the most enduring archaeological hoaxes, the Michigan relics, a series of copper, slate, and clay forgeries, were “discovered” throughout counties in Michigan from the late 19th century until 1920. James Scotford and Daniel Soper apparently worked together to create and sell the forgeries. Scholars and archaeologists were skeptical from the outset, but interest in the objects persisted. In 1911 James E. Talmage studied the relics, recognizing the impact they could have on the perception of the Book of Mormon if they were genuine. In a detailed report, Talmage dismissed them as blatant forgeries.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
At the beginning of Alma 43:14, the original manuscript reads desenters, which Oliver Cowdery miscopied into the printer’s manuscript as desendants; in other words, he ended up replacing dissenters with descendants. This mistake (a visual error) was facilitated by the similar spelling Oliver used for both these words. Notice that earlier in this verse Oliver wrote dissented as desented in P (but which the 1830 typesetter respelled in P as dissented). Moreover, at the end of verse 13, Oliver spelled descendants as desendants in both manuscripts. The proximity of this last instance prompted the error at the beginning of verse 14.
The Maxwell Institute and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the release of part 4 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 4 analyzes the text from Alma 21 to Alma 55.
The Maxwell Institute and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the release of part 5 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 5 analyzes the text from Alma 56 through 3 Nephi 18.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Review of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, Alma through Helaman (1991), by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Alma’s distinctive use of the word state in the Book of Mormon is present in his unique concentration of state, his tendency to reword with state, and his treatment of a shared topic involving state.
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In this article, the episode about Hagoth and his sea-venturing ships is quoted from Alma 63 and the theory advanced that the Polynesians descended from Book of Mormon peoples who sailed to Hawaii. It also compares rituals and customs of the ancient Hawaiians with the Israelites.
A Masters of Arts thesis that presents the process of producing the paintings of “Coriantumr resting upon his sword before slaying Shiz” (Ether 15:30), “An angel of the Lord appearing before Laman and Lemuel” (1 Nephi 3:28), “The Vision of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah” (Mosiah 27:11), and “Christ calling Nephi from among the multitude” (3 Nephi 11:18).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Literary analysis provides useful tools in the study of sacred texts, including the Book of Mormon. For the author, three transforming events that enhanced her study of the Book of Mormon included reading the book in earnest as a complex and masterful literary text, the entrance of the Spirit into her study of the book, and a prayerful desire to experience the great change of heart described by King Benjamin and Alma. Nephi begins his record with sincerity and honesty and serves notice that he intends to prepare a true record. The opposition between Nephi and his brothers Laman and Lemuel illustrates well Lehi’s teachings on the necessity of opposition in all things. More subtly, the reader notes a contrast between the characters and personalities of Nephi and Jacob. Jacob is portrayed as an empathetic and compassionate person who was tutored by exile and isolation.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The present work analyzes the narrative art Mormon employs, specifically Mormon’s unique strategies for personalized and personal messaging, which can be seen in how Mormon connects the narration of the baptism at the waters of Mormon in Mosiah chapter 18 with his self- introductory material in 3 Nephi chapter 5. In these narratives, Mormon seems to simultaneously present an overt personalized message about Christ and a covert personal connection to Alma1 through the almost excessive repetition of his own name. Mormon discreetly plants evidence to suggest his intention for the careful re-reader to discover that Mormon was a 12th generation descendant of the first Alma. Mormon’s use of personalizing and personal messages lends emotive power to his narratives and shines a light on Mormon’s love for Christ’s church.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Mormon
Book of Mormon Topics > Places > Americas > Book of Mormon Geography > Waters of Mormon
Abstract: Although unable to write more than a hundredth part of his people’s history, Mormon seemingly found the time and plate-space to deliver literary justice on behalf of Gideon, who suffered a martyr’s death at the hand of the wicked Nehor. This article applies a literary approach buttressed by evidence from the Book of Mormon to suggest that Mormon intentionally supplied tightly-controlled repetitive elements, like the repetition of names, to point the reader to discover multiple literary sub-narratives connected by a carefully crafted network of themes running under the main narratives of the scriptures. The theories espoused in this work may have begun with the recognition of the reader-arresting repetition of Gideon’s name in Alma 6:7-8, but driven by scriptural data points soon connected Gideon with Abinadi, the Ammonites, and others. The repetitive and referential use of the moniker Nehor, Gideon’s murderer, on various peoples by Mormon seemed to connect thematically and organically to a justice prophesied by Abinadi. In parallel with the theme of justice laid upon the Nehor-populations, evidence is marshaled to also suggest that Mormon referenced the place-name of Gideon to intentionally hearken back to the man Gideon. Following the role of Gideon, as a place, we propose Mormon constructed a path for the martyr Gideon via proxy to meet the resurrected Lord in Bountiful. Mormon’s concern for the individual and his technique for rewriting Gideon’s story through proxy ultimately symbolizes the role Christ’s atoning power can take in each of our lives to save us.
Abstract: The prophet Mormon’s editorial skill brings the narrative of the Zeniffites alive with a complex tumble of viewpoints, commentary, and timelines. Mormon seems to apply similar narrative strategies as those used in the Bible in his approach to abridging the history of his people. A comparative reading of the various accounts in the Zeniffite story provides the close reader with a deep picture of Limhi, the tragic grandson of the founding king, Zeniff, and the son of the iniquitous King Noah. Noah’s wicked rule brought his people into bondage. His conflicted son Limhi’s efforts to free the people, although well meaning, often imperiled his people. Fortunately, Limhi’s proclivity for making poor judgments did not extend to his acceptance of the gospel. In fact, coexistent with the repeated errors Limhi makes in the narrative lies one of his greatest strengths, his willingness to accept correction. This is a vital characteristic necessary for the repentance required by the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what redeemed Limhi from his comedy of errors. It is this quality that can also redeem us all. Limhi’s love for his father, in the end, did not doom him to make the same mistakes Noah did. When the messengers from God came, Limhi listened and accepted their message. Mormon’s characterization strategies described here are a credit to his art and support the hypothesis that he is an inheritor of the poetics of biblical narrative. His narrative strategies not only characterize the cast in his narrative, but also characterize him. The care Mormon took in crafting his abridgment reveal his observational prowess. He saw God’s hand in his people’s history, and he went to great lengths to teach his readers how to see it too. His characterization of Limhi is a personal message about how wickedness and tyranny affect individuals.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The chain held by Satan is referred to in the scriptures as “the chains of hell” (Alma 12:11) … They start as flaxen threads and encumber a person habit by habit, sin by sin, and strand by strand.
Speaks out on the relationships between “memory and mood, memory and testimony, memory and models, memory and thoughts, and memory and you.” Asay quotes many scriptures from the Book of Mormon to support his ideas, including Alma 36, Moroni 10, Alma 18, and Helaman 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Speaks out on the relationships between “memory and mood, memory and testimony, memory and models, memory and thoughts, and memory and you” Asay quotes many scriptures from the Book of Mormon to support his ideas, including Alma 36, Moroni 10, Alma 18, and Helaman 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
One of the strangest and most extensive archaeological hoaxes in American history was perpetrated around the turn of the twentieth century in Michigan. Hundreds of objects known as the Michigan Relics were made to appear as the remains of a lost civilization. The artifacts were produced, buried, “discovered,” and marketed by James O. Scotford and Daniel E. Soper. For three decades these artifacts were secretly planted in earthen mounds, publicly removed, and lauded as wonderful discoveries. Because the Michigan Relics allegedly evidence a Near Eastern presence in ancient America, they have drawn interest from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This article traces the intriguing history of this elaborate affair and Mormonism’s encounter with it. At the center of this history lies the investigation of the artifacts by Latter-day Saint intellectual and scientist James E. Talmage.
The conversion of Alma, which came due to the preaching of Abinadi, led to great spiritual ramifications that lasted for hundreds of years among the Nephites.
Alma and Amulek share common experiences before and during their missionary experiences.
The lives and conversion of Alma the Elder and Alma the Younger are recounted. Both were powerful men that turned to righteousness from wickedness and never regressed.
Alma the Younger, onetime foe to the Church, was converted to the Gospel and became a leader and faithful member of the same Church.
Just as modern missionaries can learn much from the methods of the sons of Mosiah, we can learn much about strengthening wavering members from the example of Alma the Younger in his remarkable reform of the Nephites in Zarahemla. A careful study of Alma 4–16 shows that Alma the Younger models many important principles of activation that are helpful to us today. This study examines principles of activation derived from the account of Alma’s labors among the apostate Nephites, particularly in the city of Zarahemla in Alma 4 and 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > A — C > Chastity
RSC Topics > L — P > Plan of Salvation
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
Reviews the story of Captain Moroni (Alma 46) as an example of a righteous leader, student of the scriptures, man of faith, and a “champion of human liberty”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This is a new volume from the Book of Mormon Academy at Brigham Young University. This volume explores the relationship between the Nephite and the Jaredite records culturally, politically, literarily, and theologically. The first approach is a cultural-historical lens, in which elements of Jaredite culture are discussed, including the impact of a Jaredite subculture on Nephite politics during the reign of the judges, and a Mesopotamia perspective as seership and divination, and the brother of Jared’s experience as a spiritual transition. The second grouping looks at the book of Ether through a narratological lens, all three papers exploring different aspects of Moroni’s construction of the book of Ether. The third grouping explores the book of Ether’s depiction of women, as it contains one of the most descriptive, yet ambivalent females in the Book of Mormon, both historically and in our contemporary era. Finally, the book of Ether is reviewed via a teaching lens. In Alma 37, Alma the Younger explained the teaching value of the Jaredite records. These last two studies examine ways in which the book of Ether in particular can be taught to a modern audience. ISBN 978-1-9443-9497-4
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > G — K > Justice
RSC Topics > L — P > Mercy
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
RSC Topics > Q — S > Restoration of the Gospel
RSC Topics > Q — S > Resurrection
For the Nephites, the sixteenth year of the reign of the judges was tremendously difficult. The arrival of the people of Ammon, in itself an incredible disruption of Nephite society, precipitated a battle, which Mormon describes as a “tremendous battle; yea, even such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land from the time Lehi left Jerusalem’’ (Alma 28:2). The dead, we are told, were not counted due to their enormous number. These events compounded the pre-existing struggles that resulted from the sociopolitical fallout from the reforms of Mosiah. Though Alma 30:5 suggests that all is well in Zarahemla during the seventeenth year of the reign of the judges, the events of the next year and half, the eighteenth year, belie this peace. Within this span, the Nephites exploded in two separate, but related, political conflagrations: (1) the secession of the inhabitants of Antionum from the greater Nephite community, and (2) the civil war spearheaded by Amalickiah. But prior to both of these events came Korihor.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The fourth part covers Nephi the son of Nephi, Amos the son of Nephi, and Amos and Ammaron the sons of Amos the Elder.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The third part covers Nephi the son of Helaman and Nephi the son of Nephi.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The first part covers Alma the Elder and Alma the Younger.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The second part covers Helaman the son of Alma and Helaman the son of Helaman.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni).
RSC Topics > D — F > Death
RSC Topics > L — P > Peace
RSC Topics > T — Z > War
Abstract: Captain Moroni cites a prophecy regarding Joseph of Egypt and his posterity that is not recorded in the Bible. He accompanies the prophecy with a symbolic action to motivate his warriors to covenant to be faithful to their prophet Helaman and to keep the commandments lest God would not preserve them as he had Joseph.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The Zoramites’ transformation from quiescent dissidents to aggressive enemies of their former brethren and mother culture is a powerful study of human nature. The Book of Mormon does not delineate the reasons that the Zoramites separated themselves from the larger population at Zarahemla, but they obviously felt a great deal of animosity toward their former brethren. Perhaps they had been marginalized in Nephite society because of their ethnicity. They constructed a culture that deliberately differed in many ways from that at Zarahemla, and they expelled all who were converted by Alma. Because of their extreme hatred of the Nephites, the Zoramites ultimately joined with the Lamanites as fierce enemies of the Nephites.
Alma 13:3 is occasionally cited by LDS commentators as evidence for the doctrine of premortal foreordination—an interpretation that unfortunately overlooks a key feature of the organization and terminology of Alma 13. This brief note begins to sort out this and other interpretive complexities by proposing that Alma 13:3b–9 be read as a clarifying expansion of Alma 13:3a.
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
RSC Topics > G — K > Gold Plates
Berrett discusses point by point reasons why an ancient burial complex at Khirbet Beit Lei, sometimes called “Lehi’s cave,” is unlikely to have Book of Mormon connections. Brown describes a carved altar inscribed to the tribe Nihm discovered in the southwest Arabian peninsula (Yemen)—this location may be the place Nahom where Nephi’s father-in-law, Ishmael, was buried, according to the Book of Mormon record. The characters on the Anthon transcript reportedly taken by Martin Harris to New York to show to Professor Charles Anthon bear resemblance to characters on two Mexican seals made of baked clay. Szink identifies another possible Semitic source for the name Alma in the tablets of Ebla uncovered in Syria.
Nephi warned future readers that the Book of Mormon was not a history (2 Nephi 5:32-33). Rather, the book is an instrument to bring people to Christ. Nephi, Lehi, Abinadi, Jacob, Alma, and other prophets knew the mission of Christ and taught it.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The position of the Church concerning war and armed conflicts is dictated by the teachings in the Book of Mormon. War is condemned by God and peace is always valiantly sought. However, at times wars must be fought by the righteous in order to safeguard liberty. Although God aids the righteous in war, the righteous may suffer or be slain.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Lehi’s exodus to the promised land is only the first of a series of exoduses occurring throughout the Book of Mormon. Indeed, Lehi’s exodus becomes mere precedent for later flights into the wilderness by Nephi, Mosiah, Alma1, Limhi, and the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. For the Nephites, continuing exodus is not merely historical fact. Understanding the biblical exodus as a type and shadow, the Nephites come to see their wandering as a metaphor of their spiritual condition. Thus, even centuries after Lehi’s arrival in the promised land, Nephite prophets recognize their status as “wanderers in a strange land” (Alma 13:23). As did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Nephites also looked beyond their temporal land of promise “for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Alma 32 is a learned text on the topic of faith. The account incorporates creation imagery from the opening chapters of Genesis. Alma’s sermon follows a theological pattern in the Hebrew Bible where creation is used to encourage audiences to exercise faith in the present by considering the primordial past.Alma compares the “word of God” unto a seed, telling his audience that they are to be involved with “planting.” Thus, Alma’s sermon combines the two distinct creation views in the Genesis narratives, for God speaks the divine word in order to create in Genesis 1, and he plants seeds and trees to create his garden paradise in Genesis 2–3. By invoking the miracle of creation in the past into a present context of seed growth and recreation, Alma encourages his readers to fulfill the measure of their own creation by experimenting upon the divine word. Obtaining the type of faith Alma describes is therefore the very purpose of human existence, and it has been from the beginning.
Abstract: Genesis 30:23–24 offers a double etiology for Joseph in terms of “taking away”/“gathering” (ʾāsap) and “adding” (yāsap). In addition to its later narratological use of the foregoing, the Joseph cycle (Genesis 37–50) evidences a third dimension of onomastic wordplay involving Joseph’s kĕtōnet passîm, an uncertain phrase traditionally translated “coat of many colours” (from LXX), but perhaps better translated, “coat of manifold pieces.” Moroni1, quoting from a longer version of the Joseph story from the brass plates, refers to “Joseph, whose coat was rent by his brethren into many pieces” (Alma 46:23). As a military and spiritual leader, Moroni1 twice uses Joseph’s torn coat and the remnant doctrine from Jacob’s prophecy regarding Joseph’s coat as a model for his covenant use of his own coat to “gather” (cf. ʾāsap) and rally faithful Nephites as “a remnant of the seed of Joseph” (Alma 46:12–28, 31; 62:4–6). In putting that coat on a “pole” or “standard” (Hebrew nēs — i.e., “ensign”) to “gather” a “remnant of the seed of Joseph” appears to make use of the Isaianic nēs-imagery of Isaiah 11:11–12 (and elsewhere), where the Joseph-connected verbs yāsap and ʾāsap serve as key terms. Moroni’s written-upon “standard” or “ensign” for “gathering” the “remnant of the seed of Joseph” constituted an important prophetic antetype for how Mormon and his son, Moroni2, perceived the function of their written record in the latter-days (see, e.g., 3 Nephi 5:23–26; Ether 13:1–13).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Joseph (Ancient Egypt)
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Gather
Abstract: Three times in his narrative Mormon recounts the Lord’s oracle (revelation) to Mosiah II regarding his sons undertaking a mission among the Lamanites (Mosiah 28:7, Alma 17:35, and Alma 19:23). In all three instances, the Lord’s promises of deliverance revolve around the meaning of the name Mosiah (“Yahweh is Deliverer” or “Yahweh is Savior”), emphasizing that the Lord (Hebrew yhwh) himself would act in his covenant role as môšîaʿ in delivering Mosiah’s sons, and sparing Ammon in particular. In two of the iterations of the oracle, Mosiah 28:7 and Alma 19:23, we find additional wordplay on the name Ammon (“faithful”) in terms of “many shall believe” (Hebrew yaʾămînû) in the first instance and ʾĕmûnâ (“faith,” “faithfulness”) in the latter. In Alma 19:23 the Lord also employs an additional wordplay on his own name, Yahweh (Jehovah), to emphasize his ability to bring to pass his promises to Mosiah regarding Ammon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Deliver
Abstract: Paronomasia in the Hebrew text of Exodus creates narrative links between the name Miriam (Mary) and the “waters” (mayim) of the Re[e]d Sea from which Israel is “pulled” and the nearby “bitter” waters of Marah. Nephi sees Mary (Mariam), the mother of Jesus, associated with the “love of God,” and thus to both “the tree of life” and “the fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25) vis-à-vis “the fountain of filthy water” (1 Nephi 12:16). Mormon was named after “the land of Mormon” (3 Nephi 5:12). He associates his given name with “waters,” which he describes as a “fountain of pure water” (Mosiah 18:5), and with the good “desires” and “love” that Alma the Elder’s converts manifest at the time of their baptism (Mosiah 18:8, 10‒11, 21, 28). Mormon’s accounts of the baptisms of Alma the Elder’s people, Limhi’s people, the people at Sidom (Alma 15:13), and a few repentant Nephites at Zarahemla who responded to Samuel the Lamanite’s preaching (Helaman 16:1), anticipate Jesus’s eventual reestablishment of the church originally founded by Alma, the baptism of his disciples, and their reception of the Holy Ghost — “that which they most desired” (see 3 Nephi 19:9‒14, 24). Desire serves as a key term that links all of these baptismal scenes. Mormon’s analogy of “the bitter fountain” and its “bitter water” vis-à-vis the “the good fount” and its “good water” — which helps set up his discussion of “the pure love of Christ,” which “endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47‒48) — should be understood against the backdrop of Lehi’s dream as Nephite “cultural narrative” and the history of Alma the Elder’s people at the waters of Mormon. As Mormon’s people lose the “love [which] endureth by faith unto prayer” (Moroni 8:26; see also Moroni 8:14‒17; 9:5) they become like the “bitter fountain” (Moroni 7:11) and do not endure to the end in faith, hope, and charity on the covenant path (cf. 2 Nephi 31:20; Moroni 7:40‒88; 8:24‒26). The name Mormon (“desire is enduring” or “love is enduring”), as borne by the prophet-editor of the Book of Mormon, embraces the whole cloud of these associations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: Royal and divine sonship/daughterhood (bānîm = “children”/“sons,” bānôt = “daughters”) is a prevalent theme throughout the Book of Mosiah. “Understanding” (Hebrew noun, bînâ or tĕbûnâ; verb, bîn) is also a key theme in that book. The initial juxtaposition of “sons” and “understanding” with the name “Benjamin” (binyāmîn, “son of the right hand”) in Mosiah 1:2–7 suggests the narrator’s association of the underlying terms with the name Benjamin likely on the basis of homophony. King Benjamin repeatedly invokes “understand” in his speech (forms of “understand” were derived from the root *byn in Hebrew; Mosiah 2:9, 40; 4:4; cf. 3:15) — a speech that culminates in a rhetorical wordplay on his own name in terms of “sons”/“children,” “daughters,” and “right hand” (Mosiah 5:7, 9). “Understand,” moreover, recurs as a paronomasia on the name Benjamin at key points later in the Book of Mosiah (Mosiah 8:3, 20; 26:1–3), which bring together the themes of sonship and/or “understanding” (or lack of thereof) with King Benjamin’s name. Later statements in the Book of Mosiah about “becoming” the “children of God” or “becoming his sons and daughters” (Mosiah 18:22; 27:25) through divine rebirth allude to King Benjamin’s sermon and the wordplay on “Benjamin” there. Taken as a literary whole, the book of Mosiah constitutes a treatise on “becoming” — i.e., divine transformation through Christ’s atonement (cf. Mosiah 3:18–19). Mormon’s statement in Alma 17:2 about the sons of Mosiah having become “men of a sound understanding” thus serves as a fitting epilogue to a narrative arc begun as early as Mosiah 1:2.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Becoming
Book of Mormon Topics > General Topics > King Benjamin’s Speech
Abstract: The toponym Onidah, attested as the name of a hill in Alma 32:4, most plausibly derives from Hebrew ʿŏnî /ʿōnî/ʿônî (ʿonyî, “my affliction”) + yādaʿ/yēdaʿ (“he knew,” “he knows”) — i.e., “he has acknowledged my affliction” or “he knows my affliction.” This etymology finds support in the context of the Zoramite narrative in which it occurs. In view of the pejorative lexical associations of the Rameumptom, the “high” and “holy stand,” with Hebrew rām (< rwm, “high”) and haughtiness, arrogance, and pride, we see Mormon using the Rameumptom, the “high” platform for Zoramite self-exalting worship, with Onidah, the hill from which Alma and Amulek taught the Zoramite poor and humble. The latter name and Alma’s teaching from that location constituted a sign that the Lord “knew” their “affliction.” Alma devotes a significant part of his message not only extolling the spiritual value of their state of “affliction” and humiliation or compelled “humility” (ʿŏnî Exodus 3:7, 17), but teaching them how to “plant” the “word” (even Jesus Christ himself) in their hearts through prayer — the word that would grow up into a “perfect knowledge” of God — experientially “knowing” God (Alma 32:16‒36) and being known by him (cf. Alma 7:12).
“Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.” (Psalms 138:6)
“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.” (Psalms 119:71‒72)
“And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.” (2 Samuel 22:28).
Book of Mormon Topics > Places > Americas > Book of Mormon Geography > Onidah
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Toponym
Abstract: Mormon describes Alma the Younger’s “go[ing] about secretly” to destroy the church that his father, Alma the Elder, had established (Mosiah 27:8–10), this as a narratalogical inversion of that period when Alma the Elder “went about privately” teaching the words of Abinadi and establishing a church “that it might not come to the knowledge of the king” (Mosiah 18:1–6). In Mosiah 27:10, Mormon subtly reworks Alma the Younger’s autobiographical statement preserved in Alma 36:6, adding in the former passage a word rendered “secretly” to create a midrashic or interpretive pun on the name Alma, echoing the meaning of the Semitic root ʿlm, “hide,” “conceal”). Mosiah 27:8–10 contains additional language that evokes the introduction of the name Alma in the Book of Mormon (at first in terms of ʿelem [“young man”] but also in terms of the homonymous root ʿlm) in Mosiah 17:2–4 but also re-invokes allusions in the latter passage to Mosiah 14:1 (Isaiah 53:1).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Nephi’s preservation of the conditional “first blessing” that Lehi bestowed upon his elder sons (Laman, Lemuel, and Sam) and the sons of Ishmael, contains a dramatic wordplay on the name Ishmael in 2 Nephi 1:28–29. The name Ishmael — “May El hear [him],” “May El hearken,” or “El Has Hearkened” — derives from the Semitic (and later Hebrew) verb šāmaʿ (to “hear,” “hearken,” or “obey”). Lehi’s rhetorical wordplay juxtaposes the name Ishmael with a clustering of the verbs “obey” and “hearken,” both usually represented in Hebrew by the verb šāmaʿ. Lehi’s blessing is predicated on his sons’ and the sons of Ishmael’s “hearkening” to Nephi (“if ye will hearken”). Conversely, failure to “hearken” (“but if ye will not hearken”) would precipitate withdrawal of the “first blessing.” Accordingly, when Nephi was forced to flee from Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, Lehi’s “first blessing” was activated for Nephi and all those who “hearkened” to his spiritual leadership, including members of Ishmael’s family (2 Nephi 5:6), while it was withdrawn from Laman, Lemuel, the sons of Ishmael, and those who sympathized with them, “inasmuch as they [would] not hearken” unto Nephi (2 Nephi 5:20). Centuries later, when Ammon and his brothers convert many Lamanites to the truth, Mormon revisits Lehi’s conditional blessing and the issue of “hearkening” in terms of Ishmael and the receptivity of the Ishmaelites. Many Ishmaelite-Lamanites “hear” or “hearken” to Ammon et al., activating Lehi’s “first blessing,” while many others — including the ex-Nephite Amalekites/Amlicites — do not, thus activating (or reactivating) Lehi’s curse.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The fear that Moroni’s soldier’s speech (Alma 44:14) aroused in the Lamanite soldiers and the intensity of Zerahemnah’s subsequently redoubled anger are best explained by the polysemy (i.e., multiple meanings within a lexeme’s range of meaning) of a single word translated “chief” in Alma 44:14 and “heads” in Alma 44:18. As editor of a sacred history, Mormon was interested in showing the fulfilment of prophecy when such fulfilment occurred. Mormon’s description of the Lamanites “fall[ing] exceedingly fast” because of the exposure of the Lamanites’ “bare heads” to the Nephites’ swords and their being “smitten” in Alma 44:18 — just as “the scalp of their chief” was smitten and thus fell (Alma 44:12–14) — pointedly demonstrates the fulfilment of the soldier’s prophecy. In particular, the phrase “bare heads” constitutes a polysemic wordplay on “chief,” since words translated “head” can alternatively be translated “chief,” as in Alma 44:14. A similar wordplay on “top” and “leader” in 3 Nephi 4:28–29, probably again represented by a single word, also partly explains the force of the simile curse described there.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The most likely etymology for the name Zoram is a third person singular perfect qal or pôʿal form of the Semitic/Hebrew verb *zrm, with the meaning, “He [God] has [is] poured forth in floods.” However, the name could also have been heard and interpreted as a theophoric –rām name, of which there are many in the biblical Hebrew onomasticon (Ram, Abram, Abiram, Joram/Jehoram, Malchiram, etc., cf. Hiram [Hyrum]/Huram). So analyzed, Zoram would connote something like “the one who is high,” “the one who is exalted” or even “the person of the Exalted One [or high place].” This has important implications for the pejoration of the name Zoram and its gentilic derivative Zoramites in Alma’s and Mormon’s account of the Zoramite apostasy and the attempts made to rectify it in Alma 31–35 (cf. Alma 38–39). The Rameumptom is also described as a high “stand” or “a place for standing, high above the head” (Heb. rām; Alma 31:13) — not unlike the “great and spacious building” (which “stood as it were in the air, high above the earth”; see 1 Nephi 8:26) — which suggests a double wordplay on the name “Zoram” in terms of rām and Rameumptom in Alma 31. Moreover, Alma plays on the idea of Zoramites as those being “high” or “lifted up” when counseling his son Shiblon to avoid being like the Zoramites and replicating the mistakes of his brother Corianton (Alma 38:3-5, 11-14). Mormon, perhaps influenced by the Zoramite apostasy and the magnitude of its effects, may have incorporated further pejorative wordplay on the Zoram-derived names Cezoram and Seezoram in order to emphasize that the Nephites had become lifted up in pride like the Zoramites during the judgeships of those judges. The Zoramites and their apostasy represent a type of Latter-day Gentile pride and apostasy, which Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni took great pains to warn against.
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The biographical introduction of Alma the Elder into the Book of Mormon narrative (Mosiah 17:2) also introduces the name Alma into the text for the first time, this in close juxtaposition with a description of Alma as a “young man.” The best explanation for the name Alma is that it derives from the Semitic term ǵlm (Hebrew ʿelem), “young man,” “youth,” “lad.” This suggests the strong probability of an intentional wordplay on the name Alma in the Book of Mormon’s underlying text: Alma became “[God’s] young man” or “servant.” Additional lexical connections between Mosiah 17:2 and Mosiah 14:1 (quoting Isaiah 53:1) suggest that Abinadi identified Alma as the one “to whom” or “upon whom” (ʿal-mî) the Lord was “reveal[ing]” his arm as Abinadi’s prophetic successor. Alma began his prophetic succession when he “believed” Abinadi’s report and pled with King Noah for Abinadi’s life. Forced to flee, Alma began his prophetic ministry “hidden” and “concealed” while writing the words of Abinadi and teaching them “privately.” The narrative’s dramatic emphasis on this aspect of Alma’s life suggests an additional thread of wordplay that exploits the homonymy between Alma and the Hebrew root *ʿlm, forms of which mean “to hide,” “conceal,” “be hidden,” “be concealed.” The richness of the wordplay and allusion revolving around Alma’s name in Mosiah 17–18 accentuates his importance as a prophetic figure and founder of the later Nephite church. Moreover, it suggests that Alma’s name was appropriate given the details of his life and that he lived up to the positive connotations latent in his name.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: As John Gee noted two decades ago, Nephi is best explained as a form of the Egyptian word nfr, which by Lehi’s time was pronounced neh-fee, nay-fee, or nou-fee. Since this word means “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair,” I subsequently posited several possible examples of wordplay on the name Nephi in the Book of Mormon, including Nephi’s own autobiographical introduction (1 Nephi 1:1: “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents … having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God”). It should be further pointed out, however, that Nephi also concludes his personal writings on the small plates using the terms “good” and “goodness of God.” This terminological bracketing constitutes a literary device, used anciently, called inclusio or an envelope figure. Nephi’s literary emphasis on “good” and “goodness” not only befits his personal name, but fulfills the Lord’s commandment, “thou shalt engraven many things … which are good in my sight” (2 Nephi 5:30), a command which also plays on the name Nephi. Nephi’s autobiographical introduction and conclusion proved enormously influential on subsequent writers who modeled autobiographical and narrative biographical introductions on 1 Nephi 1:1-2 and based sermons — especially concluding sermons — on Nephi’s “good” conclusion in 2 Nephi 33. An emphasis in all these sermons is that all “good”/“goodness” ultimately has its source in God and Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The biblical etiology (story of origin) for the name “Cain” associates his name with the Hebrew verb qny/qnh, “to get,” “gain,” “acquire,” “create,” or “procreate” in a positive sense. A fuller form of this etiology, known to us indirectly through the Book of Mormon text and directly through the restored text of the Joseph Smith Translation, creates additional wordplay on “Cain” that associates his name with murder to “get gain.” This fuller narrative is thus also an etiology for organized evil—secret combinations “built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:22–23; 11:15). The original etiology exerted a tremendous influence on Book of Mormon writers (e.g., Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Mormon, and Moroni) who frequently used allusions to this narrative and sometimes replicated the wordplay on “Cain” and “getting gain.” The fuller narrative seems to have exerted its greatest influence on Mormon and Moroni, who witnessed the destruction of their nation firsthand — destruction catalyzed by Cainitic secret combinations. Moroni, in particular, invokes the Cain etiology in describing the destruction of the Jaredites by secret combinations. The destruction of two nations by Cainitic secret combinations stand as two witnesses and a warning to latter-day Gentiles (and Israel) against building up these societies and allowing them to flourish.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 4–6:12 — Grand Council in Heaven, Adam and Eve
Abstract: The mention of “Abish” and a “remarkable vision of her father” (Alma 19:16) is itself remarkable, since women and servants are rarely named in the Book of Mormon text. As a Hebrew/Lehite name, “Abish” suggests the meaning “Father is a man,” the midrashic components ʾab- (“father”) and ʾîš (“man”) being phonologically evident. Thus, the immediate juxtaposition of the name “Abish” with the terms “her father” and “women” raises the possibility of wordplay on her name in the underlying text. Since ʾab-names were frequently theophoric — i.e., they had reference to a divine Father (or could be so understood) — the mention of “Abish” (“Father is a man”) takes on additional theological significance in the context of Lamoni’s vision of the Redeemer being “born of a woman and … redeem[ing] all mankind” (Alma 19:13). The wordplay on “Abish” thus contributes thematically to the narrative’s presentation of Ammon’s typological ministrations among the Lamanites as a “man” endowed with great power, which helped the Lamanites understand the concept of “the Great Spirit” (Yahweh) becoming “man.” Moreover, this wordplay accords with the consistent Book of Mormon doctrine that the “very Eternal Father” would (and did) condescend to become “man” and Suffering Servant.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The names Mary and Mormon most plausibly derive from the Egyptian word mr(i), “love, desire, [or] wish.” Mary denotes “beloved [i.e., of deity]” and is thus conceptually connected with divine love, while Mormon evidently denotes “desire/love is enduring.” The text of the Book of Mormon manifests authorial awareness of the meanings of both names, playing on them in multiple instances. Upon seeing Mary (“the mother of God,” 1 Nephi 11:18, critical text) bearing the infant Messiah in her arms in vision, Nephi, who already knew that God “loveth his children,” came to understand that the meaning of the fruit-bearing tree of life “is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore it is the most desirable above all things” (1 Nephi 11:17-25). Later, Alma the Elder and his people entered into a covenant and formed a church based on “love” and “good desires” (Mosiah 18:21, 28), a covenant directly tied to the waters of Mormon: Behold here are the waters of Mormon … and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God … if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized …?”; “they clapped their hands for joy and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts” (Mosiah 18:8-11). Alma the Younger later recalled the “song of redeeming love” that his father and others had sung at the waters of Mormon (Alma 5:3-9, 26; see Mosiah 18:30). Our editor, Mormon, who was himself named after the land of Mormon and its waters (3 Nephi 5:12), repeatedly spoke of charity as “everlasting love” or the “pure love of Christ [that] endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47-48; 8:16-17; 26). All of this has implications for Latter-day Saints or “Mormons” who, as children of the covenant, must endure to the end in Christlike “love” as Mormon and Moroni did, particularly in days of diminishing faith, faithfulness, and love (see, e.g., Mormon 3:12; contrast Moroni 9:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: As in Hebrew biblical narrative, wordplay on (or play on the meaning of) toponyms, or “place names,” is a discernable feature of Book of Mormon narrative. The text repeatedly juxtaposes the toponym Jershon (“place of inheritance” or “place of possession”) with terms inherit, inheritance, possess, possession, etc. Similarly, the Mulekite personal name Zarahemla (“seed of compassion,” “seed of pity”), which becomes the paramount Nephite toponym as their national capital after the time of Mosiah I, is juxtaposed with the term compassion. Both wordplays occur and recur at crucial points in Nephite/Lamanite history. Moreover, both occur in connection with the migration of the first generation Lamanite converts. The Jershon wordplay recurs in the second generation, when the people of Ammon receive the Zoramite (re)converts into the land of Jershon, and wordplay on Zarahemla recurs subsequently, when the sons of these Lamanite converts come to the rescue of the Nephite nation. Rhetorical wordplay on Zarahemla also surfaces in important speeches later in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains several quotations from the Hebrew Bible that have been juxtaposed on the basis of shared words or phrases, this for the purpose of interpreting the cited scriptural passages in light of one another. This exegetical technique — one that Jesus himself used — came to be known in later rabbinic times as Gezera Shawa (“equal statute”). In several additional instances, the use of Gezera Shawa converges with onomastic wordplay. Nephi uses a Gezera Shawa involving Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 twice on the basis of the yāsap verb forms yôsîp/yôsīp (2 Nephi 25:17 and quoting the Lord in 2 Nephi 29:1) to create a stunning wordplay on the name “Joseph.” In another instance, King Benjamin uses Gezera Shawa involving Psalm 2:7, 2 Samuel 7:14, and Deuteronomy 14:1 (1–2) on the basis of the Hebrew noun bēn (“son”; plural bānîm, bānôt, “sons” and “daughters”) on which to build a rhetorical wordplay on his own name. This second wordplay, which further alludes to Psalm 110:1 on account of the noun yāmin (“right hand”), was ready-made for his temple audience who, on the occasion of Mosiah’s coronation, were receiving their own “endowment” to become “sons” and “daughters” at God’s “right hand.” The use of Gezera Shawa was often christological — e.g., Jacob’s Gezera Shawa on (“stone”) in Jacob 4:15–17 and Alma’s Gezera Shawa on Zenos’s and Zenock’s phrase “because of thy Son” in Alma 33:11–16 (see Alma 33:4 17). Taken together, these examples suggest that we should pay more attention to scripture’s use of scripture and, in particular, the use of this exegetical practice. In doing so, we will better discern the messages intended by ancient prophets whose words the Book of Mormon preserves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Under the duress of a lengthy war, and prompted by recent Lamanite military successes, as well as incensed at the government’s failure to resupply Helaman’s armies with provisions and to send men to reinforce the city Nephihah, Moroni sent a second scathing letter to the leaders of the Nephite nation in the Nephite capital city Zarahemla. As other scholars have noted, the name Zarahemla likely denotes “seed of compassion” or “seed of sparing.” In this article, I propose that Moroni’s rhetoric in the letter includes an acerbic word-irony involving the meaning of Zarahemla perhaps achieved in terms of the Hebrew verb yaḥmōl (“[he] will spare,” from ḥml, “spare,” “have compassion.” This word-irony points out that although the Lord had spared the people of Zarahemla and the Nephites in the past, the uncompassionate behavior of the nation’s leaders in Zarahemla was creating conditions under which the Lord would not spare the leadership in Zarahemla. Moroni wrote, “Behold, I come unto you, even in the land of Zarahemla, and smite you with the sword … For behold, the Lord will not suffer that ye shall live and wax strong in your iniquities to destroy his righteous people. Behold, can you suppose that the Lord will spare you…?” (Alma 60:30–32). The covenant background of this threat will also be explored.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > D — F > Doctrine
RSC Topics > D — F > Faith
RSC Topics > D — F > Death
RSC Topics > D — F > Fall of Adam and Eve
Thanks to the work of Hugh Nibley, Paul Hoskisson, Terrence Szink, and others, the plausibility of Alma as a Semitic name is no longer an issue. Hoskisson has noted that “Alma” derives from the root ‘lm (< *ǵlm) with the meaning “youth” or “lad,” corroborating Nibley’s earlier suggestion that “Alma” means “young man” (cf. Hebrew ‘elem,עלם). Significantly, “Alma” occurs for the first time in the Book of Mormon text as follows: “But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken” (Mosiah 17:2; emphasis in all scriptural citations is mine). This first occurrence of “Alma” is juxtaposed with a description matching the etymological meaning of the name, suggesting an underlying wordplay: Alma (‘lm’) was an ‘elem. A play on words sharing a common root is a literary technique known as polyptoton.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: This article examines Mormon’s comparison of Moroni, the Nephite military leader, to Ammon, the son of Mosiah, in Alma 48:18 and how Mormon’s use and repetition of ʾmn-related terminology (“faithful,” “firm,” “faith,” “verily [surely]”) in Alma 48:7–17 lays a foundation for this comparison. Ammon’s name, phonologically and perhaps etymologically, suggests the meaning “faithful.” Mormon goes to extraordinary lengths in the Lamanite conversion narratives to show that Ammon is not only worthy of this name, but that his faithfulness is the catalyst for the transition of many Lamanites from unbelief to covenant faithfulness. Thus, in comparing Moroni directly to Ammon, Mormon makes a most emphatic statement regarding Moroni’s covenant faithfulness. Moreover, this comparison reveals his admiration for both men.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The twelfth and thirteenth chapters of the Book of Mormon’s Alma contain a theologically rich and often misunderstood text—a brief discourse to the people of Ammonihah exploring the nature of redemption and the establishment of God’s holy order of priesthood. In this collection of essays, eight scholars examine Alma’s words from a broad range of disciplines and analytical approaches, from literary criticism to philosophy to comparative religious history. Their interpretive experiments open this text up to theological insights that inform devotion and prompt deep inquiry.
Abstract: In his well-known volume about the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy focuses primarily on the book’s main narrators. However, he also makes a number of observations about other figures in the book that are of particular interest, including some about Captain Moroni. In addition to those I address elsewhere, these observations range from the assertion that Captain Moroni slaughtered his political opponents in one instance, to his claim that Moroni is not depicted as “particularly religious,” to his claim that Moroni had a “quick temper.” The question is: Are such observations supported in the text? Carefully examining this question both shows the answer to be “no” and allows a deeper look into Captain Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: In his well-known volume about the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy focuses primarily on the book’s main narrators. However, he also makes a number of observations about other figures in the book that are of particular interest, including some about Captain Moroni. In addition to those I address elsewhere, these observations include the claim that Moroni lacked the typical religious virtues — which Hardy identifies as “humility, self-sacrifice, kindness, and relying upon the Lord.” They also include the assertion that Helaman, in his manifest reliance upon God, serves as a counterexample to Moroni’s military leadership. A close look at the text, however, indicates that both these claims are mistaken.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Review of Adam S. Miller, “Reading Signs or Repeating Symptoms,” in Christ and Antichrist: Reading Jacob 7, eds. Adam S. Miller and Joseph M. Spencer (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2017), 10 pages (chapter), 174 pages (book).
Abstract. The Neal A. Maxwell Institute recently published a volume on the encounter between Jacob and Sherem in Jacob 7. Adam Miller’s contribution to this book is a reiteration of views he published earlier in his own volume. One of Miller’s claims is that Jacob made a false prediction about the reaction Sherem would have to a sign if one were given him — an assertion that is already beginning to shape the conventional wisdom about this episode. This shaping is unfortunate, however, since the evidence indicates that this view of Jacob’s prediction is a mistake. Once we see this, it is easier to avoid other mistakes that seem evident in Miller’s approach.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Although it is common to believe that the Ammonites were pacifists, the report of their story demonstrates that this is a mistake. Appreciating the Ammonites’ non-pacifism helps us think more clearly about them, and it also explains several features of the text. These are textual elements that surprise us if we assume that the Ammonites were pacifists, but that make perfect sense once we understand that they were not. Moreover, in addition to telling us that the Ammonites were not pacifists, the text also gives us the actual reason the Ammonites came to eschew all conflict — and we learn from this why significant prophetic leaders (from King Benjamin to Alma to Mormon) did not reject the sword in the same way. The text also reveals the intellectual flaw in supposing that the Ammonites’ early acts of self-sacrifice set the proper example for all disciples to follow.
Moroni reports receiving a revelation in which the Lord told him, “If those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and iniquities, ye shall go up to battle against them” (Alma 60:33). Because Pahoran, the chief governor of the Nephites at the time, turns out to be innocent of the charges contained in Moroni’s revelation, it is easy to think that Moroni’s revelation is mistaken in some way. Textual clues, however, suggest the revelation and its accompanying epistle were directed not only to Pahoran but also to many other generals, who were likely guilty of the sins mentioned by Moroni. Thus, contrary to previous thinking, Moroni’s revelation may have, in fact, been accurate.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A natural tension seems to exist between two important features of the Book of Mormon. On one hand, Mormon includes in his record a version of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave to the Nephites—an address that sets the standard for discipleship and that contains teachings obviously opposed to violence. In it, we hear about not resisting evil, turning the other cheek, going another mile when compelled to go one, loving our enemies—and so forth (3 Ne. 12:39–44). On the other hand, Mormon also presents various Nephite leaders as righteous even though they were immersed in violence. Captain Moroni stands out among these leaders because his wartime activities dominate the last third of the book of Alma: we see him in significant detail. The juxtaposition of these two threads appears contradictory. We see righteous men, including prophetic figures, engaged in the very activities that the text itself seems to prohibit. And this apparent contradiction seems significant even though most of these leaders lived before the Sermon was even given. This is because it is natural to think of the Book of Mormon as a whole—as a collection of significant experiences and teachings that are consistent with one another and that together present a unified, divine message to the world. We thus expect to see the book’s most prominent leaders actually live the standard found in the book’s most prominent teachings— whether they actually possessed the Sermon on the Mount or not. And therein lies the problem. Although these prominent teachings clearly seem to be opposed to violence, we see these prominent leaders very much engaged in violence. It is not necessarily obvious how to resolve this tension. One strategy, of course, would be to ignore the tension and to simply avoid thinking about it. But a sacred text requires more from us than that. So the apparent disparity has to be faced. How is it possible to reconcile Captain Moroni with the Sermon on the Mount?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A symposium titled “The Gospel: The Foundation for a Professional Career Symposium” was held on Brigham Young University campus in March 2007. It was cosponsored by Religious Education and the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology. The purpose of the symposium was to emphasize how important it is for graduates of BYU to live the highest standards of morality and integrity as they leave campus and assume residency and employment in the world community. It was an opportunity to make principles taught by the Latter-day Saint faith find practical application in the lives of graduates. This volume contains the presentations from this symposium. “We live in most interesting times. Scandals in society and infamous episodes in the lives of respected leaders force us to ask hard questions about what matters in people’s lives. We must explore the difficult issue of whether leaders’ private morality is in any way related to their capacity to make responsible and moral judgments in our behalf.”—Robert L. Millet “Both by doctrine and by covenant, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are compelled to be men and women of character, honesty, and integrity in their personal and professional lives. As students attend Brigham Young University, graduate, and move out into the community and various chosen careers, they have an obligation to maintain the highest standards of integrity. In the workplace, whether they are employees or employers, they must be immune to improper incentives, social and corporate pressures, and shortcuts designed to enhance balance sheets at the expense of integrity and sound, acceptable business practices. “Integrity is a matter of behavior, sound thinking, and an attitude that honesty is essential to good business and engineering practices. Adherence to a code of professional integrity has its foundations in the doctrines of the Restoration, particularly the knowledge that we are all sons and daughters of God and face eventual accountability for our words, works, and thoughts (see Alma 12:14). Church membership compels Latter-day Saints to be trustworthy and immune from political, financial, or personal corruption in a world where such traits are fast losing ground to economic expediency and personal greed.”—The Editors ISBN 978-0-8425-2686-9
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Review of Kylie Nielson Turley, Alma 1–29: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 162 pages. $9.95 (paperback).
Abstract: Kylie Nielson Turley delves deep into the conversion and ministry of Alma the Younger, reading new life into a well-known narrative. By analyzing Alma’s story with the full weight of his humanity in mind, she breathes emotion into Alma’s conversion and missionary efforts. Her efforts to read Alma without a veneer of superhumanity result in a highly relatable figure who has known wickedness, repentance, loss, depression, and righteousness.
An overall view of the longest book in the Book of Mormon, the book of Alma, which covers thirty-nine years of Nephite history (91-52 B.C.). The theme of the entire book is that the pure testimony of Christ is mightier than politics or the sword in establishing peace and goodness.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > A — C > Conversion
RSC Topics > G — K > Hell
RSC Topics > G — K > Humility
RSC Topics > A — C > Conversion
RSC Topics > G — K > Hell
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > A — C > Conversion
Presents a life sketch of the Alma family, many of whom became prophets. The life of Alma the Younger is compared to the Apostle Paul—both were called upon to repent and became great missionaries for the Lord. The prophecies of Alma are among the most numerous, important, and interesting in the Book of Mormon, and his inspired advice to his sons contains many doctrinal matters. Helaman the son of Helaman, grandson of Alma, carried on the work of righteousness in spite of the Gadianton robbers. His son Nephi was a great prophet who paved the way for the visit of Christ in America. Nephi’s brother Lehi and Lehi’s son Nephi were also great leaders.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Presents a life sketch of the Alma family, many of whom became prophets. The life of Alma the Younger is compared to the Apostle Paul—both were called upon to repent and became great missionaries for the Lord. The prophecies of Alma are among the most numerous, important, and interesting in the Book of Mormon, and his inspired advice to his sons contains many doctrinal matters. Helaman the son of Helaman, grandson of Alma, carried on the work of righteousness in spite of the Gadianton robbers. His son Nephi was a great prophet who paved the way for the visit of Christ in America. Nephi’s brother Lehi and Lehi’s son Nephi were also great leaders.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The 48th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium Alma’s deeply personal writings to his sons contain some of the most informative doctrinal discussions in scripture. Originating out of the love and concern of a parent, these chapters present salient teachings on key gospel principles, proper behaviors, and correct theology. Here the pure doctrines of God’s merciful plan of redemption through his Son, Jesus Christ, are laid plain. This volume compiles essays given at a BYU Sidney B. Sperry Symposium. Drawing on both academic training and dedicated study of the scriptures, the authors in this volume provide valuable new contexts to understand Alma’s doctrinal expositions. Tad R. Callister, former Sunday School General President, was the keynote speaker. The diversity of scholarship from this book’s contributors provides this book with valuable new contexts to help readers understand Alma’s doctrinal expositions. The range of topics covered, and the contrasting perspectives will appeal to a broad audience and speak to many different people at different levels.
The end justifies the means, so these stories are designed to increase interest in the Book of Mormon. Hundreds of books have been written founded on the Bible, and there are some wonderfully colorful accounts of the founding of Christianity in Judea, Alexandria, and Rome. It is surprising that more has not been done dealing with the ancient history of the western world. Several of these stories were first published in the Improvement Era, and acknowledgment is made to that magazine for the encouragement it extended to the author, who traveled twice to Mexico and excavated among the ruins there to gain information at first hand. If any boy or girl, after perusing these pages, is inspired to turn direct to the beautiful and simple language of the Book of Mormon itself, the purpose of “The Cities of the Sun” has been accomplished.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
No abstract available.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Because it is primarily an Early Modern English text (in terms of its English language), the earliest text of the Book of Mormon understandably employs plural was — for example, “the words which was delivered” (Alma 5:11). It does so in a way that is substantially similar to what is found in many writings of the Early Modern period — that is, it manifests the syntactic usage, variation, and differential rates typical of that era.
Editor’s note: Because of the complex typesetting of this article, the rest of it has not been reproduced on this webpage. The reader is referred to the PDF version to view the entire article.
Abstract: In the middle of the 16th century there was a short-lived surge in the use of the auxiliary did to express the affirmative past tense in English, as in Moroni «did arrive» with his army to the land of Bountiful (Alma 52:18). The 1829 Book of Mormon contains nearly 2,000 instances of this particular syntax, using it 27% of the time in past-tense contexts. The 1611 King James Bible — which borrowed heavily from Tyndale’s biblical translations of the 1520s and ’30s — employs this syntax less than 2% of the time. While the Book of Mormon’s rate is significantly higher than the Bible’s, it is close to what is found in other English-language texts written mainly in the mid- to late 1500s. And the usage died out in the 1700s. So the Book of Mormon is unique for its time — this is especially apparent when features of adjacency, inversion, and intervening adverbial use are considered. Textual evidence and syntactic analysis argue strongly against both 19th-century composition and an imitative effort based on King James English. Book of Mormon past-tense syntax could have been achieved only by following the use of largely inaccessible 16th-century writings. But mimicry of lost syntax is difficult if not impossible, and so later writers who consciously sought to imitate biblical style failed to match its did-usage at a deep, systematic level. This includes Ethan Smith who in 1823 wrote View of the Hebrews, a text very different from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon in this respect. The same may be said about Hunt’s The Late War and Snowden’s The American Revolution.
Editor’s note: Because of the complex typesetting of this article, it has not been reproduced on this webpage. The reader is referred to the PDF version to view the article.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
As you leave your alma mater, you’ll carry many fond memories of your years on this campus. You’ll recall the long hours of hard work in the library and the lab, the sound of the national anthem in the morning and evening, and the teachers and the friends who have enriched your life.
Participle adjuncts in the Book of Mormon are compared with those in the other writings of Joseph Smith and with English in general. Participle adjuncts include present participle phrases, e.g., “having gained the victory over death” (Mosiah 15:8); present participle clauses, e.g., “he having four sons” (Ether 6:20), and a double-subject adjunct construction, known as the coreferential subject construction, where both subjects refer to the same thing, as in “Alma, being the chief judge . . . of the people of Nephi, therefore he went up with the people” (Alma 2:16). The Book of Mormon is unique in the occurrences of extremely long compound adjunct phrases and coreferential subject constructions, indicating that Joseph Smith used a very literal translation style for the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
I invite you to consider how you will demonstrate your trust in God throughout your lives. What will you do to show God that you trust Him above everything else—above your own wisdom and especially above the wisdom of the world?
This article suggests that contemporary near-death research casts light on several episodes in the Book of Mormon. Alma’s conversion while “nigh unto death” fits a common pattern of experience. Modern researchers have noticed distinctive aftereffects among those who have experienced a near-death experience (NDE). In the Book of Mormon, both Alma and the resurrected Christ demonstrate these aftereffects. Lehi’s dream invites comparison with the otherworld journey literature of many nations. Nephi’s interpretation of Lehi’s dream casts light on the tension between the literal and the symbolic elements of visionary experience. Finally, just as accurate out-of-body observations made by NDErs argued for the reality of their experiences, so the testable aspects of the Book of Mormon give Joseph Smith a significance apart from others who may have experienced similar visions.
A review of Deconstructing Mormonism: An Analysis and Assessment of the Mormon Faith (Cranford, N.J, American Atheist Press: 2011) by Thomas Riskas and of Myths, Models and Paradigms: A Comparative Study of Science and Religion (New York, Harper & Row: 1974) by Ian J. Barbour.
Abstract: Riskas’s Desconstructing Mormonism claims that believers are trapped in a box for which the instructions for how to get out are written on the outside of the box. He challenges believers to submit to an outsider test for faith. But how well does Riskas describe the insider test? And is his outsider test, which turns out to be positivism, just a different box with the instructions for how to get out written on its outside? Ian Barbour’s Myths Models and Paradigms provides instructions on how to get out of the positivistic box that Riskas offers, and at the same time provides an alternate outsider test that Mormon readers can use to assess what Alma refers to as “cause to believe.” The important thing, however, is that we are dealing here not with the old donnybrook between science and religion but with the ancient confrontation of Sophic and Mantic. The Sophic is simply the art of solving problems without the aid of any superhuman agency, which the Mantic, on the other hand, is willing to solicit or accept. ((Hugh Nibley, “Paths that Stray: Some Notes on the Sophic and Mantic” in Stephen Ricks, ed., The Ancient State, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, vol. 10 (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1991), 380-–381.)).
A manual containing forty- two lessons for teachers of adult Sunday School classes. Each lesson consists of: “(1) the object or purpose for which the lesson is taught, (2) lesson sections, each with a heading that indicates its content, and (3) suggested methods for presenting these sections” The manual contains charts and commentaries on selected passages.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A teacher’s manual for the adult Sunday School class written to enable the student “to become more familiar with the people, places, and events of the scriptures, [and] to feel more secure in using the scriptures to answer life’s questions”
Biographical sketches of ancient prophets, a continuation of the 1903-1904 manual (see above). Includes King Benjamin, Abinadi, Alma the Younger, Ammon, Mormon, and Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
In Alma 26:2, the Nephite Christian missionary Ammon asks his brothers, “What great blessings has [God] bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?” Having been quite successful in his endeavors, Ammon answers his own question by stating that he and his brothers “have been made instruments in the hands of God” (Alma 26:3). The phrasing seems self-explanatory: Ammon and his brothers are tools God uses to “bring about this great work’’ (Alma 26:3).1 Yet just a verse later, Ammon appears to confuse the metaphor when he commends his brothers: “The field is ripe and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might” (Alma 26:5). Here, it is not the missionaries who are instruments, but rather they are the ones who use instruments. Are Ammon and his brethren tools in the hands of God? Or do they use tools (sickles) to reap a harvest of souls? And what does it mean to be an “instrument”? Using this passage as a springboard, I will look more generally at the use of language concerning tools, instruments, and weapons in the writings attributed to Mormon in the Book of Mormon. Key, in my view, is a comparison, carefully woven, between the sons of Mosiah and the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
In Alma 21 a new group of troublemakers is introduced—the Amalekites—without explanation or introduction. This article offers arguments that this is the same group called Amlicites elsewhere and that the confusion is caused by Oliver Cowdery’s inconsistency in spelling. If this theory is accurate, then Alma structured his narrative record more tightly and carefully than previously realized. The concept also challenges the simplicity of the good Nephite/bad Lamanite rubric so often used to describe the players in the book of Mormon.
Some in the Church believe they can’t answer Alma’s question with a resounding yes. They do not “feel so now.”
Religious instruction has been central to Brigham Young University’s unique mission since the beginning. Religious Education faculty and staff members identify with those whose commission it was in ancient times “to teach the word of God among all the people” (Helaman 5:14; see also Alma 23:4; 38:15; 2 Timothy 4:2). Therefore, it has been their desire, as it was with two of Lehi’s sons, to teach . . . the word of God with all diligence” (Jacob 1:19). This book tells the story of BYU’s efforts to fulfill the Savior’s commission. ISBN 978-0-8425-2708-8
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
We have long heard of the “three R’s” of elementary education—reading, ”riting, and ”rithmetic. Similarly, a set of interrelated doctrines might be referred to as the three R’s of the Book of Mormon—restoration, redemption, and resurrection. In fact, we might add a fourth R, repentance, which is essential for the first two to function. Material for this chapter is drawn primarily from two experiences recorded in the book of Alma. First, Alma and Amulek confront a group of antagonistic lawyers in the wicked city of Ammonihah. Amulek’s response to Zeezrom’s hostile questioning is recorded in chapter 11. Then, as Alma the Younger neared the end of his life, he took time to give instructions to his three sons. Notice how he spent the most time with, and gave particularly profound teachings to, his wayward son Corianton—recorded in chapters 39–42. Apparently Alma agreed with the principle President Boyd K. Packer later annunciated—that “the study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.”
RSC Topics > D — F > Death
RSC Topics > G — K > Justice
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
RSC Topics > Q — S > Resurrection
A Jewish custom of blessing God after eating one’s fill at a meal is reflected in passing in Amulek’s household and when the resurrected Christ blesses the sacrament for the Nephites and thereafter instructs them to pray. They “gave glory to Jesus” on this occasion.
Old Testament Topics > Customs, Culture, and Ritual
Deals with the story of Ammon, the son of Mosiah, who served King Lamoni, and the subsequent conversion of the king, his family, and the people (Alma 17-19).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Quoting the book of Alma pericope regarding the refusal of the newly converted Anti-Nephi-Lehies to take up arms against their antagonists, the author pleads for peace during the First World War.
The mortal Savior was not man, not human (Alma 34:10). Infinite and eternal, he received his physical life not from a son of Adam but from the Father of Adam, God. He took upon himself the image of man, but in truth he was the model, not the copy. Though mortal, he was still God, able to suffer and to redeem as only a god could. He was Son, because he received physical life from his Father, and Father, because he used his divine powers to give eternal life to others. Though not man, he experienced mortality, which allowed him to understand and love mortals.
Alma’s sermon at Ammonihah includes a remarkable passage (Alma 13:1–9) that contains a main chiasm as well as four shorter chiasms and four alternates. It also uses synonymia, cycloides, repetition, and an important Nephite idiom (rest). In addition, this passage explains the doctrine of the priesthood and the eternal nature of Christ in conjunction with the priesthood, and introduces the doctrines of a preparatory redemption and the rest of God.
The first section of this work focuses on “the political theory of the Book of Mormon” Several political aspects are treated, including the founding of the Nephite republic (Mosiah 29:10-29), the welfare of the state (Alma 4:11-12, 15-20), and the ideal Christian society (4 Nephi 1-3, 16-17).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Abstract: Some students of the Book of Mormon have claimed that chapter 36 of the book of Alma is structured as a chiasm. Some of the proposals depart from perfect symmetry, presenting elements of the suggested chiasm seemingly out of sequence. This has often been pointed to as a weakness in the proposed chiasm or as a problem arising from translation or editorial work, or even as evidence that no real chiasm exists over the text of the chapter. Perhaps, however, asymmetry may be a deliberate feature of ancient chiasmus. Understanding the presence and role of occasional asymmetry or skews, as they are called, may help us better appreciate the rhetorical tools employed in crafting chiastic texts anciently. In particular, we can see that the structure of Alma 36 may well be a beautifully crafted chiasmus featuring what may be an intentional skew similar to those that scholars have identified elsewhere in scripture. One such other chiastic text with a skew in it appears to be Deuteronomy 8. Indeed, one skew proposed in Alma 36, together with conceptual and other structural characteristics of the text, including the proposed chiasm of the text, perhaps suggests that some of the message and structure of Deuteronomy 8 may have served as a model for part of the message and structure of Alma 36.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The accounts of the Anti-Christ, Korihor, and of Alma’s mission to the Zoramites raise a variety of apparently unanswered questions. These involve Korihor’s origins, the reason for the similarity of his beliefs to those of the Zoramites, and why he switched so quickly from an atheistic attack to an agnostic plea. Another intriguing question is whether it was actually the devil himself who taught him what to say and sent him on a mission to the land of Zarahemla — or was it a surrogate of the devil or a human “devil” such as, perhaps, Zoram? Final questions are how Korihor ended up in Antionum, why the Zoramites would kill a disabled beggar, and why nobody seemed to have mourned his violent death or possibly unrighteous execution. There are several hints from the text that suggest possible answers to these intriguing questions. Some are supported by viewing the text from a parallelistic or chiastic perspective.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: A favorite scripture of many faithful saints is Alma 7 where it describes how the Savior came to Earth to understand, in the flesh, not only human sin, but human suffering. He did this in order to succor and heal us. Despite its obvious appeal, two points may seem curious to some readers. First, the doctrinal power of verses 11–13, which form a chiasm, has as its apex not the “mercy in succoring us,” as might be expected, but the “in the flesh” detail. Why? Upon closer examination, it appears that, in addition to performing the Atonement, Christ needed a mortal experience in order to add a complete experiential knowledge to his omniscient cognitive knowledge. That could only be obtained, in its fulness, “according to the flesh,” hence the emphasis in the chiasm. A second possible curiosity is that Alma ends his beautiful teaching with his brief testimony, which lends an air of closure. Then, the topic appears to change completely and seemingly inexplicably to a discussion of repentance and baptism. Again, why? Closer examination reveals that the next two verses (14–15) form a second chiasm. If the first chiasm can be viewed as a statement of what Christ offers us, the second may be viewed as what we offer Christ. He runs to us in 7:11–13; we run to him in 7:14–15. When viewed together, the two chiasms form a two-way covenantal relationship, which Alma promises will result in our eternal salvation.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > A — C > Atonement of Jesus Christ
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > D — F > Death
RSC Topics > G — K > Justice
RSC Topics > L — P > Mercy
RSC Topics > Q — S > Salvation
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
Violence and non-violence in the Book of Mormon is examined including the killing of Laban (1 Nephi 4), the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies (Alma 24) and King Benjamin’s address (Mosiah 4).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A young woman was touched by Alma 34:28 as she read it to a group of deaf visitors to Temple Square who had requested that she read it. It speaks of those who turn away the needy and warns that their prayers are in vain.
RSC Topics > A — C > Bishop
RSC Topics > D — F > Forgiveness
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Repentance
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
An aerial photograph of a defensive wall in Peru that “extends roughly due east from the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Santa River” It is compared with Alma 50:9- 11.
We hope you are men who are “true at all times in whatsoever thing [you are] entrusted.” [Alma 53:20] … I plead for greater consistency between our beliefs and actions.
Children’s flannel board story of Alma and the people he baptized at the waters of Mormon, and Alma the Younger’s conversion.
RSC Topics > Q — S > Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A fictional book about the sons of Helaman based upon the Book of Mormon (Alma 24, 53, 56, 57, 62, and 63).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The text of the King James Bible plays a significant role in the composition of the Book of Mormon. While there have been studies that have attempted to identify what biblical passages are present in the Book of Mormon, not nearly enough effort has been spent exploring how those passages are used throughout the text. For example, one can readily identify the textual parallels between Alma 5:48 and John 1: 14, due to the sharing of phrases such as “full of grace and truth’’ and “only-begotten son:’ This type of research is useful in and of itself. But simply identifying what passages the texts share in common without exploring how the Book of Mormon integrates the biblical text into its own textual composition leaves a great deal unexplored.
Color illustrations for children of scenes from Alma’s sermon on faith.
An illustrated story for children of Korihor (Alma 30). There is a caption under each picture summarizing the related scriptures.
Alma was a great statesman, judge, theologian, and missionary. His message of salvation and prophecies of Jesus had a great impact on the people of many cities.
Ammon, his brothers, and Alma2, once persecutors of the church, were called to repentance by an angel of the Lord. Ammon later spent fourteen years in missionary service to the Lamanites, thousands of whom were converted to the gospel.
It was during Mosiah’s reign that Zeniff’s group returned to the land of Nephi. Upon the return of both the people of Zeniff and Alma, the great statesmanship and wisdom of King Mosiah was most apparent. He stressed the responsibility of each man in a democratic society to bear his share in the decisions, cost, and labor of government.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Much has been written about the Book of Mormon’s prominent heroes, such as Nephi, Abinadi, and Alma — but what about the many other characters who played a part in this sacred scripture? This fascinating illustrated book gives vivid glimpses into ancient America through those who had relatively minor roles in the scriptural narrative yet mighty influence and impact between its lines. Engaging text and more than 100 full-color illustrations, timelines, and maps bring to life the contributions of memorable figures such as Aminadab, Zeniff, and Lib, as well as usually unheralded female characters such as the faithful Nephite daughters, Lamoni’s wife, and the maidservant of Morianton. At the beginning of each chapter, author and artist James Fullmer references the key scriptural passages, and at the end of each chapter, he shares insight into the creative decisions that shaped his unique approach. Come along for an unforgettable journey that will excite readers of all ages, inspire them to take a closer look at the Book of Mormon, and help them more fully appreciate this sacred testament of Jesus Christ.
The author rewrites, on a child’s level, topics such as Lehi’s vision and journey into the wilderness, Nephi and the brass plates, Nephi building a ship, the faith of Jacob, Abinadi, Alma, Amulek, Ammon, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, Helaman, Samuel the Lamanite, the brother of Jared, and Moroni hiding the brass plates.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
A children’s story of how Alma believed Abinadi and then organized the Church of Christ after preaching in secret to the people.
A children’s story of the angel that appeared to Alma the Younger and the four sons of Mosiah and how they were converted by this experience.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the sixth installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope you find it helpful.]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Writing
Review of Royal Skousen, Robin Scott Jensen, eds., The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations Volume 3, Part 1: Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi–Alma 35 (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2015). pp 575. $89.99.
Abstract: All of the volumes in the Joseph Smith Papers series are beautifully presented, with important photographic and excellent typographic versions of the texts. This volume continues by providing this treatment for the Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Review of Heroes from the Book of Mormon (1995), by Deseret Book
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The Liahona’s faith-based functionality and miraculous appearance have often been viewed as incongruous with natural law. This paper attempts to reconcile the Liahona to scientific law by displaying similarities between its apparent mechanisms and ancient navigation instruments called astrolabes. It further suggests the Liahona may have been a wedding dowry Ishmael provided to Lehi’s family. The paper displays the integral connection Nephi had to the Liahona’s functionality and how this connection more clearly explains the lack of faith displayed by Nephi’s band during the journey than traditional conceptions of its faith-based functionality.
“Yet I will say with regard to miracles, there is no such thing save to the ignorant — that is, there never was a result wrought out by God or by any of His creatures without there being a cause for it. There may be results, the causes of which we do not see or understand, and what we call miracles are no more than this — they are the results or effects of causes hidden from our understandings … [I]t is hard to get the people to believe that God is a scientific character, that He lives by science or strict law, that by this He is, and by law He was made what He is; and will remain to all eternity because of His faithful adherence to law. It is a most difficult thing to make the people believe that every art and science and all wisdom comes from Him, and that He is their Author.”
— Brigham Young.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The complete Book of Mormon has been translated into Japanese no fewer than three times. The first translation was done by a young American missionary, Alma O. Taylor, the second by Sat Tatsui, the first native Japanese person to undertake the challenge, and the third after World War II by a committee appointed by the First Presidency. The challenges of translating concepts such as God, Spirit, or atonement into a language that shares no linguistic or cultural commonalities with the language of the inspired translation of the Book of Mormon are overwhelming. When attempting to communicate in a culture that does not acknowledge supreme deity or the kinship connection between God and man or life after death, a simple concept such as damnation can be challenging to convey. In addition, dramatic changes have occurred in the Japanese language over past century. The written Japanese language has changed with a rapidity that is unfathomable in English.
Abstract: Modern readers too often misunderstand ancient narrative. Typical of this incomprehension has been the inclination of modern biblical critics to view repetitions as narrative failures. Whether you call such repetitions types, narrative analogies, type scenes, midrashic recurrences, or numerous other names, this view of repeated elements has dominated modern readings of Hebraic narratives for at least 200 years. Robert Alter, who introduced a new yet antique understanding of repetitions in the Hebrew Bible in the 1980s, began to reverse this trend. Such repeated elements aren’t failures or shortcomings but are themselves artistic clues to narrative meaning that call readers to appreciate the depth of the story understood against the background of allusion and tradition. Richard Hays has brought similar insights to Christian scripture. The Book of Mormon incorporates the same narrative features as are present in other Hebraic narrative. The ancient rabbis highlighted the repeating elements in biblical narrative, noting that “what happens to the fathers, happens to the sons.” The story of Moroni’s raising the standard of liberty in Alma 46 illustrates the repetitive expectation by seeing the events of the biblical Joseph’s life repeated in the lives of these Nephite descendants of Joseph. Such recurrence in narratives can, considering the insights of Alter and Hays, reveal richness and depth in the narrative without detracting from the historical qualities of the text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Review of James E. Faulconer, Mosiah: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 135 pages. $9.95 (paperback).Abstract: The Maxwell Institute for the Study of Religion has released another book in its series The Book of Mormon: Brief Theological Introductions. This book by James E. Faulconer more than ably engages five core elements of the book of Mosiah, exploring their theological implications. Faulconer puzzles through confusing passages and elements: why is the book rearranged so that it isn’t in chronological order? What might King Benjamin mean when he refers to the nothingness of humans? And what might Abinadi mean when he declares that Christ is both the Father and the Son? The most interesting parts of the introduction to Mosiah are those chapters that sort through the discussion of politics as both Alma1 and Mosiah2 sort out divine preferences in constitutional arrangements as the Nephites pass through a political revolution that shifts from rule by kings to rule by judges. Faulconer asserts that no particular political structure is preferred by God; in the chapter about economic arrangements, Faulconer (as in his analysis of political constitutions) asserts that deity doesn’t endorse any particular economic relationship.
My kingdom is not of this world.
John 18:36
I believe in God, but I detest theocracy. For every Government consists of mere men and is, strictly viewed, a makeshift; if it adds to its commands “Thus saith the Lord,” it lies, and lies dangerously.
C.S. Lewis, “Is Progress Possible”
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8‒9
Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is
impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him;
wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.
Jacob 4:8.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The story often referred to as Alma’s conversion narrative is too often interpreted as a simplistic plagiarism of Paul’s conversion-to-Christianity story in the book of Acts. Both the New and Old Testaments appropriate an ancient narrative genre called the prophetic commissioning story. Paul’s and Alma’s commissioning narratives hearken back to this literary genre, and to refer to either as pilfered is to misunderstand not just these individual narratives but the larger approach Hebraic writers used in composing biblical and Book of Mormon narrative. To the modern mind the similarity in stories triggers explanations involving plagiarism and theft from earlier stories and denies the historicity of the narratives; ancient writers — especially of Hebraic narrative — had a quite different view of such concerns. To deny the historical nature of the stories because they appeal to particular narrative conventions is to impose a mistaken modern conceptual framework on the texts involved. A better and more complex grasp of Hebraic narrative is a necessary first step to understanding these two (and many more) Book of Mormon and biblical stories.
The idea of conversion has both a history and a geography.1
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The Book of Mosiah records events from 200 B.C. to 91 B.C. and is chronologically complex. It is filled with rich religious symbolism and significant political events. The text includes King Benjamin’s address, the records of Zeniff, Alma the Elder, and Mosiah, and the first reference to the Jaredites. Its underlying theme emphasizes deliverance from physical and/or spiritual bondage.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Modern readers too often and easily misread modern assumptions into ancient texts. One such notion is that when the reader encounters repeated stories in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Herodotus, or numerous other texts, the obvious explanation that requires no supporting argument is that one text is plagiarizing or copying from the other. Ancient readers and writers viewed such repetitions differently. In this article, I examine the narratives of a young woman or girl dancing for a king with the promise from the ruler that whatever the dancer wants, she can request and receive; the request often entails a beheading. Some readers argue that a story in Ether 8 and 9, which has such a dance followed by a decapitation, is plagiarized from the gospels of Mark and Matthew: the narrative of the incarceration and death of John the Baptist. The reader of such repeated stories must study with a mindset more sympathetic to the conceptual world of antiquity in which such stories claim to be written. Biblical and Book of Mormon writers viewed such repetitions as the way God works in history, for Nephi asserts that “the course of the Lord is one eternal round” (1 Nephi 10:19), a claim he makes barely after summarizing his father’s vision of the tree of life, a dream he will repeat, expand upon, and make his own in 1 Nephi chapters 11–15 (and just because it is developed as derivative from his father’s dream in some way, no reader suggests it be taken as a plagiaristic borrowing). Nephi’s worldview is part of the shared mental system illustrated by his eponymous ancestor — Joseph, who gave his name to the two tribes of Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh, the latter through which Lehi traced his descent (Alma 10:3) — for youthful Joseph boasts two dreams of his ascendance over his family members, interprets the two dreams of his fellow inmates, and articulates the meaning of Pharaoh’s two dreams, followed by his statement of meaning regarding such [Page 2]repetitions: “And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (Genesis 41:32). O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know the dancer from the dance? W. B. Yeats “Among the Schoolchildren”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Children’s story of Captain Moroni and Amalickiah, based on Alma 46.
Contemporary Mormon interpretive literature emphasizes atrocities found in scripture, with little attention as to whether they are morally defensible (e.g., the near sacrifice of Isaac, the execution by fire of Alma and Amulek’s converts, and the conquest of Caanan). Notes a strain in Mormonism that argues for a God who, in order to strengthen humanity, arranges events that infiict great pain and suffering, especially on the faithful. He then outlines a set of core ethical paradigms. [R.H.B.]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: This paper is composed of three parts connected consecutively because their conclusions build upon each other. The first part investigates the transportation methods used in the Book of Mormon, concluding that horse and river travel contributed little and that foot travel dominated all journeying. The second part uses that conclusion to estimate the overall dimensions of the Promised Land by examining Alma the Elder’s journey from Nephi to Zarahemla. This exercise reaffirms the 200-by-500-mile size promoted by John L. Sorenson decades ago. The third part looks at four ramifications of this 100,000 square-mile Promised Land footprint when stamped upon a map of the Western Hemisphere. (1) It allows for more than one Promised Land (occupied by other God-led immigrants) to exist simultaneously in the Americas. (2) It predicts that no matter where the Book of Mormon Promised Land was originally located, most Native Americans today would have few or no direct ties to the Jaredites-Lehites-Mulekites. (3) It demonstrates that research efforts to identify evidence of the Book of Mormon peoples could be exploring locations thousands of miles away from their original settlements. And (4) If any of the post-400 ce localized population losses in the Americas due to disease, war, or unknown causes involved the original Promised Land location, then the primary locus of organic evidence of the existence of the Jaredite-Lehite-Mulekite populations might have been largely destroyed.
In Alma 42, Alma is explaining God’s just treatment of sinners. His explanation can be applied to modern questions regarding God’s justice, as in Alber Camus’s book The Rebel, wherein Dostoievski’s Ivan Karamazov thinks God is unjust not to save everyone and he (Ivan) refuses to be saved without the damned.
This article discusses how Alma 31:16-18 contains the prayer offered by the apostate Zoramites. They declare themselves the chosen and elect of God. 1 Nephi 1:20 tells us that the chosen are such because of their faith. Alma adds repentance and good works to faith (Alma 13:1, 3-4, 10). “The Lord chooses those who in faith choose him!”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
This article states that experiencing soul satisfying circumstances is better when one is not alone. Sharing such experiences with loved ones increases the satisfaction, as is exemplified in the Book of Mormon. Examples of such phenomena include Lehi, who tastes of the fruit of the Tree of Life and desires to share; Enos, who prays for his brethren; and the sons of Mosiah and Alma, who shared their experiences as missionaries following their conversion.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Provides an outline for studying the Book of Mormon from 1 Nephi through the Book of Alma. Gives a summary of each section and a list of “vital lessons” that may be learned, i.e., the mysteries of God, purpose of the Book of Mormon, tree of life, etc.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > A — C > Conversion
RSC Topics > L — P > Missionary Work
RSC Topics > T — Z > Teaching the Gospel
Hardy hypothesizes that the misplacement of Alma 13:16 (which, he proposes, actually belongs three verses earlier) is an example of a mistake in handwriting and copying known as homoeoteleuton.
RSC Topics > D — F > Faith
The Book of Mormon is clearly a didactic text, with its narrators using plainness, explicitness, and repetition to keep the message clear and straightforward. However, Hardy offers a more in-depth analysis of the text’s rhetorical design that also reveals it as a literary text. The Book of Mormon is both a primer for judgment and a guidebook for sanctification. Parallel narratives are compared through clusters of similar narrative elements or phrasal borrowing between the multiple accounts. In Mosiah, Mormon tells the story of the bondage and delivery of Alma and his people after recounting the story of the bondage of the people of Limhi. Hardy explains that ambiguity, indirection, comparison, and allusions are all used to suggest the larger context of these two narratives. The ability to read the book as a guidebook for sanctification, rather than just as a straightforward didactic primer, will provide insight and guidance in the process of living a faithful life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Discusses what the Book of Mormon says about war. God has forbidden the shedding of blood (Ether 8:9). However, he does not command men to subject themselves to bondage, but rather to protect their freedom (Alma 6:9-14).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
A polemical work against the Book of Mormon, declaring that the Book of Mormon is a wicked book that has deceived millions. Raises many issues, including inconsistencies of the Book of Mormon, the killing of Laban by Nephi, and “Book of Mormon fairy tales” and compares the lives of Paul and Alma.
Review of The Book of Mormon: Alma, The Testimony of the Word (1992), edited by Monte S. Numan and Charles D. Tate Jr.
Each of the four volumes features a cassette tape and a coloring book based upon Book of Mormon stories. Vol. 1, Lehi leaves Jerusalem; Vol. 2, Lehi with the Liahona; Vol. 3, Alma Baptizes at Waters of Mormon; Vol. 4, The Savior blesses the children.
Twelve essays based on Book of Mormon teachings that establish the concepts and principles of the Bible. Jesus Christ is the mediator; the pure in heart will come unto Christ; it is required that we forgive one another because of Christ’s Atonement; Alma speaks of the Fall of Adam, the birth of Christ, and the law of Moses; Samuel the Lamanite testifies of Christ; Christ teaches in the land Bountiful; Mormon reveals the God of miracles; Ether teaches of faith; Moroni teaches the way to judge good and evil and exhorts all to come unto Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Examines the chiastic structure of Alma 13:68-14:1 (RLDS versification) to better understand the geographical information contained in the passage.
Poetic analysis of Alma’s words in the Book of Mormon provides insight into the meaning of word “joy”
Notes that the phrase “state of awful woundedness” (1 Nephi 13:32) in the original and printer’s manuscripts was replaced in the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon with the phrase “state of awful blindness” Then Heater references Alma 32 and writes concerning the power of the word.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Report of debates between the two authors. Subject matter concerns the cognizance of the mind beyond the grave. References are made to Alma and his experiences. Pejorative comments are made about the character of Joseph Smith and the Three Witnesses.
The word resurrection is employed at varying frequencies in specific books and by individual writers in the Book of Mormon. Although Alma uses resurrection most often overall, Abinadi uses it more often per thousand words spoken. Some phrases in which resurrection is used in unique patterns by different speakers include power of the resurrection, first resurrection, and resurrection with the words time or with body. Some phrasal uses of resurrection in the Book of Mormon are not found in the Bible (such as resurrection and presence appearing together). This study of the usage of one individual word appears to show that individual voices are preserved in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Tells about Heyerdahl’s attempt to find evidence that the Polynesians came from South America. Notes that one of the Galapagos Islands grows a species of cotton known to have been cultivated in pre- Columbian northern Peru. Statement about Hagoth (Alma 63) accompanies the article.
Compares the changes of a number of LDS editions of the Book of Mormon, including the first three editions (1830, 1837, and 1840) published under the direction of Joseph Smith, the third British edition (1852) edited by Franklin D. Richards, Orson Pratt’s 1879 revision that introduced a new chapter and verse system, and James E. Talmage’s 1920 version. The author displays 156 textual differences between these editions. Only a sampling of differences is provided with no intent to be systematic or complete.
The Zoramite narratives of Alma 31-35 and Alma 43-44 are richly symbolic accounts woven with many subtle details regarding the imporatnce of costly apparel and riches as an outward evidence of pride. This literary analysis focuses on how Mormon as editor structured the Zoramite narrative and used clothing as a metaphor to show the dangers of pride and the blessings afforded by humble adherence to God’s teachings and covenants. The Zoramite’s pride--as evidenced by their focus on costly apparel, gold, silver, and fine goods (Alma 31:24-25, 28)--competes with the foundational Book of Mormon teaching that the obedient will “ prosper in the land” (1 Nephi 4:14; Mosiah 1:7). The story deveops this tension between pride and true prosperity by employing the metaphor of clothing to set up several dramatic ironies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The name Alma appears more frequently in the Book of Mormon than any other name besides Nephi. The name has a logical derivation from a Hebrew root that means “youth” or “lad.”
Despite sporadic attempts to sideline the name Mormon in favor of “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints,” it continues to be used as the most ubiquitous moniker for the Church. Members of the Church are known as “Mormons.” It appears in the title of the keystone publication of the Restoration, The Book of Mormon. Within the book bearing this name, Mormon is, firstof all, the name of the waters in the forest of Mormon (Mosiah 18:8; Alma 5:3) in the land of Mormon (Mosiah 18:30). Of course, Mormon is also the name of the military leader who abridged the Nephite records (Words of Mormon 1:1, 3; Mormon 1:1; 2:1).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The title of liberty fashioned by Moroni represented a rallying point for those who would defend the most cherished aspects of Nephite culture: families, religion, peace, and freedom. A key facet of the title of liberty incident is its deep-rooted martial setting, suggesting that the title of liberty functioned as a war banner. Numerous aspects of the title of liberty episode related to warfare and battle standards fit comfortably in an ancient Mesoamerican context. Additionally, various linguistic and poetic features in the details surrounding the title of liberty in Alma 46 closely correlate to Mesoamerican traditions, indicative of a common cultural origin.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The 48th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium Alma’s deeply personal writings to his sons contain some of the most informative doctrinal discussions in scripture. Originating out of the love and concern of a parent, these chapters present salient teachings on key gospel principles, proper behaviors, and correct theology. Here the pure doctrines of God’s merciful plan of redemption through his Son, Jesus Christ, are laid plain. This volume compiles essays given at a BYU Sidney B. Sperry Symposium. Drawing on both academic training and dedicated study of the scriptures, the authors in this volume provide valuable new contexts to understand Alma’s doctrinal expositions. Tad R. Callister, former Sunday School General President, was the keynote speaker. The diversity of scholarship from this book’s contributors provides this book with valuable new contexts to help readers understand Alma’s doctrinal expositions. The range of topics covered, and the contrasting perspectives will appeal to a broad audience and speak to many different people at different levels. ISBN 978-1-9443-9484-4
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
An collection of essays on themes from the first half of the Book of Mormon. This work is reviewed in R.258.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A collection of essays on themes found in the second half of the Book of Mormon.
Argues that there is “a connection between the Nephite monetary system, as detailed in the Book of Mormon (Alma 11:3-19), and the Egyptian wedjat-eye system of measuring grain” The Nephites altered a pattern of measuring money from the Near East.
The article discusses hospitality in religious texts, focusing on the importance of hospitality in the Book of Mormon. Other topics include instances of hospitality in the Old Testament, examples of hospitality in stories from the Book of Mormon including Nephi and Zoram, Alma and Amulek, and Ammon and Aaron, and hospitality in the Book of Mormon homiliaries.
A story for children telling of the conversion of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah (Mosiah 27, 29 and Alma 2-8) and relating the ministry of Alma the Younger in Ammonihah (Alma 13-15).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A story for children depicting Ammon teaching the gospel to King Lamoni and recounting the testimony of Abish (Alma 19).
A children’s story of Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom (Alma 11-15, 31).
The conversion of Alma, priest of Noah and his ministry at the waters of Mormon (Mosiah 18:23-25) is the topic of this children’s story.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A children’s story recalling the experiences of Gideon (Mosiah 19-22; Alma 1; 2:20; 6:7).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Alma refers to Gazelem in his instructions to his son Helaman in Alma 37:23. This article proposes and explores the concept of identifying Gazelem as a Jaredite seer. Other theories of the identity of Gazelem are addressed in this article but not explored in depth. It discusses the full context of Alma’s words, the Jaredite secret combinations and their oaths, Gazelem’s seer stone, and the Nephite interpreters. Additionally, it proposes a possible timeline that Gazelem lived among the Jaredites. It also discusses the usage of “Gazelam” as a substitute name for Joseph Smith in early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: In 1 Nephi 1:16–17, Nephi tells us he is abridging “the record of my father.” The specific words Nephi uses in his writings form several basic but important patterns and features used repeatedly by Nephi and also by other Book of Mormon writers. These patterns and features provide context that appears to indicate that Nephi’s abridgment of Lehi’s record is the third-person account found in 1 Nephi 1:4 through 2:15 and that Nephi’s first-person account of his own ministry begins in 1 Nephi 2:16.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: This essay demonstrates that the key prophetic matakite dreams and visions of at least the nine nineteenth-century East Coast Māori seers appear to have been (and should continue to be) fulfilled surprisingly by the coming of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to New Zealand. There are lessons for current and future Latter-day Saint leaders and missionaries to reflect on this little-known history on the nineteenth-century Māori conversions to the restored Church.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.
See Robert Joseph, “The Lord Will Not Forget Them! Māori Seers and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nineteenth-Century New Zealand,” in Remembrance and Return: Essays in Honor of Louis C. Midgley, ed. Ted Vaggalis and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2021), 323–68. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/remembrance-and-return/.]Blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yes I say, blessed be the name of my God who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.
Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth.
Alma 26:36–37.
When Alma the Younger returned to Zarahemla following his mission to the Zoramites, “he caused that his sons should be gathered together, that he might give unto them every one his charge, separately, concerning the things pertaining to righteousness” (Alma 35:16). The Book of Mormon contains a significantly larger amount of counsel from Alma to his wayward son Corianton than to Helaman and Shiblon.
Within Alma’s teachings, we discover a concise explanation of the Fall of Adam and three elements necessary to reclaim each individual from the Fall, namely, death, the Atonement, and the Resurrection. This chapter will discuss the Fall of Adam and these three elements in Alma’s teachings to Corianton and also in the inspired teachings of modern apostles and prophets. This chapter will conclude that we can control only one of the three elements necessary to reclaim mankind from the Fall: whether we use the Atonement to repent of our sins and forgive others.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > D — F > Death
RSC Topics > D — F > Fall of Adam and Eve
RSC Topics > Q — S > Resurrection
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
RSC Topics > T — Z > Virtue
RSC Topics > G — K > Gold Plates
A youth oriented defense of the Book of Mormon and a justification for the drama referred to in the title.
When we think of the doctrine of Zion as taught in the Book of Mormon, our minds often turn to 4 Nephi. The book describes in a few verses a society organized around the principles taught by the Savior to a righteous remnant of Nephites and Lamanites at the temple in Bountiful. Some important characteristics of this community of Christians were faith, family, hope, peace, security, and happiness. Indeed, Mormon powerfully asserts that “there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God”. Imagine that! They were happier than the citizens of the city of Enoch, happier than Mechizedek’s city of Salem. This Book of Mormon Zion had been foretold from the time Lehi and his family left Jerusalem. In preparation for that great day, crucial principles about Zion were regularly taught by prophets like King Benjamin and Alma the Elder. But the Book of Mormon was written for our day to assist us in preparing for the building of our Zion. And so the Book of Mormon calls us to come unto Christ and take upon His name by building Zion, which is founded on the principles of equality, unity, covenants, and priesthood organization.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
RSC Topics > L — P > Peace
RSC Topics > L — P > Priesthood
RSC Topics > T — Z > Unity
RSC Topics > T — Z > Zion
Shows the correlation between the Book of Mormon identification of Christ as the “Word of Truth” (Alma 18:12, RLDS versification) and the Hebrew term for truth (’emeth).
In the Old Testament there is a four-part pattern used by prophets in prophesying: “(1) identification of sin, (2) need for repentance, (3) judgment of God (if people do not repent), and (4) future in Christ” The article shows how Samuel the Lamanite, Alma, Lehi, and Abinadi followed this pattern.
One way to read the Book of Mormon is to be attentive to ways in which it comes across as a translated text. Being mindful of this is wise, because all translations—even inspired translations—lose something of the primary language, particularly as meanings shift when words are rendered into the vocabulary or idioms of the target language. While the exact nature of the original language used by Abinadi, Ammon, Aaron, or Mormon is unknown, the English text of the Book of Mormon gives helpful hints. Two passages (1 Ne. 1:2 and Morm. 9:32–33) suggest that Egyptian and Hebrew elements were found in the language used by Book of Mormon speakers and writers, which allows present-day scholars to look for places where the current translation displays these elements. This article suggests a possible connection between three Book of Mormon passages and a Hebrew word with a wide semantic range—a range that appears to be reflected quite purposefully in the English translation of these three passages in the books of Mosiah and Alma. That Hebrew word is netzach.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: The distinctive Mormon conception of God makes possible a logically coherent reconciliation of the facially incompatible laws of justice and mercy. The Book of Mormon prophet Alma clearly explains how these two great laws may be reconciled through the atonement and repentance that the atonement makes possible. Alma artfully illustrates the relationship between justice and mercy in a carefully crafted theological poem.
Abstract: Mormon is a historian with a literary sensibility and considerable literary skill. Though his core message is readily apparent to any competent reader, his history nevertheless rewards close reading. Its great scope means that much that is said must be said by implication. And its witness of Christ is sometimes expressed through subtle narrative parallels or through historical allegory. This article focuses on parallel narratives that feature Ammon1 and Ammon2, with special attention to the allegorical account of Ammon2 at the waters of Sebus. To fully comprehend the power of the testimony of Christ that Mormon communicates in his Ammon narratives, readers must glean from textual details an understanding of the social and political context in which the narratives unfold. ((Peter Eubanks, Brant Gardner, Grant Hardy, and two reviewers at Interpreter read and helpfully commented on an a previous draft of this article.)).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: While some scholars have suggested that the doctrine of theosis — the transformation of human beings into divine beings — emerged only in Nauvoo, the essence of the doctrine was already present in the Book of Mormon, both in precept and example. The doctrine is especially well developed in 1 Nephi, Alma 19, and Helaman 5. The focus in 1 Nephi is on Lehi and Nephi’s rejection of Deuteronomist reforms that erased the divine Mother and Son, who, that book shows, are closely coupled as they, the Father, and Holy Ghost work to transform human beings into divine beings. The article shows that theosis is evident in the lives of Lehi, Sariah, Sam, Nephi, Alma, Alma2, Ammon2, Lamoni, Lamoni’s wife, Abish, and especially Nephi2. The divine Mother’s participation in the salvation of her children is especially evident in Lehi’s dream, Nephi’s vision, and the stories of Abish and the Lamanite Queen.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
“There will be adequate opportunities for unavoidable error and disappointment; we need not reach out affirmatively to create them.”
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
Discusses the Tower of Babel, Nimrod, and the Jaredites and argues that the Gazelem mentioned in the book of Alma is the brother of Jared.
An admonitional speech encouraging individuals to regard the Book of Mormon with resolution. The stories relating Alma’s encounter with Korihor and Alma’s parting words to his three sons are recalled. The Book of Mormon is vital to our spiritual condition.
Abstract: A recent graduate thesis proposes an intriguing new means for discerning if the Book of Mormon is historic or not. By looking at Book of Mormon references to David and the Psalms, the author concludes that it cannot be the product of an ancient Jewish people and that it is, instead, the result of Joseph Smith’s “plagiarism” from the Bible and other sources. This paper examines the author’s claims, how they are applied to the Book of Mormon, and proposes points the author does not take into consideration. While the author is to be congratulated for taking a fresh perspective on the Book of Mormon, ultimately his methodology fails and his conclusions fall flat.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Abstract: Janus parallelism, a tool evident in ancient Hebrew poetry, is documented at some length by Scott B. Noegel in Janus Parallelism in the Book of Job, which I recently reviewed. Since the authorship of Job predates the removal of the Lehites from Jerusalem, this tool may have been available to writers in the Book of Mormon. While we do not have the original text to analyze wordplays in the original language, it may be possible to apply some of the cases considered by Noegel to find remnants of related “polysensuous” wordplays that might have been present in the original text or to consider other previously proposed wordplays that may include a Janus-like aspect.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Job
Abstract: In light of Noel Reynolds’ hypothesis that some material in the Book of Moses may have been present on the brass plates that Nephi used, one may wonder if Nephi or other authors might also have drawn upon the use of chains in the Book of Moses, particularly Satan’s “great chain [that] veiled … the earth with darkness” (Moses 7:26) and the “chains of darkness” (Moses 7:57). Though the phrase “chains of darkness” is not used in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 1:23, quoting Lehi, combines chains and obscurity, where obscurity can have the meaning of darkness. In fact, there may be a Hebraic wordplay behind Lehi’s words when he tells his wayward sons to “come forth out of obscurity and arise from the dust,” based on the similarity between the Hebrew words for “obscurity” and “dust.” The association between dust and chains and several other newly found linkages to Book of Moses material is enriched by a study of Walter Brueggemann on the covenant-related meanings of “rising from the dust” and “returning to the dust” in the Bible, a topic we explore in Part 2.
Then, after showing how dust-related themes in the Book of Mormon can enhance our understanding of several important passages, we build on that knowledge in Part 3 to “dust off” the most famous chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, where we will show that some apparent gaps and wordy regions in the complex chiastic structure of Alma 36 are more compact and meaningful than we may have realized. Both dust-related themes and themes from the Book of Moses assist in better appreciating the richness of that masterpiece of Hebraic poetry. Overall, a small amount of exploration motivated by Reynolds’ work may have led to several interesting finds that strengthen the case for Book of Moses content on the brass plates and deepen our appreciation of the use of ancient Near Eastern dust themes in the Book of Mormon, that majestic “voice from the dust.”
Abstract: In light of Noel Reynolds’ hypothesis that some material in the Book of Moses may have been present on the brass plates that Nephi used, one may wonder if Nephi or other authors might also have drawn upon the use of chains in the Book of Moses. Further examination of this connection points to the significance of the theme of “dust” in Lehi’s words and the surrounding passages from Nephi and Jacob, where it can involve motifs of covenant keeping, resurrection, and enthronement. Recognizing the usage of dust-related themes in the Book of Mormon can enhance our understanding of the meaning and structure of several portions of the text. An appeal to the Book of Mormon’s use of dust may also help fill in some gaps in the complex chiastic structure of Alma 36 (to be treated in Part 3) and add meaning to other portions of that “voice from the dust,” the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: In light of Noel Reynolds’ hypothesis that some material in the Book of Moses may have been present on the brass plates that Nephi used, exploration of concepts related to chains in the Book of Moses led to several insights involving a group of related motifs in the Book of Mormon where shaking off Satan’s chains and rising from the dust are linked, as discussed in Parts 1 and 2. Here we argue that an appeal to the Book of Mormon’s use of dust may fill in some gaps in the complex chiastic structure of Alma 36 and strengthen the case that it is a carefully crafted example of ancient Semitic poetry.
The Book of Mormon contains powerful and priceless principles relating to the preaching of God’s word to His children. Although various principles relating to missionary work are found throughout the Book of Mormon, nowhere is this more evident than in Alma 17 and 18. This chapter seeks to help students and teachers of the restored gospel identify and implement a few of these potent principles that can help all of us have greater success in missionary work.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > L — P > Missionary Work
In Alma 24 we read of the courage of the people of Anti- Nephi-Lehi, Lamanites who had converted to the Lord. Their king pleaded with them, “Let us stain our swords no more with the blood of our brethren” (Alma 24:12). So great was their faith that they covenanted never to take up arms again and buried their weapons of war. When the unconverted Lamanites came against them, the Anti-Nephi- Lehies, rather than resist their attackers, prostrated themselves on the ground to pray and allowed their brethren to slay them.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > G — K > Happiness
RSC Topics > G — K > Judgment
RSC Topics > G — K > Justice
RSC Topics > L — P > Mercy
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
RSC Topics > Q — S > Restoration of the Gospel
RSC Topics > Q — S > Salvation
Refers to mourning rituals enacted by Jews upon the death of a loved one and demonstrates how the rituals apply directly to the pattern given in Alma 30:2, where fasting, mourning, and prayer are mentioned.
Al registrar los sentimientos que tuvo al salir de la Arboleda y en los días subsiguientes, José dejó registrada esta oración: “Mi alma se llenó de amor, y por muchos días pude regocijarme con gran gozo, y el Señor estaba conmigo, pero no pude encontrar a ninguno que creyera mi visión celestial”.
A brief description of the life and mission of Alma: He was of pure blood of Nephi and became one of the greatest prophets and leaders of the Nephites.
A brief description of the life and mission of Alma: He was of pure blood of Nephi and became one of the greatest prophets and leaders of the Nephites.
Musical selections for chorus, solo voices, and the organ.
Fictional story based on account of Teancum in Alma 62.
The author relates her philosophical journey from transcendentalism to existentialism to Mormonism and explains how her studies of Emerson and modern poets prepared her for her conversion.
Authors make topical comments on each verse (or cluster of verses) of Alma and Helaman. Alma chapters 43-62, which deal with war, do not contain a detailed discussion of verses, but a six- page exposition on various subthemes. The work is doctrinally oriented. This work is reviewed in A.029.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
This article compiles a number of excerpts from previously published articles by LDS authors that cover such Book of Mormon-related topics as the “fifth gospel,” the stick of Joseph, language, the significance of scientific discoveries, and the manner in which Alma speaks to our day.
A number of excerpts from previously published articles by LDS authors cover such Book of Mormon related topics as the “fifth gospel,” the stick of Joseph, language, the significance of scientific discoveries, and the manner in which Alma speaks to our day.
Consists of a series of thirteen lessons prepared for the study of the Book of Mormon by adults of the RLDS church. The lesson topics include such areas of study as: the reign of King Benjamin, the church in Zarahemla, and Alma’s ministry, and others.
Uses Biblical quotations and the Amarna tablets to refute the LDS claim that Bethlehem was included in “the land of Jerusalem” as referred to in Alma 7:10.
Abstract: Royal Skousen’s Book of Mormon Critical Text Project has proposed many hundreds of changes to the text of the Book of Mormon. A subset of these changes does not come from definitive evidence found in the manuscripts or printed editions but are conjectural emendations. In this paper, I examine one of these proposed changes — the merging of two dissenting Nephite groups, the Amlicites and the Amalekites. Carefully examining the timeline and geography of these groups shows logical problems with their being the same people. This paper argues that they are, indeed, separate groups and explores a plausible explanation for the missing origins of the Amalekites.
This article is a one-act play of the first Christmas in America taken from the book of Alma.
Series of articles intended for Relief Society course study. Discusses importance of the Book of Mormon, its coming forth (i.e., the translation, the witnesses, the publication, Joseph Smith), brief overview of its contents, and explains the text from 1 Nephi 1 through Alma 58. Each article features several questions that are helpful in synthesizing and applying the Book of Mormon to daily life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
This book is based on a novel idea: that Mormons do theology. “Doing theology” is different from weighing history, deciding doctrine, or inspiring devotion, though it sometimes overlaps with those things. Theology speculates. It experiments with questions, tests new angles, and pulls loose threads. It reads familiar texts in careful and creative new ways. In this collection of essays, six scholars theologically examine Alma chapter 32 in the Book of Mormon, which contains some of the most insightful verses about faith in the entire Latter-day Saint canon. Not only do these scholars shed new light on Alma 32, they also provide exemplary models for improved scripture study more generally.
In the spirit of President Ezra Taft Benson’s plea to take the Book of Mormon more seriously, this discussion contains a sweeping review of Book of Mormon doctrines and the crucial role the book plays in the restoration. Robert Millet summarizes the highlights of the teachings of Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, King Benjamin, Abinadi, Alma the Younger, Samuel the Lamanite, Jesus Christ, Mormon, and Moroni, and delineates prominent themes throughout the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Analyzes the physical being, the intellectual being, and the emotional being in relation to the Nephites in the Book of Mormon. Several Book of Mormon scriptures describe the character of the people, including Alma 7:10-11, 4 Nephi 1:3, and 4 Nephi 1:15.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
President HeberJ. Grant, hoping to help his wayward brother Brigham, prayed, then opened the Book of Mormon hoping for the answer to his brother’s plight. The book fell open to Alma 36, a chapter of hope. When Brigham read the words of consolation and faith, his life was changed.
Argues that the Samoans originate from American shores, namely from Hagoth (Alma 63:5-8).
RSC Topics > A — C > Conversion
RSC Topics > D — F > Faith
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
Simile curses, a combination of the literary feature called “simile” and an oath of malediction, are common elements in ancient Near Eastern texts, including the Old Testament and Book of Mormon. Simile curses occur most often in three contexts—treaties, religious covenants, and prophecies. A Book of Mormon example of a simile curses is found in Alma 44:1-4 where the simile “even as this scalp has fallen to the earth” is followed by the curse, “so shall ye fall to the earth” A ritualistic act or visual action often accompanies the curse, such as rending garments, felling a tree, or breaking a weapon, making the symbolism of the curse more effective. The attestation of simile curses in the Book of Mormon may suggest a historical connection between the new world scripture and the ancient records of the old world.
A novel that retells the doings of Alma the Younger—his experiences with his father in Helan, his conversion, his friendship with the sons of Mosiah, and his dramatic missionary experiences.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A novel based on the writings of Alma the Elder in the Book of Mormon.
Called to the Japan Mission at age eighteen, Alma O. Taylor and his parents would have been shocked had they known his mission would last nearly nine years. Alma, the eighteen-year-old lad, would return a twenty-seven-year-old man, having served one of the longest continuous missions in Church history. For eight and a half years (August 1901–January 1910), Alma worked with intense fervor, keeping a detailed journal of his experiences and impressions. Alma’s journal recaptures early Mormonism in Japan through the eyes of a young missionary. The body of this book is devoted to making his writings available for the first time to all those interested in the foundational events of the Church in Japan. Alma’s many accomplishments included learning both the spoken and written Japanese word; assisting in the translation of missionary tracts, Church hymns, and the Book of Mormon; serving as president of the Japan Mission from his early to late twenties; opening new proselyting areas throughout Japan; and finding, teaching, converting, and strengthening many of the early Japanese Saints. Shortly before Alma left his mission, he recorded his feelings about his final year in Japan: “During the year I have had many experiences some the most pleasant in life and some the most bitter that humans are called upon to experience. . . . Great is the debt of gratitude I owe to the Lord for His many blessings.”
Equality and charity are two expressions of the same principle—both require humility and meekness; both are central to the message of the Book of Mormon. With distinct clarity, the Book of Mormon teaches over and over again that “all are alike unto God,” and this simple truth is the antidote for many of the pride problems that keep people from coming unto Christ and from extending service and love to all of His children. Whenever an individual or a nation achieves greatness in the Book of Mormon, it is because the people are free with their substance and treat each other as equals. In contrast, the many tragic pitfalls of pride that the Book of Mormon outlines can be traced to a person or persons withholding charity and thinking they are above another. Alma’s deep sorrow was because of the “great inequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted”. In the kingdom of God, righteousness and devotion are what matter—not prestige, power, or possessions. Love, compassion, and abundance of heart characterize the real Christian, not acquisitiveness and selfishness. The Book of Mormon declares that the true Saints of God are those who put “off the natural man” and become “new creatures” in Christ—”submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love”.
RSC Topics > A — C > Charity
RSC Topics > L — P > Love
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
An Approach to the Book of Mormon was mentioned by Marvin S. Hill in an essay entitled “The Historiography of Mormonism,” Church History 28/4 (December 1959): 418–26. Hill seems to have preferred to account for the Book of Mormon with what he called “the Smith hypothesis,” which is the attempt to understand the Book of Mormon as a product of Joseph’s presumably fertile imagination coupled with an unusual responsiveness to his own environment. Hill introduced his comments on Nibley’s work by observing that the conflict between Gentiles and Latter-day Saints is also evident among historians, who are “generally divided into two distinct groups, forging a cleavage of sentiment which is evident in the debates over the origin of the Book of Mormon” (418). According to Hill, the issue “of primary importance is the nature of that unique American scripture, the Book of Mormon. Acclaimed by the faithful as a sacred history of a Christian people in ancient America, the book has been labeled a fraud by non-believers.” “The case for the Latter-day Saints,” Hill acknowledged, “has been stated often, but with no greater sophistication than that exhibited by Hugh Nibley of Brigham Young University in his Approach to the Book of Mormon” (1957). He reviews the culture of the ancient Near East to find that in theme, the details of its narrative, and its use of place and proper names, the Book of Mormon is authentic. He states that the marks of genuine antiquity in the record could not have been imitated by anyone in 1830. However intimate his knowledge of ancient history may be, certain difficulties exist in his argument. He cites many phenomena that seem as much American as they do ancient and exaggerates the significance of details that are hazy or all but lacking. Invariably he handles his topic in an authoritarian fashion, never indicating that some points may be open to question (418).
Hill’s effort to show that “many phenomena,” which Nibley thinks are typical of the ancient Near East, “seem as much American as they do ancient” is supported by citing pp. 140, 202–16, 339, and 348 in Nibley’s book. Hill did not indicate what on those pages supports his assertions, and those pages seem to have been drawn almost at random from Nibley’s book (see 425, n. 3). Hill disagrees with Nibley’s having conceived Lehi as a merchant and also about his drawing parallels between the community at Qumran and “the society described in Alma 23” (see 425, n. 4).
An Approach to the Book of Mormon (1964)
An Approach to the Book of Mormon (1988)
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
473 pp. Transcripts of 27 lectures.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the second of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part two contains twenty-seven lectures focusing on Mosiah 6 through Alma 41. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Also called “Escapes; Wealth.“
Who does the escaping? and from what?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
360 pp. Transcripts of 29 lectures.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years, this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the third of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part three contains twenty-nine lectures focusing on Alma 45 through 3 Nephi 20. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Also called “Book of Mormon Themes; Apostasy.“
We were talking about these recurrent themes in the Book of Mormon.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Reprinted as “Bar-Kochba and Book of Mormon Backgrounds,” in The Prophetic Book of Mormon.
Points out that Yadin’s discoveries seem to show, among other things, that the presumably feminine name Alma was also used by Jews as a masculine name, just as it was in the Book of Mormon. Draws a number of parallels between the Bar Kochba artifacts and the Lehi colony. Compares materials in the Book of Mormon about Lehi, Captain Moroni, and the name Alma with Palestinian warfare and practices from the first century A.D.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > History > Jewish History > Bar Kochba
Also called “Abinadi and Alma.“
Now with Mosiah 17 comes a series of extremely interesting and significant stories. He really pours it on here. After Abinadi gave his sermon, what was the reaction? “The king commanded that the priests should take him and cause that he should be put to death.” And it’s very obvious why.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Amulon and Alma.“
Now we come to one of the most satisfying parts of the Book of Mormon. This is what historiography should be. It’s full of drama, personality, and all sorts of things.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Alma’s Conversion; Mosiah’s Translating.“
Now this story about Alma’s conversion and confrontation with the angel is immensely important. It’s as important as anything in the Book of Mormon, and it’s directly applicable to us. These things concern us very closely. The issue to be decided is this: Which world shall we take seriously? What kind of name will we give the real one?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Also called “Treatise on Power; Priestcraft.“
We are in Mosiah 29:34 where he is talking about the king. These chapters are a magnificent treatise on power; that’s the thesis here. You won’t find a better one anywhere.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mosiah
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Alma and Amlici.“
Things had been going very bad with the church because of Nehor, who had taken all the people away. They all thought they were the true church. Nehor did, and Alma did, too. A man by the name of Amlici thought he could “cash in” on the Nehor movement. He wanted to go all the way, become extreme right wing, and make himself king. So we have two factions facing each other.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “From Prosperity and Peace to Pride and Power; The Atonement.“
In the fifth year of the reign of the judges all that fighting and terrible stuff happened. Now we are in the sixth year, and everything is going pretty well. In the sixth year there were no contentions, for once. Of course there were no contentions; they were suffering too much from the setback in the wars.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Rededication and Restitution; The Atonement.“
Now here’s the situation we have in Alma 5. Both Alma and his father had been having a constant struggle, as you know, to keep the Nephites in the path of duty. They were always drifting away, as Israel does. Could the two Almas be to blame? Were they too severe?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Good and Evil; Foretelling Christ’s Birth.“
Now we’re on that long fifth chapter of Alma. In verse 53 he gets specific on something. You’ll notice in verses 40 to 43 he talks in general terms about evil and good. Verse 40: “For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil [well, what is he talking about?]. . . . I speak in the energy of my soul.” Here he’s specific; he tells what he’s talking about in verse 53: “Can ye lay aside these things, and trample the Holy One under your feet; yea, can ye be puffed up in the pride of your hearts [now this is when he talks specifically about being evil]; yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches?”
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Zeezrom and Lawyers.“
Alma 10 is the legalistic chapter. It’s on legalism and lawyers. It packs a real wallop and shows immense insight.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “The Plan of Salvation.“
Alma 12 is perhaps the hardest chapter in the Book of Mormon. It’s the one that separates us farthest from the world. We are talking about free will, Adam’s fall, etc.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom; Ammon among the Lamanites.“
The hardest test of all is holding back. It’s not blowing up or doing violence. This is where the Latter-day Saints historically have been repeatedly tested and stood up to the test very well. The times they didn’t go to war were the times they always won. Then the other times when they blew their tops, it was not so good. Alma is being tested here in the jail to the breaking point.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “War; Ammon and King Lamoni.“
You may ask why we are getting stuck on this trivial episode about the waters of Sebus, but it’s a very important part of the Book of Mormon, and a very important part of warfare.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “King Lamoni.“
We’re on Alma 19. These chapters that follow have a number of unusual things happening in them. But in other ages these things were not so unusual; they were sort of routine. These things sound quite fantastic in the Book of Mormon.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “War.“
We have a long way to go, but there are some things that are much too important to miss. What we want to get now, just to begin with, is this general situation that seems so confused—this confused situation of battles, etc., in these chapters following Alma 22.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Alma and Korihor.“
Now, if there ever were authentic and inspired passages in the Book of Mormon it’s these chapters we have come to in Alma. We really have something there. Nothing in the whole wide spectrum covered by the Book of Mormon is more significant than what is laid out in Alma 30–35.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Mission to the Zoramites.“
The Book of Mormon doesn’t dabble around, as historical romances and things like that do. It’s really to the “nitty gritty.” In this chapter 34, Alma is speaking to the other Zoramites.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Alma Addresses His Sons.“
Now we have come to Alma’s addresses to his three sons. Each is a very different character.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Periodic Extinctions.“
Well, we obviously are living at the end of an age when things are going to change. We have to do something about it. What’s the handbook? What do we do? I panic when I read things like this. One answer comes—the Book of Mormon. You may think that’s a paradox, but it isn’t. We’ll see what the Book of Mormon is going to tell us.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “A Review of Book of Mormon Themes.“
I thought that since we are going to begin with Alma 46 and since I have not been looking especially at the Book of Mormon all summer, and neither have you, a review might be in order.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Also called “The Title of Liberty; The Dead Sea Scrolls; The Flag of Kawe.“
We are on Alma 46. I said it before and I say it again. If this was all Joseph Smith ever left us, it would be very powerful evidence to his being a true prophet. It starts out on a theme that has become painfully obvious today.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Evidence of the Authenticity of the Book of Mormon.“
The prodigality of Alma 46 leaves my poor old noggin bemused. I don’t know how to handle it. I made a list last night of sixteen points of evidence it brings out, any one of which would be enough to write a book about. Just now before the class a question occurred to me, and it is very important for us to answer it here. Is our main interest here proving the Book of Mormon? No. What is our main interest in the Book of Mormon? Learning more about its message.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “The Garment of Joseph; Religious Brotherhoods.“
We were talking about the battles and the scrolls. We are told in Alma 46:20 that Moroni waves his banner and summons the people to maintain this title upon the land, entering into a covenant with the Lord. They make a covenant, and they not only come under the banner but they also sign their names. They sign all their names.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Religious Brotherhoods; The World (Babylon); Nomadic Warlords.“
In Alma 47 it becomes clear that there are different kinds of civilizations we are dealing with. We said last time that there are four different kinds. Why should there be four? Throughout the world—down at Lincoln Beach and all over South America, North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa you will find petroglyphs, and the commonest of all petroglyphs is this. That’s the quadrata. What do you think this stands for? It’s the sign of the cosmos. How do you think the most primitive people would be aware of the fact that it should be divided into no less than four parts? Those people are aware of it being on the earth because they look at the sky. What do you learn from the sky? In what direction does the sun rise? The sun goes down in the west and it comes up again in the east. Everybody notices that, you know. But today you’ll notice an interesting thing.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Tragedy and Suffering in the Scriptures.“
Now we are on chapter 47 and some interesting phenomena emerge. You think everything will be an anticlimax after 46, don’t you? Well, you’re wrong. There are no anticlimaxes in the Book of Mormon, at least not many of them.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Warfare; World War II Memories.“
Now we have chapter 48. Do you think this going to be a letdown? This is on another subject, and it’s a “dilly.” It’s on war. Why do we have to bother about that? We’re beyond that sort of barbarism today, aren’t we? Well, I think I can save trouble by reading the introduction to a section on war.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Abraham; Clausewitz’s Rules of War; World War II Memories.“
You’re perfectly free to read the Book of Mormon anytime you want to, as fast as you want to. That’s not the idea. I’m pointing out a few things which you would overlook, which you wouldn’t see. These are important things, I think. I know you’ve overlooked them, because I’ve overlooked them for sixty years.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Clausewitz’s Rules of War.“
We ask why dwell on the savagery of ancient wars, of all things, in this enlightened age? The answer is because we haven’t changed one bit. It’s exactly as it was before. I came out by the same door wherein I went. This is one of the great lessons of the Book of Mormon—that we don’t improve, we don’t get any better at all. Today most men are as dense as they have ever been, and no matter how far back you go in time, you’ll find people just as enlightened as any alive today. The picture never changes; the balance never changes. That’s a sweeping statement, but it’s true.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Clausewitz’s Rules of War; World War II Memories.“
“I don’t want to get morbidly engaged with this military stuff, but it has got me quite excited. We were talking about the “fog of war.” The main reason is that the Book of Mormon sets this forth so beautifully, so clearly, so succinctly. One hundred and seventy pages is quite an essay on war, but it
treats every aspect. It doesn’t leave anything untouched and it’s marvelous. Everything is in context. If you keep your eyes open, you’ll see this.“
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “World War II Memories.“
Well, the major earthquake on October 17, 1989, shows us certainly that things can get rough in this enlightened age. Of course, later on the Book of Mormon has a great deal to say about that sort of happening. Now we are dealing with the war sort of happening. We don’t want to linger on it too long, though the Book of Mormon, we notice, spends a lot of time on it. There’s a reason for that. As I said, we can read the Book of Mormon anytime, but there are some things that must be pointed out here.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “The Prevalence of Warfare.“
What kind of religious book is this that goes on telling us who moved where and what forces go where? Why the purely technical side? Well, these are the games men play, and there’s a purpose for putting them in here. Why these games? Is this to be the nature of our probation, waging battle?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Formal Rules of Warfare.“
What does the word paradox come from? What does it mean? We use the word a lot. It has a double meaning.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Bar Kochba.“
What we’re supposed to do is read the Book of Mormon, isn’t it? So we are doing it. Wait a minute. Are we stuck in the mud of an eternal battlefield here? It looks that way, doesn’t it? I’m trying to break loose. I jumped the gun last time in my eagerness to bring it to a close, but this is a very important part, how wars close.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Book of Mormon Names.“
The plot thickens now as we get closer and closer to home. We are in Alma 62. Of course, Moroni was very, very glad and relieved to receive Pahoran’s letter. I wonder if he felt cheap or something when he found out he had been completely wrong after all the shouting, raving, and ranting against Pahoran. His heart was filled with exceedingly great joy to find out that he wasn’t a traitor, as he thought he was. He really jumped the gun that time. But at the same time “he did also mourn exceedingly.” Moroni is something of a manic-depressive, isn’t he? He’s an overachiever, he’s a military genius, and he only lives a very short life. He just wears himself out, I think. He’s that sort of person. We get these beautiful character delineations in the Book of Mormon. We learn that things are often wrong with the world, but [we should] be careful how we place the blame. We don’t want to do things like that.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
473 pp. Transcripts of 27 lectures.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the second of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part two contains twenty-seven lectures focusing on Mosiah 6 through Alma 41. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
360 pp. Transcripts of 29 lectures.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years, this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the third of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part three contains twenty-nine lectures focusing on Alma 45 through 3 Nephi 20. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Originally printed in An Approach to the Book of Mormon (1957).
Long before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, Robert Eisler called attention to the existence of societies of ancient sectaries, including the early Christians, who fled to the desert and formed pious communities there after the manner of the order of Rekhabites (Jeremiah 35). More recently, E. Kdsemann and U. W. Mauser have taken up the theme, and the pope himself has referred to his followers as “the Wayfaring Church,” of all things. No aspect of the gospel is more fundamental than that which calls the Saints out of the world; it has recently been recognized as fundamental to the universal apocalyptic pattern and is now recognized as a basic teaching of the prophets of Israel, including the Lord Himself. It is the central theme of the Book of Mormon, and Lehi’s people faithfully follow the correct routine of flights to the desert as their stories now merge with new manuscript finds from the Dead Sea and elsewhere. And while many Christian communities have consciously sought to imitate the dramatic flight into the wilderness, from monastic orders to Pilgrim fathers, only the followers of Joseph Smith can claim the distinction of a wholesale, involuntary, and total expulsion into a most authentic wilderness. Now, the Book of Mormon is not only a typical product of a religious people driven to the wilds (surprisingly we have learned since 1950 that such people had a veritable passion for writing books and keeping records) but it actually contains passages that match some of the Dead Sea Scrolls almost word for word. Isn’t that going a bit too far? How, one may ask, would Alma be able to quote from a book written on the other side of the world among people with whom his own had lost all contact for five hundred years? Joseph Smith must have possessed supernatural cunning to have foreseen such an impasse, yet his Book of Mormon explains it easily: Alma informs us that the passages in question are not his, but he is quoting them directly from an ancient source, the work of an early prophet of Israel named Zenos. Alma and the author of the Thanksgiving Scroll are drawing from the same ancient source. No wonder they sound alike.
“Churches in the Wilderness” (1988)
“Chapter 16: Churches in the Wilderness” (1989)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Dead Sea Scrolls
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Characters > Enoch
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Characters > Mahaway, Mahujah, Mahijah
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
As outcasts and wanderers, the Nephites took particular pains to preserve unbroken the records and traditions that bound them to their ancestors in the Old World. Special emphasis is laid in the Book of Mormon on one particular phase of the record; namely, the care to preserve intact that chain of religious writing that had been transmitted from generation to generation by these people and their ancestors “since the world began.” The Book of Mormon is a religious history. It is specifically the history of one religious community, rather than of a race or nation, beginning with the “people of Nephi,” who became established as a special minority group at the very beginning of Book of Mormon times. The Nephite prophets always preached that the nation could only maintain its integrity and its very existence by remaining a pious religious society. Alma founded a church based on religious traditions brought from the Old World: it was a Church in the Wilderness, a small group of pious dissenters who went forth into the desert for the purpose of living the Law in its fullness. This church was not unique among the Nephites; other “churches of anticipation” flourished in the centuries before Christ, and after Christ came many churches carrying on in the apocalyptic tradition.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
Alma’s church in the wilderness was a typical “church of anticipation.” In many things it presents striking parallels to the “church of anticipation” described in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Both had gone forth into the wilderness in order to live the Law in its fullness, being dissatisfied with the official religion of the time, which both regarded as being little better than apostasy. Both were persecuted by the authorities of the state and the official religion. Both were strictly organized along the same lines and engaged in the same type of religious activities. In both the Old World and the New, these churches in the wilderness were but isolated expressions of a common tradition of great antiquity. In the Book of Mormon, Alma’s church is clearly traced back to this ancient tradition and practice, yet until the recent discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, no one was aware of its existence. We can now read the Book of Mormon in a totally new context, and in that new context, much that has hitherto been strange and perplexing becomes perfectly clear.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has brought to light the dual nature of ancient Judaism, in which “the official and urban Judaism” is pitted against the more pious Jews “intent on going back to the most authentic sources of Jewish religion . . . in contrast to the rest of backsliding Israel” (Moscati). The official Judaism is the work of “intellectuals” who are not, however, what they say they are, namely seekers after truth, but rather ambitious men eager to gain influence and followers. The Book of Mormon presents a searching study of these people and their ways. There is the devout Sherem, loudly proclaiming his loyalty to the Church and his desire to save it from those who believe without intellectual proof. There is Alma, who represents the rebellion of youth against the teachings of the fathers. There is Nehor, the Great Liberal, proclaiming that the Church should be popular and democratic, but insisting that he as an intellectual be given special respect and remuneration. There is Amlici, whose motive was power and whose tool was intellectual appeal. There is Korihor, the typical Sophist. There is Gadianton whose criminal ambitions where masked by intellectual respectability. For the Old World an exceedingly enlightening tract on the ways of the intellectuals is Justin Martyr’s debate with Trypho, and also an interesting commentary on the Book of Mormon intellectuals whose origin is traced directly back to the “Jews at Jerusalem.”
A commentary on the “intellectuals” of the official Judaism and suggests that they were not seekers after truth but were rather ambitious men eager to gain influence and followers.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
The following statement was written on request for a journal that is published in eight languages and, therefore, insists on conciseness and brevity: “Teaching a Book of Mormon Sunday School class ten years later, I am impressed more than anything by something I completely overlooked until now, namely, the immense skill with which the editors of the book put the thing together. The long book of Alma, for example, is followed through with a smooth and logical sequence in which an incredible amount of detailed and widely varying material is handled in the most lucid and apparently effortless manner. Whether Alma is addressing a king and his court, a throng of ragged paupers sitting on the ground, or his own three sons—each a distinctly different character—his eloquence is always suited to his audience, and he goes unfailingly to the peculiar problems of each hearer.Throughout this big and complex volume, we are aware of much shuffling and winnowing of documents and informed from time to time of the method used by an editor distilling the contents of a large library into edifying lessons for the dedicated and pious minority among the people. The overall picture reflects before all a limited geographical and cultural point of view: small, localized operations, with only occasional flights and expeditions into the wilderness; one might almost be moving in the cultural circuit of the Hopi villages. The focusing of the whole account on religious themes, as well as the limited cultural scope, leaves all the rest of the stage clear for any other activities that might have been going on in the vast reaches of the New World, including the hypothetical Norsemen, Celts, Phoenicians, Libyans, or prehistoric infiltrations via the Bering Straits. Indeed, the more varied the ancient American scene becomes—as newly discovered artifacts and even inscriptions hint at local populations of Near Eastern, Far Eastern, and European origin—the more hospitable it is to the activities of one tragically short-lived religious civilization that once flourished in Mesoamerica and then vanished toward the northeast in the course of a series of confused tribal wars that was one long, drawn-out retreat into oblivion. Such considerations would now have to be included in any ‘minimal statement’ this reader would make about the Book of Mormon.”
“The Mormon View of the Book of Mormon” (1967)
“Chapter 13: The Mormon View of the Book of Mormon” (1989)
Journal of the Book of Mormon and Restoration Scripture Volume 19 Issue 1 (2010)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Originally printed in An Approach to the Book of Mormon (1957).
Long before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, Robert Eisler called attention to the existence of societies of ancient sectaries, including the early Christians, who fled to the desert and formed pious communities there after the manner of the order of Rekhabites (Jeremiah 35). More recently, E. Kdsemann and U. W. Mauser have taken up the theme, and the pope himself has referred to his followers as “the Wayfaring Church,” of all things. No aspect of the gospel is more fundamental than that which calls the Saints out of the world; it has recently been recognized as fundamental to the universal apocalyptic pattern and is now recognized as a basic teaching of the prophets of Israel, including the Lord Himself. It is the central theme of the Book of Mormon, and Lehi’s people faithfully follow the correct routine of flights to the desert as their stories now merge with new manuscript finds from the Dead Sea and elsewhere. And while many Christian communities have consciously sought to imitate the dramatic flight into the wilderness, from monastic orders to Pilgrim fathers, only the followers of Joseph Smith can claim the distinction of a wholesale, involuntary, and total expulsion into a most authentic wilderness. Now, the Book of Mormon is not only a typical product of a religious people driven to the wilds (surprisingly we have learned since 1950 that such people had a veritable passion for writing books and keeping records) but it actually contains passages that match some of the Dead Sea Scrolls almost word for word. Isn’t that going a bit too far? How, one may ask, would Alma be able to quote from a book written on the other side of the world among people with whom his own had lost all contact for five hundred years? Joseph Smith must have possessed supernatural cunning to have foreseen such an impasse, yet his Book of Mormon explains it easily: Alma informs us that the passages in question are not his, but he is quoting them directly from an ancient source, the work of an early prophet of Israel named Zenos. Alma and the author of the Thanksgiving Scroll are drawing from the same ancient source. No wonder they sound alike.
“Chapter 16: Churches in the Wilderness” (1989)
“Churches in the Wilderness” (2004)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Dead Sea Scrolls
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Characters > Enoch
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
Alma’s church in the wilderness was a typical “church of anticipation”. In many things it presents striking parallels to the “church of anticipation” described in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Both had gone forth into the wilderness in order to live the Law in its fullness, being dissatisfied with the official religion of the time, which both regarded as being little better than apostasy. Both were persecuted by the authorities of the state and the official religion. Both were strictly organized along the same lines and engaged in the same type of religious activities. In both the Old World and the New these churches in the wilderness were but isolated expressions of a common tradition of great antiquity. In the Book of Mormon Alma’s church is clearly traced back to this ancient tradition and practice, yet until the recent discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls no one was aware of its existence. We can now read the Book of Mormon in a totally new context, and in that new context much that has hitherto been strange and perplexing becomes perfectly clear.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Originally printed in An Approach to the Book of Mormon (1957).
Long before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, Robert Eisler called attention to the existence of societies of ancient sectaries, including the early Christians, who fled to the desert and formed pious communities there after the manner of the order of Rekhabites (Jeremiah 35). More recently, E. Kdsemann and U. W. Mauser have taken up the theme, and the pope himself has referred to his followers as “the Wayfaring Church,” of all things. No aspect of the gospel is more fundamental than that which calls the Saints out of the world; it has recently been recognized as fundamental to the universal apocalyptic pattern and is now recognized as a basic teaching of the prophets of Israel, including the Lord Himself. It is the central theme of the Book of Mormon, and Lehi’s people faithfully follow the correct routine of flights to the desert as their stories now merge with new manuscript finds from the Dead Sea and elsewhere. And while many Christian communities have consciously sought to imitate the dramatic flight into the wilderness, from monastic orders to Pilgrim fathers, only the followers of Joseph Smith can claim the distinction of a wholesale, involuntary, and total expulsion into a most authentic wilderness. Now, the Book of Mormon is not only a typical product of a religious people driven to the wilds (surprisingly we have learned since 1950 that such people had a veritable passion for writing books and keeping records) but it actually contains passages that match some of the Dead Sea Scrolls almost word for word. Isn’t that going a bit too far? How, one may ask, would Alma be able to quote from a book written on the other side of the world among people with whom his own had lost all contact for five hundred years? Joseph Smith must have possessed supernatural cunning to have foreseen such an impasse, yet his Book of Mormon explains it easily: Alma informs us that the passages in question are not his, but he is quoting them directly from an ancient source, the work of an early prophet of Israel named Zenos. Alma and the author of the Thanksgiving Scroll are drawing from the same ancient source. No wonder they sound alike.
“Churches in the Wilderness” (1989)
“Churches in the Wilderness” (2004)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Dead Sea Scrolls
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Characters > Enoch
The Fifth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU King Benjamin’s monumental address on service and the Savior; the powerful testimony and the martyrdom of the prophet Abinadi; the moving conversion stories of both Alma the Elder and Alma the Younger; the deliverance of Nephites from Lamanite bondage—this is the historically and doctrinally rich material of which this volume’s papers draw their themes. Other questions and issues are explored: What specific, vital lessons about following living prophets, making and keeping covenants, and developing Christlike qualities can parents draw from the book of Mosiah to teach to their children, and how can they effectively teach them those lessons? What political and social insights, as well as warnings, are implied by the similarities between the Nephite system of judges and the constitutional system of the United States? Other topics include an in-depth look at the priesthood calling and practices, the process of spiritual rebirth, and lessons on bondage. ISBN 0-8849-4816-1
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The Sixth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU Nineteen papers on a variety of topics related to the largest book in the Book of Mormon, Alma, make up this volume. These topics include the relevance of the book of Alma to our modern situation, classic discourses of Alma the Younger, the doctrinal and spiritual understanding afforded by Alma’s counsel to his son Corianton, and an enlightening look at the anti-Christ Korihor. The missionary experiences of the sons of Mosiah and Captain Moroni are also discussed. The conclusions drawn in these papers reflect the authors’ testimony of what Alma himself knew to be true: that God’s word has—and always will have—“a great tendency to lead the people to do that which [is] just.” ISBN 0-8849-4841-2
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Presenters included Dean L. Larsen, Rex C. Reeve Jr., Robert J. Matthews, Robert L. Millet, and others. The topics include the “New Meaning of ‘Restoration,’ ” anti-Christs, faith and freedom, and others, all based on the book of Alma.
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Resurrection is much more than merely reuniting a spirit to a body. … The resurrection is a restoration that brings back “carnal for carnal” and “good for that which is good” (Alma 41:13).
Old Testament Topics > Geography
Old Testament Topics > Jerusalem
Points out that Book of Mormon prophets made rich use of figurative language, but inasmuch as they delighted in plainness, they often explained the meaning of the figurative language that they used. Examples include the chains of hell, lake of fire and brimstone, seed (in Alma 32), and kingdom of the devil.
Do you want to expand and deepen your study of the Book of Mormon? If so, you will find what you’re looking for in this commentary written by gospel scholars D. Kelly Ogden and Andrew C. Skinner. This volume is the first of a two-volume, reader-friendly exploration of the book of scripture that is the keystone of our religion. It incorporates sound doctrinal commentary with quotations from General Authorities and explanations of difficult passages—all sprinkled generously with the authors’ own experiences to illustrate great lessons and personal applications. Interspersed with the commentary are feature articles that offer new glimpses into such topics as angels who have come to earth, names and titles of God, Israel and Zion in Latter-day Saint usage, the Isaiah chapters of First and Second Nephi, the allegory of the olive tree, and prophecies of Christ. Highly informative and easy to read, this commentary on the Book of Mormon provides stimulating views that complement the scriptures. It will be treasured by anyone who wishes to understand more fully the teachings of those whom the Lord called in the land of promise to testify of him.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Do you want to expand and deepen your study of the Book of Mormon? If so, you will find what you’re looking for in this commentary written by gospel scholars D. Kelly Ogden and Andrew C. Skinner. This volume is the second of a two-volume, reader-friendly exploration of the book of scripture that is the keystone of our religion. It incorporates sound doctrinal commentary with quotations from General Authorities and explanations of difficult passages — all sprinkled generously with the authors’ own experiences to illustrate great lessons and personal applications. Interspersed with the commentary are feature articles that offer new glimpses into such topics as the importance of record keeping, the purpose of a covenant people, teachings regarding war, the sealing power, God as a God of miracles still today, the Americas as the promised land, and the love of God for all his children. Highly informative and easy to read, this commentary on the Book of Mormon provides stimulating views that complement the scriptures. It will be treasured by anyone who wishes to understand more fully the teachings of those whom the Lord called in the land of promise to testify of him.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > L — P > Parenting
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
RSC Topics > T — Z > Testimony
Abstract: Since the mid-twentieth century, scholarly studies of the literary craftsmanship of biblical texts have revealed considerable insights into the intended purposes of the authors of these scriptural narratives. The present study applies the analytical methods of these studies to Mormon’s abridgment of Alma’s records of the Zoramite mission (Alma 31–35), revealing intricate patterns of literary conventions ranging from the most specific (e.g., diction, syntax, and figures of speech) to the most general (e.g., rhetoric, tone, and structural logic). From this perspective, Alma 31 provides a framework to distinguish Nephite and Zoramite religious practices and structure the narrative of the entire Zoramite mission, including the missionaries’ teachings. More broadly, Mormon’s account of the Zoramite mission sets the stage for the general degradation of Nephite society that focuses his abridgment of Nephi’s Large Plates for the next one hundred years.
[Editor’s Note: This article provides a good example of using literary analysis to enhance understanding of the scriptures. While it was previously published, it has not been widely accessible, and thus we have chosen to republish it to bring it to the attention of readers. It was first presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Mormon Letters, 25 January 1992, at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. An abridged and edited version was later published as “Patterns of Prayer: Humility or Pride,” Ensign 22, no. 8 (August 1992), 8–11, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1992/08/patterns-of-prayer-humility-or-pride. The original presentation was included in The Association for Mormon Letters Annual 1994, 212–15. The article is reprinted here with the permission of the author, with minor edits.]
Review of Mark A. Wrathall, Alma 30–63: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 176 pages. $9.95 (paperback).
Abstract: Mark A. Wrathall’s analytic treatment of Alma 30–42 is a sheer gift that inspires insight into the theological depth of Alma’s thought. His reading of Alma teases out insights not previously recognized and not easily discovered regarding belief and knowledge and their relation to faith and committed action. This extremely rewarding introduction provides a glimpse at the best any writer in the Latter-day Saint tradition has written on Alma’s thoughts and goals.
A collection of statements made by General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints concerning Book of Mormon passages. Volume one begins with statements by Church leaders concerning 1 Nephi to Words of Mormon; volume two contains statements dealing with Mosiah and Alma; volume three with the books Helaman to Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Review of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, Alma through Helaman (1991), by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Alma and Amulek preached to the Zoramites and taught them how to pray. Stresses the importance of prayer and gives the basic steps of how to offer a prayer.
One of the key messages of the Book of Mormon is that the human soul must change, must progress, must become. The Book of Mormon is, in effect, a handbook of change, with the Lord seeking to motivate mighty change within us by using the lives and teachings of the Book of Mormon protagonists as the means to teach us how to become. At the heart of the Book of Mormon, in the books of Mosiah and Alma, Alma the Younger makes the subject of change, progression, and becoming the very essence of his life and sermons, and thus Alma the Younger becomes a quintessential standard of how to become like God.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > G — K > Humility
This article explores the connection between Alma’s mission to the Zoramites in Alma 31 and the mass Lamanite conversion in Helaman 5, which occurs in part because the Lamanites who are intent on killing Nephi and Lehi in prison remember the teachings of Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom delivered to the Zoramites decades earlier. This reading demonstrates that Alma’s mission to the Zoramites is not a failure, as some commentators have suggested; in fact, the eventual positive impact of the Zoramite mission readily compares to the success enjoyed by the sons of Mosiah among the Lamanites. This article also suggests that Mormon’s lengthy war narrative at the end of the book of Alma can be read as a literary unit designed in part to show, as Alma hoped and predicted at the outset of his Zoramite mission, that the word of God (at least eventually) has a “more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else” (Alma 31:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Contains narration and commentary on Book of Mormon passages about Alma and Abinadi. Chapters include: “Abinadi the Martyr,” “Alma’s Ministry,” “Alma the Younger,” “Amlici’s Rebellion,” and “The Zoramite Apostasy”
Abstract: The Greek philosopher Aristotle, clearly one of the world’s great geniuses, created the concept of the “unmoved mover,” which moves “other things, but is, itself, unmoved by anything else.” This label became the standard Jewish, Christian, and Muslim description of an impersonal God — a God without body, parts or passions — a concept that has, for nearly 20 centuries, dominated western theology, philosophy, and science. The problem for thinkers in these religious traditions is that the God depicted in the Bible and the Qur’an is plainly personal. A careful review of the Bible and modern scripture reveals a “compassionate, feeling” God. Numerous scriptures confirm that God, in fact, “feels more deeply than we can even begin to imagine.”.
Abstract: Revelation comes in various forms, some of them spectacular and some of them extremely subtle. The scriptures and the history of the Restoration offer numerous examples across the entire spectrum. Whatever its form, however, divine revelation remains divine revelation, and it is the avowed mission of the Interpreter Foundation to thoughtfully ponder such revelation, to try to explicate its meaning, and to illustrate its richness. In turn, such examination can itself provide an opportunity for personal revelation—both for the examiners and, we hope, for those who read or hear the results of their work.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: Alma’s conversion experience was both unusual and unusually powerful, and yet he fervently wished that he could provide others with the same experience. So much so, in fact, that he actually feared that he might be sinning in his wish by seeming to oppose the will of God. Increasingly, though, I find myself sharing that wish. My involvement with the Interpreter Foundation can correctly be regarded as one manifestation of that fact. I invite others to join us.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Daniel Peterson discusses the sermon on faith given by Alma the Younger in Alma 32. Faith is not merely intellectual assent but trust or confidence, and it is expressed actively rather than passively. Peterson argues that the dichotomy between faith and works is artificial, since the root word for faith implies behavior. Alma invites us to experiment on the quality of faith, and Peterson suggests that scientific approaches to experimentation are applicable. He recommends testing or trying faith with the aid of prayer. He proposes that faith can have a spiral effect and that confidence can increase with continued experience.
This paper is part of a series of F.A.R.M.S. papers intended to give clear, concise answers to criticisms that have been raised against the Book of Mormon. As can be seen in the footnotes, much is owed to previous researchers who have addressed these criticisms. The foundation wishes to thank Matthew Roper for his help in gathering and summarizing large portions of the raw material for this series of papers. The authors wish to thank Robert Durocher for his help with this paper.
Many Book of Mormon prophets delivered a sacred message to God’s people, including Lehi, Nephi, King Benjamin, Alma, and Moroni. When Christ visited the Nephites he revealed his own message and that of his Father.
Discusses the principle of resurrection as taught in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, a substantial part coming from Alma’s instruction to Corianton. [D.M.]
Fictional stories of several Book of Mormon characters and groups, including King Noah and Amulon, Alma and Abinadi, General Moroni, the Gadianton robbers, and Ammon. Pictures of artifacts and architecture are included.
Refers to the discovery of “sacred stones” upon which are inscribed Hebrew characters, one of which reads “may the Lord have mercy upon me a Nephite” Scholars wonder where these people who spoke Hebrew came from, and the Book of Mormon provides the answers. The Nephites landed in Chile near the city of Valparaiso. Later Hagoth and others sailed to North America (Alma 63:4-12 and Helaman 3:3-16). The Nephites knew Hebrew and Egyptian and wrote in reformed Egyptian.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Millennial Star editor quotes writings by Josiah Priest and others concerning mounds found in the U.S., and then quotes excerpts from the book of Alma dealing with Moroni and his fortifications.
Review of Jerry D. Grover, Jr., Geology of the Book of Mormon. Vineyard, UT: Self-Published, 2014. 233 pp. +xi, including index and references. $39.99.
Abstract: Over recent decades, several Latter-day Saint scholars and scientists have offered analysis and comparison to geologic events and the destruction recorded in 3 Nephi 8-9. Jerry Grover makes an important contribution to this literature as he provides background on geologic processes and phenomena, details the geologic features of the Tehuantepec region (Mesoamerica), and applies this information to not only the description of 3 Nephi 8-9, but other incidents in the Book of Mormon likely connected to geologic events. In doing so, Grover yields new insights into the narratives he examines, and adds clarity to geographic details that have been subject to varying interpretations. .
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The story of the Israelites getting bitten in the wilderness by “fiery serpents” and then being miraculously healed by the “serpent of brass” (Numbers 21:4–9) is one of the most frequently told stories in scripture — with many of the retellings occurring in the Book of Mormon. Nephi is the first to refer to the story, doing so on two different occasions (1 Nephi 17:41; 2 Nephi 25:20). In each instance, Nephi utilizes the story for different purposes which dictated how he told the story and what he emphasized. These two retellings of the brazen serpent narrative combined to establish a standard interpretation of that story among the Nephites, utilized (and to some extent developed) by later Nephite prophets. In this study, each of the two occasions Nephi made use of this story are contextualized within the iconography and symbolism of pre-exilic Israel and its influences from surrounding cultures. Then, the (minimal) development evident in how this story was interpreted by Nephites across time is considered, comparing it to the way ancient Jewish and early Christian interpretation of the brazen serpent was adapted over time to address specific needs. Based on this analysis, it seems that not only do Nephi’s initial interpretations fit within the context of pre-exilic Israel, but the Book of Mormon’s use of the brazen serpent symbol is not stagnant; rather, it shows indications of having been a real, living tradition that developed along a trajectory comparable to that of authentic ancient traditions.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The Book of Mormon appears replete with examples of verbal and dramatic irony, something unlikely to have been produced intentionally by Joseph Smith with his level of rhetorical and expressive skills. Dramatic irony occurs when an exceeding young Nephi, who is large in stature, admires the exquisite sword of Laban and then grapples with the distasteful command to kill Laban with that sword. Having passed the test, Nephi has matured into a man large in stature. Dramatic irony also occurs in Abinadi’s experience with King Noah and in the similar experiences of Alma and Korihor with the power of speech and silence. Verbal irony is apparent in Lehi’s expectations for Laman to be like a river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness, and for Lemuel to be like a valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord. Nephi also refutes his older brothers’ false knowledge by reminding them of what they already know.
A comparison of the character of Alma in Melville’s Mardi and the two Almas in the Book of Mormon.
Biographical sketch of Amulek who was a man “of liberal education, of great faith, of unswerving integrity, and untiring zeal for the cause of truth.” Also discusses Alma, Zeezrom, and the divine justice displayed in the destruction of Ammonihah.
There were four families who were charged with the care of the plates that contained the records of the Nephites. Jacob’s family, King Benjamin’s family, Alma and his family, and Mormon and his son Moroni. The author provides a dated list of the historians.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Zeniff Returns to the Land of Nephi—His Treaty with the Lamanites—The Prosperity of the People of Zeniff—The Treaty Broken—War—Peace and Wars Again— The Death of Zeniff—Noah’s Wicked Reign—His Wars with the Lamanites—The Prophet Abinadi—His Terrible Message of God’s Wrath—He is Martyred—Alma—He Pleads for Abinadi—Is Cast Out—Flees to the Place of Mormon
The Waters of Mormon—Alma, Helam and Others Baptised Therein—The Church Organized—The King Warned—He Sends Troops—Alma and his People Flee to the Land of Helam—They Build a City
The Bondage of the People of Limhi—An Expedition North—Finding of the Jaredite Records—The Arrival of Ammon—The People of Limhi Escape—The Pursuit— The Amulonites—The People of Alma—They are Brought into Bondage—Their Deliverance
The Unbelief of the Youth of Zarahemla—The Younger Alma and the Sons of Mosiah—They Encourage the Persecutions Against the Church—They are Met by an Angel —His Message—Alma’s Awful Condition—His Vision and Testimony—The Changed Life of the Young Men
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Mosiah’s Sons Refuse the Kingdom—He Grants the People a Constitution—The People to Elect their Rulers—Alma, the Younger, First Chief Judge
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Alma Resigns the Chief Judgeship—Nephihah Chosen—Alma Ministers in Zarahemla, Gideon, Melek and Ammonihah—Condition of the Last Named City—It Rejects the Message Alma Bears—An Angel Meets Him—Amulek—The Lawyer Zeezrom—The Great Controversy—Zeezrom Converted and Cast Out—The Martyrdom of the Believers— Alma and Amulek in Prison—Their Deliverance
Zeezrom Sick with Fever—His Miraculous Recovery—The Destruction of Ammonihah—The Invasion of the Land of Noah—Zoram, the Nephite Commander, Seeks the Mind of the Lord—It is Given—Its Results—The War Ended—Alma’s Ministrations
Korihor, the Anti-Christ—His False Teachings and Blasphemy—He is Taken before Alma—Is Struck Dumb—His Miserable End—The Heresy Rooted Out
Zoram and the Zoramites—Their Peculiar Heresy—The Land of Antionum— The Rameumptom—Alma’s Mission to these People—Those Who Receive His Teachings Persecuted—They Flee to Jershon
Alma’s Charge to His Sons—He Transfers the Records to Helaman—He Leaves This World—Zeezrom’s Latter Days—Helaman’s Ministrations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The War in the South-west—Antipus—Helaman and His Two Thousand Sons— Their Valor and Faith—The Repulse of the Lamanites
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Peace Once More—The Results of the War—The Labors of Helaman—Shiblon Receives the Records—Hagoth, the Ship-builder—Another War—Moronihah—Pahoran’s Death—Contention Regarding the Chief Judgeship—Paanchi’s Rebellion—The Gadianton Bands—Assassination of Pahoran II.—Another Lamanite Invasion
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Pacumeni Slain—Helaman Chosen Chief Judge—The Conspiracy to Slay Him— Kishkumen Killed—The Prosperity of the Nephites under Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Biographical sketch of Amulek who was a man “of liberal education, of great faith, of unswerving integrity, and untiring zeal for the cause of truth” Also discusses Alma, Zeezrom, and the divine justice displayed in the destruction of Ammonihah.
There were four families who were charged with the care of the plates that contained the records of the Nephites. Jacob’s family, King Benjamin’s family, Alma and his family, and Mormon and his son Moroni. The author provides a dated list of the historians.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Presents a life sketch of the Alma family, many of whom became prophets. The life of Alma the Younger is compared to the Apostle Paul—both were called upon to repent and became great missionaries for the Lord. The prophecies of Alma are among the most numerous, important, and interesting in the Book of Mormon, and his inspired advice to his sons contains many doctrinal matters. Helaman the son of Helaman, grandson of Alma, carried on the work of righteousness in spite of the Gadianton robbers. His son Nephi was a great prophet who paved the way for the visit of Christ in America. Nephi’s brother Lehi and Lehi’s son Nephi were also great leaders.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
“The increasing interest taken in the study of the Book of Mormon and in the history of the people whose origin, progress, and destruction it narrates, encourages the author of this little work to think that this addition to the literature of the subject will not be like one born out of due time but will be received as an acceptable aid to the study of its sacred pages. To the members of the Theological Classes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether of the quorums of the Priesthood, of the Sunday Schools, Church Schools, or Improvement Associations, we particularly submit this book-- the first of its kind-- believing it will afford them material help in their investigations of Book of Mormon subjects, and their study of Nephite and Jaredite history; and we trust it wil not be without value to every one who takes an interest in the races who rose, flourished and vanished in Ancient America. This Dictionary contains the name of every person and place mentioned in the Book of Mormon, with a few other subjects of interest referred to therein.” [Author]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: While Alma 36 has long been one of the most admired examples of classical Hebrew chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, critiques in the last two decades have questioned whether, in fact, it really meets the requirements of classical biblical chiasms. The principal objections have pointed to the large sections of the chapter that are not easily included in the chiasm as outlined by John W. Welch and other proponents. Until now, this debate has not taken note of dramatic new developments in the analysis of Hebrew rhetoric over the last fifty years. The following essay turns to the discoveries made in this new approach to Hebrew rhetoric and shows that when the new “levels analysis” is incorporated into a study of Alma 36, the entire text does have a role to play in the extended chiastic structure of the chapter.[Editor’s Note: An abbreviated version of this paper was presented at the 2019 Sperry Symposium and was included in that shortened form in the symposium volume. See Give Ear to My Words: Text and Context of Alma 36–42, edited by Kerry M. Hull, Nicholas J. Frederick, and Hank R. Smith, Religious Studies Center, 2019, 451–72. This complete and updated version is herein published by Interpreter with permission of the RSC.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Chiasmus
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
The promises of the Book of Mormon found in Alma and 2 Nephi are being fulfilled and the Lamanites are bearing witness of its truthfulness.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
We are in the world—and we have come to this university—so that we ourselves might become microcosms of the Divine, that we might have “the image of God engraven” not only upon our countenances but also upon our very existences (Alma 5:19). Of all the microcosms in the world, surely the greatest is the man or woman who strives to become a reflection of the Savior.
RSC Topics > A — C > Church History 1878–1945
RSC Topics > G — K > Godhead
A report of the author’s explorations in Salt River Valley, Arizona, wherein he hypothesizes that the inhabitants of Salt River Valley came from Hagoth’s voyages to the north country (Alma 63). The peoples had buildings and temples made of cement and probably used metal.
Review of Studies in Scripture: 1 Nephi to Alma 29 (1987); and Studies in Scripture: Alma 30 to Moroni (1988), edited by Kent P. Jackson.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Even in the Bible, nicknames and dysphemisms—expressions whose connotations may be offensive to the hearer—are not rare and were equally so in other parts of the ancient and early medieval world. In 1 Samuel the ungenerous husband of Abigail rudely refused hospitality to the men of David, greatly angering them. David and his men were so incensed at his offense against the laws of hospitality that they intended to punish him for his boorish behavior before they were dissuaded from their plan by Abigail (1 Samuel 25:1-35). Shortly thereafter the husband died suddenly and mysteriously (1 Samuel 25:36-37). To all subsequent history his name was given as “Nabal,” which means either “churl” or “fool,” a rather harsh nickname that might also shade off to a dysphemism.
Abstract: This study considers the Book of Mormon personal names Josh, Nahom, and Alma as test cases for the Book of Mormon as an historically authentic ancient document.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. Korihor is brought forth for judgment in the city of Zarahemla. Corianton and his brother Shiblon discuss the proceedings, with the former taking the side of the Nephite Anti-Christ and dismissing the teachings of his fathers. Instead of accompanying his brother in planning for the upcoming mission to the Zoramites, Corianton goes off on his own to visit Korihor in prison.
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. To the grief of his father, Corianton is among the supporters of Korihor that accompanies him to his trial. Although acquitted by the law of the land, Korihor initiates a conflict with the High Priest, Alma the Younger, who boldly declares his testimony and witness of God. Korihor demands a sign, and receives one in being struck dumb and losing his ability to speak. Seeing he has lost his supporters, he flees. As the people disperse, Alma the Younger goes to speak with his son.
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. Corianton joins the mission to the Zoramites. While he is an effective missionary, he has not been fully converted to all the principles of the gospel, and is beset by pride. In the streets of Antionum, he encounters the crazed Korihor, who is trampled by the horses of the city guardsman before his eyes. Embittered by what he percieves as a lack of mercy on the part of the Lord, he returns to his lodging at the home of one of the chief Zoramites and is confronted by a woman who says she has been looking for him.
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. Corianton walks with the woman, who introduces herself as Joan of Siron, and claims she is kin to Seantum, the Zoramite with whom he is lodging. She flatters him and appeals to his vanity. He joins her in a party at the house of Seantum, dancing with her and partaking of wine. She departs after midnight, wherein he feels guilt at his indiscretion and how the other missionaries would react to it, but he continues among the other revellers until he passes out.
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. The next morning, Corianton encounters his brother Shiblon, who exhorts him to flee and tells him that he was reported in the company of the harlot Isabel the night before. Corianton protests his innocence, and does not believe his brother, who is shortly thereafter arrested by Seantum for slandering his family. Seeing his father and Ammon pursued by a mob and mocked for his own actions, Corianton is ashamed and confronts Joan, now revealed as the harlot Isabel. She convinces him to come with her to the land of Siron. In the aftermath of his departure, the mission to the Zoramites departs the city, soon to be followed by the believers among the Zoramites, who are cast out by their brethren. In the land of Siron, Isabel reveals her true colors to Corianton and orders him beaten and taken in bonds to the land of Jershon. There, he is stoned by the refugees of Antionum, until rescued by his brother Shiblon. As he recovers, he is taught the great fundamental truths of the gospel by his father Alma the Younger, and is finally humbled.
Roberts relates the reunion of the people of Zeniff and Alma the Elder with the Nephites at Zarahemla. He discusses the bloody revolutions throughout history and compares them to the peaceful “revolution” undertaken by King Mosiah at the end of his reign by changing the mode of government to what Robert characterizes as a “republic” under the reign of the judges. Some modes of operation of the new government are discussed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts gives us a brief summary of the efforts of Alma the Younger and Amulek in Ammonihah, as well as the success of the sons of Mosiah in their missionary labors among the Lamanites. He details the persecution of the people of Ammon and their seeking refuge among the Nephites and the several wars of conquest attempted by the Lamanites in the following years. He mentions the childhood and upbringing of Captain Moroni during these conflicts and his victory over Zerahemnah.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts sets out Alma the Younger as one of the great exemplars of the scriptures, saying “there is scarcely any condition of life that Alma’s life will not instruct.” He discusses the demoralizing effect of war upon communities and details Amalickiah’s attempted rebellion amongst the Nephites, Captain Moroni’s response with the Title of Liberty, and Amalickiah’s flight and subsequent and unbelievable rise to the Lamanite throne.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts discusses Ammoron assuming the throne after the death of his brother, and his two-front war against the Nephites, both on the east and the west. The efforts of the Nephites in retaking their captured cities are detailed, especially that of Helaman and his army of stripling Lamanites in the west. The lack of support in terms of men and materiel from the Nephite government in Zarahemla is mentioned, as is the determination of Helaman and his men to hold out regardless.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. Korihor is brought forth for judgment in the city of Zarahemla. Corianton and his brother Shiblon discuss the proceedings, with the former taking the side of the Nephite Anti-Christ and dismissing the teachings of his fathers. Instead of accompanying his brother in planning for the upcoming mission to the Zoramites, Corianton goes off on his own to visit Korihor in prison.
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. To the grief of his father, Corianton is among the supporters of Korihor that accompanies him to his trial. Although acquitted by the law of the land, Korihor initiates a conflict with the High Priest, Alma the Younger, who boldly declares his testimony and witness of God. Korihor demands a sign, and receives one in being struck dumb and losing his ability to speak. Seeing he has lost his supporters, he flees. As the people disperse, Alma the Younger goes to speak with his son.
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. Corianton joins the mission to the Zoramites. While he is an effective missionary, he has not been fully converted to all the principles of the gospel, and is beset by pride. In the streets of Antionum, he encounters the crazed Korihor, who is trampled by the horses of the city guardsman before his eyes. Embittered by what he percieves as a lack of mercy on the part of the Lord, he returns to his lodging at the home of one of the chief Zoramites and is confronted by a woman who says she has been looking for him.
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. Corianton walks with the woman, who introduces herself as Joan of Siron, and claims she is kin to Seantum, the Zoramite with whom he is lodging. She flatters him and appeals to his vanity. He joins her in a party at the house of Seantum, dancing with her and partaking of wine. She departs after midnight, wherein he feels guilt at his indiscretion and how the other missionaries would react to it, but he continues among the other revellers until he passes out.
Roberts relates the reunion of the people of Zeniff and Alma the Elder with the Nephites at Zarahemla. He discusses the bloody revolutions throughout history and compares them to the peaceful “revolution” undertaken by King Mosiah at the end of his reign by changing the mode of government to what Robert characterizes as a “republic” under the reign of the judges. Some modes of operation of the new government are discussed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A fictional portrayal of events in the life of Corianton, one of the sons of Alma the Younger. The next morning, Corianton encounters his brother Shiblon, who exhorts him to flee and tells him that he was reported in the company of the harlot Isabel the night before. Corianton protests his innocence, and does not believe his brother, who is shortly thereafter arrested by Seantum for slandering his family. Seeing his father and Ammon pursued by a mob and mocked for his own actions, Corianton is ashamed and confronts Joan, now revealed as the harlot Isabel. She convinces him to come with her to the land of Siron. In the aftermath of his departure, the mission to the Zoramites departs the city, soon to be followed by the believers among the Zoramites, who are cast out by their brethren. In the land of Siron, Isabel reveals her true colors to Corianton and orders him beaten and taken in bonds to the land of Jershon. There, he is stoned by the refugees of Antionum, until rescued by his brother Shiblon. As he recovers, he is taught the great fundamental truths of the gospel by his father Alma the Younger, and is finally humbled.
Roberts discusses Ammoron assuming the throne after the death of his brother, and his two-front war against the Nephites, both on the east and the west. The efforts of the Nephites in retaking their captured cities are detailed, especially that of Helaman and his army of stripling Lamanites in the west. The lack of support in terms of men and materiel from the Nephite government in Zarahemla is mentioned, as is the determination of Helaman and his men to hold out regardless.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts gives us a brief summary of the efforts of Alma the Younger and Amulek in Ammonihah, as well as the success of the sons of Mosiah in their missionary labors among the Lamanites. He details the persecution of the people of Ammon and their seeking refuge among the Nephites and the several wars of conquest attempted by the Lamanites in the following years. He mentions the childhood and upbringing of Captain Moroni during these conflicts and his victory over Zerahemnah.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts sets out Alma the Younger as one of the great exemplars of the scriptures, saying “there is scarcely any condition of life that Alma’s life will not instruct.” He discusses the demoralizing effect of war upon communities and details Amalickiah’s attempted rebellion amongst the Nephites, Captain Moroni’s response with the Title of Liberty, and Amalickiah’s flight and subsequent and unbelievable rise to the Lamanite throne.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Gives examples of truths the world would have lost if the Book of Mormon had not been brought forth (Alma 41:10; 2 Nephi 2:24-25; 1 Nephi 3:7; Ether 12:26-27). The Book of Mormon corrects some errors in the philosophies and religions of men.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The story of Alma the Younger’s conversion. Just before he died, he delivered to his sons Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton his “commandments,” a father’s advice and admonitions. Each son is different, and therefore Alma’s advice was different for each of his sons. The second part covers Shiblon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The author writes of a monument of Christ erected on the border of Argentina and Chile as a sign of peace between the two nations, and of another monument of Christ, the LDS temple, built in Hawaii. “Those who believe in the Book of Mormon also believe that this group of islands was colonized by certain adventurous people from the mainland of America [Hagoth, Alma 63].” These two monuments have been erected on a land that Christ once visited.
The story of Alma the Younger’s conversion. Just before he died, he delivered to his sons Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton his “commandments,” a father’s advice and admonitions. Each son is different, and therefore Alma’s advice was different for each of his sons. The third part covers Corianton.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The story of Alma the Younger’s conversion. Just before he died, he delivered to his sons Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton his “commandments,” a father’s advice and admonitions. Each son is different, and therefore Alma’s advice was different for each of his sons. The fourth part concludes the discussion on Corianton.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
A fictional narrative based on the Book of Mormon story of Corianton found in the book of Alma.
Refers to Jesus as the “Creator of all things,” as well as “the Father of Heaven and of Earth” This same thought is repeated in the Book of Mormon by Mosiah, Alma, Nephi, and Moroni in connection with the idea that Jesus is “the Creator”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Scriptural passages point out the difference in Christ as a “Redeemer” and Christ as a “Savior” (Alma 22:14; Helaman 15:18). Christ’s work brings universal redemption from physical death through resurrection, and brings salvation from the effects of individual sin through faith and repentance.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
“Men are that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 11:25-27). The resurrected man can die no more, his spirit and body will never be divided again, and thus will progress through the eternities if he wills it so (Alma 11:45).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
The doctrine of free agency is strongly set forth (2 Nephi 2:26-27; Alma 29:4).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Alma says that after the resurrection there is no dissolution that takes place, but spirit and body become inseparably united into one spiritual personage, spirit predominating, and that is why the revelations say, “Man is spirit”
The story of Alma the Younger’s conversion. Just before he died, he delivered to his sons Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton his “commandments,” a father’s advice and admonitions. Each son is different, and therefore Alma’s advice was different for each of his sons.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Literary authorship analysis using stylometry and wordprints. Several contributors to the Book of Mormon were examined Mormon, Nephi, Alma the Younger, Moroni, Jesus Christ, Jacob, and Isaiah. The 1830 edition was used. The conclusion is that the “results give every indication that there are multiple authors in the Book of Mormon”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Review of Come unto Christ: The Conversion of Alma the Younger (1999), by Merrill Jenson, with text compiled by Betsy Jenson
Focuses on Lehi’s speech to his household—the historical setting, Lehi’s covenant and prophecy. Adds some notes on archaeological evidence and the achievements of the Mayans.
It must not be supposed that the Book of Mormon people had the Melchizedek Priesthood before Christ. The Mosaic law was regulated under the Aaronic priesthood, there is no evidence that the law was practiced under Melchizedek Priesthood authority and that sacrificial offerings were performed by other than Aaronic priesthood holders. Alma speaks of the priesthood after the Order of the Son of God in past tense language.
A fictional account of Alma1 who fled the presence of King Noah and followed the prophet Abinadi.
This article by Rebecca A. Roesler discusses the significance of Nephi’s small plates in the Book of Mormon. Roesler examines the text of the Book of Mormon in order to “establish that scriptural texts can…exhibit variation in spiritual understanding” and that such variation can be insightful. She does not comment on the historicity or divinity of the text, but seeks to present “a literary case that, sometime in the generations before Alma, the small plates of Nephi and the teachings thereon are lost or obscured from view.” [quotes from author]
This article testifies that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to all the world’s problems. We can “look to God and live” (Alma 37:47). Alma knew the consequences of running counter to that advice. There are three requisites for looking to God: a true knowledge of God, a knowledge of his commandments, and obedience to the commandments.
Roper examines the use of the terms sword and cimeter in a Mesoamerican setting as well as in the Book of Mormon text. The macuahuitl was a fearsome weapon consisting of a long, flat piece of hardwood with grooves along the side into which sharp fragments of flint or obsidian were set and glued. Our knowledge of this weapon comes more from written accounts than actual artifacts because few specimens have survived. The Book of Mormon sword of Laban was used as a model for making swords, but they were not necessarily made of the same material. The discussion in Alma 24:12 having to do with stained swords would make particular sense with wooden swords. Cimeters, or scimitars, differ from swords in having curved blades. Several kinds of swords and cimeters that were in use in ancient Mesoamerica are plausible candidates for Book of Mormon weapons.
The Book of Mormon first mentions a weapon called a cimeter during the time of Enos (some time between about 544 and 421 bc). Speaking of his people’s Lamanite enemies, Enos says, “their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax” (Enos 1:20). Later, in the first and second centuries bc, the weapon was part of the armory of both Nephites and Lamanites in addition to swords and other weapons (Mosiah 9:16; 10:8; Alma 2:12; 43:18, 20, 37; 60:2; Helaman 1:14).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The Lord told Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, “Look unto me in every thought” (D&C 6:36). In the ordinance of the sacrament we covenant each week to “always remember him,” that we “may always have his Spirit” to be with us (D&C 20:77). The Book of Mormon testifies that “all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all thing that are upon the face of it” (Alma 30:44). Thus, God has given all things as a type or representation of Christ to help us remember Him (see 2 Nephi 11:4; Helaman 8:24). The key to understanding the things of God is to see Christ in them, including His creations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: Zoram, the servant of Laban, is a character from the Book of Mormon who is only mentioned a few times and on whom little information is given. This article analyzes what information is given in the Book of Mormon and contextualizes its historical background, all coupled with the observations of Latter-day Saint Church leaders and scholars. Insight is provided concerning Zoram’s Hebraic descent in the tribe of Manasseh and his working duties under Laban’s command, along with how all this affected his role in assisting Lehi’s family. The meaning of his name in Hebrew and possible correlations to the meaning of his life’s events are explained. The oath between Nephi and Zoram is discussed, and the debate regarding whether Zoram was a slave or servant is addressed, to show that he was likely a free servant.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
I hope we will commit ourselves today and continue this commitment throughout our lives to contribute in every way that we can to building the kingdom of God on earth and also in supporting our alma mater.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Joshua
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Topics > Literary Aspects
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Judges
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Esther
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezra/Nehemiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Daniel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Exodus
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Review of The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries: A special Reprint of the 1912 First Edition (1998), by James E. Talmage.
This article illustrates the Nephite notions of priesthood and church in order to show that the Book of Mormon conception of priesthood is based on Judahite notions of kingly priesthood and ideas firmly rooted in the biblical law of Moses and the Sinai Covenant. This is the underlying idea behind Alma2’s discussion of Melchizedek in Alma 13. In this article, I first look at “priest” in the biblical record and tradition. I follow this with a discussion of Book of Mormon “priesthood” notions up to Alma1 and Alma2 (including the interaction with Nehor). Finally, I examine the conflict between Alma2 and the Nehorite people of Ammonihah, where Alma2 draws on a narrative expansion of the Melchizedek tradition in Genesis 14 to make his point about his priesthood order and its superiority to the order of Nehor.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > A — C > Book of Mormon
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
RSC Topics > D — F > Fall of Adam and Eve
RSC Topics > G — K > Judgment
RSC Topics > G — K > Justice
RSC Topics > L — P > Law of Moses
RSC Topics > L — P > Mercy
RSC Topics > L — P > Old Testament
RSC Topics > Q — S > Restoration of the Gospel
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > D — F > Death
RSC Topics > D — F > Fall of Adam and Eve
RSC Topics > G — K > Justice
RSC Topics > L — P > Mercy
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
RSC Topics > Q — S > Restoration of the Gospel
A study guide with scriptural paraphrases, questions, and activities designed to aid the reader in understanding the book of Alma.
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The Book of Mormon teachings concerning the resurrection appear in the books of Mosiah and Alma. These teachings are harmonious with biblical teachings.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: Jonathan Neville, an advocate of the “Heartland” geography setting for the Book of Mormon, claims to have identified a novel chiastic structure that begins in Alma 22:27. Neville argues that this chiasmus allows the reconstruction of a geography that stretches south to the Gulf of Mexico in the continental United States. One expert, Donald W. Parry, doubts the existence of a fine-tuned chiasmus in this verse. An analysis which assumes the presence of the chiasmus demonstrates that multiple internal difficulties result from such a reading. Neville’s reading requires two different “sea west” bodies of water: one “sea west” placed at the extreme north of the map and a second sea to the west of Lamanite lands, but neither is to the west of the Nephites’ land of Zarahemla. Neville’s own ideas also fail to meet the standards he demands of those who differ with him. These problems, when combined with other Book of Mormon textual evidence, make the geography based upon Neville’s reading of the putative chiasmus unviable.
In answer to the title, this article states that there is no contradiction, arguing that Joseph Smith and all of his associates knew perfectly well that Bethlehem was where Jesus was born. The expression used in Alma 7:10 was not that Jesus was born in Jerusalem, but at Jerusalem. This is a Hebrew expression and simply refers to a geographical area—Jerusalem and environs, including Bethlehem.
This article asserts that the Nephites did indeed have a church organization before the days of Alma, and that Lehi, King Benjamin, and King Mosiah each had a church organization. Whenever and wherever there were gospel ordinances administered by a minister there was a church organization.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
This article explains that, since there were no members of the tribe of Levi among the Nephites, the Nephites officiated by virtue of the Melchizedek Priesthood rather than the Aaronic. It concludes that Alma received the priesthood before Noah became king and remained righteous enough to retain this authority, although he immersed himself while baptizing Helam as part of the repentance process.
This article discusses how Lehi and the Nephites are referred to as “Jews” in several Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants passages (2 Nephi 30:4; D&C 19:27; D&C 57:4), even though they were literal descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh (Alma 10:3). They were Jews not so much by actual descent as by citizenship, having lived in Jerusalem in the kingdom of Judah, or through intermarriage.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
There is no contradiction. Joseph Smith and all of his associates knew perfectly well that Bethlehem was where Jesus was born. The expression used in Alma 7:10 was not that Jesus was born in Jerusalem, but at Jerusalem. This is a Hebrew expression and simply refers to a geographical area—Jerusalem and environs, including Bethlehem.
This article provides a scholarly analysis of the monetary system of the Nephites used around 82 b.c. and described in Alma 11. The Nephite system was a slight modification of a binary system, where each unit would have twice the value of the next smaller one. The author also shows parallels with similar systems in Egypt and Macedonia.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > D — F > Faith
RSC Topics > G — K > Hope
RSC Topics > G — K > Humility
The Smithsonian statement about the Book of Mormon has been revised to indicate that the “Book of Mormon is a religious document and not a scientific guide.” James E. Talmage correctly identified various Michigan relics as fraudulent.
Ancient Mesoamericans used some systems of weights and measures; items in the market, though, were usually sold by volume. The Mesoamerican weights and measures may coincide with the weights and measures described in Alma 11 of the Book of Mormon, but more research is necessary in order to make conclusive claims.
John Sorenson analyzes the extent and significance of the discrepancy between two reports of the same event in the Book of Mormon and explores how the two versions may have arisen. He looks at the scope of the problem and the fallibility of the historical record before analyzing the problem and offering a resolution. He also provides a reconciled chronology of the years in question and discusses some lessons we can learn from the discrepancy.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
In touring southern Guatemala, many FARMS patrons traveled west of the capital city to visit Lake Atitlán, one of the most photogenic spots in Central America. Tour guides have told thousands that the beautiful “waters of Mormon” beloved by Alma and his people (see Mosiah 18:30) might well be Lake Atitlán. The Nephite record also tells us that a city called Jerusalem, which was constructed by Lamanites led by Nephite dissenters, was located “away joining the borders of Mormon” (Alma 21:1–2).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
“Join the ranks and fight alongside Captain Moroni in this in-depth look at the wars, battles, and conflicts in the book of Alma war chapters. In this book, you’ll discover: what made the Nephites successful even when they were outnumbered; how the Nephites’ military strategies provide further proof of the Book of Mormon’s authenticity; why Mormon focused so much attention on the Alma war chapters; how Moroni follows the timeless principles of war; and why these wars transformed both Nephite and Lamanite societies.” [From back of book]
The question at the heart of the exchange between Korihor and Alma in the Book of Mormon concerns knowledge, what Alma calls the real. This essay probes Korihor’s appraisal of the Nephite’s Christian devotion, sorting out the basic stakes of his argument, and then looks at how Alma slowly and belatedly develops a full response to Korihor. Deviating from traditional interpretations of the parable of the seed of faith, Spencer illustrates that Alma effectively displaces knowledge as a core value, arguing that faith not only is not lesser than knowledge but also goes beyond knowledge and produces something of infinitely more value. Although one can know the truth of Christ and know it perfectly, faith continues beyond knowledge because faith aims not at acquiring knowledge, but at eternal life.
RSC Topics > T — Z > Women
Since John Welch discovered Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon fifty years ago, students of the volume have paid attention to textual structures. Unfortunately, little attention has yet been paid to book-length structures, structures organizing larger stretches of the Book of Mormon. Analysis of whole books within the Book of Mormon has largely remained in a preliminary phase.3 In this note, however, I lay out what appears to be the intentional organizational structure of the book of Alma.
Abstract: In the early editions of the Book of Mormon, Alma refers to the Nephite interpreters as directors. Because director(s) elsewhere refers to the brass ball that guided Lehi’s family through the wilderness, Alma’s use of the term was apparently considered a mistake, and directors was changed to interpreters for the 1920 edition of the Book of Mormon. There are reasons, however, to believe that Alma’s use of directors was intentional. I present contextual evidence that Alma was actually using the Hebrew word urim, which was later translated into English as directors (for the interpreters) and director (for the brass ball), and biblical evidence that those translations are appropriate. Alma may have called the instruments urim to emphasize their sacred importance. As English prose, Alma’s discussion of these sacred instruments is wordy and at times confusing. As Hebrew poetry built around the word urim, it makes more sense. Alma’s apparent sophisticated use of this word suggests that he had a thorough understanding of the ancient connotations of urim and remarkable talent as a classical Hebrew poet.
Abstract: In describing the operation of the spindles in the Liahona, Nephi’s statement that “the one pointed the way” in 1 Nephi 16:10 is frequently taken to mean that one of the two spindles indicated the direction to travel. However, Nephi’s apparent use of the Hebrew word האחד (ha’echad)
may imply a different mechanism in which the direction was being shown when both operated as one. If so, there may be added symbolism of unity and oneness inherent in Nephi’s and Alma’s descriptions of the Liahona. Additionally, I provide a detailed analysis of words and phrases used by Nephi and Alma to describe the Liahona which potentially reveal intriguing Hebrew wordplay in the text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Abstract: When the sons of Mosiah were returning from their preaching among the Lamanites, Ammon was accused by his brother Aaron of boasting. This article demonstrates how Ammon’s response to this charge employed wordplay involving the Hebrew roots ה-ל-ל (h-l-l) and ש-מ-ח (s-m-ch). Identifying and understanding Ammon’s use of wordplay helps us to appreciate the complexity and conceptual richness of his message.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: In two separate passages Isaiah appears to describe the mortal Messiah as lacking in physical beauty and perhaps as even having some type of physical disfigurement (see Isaiah 52:14 and 53:2–4). On the contrary, Joseph, David, Esther, and Judith — portrayed in the biblical text as physical saviors or deliverers of Israel — are represented as beautiful in form and appearance. In fact, their beauty seems to be a significant factor in the successful exercise of their power as physical saviors of Israel. Unlike Joseph, David, Esther, and Judith, Christ may have been foreordained to descend to his mortal state with a less than attractive physical appearance and as someone who experienced illness throughout his life so that “he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:12).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Esther
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
The Book of Mormon exhibits the intimate relationship between God and his people. The brother of Jared’s experience is a fine example. The driving force of the prophets was moral and religious, rather than economic and political. Social injustice was condemned by Nephi, Jacob, Alma, and Captain Moroni. Although little is said about the status of the family, respect for women and family affection are standard. Workers were well treated and friendship was promoted between Nephites and Lamanites. The Book of Mormon displays a high caliber of personal religion and brotherhood.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
An analysis of the Words of Mormon to Helaman, including Mormon’s abridgment between the small and large plates of Nephi. The teachings of Benjamin, Mosiah, Abinadi, Alma, and his son, Alma the Younger. Helaman’s and Shiblon’s writings in the book of Alma are set forth. Alma the Younger is to the Book of Mormon as Paul is to the New Testament. The book of Helaman covers fifty years of Nephite history.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
A typescript of six lectures. The author presents a discussion on reformed Egyptian, the books of 2 Nephi, Alma, and 3 Nephi, and the question regarding Isaiah in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
The Book of Mormon clearly teaches God’s plan in respect to the afterlife. Death is necessary for all individuals (2 Nephi 2:22-25). This life is the time to prepare to meet God (Alma 34:32, 34-35). In the spirit world there is a division of people who await the resurrection (Alma 40:9-14). There will be a judgment and all will be given a just reward according to their actions and desires (Alma 41:3-5, 2 Nephi 9:14).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > D — F > Doctrine
RSC Topics > G — K > Justice
RSC Topics > Q — S > Restoration of the Gospel
RSC Topics > Q — S > Resurrection
Abstract: Some students of the Book of Mormon have felt that while the coming of the Lord to the Lehites was clearly revealed to and taught by Nephi1, those prophecies having to do with the subject may not have been widely circulated or continuously preserved among the Nephites, while others have argued for continuity of knowledge about Nephi1’s prophecies among writers and their contemporary audiences. Reexamination of the Book of Mormon in light of these issues reveals that the teaching that Christ would appear among the Lehites was actually taught with some consistency by Alma2 and was, it would seem, common knowledge among the Nephites. It appears that the predicted coming was well established, even if the nature of it was not. Specifically, I argue that Alma2 often taught of the coming of Christ to the Lehites but in context with other events such as Jesus’s coming to the Jews and to others not of the known fold. To make this case, I concentrate on Alma2’s writings, especially those in Alma 5 (borrowing liberally also from Alma 7, 13, 16, 39, Helaman 16:4–5, 13–14, and 3 Nephi 8–10). Alma 5 houses many prophetic statements that urgently point to the coming of the Lord to the Nephite church. The value of this approach is to attempt to demonstrate that Alma 5 contains more than has been supposed and, in effect, challenges claims for discontinuity in the middle portion of the Nephite record. This approach should tend to renew our interest in the other nuanced teachings of the prophet Alma2 and others. Yea, thus sayeth the Spirit: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in his glory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion. Yea, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, that the [Page 108]Spirit sayeth: Behold the glory of the King of all the earth; and also the King of heaven shall very soon shine forth among all the children of men. (Alma 5:50)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Reprints the title page, lists (in order) the books of the Book of Mormon, and gives the account of Moroni’s visit that is also found in the Pearl of Great Price. Contains many excerpts from the book itself, with writings from Nephi, Isaiah, Jacob, King Benjamin, King Mosiah, Alma, Helaman, Captain Moroni, Pahoran, Mormon, and Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The book of Mosiah is a cultic history of the reign of Mosiah2, structured around three royal ceremonies in 124, 121, and 92–91 BC. On each of these occasions, newly discovered scriptures were read to the people, stressing the dangers of monarchical government and celebrating the deliverance of the people and the revelation of Jesus Christ. This book existed independently hundreds of years before Mormon engraved it onto the gold plates. The most likely occasion for the writing of such a book was in the aftermath of Mosiah’s death when Alma the Younger needed to undermine the Amlicite bid to reestablish the monarchy.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > A — C > Conversion
The early twentieth century found the Japanese language in a state of flux—colloquial Japanese was very slowly beginning to replace classical written Japanese, whose grammar had remained relatively intact for centuries. At this time of change Elder Alma O. Taylor began his 1909 translation of the Book of Mormon. He choose initially to render the text into the colloquial style; however, prodded by his Japanese reviewers, Taylor quickly realized that no publicly praiseworthy translation could be made in colloquial Japanese. The choice to translate the Book of Mormon in the classical language, as well as to have successful Japanese author, Choko Ikuta, review and edit the translation, allowed the 1909 text to accurately portray doctrine as well as to be considered a major literary achievement.
The matter presented in the following pages is published as Lectures XIV and XV, in the series entitled “ The Articles of Faith,” dealing with the principal doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prepared and delivered by Dr. James E. TAlmage, and published by the Church, 1899. The two Lectures are presented in this separate form for the use and benefit of investigators and students, who desire to learn something of the most noted and characteristic volume among the Standard Works of the Church.
The matter presented in the following pages is published as Lectures XIV and XV, in the series entitled “ The Articles of Faith,” dealing with the principal doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prepared and delivered by Dr. James E. TAlmage, and published by the Church, 1899. The two Lectures are presented in this separate form for the use and benefit of investigators and students, who desire to learn something of the most noted and characteristic volume among the Standard Works of the Church.
A reprint of an article for Deseret Museum Bulletin, September 1911, with the addition of a letter from Miriam Brooks substantiating TAlmage’s observations.
In a lecture presented at several universities throughout the United States, Dr. James E. TAlmage spoke on early Latter-day Saint history. In this first part, he focused on the young Joseph Smith and the First Vision, as well as a basic overview of the Book of Mormon and its ancient origins.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In a lecture presented at several universities throughout the United States, Dr. James E. TAlmage spoke on early Latter-day Saint history. In this second part, he focused on the critical reception that the Book of Mormon received, and dismantles one popular theory of its origin. He mentions early Latter-day Saint missions to the “Lamanites” and the persecutions that the early Saints endured.
A collection of papers from letters and journals kept by Talmage. Two letters report Talmage’s work on revision of the Book of Mormon, suggesting to the First Presidency a list of minor revisions.
Talmage exposes the fraudulent nature of relics found in Michigan claimed to be of ancient origin. He warns collectors of artifacts and Church members eager for external evidences of the Book of Mormon not to be deceived. Talmage explains his investigation, details eight reasons for his conclusions, and cites other recognized scholars who have labeled the “Michigan relics” as spurious.
Talmage describes the eloquence and beauty of the parable of the shepherd in John 10. No one understood John 10:16 until the Book of Mormon taught that the other sheep were the scattered remnants of the house of Israel, some of whom were the Nephites and Lamanites.
Briefly tells of the origin and story of the Book of Mormon. Outside of the circle of Mormonism, scholars cannot share the enthusiasm. Martin Harris’s approach to Professor Anthon reveals a “country bumpkin” whose claims are spurious. D. P. Hurlburt alleged that the manuscript was based on Spaulding’s writings. The author claims the Mormons get around any sensible claims by way of their “extravagant tale” and their witnesses. Lists James E. Talmage’s five “proofs” of authenticity, and then claims that three of these are proof that the Book of Mormon is an intentional fraud.
Catherine Thomas places Alma and his teachings within the context of the premortal existence to show his concern for the plan of redemption. She notes that some spirits were notably more responsive in their faith than others and that Israel was there organized. Alma’s discourses are set against his dramatic conversion, from a condition of abject wickedness to that of a highly motivated saint. His transformation serves as a model of encouragement for the lost soul seeking a higher state.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Nephite missionaries in the first century BC had significant difficulty preaching the gospel among Nephites and Lamanites who followed Zoramite and Nehorite teaching. Both of these groups built synagogues and other places of worship suggesting that some of their beliefs originated in Israelite practice, but both denied the coming or the necessity of a Messiah. This article explores the nature of Zoramite and Nehorite beliefs, identifies how their beliefs and practices differed from orthodox Nephite teaching, and suggests that some of these religious differences are attributable to cultural and political differences that resonate in the present
Abstract: Alma 13:3–4 is often interpreted as Book of Mormon confirmation of the doctrine that all those who are ordained to the Priesthood on the earth were foreordained to receive that Priesthood in the pre-existence as a result of their exceeding faith and good works. That interpretation is inconsistent with the 1978 revelation on Priesthood. A contextual reading of the account of Alma2’s ministry to the people of Ammonihah also suggests that Alma2 was not telling the men of Ammonihah that they (or anyone else) had been foreordained to receive the Priesthood. Rather, Alma2 was teaching that what we now call worthiness was ordained as the standard for ordination to the Priesthood before the foundations of this earth were laid. If the people of Ammonihah demonstrated their worthiness by repenting of their sins, they could qualify to receive the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood and enter into the rest of the Lord as many of the ancients had done. The manner in which men were ordained to the Priesthood and in which its ordinances were administered was intended to show the people how they should look to Christ for redemption.
Abstract: The doctrine of resurrection was taught by Lehi and Jacob among the first Nephites but was not mentioned again in the record until the time of Abinadi, perhaps 350 years later. In the court of King Noah that doctrine and the idea of a suffering Messiah who would bear the sins of his people and redeem them, were heresies and Abinadi paid for them with his life. While Abinadi’s testimony converted Alma1 and the doctrine of the resurrection inspired Alma2 after his conversion, it was a source of schism in the church at Zarahemla along lines that remind us of the Sadducees at Jerusalem. The doctrine of the resurrection taught in the Book of Mormon is a precursor to the doctrine now understood by the Latter-day Saints in the light of modern revelation. One example is that the Nephite prophets used the term first resurrection differently than we do. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the way that the doctrine of resurrection develops in the Book of Mormon, is that it develops consistently. That consistency bears further testimony to the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith. He could not have done that by himself.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: General historical consensus holds that synagogues originated before the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, and therefore probably originated during the Babylonian captivity. The suggestion in Philo and Josephus that synagogues may have originated during the exodus was discredited by some historians in the 17th century, yet the Book of Mormon speaks of synagogues, sanctuaries, and places of worship in a manner which suggests that Lehi and his party brought some form of synagogal worship with them when they left Jerusalem around 600 BC. This essay revisits the most up to date scholarship regarding the origin of the synagogue and suggests that the Book of Mormon record provides ample reason to look for the origins of the synagogue much earlier that has become the academic custom.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Leviticus
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Excerpts from a book by the same title. Compares descriptions of ancient American fortifications with comparable fortifications in the book of Alma. Discusses the Gadianton robbers and the visit of Martin Harris to Dr. Mitchel.
A previously unknown oil sketch by Minerva Teichert (1888–1976), the pioneering LDS woman artist, was recently acquired by an art collector when it came up for sale in Salt Lake City. This small painting depicts the temptation of Corianton, a son of Alma in the Book of Mormon. The painting had been owned for many years by a Wyoming rancher who received it from Teichert as a birthday gift when he was a boy in the early 1950s. This article introduces The Seduction of Corianton, including a full-color scan of the painting.
The world of the Nephite nation was born out of the world of seventh century bc Jerusalem. The traditions and tragedies of the nation of Judah set the stage for what would happen over the next ten centuries of Book of Mormon history. In his opening statements, Nephi tells of an explosion of divinely commissioned ministers preaching in the holy city. He declares that Jerusalem was a place of “many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent” (1 Nephi 1:4). Nephi alludes to the prophetic service of Jeremiah (c. bc 626-587), Zephaniah (c. bc 640-609, Obadiah (c. bc 587), Nahum2 Habakkuk, Urijah, and possibly many others. This disproportionate number of prophets in the city was accompanied by an increasing wave of imitators. Amidst this apparent competition between valid and invalid prophetic representatives, Jeremiah sets a standard of who can be trusted in this visionary arena. As Stephen Smoot has written, “The Book of Mormon exhibits, in many respects, an intimate familiarity with ancient Israelite religious concepts. One such example is the Book of Mormon’s portrayal of the divine council. Following a lucid biblical pattern, the Book of Mormon provides a depiction of the divine council and several examples of those who were introduced into the heavenly assembly and made partakers in divine secrets.” It is this rich heritage of prophetic representatives of deity that so richly influenced Book of Mormon authors. Of these many prophets who were actively preaching in Jerusalem, Jeremiah stands out in Nephi’s writings (1 Nephi 5:13; 7:14). Jeremiah continues to be an influence on Nephite culture throughout their history (Helaman 8:20; cf. 3 Nephi 19:4). It will be Jeremiah’s writings that will influence the Nephite perspective on “Call Narratives” and views of the “Divine Council” throughout the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
Abstract: This study assesses some of the interpretations of the name Liahona, which are unsatisfactory from a linguistic perspective. Since a dialect of Hebrew is the most likely underlying language of the Book of Mormon, the approach taken in this study parses the word Liahona into three meaningful segments in Hebrew: l-iah-ona; a Biblical Hebrew transliteration would be l-Yāh-Ɂōnấ. This name is a grammatical construction that attaches the prepositional prefix l- to Yāh, the name of “the Lord,” followed by the noun *Ɂōnấ. The preposition l- in this context denotes the following name as the agent or the one who is responsible for the following noun, i.e., l-Yāh designates the Lord as the agent, author, or producer of the *Ɂōnấ. Languages are complex, and etymological conjectures in ancient languages are hypothetical; therefore, the explanations and justifications presented here, of necessity, are speculative in nature. Etymological explanations have to involve the complexity of linguistics and sound changes. The hoped-for result of this study is that a simple and reasonable explanation of the meaning of Liahona will emerge from the complexity, and a more reasonable translation of Liahona will be the result.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
In the approximately sixty passages alluding to the priesthood in the Book of Mormon, the offices of the priesthood were given to individuals who “labored diligently” to teach the people of Christ. The role between secular and non-secular was not separated in the Book of Mosiah. Priesthood leaders were ordained by one central figure, the high priest. The roles of church and state separated when Alma the Younger applied himself wholly to the duties of the priesthood. Following Christ’s appearance, twelve disciples were chosen and the role of high priest disappeared. The author ends with a call to return to the equality of members taught in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Contains a map, restoration drawing, cross section and artist’s reconstruction of the walls of Becan. This city, located in Guatemala, is perhaps one of the cities fortified by general Moroni as it has trenches dug outside the walls that correspond to the information found in the book of Alma.
Gives a history of archaeological work and Book of Mormon correlations. Suggests that Teotihuacán is a city of the “land northward” spoken of in Alma and Helaman.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Lists verses where mistakes were made by the engraver of gold plates and the way in which the engraver corrected them. These include 1 Nephi 2:41, 1 Nephi 3:245, and Alma 14:112 (RLDS versification).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Alma The Younger’s missionary journey to Ammonihah is one of the most disturbing episodes in the Book of Mormon: scriptures are burned (Alma 14:8); converted males are “cast out” and stoned by former friends (Alma 14:7); Amulek, a respected citizen, and Alma, high priest of the church and retired chief judge, are spit upon, mocked, imprisoned, stripped naked, humiliated, starved, and beaten (Alma 14:4-22); and innocent women and children are “cast into the fire” and burned to death (Alma 14:8). Alma and Amulek are “carried… forth to the place of martyrdom;’ and forced to “witness” (Alma 14:9) the “pains of the women and children’’ as they are “consuming in the fire” (Alma 14:10). These events, the Ammonihahite disregard for human life, and the fire are horrifying and extraordinarily cruel.
A series of five lectures dealing with five Book of Mormon families. The Lehite family featured two opposite characters—Nephi and Laman. The family of Mosiah included Mosiah1, Benjamin, Mosiah2, and his four sons. The house of Alma represents “the greatest of the ruling houses in the Book of Mormon” This family included Alma1 and Alma2, Helaman1, Helaman2, Nephi, Lehi, and others. The family of Mormon (Mormon and Moroni) witnessed the decline and fall of the Nephite nation. The family of Christ is represented by those who become his spiritual sons and daughters.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Alma’s definition of faith as “hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21) serves as a pattern for the juxtaposition of faith and truth throughout the scriptures. Faith in the atoning power of Jesus is the truth that will save us.
Alma 1:15 records the execution of Nehor for the murder of Gideon: And it came to pass that they took him; and his name was Nehor; and they carried him upon the top of the hill Manti, and there he was caused, or rather did acknowledge, between the heavens and the earth, that what he had taught to the people was contrary to the word of God; and there he suffered an ignominious death.
In the heading before chapter 1 of 1 Nephi, we find Nephi’s outline of his record. It begins, “An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons,” and ends, “This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.” Sometimes these signposts appear before a section to tell us what is to come. Other times, they appear at the end to explain, recap, or mark the end of what has been said. For lack of a better word, I call them colophons, though technically colophons are notes or guidelines after a text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
In recent years, a large number of ancient writings have been found in and around Israel. While many of these include names found in the Bible and other ancient texts, others were previously unattested in written sources. Some of these previously unattested names, though unknown in the Bible, are found in the Book of Mormon. The discovery of these Hebrew names in ancient inscriptions provides remarkable evidence for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and provides clear refutation of those critics who would place its origin in nineteenth-century America. This article explores several Book of Mormon proper names that are attested from Hebrew inscriptions. Names included are Sariah, Alma, Abish, Aha, Ammonihah, Chemish, Hagoth, Himni, Isabel, Jarom, Josh, Luram, Mathoni, Mathonihah, Muloki, and Sam—none of which appear in English Bibles.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
It is my hope that those who have strayed from the path of discipleship will see with their hearts and learn from Alma and Amulek.
King Benjamin’s address is well known to readers of the Book of Mormon and is often quoted in devotional contexts. The address marks the transition between two great kings of Nephite history: Benjamin and Mosiah. It is also a moment of teaching and of testimony for the old king. From that point on, the people are officially called by the name of Christ. Another moment of teaching and of popular commitment occurs in the Book of Mosiah, although it receives less attention: the address given by King Mosiah and Alma the Elder when the latter’s people arrive in Zarahemla (reported in Mosiah 25). The aim of this brief research note is to underline commonalities between Mosiah’s address and King Benjamin’s address and to suggest that both form part of a larger trend in Nephite institutions, a trend that changes the depth of Nephite religious and political institutions.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
“The Book of Mormon provides resounding and great answers to what Amulek designated as ’the great question’—namely, is there really a redeeming Christ? (Alma 34:5–6). The Book of Mormon with clarity and with evidence says, ’Yes! Yes! Yes!’ ” This declaration by Elder Neal A. Maxwell is the first in what might be described as a treasure trove of answers—a collection of twenty-seven though-provoking essays exploring and explaining the great truths found in the book of Mormon. Selected from more than three decades of symposia and conferences held at Brigham Young University, these essays by General Authorities and religious educators are filled with insights that will appeal to any serious student of the “keystone of our religion.” A Book of Mormon Treasury covers a wide variety of gospel topics, from “Agency and Freedom,” “Faith, Hope, and Charity,” and “The Doctrine of a Covenant People” to “Abinadi’s Commentary on Isaiah,” “The Natural Man: An Enemy to God,” and “The Concept of Hell.” Arranged to follow the order of the books in the Book of Mormon, each essay provides a deeper look into familiar doctrines, illuminating the gems of truth found within this sacred book of scripture. Among the valuable insights offered are these: “The highest and most revered purpose of the Book of Mormon is to restore to Abraham’s seed that crucial message declaring Christ’s divinity, convincing all who read its pages ’with a sincere heart, with real intent’ that Jesus is the Christ (Moroni 10:4).”—Elder Jeffrey R. Holland “Even as the criticism of the Book of Mormon continues to intensify, the book continues to testify and to diversify its displays of interior consistency, conceptual richness, and its connection with antiquity.”—Elder Neal A. Maxwell “Serious and careful study of the Fall in the Book of Mormon can drive people to their knees, bringing them to acknowledge their own weaknesses and thus their need for the Lord’s redemption. The Atonement is necessary because of the Fall, and unless people sense the effects of Eden—both cosmically and personally—they cannot comprehend the impact of Gethsemane and Calvary.”—Robert L. Millet ISBN 978-1-5903-8099-4
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A study aid that covers the first one-half of the Book of Mormon. Comprises approximately 206 historical questions, with scriptural references and approximately 167 doctrinal questions, also with scriptural references.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A brief report on the possible origins and meaning of select Book of Mormon proper names—i.e., Mormon, Cumorah, Shiblon, and Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
In this comprehensive and compelling biography, learn of the trials and triumphs of W. W. Phelps, early Latter-day Saint leader, printer, scribe, ghostwriter, and monumental hymn writer. He printed the Book of Commandments and other early standard works. He was one of the “council of presidents” that guided the Church in Kirtland in 1835–36. Phelps continued to be the leading light in newspaper publishing in Nauvoo and was Joseph Smith’s political clerk in governing Nauvoo and running for the US presidency, also playing a key role in the Council of Fifty. He went west with the Saints, helped propose the “State of Deseret,” and published prose and poetry in the Deseret News and his Deseret Almanac. Phelps’s strong feelings sometimes put him at odds with Church leaders, and he was excommunicated three times, rejoining each time. ISBN 978-1-9443-9436-3
A report on general philosophical principles of teaching and learning found in the Book of Mormon. Analysis of prominent figures such as Lehi, Nephi, Mormon, Alma, and Jesus Christ reveals their teaching preparation, purposes, and style, providing examples and principles of applications for current teachers in the LDS education system.
The Book of Mormon speaks of sanctification by the Holy Ghost and by the blood of Christ. Alma teaches no one can be saved except his garments are cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ. The author lists 14 steps of sanctification given by Nephi and 27 teachings in Alma 5 that lead to sanctification. Alma concludes when we can not look on sin save it is with abhorrence, the process of sanctification is working. We must practice faith, repentance, develop humility, and yield our hearts unto God. [N. K. Y.]
The Book of Mormon has come under frequent fire from its critics for allegedly quoting portions of the New Testament before the New Testament was written. A classic example of this is the famous phrase from 1 Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Clear allusions to this passage are made by three Book of Mormon prophets: Abinadi (Mosiah 16:8), Aaron (Alma 22:14), and Mormon (Mormon 7:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
In our efforts to prepare, in our efforts to be ready, we are provided a sweet assurance in Alma, where we are reminded that the Savior “has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance” (Alma 12:15).
A person’s knowledge, says the author, is not like a picture of reality: instead, it is like a map, and maps come in different types—and they never show everything.
Uses the story of Alma and Korihor to teach about faith and reasoning.
A fictional account based on a series of incidents recorded in the Book of Mormon, Alma 46-62. Captain Moroni’s military campaigns are a significant part of the story line.
The brass plates were essential to Lehi’s posterity since they contained the teachings that would lead them to righteousness; there are quotations from the brass plates throughout the Book of Mormon. We do not know what language or languages were used on the plates that came from Laban’s trove. Alma’s rendering of an unattributed Isaiah quotation is closer to the Hebrew text than are the versions found in the Septuagint and King James Bible. But when this same quotation appears a second time in the Book of Mormon and is attributed to Isaiah, it follows the KJV rendering. This curiosity offers a clue to the riddle of the language of the brass plates—it is very possible that at least some of the writings were in Hebrew.
Demonstrates Book of Mormon’s influence on youth. Stories of Alma the Younger, Enos, Ammon, Joseph Smith, and Jesus Christ are especially applicable; the Book of Mormon gives youth a “cause” with which to identify.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
This second of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the authors have learned from Nibley. Nearly every major subject that Dr. Nibley has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the sacrament covenant in Third Nephi, the Lamanite view of Book of Mormon history, external evidences of the Book of Mormon, proper names in the Book of Mormon, the brass plates version of Genesis, the composition of Lehi’s family, ancient burials of metal documents in stone boxes, repentance as rethinking, Mormon history’s encounter with secular modernity, and Judaism in the 20th century.
Discusses Alma’s use of the material about Melchizedek.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Hugh Nibley > Scholarship, Footnotes, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, CWHN, Editing > Bible > Old Testament
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Hugh Nibley > Scholarship, Footnotes, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, CWHN, Editing > Book of Mormon
John Welch displays the overall chiastic structure of Alma 36, suggests a detailed analysis of the text, traces the strands of repetition that weave paired sections tightly together, assesses the chapter’s degree of chiasticity, and compares the words and phrases of Alma 36 with the two other firsthand Book of Mormon accounts of Alma’s conversion. He suggests that there are many spiritual and intellectual implications to this study.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article addresses the seemingly misplaced discussion of weights and measures in the middle of Alma 11 in the Book of Mormon. Although the interruption initially seems strange, John Welch offers new insights to explain its purpose in the Book of Mormon. For instance, knowledge of the Nephite monetary system supplements a reader’s comprehension of the bribery and corruption that occurred in that society. Evidence of this monetary system also shows a link between Near Eastern civilizations and Book of Mormon civilizations, thus providing further evidence for the divinity of Joseph Smith’s work.
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
RSC Topics > T — Z > Testimony
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Chiasmus is a style of writing known in antiquity and mused by many ancient and some modern writers. It consists of arranging a series of words or ideas in one order, and then repeating it in reverse order. In the hands of a skillful writer, this literary form can serve several purposes. The repeating of key words in the two halves underlines the importance of the concepts they present. Furthermore, the main idea of the passage is placed at the turning point where the second half begins, which emphasizes it. The repeating form also enhances clarity and speeds memorizing. Readers (or listeners) gain a pleasing sense of completeness as the passage returns at the end to the idea that began it. Identifying the presence of chiasmus in a composition can reveal many complex and subtle features of the text.
Plausible birth- and death-dates are developed for the lineages of Lehi, Mosiah1, Alma the Elder, and Jared, with resulting insights into the lives of Book of Mormon prophets. The article includes a chart of comparative life spans of Book of Mormon characters.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
“A KnoWhy is a short essay… about some brief historical, archaeological, cultural, linguistic, literary, legal, devotional, or prophetic insight in the Book of Mormon. Individually, these pieces are about very specific topics: knowing why Nephi wrote in Egyptian (chapter 5), knowing why Jacob talked about polygamy (chapter 64), knowing why Abinadi was ’scourged’ with faggots (chapter 93), or knowing why Alma would talk about Melchizedek (chapter 117). In many cases, we profess less-than-definitive answers, but rather offer some reasons for why these things might be as they are in the Book of Mormon. As a collective body, these KnoWhys provide more than possible answers to specific questions. Combined, they are about knowing why the Book of Mormon is amazing, knowing why it is beautiful, knowing why it speaks to our hearts and minds so powerfully, knowing why it is so uniquely inspiring, and ultimately knowing why the Book of Mormon is true in so many ways.” [Editors]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Series of five articles with evidence of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon—there were two races of ancient Americans, the Jaredites in North America and the Nephites in South America (Omni 1:23 and Alma 22:30-34); American Indians are of Hebrew origin; there is evidence of ancient metal engraving on tablets in book form; the Peruvians believe they originated from a people led by four brothers; there is evidence of advanced civilizations, ancient coins, and ancient implements on the American continent; there is evidence of great destruction at the crucifixion of Christ and that the Messiah was known to ancient Americans.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
This article states that Alma the Younger taught principles that are relevant in our day. The combined teachings of Alma connect the premortal life, present day, and future life. Alma’s teachings deal with such concepts as the Fall and redemption, the nature of the priesthood, the final judgment, humility, faith, and prayer.
The author argues that the Nephites possessed the higher priesthood during the era before the resurrected Jesus visited the Nephites (citing 1 Nephi 5:14-16, Alma 10:3, Mosiah 25:21, and others).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Contains lessons that address the question, “Is the Book of Mormon necessary?” Discusses the Jaredite and Mulekite histories, Lehi’s exodus from Jerusalem and journey to the promised land, Nephi’s leadership, Zeniff’s people and Alma’s establishment of the Church in the Waters of Mormon, Alma the Younger’s missionary service, missionary work of the sons of Mosiah, the sons of Alma the Younger, Captain Moroni, Helaman, signs of Christ’s coming, Mormon’s abridgment, Moroni’s preservation of the records, and the purpose of the Book of Mormon as a basis for the Restoration and proof that God speaks today.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Alma2 and the sons of Mosiah were miraculously converted to Jesus and his gospel. Alma’s missionary experiences may be compared to the ministry of Jesus Christ who also accepted a lower station in life to serve his fellowmen and was subject to mockery and humiliation.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
RSC Topics > T — Z > Testimony
In this setting today it is worth noting that the two terms we hear often at graduation—alma mater and alumni—both originally referred to a special relationship, one very much like but also different from that between a parent and a child.
Abstract: The best available evidence for the Book of Mormon continues to support a limited Mesoamerican model. However, Alma 63 indicates that there was a massive northward migration in the mid-first century bc. I argue that these north-bound immigrants spread out over the centuries and established settlements that were geographically distant from the core Nephite area, far beyond the scope of the text of the Book of Mormon. I introduce the Hinterland Hypothesis and argue that it can harmonize the Mesoamerican evidence for the Book of Mormon with Joseph Smith’s statements concerning Nephite and Lamanite material culture in North America. Archaeological and anthropological evidence is used to demonstrate that migrations and cultural influence did in fact spread northward from Mesoamerica into North America in pre-Columbian times.
Abstract: Nephite apostates turned away from true worship in consistent and predictable ways throughout the Book of Mormon. Their beliefs and practices may have been the result of influence from the larger socioreligious context in which the Nephites lived. A Mesoamerican setting provides a plausible cultural background that explains why Nephite apostasy took the particular form it did and may help us gain a deeper understanding of some specific references that Nephite prophets used when combating that apostasy. We propose that apostate Nephite religion resulted from the syncretization of certain beliefs and practices from normative Nephite religion with those attested in ancient Mesoamerica. We suggest that orthodox Nephite expectations of the “heavenly king” were supplanted by the more present and tangible “divine king.”.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
A major theme in the Book of Mormon is the depiction of Native Americans as descendants of ancient Hebrews. Other prominent ideas are the restoration of pure Christianity to an apostate world, the visit of Jesus to the western hemisphere, and recurring cycles of ruin and renewal. All of this raises the question: “Is all of this true?” Wunderli has made an avocation of examining this and related questions by digging deeply into the Book of Mormon and surveying the large body of research generated by scholars of various disciplines. He succinctly summarizes his own findings and this mass of often conflicting information, then adds his own trenchant analysis to the mix. Fascinating reading due to how Wunderli has structured the book as his own personal quest for answers, An Imperfect Book is an accessible but thorough overview of major controversies involving authorship, use of idiom, anachronisms, contrived names, borrowed passages, and prophecies made and fulfilled within the book’s own narrative frame. Wunderli includes a discussion of dozens of curiosities such as the relative absense of polygamists in a culture where one would expect it and sons named after their fathers (Alma junior), which one would not expect among ancient Israelites. Wunderli has examined the arguments and reduced the data to a collection of informative observations and reasoned arguments in an altogether readable work.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article uses the discourses of Alma and Amulek to the Zoramites as a partial guide to determine what the Book of Mormon teaches about social action. The work teaches that violence is not a recommended “principle of social action” and “the solution of social difficulties must be sought on the spiritual plane.” It also discusses what the Book of Mormon teaches about government.
Contains fictional stories of Nephi, Alma, Moroni, and six other prominent Book of Mormon figures and includes a gospel principle that may be discovered from each story.
Uses Alma 32 to discuss planting the “seed of faith” concerning the witnesses of the Book of Mormon plates. Includes the testimonies of the Three Witnesses.
A biography of Alma the Younger, employing paraphrases from the Book of Mormon. Includes a section containing the sayings of Alma.
Helaman
Nephi and his brothers referred to Jerusalem as “that great city” (1 Nephi 2:13). Their opposing views about it became a point of contention that tore Lehi’s family in two, and their memories of it influenced the cultural perspective of their descendants in the New World for dozens of generations. The people known as Lamanites longed after it as a lost paradise and named one of their lands of settlement in its honor (Alma 21:1). Among the Nephites it exemplified the dire consequences of unbelief (Helaman 8:20). But what was the Jerusalem of Lehi’s day really like?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Review of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, Alma through Helaman (1991), by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Speaks out on the relationships between “memory and mood, memory and testimony, memory and models, memory and thoughts, and memory and you.” Asay quotes many scriptures from the Book of Mormon to support his ideas, including Alma 36, Moroni 10, Alma 18, and Helaman 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Speaks out on the relationships between “memory and mood, memory and testimony, memory and models, memory and thoughts, and memory and you” Asay quotes many scriptures from the Book of Mormon to support his ideas, including Alma 36, Moroni 10, Alma 18, and Helaman 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Helaman 2 identifies Pahoran as a righteous man who sat upon the judgment seat and had to deal with great contention both within and without the government.
Retells the story of the 2,000 stripling warriors. The Lord helped with military strategy. Helaman was a leader during times of war and peace. President Benson counsels the young men of the Aaronic Priesthood to liken themselves spiritually to the Sons of Helaman.
Abstract: During Christ’s mortal ministry at Jerusalem, his teachings often drew upon the writings of Isaiah, Moses, and other prophets with whom his audience was familiar. On the other hand, Christ never seems to quote Nephi, Mosiah, or other Book of Mormon prophets to the Jews and their surrounding neighbors, despite being the ultimate source for their inspired writings. It is because of this apparent confinement to Old Testament sources that intertextual parallels between the words of Christ in Matthew 23–24 and the words of Samuel the Lamanite in Helaman 13–15 jump out as intriguing. This paper explores the intertextual relationship between these chapters in Helaman and Matthew and suggests that the parallels between these texts can be attributed to a common source available to both Samuel and Christ, the writings of the prophet Zenos.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
RSC Topics > L — P > Obedience
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The third part covers Nephi the son of Helaman and Nephi the son of Nephi.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The second part covers Helaman the son of Alma and Helaman the son of Helaman.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Captain Moroni cites a prophecy regarding Joseph of Egypt and his posterity that is not recorded in the Bible. He accompanies the prophecy with a symbolic action to motivate his warriors to covenant to be faithful to their prophet Helaman and to keep the commandments lest God would not preserve them as he had Joseph.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This paper puts 3 Nephi 1 in conversation with Helaman 14 in order to argue for a complex relationship between temporality and the fulfillment of prophecy. In addition to echoing Matthew 5:17–18 in order to place a structural emphasis on fulfillment, 3 Nephi 1 portrays a series of Nephite misunderstandings about the nature of time and fulfillment that are then counteracted by the cosmic signs of Samuel the Lamanite. What Samuel’s signs ultimately show is that fulfillment of prophecy is best understood as the beginning of a new era rather than as a conclusion, and that this temporal reorientation makes repentance possible. After discussing how Samuel’s signs implicitly correct Nephite temporality, the paper concludes with a brief reflection on the implications for the Book of Mormon as a whole, arguing that the Book of Mormon is intended to function as a sign that likewise orients readers to a new experience of time.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
The Book of Helaman is a segment of the Book of Mormon whose study is both imperative and complicated in underappreciated ways. The imperative behind the book of Helaman’s study lies in the text’s significance for the self-conception of the Book of Mormon as well as its mythmaking function for the early Saints in their imaginative mapping of the American West. Like the Book of Mormon, Helaman traffics in buried texts that disclose signs and covenants and makes explicit the latent Lamanite frame that undergirds the Book of Mormon as a whole. It presents, as well, the Book of Mormon’s most robust account of secret combinations-a group that then entranced the text’s earliest readers to such a degree that they used this characterization to imbue their landscape with religious significance, describing the mountains surrounding the Salt Lake Valley as “the abode of the spirits of Gadianton robbers.” To understand the Book of Mormon’s sense of itself as a material artifact, to clarify the theological status of the Lamanites, and to explore the way the Book of Mormon helped sculpt a sense of place for early Latter-day Saints, close attention to the book of Helaman is an unavoidable prerequisite.
Few literary genres from the ancient world stand out so prominently as the Near Eastern vassal treaty. Scholars have shown that these political contracts formed between vassal kings and suzerain provided the conceptual background for the book of Deuteronomy. “The assumption is that Israel conceived of its relation to Yahweh as that of subject peoples to a world king and that they expressed this relationship in the concepts and formulas of the suzerainty treaty.”
Abstract: The Semitic/Hebrew name Samuel (šĕmûʾēl) most likely means “his name is El” — i.e., “his name [the name that he calls upon in worship] is El” — although it was also associated with “hearing” (šāmaʿ) God (e.g., 1 Samuel 3:9–11). In the ancient Near East, the parental hope for one thus named is that the son (and “his name”) would glorify El (a name later understood in ancient Israel to refer to God); or, like the biblical prophet Samuel, the child would hear El/God (“El is heard”). The name šĕmûʾēl thus constituted an appropriate symbol of the mission of the Son of God who “glorified the name of the Father” (Ether 12:8), was perfectly obedient to the Father in all things, and was the Prophet like Moses par excellence, whom Israel was to “hear” or “hearken” in all things (Deuteronomy 18:15; 1 Nephi 22:20; 3 Nephi 20:32). Jesus may have referred to this in a wordplay on the name Samuel when he said: “I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead” (3 Nephi 23:9). Samuel the Lamanite had particularly emphasized “believ[ing] on the name” of God’s Son in the second part of his speech (see Helaman 14:2, 12–13) in advance of the latter’s coming. Samuel thus seems to use a recurrent or thematic rhetorical wordplay on his own name as an entry point to calling the Nephites to repent and return to living the doctrine of Christ, which activates the blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Mormon took great care to show that all of the signs and prophecies that Samuel gave the Nephites of Zarahemla were fulfilled at the time of Jesus’s birth, death, and resurrection as Jesus glorified the Father’s name in every particular, and found further fulfillment in some particulars during Mormon’s own life and times.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Mormon uses pejorative wordplay on the name Jaredites based on the meaning of the Hebrew verb yārad. The onomastic rhetoric involving the meaning of yārad first surfaces in Helaman 6 where Mormon also employs wordplay on the name Cain in terms of qānâ or “getting gain.” The first wordplay occurs in the negative purpose clause “lest they should be a means of bringing down [cf. lĕhôrîd] the people unto destruction” (Helaman 6:25) and the second in the prepositional phrase “until they had come down [cf. yārĕdû/yordû] to believe in their works” (Helaman 6:38). Mormon uses these pejorative wordplays as a means of emphasizing the genetic link that he sees between Jareditic secret combinations and the derivative Gadianton robbers. Moroni reflects upon his father’s earlier use of this type of pejorative wordplay on “Jaredites” and yārad when he directly informs latter-day Gentiles regarding the “decrees of God” upon the land of promise “that ye may repent and not continue in your iniquities until the fullness be come, that ye may not bring down [cf. *tôrîdû/hôradtem] the fullness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land hath hitherto done” (Ether 2:11). All three of these onomastic allusions constitute an urgent and timely warning to latter-day Gentiles living upon the land of promise. They warn the Gentiles against “coming down” to believe in and partake of the works and spoils of secret combinations like the Jaredites and the Nephites did, and thus “bringing down” their own people to destruction and “bringing down” the “fullness of the wrath of God” upon themselves, as the Jaredites and the Nephites both did.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Paronomasia in the Hebrew text of Exodus creates narrative links between the name Miriam (Mary) and the “waters” (mayim) of the Re[e]d Sea from which Israel is “pulled” and the nearby “bitter” waters of Marah. Nephi sees Mary (Mariam), the mother of Jesus, associated with the “love of God,” and thus to both “the tree of life” and “the fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25) vis-à-vis “the fountain of filthy water” (1 Nephi 12:16). Mormon was named after “the land of Mormon” (3 Nephi 5:12). He associates his given name with “waters,” which he describes as a “fountain of pure water” (Mosiah 18:5), and with the good “desires” and “love” that Alma the Elder’s converts manifest at the time of their baptism (Mosiah 18:8, 10‒11, 21, 28). Mormon’s accounts of the baptisms of Alma the Elder’s people, Limhi’s people, the people at Sidom (Alma 15:13), and a few repentant Nephites at Zarahemla who responded to Samuel the Lamanite’s preaching (Helaman 16:1), anticipate Jesus’s eventual reestablishment of the church originally founded by Alma, the baptism of his disciples, and their reception of the Holy Ghost — “that which they most desired” (see 3 Nephi 19:9‒14, 24). Desire serves as a key term that links all of these baptismal scenes. Mormon’s analogy of “the bitter fountain” and its “bitter water” vis-à-vis the “the good fount” and its “good water” — which helps set up his discussion of “the pure love of Christ,” which “endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47‒48) — should be understood against the backdrop of Lehi’s dream as Nephite “cultural narrative” and the history of Alma the Elder’s people at the waters of Mormon. As Mormon’s people lose the “love [which] endureth by faith unto prayer” (Moroni 8:26; see also Moroni 8:14‒17; 9:5) they become like the “bitter fountain” (Moroni 7:11) and do not endure to the end in faith, hope, and charity on the covenant path (cf. 2 Nephi 31:20; Moroni 7:40‒88; 8:24‒26). The name Mormon (“desire is enduring” or “love is enduring”), as borne by the prophet-editor of the Book of Mormon, embraces the whole cloud of these associations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: This brief article explores Paanchi and Giddianhi as names evidencing the Egyptian onomastic element –anchi/anhi/ʿnḫ(i) and the potential literary significance of these two names in the context of Mormon’s narrative detailing the formation of the oath-bound secret combinations sworn with oath-formulae upon one’s “life” (cf. Egyptian ʿnḫ, “life”; “live”; “swear an oath [by one’s life]”). It also explores the implications for Mormon’s telling of Nephite history during his own time.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: Aminadab, a Nephite by birth who later dissented to the Lamanites, played a crucial role in the mass conversion of three hundred Lamanites (and eventually many others). At the end of the pericope in which these events are recorded, Mormon states: “And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words” (Helaman 6:36), whereas he “began to withdraw” his Spirit from the Nephites “because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts” (Helaman 6:35). The name Aminadab is a Semitic/Hebrew name meaning “my kinsman is willing” or “my people are willing.” As a dissenter, Aminadab was a man of two peoples. Mormon and (probably) his source were aware of the meaning of Aminadab’s name and the irony of that meaning in the context of the latter’s role in the Lamanite conversions and the spiritual history of the Nephites and Lamanites. The narrative’s mention of Aminadab’s name (Helaman 5:39, 41) and Mormon’s echoes of it in Helaman 6:36, 3 Nephi 6:14, and elsewhere have covenant and temple significance not only in their ancient scriptural setting, but for latter-day readers of the Book of Mormon today.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: Mormon, as an author and editor, was concerned to show the fulfillment of earlier Nephite prophecy when such fulfillment occurred. Mormon took care to show that Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman, fulfilled their father’s prophetic and paranetic expectations regarding them as enshrined in their given names — the names of their “first parents.” It had been “said and also written” (Helaman 5:6-7) that Nephi’s and Lehi’s namesakes were “good” in 1 Nephi 1:1. Using onomastic play on the meaning of “Nephi,” Mormon demonstrates in Helaman 8:7 that it also came to be said and written of Nephi the son of Helaman that he was “good.” Moreover, Mormon shows Nephi that his brother Lehi was “not a whit behind him” in this regard (Helaman 11:19). During their lifetimes — i.e., during the time of the fulfillment of Mosiah’s forewarning regarding societal and political corruption (see Mosiah 29:27) that especially included secret combinations — Nephi and Lehi stood firm against increasingly popular organized evil.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: The biblical etiology (story of origin) for the name “Cain” associates his name with the Hebrew verb qny/qnh, “to get,” “gain,” “acquire,” “create,” or “procreate” in a positive sense. A fuller form of this etiology, known to us indirectly through the Book of Mormon text and directly through the restored text of the Joseph Smith Translation, creates additional wordplay on “Cain” that associates his name with murder to “get gain.” This fuller narrative is thus also an etiology for organized evil—secret combinations “built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:22–23; 11:15). The original etiology exerted a tremendous influence on Book of Mormon writers (e.g., Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Mormon, and Moroni) who frequently used allusions to this narrative and sometimes replicated the wordplay on “Cain” and “getting gain.” The fuller narrative seems to have exerted its greatest influence on Mormon and Moroni, who witnessed the destruction of their nation firsthand — destruction catalyzed by Cainitic secret combinations. Moroni, in particular, invokes the Cain etiology in describing the destruction of the Jaredites by secret combinations. The destruction of two nations by Cainitic secret combinations stand as two witnesses and a warning to latter-day Gentiles (and Israel) against building up these societies and allowing them to flourish.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 4–6:12 — Grand Council in Heaven, Adam and Eve
Abstract: For ancient Israelites, the temple was a place where sacrifice and theophany (i.e., seeing God or other heavenly beings) converged. The account of Abraham’s “arrested” sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22) and the account of the arrested slaughter of Jerusalem following David’s unauthorized census of Israel (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21) served as etiological narratives—explanations of “cause” or “origin”—for the location of the Jerusalem temple and its sacrifices. Wordplay on the verb rāʾâ (to “see”) in these narratives creates an etiological link between the place-names “Jehovah-jireh,” “Moriah” and the threshing floor of Araunah/Ornan, pointing to the future location of the Jerusalem temple as the place of theophany and sacrifice par excellence. Isaac’s arrested sacrifice and the vicarious animal sacrifices of the temple anticipated Jesus’s later “un-arrested” sacrifice since, as Jesus himself stated, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day” (John 8:56). Sacrifice itself was a kind of theophany in which one’s own redemption could be “seen” and the scriptures of the Restoration confirm that Abraham and many others, even “a great many thousand years before” the coming of Christ, “saw” Jesus’s sacrifice and “rejoiced.” Additionally, theophany and sacrifice converge in the canonized revelations regarding the building of the latter-day temple. These temple revelations begin with a promise of theophany, and mandate sacrifice from the Latter-day Saints. In essence, the temple itself was, and is, Christ’s atonement having its intended effect on humanity. .
Old Testament Scriptures > Exodus
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: As in Hebrew biblical narrative, wordplay on (or play on the meaning of) toponyms, or “place names,” is a discernable feature of Book of Mormon narrative. The text repeatedly juxtaposes the toponym Jershon (“place of inheritance” or “place of possession”) with terms inherit, inheritance, possess, possession, etc. Similarly, the Mulekite personal name Zarahemla (“seed of compassion,” “seed of pity”), which becomes the paramount Nephite toponym as their national capital after the time of Mosiah I, is juxtaposed with the term compassion. Both wordplays occur and recur at crucial points in Nephite/Lamanite history. Moreover, both occur in connection with the migration of the first generation Lamanite converts. The Jershon wordplay recurs in the second generation, when the people of Ammon receive the Zoramite (re)converts into the land of Jershon, and wordplay on Zarahemla recurs subsequently, when the sons of these Lamanite converts come to the rescue of the Nephite nation. Rhetorical wordplay on Zarahemla also surfaces in important speeches later in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: Under the duress of a lengthy war, and prompted by recent Lamanite military successes, as well as incensed at the government’s failure to resupply Helaman’s armies with provisions and to send men to reinforce the city Nephihah, Moroni sent a second scathing letter to the leaders of the Nephite nation in the Nephite capital city Zarahemla. As other scholars have noted, the name Zarahemla likely denotes “seed of compassion” or “seed of sparing.” In this article, I propose that Moroni’s rhetoric in the letter includes an acerbic word-irony involving the meaning of Zarahemla perhaps achieved in terms of the Hebrew verb yaḥmōl (“[he] will spare,” from ḥml, “spare,” “have compassion.” This word-irony points out that although the Lord had spared the people of Zarahemla and the Nephites in the past, the uncompassionate behavior of the nation’s leaders in Zarahemla was creating conditions under which the Lord would not spare the leadership in Zarahemla. Moroni wrote, “Behold, I come unto you, even in the land of Zarahemla, and smite you with the sword … For behold, the Lord will not suffer that ye shall live and wax strong in your iniquities to destroy his righteous people. Behold, can you suppose that the Lord will spare you…?” (Alma 60:30–32). The covenant background of this threat will also be explored.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
“Two statements from Nephi2, the son of Helaman, have direct reference to Isaiah’s Immanuel theme in Isaiah 7:14; 8:8, 10 and the meaning of Immanuel, ’God with us.’ This article will further explore how both statements reveal some of the nuances of how the Nephites understood the Immanuel prophecy. Lastly, I will show how Jesus’s physical presence ’with’ the Lamanites, Nephites, and Mulochites in 3 Nephi 11–26 stands as the ultimate earthly expression of the ’Immanuel’ concept. That supreme Christophany included his institution of the sacrament as a reminder of his resurrected physical presence among them at the temple in Bountiful and his continuing spiritual presence ’with’ them afterward (see 3 Ne. 18). Jesus instituted these symbols among a people who had a familiarity with and a lengthy interpretive history of the prophecies of Isaiah, as had Jesus’s Jewish Galilean disciples.” [Author]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: In his well-known volume about the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy focuses primarily on the book’s main narrators. However, he also makes a number of observations about other figures in the book that are of particular interest, including some about Captain Moroni. In addition to those I address elsewhere, these observations include the claim that Moroni lacked the typical religious virtues — which Hardy identifies as “humility, self-sacrifice, kindness, and relying upon the Lord.” They also include the assertion that Helaman, in his manifest reliance upon God, serves as a counterexample to Moroni’s military leadership. A close look at the text, however, indicates that both these claims are mistaken.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > L — P > Peace
RSC Topics > T — Z > War
Presents a life sketch of the Alma family, many of whom became prophets. The life of Alma the Younger is compared to the Apostle Paul—both were called upon to repent and became great missionaries for the Lord. The prophecies of Alma are among the most numerous, important, and interesting in the Book of Mormon, and his inspired advice to his sons contains many doctrinal matters. Helaman the son of Helaman, grandson of Alma, carried on the work of righteousness in spite of the Gadianton robbers. His son Nephi was a great prophet who paved the way for the visit of Christ in America. Nephi’s brother Lehi and Lehi’s son Nephi were also great leaders.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Presents a life sketch of the Alma family, many of whom became prophets. The life of Alma the Younger is compared to the Apostle Paul—both were called upon to repent and became great missionaries for the Lord. The prophecies of Alma are among the most numerous, important, and interesting in the Book of Mormon, and his inspired advice to his sons contains many doctrinal matters. Helaman the son of Helaman, grandson of Alma, carried on the work of righteousness in spite of the Gadianton robbers. His son Nephi was a great prophet who paved the way for the visit of Christ in America. Nephi’s brother Lehi and Lehi’s son Nephi were also great leaders.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Didactic essay, showing how the Ammonite striplings or sons of Helaman are examples of childhood training that might well be exemplified in LDS homes.
Didactic essay, showing how the Ammonite striplings or sons of Helaman are examples of childhood training that might well be exemplified in LDS homes.
Didactic essay, showing how the Ammonite striplings or sons of Helaman are examples of childhood training that might well be exempliied in LDS homes.
Royal Skousen has done an excellent job of summarizing the use of the construction “the more part of + ‹ NOUN PHRASE ›” (and close variants) in the Book of Mormon at Helaman 6:21 in his Analysis of Textual Variants. In this phrase, the adjective more conveys an obsolete meaning of ‘greater’. My concern here is to compare Book of Mormon usage to that of the King James Bible and the textual record and to place it in its proper time.
Editor’s note: Because of the complex typesetting of this article, the rest of it has not been reproduced on this webpage. The reader is referred to the PDF version to view the entire article.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Writes concerning the doctrine of repentance. Helaman 13-15 (see especially Helaman 13:38) indicates that as individuals choose evil, their power to choose is taken away until destruction is made sure. As individuals choose righteousness, their power to choose increases. The concepts of freedom and free agency are directly related.
The book of Helaman records the period preceding the birth of the Savior. It was written by Helaman and was abridged by Mormon who inserts his own commentary. The most prominent person in the book is Nephi2. Also included are prophecies and teachings of Samuel the Lamanite and the rise of the Gadianton robbers.
Religious instruction has been central to Brigham Young University’s unique mission since the beginning. Religious Education faculty and staff members identify with those whose commission it was in ancient times “to teach the word of God among all the people” (Helaman 5:14; see also Alma 23:4; 38:15; 2 Timothy 4:2). Therefore, it has been their desire, as it was with two of Lehi’s sons, to teach . . . the word of God with all diligence” (Jacob 1:19). This book tells the story of BYU’s efforts to fulfill the Savior’s commission. ISBN 978-0-8425-2708-8
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Celebrates the noble women in the Book of Mormon, notably Sariah and the mothers of the stripling soldiers who fought under Helaman.
Celebrates the noble women in the Book of Mormon, notably Sariah and the mothers of the stripling soldiers who fought under Helaman.
Celebrates the noble women in the Book of Mormon, notably Sariah and the mothers of the stripling soldiers who fought under Helaman.
We belong to the greatest cause on earth. We are the pioneers of the future. Let us go forth like the armies of Helaman and build the kingdom of God.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A fictional book about the sons of Helaman based upon the Book of Mormon (Alma 24, 53, 56, 57, 62, and 63).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Living in a time of great wickedness while the Gadianton robbers flourished, Nephi, son of Helaman, preached by the spirit of prophecy, taught of Christ, and supported the ministry of Samuel the Lamanite.
The author rewrites, on a child’s level, topics such as Lehi’s vision and journey into the wilderness, Nephi and the brass plates, Nephi building a ship, the faith of Jacob, Abinadi, Alma, Amulek, Ammon, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, Helaman, Samuel the Lamanite, the brother of Jared, and Moroni hiding the brass plates.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
A children’s story of Helaman and the two thousand stripling warriors.
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the sixth installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope you find it helpful.]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Writing
Retelling of the stripling warrior story for children, with pictures and brief commentary.
Abstract: The drought recorded in Helaman 11 is probably the only dated, climate-related event in the entire Book of Mormon that could have left a “signature” detectable over 2,000 years after it occurred. Typical methods to detect this kind of event using dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) or sediment cores from lake beds either do not go back far enough in time or are not of high enough resolution to detect the event described in Helaman 11. However, over the last 15 to 20 years, various researchers have turned to analyzing stalagmites collected from caves to reproduce the precipitation history of a given area. These analysis methods are now producing results approaching the 1–year resolution of dendrochronology, with 2 sigma (95%) dating accuracies on the order of a decade. There is an ongoing debate with regard to where the events in the Book of Mormon took place. One of the proposed areas is Mesoamerica, specifically in southern Mexico and Guatemala. This paper will test the hypothesis that the drought described in the Book of Helaman took place in Mesoamerica using the results of precipitation histories derived from the analysis of three stalagmites compared to determine if there is evidence that a drought took place in the expected time frame and with the expected duration.
A fictional story about Nephi (son of Helaman), his son Nephi, their dealings with the Gadianton robbers, and the drama surrounding the signs given of Christ’s birth.
The small detail of the “chief market” mentioned in the story of Nephi’s prayer on his tower (Helaman 7:10) corresponds well to what is known of marketplaces in ancient Mesoamerica.
Response to criticism that Joseph Smith fabricated the Book of Mormon from his own milieu. It is unlikely that Joseph Smith could have realized the following points: the American Indians possess a number of legends that suggest an Israelite origin, including stories regarding the creation of the earth, the temptation of the first man and woman by a serpent, and Cain and Abel. Cement, mentioned in the Book of Mormon (Helaman 3:7, 9), was the primary building material of an ancient community that existed 40 miles north of present day Mexico City.
The Book of Mormon records that there are records “of every kind” written (Helaman 3:15). Ancient Maya hieroglyphs are found on stelae, codices, vases, and on walls and steps of temples. The Mayan calendar found to be more accurate than its European counterpart dates to pre-Book of Mormon times. It is difficult to correlate it with the European calendar.
The Book of Mormon records that there are records “of every kind” written (Helaman 3:15). Ancient Maya hieroglyphs are found on stelae, codices, vases, and on walls and steps of temples. The Mayan calendar found to be more accurate than its European counterpart dates to pre-Book of Mormon times. It is difficult to correlate it with the European calendar.
Abstract: Alma refers to Gazelem in his instructions to his son Helaman in Alma 37:23. This article proposes and explores the concept of identifying Gazelem as a Jaredite seer. Other theories of the identity of Gazelem are addressed in this article but not explored in depth. It discusses the full context of Alma’s words, the Jaredite secret combinations and their oaths, Gazelem’s seer stone, and the Nephite interpreters. Additionally, it proposes a possible timeline that Gazelem lived among the Jaredites. It also discusses the usage of “Gazelam” as a substitute name for Joseph Smith in early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
When Alma the Younger returned to Zarahemla following his mission to the Zoramites, “he caused that his sons should be gathered together, that he might give unto them every one his charge, separately, concerning the things pertaining to righteousness” (Alma 35:16). The Book of Mormon contains a significantly larger amount of counsel from Alma to his wayward son Corianton than to Helaman and Shiblon.
Within Alma’s teachings, we discover a concise explanation of the Fall of Adam and three elements necessary to reclaim each individual from the Fall, namely, death, the Atonement, and the Resurrection. This chapter will discuss the Fall of Adam and these three elements in Alma’s teachings to Corianton and also in the inspired teachings of modern apostles and prophets. This chapter will conclude that we can control only one of the three elements necessary to reclaim mankind from the Fall: whether we use the Atonement to repent of our sins and forgive others.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > D — F > Death
RSC Topics > D — F > Fall of Adam and Eve
RSC Topics > Q — S > Resurrection
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
RSC Topics > T — Z > Virtue
Remarks by President H. C. Kimball, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, September 21, 1856. Reported By: J. V. Long.
Abstract: While some scholars have suggested that the doctrine of theosis — the transformation of human beings into divine beings — emerged only in Nauvoo, the essence of the doctrine was already present in the Book of Mormon, both in precept and example. The doctrine is especially well developed in 1 Nephi, Alma 19, and Helaman 5. The focus in 1 Nephi is on Lehi and Nephi’s rejection of Deuteronomist reforms that erased the divine Mother and Son, who, that book shows, are closely coupled as they, the Father, and Holy Ghost work to transform human beings into divine beings. The article shows that theosis is evident in the lives of Lehi, Sariah, Sam, Nephi, Alma, Alma2, Ammon2, Lamoni, Lamoni’s wife, Abish, and especially Nephi2. The divine Mother’s participation in the salvation of her children is especially evident in Lehi’s dream, Nephi’s vision, and the stories of Abish and the Lamanite Queen.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
RSC Topics > D — F > Devil
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Authors make topical comments on each verse (or cluster of verses) of Alma and Helaman. Alma chapters 43-62, which deal with war, do not contain a detailed discussion of verses, but a six- page exposition on various subthemes. The work is doctrinally oriented. This work is reviewed in A.029.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Helaman 3:7-11 speaks of the use of cement. A recent article in Bulletin No. 145, Bureau of Plant Industry (Washington, D.C.), 1909 confirms that pyramids and ruins found in Mexico, Central, and South America contained cement.
A fanciful set of scenarios in novel form revolving around the lives of Helaman and Captain Moroni.
Also called “Book of Mormon Names.“
The plot thickens now as we get closer and closer to home. We are in Alma 62. Of course, Moroni was very, very glad and relieved to receive Pahoran’s letter. I wonder if he felt cheap or something when he found out he had been completely wrong after all the shouting, raving, and ranting against Pahoran. His heart was filled with exceedingly great joy to find out that he wasn’t a traitor, as he thought he was. He really jumped the gun that time. But at the same time “he did also mourn exceedingly.” Moroni is something of a manic-depressive, isn’t he? He’s an overachiever, he’s a military genius, and he only lives a very short life. He just wears himself out, I think. He’s that sort of person. We get these beautiful character delineations in the Book of Mormon. We learn that things are often wrong with the world, but [we should] be careful how we place the blame. We don’t want to do things like that.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Also called “Geography and Ecology.“
We’re in the first chapter of Helaman, and we’ve just come to Coriantumr’s exploit where he marched right into Zarahemla. The reason he could do it is because there was so much social unrest in Zarahemla. This Coriantumr was the leader, and he was appointed leader by the son of Ammoron who was the brother of that rascal Amalickiah. Tubaloth is a nephew of Amalickiah, and he was put in charge of things, but he put Coriantumr in charge.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Also called “Apostasy; The Gospel and World Religions.“
We begin with Helaman 3:30: “And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.” To sit down—it uses that a number of times in the Book of Mormon. Remember, you’re invited to go into the tent and sit down—have place with us. What he’s talking about is the old Mosaic law, which was abolished after Lehi left Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed. It was never the same after that. These people were familiar with the old custom—that going in and sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is very important.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Also called “Crime; Secret Societies; Egyptian Mythology on the Origin of the World.“
We are on the sixth chapter of Helaman now. It is one of those epoch chapters; it’s like chapter 46 and others. If this was all we had of the Book of Mormon, it would be enough to attest to its authenticity right down to the ground. This is a chapter on crime. It starts out happily and then suddenly things go sour.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Also called “Modern Wickedness; Cain and the Origin of Secret Combinations.“
The Nephites were getting rich so they didn’t need wars anymore. They were rather happy about it. With riches of the world they hadn’t been stirred up to bloodshed nationally, so they got rich and were stirred up to private bloodshed. Their wars are lowered to a private level now. They are going to start doing that sort of thing, and then we get our prime time, as I mentioned before. “. . . to commit secret murders, and to rob and to plunder, that they might get gain.”
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Also called “Great Rulers in History.“
In the sixth chapter the Nephites have gotten wicked again. Remember, the Lamanites wiped out the Gadiantons simply by preaching the gospel to them. That may seem extravagant to us. But the Nephites went on getting more and more wicked, and then see what happened. Why did they do this? Because they didn’t work at being righteous. You have to fast and pray and things like that. The Lord had blessed them, and this is the reason. They liked prosperity.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Also called “The Hopi Indians; The Druze; Wisdom Literature; The Copper Scroll; The Chilam Balam.
When the Aztecs came to the valley of Mexico, and I quote, “their cities’ need for firewood was already denuding the valley of Mexico of trees. An epic famine . . .” We are going to have an epic famine here today, aren’t we—great famines and deforestation? What we find is steadily advancing drought in these chapters of Helaman; it’s very clearly indicated. All the clues are there, and they all fit together so beautifully, like this one: “An epic famine in the year one of the rabbit decimated the Mexican people. Their empire might well have fallen before they could employ the arts of the wheel or the bronze.” We don’t know about these other things. But how about these merchants going around when they got prosperous? They learned a thing or two from the Nephites, started to make money, and got rich. Does that mean they had to be wicked?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Also called “The Hopelessness in Wickedness; The Twelve Apostles at Far West, Missouri, April 1838.“
Now, we’re beginning to learn a lesson that these Book of Mormon people were having a hard time learning—that things do change. It’s not always going to be the same. They thought it was, you know.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Compares modern-day missionaries to the stripling warriors of Helaman.
The Seventh Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU “All things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.” This was the Lord’s glorious promise to Nephi, son of Helaman. The general wickedness that prevailed in much of Nephite society during Nephi’s day was in stark contrast to his exemplary faithfulness. Why was this so? How did the people’s decline come about so rapidly? What specific messages do the book of Helaman and the early chapters of 3 Nephi contain for our day? Seventeen symposium papers collected in this volume address these and other issues related to events and conditions among the Nephites and the Lamanites during the eighty or so years prior to the Savior’s appearance on the American continent. Contributors not only discuss great doctrinal teachings of stalwarts like Nephi, Samuel the Lamanite, and Mormon but also provide detailed analyses of how and why the Nephites moved from a condition of righteousness to one of wickedness during this critical period in their history. ISBN 0-8849-4864-1
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
RSC Topics > L — P > Prophets
RSC Topics > Q — S > Restoration of the Gospel
RSC Topics > Q — S > Scriptures
Presenters included Russell M. Nelson, Robert Millet, Robert J. Matthews, Thomas W. Mackay, Monte S. Nyman, and others. The topics include sanctification, secret covenant teachings of men, the dangers of a class society, and many others found in the books of Helaman and 3 Nephi.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A collection of statements made by General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints concerning Book of Mormon passages. Volume one begins with statements by Church leaders concerning 1 Nephi to Words of Mormon; volume two contains statements dealing with Mosiah and Alma; volume three with the books Helaman to Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Review of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 3, Alma through Helaman (1991), by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
This article explores the connection between Alma’s mission to the Zoramites in Alma 31 and the mass Lamanite conversion in Helaman 5, which occurs in part because the Lamanites who are intent on killing Nephi and Lehi in prison remember the teachings of Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom delivered to the Zoramites decades earlier. This reading demonstrates that Alma’s mission to the Zoramites is not a failure, as some commentators have suggested; in fact, the eventual positive impact of the Zoramite mission readily compares to the success enjoyed by the sons of Mosiah among the Lamanites. This article also suggests that Mormon’s lengthy war narrative at the end of the book of Alma can be read as a literary unit designed in part to show, as Alma hoped and predicted at the outset of his Zoramite mission, that the word of God (at least eventually) has a “more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else” (Alma 31:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Refers to the discovery of “sacred stones” upon which are inscribed Hebrew characters, one of which reads “may the Lord have mercy upon me a Nephite” Scholars wonder where these people who spoke Hebrew came from, and the Book of Mormon provides the answers. The Nephites landed in Chile near the city of Valparaiso. Later Hagoth and others sailed to North America (Alma 63:4-12 and Helaman 3:3-16). The Nephites knew Hebrew and Egyptian and wrote in reformed Egyptian.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: The story of believers being nearly put to death before the appearance of the sign at Christ’s birth is both inspiring and a little confusing. According to the Book of Mormon, the sign comes in the 92nd year, which was actually the sixth year after the prophecy had been made. There is little wonder why even some believers began to doubt. The setting of a final date by which the prophecy must be fulfilled, however, suggests that until that day, there must have been reason for even the nonbelievers to concede that fulfillment was still possible; yet after that deadline it was definitively too late. An understanding of Mesoamerican timekeeping practices and terminology provides one possible explanation.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Review of Jerry D. Grover, Jr., Geology of the Book of Mormon. Vineyard, UT: Self-Published, 2014. 233 pp. +xi, including index and references. $39.99.
Abstract: Over recent decades, several Latter-day Saint scholars and scientists have offered analysis and comparison to geologic events and the destruction recorded in 3 Nephi 8-9. Jerry Grover makes an important contribution to this literature as he provides background on geologic processes and phenomena, details the geologic features of the Tehuantepec region (Mesoamerica), and applies this information to not only the description of 3 Nephi 8-9, but other incidents in the Book of Mormon likely connected to geologic events. In doing so, Grover yields new insights into the narratives he examines, and adds clarity to geographic details that have been subject to varying interpretations. .
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The story of the Israelites getting bitten in the wilderness by “fiery serpents” and then being miraculously healed by the “serpent of brass” (Numbers 21:4–9) is one of the most frequently told stories in scripture — with many of the retellings occurring in the Book of Mormon. Nephi is the first to refer to the story, doing so on two different occasions (1 Nephi 17:41; 2 Nephi 25:20). In each instance, Nephi utilizes the story for different purposes which dictated how he told the story and what he emphasized. These two retellings of the brazen serpent narrative combined to establish a standard interpretation of that story among the Nephites, utilized (and to some extent developed) by later Nephite prophets. In this study, each of the two occasions Nephi made use of this story are contextualized within the iconography and symbolism of pre-exilic Israel and its influences from surrounding cultures. Then, the (minimal) development evident in how this story was interpreted by Nephites across time is considered, comparing it to the way ancient Jewish and early Christian interpretation of the brazen serpent was adapted over time to address specific needs. Based on this analysis, it seems that not only do Nephi’s initial interpretations fit within the context of pre-exilic Israel, but the Book of Mormon’s use of the brazen serpent symbol is not stagnant; rather, it shows indications of having been a real, living tradition that developed along a trajectory comparable to that of authentic ancient traditions.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Sees mounds near St. Louis, Missouri, as evidence for the Book of Mormon and speculates that the mounds are the remains of the cement houses spoken of in Helaman 3.
Reynolds discusses the origins of the Nephite Gadianton band in the failed rebellion of Paanchi. Their crimes and violence over the years are discussed, as is the countering ministry of Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman, in bringing thousands of Nephites and Lamanites to a knowledge of the gospel and an understanding of their duties. Wars between the Gadianton Robbers and the armies of the Nephites and Lamanites are mentioned, leading into the prophecies of the impending birth of the Savior, delivered by Samuel the Lamanite from upon the walls of the city of Zarahemla.
Alma’s Charge to His Sons—He Transfers the Records to Helaman—He Leaves This World—Zeezrom’s Latter Days—Helaman’s Ministrations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The War in the South-west—Antipus—Helaman and His Two Thousand Sons— Their Valor and Faith—The Repulse of the Lamanites
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Peace Once More—The Results of the War—The Labors of Helaman—Shiblon Receives the Records—Hagoth, the Ship-builder—Another War—Moronihah—Pahoran’s Death—Contention Regarding the Chief Judgeship—Paanchi’s Rebellion—The Gadianton Bands—Assassination of Pahoran II.—Another Lamanite Invasion
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Pacumeni Slain—Helaman Chosen Chief Judge—The Conspiracy to Slay Him— Kishkumen Killed—The Prosperity of the Nephites under Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The Sons of Helaman—Nephi’s Righteous Rule—The Lamanites Again Invade Zarahemla—They Drive the Nephites into the Northern Continent—The Ministrations of Nephi and Lehi—The Manifestations of God’s Power in the City of Nephi—Aminadab—The Conversion of the Lamanites—Universal Peace
Growth of Evil amongst the Nephites—The Increase of the Gadianton Robbers —Nephi’s Announcement of the Murder of the Chief Judge—The Discovery—Nephi Arrested—He is Proven Innocent—God’s Covenant with Him—Increase of Iniquity—A Terrible Famine—The Welcome Rain—The Trend to Death
Nephi Translated—His Son Nephi—Time of the Savior’s Coming—The Conspiracy to Slay the Believers—The Revelation to Nephi—The Promised Signs Appear— Increase of the Gadianton Robbers—War—Lachoneus Gathers all the People to One Land —The End of the Struggle
Sees mounds near St. Louis, Missouri, as evidence for the Book of Mormon and speculates that the mounds are the remains of the cement houses spoken of in Helaman 3.
Reynolds discusses the origins of the Nephite Gadianton band in the failed rebellion of Paanchi. Their crimes and violence over the years are discussed, as is the countering ministry of Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman, in bringing thousands of Nephites and Lamanites to a knowledge of the gospel and an understanding of their duties. Wars between the Gadianton Robbers and the armies of the Nephites and Lamanites are mentioned, leading into the prophecies of the impending birth of the Savior, delivered by Samuel the Lamanite from upon the walls of the city of Zarahemla.
Presents a life sketch of the Alma family, many of whom became prophets. The life of Alma the Younger is compared to the Apostle Paul—both were called upon to repent and became great missionaries for the Lord. The prophecies of Alma are among the most numerous, important, and interesting in the Book of Mormon, and his inspired advice to his sons contains many doctrinal matters. Helaman the son of Helaman, grandson of Alma, carried on the work of righteousness in spite of the Gadianton robbers. His son Nephi was a great prophet who paved the way for the visit of Christ in America. Nephi’s brother Lehi and Lehi’s son Nephi were also great leaders.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: This study provides students of the Book of Mormon with the first comprehensive analysis of the many ways in which the word “spirit” is used in that volume of scripture. It demonstrates how the titles “Holy Ghost,” “Spirit of God,” “Spirit of the Lord,” “Holy Spirit,” and “the Spirit” are used interchangeably to refer to the third member of the Godhead. It also shows that the Holy Ghost was understood to be a separate being. The analysis is thoroughly integrated with scholarly studies of references to the spirit (rûah) in the Hebrew Bible. The functions of the Holy Ghost are also identified and explained.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The Bible describes a bifurcated world in which God bids, commands, and teaches the people he has created to follow him in the way of righteousness, and in which the devil leads people into wickedness. This way of seeing things surfaces explicitly in various texts and is known among scholars as the Doctrine of the Two Ways. While the same teaching has been noticed in the Book of Mormon, there is as yet no study that examines the Book of Mormon presentations systematically to identify the ways in which they might follow any of the ancient versions of the Two Ways doctrine, or the ways in which these might feature original formulations. In this article, Noel Reynolds shows that the Book of Mormon writers did retain most elements of the earliest biblical teaching, but with enriched understandings and original formulations of the Doctrine of the Two Ways in their prophetic teachings. He documents twelve exemplary passages in the Book of Mormon that explicitly refer to two paths or ways and assesses the extent to which these follow or vary from each other or from Jewish and Christian models.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The author points out the existence of secret organizations in the United States: the Ku Klux Klan, the Loyal League, the Grand Army of the Republic and Fenianism. The Book of Mormon shows how secret societies brought destruction. Richards quotes all of Ether 8:13-26 and Helaman 6:22-30, and urges the Saints to “keep from all secret combinations and political associations”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Fictional story, set in the time of Nephi, son of Helaman, in which the characters watch for signs of Christ’s birth and receive great joy.
Roberts discusses Ammoron assuming the throne after the death of his brother, and his two-front war against the Nephites, both on the east and the west. The efforts of the Nephites in retaking their captured cities are detailed, especially that of Helaman and his army of stripling Lamanites in the west. The lack of support in terms of men and materiel from the Nephite government in Zarahemla is mentioned, as is the determination of Helaman and his men to hold out regardless.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts discusses Ammoron assuming the throne after the death of his brother, and his two-front war against the Nephites, both on the east and the west. The efforts of the Nephites in retaking their captured cities are detailed, especially that of Helaman and his army of stripling Lamanites in the west. The lack of support in terms of men and materiel from the Nephite government in Zarahemla is mentioned, as is the determination of Helaman and his men to hold out regardless.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Fictional story, set in the time of Nephi, son of Helaman, in which the characters watch for signs of Christ’s birth and receive great joy.
The story of Alma the Younger’s conversion. Just before he died, he delivered to his sons Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton his “commandments,” a father’s advice and admonitions. Each son is different, and therefore Alma’s advice was different for each of his sons. The second part covers Shiblon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The story of Alma the Younger’s conversion. Just before he died, he delivered to his sons Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton his “commandments,” a father’s advice and admonitions. Each son is different, and therefore Alma’s advice was different for each of his sons. The third part covers Corianton.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The story of Alma the Younger’s conversion. Just before he died, he delivered to his sons Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton his “commandments,” a father’s advice and admonitions. Each son is different, and therefore Alma’s advice was different for each of his sons. The fourth part concludes the discussion on Corianton.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Scriptural passages point out the difference in Christ as a “Redeemer” and Christ as a “Savior” (Alma 22:14; Helaman 15:18). Christ’s work brings universal redemption from physical death through resurrection, and brings salvation from the effects of individual sin through faith and repentance.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The story of Alma the Younger’s conversion. Just before he died, he delivered to his sons Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton his “commandments,” a father’s advice and admonitions. Each son is different, and therefore Alma’s advice was different for each of his sons.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The Book of Mormon first mentions a weapon called a cimeter during the time of Enos (some time between about 544 and 421 bc). Speaking of his people’s Lamanite enemies, Enos says, “their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax” (Enos 1:20). Later, in the first and second centuries bc, the weapon was part of the armory of both Nephites and Lamanites in addition to swords and other weapons (Mosiah 9:16; 10:8; Alma 2:12; 43:18, 20, 37; 60:2; Helaman 1:14).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The Lord told Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, “Look unto me in every thought” (D&C 6:36). In the ordinance of the sacrament we covenant each week to “always remember him,” that we “may always have his Spirit” to be with us (D&C 20:77). The Book of Mormon testifies that “all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all thing that are upon the face of it” (Alma 30:44). Thus, God has given all things as a type or representation of Christ to help us remember Him (see 2 Nephi 11:4; Helaman 8:24). The key to understanding the things of God is to see Christ in them, including His creations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Old Testament Scriptures > Joshua
Old Testament Scriptures > Judges
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Each year during Christmastime, neighborhoods are illuminated by hundreds of little lights, filling all with a sense of wonder. These decorations awaken within us a sense of joy and hope as we remember the lights—a new star and glorious angels (Matthew 2:2; Luke 2:9–14)—which illuminated the night that first Christmas in Judea some 2000 years ago. But we should not forget the lights that shone upon the Nephites that first Christmas. They also saw the new star (3 Nephi 1:21) as well as an entire night without any darkness (3 Nephi 1:15, 19). For the believing Nephites, that light was lifesaving—because there was no darkness, their lives were spared. Since that night, vast numbers of disciples of Christ have been filled with the Savior’s light. However, the Book of Mormon’s testimony of the birth of Christ does not begin on that night. Samuel the Lamanite prophesied of those signs five years earlier (Helaman 14:2–8), and various Book of Mormon prophets going back to Lehi had spoken in great anticipation of coming birth of Christ. At Book of Mormon Central, we have discussed several of these prophecies in our KnoWhys over the past few years. As a special thank you to our readers, viewers, and friends, we have collected those KnoWhys here, and present them togEther under the heading: Because There Was No Darkness: The Birth of Christ, a Book of Mormon Perspective. May there be no darkness for you this Christmas season, and may the light and life of Christ fill your hearts this Christmas season, and always. Merry Christmas, Book of Mormon Central
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
A study guide with scriptural paraphrases, questions, and activities designed to aid the reader in understanding the book of Helaman.
RSC Topics > L — P > Prophets
Nephi, son of Helaman, confronts the wicked judges (Helaman 6-9).
Abstract: Evidence from the manuscripts of the Book of Mormon (as well as internal evidence within the Book of Mormon itself) shows that for one sixth of the text, from Helaman 13:17 to the end of Mormon, the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon was set from the original (dictated) manuscript rather than from the printer’s manuscript. For five-sixths of the text, the 1830 edition was set from the printer’s manuscript, the copy prepared specifically for the 1830 typesetter to use as his copytext. In 1990, when the use of the original manuscript as copytext was first discovered, it was assumed that the scribes for the printer’s manuscript had fallen behind in their copywork, which had then forced them to take in the original manuscript to the 1830 typesetter. Historical evidence now argues, to the contrary, that the reason for the switch was the need to take the printer’s manuscript to Canada in February 1830 in order to secure the copyright of the Book of Mormon within the British realm. During the month or so that Oliver Cowdery and others were on their trip to nearby Canada with the printer’s manuscript, the 1830 typesetter used the original manuscript to set the type, although he himself was unaware that there had been a temporary switch in the manuscripts.
Abstract: The Book of Mormon purports to be a record that originates from the ancient Near East. The authors of the book claim an Israelite heritage, and throughout the pages of the text can be seen echoes of Israelite religious practice and ideology. An example of such can be seen in how the Book of Mormon depicts God’s divine council, a concept unmistakably found in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). Recognizing the divine council in both the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Mormon may help us appreciate a more nuanced understanding of such theological terms as “monotheism” as well as bolster confidence in the antiquity of the Nephite record.
“I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing beside him to the right and to the left of him” (1 Kings 22:19 NRSV).
“He saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God” (1 Nephi 1:8).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 1 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
This paper suggests the use of narrative criticism, a recent literary interpretive tool, as a favorable method of Book of Mormon interpretation. As an example of narrative interpretation, the narrative by Samuel the Lamanite in Helaman 13–16 is analyzed as a discrete narrative portion of the Book of Mormon for the exploration of the possibilities of a narrative critical approach to its text. Instead of focusing on the content of Samuel’s exhortations, lamentations, and prophecies in order to understand these passages, I interpret the surrounding narrative and find it serves as an impressive complement to the doctrinal content of Samuel’s discourse.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: This essay provides a close theological reading of Helaman 13, the first part of the sermon of Samuel the Lamanite. Beginning from the insight that the chapter focuses intensely on time, it develops a theological case for how sin has its own temporality. Sin opens up a disastrous future, deliberately misremembers the past, and complicates the constitution of the present as the past of the future.
An analysis of the Words of Mormon to Helaman, including Mormon’s abridgment between the small and large plates of Nephi. The teachings of Benjamin, Mosiah, Abinadi, Alma, and his son, Alma the Younger. Helaman’s and Shiblon’s writings in the book of Alma are set forth. Alma the Younger is to the Book of Mormon as Paul is to the New Testament. The book of Helaman covers fifty years of Nephite history.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
An analysis of the text of 3 Nephi to Moroni. Third Nephi was written by Nephi, the son of Nephi, the son of Helaman. Fourth Nephi in turn was written by the son of Nephi3, also called Nephi, and Nephi’s son Amos and grandsons Amos and his brother Ammaron. The book of Mormon was principally inscribed by Mormon and Moroni. The book of Ether exposes the terrible end of a people persisting in wickedness. The book of Moroni shows his love for his enemies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Some students of the Book of Mormon have felt that while the coming of the Lord to the Lehites was clearly revealed to and taught by Nephi1, those prophecies having to do with the subject may not have been widely circulated or continuously preserved among the Nephites, while others have argued for continuity of knowledge about Nephi1’s prophecies among writers and their contemporary audiences. Reexamination of the Book of Mormon in light of these issues reveals that the teaching that Christ would appear among the Lehites was actually taught with some consistency by Alma2 and was, it would seem, common knowledge among the Nephites. It appears that the predicted coming was well established, even if the nature of it was not. Specifically, I argue that Alma2 often taught of the coming of Christ to the Lehites but in context with other events such as Jesus’s coming to the Jews and to others not of the known fold. To make this case, I concentrate on Alma2’s writings, especially those in Alma 5 (borrowing liberally also from Alma 7, 13, 16, 39, Helaman 16:4–5, 13–14, and 3 Nephi 8–10). Alma 5 houses many prophetic statements that urgently point to the coming of the Lord to the Nephite church. The value of this approach is to attempt to demonstrate that Alma 5 contains more than has been supposed and, in effect, challenges claims for discontinuity in the middle portion of the Nephite record. This approach should tend to renew our interest in the other nuanced teachings of the prophet Alma2 and others. Yea, thus sayeth the Spirit: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in his glory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion. Yea, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, that the [Page 108]Spirit sayeth: Behold the glory of the King of all the earth; and also the King of heaven shall very soon shine forth among all the children of men. (Alma 5:50)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
List based on research by Pearl Kinnaman demonstrating that names such as Laman, Nephi, Angola, Antipas, Anti, Kish, Moroni, Timothy, and Helaman appear in Indian languages.
Review of The Book of Mormon: Helaman through 3 Nephi 8, According to Thy Word (1992), edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Reprints the title page, lists (in order) the books of the Book of Mormon, and gives the account of Moroni’s visit that is also found in the Pearl of Great Price. Contains many excerpts from the book itself, with writings from Nephi, Isaiah, Jacob, King Benjamin, King Mosiah, Alma, Helaman, Captain Moroni, Pahoran, Mormon, and Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The doctrine of resurrection was taught by Lehi and Jacob among the first Nephites but was not mentioned again in the record until the time of Abinadi, perhaps 350 years later. In the court of King Noah that doctrine and the idea of a suffering Messiah who would bear the sins of his people and redeem them, were heresies and Abinadi paid for them with his life. While Abinadi’s testimony converted Alma1 and the doctrine of the resurrection inspired Alma2 after his conversion, it was a source of schism in the church at Zarahemla along lines that remind us of the Sadducees at Jerusalem. The doctrine of the resurrection taught in the Book of Mormon is a precursor to the doctrine now understood by the Latter-day Saints in the light of modern revelation. One example is that the Nephite prophets used the term first resurrection differently than we do. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the way that the doctrine of resurrection develops in the Book of Mormon, is that it develops consistently. That consistency bears further testimony to the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith. He could not have done that by himself.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
The world of the Nephite nation was born out of the world of seventh century bc Jerusalem. The traditions and tragedies of the nation of Judah set the stage for what would happen over the next ten centuries of Book of Mormon history. In his opening statements, Nephi tells of an explosion of divinely commissioned ministers preaching in the holy city. He declares that Jerusalem was a place of “many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent” (1 Nephi 1:4). Nephi alludes to the prophetic service of Jeremiah (c. bc 626-587), Zephaniah (c. bc 640-609, Obadiah (c. bc 587), Nahum2 Habakkuk, Urijah, and possibly many others. This disproportionate number of prophets in the city was accompanied by an increasing wave of imitators. Amidst this apparent competition between valid and invalid prophetic representatives, Jeremiah sets a standard of who can be trusted in this visionary arena. As Stephen Smoot has written, “The Book of Mormon exhibits, in many respects, an intimate familiarity with ancient Israelite religious concepts. One such example is the Book of Mormon’s portrayal of the divine council. Following a lucid biblical pattern, the Book of Mormon provides a depiction of the divine council and several examples of those who were introduced into the heavenly assembly and made partakers in divine secrets.” It is this rich heritage of prophetic representatives of deity that so richly influenced Book of Mormon authors. Of these many prophets who were actively preaching in Jerusalem, Jeremiah stands out in Nephi’s writings (1 Nephi 5:13; 7:14). Jeremiah continues to be an influence on Nephite culture throughout their history (Helaman 8:20; cf. 3 Nephi 19:4). It will be Jeremiah’s writings that will influence the Nephite perspective on “Call Narratives” and views of the “Divine Council” throughout the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Gives a history of archaeological work and Book of Mormon correlations. Suggests that Teotihuacán is a city of the “land northward” spoken of in Alma and Helaman.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
A series of five lectures dealing with five Book of Mormon families. The Lehite family featured two opposite characters—Nephi and Laman. The family of Mosiah included Mosiah1, Benjamin, Mosiah2, and his four sons. The house of Alma represents “the greatest of the ruling houses in the Book of Mormon” This family included Alma1 and Alma2, Helaman1, Helaman2, Nephi, Lehi, and others. The family of Mormon (Mormon and Moroni) witnessed the decline and fall of the Nephite nation. The family of Christ is represented by those who become his spiritual sons and daughters.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
In the heading before chapter 1 of 1 Nephi, we find Nephi’s outline of his record. It begins, “An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons,” and ends, “This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.” Sometimes these signposts appear before a section to tell us what is to come. Other times, they appear at the end to explain, recap, or mark the end of what has been said. For lack of a better word, I call them colophons, though technically colophons are notes or guidelines after a text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Contains lessons that address the question, “Is the Book of Mormon necessary?” Discusses the Jaredite and Mulekite histories, Lehi’s exodus from Jerusalem and journey to the promised land, Nephi’s leadership, Zeniff’s people and Alma’s establishment of the Church in the Waters of Mormon, Alma the Younger’s missionary service, missionary work of the sons of Mosiah, the sons of Alma the Younger, Captain Moroni, Helaman, signs of Christ’s coming, Mormon’s abridgment, Moroni’s preservation of the records, and the purpose of the Book of Mormon as a basis for the Restoration and proof that God speaks today.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Abstract: Scriptural accounts of celestial beings visiting the earth are abundant in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Whether a descending deity or angelic beings from celestial realms, they were often accompanied by clouds. In this paper a short analysis of the various types of clouds, including imitation clouds (incense), will be discussed. The relation between the phenomenon of supernatural beings, sometimes in clouds, may have had a great influence on descendants of Book of Mormon cultures. For these people, stories that were told from one generation to the next would have been considered ancient mythological lore. It may be plausible that future generations attempted to duplicate the same type scenario of celestial beings speaking and visiting their people. These events were sometimes recorded in stone.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Discusses the positive impact of Sariah, Mary the mother of Jesus, and the mothers of the “sons of Helaman” This work is reviewed in J.117.
3 Nephi
This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles on how the El Niño weather pattern may have made Lehi’s voyage to the Americas possible, geological insights into the destruction chronicled in 3 Nephi, and information about olives in antiquity. Contents “Lehi and El Niño: A Method of Migration” David L. Clark “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi” Bart J. Kowallis “‘Many Great and Notable Cities Were Sunk’: Liquefaction in the Book of Mormon” Benjamin R. Jordan “Recent Notes about Olives in Antiquity” Wilford M. Hess
Jesus Christ declared to the ancient Nephites that his Church must meet two requirements: It must bear his name (3 Nephi 27:8), and it must be built upon his gospel (3 Nephi 27:9-10).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
A recent article in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies reported that ice cores taken from Greenland and Antarctica yield evidence broadly consistent with the 3 Nephi 8 account of cataclysmic New World events—presumably including a violent volcanic eruption—at the time of Christ’s death (Benjamin R. Jordan, “Volcanic Destruction in the Book of Mormon: Possible Evidence from Ice Cores,” JBMS 12/1 [2003]: 78–87). What other methods might yield corroborating evidence of such an eruption? Two possibilities are the analysis of tree rings and sea and lake sediments.
The Maxwell Institute and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the release of part 5 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 5 analyzes the text from Alma 56 through 3 Nephi 18.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies hosted a two-day conference on 3 Nephi at the end of September 2008. Entitled “Third Nephi: New Perspectives on an Incomparable Scripture,” the conference consisted of a plenary session with an introductory address by John W. Welch, subsequent presentations by 21 distinguished scholars covering six themes, and a concluding session featuring a panel discussion.
The Maxwell Institute and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the publica- tion of part 6 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 6 analyzes the text from 3 Nephi 19 through Moroni 10.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The personal appearance of Jesus Christ as recorded in the book of 3 Nephi constitutes the narrative and spiritual climax of the Book of Mormon. Although the sacred account repeats and reinforces many of the Savior’s Old World teachings, many aspects of his New World ministry have no parallel elsewhere in scripture. In this light, Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture is a fitting title for a new book published by the Maxwell Institute and Deseret Book.
An Easter message that includes an extensive quotation from 3 Nephi concerning the appearance of Jesus Christ in America.
The achievements of Judah and Ephraim have begun “to show forth in mighty power” (p. 471). Jewish people have accomplished much in the world of finance, medicine, arts, journalism, statesmanship, and philosophy. In 3 Nephi 20 the Savior proclaimed the great worth of the people of Israel. Among the Latter-day Saints there are also a great many talented and valuable people.
3 Nephi 8 records the great calamity and destruction that occurred at the coming of Christ to America. Similar destructive occurrences will occur before Christ’s Second Coming to the world. Drawing parallels between the two comings of Jesus assists those of the latter-days to prepare for his coming.
Imaginary dialogue between an “Elder Pierce,” “Mr. Matthews” and “Mr. Roberts” on Book of Mormon topics, including the visit of Jesus in 3 Nephi. Examines why the Indians apparently had no traditions confirming the Book of Mormon.
A Masters of Arts thesis that presents the process of producing the paintings of “Coriantumr resting upon his sword before slaying Shiz” (Ether 15:30), “An angel of the Lord appearing before Laman and Lemuel” (1 Nephi 3:28), “The Vision of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah” (Mosiah 27:11), and “Christ calling Nephi from among the multitude” (3 Nephi 11:18).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article states that the teachings in the New Testament Gospels and 3 Nephi are harmonious, and events recorded in the New Testament have found some historical parallels with events listed in the Book of Mormon. Further, the great earthquakes and other upheavals of recent decades are comparable to the three days of darkness in America during the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Discusses highlights in 3 Nephi regarding the birth of Jesus and his appearance to the Nephites. Shows historical instances outside of 3 Nephi that deal with thick darkness.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The present work analyzes the narrative art Mormon employs, specifically Mormon’s unique strategies for personalized and personal messaging, which can be seen in how Mormon connects the narration of the baptism at the waters of Mormon in Mosiah chapter 18 with his self- introductory material in 3 Nephi chapter 5. In these narratives, Mormon seems to simultaneously present an overt personalized message about Christ and a covert personal connection to Alma1 through the almost excessive repetition of his own name. Mormon discreetly plants evidence to suggest his intention for the careful re-reader to discover that Mormon was a 12th generation descendant of the first Alma. Mormon’s use of personalizing and personal messages lends emotive power to his narratives and shines a light on Mormon’s love for Christ’s church.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Mormon
Book of Mormon Topics > Places > Americas > Book of Mormon Geography > Waters of Mormon
A scientific, geological answer to the question, “Could the disastrous events described in 3 Nephi 8 have really taken place?” The author concludes that the entire scene could indeed be explained by “a gigantic earthquake with attendant storms and volcanic activity” that would accompany such a catastrophic event in nature.
This series defends the reality of the natural catastrophes described in 3 Nephi 8-10. It quotes descriptions of more recent hurricanes and earthquakes to show how similar the details are and how accurate the Book of Mormon account is. The account in 3 Nephi 8-10 is so accurate that neither Joseph Smith nor Oliver Cowdery could have had sufficient knowledge of the facts of natural disasters to have invented this description. The first part covers hurricanes.
This series defends the reality of the natural catastrophes described in 3 Nephi 8-10. Quotes descriptions of more recent hurricanes and earthquakes to show how similar the details are and how accurate the Book of Mormon account is. The account in 3 Nephi 8-10 is so accurate that neither Joseph Smith nor Oliver Cowdery could have had sufficient knowledge of the facts of natural disasters to have invented this description. The second part covers earthquakes.
Aspects of the three days of darkness following the three-hour period of intense destruction described principally in 3 Nephi include: (1) the strange absence of rain among the destructive mechanisms described; (2) the source of the intense lightning, which seems to be unaccompanied by rain; (3) a mechanism to account for the inundation of the cities of Onihah, Mocum, and Jerusalem, which were not among the cities which “sunk in the depths of the sea”; and (4) the absence in the histories of contemporary European and Asiatic civilizations of corresponding events, which are repeatedly characterized in 3 Nephi as affecting “the face of the whole earth.”
A discussion of the Three Nephites (3 Nephi 28:1-9). Presents a collection of some sixty different Three Nephites stories.
Compares Apache Indian traditions to the Three Nephites of the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 28). Apache Indians celebrate a rite that appears to recall the power and ministerial actions of the Three Nephites. Further, Apache Indians do not eat pork, a practice that may have been handed down to them from Lehi who carried the law of Moses to the American continent.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
This paper puts 3 Nephi 1 in conversation with Helaman 14 in order to argue for a complex relationship between temporality and the fulfillment of prophecy. In addition to echoing Matthew 5:17–18 in order to place a structural emphasis on fulfillment, 3 Nephi 1 portrays a series of Nephite misunderstandings about the nature of time and fulfillment that are then counteracted by the cosmic signs of Samuel the Lamanite. What Samuel’s signs ultimately show is that fulfillment of prophecy is best understood as the beginning of a new era rather than as a conclusion, and that this temporal reorientation makes repentance possible. After discussing how Samuel’s signs implicitly correct Nephite temporality, the paper concludes with a brief reflection on the implications for the Book of Mormon as a whole, arguing that the Book of Mormon is intended to function as a sign that likewise orients readers to a new experience of time.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The Semitic/Hebrew name Samuel (šĕmûʾēl) most likely means “his name is El” — i.e., “his name [the name that he calls upon in worship] is El” — although it was also associated with “hearing” (šāmaʿ) God (e.g., 1 Samuel 3:9–11). In the ancient Near East, the parental hope for one thus named is that the son (and “his name”) would glorify El (a name later understood in ancient Israel to refer to God); or, like the biblical prophet Samuel, the child would hear El/God (“El is heard”). The name šĕmûʾēl thus constituted an appropriate symbol of the mission of the Son of God who “glorified the name of the Father” (Ether 12:8), was perfectly obedient to the Father in all things, and was the Prophet like Moses par excellence, whom Israel was to “hear” or “hearken” in all things (Deuteronomy 18:15; 1 Nephi 22:20; 3 Nephi 20:32). Jesus may have referred to this in a wordplay on the name Samuel when he said: “I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead” (3 Nephi 23:9). Samuel the Lamanite had particularly emphasized “believ[ing] on the name” of God’s Son in the second part of his speech (see Helaman 14:2, 12–13) in advance of the latter’s coming. Samuel thus seems to use a recurrent or thematic rhetorical wordplay on his own name as an entry point to calling the Nephites to repent and return to living the doctrine of Christ, which activates the blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Mormon took great care to show that all of the signs and prophecies that Samuel gave the Nephites of Zarahemla were fulfilled at the time of Jesus’s birth, death, and resurrection as Jesus glorified the Father’s name in every particular, and found further fulfillment in some particulars during Mormon’s own life and times.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Genesis 30:23–24 offers a double etiology for Joseph in terms of “taking away”/“gathering” (ʾāsap) and “adding” (yāsap). In addition to its later narratological use of the foregoing, the Joseph cycle (Genesis 37–50) evidences a third dimension of onomastic wordplay involving Joseph’s kĕtōnet passîm, an uncertain phrase traditionally translated “coat of many colours” (from LXX), but perhaps better translated, “coat of manifold pieces.” Moroni1, quoting from a longer version of the Joseph story from the brass plates, refers to “Joseph, whose coat was rent by his brethren into many pieces” (Alma 46:23). As a military and spiritual leader, Moroni1 twice uses Joseph’s torn coat and the remnant doctrine from Jacob’s prophecy regarding Joseph’s coat as a model for his covenant use of his own coat to “gather” (cf. ʾāsap) and rally faithful Nephites as “a remnant of the seed of Joseph” (Alma 46:12–28, 31; 62:4–6). In putting that coat on a “pole” or “standard” (Hebrew nēs — i.e., “ensign”) to “gather” a “remnant of the seed of Joseph” appears to make use of the Isaianic nēs-imagery of Isaiah 11:11–12 (and elsewhere), where the Joseph-connected verbs yāsap and ʾāsap serve as key terms. Moroni’s written-upon “standard” or “ensign” for “gathering” the “remnant of the seed of Joseph” constituted an important prophetic antetype for how Mormon and his son, Moroni2, perceived the function of their written record in the latter-days (see, e.g., 3 Nephi 5:23–26; Ether 13:1–13).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Joseph (Ancient Egypt)
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Gather
Abstract: Paronomasia in the Hebrew text of Exodus creates narrative links between the name Miriam (Mary) and the “waters” (mayim) of the Re[e]d Sea from which Israel is “pulled” and the nearby “bitter” waters of Marah. Nephi sees Mary (Mariam), the mother of Jesus, associated with the “love of God,” and thus to both “the tree of life” and “the fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25) vis-à-vis “the fountain of filthy water” (1 Nephi 12:16). Mormon was named after “the land of Mormon” (3 Nephi 5:12). He associates his given name with “waters,” which he describes as a “fountain of pure water” (Mosiah 18:5), and with the good “desires” and “love” that Alma the Elder’s converts manifest at the time of their baptism (Mosiah 18:8, 10‒11, 21, 28). Mormon’s accounts of the baptisms of Alma the Elder’s people, Limhi’s people, the people at Sidom (Alma 15:13), and a few repentant Nephites at Zarahemla who responded to Samuel the Lamanite’s preaching (Helaman 16:1), anticipate Jesus’s eventual reestablishment of the church originally founded by Alma, the baptism of his disciples, and their reception of the Holy Ghost — “that which they most desired” (see 3 Nephi 19:9‒14, 24). Desire serves as a key term that links all of these baptismal scenes. Mormon’s analogy of “the bitter fountain” and its “bitter water” vis-à-vis the “the good fount” and its “good water” — which helps set up his discussion of “the pure love of Christ,” which “endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47‒48) — should be understood against the backdrop of Lehi’s dream as Nephite “cultural narrative” and the history of Alma the Elder’s people at the waters of Mormon. As Mormon’s people lose the “love [which] endureth by faith unto prayer” (Moroni 8:26; see also Moroni 8:14‒17; 9:5) they become like the “bitter fountain” (Moroni 7:11) and do not endure to the end in faith, hope, and charity on the covenant path (cf. 2 Nephi 31:20; Moroni 7:40‒88; 8:24‒26). The name Mormon (“desire is enduring” or “love is enduring”), as borne by the prophet-editor of the Book of Mormon, embraces the whole cloud of these associations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: Although not evident at first glance, shared terminology and phraseology in Malachi 3:1 (3 Nephi 24:1) and Moroni 7:29–32 suggest textual dependency of the latter on the former. Jesus’s dictation of Malachi 3–4 to the Lamanites and Nephites at the temple in Bountiful, as recorded and preserved on the plates of Nephi, helped provide Mormon a partial scriptural and doctrinal basis for his teachings on the ministering of angels, angels/messengers of the covenant, the “work” of “the covenants of the Father,” and “prepar[ing] the way” in his sermon as preserved in Moroni 7. This article explores the implications of Mormon’s use of Malachi 3:1. It further explores the meaning of the name Malachi (“[Yahweh is] my messenger,” “my angel”) in its ancient Israelite scriptural context and the temple context within which Jesus uses it in 3 Nephi 24:1.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Abstract: In two related prophecies, Moroni employs an apparent wordplay on the name Joseph in terms of the Hebrew idiom (lōʾ) yôsîp … ʿôd (+ verbal component), as preserved in the phrases “they shall no more be confounded” (Ether 13:8) and “that thou mayest no more be confounded” (Moroni 10:31). That phraseology enjoyed a long currency within Nephite prophecy (e.g., 1 Nephi 14:2, 15:20), ultimately having its source in Isaiah’s prophecies regarding Jerusalem/Zion (see, for example, Isaiah 51:22; 52:1– 2; 54:2–4). Ether and Moroni’s prophecy in Ether 13 that the Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem would “no more be confounded” further affirms the gathering of Israel in general and the gathering of the seed of Joseph in particular.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: This brief article explores Paanchi and Giddianhi as names evidencing the Egyptian onomastic element –anchi/anhi/ʿnḫ(i) and the potential literary significance of these two names in the context of Mormon’s narrative detailing the formation of the oath-bound secret combinations sworn with oath-formulae upon one’s “life” (cf. Egyptian ʿnḫ, “life”; “live”; “swear an oath [by one’s life]”). It also explores the implications for Mormon’s telling of Nephite history during his own time.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The name Jacob (yaʿăqōb) means “may he [i.e., God] protect,” or “he has protected.” As a hypocoristic masculine volitive verbal form,
it is a kind of blessing upon, or prayer on behalf of the one so named that he will receive divine protection and safety (cf. Deuteronomy 33:28). Textual evidence from Nephi’s writings suggests that his brother Jacob’s protection was a primary concern of their parents, Lehi and Sariah. Lehi saw Nephi as the specific means of divine protection for Jacob, his “first born in the wilderness.” Moreover, the term “protector” is used twice in LDS scripture, in both instances by Jacob himself (2 Nephi 6:2; Jacob 1:10), this in reference to Nephi, who became the “great protector” of the Nephites in general and Jacob in particular. All of the foregoing is to be understood against the backdrop of the patriarch Jacob’s biography. Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, and Enos all expressed their redemption in terms reminiscent of their ancestor Jacob’s being “redeemed … from all evil,” a process which included Jacob “wrestling” a divine “man” and preparing him to be reconciled to his estranged brother by an atoning “embrace.” Mormon employed the biblical literary etymology of the name Jacob, in the terms “supplant,” “usurp,” or “rob” as a basis for Lamanite accusations that Nephites had usurped them or “robbed” them of their birthright. Mormon, aware of the high irony, shows that the Gadianton [Gaddianton] robbers take up the same polemic. The faithful Lehites, many of whom were descendants of two Jacobs, prayed “May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection” (3 Nephi 4:30). By and large, they enjoyed the God of Jacob’s protection until they ceased to call upon their true protector for it.
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The fear that Moroni’s soldier’s speech (Alma 44:14) aroused in the Lamanite soldiers and the intensity of Zerahemnah’s subsequently redoubled anger are best explained by the polysemy (i.e., multiple meanings within a lexeme’s range of meaning) of a single word translated “chief” in Alma 44:14 and “heads” in Alma 44:18. As editor of a sacred history, Mormon was interested in showing the fulfilment of prophecy when such fulfilment occurred. Mormon’s description of the Lamanites “fall[ing] exceedingly fast” because of the exposure of the Lamanites’ “bare heads” to the Nephites’ swords and their being “smitten” in Alma 44:18 — just as “the scalp of their chief” was smitten and thus fell (Alma 44:12–14) — pointedly demonstrates the fulfilment of the soldier’s prophecy. In particular, the phrase “bare heads” constitutes a polysemic wordplay on “chief,” since words translated “head” can alternatively be translated “chief,” as in Alma 44:14. A similar wordplay on “top” and “leader” in 3 Nephi 4:28–29, probably again represented by a single word, also partly explains the force of the simile curse described there.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The best explanation for the name “Nephi” is that it derives from the Egyptian word nfr, “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” “fair,” “beautiful.” Nephi’s autobiographical wordplay on his own name in his self-introduction (and elsewhere throughout his writings) revolves around the evident meaning of his name. This has important implications for how the derived gentilic term “Nephites” was understood over time, especially among the Nephites themselves. Nephi’s early ethno-cultural descriptions of his people describe them as “fair” and “beautiful” (vis-à-vis the Lamanites). These early descriptions subsequently become the basis for Nephite ethno-cultural self-perceptions. The Nephites’ supposition that they were the “good” or “fair ones” was all too frequently at odds with reality, especially when Nephite “chosenness” was understood as inherent or innate. In the end the “good” or “fair ones” fell (Mormon 6:17‒20), because they came to “delight in everything save that which is good” (Moroni 9:19). The Book of Mormon thus constitutes a warning against our own contemporary cultural and religious tendency toward exceptionalism. Mormon and Moroni, like Nephi their ancestor through his writings on the small plates, endeavor through their own writing and editorial work to show how the “unbelieving” descendants of the Nephites and Lamanites can again become the “good” and the “fair ones” by choosing to come unto Christ, partaking of his “goodness,” and doing the “good” stipulated by the doctrine of Christ.
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Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Aminadab, a Nephite by birth who later dissented to the Lamanites, played a crucial role in the mass conversion of three hundred Lamanites (and eventually many others). At the end of the pericope in which these events are recorded, Mormon states: “And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words” (Helaman 6:36), whereas he “began to withdraw” his Spirit from the Nephites “because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts” (Helaman 6:35). The name Aminadab is a Semitic/Hebrew name meaning “my kinsman is willing” or “my people are willing.” As a dissenter, Aminadab was a man of two peoples. Mormon and (probably) his source were aware of the meaning of Aminadab’s name and the irony of that meaning in the context of the latter’s role in the Lamanite conversions and the spiritual history of the Nephites and Lamanites. The narrative’s mention of Aminadab’s name (Helaman 5:39, 41) and Mormon’s echoes of it in Helaman 6:36, 3 Nephi 6:14, and elsewhere have covenant and temple significance not only in their ancient scriptural setting, but for latter-day readers of the Book of Mormon today.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The famous Petros/petra wordplay in Matthew 16:18 does not constitute Jesus’s identification of Peter as the “rock” upon which his church would be built. This wordplay does however identify him with that “rock” or “bedrock” inasmuch as Peter, a small “seer-stone,” had the potential to become like the Savior himself, “the Rock of ages.” One aspect of that “rock” is the revelation that comes through faith that Jesus is the Christ. Other aspects of that same rock are the other principles and ordinances of the gospel, including temple ordinances. The temple, a symbol of the Savior and his body, is a symbol of the eternal family—the “sure house” built upon a rock. As such, the temple is the perfect embodiment of Peter’s labor in the priesthood, against which hell will not prevail.
Abstract: For ancient Israelites, the temple was a place where sacrifice and theophany (i.e., seeing God or other heavenly beings) converged. The account of Abraham’s “arrested” sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22) and the account of the arrested slaughter of Jerusalem following David’s unauthorized census of Israel (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21) served as etiological narratives—explanations of “cause” or “origin”—for the location of the Jerusalem temple and its sacrifices. Wordplay on the verb rāʾâ (to “see”) in these narratives creates an etiological link between the place-names “Jehovah-jireh,” “Moriah” and the threshing floor of Araunah/Ornan, pointing to the future location of the Jerusalem temple as the place of theophany and sacrifice par excellence. Isaac’s arrested sacrifice and the vicarious animal sacrifices of the temple anticipated Jesus’s later “un-arrested” sacrifice since, as Jesus himself stated, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day” (John 8:56). Sacrifice itself was a kind of theophany in which one’s own redemption could be “seen” and the scriptures of the Restoration confirm that Abraham and many others, even “a great many thousand years before” the coming of Christ, “saw” Jesus’s sacrifice and “rejoiced.” Additionally, theophany and sacrifice converge in the canonized revelations regarding the building of the latter-day temple. These temple revelations begin with a promise of theophany, and mandate sacrifice from the Latter-day Saints. In essence, the temple itself was, and is, Christ’s atonement having its intended effect on humanity. .
Old Testament Scriptures > Exodus
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: Several of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s earliest revelations, beginning with Moroni’s appearance in 1823, quote the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 with the Lord “suddenly com[ing] to his temple” as “messenger of the covenant.” Malachi 3:1 and its quoted iterations in 3 Nephi 24:1; Doctrine and Covenants 36:8; 42:36; 133:2 not only impressed upon Joseph and early Church members the urgency of building a temple to which the Lord could come, but also presented him as the messenger of the Father’s restored covenant. Malachi’s prophecy concords with the restored portion of the “fulness of the record of John” and its “messenger” Christology in D&C 93:8 in which Jesus Christ is both “the messenger of salvation” (the “Word”) and the Message (also “the Word”). The ontological kinship of God the Father with Jesus, angels (literally messengers), and humankind in Joseph’s early revelations lays the groundwork for the doctrine of humankind’s coeternality with God (D&C 93:29), and the notion that through “worship” one can “come unto the Father in [Jesus’s] name, and in due time receive of his fulness” (D&C 93:19; cf. D&C 88:29). D&C 88 specifies missionary work and ritual washing of the feet as a means of becoming, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, “clean from the blood of this generation” (D&C 88:75, 85, 138). Such ritual washings continued as a part of the endowment that was revealed to Joseph Smith during the Nauvoo period. Missionary work itself constitutes a form of worship, and temple worship today continues to revolve around missionary work for the living (the endowment) and for the dead (ordinances). The endowment, like the visions in which prophets were given special missionary commissions, [Page 2]situates us ritually in the divine council, teaches us about the great Messenger of salvation, and empowers us to participate in his great mission of saving souls.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Abstract: The prophecies in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 are third-generation members of the same family of texts derived from Isaiah 11:11–12 and Isaiah 29:4, all of which ultimately rely on yāsap (yôsîp or yôsip) idioms to describe the gathering of Israel and the concomitant coming forth of additional scripture. Mormon, following Nephi, apparently engages in a specific kind of wordplay on the name Joseph in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 that ultimately harks back to the divine promises made to Joseph in Egypt (2 Nephi 25:21; see also especially 2 Nephi 3:4–16, Genesis 50:24–34 JST) and to his descendants. This wordplay looks forward to the name and role of the prophetic translator through whom additional scripture “[would] be brought again” and “[would] come again” in the last days.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
“Two statements from Nephi2, the son of Helaman, have direct reference to Isaiah’s Immanuel theme in Isaiah 7:14; 8:8, 10 and the meaning of Immanuel, ’God with us.’ This article will further explore how both statements reveal some of the nuances of how the Nephites understood the Immanuel prophecy. Lastly, I will show how Jesus’s physical presence ’with’ the Lamanites, Nephites, and Mulochites in 3 Nephi 11–26 stands as the ultimate earthly expression of the ’Immanuel’ concept. That supreme Christophany included his institution of the sacrament as a reminder of his resurrected physical presence among them at the temple in Bountiful and his continuing spiritual presence ’with’ them afterward (see 3 Ne. 18). Jesus instituted these symbols among a people who had a familiarity with and a lengthy interpretive history of the prophecies of Isaiah, as had Jesus’s Jewish Galilean disciples.” [Author]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
A natural tension seems to exist between two important features of the Book of Mormon. On one hand, Mormon includes in his record a version of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave to the Nephites—an address that sets the standard for discipleship and that contains teachings obviously opposed to violence. In it, we hear about not resisting evil, turning the other cheek, going another mile when compelled to go one, loving our enemies—and so forth (3 Ne. 12:39–44). On the other hand, Mormon also presents various Nephite leaders as righteous even though they were immersed in violence. Captain Moroni stands out among these leaders because his wartime activities dominate the last third of the book of Alma: we see him in significant detail. The juxtaposition of these two threads appears contradictory. We see righteous men, including prophetic figures, engaged in the very activities that the text itself seems to prohibit. And this apparent contradiction seems significant even though most of these leaders lived before the Sermon was even given. This is because it is natural to think of the Book of Mormon as a whole—as a collection of significant experiences and teachings that are consistent with one another and that together present a unified, divine message to the world. We thus expect to see the book’s most prominent leaders actually live the standard found in the book’s most prominent teachings— whether they actually possessed the Sermon on the Mount or not. And therein lies the problem. Although these prominent teachings clearly seem to be opposed to violence, we see these prominent leaders very much engaged in violence. It is not necessarily obvious how to resolve this tension. One strategy, of course, would be to ignore the tension and to simply avoid thinking about it. But a sacred text requires more from us than that. So the apparent disparity has to be faced. How is it possible to reconcile Captain Moroni with the Sermon on the Mount?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The temple is central to Latter-day Saint worship. Through modern revelation Joseph Smith restored the ancient tradition of temples and the ordinances performed therein. Studies of ancient temples can shed much light on latter-day temples and temple worship.Several years ago Latter-day Saint scholar Matthew Brown planned a conference entitled The Temple on Mount Zion and began to invite the participants. Matthew Brown loved the temple and temple worship and studied and published on ancient and modern temples. His interests and knowledge were vast. When Matthew passed away very unexpectedly in 2011, his friends decided to organize a series of conferences in his memory. This volume, the sixth in the series, contains proceedings from the fifth conference held in his memory 7 November 2020 and reflects many of the topics that Matthew loved, centered on the theme of the temple: past, present, and future.Chapters relating to the ancient past of the Bible and the Book of Mormon provide new insights into temple themes in Ruth, sacred names of Moses and Jesus Christ, prayer with uplifted hands, temple iconography of cherubim and seraphim, ritual purity in 3 Nephi 19, the rites of the Raqchi Temple in Peru, and sacred space in the early Christian Church. Of great significance to the present era is a chapter on women and the priesthood in the contemporary Church. And looking toward the future is a chapter on the Millennial Temple in Jackson County, Missouri in the context of its historic past.The purpose of the book series is to increase understanding and appreciation of temple rituals and doctrines, and to encourage participation in the redeeming work of family history and temple worship.
The author notes that Jesus did not mention the Scribes and Pharisees in his 3 Nephi discourses, even in the parallel passages from the Sermon on the Mount.
The publication of the Book of Mormon brought forward the first of many comparisons between the restorational work of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his surrounding environment, including Freemasonry. One point of comparison has been the lambskin apparel mentioned in 3 Nephi 4:7. A possible connection exists between this item of apparel and ritual clothing that was worn in ancient Israel, Egypt, and Mesoamerica. I suggest a possible reason for the use of this item of clothing among the secret combinations in the Book of Mormon and discuss the lambskin apron used in Freemasonic ritual.
Old Testament Topics > Temple and Tabernacle
Kent Brown and John Tvedtnes examine the question of when Christ appeared to the Nephites in Bountiful, offering different interpretations of 3 Nephi 10:18. Brown asserts that Jesus appeared near the end of the thirty-fourth year after Christ’s birth, almost a full year after the crucifixion. Tvedtnes proposes an earlier date, possibly as early as the same day of or the day following Jesus’ resurrection in Jerusalem.
The 39th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium Christians around the world look to the Sermon on the Mount for encouragement and guidance in developing the attitudes and behavior the Lord admonished us to have. The 2010 Sperry Symposium focuses on the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, Luke, and 3 Nephi. It will discuss in depth specific passages and textual variations in the different accounts of the Sermon, as well as the social and cultural context of the Sermon. Chapters will review the contributions that the Joseph Smith Translation makes to our understanding, as well as the use of the Sermon in later biblical and Book of Mormon teachings. Contributors include Richard D. Draper, Matthew J. Grey, Daniel K Judd, Jennifer C. Lane, Eric-John K. Marlowe, Robert L. Millet, Thomas A. Wayment, and John W. Welch.
Describes a disease called epizootic, which killed many horses in the Eastern states. The Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 21:14) “foretells a time when, if the people would not repent, the Lord would destroy their horses.” Author the asks “who can say that the epizootic has no connection with that threat of divine displeasure?”
Describes a disease called epizootic, which killed many horses in the Eastern states. The Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 21:14) “foretells a time when, if the people would not repent, the Lord would destroy their horses.” Author the asks “who can say that the epizootic has no connection with that threat of divine displeasure?”
Describes a disease called epizootic, which killed many horses in the Eastern states. The Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 21:14) “foretells a time when, if the people would not repent, the Lord would destroy their horses” Author the asks “who can say that the epizootic has no connection with that threat of divine displeasure?”
A pocket-sized work containing the book of 3 Nephi, selections from the Joseph Smith History describing Moroni’s visit and the translation of the gold plates, the testimony of the Three and Eight Witnesses, and a number of Book of Mormon references.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
RSC Topics > L — P > Missionary Work
The Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the gospel of Christ. Many critics have pointed out that Joseph Smith’s later Nauvoo period teachings are not contained in the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith’s later teachings pertain to the higher order of the Church of the Firstborn, the gospel of the Father, the doctrine of exaltation, which supersedes and is built on the gospel of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of salvation. The Book of Mormon hints at such teachings but does not reveal them (3 Nephi 27:10, 23, 3 Nephi 26:6-11, 16, 18).
The “American Gospel” (3 Nephi), as recorded in the Book of Mormon, clariies, and supports the teachings of the Bible and testiies of its authenticity. When Jesus Christ visited the American continent he blessed his people, organized his Church, and taught the gospel.
Quotes several biblical scholars in support of Joseph Smith’s translation of the Lord’s prayer (3 Nephi 13:12), which differs slightly from Matthew’s account (Matthew 6:14).
Examines the difference between the Joseph Smith Translation and the Book of Mormon version of the Lord’s Prayer (3 Nephi 5:10-15). The author explains that Hebrew idiomatic usage resolves the differences.
A series presenting narrative taken from 3 Nephi 1-28 with accompanying illustrations. Illustrations depict the events surrounding Christ’s birth, death, and visit on the American continent. The fourth part consists of scenes from chapters 17–19, 21, and 23.
A series presenting narrative taken from 3 Nephi 1-28 with accompanying illustrations. Illustrations depict the events surrounding Christ’s birth, death, and visit on the American continent. he fifth part consists of scenes from chapters 23, 24, and 26–28.
A series presenting narrative taken from 3 Nephi 1-28 with accompanying illustrations. Illustrations depict the events surrounding Christ’s birth, death, and visit on the American continent. The second part consists of scenes from chapters 6–9.
A series presenting narrative taken from 3 Nephi 1-28 with accompanying illustrations. Illustrations depict the events surrounding Christ’s birth, death, and visit on the American continent. The first part consists of scenes from chapters 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9.
A series presenting narrative taken from 3 Nephi 1-28 with accompanying illustrations. Illustrations depict the events surrounding Christ’s birth, death, and visit on the American continent. The third part consists of scenes from chapters 11, 15, and 16.
Relates the events of her conversion through reading the Book of Mormon, and shares a personal experience and testimony regarding the coming of Christ to the Americas as recorded in 3 Nephi.
LDS missionaries taught the Book of Mormon story to a Navajo spiritual leader and his family. The spiritual leader acknowledged that their story is true and already known in Navajo tradition. 3 Nephi 30:5-6 is applied to this event.
Large drawings designed for children illustrate the text of 3 Nephi, wherein Jesus visited the Nephites and blessed the children.
Pages 124-50 of this polemical work against Mormonism criticize the Book of Mormon from a number of directions. The Book of Mormon witnesses were somewhat credulous. In fabricating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith drew upon speculation that the American Indians were descendants of the lost ten tribes, borrowing ideas found in the View of the Hebrews and other works. The author identifies a number of alleged anachronisms, such as the description of Lehi’s desert journey, mention of weapons, animals, the wheel, and lack of archaeological evidence. Issues regarding the Sermon on the Mount in 3 Nephi and the Smithsonian statement regarding the Book of Mormon are also raised.
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the seventh installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope you find it helpful.]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Writing
What we have of Jesus’s ministry to the Nephites is an abridged version because the Lord wished to “try the faith of [his] people” (3 Nephi 26:6–13). Dutiful to his charge, Mormon did not provide a full account of Jesus’s teachings, but his son Moroni provided three quotations of portions that his father did not.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: This essay addresses the reasons many persons have left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In particular, there are those who publicly assert the Church is not led by inspired leaders so they can feel at peace about their decision to leave it. One common argument used to justify their estrangement is the “Samuel Principle,” which ostensibly would require God to allow his followers on earth to go astray if they chose any level of unrighteousness. Problems with this interpretation are presented including examples from religious history that show that God’s primary pattern has been to call his errant followers to repentance by raising up righteous leaders to guide them. Also explored are the common historical events that dissenters often allege have caused the Church to apostatize. The notion that the Church and the “Priesthood” could be separate entities is examined as well. The observation that Church leaders continue to receive divine communication in order to fulfill numerous prophecies and that a significant number of completely devout Latter-day Saints have always existed within the Church, obviating the need for any dissenting movement, is discussed. In addition, several common scriptural proof-texts employed by some dissenters and their ultimate condition of apostasy are analyzed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Third Nephi 22 (quoting Isaiah 54) addresses a desolate woman who will be redeemed in the latter days. The desolate woman represents Zion, which itself signifies the city of Enoch in ancient times, the hill where the temple was built in Jerusalem, the celestial city of God, the kingdom of God on earth, and a covenant community of temple-worthy Saints. The Lord promises to relieve the desolation of Zion felt through barrenness, lack of a permanent home, and being forsaken and persecuted. The destiny of Zion parallels the pattern of Noah—both remain faithful to their covenants and witness a cleansing of the earth. The Savior serves as Zion’s husband. The servants of the Lord are equated with Zion—the Lord will not allow oppressors to be successful against Zion. The Lord promises to redeem Zion as he sings a song of redeeming love.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Old Testament Topics > Women in the Old Testament
A linguistic analysis of the symbol of a barren woman associated with Zion, the earth, and the Lord’s servants
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Cynthia Hallen invited students in her History of the English Language course to search for conjoined word pairs in the scriptures as a term project. They searched for pairs of words linked with conjunctions in order to better understand the meaning of selected set expressions in the King James Bible and the Book of Mormon. Hallen summarizes and comments on their research.
In the Old World Jesus taught, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6), yet in the New World he says, “Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost” (3 Nephi 12:6). Attention, understandably, has been given to the differences, large and small, between the Sermon on the Mount as recounted in the New Testament and the similar sermon given in the New World. At times, we note slight shifts in emphasis (here in the New World, for example, Jesus makes this promise to “all”), more complete understandings (we are filled specifically with the influence of the Holy Ghost), and so on. And these differences raise compelling questions about the possibility that plain and precious truths were lost in translation in the Bible but are restored again in the Book of Mormon. The differences might also suggest the importance of a shifting context that moves Jesus to vary his speech. One wonders if one version is more authoritative than the other. But there is an additional question the two accounts of Christ’s sermon raise. What do readers make of the fact that in most cases the wording is exactly coincident? What might that signify?
Reprints of letters that describe the ruins of Central America: Teotihuac‡n, Tula, Copan, Quirigua, Palenque, Uxmal, and others. Includes photographs. He relates Central American Culture and religion with Near Eastern Culture and religion, quoting such authors as Bancroft, Humboldt, and Lord Kingsborough, among others, to back his claims. Equates Quetzalcoatl with Jesus Christ whose visit to America is recorded in 3 Nephi 11 in the Book of Mormon.
Abstract: The word baptize appears 119 times in the Book of Mormon; three speakers (Jesus Christ, Mormon, and Nephi) account for 87% of all of these usages. Each of these individuals have distinctive patterns in how they use the word baptize, indicating that each speaker has his own unique voice. When one accounts for the fact that Christ says relatively fewer words than Mormon, it is evident that per 1,000 words spoken, Jesus Christ uses the word baptize more than any other speaker in the Book of Mormon. This finding holds true for Christ’s words both in and outside of 3 Nephi. Among other patterns, we demonstrate that Jesus Christ associates his name with baptism more than any other Book of Mormon speaker and that Christ is responsible for 58% of the Book of Mormon’s invitations to be baptized. Additional patterns and their implications are discussed.
At the beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi writes, “The fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved” (1 Nephi 6:4; emphasis added). He later writes, “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). The pinnacle of the Book of Mormon occurred in 3 Nephi when Jesus Christ personally ministered to the Nephites and Lamanites. Clearly the central purpose of those writing on the plates was to invite and persuade each of us to come unto Jesus Christ, helping us understand his redeeming role.Jesus Christ is the central figure in the Book of Mormon. Ancient prophets in the western hemisphere consistently pointed to His life and atoning sacrifice. For example, Nephi wrote, “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). After His Resurrection, Jesus Christ personally ministered to the Nephites and taught them. This volume shares important reminders about how to focus on Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The word Gentiles appears 141 times in the Book of Mormon (the singular Gentile appears only five times.) It appears more frequently than key words such as baptize, resurrection, Zion, and truth. The word Gentiles does not appear with equal frequency throughout the Book of Mormon; in fact, it appears in only five of its fifteen books: 1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, 3 Nephi, Mormon, and Ether. Additionally, Book of Mormon speakers did not say Gentiles evenly. Some speakers said the word much less often than we might expect while others used it much more. Nephi1 used Gentiles the most (43 times), and Christ Himself used it 38 times. In addition to analyzing which speakers used the word, this study shows distinctive ways in which Book of Mormon speakers used this word.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
3 Nephi 5, 9, and 10 describe how Nephi was chosen as the leader of the twelve disciples after Christ’s coming on the American Continent.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Draws a parallel between archaeological finds and 3 Nephi. Evidence indicates that the Mayan civilization ourished near the beginning of the Christian era. For instance, Mayan road building rivaled that of Rome in the same period. This period coincides with 3 Nephi 6:8, A. D. 29-30, which describes the advanced state of civilization and large scale road building.
Theorizes that the cataclysm in 3 Nephi resulted from a volcano (or several volcanoes) that are located near the central part of the narrow neck of land.
A story for children describing Gidgiddoni, the Nephite military leader (3 Nephi 3-4).
A review of the book The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh who claim that the law as taught in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jesus’ sayings (Matthew 5:17-19), and Paul’s teachings (Romans 3:21-23; Galatians 2:16-17) do not harmonize. Stevens says the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 8:3-11, 28- 29, 89-91; Mosiah 1:113, 116; 3 Nephi 7:4-12 [RLDS versification]) shows that Paul’s teachings and Christ’s are harmonious.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
The customary interpretation of 3 Nephi 11:1 has been that those around the temple in Bountiful were showing one another the “ great and marvelous change” that had taken place in the land. However, Jones argues that those people were discussing instead the change that had taken place in their hearts. By examining the context in which this scripture appears and by interpreting other scriptures, especially ones emphasizing the way in which most revelation is received, Jones shows that the atonement of Jesus Christ and the individuals’ subsequent change of heart would have been the main topic of their discussion and would therefore be an appropriate understanding of the scripture.
RSC Topics > T — Z > Unity
Review of The Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 9-30, This Is My Gospel (1993), edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr.
Compares the version of the Sermon on the Mount that appears in 3 Nephi with what textual critics of the dominant school (from Tischendorf to the Alands) have proposed is the original text for Matthew’s version of the sermon. Selects eleven variant passages that all these textual critics have agreed on and shows that in all eleven cases the Book of Mormon agrees with Erasmus’s “Textus Receptus” (on which the 1611 King James Version of the New Testament was based) but against what these textual critics have proposed. Assumes that the reconstructed text of these textual critics must be the original text (despite our substantial lack of knowledge concerning the history of the New Testament text for the first several centuries) and therefore concludes that the Book of Mormon text for the Sermon on the Mount is non-historical.
The Book of Mormon definition of the gospel of Christ is revealed in 3 Nephi 27:13-22: the Atonement, faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. None of the four compilers intended to include all of the teachings and ordinances of Christ. Important doctrines are restored when the church membership is ready to accept them.
Victor Ludlow shows that covenants are prominent in the scriptures. He distinguishes between horizontal covenants, which take place between individuals, and vertical covenants, which take place between God and mortals. He discusses what it means to “cut a covenant” and its various applications. He notes how covenants entail requirements that find expression in obedience or disobedience with the consequences of blessings or punishments. He comments on how in 3 Nephi the Savior devotes significant time to speaking about covenants directly or dealing with subjects that are rooted in covenants, such as the teachings found in the Sermon at the Temple, which corresponds to the Sermon on the Mount. Charts and graphs are included.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
RSC Topics > D — F > Devil
The title page of the Book of Mormon states that the first purpose of the book is “to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever.” This means that the Book of Mormon is intended, in part, to teach Lehi’s descendants about the covenants that the Lord has made with them. The key covenant they will learn about is that they would be a blessing for all nations—a consecrated people of God. Beyond teaching about the covenants, the Book of Mormon also prophesies key signs and events that will demonstrate when the promised covenant is being fulfilled in the latter days.
The first purpose of the Book of Mormon as stated on the title page is to demonstrate to the remnant of the House of Israel the great things the Lord has done for their fathers, and to show that because of past covenants latter-day generations are not excluded from divine interest.
Review of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 4, Third Nephi through Moroni (1992), by Joseph Fielding McConkie, Robert L. Millet, and Brent L. Top
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The final volume of the series, consisting of commentary on verses from 3 Nephi through Moroni. A reflective essay culminates the work.
A polemical tract against Mormonism attempting to explain why Mormonism is a cult. Numerous textual changes in the various editions of the Book of Mormon are noted. The description in 3 Nephi of the destruction of the wicked at the time of Christ’s death is incompatible with the concept of a merciful God.
This article provides several legends and descriptions of the “feathered serpent” god called Quetzalcoatl and links Jesus Christ and his visit to the Americas (3 Nephi) with him. Quetzalcoatl was known as a light complexioned wise benefactor. After having spent some time with the ancestors of the Aztecs, he promised to return to them.
The Book of Mormon is an account of God’s dealings with his people in America and is a second witness for Christ. 3 Nephi may be considered the “Fifth Gospel” and the Doctrine and Covenants represents the “Sixth Gospel” of Christ. Together these works set forth the correct way of life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Five-part series sets forth external evidences of the Book of Mormon, including the archaeological findings that “point to successive periods of occupation” in ancient America, evidence of Hebrew origin/descent for the American Indians, and the idea that there was an advanced civilization in ancient America. Also discusses metal plates and provides geological proof of the great destruction recorded in 3 Nephi 8.
Answers the question “Did Jesus appear to the people on the American continent before or after his ascension?” 3 Nephi 11:12 and 10:18 indicate he appeared after his final ascension in Palestine.
Robert Millet notes the differences between the teachings of Jesus in 3 Nephi and in the four Gospels. The Book of Mormon is more crucial now than ever before in witnessing to the truth of the Bible. Observing the intensified moral demands given by Jesus enables us to keep the Old Testament commandments more easily. Millet considers a more precise definition of what the “gospel” means than the broader definition often associated with that word.
Abstract: In its action, setting, and arrangement, the crucifixion may be viewed as a stark mockery of the final judgment scene. This article provides a brief review of the relevant scriptures, considered together with some related apocryphal and other early Christian writings of interest in regard to the crucifixion. These sources point to the interpretation that the gospel writers saw in the crucifixion a striking symbolism that can provide a strong reminder, witness, and warning of the coming judgment. The Lord is seen in the crucifixion as at once representing His humility in submitting Himself to be judged and, conversely, His authority and power to be the judge of all. The crucifixion signifies the concept of a reciprocal or two-way judgment, as emphasized in the Book of Mormon, where mankind first judges the Lord, and later are to be judged accordingly by Him in return.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The Monroe Doctrine states that the United States government will overthrow any type of monarchy set up on the western continent. This corresponds with the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 10:11-14 where it says that no king will be set upon the American continent. The south side of the pyramid of Zochicako tells of a destruction in the land that Morris relates to the destruction before Christ appeared on the American continent (3 Nephi 8-9).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
360 pp. Transcripts of 29 lectures.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years, this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the third of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part three contains twenty-nine lectures focusing on Alma 45 through 3 Nephi 20. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Originally printed as an article in the Ensign.
A comparison of the Old World early Christian “forty-day ministry” story with the New World 3 Nephi accounts.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Characters > Jesus Christ
287 pp. Transcripts of 27 lectures with 5 lectures by John W. Welch.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the last of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part four covers 3 Nephi 6 through Moroni 10. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Part 2 of “Souvenirs from Lehi’s Jerusalem,” which was submitted to the Ensign. Subtitled, “A Comparison of the Old World Early Christian ‘Forty-day Ministry’ Story with the New World 3 Nephi Accounts.”
This is a version of the material published as the second part of “Two Shots in the Dark: 1. Dark Days in Jerusalem; 2. Christ among the Ruins,” in Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins, ed. Noel B. Reynolds (Provo, UT: RSC, 1982), 103–41. A version of this essay has been reprinted in The Prophetic Book of Mormon, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 8:407–34.
A comparison of the Old World early Christian “forty-day ministry” story with the New World 3 Nephi accounts.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Characters > Jesus Christ
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Jesus Christ > Forty-Day Ministry
Also called “Sacrament Prayers; Implications of the Sermon at the Temple.“
Finishing up the last few elements in the Sermon at the Temple and considering some implications.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Understanding the Sermon at the Temple; Zion Society.“
It seems that there are wide-ranging implications for our lives and for our understanding of the Book of Mormon, other scripture, the temple, and a lot of other things as a result of our understanding of the Sermon at the Temple.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “The Hopelessness in Wickedness; The Twelve Apostles at Far West, Missouri, April 1838.“
Now, we’re beginning to learn a lesson that these Book of Mormon people were having a hard time learning—that things do change. It’s not always going to be the same. They thought it was, you know.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Rhetoric.“
Now the standard explanation today of all this misunderstanding that’s been going on between the Nephites, the Lamanites, the Zoramites, the Gadiantons, and all the rest of them—we would say piously is a lack of communication, wouldn’t we? They certainly aren’t communicating, and so we have a masterpiece of communication. This third chapter of 3 Nephi is the great letter. It’s really a lesson in communications. It’s typical of the official communique of our day. It’s smooth, it’s convincing, it’s conciliatory—and it’s totally false, as we’ll soon find.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Byzantine Civilizations and Zion; Secret Combinations.“
Well, we’re in the sixth chapter of 3 Nephi, and everybody says at this point, “Well, this is where I came in. You mean we’ve got to go through this again?” As it starts out, you notice everything is lovely at the beginning.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Great Catastrophes.“
Why do we go into such detail about the earthquake and storm? Well, it’s very accurate; it describes a typical one. But there’s a point to all this—a point to showing that all nature, all the earth, is in tremendous uproar. This is going to be followed by more uproar, and then suddenly comes the voice of the Lord. But first we have to see that the earth is dependent on him.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “The Lord Teaches His People.“
Notice what happens. The Savior comes to them. If you were writing this, it would be the biggest challenge of all when you came to the big climax—the Lord finally comes. Now what does he do? What does he say? Does he just repeat the New Testament? Well, he does and a lot more too.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “The Joy of the Lord’s Visit
We should notice some things here, such as the theme of the other sheep in 3 Nephi 16. Notice, suddenly it broadens out immensely. The other sheep all must be considered. Every individual in the whole world is going to get the full treatment. Here we see the earth from space, as one world, in this 16th chapter here, with all these other tribes. Then why is Israel so small in that case?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “The Horse in the Americas; War and Prosperity.“
Why is 3 Nephi 6:1 a good place to begin a story? It ends one phase; it ends the war. It’s the end of an epic, and we begin a new phase.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Style of Writing in the Book of Mormon; Pride, Gain, and Power.“
To start out I should ask a question. What do you notice in the first two verses of 3 Nephi 6? What do they have in common? What particular stylistic use do you find in the opening sentences of these two verses?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Government; Families and Tribes.“
A strange thing has happened, you see, very disturbing. Everything was going so well. They’d come through a terrible time; then everything was going too well. It all “came up roses”; everything was happy. Then we’re told in 3 Nephi 6:5 that things couldn’t be better. There was nothing to keep them from being completely happy. There were no economic, social, or any other kinds of problems except in themselves—that was the only trouble. And almost immediately things started going bad. It tells us the cause of it was what? We’ve already seen that. But in that case, what do you do? Isn’t that a remarkable parallel to things now?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Conversion; Signs and Destruction.“
3 Nephi 7:14 talks about the splinter groups that always take place. You’re always going to find them, and they’re characteristic. This is the way it happens. You notice how rich this verse is.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Destruction and Blessings.“
Now we’re really getting in over our heads here. This chapter nine is pretty deep stuff. See, the Lord in the aretalogy tells us that he’s been doing all the destroying that’s been going on here. But first of all, what is the theme of the Book of Mormon? The theme of the Book of Mormon is, of course, salvation in Jesus Christ. But what is its historical message? What is its particular message to us? Remember, Parley P. Pratt wrote A Voice of Warning about the Book of Mormon. What’s it warning us against?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “The Early Christians; The FIve Gospels.“
The whole Book of Mormon is centered on one focal point, isn’t it? It’s like a burning glass centered with ferocious concentration on one single point. What is there in chapters 9 and 10 of 3 Nephi that points that out? One little word keeps hammering away, repeating and repeating. The whole Book of Mormon is just centered on one person, isn’t it? And who is that? Christ.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Resurrection; The Forty-Day Ministry; Reality.“
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts show what remarkable fact about the resurrection toward which everybody had looked forward, which was to be the great climax of human history? When it actually happened, what was the reaction of most people to it, including members of the Church and apostles? Did they say, “Hooray, hooray, it has happened at last?” When somebody told them about it, what did they say? You’d expect them to be dancing in the streets.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Physical and Spiritual Bodies; Anthropism.“
There’s a difference between being naughty and being vicious and rancorous. It goes back to this marvelous idea we have in 3 Nephi. To the Christian world, Adam’s fall was the sin. There was everything nasty and vile that followed it. The world had become so nasty, corrupt, and decayed that Christians decided that having a body means being vile. You don’t have to, you know.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Christ’s Ministry and Teachings.“
This sixth chapter—isn’t it something? Didn’t it just knock you off the Christmas tree? What’s the remarkable thing about it? I think it’s the most powerful editorial for us in the whole Book of Mormon, probably. I say that about every chapter, but this one really does it. This one covers all the ground. You’ll notice it starts out with a model society. They’ve been through a long war and suffered terribly. They return as a model society. They reform very wisely. They rehabilitate the enemy and all this sort of thing and begin immense prosperity. And then they start becoming spoiled. Then business becomes everything, and they’re divided into classes. Then, lo and behold, you get a secret government, the lawyers take over, and everything collapses. That’s the sixth chapter—what a marvelous cycle! It’s probably the most condensed cycle. Is it the story of American capitalism? Well, read it carefully; it’s very condensed. There’s an awful lot in it, but the next chapter does just like it. And what is the result of that?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Christ’s Membership; Christ’s Ministry.“
The editor of a Catholic journal told me in a letter that Joseph Smith was merely repeating the New Testament in 3 Nephi—it’s just the same old story. Well, what would you say to that? What did Jesus Christ say about that? He explained why he was telling them those things, and what did he say? Remember, he said, these are the same things which I taught the Jews in Jerusalem. Now, here’s the question. Would you expect him to teach something different?
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Resurrection; The Forty-Day Ministry; Blessing the Children.“
The apostles made lost writings, a lot of them, and they are very rich. I notice that I cite fifty to a hundred of them here in this article, just dealing with the resurrection, that were not known or published in Joseph Smith’s day. Why do you think they weren’t widely published by the Christian world? They are the oldest writings we have, incidentally. The oldest Christian writings we have nearly all talk about the resurrection and nearly all have the heading “The Things Which the Lord Taught the Disciples in Secret after the Resurrection.” Why didn’t the Christian world preserve them? Well, it did—under cover.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “The Sermon at the Temple; Law and Covenant.“
We all know the Sermon on the Mount—that’s Matthew 5–7. The Sermon at the Temple is in 3 Nephi 11–18. It is a monumental text. It is one of those texts that acts as a “Grand Central Station,” a switchboard through which almost everything else in the Book of Mormon sooner or later will pass.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Christ at the Nephite Temple.“
Turn your attention to the content of the message of Jesus in the first part of the Sermon at the Temple. This is a sobering, deeply spiritual experience that the Nephites there at the temple in Bountiful were blessed to participate in. I am always humbled whenever I approach this text. As King Benjamin said, these texts are here that we can relive the experiences that those people were blessed to experience.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “The Beatitudes; Christ’s Teachings.“
We continue our probing and developing of the hypothesis that the Sermon at the Temple provides us with temple-rich material which when viewed in a covenant-making context takes on new and important meanings and significance. I would like to continue to test this hypothesis in terms of looking at each of the elements in the text to see if they can be understood in this way.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
360 pp. Transcripts of 29 lectures.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years, this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the third of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part three contains twenty-nine lectures focusing on Alma 45 through 3 Nephi 20. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
287 pp. Transcripts of 27 lectures with 5 lectures by John W. Welch.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the last of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part four covers 3 Nephi 6 through Moroni 10. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Examines prophecies in the Book of Mormon and relates them to historical events of the twentieth century. Prophecies are classified as follows: (1) the vision of Nephi—1 Nephi 3:210-216 (RLDS scriptures); (2) the prophecy of Nephi—2 Nephi 11:116-117; (3) the word of Christ relative to gentile disobedience—3 Nephi 9:64-71, and the return of the Jews —3 Nephi 9:85-101; (4) warning to Gentile America—Ether 1:29-35.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The Seventh Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU “All things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.” This was the Lord’s glorious promise to Nephi, son of Helaman. The general wickedness that prevailed in much of Nephite society during Nephi’s day was in stark contrast to his exemplary faithfulness. Why was this so? How did the people’s decline come about so rapidly? What specific messages do the book of Helaman and the early chapters of 3 Nephi contain for our day? Seventeen symposium papers collected in this volume address these and other issues related to events and conditions among the Nephites and the Lamanites during the eighty or so years prior to the Savior’s appearance on the American continent. Contributors not only discuss great doctrinal teachings of stalwarts like Nephi, Samuel the Lamanite, and Mormon but also provide detailed analyses of how and why the Nephites moved from a condition of righteousness to one of wickedness during this critical period in their history. ISBN 0-8849-4864-1
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
RSC Topics > G — K > Jesus Christ
RSC Topics > G — K > Judgment
RSC Topics > G — K > Justice
RSC Topics > L — P > Love
The Eighth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU Chapters 9 through 30 of 3 Nephi are perhaps the most choice part of the entire Book of Mormon because this section chronicles the transcendent visit of the Risen Lord to the Nephite Saints, His profound teachings, and His amazing, compassionate ministry. His recorded actions and utterance during this period offer remarkable scope for a reverent and knowledgeable review such as that done by sixteen scholars in this book. The 3 Nephi text, like that of the entire Book of Mormon, is shown to be “remarkably efficient” and to give “extraordinary unity and coherence to . . . its message.” ISBN 0-8849-4913-3
Presenters at this symposium included Robert L. Millet, Robert J. Matthews, Monte S. Nyman, S. Kent Brown, Joseph Fielding McConkie, and numerous others. The subjects covered include prayer, the doctrine of translation, the gathering at the temple, service, and more. Papers are based on the book of 3 Nephi and Christ’s visit to America.
Presenters included Russell M. Nelson, Robert Millet, Robert J. Matthews, Thomas W. Mackay, Monte S. Nyman, and others. The topics include sanctification, secret covenant teachings of men, the dangers of a class society, and many others found in the books of Helaman and 3 Nephi.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The Indian legend “Why the Grand Canyon Was Made” tells of the great shaking and trembling of the earth that came after many generations and created the Grand Canyon. The account sounds very much like 3 Nephi 10:9-10. “The Three Days of Darkness” tells that at the time of the death of Shinob, younger God of the Pahute Indians, they could not light a fire. Later Shinob came back to life. This legend sounds like the account in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 8:17- 23. This work is reviewed in P.213.
Quotes William Niven’s description of ancient ruins at Yerba Buena in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Niven theorizes that the city was destroyed by being suddenly submerged in water and later coming up again. Parry quotes 3 Nephi 8:5-17 that describes the violent destruction in the Nephite and Lamanite land. The Book of Mormon is supported by Niven’s theory.
Shows more than 25 agreements between 3 Nephi and the Gospels of the New Testament. Gives reasons that 3 Nephi should be referred to as the “fifth gospel”
A synopsis of the book of 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. This book is the climax in Nephite history. It focuses on three advents of Jesus: his birth, his resurrection and appearance to the Nephites, and his Second Coming.
David L. Paulsen, professor emeritus of the Brigham Young University Philosophy Department, is one of the most prominent LDS theologians. His writings span an impressive array of topics. BYU Studies has collected all his articles, book chapters, and reviews and arranged them by topic in three impressive ebooks, of which this is the second. In this second volume, readers will find Paulsen’s writings on the nature of God, including early Mormon modalism and other myths, the social model of the Trinity in 3 Nephi, the corporeality of God, divine determinateness, and the logically and ontologically possible proofs of God’s existence.
The Book of Mormon peoples had portions of the Bible. The Jesuits who came to the New World burned many books and it is possible they contained portions of the Bible handed down by Native Americans. The Book of Mormon has warnings for the United States—Ether 1:4; 3 Nephi 9:12; Ether 3:13.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Partaking of bread and water each Sunday is a fundamental part of the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — a solemn moment in which the mortal Savior’s mission and ministry are remembered and pondered by those who partake individually and as a congregation. This paper explores instructions provided by the Savior himself as found in the Mormon canon of scriptures, together with a review of how this practice has changed over time as part of the LDS Church liturgy. Moreover, the meaning associated with this sacred ordinance is analyzed by way of the Savior’s teachings in ancient scripture through Mormon prophets in modern times, particularly in light of a more recent emphasis shared by the LDS Church leadership.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article discusses various native traditions of the Western Hemisphere and Pacific region that refer to a “Great White God.” Several sources are cited and their common points are discussed and compared to 3 Nephi 11. Jesus Christ was the Great White God referred to in all instances.
Abstract: Revelation comes in various forms, some of them spectacular and some of them extremely subtle. The scriptures and the history of the Restoration offer numerous examples across the entire spectrum. Whatever its form, however, divine revelation remains divine revelation, and it is the avowed mission of the Interpreter Foundation to thoughtfully ponder such revelation, to try to explicate its meaning, and to illustrate its richness. In turn, such examination can itself provide an opportunity for personal revelation—both for the examiners and, we hope, for those who read or hear the results of their work.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Pratt, who has been called to conduct missionary work in “the southland,” quotes 2 Nephi 1:1-11, 1 Nephi 13, 2 Nephi 30, and 3 Nephi 21 that speak of the fall, final gathering, and redemption of the Lamanites.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: The story of believers being nearly put to death before the appearance of the sign at Christ’s birth is both inspiring and a little confusing. According to the Book of Mormon, the sign comes in the 92nd year, which was actually the sixth year after the prophecy had been made. There is little wonder why even some believers began to doubt. The setting of a final date by which the prophecy must be fulfilled, however, suggests that until that day, there must have been reason for even the nonbelievers to concede that fulfillment was still possible; yet after that deadline it was definitively too late. An understanding of Mesoamerican timekeeping practices and terminology provides one possible explanation.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Review of Jerry D. Grover, Jr., Geology of the Book of Mormon. Vineyard, UT: Self-Published, 2014. 233 pp. +xi, including index and references. $39.99.
Abstract: Over recent decades, several Latter-day Saint scholars and scientists have offered analysis and comparison to geologic events and the destruction recorded in 3 Nephi 8-9. Jerry Grover makes an important contribution to this literature as he provides background on geologic processes and phenomena, details the geologic features of the Tehuantepec region (Mesoamerica), and applies this information to not only the description of 3 Nephi 8-9, but other incidents in the Book of Mormon likely connected to geologic events. In doing so, Grover yields new insights into the narratives he examines, and adds clarity to geographic details that have been subject to varying interpretations. .
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Contains an adaptation of 3 Nephi 1-14, followed by an overview of the Book of Mormon and its coming forth. The purpose of the book is to be a witness of God’s dealings with man and the messiahship of Christ. Old Testament scriptures are fulfilled by the book and archaeology testifies of its truthfulness. It does not supersede the Bible, but sustains it.
Abstract: The Book of Mormon repeatedly outlines a six-part definition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but most writers within the book refer to only two or three of them at a time in a biblical rhetorical device called merismus. Throughout the scriptures, the term “come unto Christ” in its many forms is used as part of these merisms to represent enduring to the end. This article examines the many abbreviations of the gospel, connects the phrase “come unto Christ” with enduring to the end, and discusses some of the alternate uses of these types of phrases.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Abstract: Although scholarly investigation of the Book of Mormon has increased significantly over the last three decades, only a tiny portion of that effort has been focused on the theological or doctrinal content of this central volume of LDS scripture. This paper identifies three inclusios that promise definitions of the doctrine or gospel of Jesus Christ and proposes a cumulative methodology to explain how these definitions work. This approach reveals a consistently presented, six-part formula defining “the way” by which mankind can qualify for eternal life. In this way the paper provides a starting point for scholarly examinations of the theological content of this increasingly influential religious text. While the names of the six elements featured in Mormon’s gospel will sound familiar to students of the New Testament, the meanings he assigns to these may differ substantially from traditional Christian discourse in ways that make Mormon’s characterization of the gospel or doctrine of Christ unique. The overall pattern suggested is a dialog between man and God, who initially invites all people to trust in Christ and repent. Those who respond by repenting and seeking baptism will be visited by fire and by the Holy Ghost, which initiates a lifelong interaction, leading the convert day by day in preparation for the judgment, at which she may finally be invited to enter the kingdom of God.Editor’s Note: This article was published originally in an international theological journal and is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community with minor revisions, updates, and edits included. See Noel B. Reynolds, “The Gospel according to Mormon,” Scottish Journal of Theology 68:2 (2015), 218-34. doi: 10.1017/S003693061500006X.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
The Book of Mormon is a witness for Christ of great value. Quotes Ezekiel 37:15-20, John 10:16, and discusses Christ’s visit to the Nephites as recorded in 3 Nephi.
Abstract: This study considers the Book of Mormon personal names Josh, Nahom, and Alma as test cases for the Book of Mormon as an historically authentic ancient document.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
Addresses claims against 3 3 Nephi by “a sectarian minister of high standing” that the “Fifth Gospel” only deserved a place among the “apocryphal gospels” because he challenged that it did not add anything to the understanding of Christ. Elder Roberts responds in this article be asserting that 3 Nephi’s relation of the appearance of the risen Christ on the American continent shows that His ministry was not limited to the eastern hemisphere; He also visited the lost tribes of Israel and raised up prophets in the Americas who foretold his appearance.
Continues addressing the claims against 3 Nephi of “a sectarian minister of high standing” by citing Native American tradition and history that offered parallels to the destruction that occurred at the death of the Savior. Roberts specifically cites teachings of the Savior at his appearance in Bountiful and at His Sermon at the Temple.
Continues addressing the claims against 3 Nephi of “a sectarian minister of high standing” by noting distinctions between the Sermon on the Mount in the Old World and the Sermon at the Temple in the New World, specifically between the Savior’s remarks to the twelve and those to the multitude, and pointing out that 3 Nephi specifies the proper mode of baptism and the sacrament.
Concludes addressing the claims against 3 Nephi of “a sectarian minister of high standing” by discussing the Savior’s teachings of John 10:16 on “other sheep” and how that teaching is fulfilled by His ministry to the Nephites and the lost tribes. He states that “the truths of the fifth or Nephite gospel are as precious and important as are those of the other four gospels.”
The Book of Mormon shows that God spoke to the Jews in the Old Testament, the Christians in the New Testament, and the inhabitants of the American continents. A New Jerusalem or Zion is to be built up in the last days. The Book of Mormon declares the divinity of Christ and 3 Nephi is the fifth Gospel that declares that Christ appeared to the people of the New World after his resurrection.
The appearance of the Savior to a group of people in the land Bountiful after his ascension into heaven (3 Nephi) was personal testimony of Christ himself. The people on the American continent were the “other sheep”
Refers to the prophecy of Samuel the Lamanite about Christ’s birth and the prophecy’s subsequent fulfillment (3 Nephi 8-11). The Easter event in the western world was “established by ocular and auditory evidence”
Discusses the close similarities between the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and in 3 Nephi 12-14, and suggests that Joseph Smith used the available language of the New Testament to ease the burden of translating.
This article states that acceptance of the Book of Mormon requires acceptance of modern revelation and Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. The Church received its name from Jesus Christ, as he said in 3 Nephi 27 and D&C 115:3-4.
Acceptance of the Book of Mormon requires acceptance of modern revelation and Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. The Church received its name from Jesus Christ, as he said in 3 Nephi 27 and D&C 115:3-4.
The account of the great destruction at the death of Christ in Third Nephi relates that many cities at the time were destroyed by fire (3 Nephi 8:14; 9:3, 9–11). In an article published in 1998, geologist Bart Kowallis argued that the destructive events, including the burning of cities described there, are consistent with the effects of a significant volcanic event. The volcanic interpretation fits particularly well in a Mesoamerican setting where volcanic events are historically common. Additional support for this interpretation can be found in Mormon’s description of the aftermath of these events. In his abridgement of the subsequent history of the people of Lehi, Mormon states that it was many years before these burned cities were rebuilt and inhabited (4 Nephi 1:6–7).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
This song, written in the key of F Major for a soprano voice, uses the text of 3 Nephi 15:21-24, which states that the Nephites are the other sheep of whom Jesus spoke in John 10:16.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Each year during Christmastime, neighborhoods are illuminated by hundreds of little lights, filling all with a sense of wonder. These decorations awaken within us a sense of joy and hope as we remember the lights—a new star and glorious angels (Matthew 2:2; Luke 2:9–14)—which illuminated the night that first Christmas in Judea some 2000 years ago. But we should not forget the lights that shone upon the Nephites that first Christmas. They also saw the new star (3 Nephi 1:21) as well as an entire night without any darkness (3 Nephi 1:15, 19). For the believing Nephites, that light was lifesaving—because there was no darkness, their lives were spared. Since that night, vast numbers of disciples of Christ have been filled with the Savior’s light. However, the Book of Mormon’s testimony of the birth of Christ does not begin on that night. Samuel the Lamanite prophesied of those signs five years earlier (Helaman 14:2–8), and various Book of Mormon prophets going back to Lehi had spoken in great anticipation of coming birth of Christ. At Book of Mormon Central, we have discussed several of these prophecies in our KnoWhys over the past few years. As a special thank you to our readers, viewers, and friends, we have collected those KnoWhys here, and present them togEther under the heading: Because There Was No Darkness: The Birth of Christ, a Book of Mormon Perspective. May there be no darkness for you this Christmas season, and may the light and life of Christ fill your hearts this Christmas season, and always. Merry Christmas, Book of Mormon Central
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Studies in 3 Nephi: the birth of Christ, Jesus Christ, the son of God, Jesus visits the Nephites, the Sermon on the Mount, other sheep.
Christ’s visit to the American Continent is well supported by histories and native traditions. The author finds that 3 Nephi 4-13 are compatible with many of these histories and traditions.
A photocopied anthology of texts and commentaries on 3 Nephi 1-10, taken from 4 major sources, including volume 7 of Commentary on the Book of Mormon,
RSC Topics > G — K > Heaven
RSC Topics > G — K > Jesus Christ
RSC Topics > G — K > Judgment
RSC Topics > G — K > Justice
RSC Topics > L — P > Ordinances
RSC Topics > Q — S > Salvation
If the Book of Mormon is considered the keystone of our religion, then perhaps Third Nephi could be considered the pinnacle of the Book of Mormon. Third Nephi provides a glimpse into those glorious moments when the Savior ministered to a group of Nephite people who trusted in his prophesied appearance. This collection of essays is compiled from lectures given during a two-day symposium on the book of Third Nephi held at BYU in 2008. The chapters investigate a variety of topics from both academic and doctrinal perspectives. The articles include discussions on what Jesus taught and did, as well as how Third Nephi fits into the larger purposes that are outlined in the Book of Mormon s title page: to show Israel what great things the Lord has done for their fathers that they may know the covenants of the Lord, and to convince both Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ.
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Contains excerpts from sacred texts and scriptures of many of the world’s religions. The editors quote 3 Nephi 21 from the Book of Mormon as a representative scriptural text from Mormonism and state that it represents “the charter for Joseph’s foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the vision which drew the faithful in their drive to create a new society in the American West”
The record translated and published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon was composed by Mormon and other authors in some sequence. Here at last we can read the text in its sequence of composition. The result is an utterly original reading of the Book of Mormon. This reading reveals surprises within the text itself. The biography of Mormon composed over three decades shapes the historical narrative; an original introduction to the earliest (and lost) abridgment is recovered from what is now called 3 Nephi; and a groundbreaking revision of the received tradition regarding the Small and Large Plates of Nephi is brought forward. Additional essays by the editor introduce evidence for an order of composition by Mormon, Moroni, and others. Material is presented that 1 Nephi was added in June 1829, and compiled from additional plates recovered from Cumorah. Other essays give new insights into the role of lineage in the transmission of records, speculate on an alternate history of the “lost leaves” of 1828, and introduce a theory of translation essential for scholarly study of the Book of Mormon. And happily, the text has been freed from the constraints of column and verse, and oriented to the epic and historic genres more appropriate for its wingspan and tragic grandeur, for appreciating the complexity of its composition. [Publisher]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Review of William D. Russell. “A Further Inquiry into the Historicity of the Book of Mormon.” Sunstone, September–October 1982, 20–27.
Enhance your study of the New Testament with help from respected gospel teachers. the New Testament and the Latter-day Saints contains a collection of findings from BYU religion professors and other renowned scholars that is perfect for any student of the New Testament. Whether you use it for personal or family study, lesson or talk preparation, or to help you participate in the ongoing dialogue of world academicians, this is one book your gospel library can\'t do without.Inside you\'ll find:Susan Easton Black on New Testament WomenJoseph Fielding McConkie on Special Witnesses of the Birth of ChristMonte S. Nyman on the Stumbling Blocks of First CorinthiansAnd more!The New Testament contains some of the most personal details of our Savior\'s life on earth, and now you can increase your love for this book of scripture as you gain a deeper appreciation of its cultural setting, historical significance, and doctrinal insights by reading the New Testament and the Latter-day Saints.
Contents (first edition):
Preface
Contributors
1. The New Testament and the Latter-day Saints / John K. Carmack
2. Rhetoric versus Revelation: A Consideration of Acts 17, verses 16 to 34 / Richard P. Anderson
3. The New Testament Women: The Exemplars / Susan Easton-Black, Alan K. Parrish
4. The Doctrine of Justification and the Writings of the Apostle Paul / Edward J. Brandt
5. Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils / Leland H. Gentry
6. The “I Am” Passages in the Gospels and in 3 Nephi / James R. Harris
7. The Beatitudes: Eight Qualities that Savor the Eternal Quest / Clark V. Johnson
8. The Book of Mormon, an Interpretive Guide to the New Testament / Dennis Largey
9. Isaiah as Taught By the New Testament Apostles / Victor L. Ludlow
10. We Have Found the Messiah, Which is the Christ / Robert J. Matthews
11. Special Witnesses of the Birth of Christ / Joseph Fielding McConkie
12. Jesus and Josephus Told of the Descruction of Jerusalem / Keith H. Meservy
13. Jude: A Call to Contend for the Faith / T. John Nielsen II
14. Is Any Sick Among You?: Anointing the Sick with Oil in Early Christian and Latter-day Thology and Practice / Walter A. Norton
15. The Stumbling Blocks of First Corinthians / Monte S. Nyman
16. Interpreting the New Testament / Chauncey C. Riddle
17. The Book of Romans: An Orthodox Description of Faith, Works, and Exaltation / Joseph B. Romney
18. Visions of Christ in the Spirit World and the Dead Redeemed / Catherine Thomas
19. Joseph Smith and the Apocalypse of John / Rodney Turner
20. The Revelation / S. Michael Wilcox
21. Securing Divine Protection: Putting on the Armor of God / Clyde J. Williams
Index
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The Sermon on the Mount in 3 Nephi parallels the accounts in Matthew and Luke, although it is closer to Matthew. The sermon was addressed partly to a general audience and partly to the twelve disciples exclusively, although the crowd heard it. In many cases the account in 3 Nephi clarifies the New Testament accounts; in particular, the Joseph Smith Translation and Book of Mormon explain the Lord’s Prayer.
An analysis of the text of 3 Nephi to Moroni. Third Nephi was written by Nephi, the son of Nephi, the son of Helaman. Fourth Nephi in turn was written by the son of Nephi3, also called Nephi, and Nephi’s son Amos and grandsons Amos and his brother Ammaron. The book of Mormon was principally inscribed by Mormon and Moroni. The book of Ether exposes the terrible end of a people persisting in wickedness. The book of Moroni shows his love for his enemies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The American Gospel, found in 3 Nephi, differs from the Gospels of the New Testament in that Jesus is teaching as a resurrected, glorified, and exalted person. It includes details of the cataclysmic events at the time of the crucifixion and of the multiple appearances of the Savior to the Nephites. Jesus delivers sermons to the Nephites in general and also to the Nephite twelve. He heals the sick and institutes the sacrament. The depiction of prayer is perhaps the most powerful in all scripture. The Savior quotes the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah with regard to the New Jerusalem and the Gentiles. He emphasizes the importance of record keeping for the church, which should be called in his name.
A typescript of six lectures. The author presents a discussion on reformed Egyptian, the books of 2 Nephi, Alma, and 3 Nephi, and the question regarding Isaiah in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Simplifies the complex structure of the Book of Mormon by providing an overall synopsis of the text. He orders the fifteen books of the Book of Mormon into four divisions: (1) the small plates of Nephi, (2) Mormon’s explanatory notes, (3) the literary labors of Mormon, and (4) the literary labors of Moroni; he follows with a literary synopsis of each of the fifteen books. Several types of literature are identified, including “the American Gospel” (3 Nephi 1:4-21; 8-28, Jesus’ Nephite ministry), pastoral, prophetic, and war epistles, one psalm, one lamentation, memoir, prophetic discourse, oratory, patriarchal blessings, symbolic prophecy, prophetic narrative, prophetic dialogue, allegories, prayers, songs, and genealogies. More than fifty percent of the book is “historical narrative” Deals with the problem of biblical texts (Isaiah, the Sermon on the Mount, 1 Corinthians chapters 12 and 13) found in the Book of Mormon. This work is reviewed in N.096.
Abstract: The Book of Mormon sheds light on a “great mystery” located in John 10:16 (D&C 10:64). In this paper, using a comparative method that traces intersecting pastoral imagery, I argue that John 10:16–18 (as opposed to merely John 10:16) not only refers to Jesus’s visit to the Lehites in Bountiful and the lost tribes of Israel (the standard LDS view), but that it has a scripturally warranted covenant-connection to the emergence and dissemination of the Nephite record. Specifically, the Book of Mormon, according to the Good Shepherd (3 Nephi 15:12–16:20), effectively serves as his recognizable voice to the inhabitants of the earth across time and space. The Nephite record has come forth so that the Lord’s sheep (those who hear his voice in and through that record in the final dispensation) may be safely gathered into the fold before he comes in glory to reign as a second King David. The Nephite record’s coming forth to eventually establish peace on earth was foretold by prophets such as Isaiah (Isaiah 52:7–10), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:23–25; 37:15–26), and Nephi (1 Nephi 13:34–37, 40–14:2; 1 Nephi 22:16–28). The value of this comparative approach is to recast our understanding of various passages of scripture, even as additional value is assigned to the Nephite record as the covenant of peace.
“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Abstract: Some students of the Book of Mormon have felt that while the coming of the Lord to the Lehites was clearly revealed to and taught by Nephi1, those prophecies having to do with the subject may not have been widely circulated or continuously preserved among the Nephites, while others have argued for continuity of knowledge about Nephi1’s prophecies among writers and their contemporary audiences. Reexamination of the Book of Mormon in light of these issues reveals that the teaching that Christ would appear among the Lehites was actually taught with some consistency by Alma2 and was, it would seem, common knowledge among the Nephites. It appears that the predicted coming was well established, even if the nature of it was not. Specifically, I argue that Alma2 often taught of the coming of Christ to the Lehites but in context with other events such as Jesus’s coming to the Jews and to others not of the known fold. To make this case, I concentrate on Alma2’s writings, especially those in Alma 5 (borrowing liberally also from Alma 7, 13, 16, 39, Helaman 16:4–5, 13–14, and 3 Nephi 8–10). Alma 5 houses many prophetic statements that urgently point to the coming of the Lord to the Nephite church. The value of this approach is to attempt to demonstrate that Alma 5 contains more than has been supposed and, in effect, challenges claims for discontinuity in the middle portion of the Nephite record. This approach should tend to renew our interest in the other nuanced teachings of the prophet Alma2 and others. Yea, thus sayeth the Spirit: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in his glory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion. Yea, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, that the [Page 108]Spirit sayeth: Behold the glory of the King of all the earth; and also the King of heaven shall very soon shine forth among all the children of men. (Alma 5:50)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Review of The Book of Mormon: Helaman through 3 Nephi 8, According to Thy Word (1992), edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Many interpretations exist about who the “suffering servant” in many of Isaiah’s writings might be. Interpretations for this figure include Isaiah himself, the people of Israel, Joseph Smith, and Jesus Christ. Without arguing against these understandings of the servant, this paper claims that Christ, in 3 Nephi 20–23, personifies the servant as the Book of Mormon. Both the servant and the Book of Mormon are portrayed as filling the same “great and marvelous” works in the gathering of Israel, reminding the Jews of their covenants with God, and bringing the Gentiles to Christ.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
The 39th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium Christians around the world look to the Sermon on the Mount for encouragement and guidance in developing the attitudes and behavior the Lord admonished us to have. The 2010 Sperry Symposium focuses on the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, Luke, and 3 Nephi. It will discuss in depth specific passages and textual variations in the different accounts of the Sermon, as well as the social and cultural context of the Sermon. Chapters will review the contributions that the Joseph Smith Translation makes to our understanding, as well as the use of the Sermon in later biblical and Book of Mormon teachings. Contributors include Richard D. Draper, Matthew J. Grey, Daniel K Judd, Jennifer C. Lane, Eric-John K. Marlowe, Robert L. Millet, Thomas A. Wayment, and John W. Welch. ISBN 978-1-60641-823-9
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
This article is an announcement regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon in Greek. It includes an extract in Greek of 3 Nephi 11 and extols the beauty and value of the Greek language.
The world of the Nephite nation was born out of the world of seventh century bc Jerusalem. The traditions and tragedies of the nation of Judah set the stage for what would happen over the next ten centuries of Book of Mormon history. In his opening statements, Nephi tells of an explosion of divinely commissioned ministers preaching in the holy city. He declares that Jerusalem was a place of “many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent” (1 Nephi 1:4). Nephi alludes to the prophetic service of Jeremiah (c. bc 626-587), Zephaniah (c. bc 640-609, Obadiah (c. bc 587), Nahum2 Habakkuk, Urijah, and possibly many others. This disproportionate number of prophets in the city was accompanied by an increasing wave of imitators. Amidst this apparent competition between valid and invalid prophetic representatives, Jeremiah sets a standard of who can be trusted in this visionary arena. As Stephen Smoot has written, “The Book of Mormon exhibits, in many respects, an intimate familiarity with ancient Israelite religious concepts. One such example is the Book of Mormon’s portrayal of the divine council. Following a lucid biblical pattern, the Book of Mormon provides a depiction of the divine council and several examples of those who were introduced into the heavenly assembly and made partakers in divine secrets.” It is this rich heritage of prophetic representatives of deity that so richly influenced Book of Mormon authors. Of these many prophets who were actively preaching in Jerusalem, Jeremiah stands out in Nephi’s writings (1 Nephi 5:13; 7:14). Jeremiah continues to be an influence on Nephite culture throughout their history (Helaman 8:20; cf. 3 Nephi 19:4). It will be Jeremiah’s writings that will influence the Nephite perspective on “Call Narratives” and views of the “Divine Council” throughout the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
This study explores the influence of the King James Bible (KJV) on the Book of Mormon (BM) by examining how the BM appropriates and adapts the text of the J source of the Pentateuch-a narrative strand from Genesis to Deuteronomy-and weaves phrases, ideas, motifs, and characters into the text. I identify the full range of influence of the J source of the Pentateuch on the text of the BM in Part II, and then analyze the use of Gen. 2-4 in its own literary context, in ancient sources, and finally in the BM. Through close reading and analysis the study highlights the gaps between the meaning of Gen. 2-4 in its own literary context and the way that the BM interprets its themes and overall message. The BM employs a thoroughly 19th century American- Christian worldview in both its use of the J source and its interpretation of that important text. This study has important implications for BM studies broadly and for historical-critical studies of the BM in particular. Moving forward, BM studies will need to grapple with the heavy influence that the KJV had on the composition of the BM. Past studies have identified limited influence of the KJV on the text for several reasons, but whatever the reasons it is clear that there are specific ways to move the field forward. Studies have focused on the block quotations of Isaiah in the BM, and some have explored the use of Sermon on the Mount in 3 Nephi and other portions of the text. Unfortunately, there are very few studies that have attempted to broaden the scope and look at the influen ce of a larger section of the KJV and its more subtle uses throughout the entire BM It is my hope that this study can be a stepping-stone of sorts for future work. I have looked specifically at how the BM uses parts of Genesis through Deuteronomy, but this leaves the door open to exploring the influence of any and all of the other parts of the KJV and their influence on the text of the BM.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Moses Topics > Literary and Textual Studies of the Book of Moses
Despite its significance as the final book of the Christian Old Testament, the New Testament shows no explicit knowledge of the book of Malachi. In the case of the Book of Mormon this is true up until 3 Nephi 24 with the formal citation of Malachi by Jesus when he visits the Nephites at the temple in Bountiful. The fact that the Book of Mormon shows no direct knowledge of the text of Malachi until 3 Nephi 24 is intriguing because there are many quotations, allusions, and echoes throughout the text prior to this part of the book. This is interesting for many reasons. First, with this in mind, students of the Book of Mormon can study those places in the text where Malachi is used and analyze them through source-critical means to answer the following questions: (1) How does the Book of Mormon utilize a text from the Bible, in this case the book of Malachi? (2) How is the text similar and how is it different? (3) Are there any significant differences between the two? Second, the use of Malachi in the Book of Mormon is dependent solely on the King James Version of the Bible, which will be demonstrated below. This has implications for understanding how the Book of Mormon came to be written. Third, the sections where the Book of Mormon uses the text of Malachi can substantially help us obtain a better grasp of the composition date of those sections in the Book of Mormon. They provide evidence against a “tight control” translation theory, which has been offered by a number of scholars on the translation process of the Book of Mormon. [by author]
Book of Mormon warfare is a type for spiritual warfare. The 3 Nephi story of Lachoneus as an illustration of this principle.
The phrase “come unto Christ” (or similar phraseology) is found 43 times in the Book of Mormon. This phrase “describes a covenant relationship,” a spiritual covenant made before baptism (see Mosiah 18:10; 21:32-33). “To become as a little child” (3 Nephi 9:22) is synonymous with coming unto Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
To the nonbeliever, the wide variety of destructive forces unleashed in the New World at the time of Christ’s crucifixion seems preposterous or, at the very least, unscientific. The account in 3 Nephi 8–9 mentions the simultaneous occurrence of earthquake, fire, strong winds, extensive flooding, the complete burial of cities, and thick darkness. An examination of known great natural disasters in historical times reveals that the Book of Mormon in no way exaggerates. All of the destructive forces mentioned in 3 Nephi 8–9 can be readily explained in terms of the tectonic forces that result from the encounter of the plates on which the continents and the oceans lie. The complex variety of destructive forces that we normally consider to be separate phenomena of nature is, in reality, strong evidence for the historicity of the Book of Mormon account.
Abstract: Many people still believe that Jesus Christ was born on 25 December, either in 1 bc or ad 1. The December date is certainly incorrect and the year is unlikely.Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given. (3 Nephi 1:13–14).
In the heading before chapter 1 of 1 Nephi, we find Nephi’s outline of his record. It begins, “An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons,” and ends, “This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.” Sometimes these signposts appear before a section to tell us what is to come. Other times, they appear at the end to explain, recap, or mark the end of what has been said. For lack of a better word, I call them colophons, though technically colophons are notes or guidelines after a text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
A study guide for reading 3 Nephi with suggested teaching and discussion topics for teachers.
The editor decries Mormonism in general and introduces a “sketch . . . prepared by a gentleman attached to the United States Army, who was stationed sometime in the Salt Lake Valley” that summarizes the contents of the Book of Mormon. He comments that the sayings of Jesus in 3 Nephi are merely altered copies of New Testament scripture, and the whole Book of Mormon is explained by Solomon Spaulding’s Manuscript Found that Sidney Rigdon furnished to Joseph Smith.
Even among those of us who are convinced of the divinity of the Book of Mormon’s source and the primacy of its message, there is a tendency to find “the most perfect book ever written” prolix. However, when compared with the King James Version of the Bible the Book of Mormon offers some very important additions. Take, for example, the Book of Mormon Beatitudes—3 Nephi 12:3–11, which parallels Matthew 5:3–11. Though the ands and alls and yea and again of the Nephi version are clearly superfluous, at least a third of the eighteen percent additional words used by Nephi enrich the passage; they are no more redundant than the “and thirst” in “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” while using more words than the original, makes it clear that the Sermon was directed to those who had come unto the Savior in the waters of baptism. And verse 6—”Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled”—is made specific with the addition of “with the Holy Ghost.” Verse 10’s alteration of “righteousness’ sake” to “my name’s sake” serves a similar focusing function, distinguishing between suffering for any good cause and enduring persecution specifically for devotion to Christ.
This paper explores several relationships between the texts in Moroni 2–6 and the words and deeds of Jesus in 3 Nephi 18. The opening chapters of Moroni contain the words that Jesus Christ spoke to the twelve when he ordained them to the high priesthood, the words used by the Nephites in administering the sacrament, and also a few words by Moroni about baptism, church membership, congregational worship, and ecclesiastical discipline. This study demonstrates that these instructions and procedures were rooted in the words and deeds of the resurrected Jesus in 3 Nephi 18 as he administered the sacrament, gave instructions to his disciples, and conferred upon the twelve the power to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost. Thus, one can appreciate the extent to which Nephite ecclesiastical procedures were based directly on the Savior’s instructions and ministry. Those practices, essential to the restored gospel, came from that divine source.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Third Nephi and its account of the ministry of the resurrected Jesus to the Nephites has long been seen as the pinnacle of the Book of Mormon. This text can also be viewed as the Holy of Holies of the Book of Mormon. Everything in 3 Nephi, especially the ministry of the Savior, echoes themes related to the temple and the presence of the Lord in the Holy of Holies. Themes such as silence, timelessness, unity, awe, and consecration confirm this interpretation.
Jesus quoted key phrases, often in inverted order, from the Sermon on the Mount (3 Nephi 12-14) in subsequent Book of Mormon chapters (3 Nephi 15-28), thus demonstrating that the sermon was accepted as an authoritative text establishing and defning Jesus’s kingdom on earth. Although rarely considered in this light, Peter, James, Paul, and the gospel writers quoted from all parts of the Sermon on the Mount, similarly substantiating the authoritative functions of the sermon as a foundational text in early Chrsitiantiy. Literary analysis supports the ideas that these quotations were intentional, that an awareness of the sermon was widespread in the earliest decades of Christinaity, and that audiences to which Jesus and his apostles spoke were fmailiar with teachings and commandments found in the SErmon on the Mount.
Understanding the Sermon on the Mount (meaning both texts in their shared, collective meaning) as a temple text reveals that it has far more power and unity than a mere collection of miscellaneous sayings of Jesus. John W. Welch examines the teachings and commandments of the Sermon on the Mount in its Book of Mormon setting—at the Nephite temple, in connection with sacred ordinances of covenant making. This context opens new insights into the meaning and significance of the Sermon whereby readers never again see the Sermon the same.
Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple & Sermon on the Mount adapts and expands Welch’s earlier work to offer a thorough Latter-day Saint interpretation of the Savior’s greatest sermon, drawing on insights from Jesus’s Sermon at the Temple in 3 Nephi to shed light on his Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. This edition includes substantial additions based on insights gleaned throughout a decade of continuing research.
A thorough LDS interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and analysis of the words of Jesus at the temple in Bountiful in 3 Nephi 11-18. The Book of Mormon provides keys to unlock the mystery of the Sermon on the Mount. 3 Nephi is a covenantal temple text, giving instructions and commandments relevant to covenant making. A table compares the texts of Matthew 5-7, 3 Nephi 12-14, and the Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew 5-7.
When Christ was with the Nephites, the Savior felt it was important to take the time to call children around him, bless each of them one by one, and pray to the Father for them. Christ’s actions provide an example of loving, blessing, and instructing children. We must not overlook the children among us. The children that the Savior blessed were to become the second generation of the Zion people that he was forming; as such, their preparation was vital.
Analyzing the Sermon on the Mount, this author compares the account in 3 Nephi with three translations of the Bible. He defines of key words, gives scriptural and personal examples of the concept, explores the state of happiness that is promised in each of the beatitudes, and discusses the required acts and thoughts of achieving such a state.
The events of 3 Nephi and 4 Nephi may foreshadow the events of the final days as witnesses of Christ are killed, are raised from the dead, and continue to instill fear in the hearts of the wicked.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Abstract: The most likely etymology for the name Zoram is a third person singular perfect qal or pôʿal form of the Semitic/Hebrew verb *zrm, with the meaning, “He [God] has [is] poured forth in floods.” However, the name could also have been heard and interpreted as a theophoric –rām name, of which there are many in the biblical Hebrew onomasticon (Ram, Abram, Abiram, Joram/Jehoram, Malchiram, etc., cf. Hiram [Hyrum]/Huram). So analyzed, Zoram would connote something like “the one who is high,” “the one who is exalted” or even “the person of the Exalted One [or high place].” This has important implications for the pejoration of the name Zoram and its gentilic derivative Zoramites in Alma’s and Mormon’s account of the Zoramite apostasy and the attempts made to rectify it in Alma 31–35 (cf. Alma 38–39). The Rameumptom is also described as a high “stand” or “a place for standing, high above the head” (Heb. rām; Alma 31:13) — not unlike the “great and spacious building” (which “stood as it were in the air, high above the earth”; see 1 Nephi 8:26) — which suggests a double wordplay on the name “Zoram” in terms of rām and Rameumptom in Alma 31. Moreover, Alma plays on the idea of Zoramites as those being “high” or “lifted up” when counseling his son Shiblon to avoid being like the Zoramites and replicating the mistakes of his brother Corianton (Alma 38:3-5, 11-14). Mormon, perhaps influenced by the Zoramite apostasy and the magnitude of its effects, may have incorporated further pejorative wordplay on the Zoram-derived names Cezoram and Seezoram in order to emphasize that the Nephites had become lifted up in pride like the Zoramites during the judgeships of those judges. The Zoramites and their apostasy represent a type of Latter-day Gentile pride and apostasy, which Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni took great pains to warn against.
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The prophecies in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 are third-generation members of the same family of texts derived from Isaiah 11:11–12 and Isaiah 29:4, all of which ultimately rely on yāsap (yôsîp or yôsip) idioms to describe the gathering of Israel and the concomitant coming forth of additional scripture. Mormon, following Nephi, apparently engages in a specific kind of wordplay on the name Joseph in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 that ultimately harks back to the divine promises made to Joseph in Egypt (2 Nephi 25:21; see also especially 2 Nephi 3:4–16, Genesis 50:24–34 JST) and to his descendants. This wordplay looks forward to the name and role of the prophetic translator through whom additional scripture “[would] be brought again” and “[would] come again” in the last days.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
The first section of this work focuses on “the political theory of the Book of Mormon” Several political aspects are treated, including the founding of the Nephite republic (Mosiah 29:10-29), the welfare of the state (Alma 4:11-12, 15-20), and the ideal Christian society (4 Nephi 1-3, 16-17).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the seventh installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope you find it helpful.]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Writing
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
When we think of the doctrine of Zion as taught in the Book of Mormon, our minds often turn to 4 Nephi. The book describes in a few verses a society organized around the principles taught by the Savior to a righteous remnant of Nephites and Lamanites at the temple in Bountiful. Some important characteristics of this community of Christians were faith, family, hope, peace, security, and happiness. Indeed, Mormon powerfully asserts that “there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God”. Imagine that! They were happier than the citizens of the city of Enoch, happier than Mechizedek’s city of Salem. This Book of Mormon Zion had been foretold from the time Lehi and his family left Jerusalem. In preparation for that great day, crucial principles about Zion were regularly taught by prophets like King Benjamin and Alma the Elder. But the Book of Mormon was written for our day to assist us in preparing for the building of our Zion. And so the Book of Mormon calls us to come unto Christ and take upon His name by building Zion, which is founded on the principles of equality, unity, covenants, and priesthood organization.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
RSC Topics > L — P > Peace
RSC Topics > L — P > Priesthood
RSC Topics > T — Z > Unity
RSC Topics > T — Z > Zion
Analyzes the physical being, the intellectual being, and the emotional being in relation to the Nephites in the Book of Mormon. Several Book of Mormon scriptures describe the character of the people, including Alma 7:10-11, 4 Nephi 1:3, and 4 Nephi 1:15.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Also called “Prayer; Peace; Prosperity.“
A continuation of the previous lecture on 4 Nephi.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 4 Nephi
Also called “Understanding the Sermon at the Temple; Zion Society.“
It seems that there are wide-ranging implications for our lives and for our understanding of the Book of Mormon, other scripture, the temple, and a lot of other things as a result of our understanding of the Sermon at the Temple.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 3 Nephi
Also called “Zion Society.“
Every book in the Book of Mormon is the most marvelous in the world, but this is really something. They’re all like this, but this is a particularly important book. Of course, I’m referring to that miraculous work, 4 Nephi.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 4 Nephi
Also called “Church Growth and Decline; Mormon Leads the Nephites.“
We’re following the sad declension by which the earthly paradise in 4 Nephi declined into the type of living hell which we find in many part of the world today. this is one of the most valuable texts we have in the world. There’s nothing like it. It shows us step by step exactly how it happens.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 4 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mormon
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
4 Nephi narrates four generations of peace, a time when there could not have been a happier people (4 Nephi 1:16). It also foreshadows the later destruction of the Nephites following their gradual rejection of the gospel.
One way that those who love God and others demonstrate their love and “at-one-ment” (the state of being one) and thereby qualify for blessings, is by imparting of their substance to the poor. When a people become of one heart and mind, there are no poor among them. The Book of Mormon describes two stages of at-one-ment that lead to a general economic equality: Complete at-one-ment (perfect observation of the laws resulting in no contentions or disputations with “all things common among them” 4 Nephi 1:3), and at-one-ment as evidenced by equality before the law (the ability to form and be governed by equitable and just laws wherein all status and social discrimination is eliminated). The love of riches and status increases divisions and separations among the people and brings poverty and iniquity.
The account of the great destruction at the death of Christ in Third Nephi relates that many cities at the time were destroyed by fire (3 Nephi 8:14; 9:3, 9–11). In an article published in 1998, geologist Bart Kowallis argued that the destructive events, including the burning of cities described there, are consistent with the effects of a significant volcanic event. The volcanic interpretation fits particularly well in a Mesoamerican setting where volcanic events are historically common. Additional support for this interpretation can be found in Mormon’s description of the aftermath of these events. In his abridgement of the subsequent history of the people of Lehi, Mormon states that it was many years before these burned cities were rebuilt and inhabited (4 Nephi 1:6–7).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
An analysis of the text of 3 Nephi to Moroni. Third Nephi was written by Nephi, the son of Nephi, the son of Helaman. Fourth Nephi in turn was written by the son of Nephi3, also called Nephi, and Nephi’s son Amos and grandsons Amos and his brother Ammaron. The book of Mormon was principally inscribed by Mormon and Moroni. The book of Ether exposes the terrible end of a people persisting in wickedness. The book of Moroni shows his love for his enemies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The Ninth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU As the final installment in the book of Mormon Symposium series, this volume examines the last four books of the Nephite record: 4 Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni. Perhaps more than any other part in the Book of Mormon, this section powerfully portrays the cycle through which the ancient inhabitants of America passed many times—the cycle that took them from righteousness to wickedness, from Zion to destruction. Twenty-five contributors here explore the details of this tragic cycle—as it occurred in both the Nephite and the Jaredite civilizations—and also discuss many related doctrinal and historical issues. Realizing the Book of Mormon’s relevance to our day, the writers further take the opportunity to point out the many modern applications. ISBN 0-8849-4974-5
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
“As the final installment in the book of Mormon Symposium series, this volume examines the last four books of the Nephite record : 4 Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni. Perhaps more than any other part in the Book of Mormon, this section powerfully portrays the cycle through which the ancient inhabitants of America passed many times-the cycle that took them from righteousness to wickedness, from Zion to destruction. Twenty-five contributors here explore the details of this tragic cycle-as it occurred in both the Nephite and the Jaredite civilizations-and also discuss many related doctrinal and historical issues. Realizing the Book of Mormon’s relevance to our day, the writers further take the opportunity to point out the many modern applications.” [Publisher]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In the heading before chapter 1 of 1 Nephi, we find Nephi’s outline of his record. It begins, “An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons,” and ends, “This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.” Sometimes these signposts appear before a section to tell us what is to come. Other times, they appear at the end to explain, recap, or mark the end of what has been said. For lack of a better word, I call them colophons, though technically colophons are notes or guidelines after a text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
A meditation on the “two ways” theme, which contrasts fruits leading to happiness or misery. Includes a chapter on “the Nephites’ rejection of the good” Discusses scriptural warnings and extols the Zion society described in 4 Nephi.
The events of 3 Nephi and 4 Nephi may foreshadow the events of the final days as witnesses of Christ are killed, are raised from the dead, and continue to instill fear in the hearts of the wicked.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Mormon
Review of The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni (2000), by Jerry L. Ainsworth
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article is a biographical sketch of Mormon, who served as prophet, editor, soldier, and author.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > G — K > Grace
RSC Topics > G — K > Hope
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In this two-part series, the author writes concerning the conditions of the people and era when Mormon grew up and the manner in which Mormon’s family influenced him for good. The first part discusses Ammaron’s influence on Mormon, and Mormon as a record keeper.
In this two-part series, the author writes concerning the conditions of the people and era when Mormon grew up and the manner in which Mormon’s family influenced him for good. The second part discusses Mormon as a teacher and warrior.
Also called “Church Growth and Decline; Mormon Leads the Nephites.“
We’re following the sad declension by which the earthly paradise in 4 Nephi declined into the type of living hell which we find in many part of the world today. this is one of the most valuable texts we have in the world. There’s nothing like it. It shows us step by step exactly how it happens.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > 4 Nephi
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mormon
Nephi and Mormon both treat the covenant of the promised land, expounding on characteristics of prospering in the land: obeying God’s law, practicing domesticated economies, preserving sacred records, bearing and raising children, securing adequate defense, constructively using natural materials, worshipping at temples, requiring industriousness, and providing righteous leadership.
There were four families who were charged with the care of the plates that contained the records of the Nephites. Jacob’s family, King Benjamin’s family, Alma and his family, and Mormon and his son Moroni. The author provides a dated list of the historians.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Moroni’s years of wandering alone after the battle of Cumorah have been often discussed, but not in the context of how they impacted his writing and editorial work. John Bytheway’s latest offering provides us insight into the man Moroni and how his isolation impacted the material that he left for his latter-day readers.
Review of John Bytheway, Moroni’s Guide to Surviving Turbulent Times. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017). 159 pp., $11.99.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The claim that a personal letter in the Book of Mormon mimics a form indicative of modern rather than ancient composition is critiqued. The majority of letters in the Book of Mormon follow the ancient Hittite-Syrian, Neo-Assyrian, Amarna, and Hebrew epistolary format in which the correspondent of superior rank is always listed first. Other clues to ancient composition are noted.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
How Mormon compiled Nephite records into the book that bears his name has never been carefully studied. This paper makes an attempt to understand that process as it details the limitations Mormon faced and the sources he would have used. Mormon’s framework depended primarily on the larger plates of Nephi, but this paper demonstrates that Mormon appears to have supplemented those plates with other sources from the Nephite archive of records. The restrictions of the plates of Nephi and the nature of the additional sources are discussed and evaluated.
Review of John L. Sorenson. Mormon's Map.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Ether
This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles that look at doctrines in the Book of Mormon, including resurrection, the allegory of the olive tree, and the appearance of Jesus Christ to the brother of Jared. Contents “The Doctrine of the Resurrection as Taught in the Book of Mormon” Robert J. Matthews “Explicating the Mystery of the Rejected Foundation Stone: The Allegory of the Olive Tree” Paul Y. Hoskisson “The Gospel of Jesus Christ as Taught by the Nephite Prophets” Noel B. Reynolds “‘Never Have I Showed Myself unto Man’: A Suggestion for Understanding Ether 3:15a” Kent P. Jackson Personal Essay: “Watermelons, Alma 32, and the Experimental Method” Joseph Thomas Hepworth Review of The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5 Reviewed by David B. Honey
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This ebook contains three articles from a conference on Enoch and the temple that was cosponsored by BYU Studies in February 2013 at Utah State University and BYU. George Nickelsburg, an eminent biblical scholar, identifies much temple content in the book of 1 Enoch: Enoch’s commissioning and ascension into the heavenly sanctuary. David Larsen discusses ancient sources regarding a community ascending to heaven as a group. Jeffrey M. Bradshaw shows what ties together the stories about Adam, Eve, Enoch, and Noah in the Book of Moses. The answer, unexpectedly, has to do again with temple motifs, all of which culminate with Enoch in Moses 6–7. The original video presentations of these articles are also included. Finally, this ebook contains an article by Stephen D. Ricks discussing the prophetic commission of Enoch, which is a striking example of a “narrative” type of call (see Moses 6:23–36). This study considers the elements of the narrative call pattern; those elements of this form found in the prophetic commission of Enoch are examined and compared with the biblical narrative call passages. Contents “The Temple According to 1 Enoch” George W. E. Nickelsburg “Enoch and the City of Zion: Can an Entire Community Ascend to Heaven?” David J. Larsen “The LDS Story of Enoch as the Culminating Episode of a Temple Text” Jeffrey M. Bradshaw “The Narrative Call Pattern in the Prophetic Commission of Enoch (Moses 6)” Stephen D. Ricks Video Presentations from the conference “Enoch and the Temple”
This compilation of articles exploring topics related to early Christianity is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles on the Apocalypse of Peter, the Apocalypse of Adam, the Gospel of Judas, the development of the doctrines of God and creation, early Christian prayer circles, Masada fragments and the Qumran scrolls, and much more. Contents “Rediscovering Ancient Christianity” C. Wilfred Griggs “The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Mormon Perspective” S. Kent Brown “The Apocalypse of Peter: Introduction and Translation” S. Kent Brown and C. Wilfred Griggs “The Apocalypse of Adam” Stephen E. Robinson “The ‘Hymn of the Pearl’: An Ancient Counterpart to ‘O My Father’” John W. Welch and James V. Garrison “A Latter-day Saint Colloquium on the Gospel of Judas: A Note from the Editor” “A Latter-day Saint Colloquium on the Gospel of Judas: Media and Message” Richard N. Holzapfel “The Manuscript of the Gospel of Judas” S. Kent Brown “The ‘Unhistorical’ Gospel of Judas” Thomas A. Wayment “The Gnostic Context of the Gospel of Judas” Gaye Strathearn “Judas in the New Testament, the Restoration, and the Gospel of Judas” Frank F. Judd Jr. “The Apocryphal Judas Revisited” John W. Welch “The Expanding Gospel” Hugh W. Nibley “Ex Nihilo: The Development of the Doctrines of God and Creation in Early Christianity” Keith E. Norman “Clothed Upon: A Unique Aspect of Christian Antiquity” Blake T. Ostler “The Early Christian Prayer Circle” Hugh Nibley “The Masada Fragments, the Qumran Scrolls, and the New Testament” David Rolph Seely “The Noncanonical Sayings of Jesus” Stephen E. Robinson “Understanding Christian Baptism through the Book of Mormon” Noel B. Reynolds “‘With the Voice Together Shall They Sing’” Laurence P. Hemming “The Passing of the Church: Forty Variations on an Unpopular Theme” Hugh Nibley
A diagram displays the significant languages into which the book has been translated, together with their dates of publication.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The Bulgarian National Museum of History in Sofia, Bulgaria, recently placed on public display an ancient book comprising six pages of 23.82-karat gold (measuring 5 centimeters in length and 4.5 centimeters in width) bound together by gold rings. The plates contain a text written in Etruscan characters and also depict a horse, a horseman, a Siren, a lyre, and soldiers. According to Elka Penkova, who heads the museum’s archaeology department, the find may be the oldest complete book in the world, dating to about 600 B.C.
Dead Sea Scrolls Reader, edited by Donald W. Parry and Emanuel Tov, presents all of the nonbiblical Qumran texts along with English translations. Published by Brill Academic Publishers of the Netherlands, this six-part edition of the nonbiblical scroll fragments is an outgrowth of the FARMS Dead Sea Scrolls database. Parts 1 (religious law), 2 (exegetical texts), and 4 (calendrical and sapiental texts) are available now; parts 3 (parabiblical texts), 5 (poetic and liturgical texts), and 6 (additional genres and unclassified texts) will be available in spring 2004.
Historian Richard L. Bush-man, responding to accusations that the Book of Mormon contains “evidence of nineteenth-century American political culture,” concluded that in fact “most of the principles tradition-ally associated with the American Constitution are slighted or disregarded altogether” in the book. “So many of the powerful intellectual influences operating on Joseph Smith failed to touch the Book of Mormon.”
Brigham Young University’s Herculaneum papyri project continues to gain support among American and European scholars. The project’s director, Roger T. Macfarlane, an associate professor of classics at BYU, was invited to serve on the organizing board of the nascent Herculaneum Society, which was inaugurated in Oxford, England, on 3 July 2004. The society promotes inter-national attention on scholarship and fund-raising related to the ancient town of Herculaneum and its Villa of the Papyri. Together with David Arm-strong, a classics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Macfarlane will direct the North American division of the Herculaneum Society. “There is no secret,” he says, “that the society is eager to capitalize on our project’s success.”
One of the most enduring archaeological hoaxes, the Michigan relics, a series of copper, slate, and clay forgeries, were “discovered” throughout counties in Michigan from the late 19th century until 1920. James Scotford and Daniel Soper apparently worked together to create and sell the forgeries. Scholars and archaeologists were skeptical from the outset, but interest in the objects persisted. In 1911 James E. Talmage studied the relics, recognizing the impact they could have on the perception of the Book of Mormon if they were genuine. In a detailed report, Talmage dismissed them as blatant forgeries.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The Maxwell Institute and the Harold B. Lee Library have announced that a new electronic database, “Book of Mormon Publications, 1829–1844,” will soon be available to researchers and others interested in Mormon history. “We are excited about this collection,” notes M. Gerald Bradford, executive director of the Maxwell Institute, “because it brings together for the first time everything published about the Book of Mormon during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. Books, pamphlets, and articles from newspapers and periodicals are all included. This represents a major step forward for Mormon studies.”
An Approach to the Book of Abraham, volume 18 in the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, is now avail able. This volume contains Nibley’s early work on the Book of Abraham and the Joseph Smith Papyri and is his closest look at Facsimile 1 of the Book of Abraham. In chapter 5, Nibley is at his best as he has Mr. Jones, the curator, conduct Dick and Jane through an imaginary museum in which the most important lioncouch scenes have all been gathered together in a single hall. Mr. Jones possesses a hand book that tells him all. In a conversational manner, he discusses the various figures of Facsimile 1, calling upon the best Egyptological knowledge of the time to explain their importance and setting.
The birthplace and spiritual heart of Christian monasticism is the Nitrian Desert of Egypt and the long, shallow valley of Scetis (Wadi el-Natrun). It was to here, from the fourth century onwards, that Macarius the Great and other of the sainted desert fathers retreated from the world, devoting their lives to worship and prayer. While some monks chose to live in isolation as hermits, many others banded together to establish the first monasteries, building churches for worship and libraries for study.
Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible: Electronic Library brings together a wealth of information and recent scholarship on Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible. The electronic library, produced by the Religious Studies Center and the Maxwell Institute, also includes high-resolution images of every page of the original manuscripts, images and transcriptions of the earliest copies made from those manuscripts, and a collection of recently published studies based on the manuscripts. A short introductory essay precedes each manuscript. This collection also includes the entire 851-page book Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts, edited by Scott H. Faulring, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews.
On 13 November John F. Hall, professor of classical languages and ancient history at Brigham Young University, spoke about his new book, New Testament Witnesses of Christ: Peter, John, James, and Paul. The book draws on early Christian writings to show that the “four pillars” of early Christianity—Peter, John, James (the brother of Jesus), and Paul—consistently testified of the life and mission of Jesus Christ. The book is important, Hall believes, because many professing Christians, even many ministers, do not accept Christ as the literal Son of God even though the scriptures and the writings of the early church fathers are clear on the matter. In his book Hall also deals with issues of scholarly debate, such as whether the Gospel of John was the last biblical book written and whether tradition has judged Peter too harshly as a man of little faith and learning, that are illuminated by the Greek text and by an understanding of Greek culture. Hall’s book is divided into sections that review the backgrounds of the four pillars, apostolic authority, the Jewish world, and the Greek and Roman world.
One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims and that all Muslims are Arabs. In fact, many of the major Islamic countries in the world (e.g., Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and the most populous of them all, Indonesia) are not Arab, and large minorities in some Arab countries are not Muslim. Christianity is a Near Eastern religion, not a European one, and it has been in the Near East since its origin. (An Egyptian Christian friend once complained to me about how tired he had become of Americans and Europeans asking him whether his family had been converted by the Germans, the French, or the British. His ancestors, he pointed out, had been converted by Mark, the writer of the Second Gospel, in the first century ad. My own forebears, in Scandinavia, didn’t accept Christianity until roughly a millennium later.)
We have all felt the excitement that comes from seeing a great scholar at work, whether in the classroom or the archives. No less palpable is the thrill of a personal encounter with the past through direct contact with ancient texts or artifacts. Most of us can trace our fascination with the ancient world back to just such a personal encounter. One of our roles at the Maxwell Institute is to help inspire the next generation of young scholars. We do this by providing opportunities for BYU students to work directly with Institute scholars on new research, and thus to help them have their own encounters with the ancient world.
The Book of Mormon culture is found to be strikingly similar to that of the Middle East. An Arab Latter-day Saint tells his experience with the Book of Mormon and how he is able to relate to the stories within its pages because of his cultural origins. Among the congruities discussed are the structure of the family, the concept of taking oaths, the behavior of women, and the danger of the desert. Together, these points demonstrate the worth of the Book of Mormon and show how each reader is able to draw from his or her own cultural background in order to infer different messages.
This volume is a compilation of inspirational stories shared by Latter-day Saints who served on the front lines in several recent military conflicts. These stories detail their trials, challenges, setbacks, faith, courage, and numerous victories in overcoming extraordinary circumstances. This book is filled with remarkable first-person accounts from Latter-day Saint soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and civilians who served in the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War. Their amazing stories—published together for the first time—chronicle the sacrifice, dedication, and humor of day-to-day life in modern combat zones. This book also shares the story of how fully functioning districts of the Church were organized and operated in the war-torn countries of Afghanistan and Iraq to meet the spiritual needs of the Church members there. Richly illustrated with photographs from the participants, this book will introduce you to a new generation of Latter-day Saint heroes. ISBN 978-1-9443-9487-5
A Masters of Arts thesis that presents the process of producing the paintings of “Coriantumr resting upon his sword before slaying Shiz” (Ether 15:30), “An angel of the Lord appearing before Laman and Lemuel” (1 Nephi 3:28), “The Vision of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah” (Mosiah 27:11), and “Christ calling Nephi from among the multitude” (3 Nephi 11:18).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Robert D. Anderson reviews events concerning Solomon Spaulding and his manuscript writings, which some have claimed is the basis for the Book of Mormon. He discusses the writings of William Whitsitt, who thought Sydney Rigdon was the real author of the Book of Mormon. Anderson spotlights similarities between the Book of Ether and the Book of Mormon. Anderson lists reasons for and against supporting the Spaulding theory of Book of Mormon authorship. The final sections of this article concern Joseph Smith’s psychological state relative to Book of Mormon authorship. Anderson concludes that “to believe that one is “special” in receiving knowledge that trumps historical documentation or scientific discoveries requires more than a slight elevation of self-importance and self-deception, and throughout past and present history has created mischief beyond comprehension.”
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Hugh Nibley
This article addresses the origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and discusses whether the Saints believed Moroni to be an angel or merely a treasure guardian.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Eyewitnesses to the Book of Mormon plates described in consistent terms the rings that bound the gold plates into a single volume. The rings were three in number and apparently made of the same material as the plates themselves. While our attention naturally focuses on the plates and the translation of the text engraved upon them, the rings may offer another subtle but telling confirmation of the record’s ancient origin.
This paper looks closely and critically at how the Nephite prophets dealt with the records of the Jaredites as the text of the Book of Mormon itself presents these dealings. 1 It questions unspoken assumptions that often pervade discussions of these records and of how record keepers from King Mosiah2 to Moroni managed them. It asks, for example, whether Mormon could realistically have taken on the task of preparing the abridgment of Jaredite history found in the book of Ether. It also challenges the idea that Moroni wrote the book of Ether only because Mormon did not have time to do so, suggesting instead that Moroni’s role in preserving the Jaredite legacy was his own unique commission from the Lord. These questions are part of my appeal for a fundamental reconsideration of the roles played by the key actors who handled the Jaredite records.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
In February 1998, five Brigham Young University professors spent more than a week together in southern Oman to collect data for future research projects in the area, which seems to correspond to the end of Lehi’s trail in the Old World. Future research must be performed in a professional manner and seek to reconstruct that part of the world in 600 BC. Botanical, archaeological, chronological, mineralogical, geological, and inscriptional studies in the area would depend on acquiring sponsors in Oman and on the availability of resources.
Every council … should be working together on ways to be more effective in preparing our members … to enjoy all the blessings of the Church and … the temple.
In this study I investigate words in the Book of Mormon text that have taken on different meanings, thus sometimes causing modern readers of the Book of Mormon to misread and misinterpret some passages of the text. I discuss words that potentially cause misreading of the Book of Mormon due to historical changes in the meanings and uses of these words. I located words in the Book of Mormon text that are commonly misread, then located every occurrence of those words in the Book of Mormon as well as other standard works. I analyzed definition of these words listed in dictionaries that provide earlier or dialectal definitions, and I researched texts that provide examples from Early Modern English and Modern English to determine whether the sense and example of the word paralleled the Book of Mormon examples. This study is a part of my work on the Book of Mormon Critical Text project. I obtained words that cause potential misreadings of Book of Mormon passages from Royal Skousen, editor of the Book of Mormon Critical text, and from my own reading of the text. We looked for words that seem inappropriate in the given context and lead to potential misreadings. After this thesis was written, I was made aware of a study that deals with semantic changes in the Book of Mormon text and discusses five words that are in my study: awful, clap, curious, goodly, and mar (Lundwall 1987).
Royal Skousen’s work on his Book of Mormon critical text project demonstrates that he is an able textual critic who employs sound judgment and proven methods to uncover the original text of the Book of Mormon. In many cases, these decisions seem counterintuitive to untrained readers, but Skousen correctly applies the principle that a more awkward reading is most likely original. He also shows his ability to make conjectural emendations for which no direct textual evidence is available. In every case, Skousen clearly lays out his reasoning so that readers who disagree with his inferences can examine the evidence for themselves to reach their own conclusions. This paper goes on to speculate that Skousen’s work may in time bring the LDS and RLDS editions of the Book of Mormon closer together textually. In the end, the critical text project is a superb work of scholarship on par with the standard works of biblical textual criticism.
Abstract: Name as Key-Word brings together a collection of essays, many of them previously published, whose consistent theme is exploring examples of onomastic wordplay or puns in Mormon scripture in general and the Book of Mormon in particular. Without a knowledge of the meaning of these names, the punning in the scriptural accounts would not be recognized by modern English readers. Exploring the (probable) meanings of these names helps to open our eyes to how the scriptural authors used punning and other forms of wordplay to convey their messages in a memorable way.
Review of Matthew L. Bowen, Name as Key-Word: Collected Essays on Onomastic Wordplay and the Temple in Mormon Scripture (Salt Lake City: The Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books, 2018). 408 pp., $24.95.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Many easily recognizable Hebrew words and names can be found in the Book of Abraham. One name that hasn’t had a concrete meaning attached to it, however, is Elkenah. In this article, Barney addresses whether Elkenah is a person, place, or name; what its possible linguistic structures are; and what it might mean. Most importantly, Barney links Elkenah with the Canaanite god El and the attending cult—a cult that practiced human sacrifice. This has significant ramifications for the Book of Abraham, which has been criticized for its inclusion of human sacrifice. Assuming a northern location for the city Ur and taking Elkenah as the Canaanite El resolve the issue of child sacrifice in the Book of Abraham.
The sixteen interviews in this volume tell the stories of remarkable men and women who have made careers out of researching, writing, and teaching about the past. Friends and colleagues conducted these conversations over a decade or so. All were subsequently published in the Mormon Historical Studies journal or Religious Educator periodical, and now are brought together as a single book of personal essays. As we review and reflect on the personal lives and remarkable careers featured in this volume, we sense that many of these historians feel that they were prepared or given a definite sense of mission. Both editors, who are becoming foremost Church historians in their own right, have been the beneficiaries of many mentors in the field and the recipients of a remarkable heritage of Mormon historians who have taken them under their wings and helped them become contributors to the telling of LDS history. ISBN 978-0-8425-2890-0
This volume celebrates the bicentennial of Joseph Smith’s 1820 First Vision of the Father and the Son, a founding event in the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ. Contributors examine the various accounts of the vision, the religious excitement prevalent in the region, the question that prompted Joseph to enter the grove, the powers of darkness that assailed him, and the natural environment and ultimate preservation of the Sacred Grove. This volume brings together some of the finest presentations from a 2020 BYU Church History Symposium honoring the bicentennial of the First Vision. ISBN 978-1-9503-0408-0
The power of the Savior’s gospel to transform and bless us flows from discerning and applying the interrelatedness of its doctrine, principles, and practices.
This is a new volume from the Book of Mormon Academy at Brigham Young University. This volume explores the relationship between the Nephite and the Jaredite records culturally, politically, literarily, and theologically. The first approach is a cultural-historical lens, in which elements of Jaredite culture are discussed, including the impact of a Jaredite subculture on Nephite politics during the reign of the judges, and a Mesopotamia perspective as seership and divination, and the brother of Jared’s experience as a spiritual transition. The second grouping looks at the book of Ether through a narratological lens, all three papers exploring different aspects of Moroni’s construction of the book of Ether. The third grouping explores the book of Ether’s depiction of women, as it contains one of the most descriptive, yet ambivalent females in the Book of Mormon, both historically and in our contemporary era. Finally, the book of Ether is reviewed via a teaching lens. In Alma 37, Alma the Younger explained the teaching value of the Jaredite records. These last two studies examine ways in which the book of Ether in particular can be taught to a modern audience. ISBN 978-1-9443-9497-4
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants are bound together. One testifies of the other. In this way the Doctrine and Covenants is the capstone and the Book of Mormon is the keystone.
Excerpts from address given by President Benson emphasizing need to study the Book of Mormon throughout one’s life. The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ and confounds/exposes the enemies of Christ. The only issue to be resolved in gaining a testimony is whether or not the Book of Mormon is true, since all else hinges on that knowledge.
The most effective way to fulfill our divine potential is to work together, blessed by the power and authority of the priesthood.
Published from November 1854 to December 1855, the St. Louis Luminary was started by Apostle Erastus Snow, the Latter-day Saint leader over the region. The newspaper maintained contact among the members, helped emigrating Saints stay focused on their ultimate destination in the West, and played a significant role in the national discussion of polygamy, which had been publicly announced in 1852. Snow’s goal was to produce a paper “devoted to the exposition of the favorable side of Mormonism,” something the “honest inquirer” had longed to read. The newspaper also consisted of a composite of exchanges from other periodicals, and a variety of local businesses—regardless of whether they were owned by Mormons—advertised in it. Furthermore, hundreds of names published in the columns yield a valuable genealogical database. Its forty-two missionary-agents traveled throughout most of the Midwest soliciting subscribers. I believe that this work will benefit readers and researchers alike by helping them explore another Mormon periodical from the mid-ninteenth century. Professor Black has again provided us with a powerful research tool that sheds light on a corner of history which has gone largely neglected. —Fred E. Woods, Professor, Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University and author of When the Saints Came Marching In: A History of the Latter-day Saints in St. Louis
This article renders a text-critical comparison of the King James New Testament and select modern translations of the New Testament. Specifically, it surveys twenty-two passages in the King James New Testament that have been omitted in most modern translations. The article then clarifies and explains why these verses have been omitted and asks whether such omissions ought to be accepted. While this study demonstrates that in most cases the readings in the King James Version are inferior in a text-critical sense and that they likely represent interpolations into the biblical text, there are a few cases where the King James Version might preserve a better reading. This article also argues that even though the King James Version may be inferior on a text-critical level, when compared to certain modern translations, we can still use it with profit if we are aware of its deficiencies.
The 2013 BYU Church History Symposium This volume is a collection of essays by prominent LDS scholars–including keynote speakers Richard Bushman and David Holland–that discuss the interest in the ancient world shared by Joseph Smith and the early Latter-day Saints. Topics include Joseph Smith’s fascination with the ancient Americas, his interaction with the Bible, his study of Hebrew and Greek, his reading of Jewish and Christian apocryphal writings, and his work with the Book of Abraham in the context of nineteenth-century Egyptology. Together, these essays demonstrate that Joseph Smith’s interests in antiquity played an important role in his prophetic development as he sought to recover ancient scripture, restore the ancient Church, and bring the Latter-day Saints into fellowship with the sacred past. ISBN 978‐0‐8425‐2966‐2
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Moses Topics > Joseph Smith Translation (JST) > Historicity and Ancient Threads — General Issues
Abstract: The Book of Mormon features an esoteric exchange between the prophet Nephi and the Spirit of the Lord on an exceedingly high mountain. The following essay explores some of the ways in which an Israelite familiar with ancient religious experiences and scribal techniques might have interpreted this event. The analysis shows that Nephi’s conversation, as well as other similar accounts in the Book of Mormon, echoes an ancient temple motif. As part of this paradigm, the essay explores the manner in which the text depicts the Spirit of the Lord in a role associated with members of the divine council in both biblical and general Near Eastern conceptions. .
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This book contains reflections from two groups of scholars who trace their beginnings to the early Saints who built the Kirtland Temple. These scholars come from the two largest branches of the Restoration movement, Community of Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who have often found themselves on the opposite sides of many issues. This book is filled with honest, frank conversations between people of the two faiths but also collegiality and friendship. Centered on twelve themes, this dialogue is about bringing together informed scholars from the two churches working together, with goodwill, to accurately understand each other. ISBN 978-1-9503-0431-8
Abstract: The Semitic/Hebrew name Samuel (šĕmûʾēl) most likely means “his name is El” — i.e., “his name [the name that he calls upon in worship] is El” — although it was also associated with “hearing” (šāmaʿ) God (e.g., 1 Samuel 3:9–11). In the ancient Near East, the parental hope for one thus named is that the son (and “his name”) would glorify El (a name later understood in ancient Israel to refer to God); or, like the biblical prophet Samuel, the child would hear El/God (“El is heard”). The name šĕmûʾēl thus constituted an appropriate symbol of the mission of the Son of God who “glorified the name of the Father” (Ether 12:8), was perfectly obedient to the Father in all things, and was the Prophet like Moses par excellence, whom Israel was to “hear” or “hearken” in all things (Deuteronomy 18:15; 1 Nephi 22:20; 3 Nephi 20:32). Jesus may have referred to this in a wordplay on the name Samuel when he said: “I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead” (3 Nephi 23:9). Samuel the Lamanite had particularly emphasized “believ[ing] on the name” of God’s Son in the second part of his speech (see Helaman 14:2, 12–13) in advance of the latter’s coming. Samuel thus seems to use a recurrent or thematic rhetorical wordplay on his own name as an entry point to calling the Nephites to repent and return to living the doctrine of Christ, which activates the blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Mormon took great care to show that all of the signs and prophecies that Samuel gave the Nephites of Zarahemla were fulfilled at the time of Jesus’s birth, death, and resurrection as Jesus glorified the Father’s name in every particular, and found further fulfillment in some particulars during Mormon’s own life and times.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Mormon uses pejorative wordplay on the name Jaredites based on the meaning of the Hebrew verb yārad. The onomastic rhetoric involving the meaning of yārad first surfaces in Helaman 6 where Mormon also employs wordplay on the name Cain in terms of qānâ or “getting gain.” The first wordplay occurs in the negative purpose clause “lest they should be a means of bringing down [cf. lĕhôrîd] the people unto destruction” (Helaman 6:25) and the second in the prepositional phrase “until they had come down [cf. yārĕdû/yordû] to believe in their works” (Helaman 6:38). Mormon uses these pejorative wordplays as a means of emphasizing the genetic link that he sees between Jareditic secret combinations and the derivative Gadianton robbers. Moroni reflects upon his father’s earlier use of this type of pejorative wordplay on “Jaredites” and yārad when he directly informs latter-day Gentiles regarding the “decrees of God” upon the land of promise “that ye may repent and not continue in your iniquities until the fullness be come, that ye may not bring down [cf. *tôrîdû/hôradtem] the fullness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land hath hitherto done” (Ether 2:11). All three of these onomastic allusions constitute an urgent and timely warning to latter-day Gentiles living upon the land of promise. They warn the Gentiles against “coming down” to believe in and partake of the works and spoils of secret combinations like the Jaredites and the Nephites did, and thus “bringing down” their own people to destruction and “bringing down” the “fullness of the wrath of God” upon themselves, as the Jaredites and the Nephites both did.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Genesis 30:23–24 offers a double etiology for Joseph in terms of “taking away”/“gathering” (ʾāsap) and “adding” (yāsap). In addition to its later narratological use of the foregoing, the Joseph cycle (Genesis 37–50) evidences a third dimension of onomastic wordplay involving Joseph’s kĕtōnet passîm, an uncertain phrase traditionally translated “coat of many colours” (from LXX), but perhaps better translated, “coat of manifold pieces.” Moroni1, quoting from a longer version of the Joseph story from the brass plates, refers to “Joseph, whose coat was rent by his brethren into many pieces” (Alma 46:23). As a military and spiritual leader, Moroni1 twice uses Joseph’s torn coat and the remnant doctrine from Jacob’s prophecy regarding Joseph’s coat as a model for his covenant use of his own coat to “gather” (cf. ʾāsap) and rally faithful Nephites as “a remnant of the seed of Joseph” (Alma 46:12–28, 31; 62:4–6). In putting that coat on a “pole” or “standard” (Hebrew nēs — i.e., “ensign”) to “gather” a “remnant of the seed of Joseph” appears to make use of the Isaianic nēs-imagery of Isaiah 11:11–12 (and elsewhere), where the Joseph-connected verbs yāsap and ʾāsap serve as key terms. Moroni’s written-upon “standard” or “ensign” for “gathering” the “remnant of the seed of Joseph” constituted an important prophetic antetype for how Mormon and his son, Moroni2, perceived the function of their written record in the latter-days (see, e.g., 3 Nephi 5:23–26; Ether 13:1–13).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Joseph (Ancient Egypt)
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Gather
Abstract: Royal and divine sonship/daughterhood (bānîm = “children”/“sons,” bānôt = “daughters”) is a prevalent theme throughout the Book of Mosiah. “Understanding” (Hebrew noun, bînâ or tĕbûnâ; verb, bîn) is also a key theme in that book. The initial juxtaposition of “sons” and “understanding” with the name “Benjamin” (binyāmîn, “son of the right hand”) in Mosiah 1:2–7 suggests the narrator’s association of the underlying terms with the name Benjamin likely on the basis of homophony. King Benjamin repeatedly invokes “understand” in his speech (forms of “understand” were derived from the root *byn in Hebrew; Mosiah 2:9, 40; 4:4; cf. 3:15) — a speech that culminates in a rhetorical wordplay on his own name in terms of “sons”/“children,” “daughters,” and “right hand” (Mosiah 5:7, 9). “Understand,” moreover, recurs as a paronomasia on the name Benjamin at key points later in the Book of Mosiah (Mosiah 8:3, 20; 26:1–3), which bring together the themes of sonship and/or “understanding” (or lack of thereof) with King Benjamin’s name. Later statements in the Book of Mosiah about “becoming” the “children of God” or “becoming his sons and daughters” (Mosiah 18:22; 27:25) through divine rebirth allude to King Benjamin’s sermon and the wordplay on “Benjamin” there. Taken as a literary whole, the book of Mosiah constitutes a treatise on “becoming” — i.e., divine transformation through Christ’s atonement (cf. Mosiah 3:18–19). Mormon’s statement in Alma 17:2 about the sons of Mosiah having become “men of a sound understanding” thus serves as a fitting epilogue to a narrative arc begun as early as Mosiah 1:2.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Becoming
Book of Mormon Topics > General Topics > King Benjamin’s Speech
Abstract: In two related prophecies, Moroni employs an apparent wordplay on the name Joseph in terms of the Hebrew idiom (lōʾ) yôsîp … ʿôd (+ verbal component), as preserved in the phrases “they shall no more be confounded” (Ether 13:8) and “that thou mayest no more be confounded” (Moroni 10:31). That phraseology enjoyed a long currency within Nephite prophecy (e.g., 1 Nephi 14:2, 15:20), ultimately having its source in Isaiah’s prophecies regarding Jerusalem/Zion (see, for example, Isaiah 51:22; 52:1– 2; 54:2–4). Ether and Moroni’s prophecy in Ether 13 that the Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem would “no more be confounded” further affirms the gathering of Israel in general and the gathering of the seed of Joseph in particular.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The biblical etiology (story of origin) for the name “Cain” associates his name with the Hebrew verb qny/qnh, “to get,” “gain,” “acquire,” “create,” or “procreate” in a positive sense. A fuller form of this etiology, known to us indirectly through the Book of Mormon text and directly through the restored text of the Joseph Smith Translation, creates additional wordplay on “Cain” that associates his name with murder to “get gain.” This fuller narrative is thus also an etiology for organized evil—secret combinations “built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:22–23; 11:15). The original etiology exerted a tremendous influence on Book of Mormon writers (e.g., Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Mormon, and Moroni) who frequently used allusions to this narrative and sometimes replicated the wordplay on “Cain” and “getting gain.” The fuller narrative seems to have exerted its greatest influence on Mormon and Moroni, who witnessed the destruction of their nation firsthand — destruction catalyzed by Cainitic secret combinations. Moroni, in particular, invokes the Cain etiology in describing the destruction of the Jaredites by secret combinations. The destruction of two nations by Cainitic secret combinations stand as two witnesses and a warning to latter-day Gentiles (and Israel) against building up these societies and allowing them to flourish.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 4–6:12 — Grand Council in Heaven, Adam and Eve
Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains several quotations from the Hebrew Bible that have been juxtaposed on the basis of shared words or phrases, this for the purpose of interpreting the cited scriptural passages in light of one another. This exegetical technique — one that Jesus himself used — came to be known in later rabbinic times as Gezera Shawa (“equal statute”). In several additional instances, the use of Gezera Shawa converges with onomastic wordplay. Nephi uses a Gezera Shawa involving Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 twice on the basis of the yāsap verb forms yôsîp/yôsīp (2 Nephi 25:17 and quoting the Lord in 2 Nephi 29:1) to create a stunning wordplay on the name “Joseph.” In another instance, King Benjamin uses Gezera Shawa involving Psalm 2:7, 2 Samuel 7:14, and Deuteronomy 14:1 (1–2) on the basis of the Hebrew noun bēn (“son”; plural bānîm, bānôt, “sons” and “daughters”) on which to build a rhetorical wordplay on his own name. This second wordplay, which further alludes to Psalm 110:1 on account of the noun yāmin (“right hand”), was ready-made for his temple audience who, on the occasion of Mosiah’s coronation, were receiving their own “endowment” to become “sons” and “daughters” at God’s “right hand.” The use of Gezera Shawa was often christological — e.g., Jacob’s Gezera Shawa on (“stone”) in Jacob 4:15–17 and Alma’s Gezera Shawa on Zenos’s and Zenock’s phrase “because of thy Son” in Alma 33:11–16 (see Alma 33:4 17). Taken together, these examples suggest that we should pay more attention to scripture’s use of scripture and, in particular, the use of this exegetical practice. In doing so, we will better discern the messages intended by ancient prophets whose words the Book of Mormon preserves.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
In explaining the prophecies of Isaiah in which his soul delighted, Nephi sets up an intriguing wordplay on the name Joseph. On several occasions he combines segments of Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 to foretell the gathering and restoration of Israel at the time of the coming forth of additional scripture. The most discernible reason for Nephi’s interpretation of these two specific texts in the light of each other is their shared use of the Hebrew verb yāsap, which literally means “to add” but can have the more developed senses to “continue” or “proceed to do” something and “to do again.” This verb is also the source of the name Joseph, which means “may He [the Lord] add,” “He shall add,” or “He has added.” Rachel, the mother of the patriarch Joseph, is said to have explained the giving of this name to her son with that basic sense in mind: “And she called his name Joseph [yôsēp], and said, The Lord shall add [yōsēp] to me another son” (Genesis 30:24; emphasis in all scriptural citations is mine). Thus when Nephi combined these two prophecies together through their common use of yāsap, he was also using a wordplay on the name Joseph both to remind us that it was the seed of Joseph that would be gathered and to foretell the involvement of another Joseph, Joseph Smith, in the gathering and in the coming forth of scripture.
Abstract: The name Heshlon, attested once (in Ether 13:28), as a toponym in the Book of Mormon most plausibly denotes “place of crushing.” The meaning of Heshlon thus becomes very significant in the context of Ether 13:25–31, which describes the crushing or enfeebling of Coriantumr’s armies and royal power. This meaning is also significant in the wider context of Moroni’s narrative of the Jaredites’ destruction. Fittingly, the name Heshlon itself serves as a literary turning point in a chiastic structure which describes the fateful reversal of Coriantumr’s individual fortunes and the worsening of the Jaredites’ collective fortunes. Perhaps Moroni, who witnessed the gradual crushing and destruction of the Nephites, mentioned this name in his abridgement of the Book of Ether on account of the high irony of its meaning in view of the Jaredite war of attrition which served as precursor to the destruction of the Nephites.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Review of Colby Townsend, “Returning to the Sources: Integrating Textual Criticism in the Study of Early Mormon Texts and History.” Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies 10, no. 1 (2019): 55–85, https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal/vol10/iss1/6/.
Abstract: Textual criticism tries by a variety of methods to understand the “original” or “best” wording of a document that may exist in multiple, conflicting versions or where the manuscripts are confusing or difficult to read. The present article, Part 1 of a two-part series by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and Ryan Dahle, commends Colby Townsend’s efforts to raise awareness of the importance of textual criticism, while differing on some interpretations. Among the differences discussed is the question of whether it is better to read Moses 7:28 as it was dictated in Old Testament 1 version of the Joseph Smith Translation manuscript (OT1) that “God wept,” or rather to read it as it was later revised in the Old Testament 2 version (OT2) that “Enoch wept.” Far from being an obscure technical detail, the juxtaposition of the two versions of this verse raises general questions as to whether readings based on the latest revisions of Latter-day Saint scripture manuscripts should always take priority over the original dictations. A dialogue with Colby Townsend and Charles Harrell on rich issues of theological and historical relevance demonstrates the potential impact of the different answers to such questions by different scholars. In a separate discussion that highlights the potential significance of handwriting analysis to textual criticism, Bradshaw and Dahle respond to Townsend’s arguments that the spelling difference between the names Mahujah and Mahijah in the Book of Moses may be due to a transcription error.
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 6:13–7 — Enoch
Book of Moses Topics > Literary and Textual Studies of the Book of Moses
A natural tension seems to exist between two important features of the Book of Mormon. On one hand, Mormon includes in his record a version of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave to the Nephites—an address that sets the standard for discipleship and that contains teachings obviously opposed to violence. In it, we hear about not resisting evil, turning the other cheek, going another mile when compelled to go one, loving our enemies—and so forth (3 Ne. 12:39–44). On the other hand, Mormon also presents various Nephite leaders as righteous even though they were immersed in violence. Captain Moroni stands out among these leaders because his wartime activities dominate the last third of the book of Alma: we see him in significant detail. The juxtaposition of these two threads appears contradictory. We see righteous men, including prophetic figures, engaged in the very activities that the text itself seems to prohibit. And this apparent contradiction seems significant even though most of these leaders lived before the Sermon was even given. This is because it is natural to think of the Book of Mormon as a whole—as a collection of significant experiences and teachings that are consistent with one another and that together present a unified, divine message to the world. We thus expect to see the book’s most prominent leaders actually live the standard found in the book’s most prominent teachings— whether they actually possessed the Sermon on the Mount or not. And therein lies the problem. Although these prominent teachings clearly seem to be opposed to violence, we see these prominent leaders very much engaged in violence. It is not necessarily obvious how to resolve this tension. One strategy, of course, would be to ignore the tension and to simply avoid thinking about it. But a sacred text requires more from us than that. So the apparent disparity has to be faced. How is it possible to reconcile Captain Moroni with the Sermon on the Mount?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
With selflessness we demonstrate our true relationship and intimacy with the Savior. It is the link that binds together the family of God.
We Latter-day Saints are temple-centered people. So were the Nephites. But what do we know about their temple worship, how it worked and what it was for? How was it even possible for the Nephites to observe the Mosaic rituals without the Levitical priesthood, the Aaronite high priest, and the Ark of the Covenant? And given that our temple worship today isn’t about animal sacrifice, what, if anything, does their temple worship have to do with ours? Critics, and even friendlier outside observers like Harold Bloom, have sometimes come away from reading the Book of Mormon—in Bloom’s case not reading it very much—but they’ve sometimes come away thinking that there isn’t much “Mormon-ism” in the book. Let’s see whether our exploration of temple themes in the Nephite narratives contradicts this or bears it out.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > L — P > Prophets
RSC Topics > T — Z > War
A symposium titled “The Gospel: The Foundation for a Professional Career Symposium” was held on Brigham Young University campus in March 2007. It was cosponsored by Religious Education and the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology. The purpose of the symposium was to emphasize how important it is for graduates of BYU to live the highest standards of morality and integrity as they leave campus and assume residency and employment in the world community. It was an opportunity to make principles taught by the Latter-day Saint faith find practical application in the lives of graduates. This volume contains the presentations from this symposium. “We live in most interesting times. Scandals in society and infamous episodes in the lives of respected leaders force us to ask hard questions about what matters in people’s lives. We must explore the difficult issue of whether leaders’ private morality is in any way related to their capacity to make responsible and moral judgments in our behalf.”—Robert L. Millet “Both by doctrine and by covenant, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are compelled to be men and women of character, honesty, and integrity in their personal and professional lives. As students attend Brigham Young University, graduate, and move out into the community and various chosen careers, they have an obligation to maintain the highest standards of integrity. In the workplace, whether they are employees or employers, they must be immune to improper incentives, social and corporate pressures, and shortcuts designed to enhance balance sheets at the expense of integrity and sound, acceptable business practices. “Integrity is a matter of behavior, sound thinking, and an attitude that honesty is essential to good business and engineering practices. Adherence to a code of professional integrity has its foundations in the doctrines of the Restoration, particularly the knowledge that we are all sons and daughters of God and face eventual accountability for our words, works, and thoughts (see Alma 12:14). Church membership compels Latter-day Saints to be trustworthy and immune from political, financial, or personal corruption in a world where such traits are fast losing ground to economic expediency and personal greed.”—The Editors ISBN 978-0-8425-2686-9
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Presents evidences of the Book of Mormon, including: the Book of Mormon omits the letters q, x, or w from proper names, does not use contractions, indicative of a Hebrew language; omits from the book of Ether references to the priesthood, the law of Moses, stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and other references that are Israelite, except for commentary inserted by Moroni. Also argues that Joseph Smith did not use the published writings of Del Rio, who visited ruins in America in 1767, as he translated the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
If people witness you as a giver, they will see a leader. Servant leadership is no joke, and it’s a secret to success, whether you’re looking for success or not. When people see you giving and cooperating and serving others, they will see in you a leader, or a future leader, and they cannot help but help you.
Review of George B. Handley, If Truth Were A Child: Essays, (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2019), 253 pp. $19.99 (paperback).
Abstract: George B. Handley challenges his readers to reevaluate conventional definitions of truth and the approaches they employ to define their own truths. He argues that the individual quest for truth should include as many available resources as possible, whether those resources are secular or religious. His framework of intellectual and religious experience allows him to discuss truth in the context of literary theory and of the events that shaped his own faith. My review focuses on four themes: balancing experience and learning, balancing the individual and the community, balancing answers and faith, and balancing individual readings of holy texts. Ultimately, Handley’s discussion of those themes gives readers the tools to navigate the current public discourse more effectively, empowering them to look beyond their own perspectives to discover the good in everyone and find balance in their lives.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Tucked into the New Testament after Galatians and the Corinthian correspondence, the Epistle to the Ephesians casts a warm, quieting glow when compared to the strident character of Galatians and the rather tough lines that Paul penned to former associates in Corinth. In Ephesians, by contrast, the Apostle Paul has shined a bright light on both an overly generous God the Father, who “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20), and the Gentiles whom he has recently welcomed into the celestial fold, making them “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (2:19). But there is much more, for the letter opens on the scene of the premortal council and ends with church members clothed in God’s sacred, protective armor that helps them “to stand against the wiles of the devil,” an indicator of the looming apostasy (6:11). In addition, enfolded within Ephesians is a tightly woven strand of family-centered interests, including an expectation of eternal families, pointers to sacred rituals, and the joyous assurance to believers that Christ “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (2:6). This exalted position is made possible because of one of the grandest gifts that comes from the Father through the Son— “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (2:7). Hallelujah!
First, I want to deal with the figure of the Son of Man in ancient literature, reviewing along the way what current biblical scholarship says about this personality, especially since he is mentioned prominently in nonscriptural sources. Second, I intend to treat the question of the anthropomorphic view of God in scripture, specifically in the Old Testament. Third, I wish to touch on the issue of the nature of the titles used for deity throughout scripture, for we all have the impression that a great many are applied to God, especially within the pages of the Old Testament. Fourth and last, I want to single out the parallels in ancient Christian and Jewish literature to the remarkable, almost singular theological position to which we Latter-day Saints are committed when we call deity a Man, whether Man of Holiness, Man of Counsel (Moses 7:35), or some similar title.
Book of Moses Topics > Messianic and Christological Themes in the Book of Moses
The lengthy sojourn of Lehi’s family in the Arabian desert invites the almost inevitable question whether circumstances forced family members to live in the service of tribesmen either for protection or for food. In my view, enough clues exist in the Book of Mormon—they have to be assembled—to bring one to conclude that the family lived for a time in a servile condition, a situation that apparently entailed suffering and conflict.
The Liahona was given by the Lord as a communicationsdevice for Lehi to determine the appropriate direction of travel. This device contained two pointers, only one of which was necessary to provide directional information. But the Liahona was more than just a simple compass in function, for it additionally required faith for correct operation. Since a single pointer always "points" in some direction, the additional pointer was necessary to indicate whether or not the first pointer could be relied upon. This proposed purpose for the second pointer conforms to a well-established engineering principle used in modern fault-tolerant computer systems called "voting," in which two identical process states are compared and declared correct if they are the same, and incorrect if they are different. Hence the second pointer, when coincident with the first, would indicate proper operation, and when orthogonal, would indicate nonoperation.
Argues that the LDS reading of the word “families” in Ether 1:16 is incorrect. The word “families” should be corrected, according to the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, to read “family” The RLDS version of the Book of Mormon presents the correct reading.
Linda K. Burton teaches that as men and women keep their covenants and strengthen each other, all can reach their full potential.
Presents a method of marking the Book of Mormon by linking certain subjects together. Includes missionary inserts to be glued to the pages of the Book of Mormon where the subject is marked.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The 47th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium While Jesus and his disciples were at or near Caesarea Philippi, Peter testified that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Martha had a similar divine testimony, proclaiming, “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.” In much the same way, a standard part of Latter-day Saint discourse includes bearing testimony that “Jesus is the Christ,” but what do we mean when we say that Jesus is the Christ? This volume compiles essays given at a BYU Sidney B. Sperry Symposium that uniquely address such questions from a Latter-day Saint perspective, bringing together both biblical scholarship and Restoration insights that invite us to come to Christ and apply gospel teachings to real life.
Together with the Bible, the Book of Mormon is an indispensable witness of the doctrines of Christ and His divinity.
The end justifies the means, so these stories are designed to increase interest in the Book of Mormon. Hundreds of books have been written founded on the Bible, and there are some wonderfully colorful accounts of the founding of Christianity in Judea, Alexandria, and Rome. It is surprising that more has not been done dealing with the ancient history of the western world. Several of these stories were first published in the Improvement Era, and acknowledgment is made to that magazine for the encouragement it extended to the author, who traveled twice to Mexico and excavated among the ruins there to gain information at first hand. If any boy or girl, after perusing these pages, is inspired to turn direct to the beautiful and simple language of the Book of Mormon itself, the purpose of “The Cities of the Sun” has been accomplished.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: This paper describes and compares the Book of Mormon’s 12 instances of complex finite cause syntax, the structure exemplified by the language of Ether 9:33: “the Lord did cause the serpents that they should pursue them no more.” This is not King James language or currently known to be pseudo-archaic language (language used by modern authors seeking to imitate biblical or related archaic language), but it does occur in earlier English, almost entirely before the year 1700. In the Book of Mormon, the syntax is always expressed with the modal auxiliary verbs should and shall. Twenty-five original examples of this specific usage have been identified so far outside of the Book of Mormon (not counting two cases of creative biblical editing — see the appendix). The text’s larger pattern of clausal verb complementation after the verb cause, 58 percent finite in 236 instances, is utterly different from what we encounter in the King James Bible and pseudo-archaic texts, which are 99 to 100 percent infinitival in their clausal complementation. The totality of the evidence indicates that Joseph Smith would not have produced this causative syntax of the Book of Mormon in a pseudo-archaic effort. Therefore, this dataset provides additional strong evidence for a revealed-words view of the 1829 dictation.
Abstract: In recent years the Book of Mormon has been compared to pseudo-biblical texts like Gilbert J. Hunt’s The Late War (1816). Some have found strong linguistic correspondence and declared that there is an authorial relationship. However, comparative linguistic studies performed to date have focused on data with low probative value vis-à-vis the question of authorship. What has been lacking is non-trivial descriptive linguistic analysis that focuses on less contextual and more complex types of data, such as syntax and morphosyntax (grammatical features such as verb agreement and inflection), as well as data less obviously biblical and/or less susceptible to conscious manipulation. Those are the kinds of linguistic studies that have greater probative value in relation to authorship, and that can determine whether Joseph Smith might have been able to produce Book of Mormon grammar. In order to determine whether it is a good match with the form and structure of pseudo-biblical writings, I investigate nearly 10 kinds of syntax and morphosyntax that occur in the Book of Mormon and the King James Bible, comparing their usage with each other and with that of four pseudo-biblical texts. Findings are summarized toward the end of the article, along with some observations on biblical hypercorrection and alternative LDS views on Book of Mormon language.
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A thorough analysis of the history and authenticity of the Kinderhook plates is presented. The author concludes that the evidence is inconclusive as to whether or not they are authentic. Includes extensive appendix of known data on the problem.
Participle adjuncts in the Book of Mormon are compared with those in the other writings of Joseph Smith and with English in general. Participle adjuncts include present participle phrases, e.g., “having gained the victory over death” (Mosiah 15:8); present participle clauses, e.g., “he having four sons” (Ether 6:20), and a double-subject adjunct construction, known as the coreferential subject construction, where both subjects refer to the same thing, as in “Alma, being the chief judge . . . of the people of Nephi, therefore he went up with the people” (Alma 2:16). The Book of Mormon is unique in the occurrences of extremely long compound adjunct phrases and coreferential subject constructions, indicating that Joseph Smith used a very literal translation style for the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The great faith of the brother of Jared permitted him to see the inger of God (Ether 1-6).
Review of Ann Taves, Revelatory Events: Three Case Studies in the Emergence of New Spiritual Paths Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2016, 366 pages with notes and index $29.93 (paperback).
Abstract: Ann Taves’s book offers a comparative look at the origins of three groups, among them Mormonism. While she does not address the issue of competing explanations by each group about their origins or how to best navigate among them in terms that are not self-referential, that crucial circumstance is modeled by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. So I, too, have a pattern that applies to my arguments just as much it does to those offered by Professor Taves. Where her book attempts to solve the puzzle of Joseph Smith, my review offers a test of her rules for puzzle solving. This includes comparisons with the standard approach to document testing cited by Hugh Nibley, looking at key aspects of her argument and treatment of sources, and by considering Richard L. Anderson’s crucially relevant study of imitation gospels compared to the Book of Mormon. My own response should be tested not just as secular or religious, but against standards that are dependent on neither secular nor religious grounds. That is, to be valid, my response should argue “Why us?” in comparison to her case, rather than just declare that what she offers is “Not us.” We can decide situationally whether to define key concepts such as religion, spirituality, theology, and ministry or sit back and track how others are defining them. Either stance has its strengths and liabilities. Each allows us to see some things while obscuring others. The key is to figure out what we want to see under any given circumstances.
The current paradigm is going toward a non-faith-based study, which has no future. By this I do not mean simply that the study is not faith-based; it is based on non-faith, so criticism does not mean close study; it so often means destructive study. New paradigms emerge from those aware of the crisis, who recognize the situation is not likely to be remedied by the methods that caused it.
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All things sacred and holy are to be revealed and brought together in this last and most wonderful dispensation. With the Restoration of the gospel, the Church, and the priesthood of Jesus Christ, we hold an almost incomprehensible store of sacred things in our hands.
Review of Return to Cumorah: Piecing Together the Puzzle Where the Nephites Lived (1998), by Duane R. Aston; The Land of Lehi: Further Evidence for the Book of Mormon (1999), by Paul Hedengren: and The Lost Lands of the Book of Mormon (2000), by Phyllis Carol Olive
Review of Deciphering the Geography of the Book of Mormon (1988), by F. Richard Hauck. The first question in dealing with Book of Mormon geography should be whether the geography fits the facts of the Book of Mormon. Clark reconstructs an elemental geography and examines internal clues for distances between locations and the surrounding terrain. To evaluate geographies, Clark summarizes ten simple points having to do with the narrow neck of land, the coastlines, the wildernesses, the valleys, the rivers, a lake, and the relative locations of Zarahemla, Bountiful, Nephi, and Cumorah. Using these criteria, he evaluates the Sorenson and Hauck proposed geographies.
The message is clear: Whether in prosperity or in adversity, if we are not diligent and faithful, even the elect of God, even those greatly blessed by the Lord, can fall prey to the Great Lie and become hard-hearted, self-absorbed, stiff-necked, and puffed up in their pride.
WE have frequently been solicited to publish, in pamphlet form, the following letters of OLIVER COWDERY, addressed to W. W. PHELPS. We at last avail ourselves of the opportunity to do so, being fully assured that they will be read with great interest by the Saints generally; while from the peculiar work on which they treat, togEther with the spirit of truthfulness in which they are written, not forgetting their style as compositions, we have no doubt but that many of the honest-hearted may, by their perusal, be led to a further examination of those principles, the origin of which is therein set forth. It will be understood that Brother PHELPS wrote answers to these letters which generally contained some questions upon the subject treated of, accounting for the style in which they are written.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In his work on poetic parallelisms in the Book of Mormon, Donald W. Parry has demonstrated that that book is replete with Hebrew poetry and parallelisms such as chiasmus. Through analyzing individual texts, this paper seeks to determine whether the patterns Parry points out are deliberately included in the Book of Mormon. Texts selected for the analysis include those that (1) are self-contained with regard to the larger narrative, (2) are explicitly included as embedded documents, and (3) whose authorship is clearly stated or implied; twenty texts totaling 884 verses meet those criteria. After analyzing the percentage of each texts that has parallelisms, it becomes clear that texts created for oral recitation (sermons) have a substantially higher percentage of parallelisms than those created for written circulation (narratives, proclamations, and letters). Since a major purpose of poetic parallelisms is to facilitate memorization for oral delivery, this means we find parallelisms precisely where we would expect them to appear in the Book of Mormon, thus lending credence to the hypothesis that these parallelisms are deliberate and not accidental.
There is a traditional saying that we judge others based on their actions but we judge ourselves based on our intentions. If we were to give others the benefit of the doubt by looking at their intentions, our lives would be much richer and we would be more tolerant.
The Bible does not explicitly state on which day of the week the Savior was crucified, and the passages describing the length of time he spent in the tomb can be interpreted in multiple ways. Depending on how days were measured and on what Sabbath the day of preparation preceded—whether the weekly Sabbath or the Passover Sabbath—the crucifixion could plausibly have occurred on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. The Bible and history have not been able to determine on which day of the week the crucifixion occurred, but the Book of Mormon gives additional information to establish the day. Based on a comparison of the passages in the two texts and an examination of time differences between the two hemispheres, Thursday appears to be the most plausible solution.
Explains sacred scripture found in various cultures with regard to the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon can be divided into four divisions: the plates of Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and the brass plates of Laban. Archaeological research supports the Book of Mormon.
One of the important things that happened to me during my days as a student at BYU was that I came to appreciate what can happen as the mind and the heart, or the spirit, work together.
Dahl reviews many of the major works of numerous authors who between 1800 and 1840 were using archaeology and conjecture to explain the origins of the mound-builders. He compares these works to Bryant’s poems “The Prairies” and “Thanatopsies” Concerning the Book of Mormon, Dahl writes that it is “certainly the most influential of all Mound-Builder literature,” and that “whether one wishes to accept it as divinely inspired or as the work of Joseph Smith, it fits exactly into the tradition”
After the announcement of the intent to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple, there was much discussion in the town about why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would want to build such a large building in such a small place and what impact it might have on Nauvoo. Questions were raised about the vast potential increase in the number of visitors to Nauvoo, as well as whether large numbers of Church members would come to settle in Nauvoo permanently, significantly affecting the political and cultural environment. Additional interest focused on the whole history of the Mormons in Nauvoo. Those ideas, attitudes, and feelings of residents were captured in this collection of interviews. Twenty-six Nauvoo residents were interviewed and their answers recorded in this volume. ISBN 978-0-8425-2526-8
The Lectures on Faith are among the oldest of LDS writings. They formed the basis for doctrinal studies in the School for the Elders during the winter of 1834–35 and ever since have been highly valued in the Church. They constitute a substantial historical and doctrinal heritage from early Restoration years. Bringing together in one volume the background, the history, the text, and an informed and stimulating commentary, this book makes a major contribution to an understanding of the subject and therefore to the reader’s efforts to live the great principle of faith in Jesus Christ. ISBN 0-8849-4725-4
Abstract: Dr. Michael Coe is a prominent Mesoamerican scholar and author of a synthesis and review of ancient Mesoamerican Indian cultures entitled The Maya.
Dr. Coe is also a prominent skeptic of the Book of Mormon. However, there is in his book strong evidence that favors the Book of Mormon, which Dr. Coe has not taken into account. This article analyzes that evidence, using Bayesian statistics. We apply a strongly skeptical prior assumption that the Book of Mormon “has little to do with early Indian cultures,” as Dr. Coe claims. We then compare 131 separate positive correspondences or points of evidence between the Book of Mormon and Dr. Coe’s book. We also analyze negative points of evidence between the Book of Mormon and The Maya, between the Book of Mormon and a 1973 Dialogue article written by Dr. Coe, and between the Book of Mormon and a series of Mormon Stories podcast interviews given by Dr. Coe to Dr. John Dehlin. After using the Bayesian methodology to analyze both positive and negative correspondences, we reach an enormously stronger and very positive conclusion. There is overwhelming evidence that the Book of Mormon has physical, political, geographical, religious, military, technological, and cultural roots in ancient Mesoamerica. As a control, we have also analyzed two other books dealing with ancient American Indians: View of the Hebrews and Manuscript Found. We compare both books with The Maya using the same statistical methodology and demonstrate that this methodology leads to rational conclusions about whether or not such books describe peoples and places similar to those described in The Maya.
The perspective of history can be sobering, even humbling. Not so recently, two men from the same faith tradition but different perspectives joined in a debate about whether and how a man whom they both acknowledged as a prophet could have seen what he said he saw and be who he claimed to be. As it unfolded, their discussion touched upon many aspects of what it means to have faith in such a person and in his revelations. The role of reason in relation to revelation, the relevance of history to faith, and the connection of language to perception were all explored. The power of poetry and other idioms of popular culture in establishing the credibility of one’s chosen narrative were on display. Their debate was not an isolated event; it was just one of many in an ongoing phenomenon of cultural and spiritual contestation and negotiation. And although the two men in this case lived eleven hundred years ago, that same process of debate that they engaged in is still under way in our own times and is very much a part of our cultural climate today.
A polemical work against the Book of Mormon. The author notes the common interest of many nineteenth-century Americans regarding the origins of the American Indians. He views Joseph Smith as having borrowed from the Spaulding romance and the common theories regarding Indian origins in formulating the Book of Mormon.
Well-meaning people may honestly disagree with my interpretation of how the universe is put together. Agency allows and requires this possibility. But for me, as I noted above, science is faith affirming because I choose to believe, and everything else follows.
Quotes excerpts from an article entitled “Criticism of the Old Testament” published in the Edinburgh Review. The same objections and methods applied to the Book of Mormon may be applied to the Bible. Both must stand or fall together. The LDS realize that the Book of Mormon “invite[s] investigation and maintain that if this record must be rejected, the Bible must be rejected, too, since every objection that can be raised against the Book of Mormon finds its true counterpart among the objections raised against the Bible” [J.W.M. & D.M.]
As stated in the last lesson, four years were to pass away from the time Joseph first saw the plates, before they were to be entrusted to him. In other words, Joseph waited until he was nearly twenty-two years old before he received the precious charge. It would perhaps enter the minds of some, that Joseph having received all these manifestations and knowing what his mission was to be, would not have felt inclined to continue the labors of every-day life; but such was not the case. He well knew that the routine of daily toil was all necessary in its place, and he further knew that he must remain humble, or he would fail in fulfilling the purposes of God. Accordingly, Joseph continued working on his father’s farm for nearly two years after the events related in the last lesson, when he received the offer of employment elsewhere. Accepting this offer, Joseph went to his new place of labor in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where he entered the employ of a man named Josiah Stoal. While laboring there, Joseph boarded at the house of Isaac Hale, who had a daughter named Emma, a very worthy young woman, whom Joseph learned to love sincerely. She returned the affection, and her father was asked to give his consent to their marriage. At first he hesitated, for he knew that Joseph was poor, but finally, in January of the year 1827, his consent was given, and Joseph and Emma were married on the 18th of that month. They left Pennsylvania and traveled northward to the house of Joseph’s parents. He went to work on the farm, in order to obtain means for the support of his family. Nothing of an extraordinary character occurred during the following summer, and at length the 22nd day of September came—the day when the records were to be delivered into Joseph’s hands. During the four years that he had been waiting, he had visited the hill on each anniversary of the angel’s appearance, and there met Moroni and received necessary instruction from him, and hence he was well prepared for the charge about to be conferred upon him. On the morning of that day Joseph again visited the hill Cumorah, and was told by the angel to lift the records out of the box. As he did so he was filled with inexpressible joy, for he knew that the plates thus entrusted to him were of a most precious character. TogEther with the plates was the Urim and Thummim, which was to be used by Joseph in translating the records, and this instrument was fastened to a large breastplate of pure gold. The plates were of gold, and were fastened with rings along one edge, thus presenting the appearance of a book. (As these records have been described in a former lesson, see No. 42, it is not considered necessary to repeat the description here.) Joseph was told by the angel that he alone would be held responsible for the plates, and that the only way he could resist the efforts which would be made to take them from him, would be by remaining faithful to his trust and to the commandments of God. But if he was unfaithful, and by his carelessness permitted the plates to be lost, the displeasure of God should come upon him, and he should be destroyed. Even on the journey toward his home, with the precious records in his charge, Joseph experienced the power of the Evil One, for unknown men under the influence of Satan attacked him three different times, and it was only by the assistance of God that he was enabled to withstand them and keep the records. At length, in a bruised and weary condition he reached his home.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
When the people of Lehi reached the sea shore they rejoiced greatly that their tedious wanderings were over; for they had not traveled in a straight line from coast to coast, but had wandered around and about as the Liahona directed them, which worked according to their faith and faithfulness. Eight years had been spent in taking a journey which, had they been as faithful as they should have been, would only have occupied a few weeks or months. They pitched their tents by the sea shore, and after many days, the voice of the Lord came unto Nephi, saying, “Arise, and get thee into the mountain.” As ever, Nephi obeyed the heavenly word. He went up into the mountain, and there cried unto the Lord. Then the Lord commanded him to build a ship, after a manner and pattern that He would show him, that the colony might be carried across the great waters that lay before them. Here a difficulty presented itself to the mind of Nephi. He had no tools, and how was it possible to build a ship without them? So he laid the matter before the Lord, who, in answer to his prayers, told him where he could find ore with which he might make the tools he needed. Nephi at once proceeded to carry out the commands of the Lord. With the skins of beasts he made a bellows to blow the fire, but fire as yet he had none, as the Lord had not permitted fires to be lighted in the wilderness. So he smote two stones togEther, and a fire was lighted. When his forge was made and his fire was lit, Nephi began to melt the ore that he had obtained to make the tools which he needed.
After the flood the whole earth was of one language. As the people journeyed from the east they came into a valley which was called Shinar. In this valley they burned brick, and undertook to build a tower which would reach up to heaven. But the Lord came down and saw that the people were united and all spake one language, and He said, “Let us confound their language that they may not understand one another’s speech.” The Lord thereupon scattered them abroad upon the face of the earth and caused them to speak different lan- guages. Because of this confusion of tongues the place was called Babel. At the time these people were scattered upon the face of the earth there lived among them two great men, Jared and his brother. The account of these men and those that left the valley of Shinar with them is given in the Book of Mormon, in the Book of Ether by Moroni. From the account of Moroni, God scattered the people from the tower of Babel in His anger. The descendants of Jared and his brother and those who followed them to this continent were all ultimately destroyed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
No woman is a more vibrant instrument in the hands of the Lord than a woman of God who is thrilled to be who she is.
No marriage or family, no ward or stake is likely to reach its full potential until husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, men and women work together in unity of purpose.
Whether [your holy places] are geographic or moments in time, they are equally sacred and have incredible strengthening power.
There are a total of 42 verses in the Book of Ether which apply to this discussion. Because of the limited information provided there must needs be some speculation. The Jaredites collected seeds, swarms of bees, fowl, and live fish: this article discusses why they might do that. It is determined that these did not travel to the Americas. The fowl that made the ocean journey were likely descendants of the red jungle fowl (chickens). The Jaredites were early travelers on the Silk Road. The brother of Jared cut a hole in the bottom of an ocean-going boat. The hole is necessary to ensure a safe and healthy ocean passage. An MIT experiment demonstrates the viability of the proposed ventilation system for the boats. The psychological effect on the crews is taken into consideration and the conclusion is that the journey was made in two legs.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
Volume 6 in the Regional Studies Series Ohio became the first gathering place for the Saints in this dispensation when the Lord declared, “A commandment I give unto the church, that it is expedient in me that they should assemble together at the Ohio” (D&C 37:3). Members of the Church in New York responded to this command by gathering in and around Kirtland, Ohio, where the Lord promised that He would give them His law and endow them power. Revelation was abundant and sometimes accompanied by the Lord’s presence. Almost half of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants were received in Ohio. Soon, stretching northward into Canada, the message of the restored gospel reached the homes of John Taylor, Mary Fielding, and other early converts. This book also tells the story of journalist and political activist William Lyon Mackenzie and his interest in the Saints. Contributors are Richard E. Bennett, David F. Boone, Richard O. Cowan, H. Dean Garrett, William Goddard, Steven C. Harper, Daniel H. Olsen, Craig James Ostler, Kip Sperry, Dennis A. Wright, and Helen Warner. ISBN 978-0-8425-2653-1
The literary richness of the Book of Mormon is attested by the appearance of word pairs, in both parallel and conjoined pairs. On occasion, combinations of three, four, or even more words appear together more than once. Possible reasons for the scriptural use of word pairs include literary functions, echoes of the law of Moses, theological terms, universals (or merisms), repetition, and mnemonic function. Duke builds on previous studies of word pairs in the Book of Mormon by Kevin Barney and John Tvedtnes. The frequency of word pairs and other combinations of words witnesses to the Hebrew roots of the language of the book.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The ward is organized to minister to the needs of those who face even the most difficult and heartbreaking trials.
Abstract: Some students of the Book of Mormon have claimed that chapter 36 of the book of Alma is structured as a chiasm. Some of the proposals depart from perfect symmetry, presenting elements of the suggested chiasm seemingly out of sequence. This has often been pointed to as a weakness in the proposed chiasm or as a problem arising from translation or editorial work, or even as evidence that no real chiasm exists over the text of the chapter. Perhaps, however, asymmetry may be a deliberate feature of ancient chiasmus. Understanding the presence and role of occasional asymmetry or skews, as they are called, may help us better appreciate the rhetorical tools employed in crafting chiastic texts anciently. In particular, we can see that the structure of Alma 36 may well be a beautifully crafted chiasmus featuring what may be an intentional skew similar to those that scholars have identified elsewhere in scripture. One such other chiastic text with a skew in it appears to be Deuteronomy 8. Indeed, one skew proposed in Alma 36, together with conceptual and other structural characteristics of the text, including the proposed chiasm of the text, perhaps suggests that some of the message and structure of Deuteronomy 8 may have served as a model for part of the message and structure of Alma 36.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Through Bible and Book of Mormon references, Elliott claims that “the history of America and the history of the Israelite peoples have been inseparably entwined together” Both the land of Israel and the land of America are lands of promise, both have a city called Jerusalem, and both are gathering places for the House of Israel. America will play a major role in the redemption of the world.
Abstract: A favorite scripture of many faithful saints is Alma 7 where it describes how the Savior came to Earth to understand, in the flesh, not only human sin, but human suffering. He did this in order to succor and heal us. Despite its obvious appeal, two points may seem curious to some readers. First, the doctrinal power of verses 11–13, which form a chiasm, has as its apex not the “mercy in succoring us,” as might be expected, but the “in the flesh” detail. Why? Upon closer examination, it appears that, in addition to performing the Atonement, Christ needed a mortal experience in order to add a complete experiential knowledge to his omniscient cognitive knowledge. That could only be obtained, in its fulness, “according to the flesh,” hence the emphasis in the chiasm. A second possible curiosity is that Alma ends his beautiful teaching with his brief testimony, which lends an air of closure. Then, the topic appears to change completely and seemingly inexplicably to a discussion of repentance and baptism. Again, why? Closer examination reveals that the next two verses (14–15) form a second chiasm. If the first chiasm can be viewed as a statement of what Christ offers us, the second may be viewed as what we offer Christ. He runs to us in 7:11–13; we run to him in 7:14–15. When viewed together, the two chiasms form a two-way covenantal relationship, which Alma promises will result in our eternal salvation.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The accounts of the Anti-Christ, Korihor, and of Alma’s mission to the Zoramites raise a variety of apparently unanswered questions. These involve Korihor’s origins, the reason for the similarity of his beliefs to those of the Zoramites, and why he switched so quickly from an atheistic attack to an agnostic plea. Another intriguing question is whether it was actually the devil himself who taught him what to say and sent him on a mission to the land of Zarahemla — or was it a surrogate of the devil or a human “devil” such as, perhaps, Zoram? Final questions are how Korihor ended up in Antionum, why the Zoramites would kill a disabled beggar, and why nobody seemed to have mourned his violent death or possibly unrighteous execution. There are several hints from the text that suggest possible answers to these intriguing questions. Some are supported by viewing the text from a parallelistic or chiastic perspective.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The phrase “Brethren, adieu” (Jacob 7:27) has been criticized over the years as an obvious anachronism in the Book of Mormon. That criticism holds no validity whatsoever, as others have pointed out, since many English words have French origins. It’s worth considering, though, a deeper meaning of the word. In French, it carries a nuance of finality — that the separation will last until a reunion following death (à Dieu, or until God). This deeper meaning of adieu appears to have been known by Shakespeare and frontier Americans although the second meaning is not generally recognized by English speakers today. However, Jacob 7:27 appears to reflect this deeper meaning as do certain uses of another valediction in the Book of Mormon — that of farewell. With the deeper meaning of adieu in mind, the parallel structure in Jacob 7:27 — “down to the grave,” reflecting the finality of adieu — becomes more apparent. The question of whether Joseph Smith was aware of the deeper meaning of adieu is taken up by looking at how the word was used in the Joseph Smith Papers. The take-away is that rather than reflecting an error on the part of Joseph Smith, the word adieu, with its deeper nuance of finality until God, is not only an appropriate term, it appears to strengthen rather than undermine the case for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
When you were baptized, your ancestors looked down on you with hope. … They rejoiced to see one of their descendants make a covenant to find them.
I pray with my whole heart that we may listen together and that we may have the gift of the Holy Ghost, both in our private search for truth and as we sit at the feet of the servants of God wherever we may be.
The great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God’s commands in the midst of the storms of life.
When you choose whether to make or keep a covenant with God, you choose whether you will leave an inheritance of hope to those who might follow your example.
One of the issues that swirls around discus- sions of Book of Mormon geography is the rightful place the editorials in the 1842 Times and Seasons must take. The story of the editorials begins with Joseph’s receipt of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood’s Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chaipas, and Yucatan, published in 1841. In early 1842, the Times and Seasons published several enthu- siastic articles that drew attention to the discoveries of Stephens and Catherwood in Central America and compared them favorably with the Book of Mormon. Two of these articles were signed by the editor, while three other articles were unsigned. Historical sources indicate that the Prophet Joseph Smith served as editor of the paper for all of the issues published between March 1 through the October 15, 1842. During this time, however, apostles John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff assisted the Prophet in his work in the printing office. Since these articles were not specifically signed by Joseph Smith, some have questioned whether the Prophet wrote them himself, or if someone else wrote them, with or without his approval.
Most scholarly attention to the First Vision is dedicated to determining whether it happened or whether whatever happened is reliably described in the few primary accounts we have of it. My interests lie in a different direction. I am interested in the First Vision accounts insofar as they tell us something about religion, not about history, and not least because my wager is that this story, as a story, exceeds the limits of history, especially when it becomes understood as scripture. Which is to say, I want to better understand the work done by this story among the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For this analysis of Smith’s representation of his quest and its positive resolution, I will rely chiefly on the 1832 and 1838 manuscripts as the most intentional of the four accounts. They not only share a historiographical purpose but also are related in their production, the 1838 manuscript having used the 1832 account as a base for its narrative structure and descriptive detail of events. In contrast, the intervening 1835 account is a report of a conversation with a sole interlocutor observed by a notetaking third party. It less useful as a primary source for Smith’s understanding of the larger significance of his initial spiritual experience. The 1842 Wentworth letter is as intentional as the other church histories but relies on secondary accounts for much of its content. Finally, because of its canonical status, the 1838 manuscript is not merely authoritative but generative of the faithful reader’s religious convictions. Therefore, it is uniquely relevant to this analysis of the First Vision’s meaning and function among the Saints.
One of the greatest blessings the Lord has showered upon Latter-day Saints is the guidance and noble example of modern-day apostles and prophets—men whose lives and words inspire, bless, and uplift. This volume brings together engaging biographies of these men—all 109 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles called since the Restoration began. Featuring memorable stories and facts from the lives of those whom the Lord has called to lead His latter-day kingdom, this volume unfolds the panorama of latter-day Church history. ISBN 1-5734-5797-3
The whole title of the pamphlet is as follows: “A Chronological Data of the Book of Mormon Based on the Cycles, Eclipses, Earthquakes, and Comets, Including the Principal Events, Together with the Kings of the Old World, and the Whereabouts of the Lost Tribes and Their Tribes and Their Kings Who Reigned Contemporaneously”
A single volume cannot accurately measure the influence of a beloved colleague, but this one nevertheless stands as modest evidence of Robert L. Millet’s prodigious impact over a career that spanned nearly four decades. His retirement provided an opportunity to gather some of us who count him as a mentor, colleague, and friend. We offer this collection of essays as a monument to his remarkable career as an administrator, teacher, and writer. That these pieces range across topics, disciplines, and even religious traditions seems especially appropriate given Millet’s own broad reach. His students number in the thousands, his readers number perhaps ten times that number, and his friends in academia, the Church Educational System (CES) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and around the globe in many faiths would be difficult to number indeed. Both in terms of his staggering literary production and in his broad collection of colleagues, it is not an overstatement to place Bob Millet among the most influential Latter-day Saint voices of the past quarter century. We who count ourselves grateful recipients of his generous influence hope this volume’s collective thinking, faith, and lively conversation form a worthy “thank you” to our cherished colleague and friend. ISBN 978-0-8425-2968-6
Recent genetic studies indicate that Polynesians were connected to ancient America. Careful reading of native sources led European scholar Michel Graulich to conclude that pre-Columbian Americans held beliefs that may arise out of the Christian tradition. Whether he or those he opposes are correct, the caution to allow more than one interpretative stance remains appropriate. Interpretations of scriptural history are possibly “contingent upon the theoretical inclinations” of the investigators. The historical process of the Anufo people of the Ivory Coast territory suggests how “robbers” or “secret societies” could have grown to be players on the sociopolitical scene in Mesoamerica.
Recent genetic studies indicate that Polynesians were connected to ancient America. Careful reading of native sources led European scholar Michel Graulich to conclude that pre-Columbian Americans held beliefs that may arise out of the Christian tradition. Whether he or those he opposes are correct, the caution to allow more than one interpretative stance remains appropriate. Interpretations of scriptural history are possibly “contingent upon the theoretical inclinations” of the investigators. The historical process of the Anufo people of the Ivory Coast territory suggests how “robbers” or “secret societies” could have grown to be players on the sociopolitical scene in Mesoamerica.
Evidence suggests that ancient Mesoamericans may have had horses. Excavations have produced horse bones that archaeologists believe date to before the Spanish Conquest. The article also mentions an artifact found in Bolivia that may have characters in a Semitic script. Locals have asked for assistance in examining the piece, but it is not yet clear whether it is relevant to the Book of Mormon.
Children’s illustrated story of Ether and the Jaredites.
Review of Daniel L. Belnap, ed., Illuminating the Jaredite Records (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University / Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2020). 320 pages. Hardback, $27.95.
Abstract: Illuminating the Jaredite Record collects ten papers by different Book of Mormon scholars. This is the second publication from the Book of Mormon Academy at Brigham Young University, a collection of scholars interested in the Book of Mormon. As with the first volume, the authors approach the text from different perspectives and thereby illuminate different aspects of the text.
How important it is for fathers and sons to work together on the basics in preparing for a mission.
This article explores what we know about the Joseph Smith Papyri, whether they are connected to the Book of Abraham, and the approaches that Latter-day Saints and non-LDS scholars take when trying to understand such a connection.
Review of Raphael Lataster, Questioning the Historicity of Jesus: Why a Philosophical Analysis Elucidates the Historical Discourse (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 2019). 508 pages. Hardback, $210.
Abstract: In a recent book, Raphael Lataster correctly argues that the acceptance of the general premises of New Testament scholarship, exemplified in the writings of Bart Ehrman, brings into question whether Jesus ever existed. Latter-day Saints who are serious about their witness of Jesus Christ need to be aware that acceptance of these presuppositions undermines their witness of the reality of Jesus Christ and his atonement and makes their faith vain. Why Should We Bother?.
Abstract: The proliferation of Mormon Studies is surprising, considering that many of the basic questions about the field have never been answered. This paper looks at a number of basic questions about Mormon Studies that are of either academic concern or concern for members of the Church of Jesus Christ. They include such questions as whether Mormon Studies is a discipline, whether those who do Mormon Studies necessarily know what is going on in the Church, or if they interpret their findings correctly, whether there is any core knowledge that those who do Mormon Studies can or should have, what sort of topics Mormon Studies covers or should cover and whether those topics really have anything to do with what Mormons actually do or think about, whether Mormon Studies has ulterior political or religious motives, and whether it helps or hurts the Kingdom. Is Mormon Studies a waste of students’ time and donors’ money? Though the paper does not come up with definitive answers to any of those questions, it sketches ways of looking at them from a perspective within the restored Gospel and suggests that these issues ought to be more carefully considered before Latter-day Saints dive headlong into Mormon Studies in general.
RSC Topics > A — C > Christmas
RSC Topics > D — F > Dating
RSC Topics > D — F > Family
RSC Topics > G — K > Honesty
RSC Topics > G — K > Humility
RSC Topics > L — P > Parenting
RSC Topics > T — Z > War
A review of David Charles Gore, The Voice of the People: Political Rhetoric in the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2019). 229 pp. $15.95 (paperback).
Abstract: David Gore’s book The Voice of the People: Political Rhetoric in the Book of Mormon is a welcome reading of Book of Mormon passages which engage in conversation with the biblical politeia — those parts of the Hebrew Bible that explore the constituent parts of the Israelite governance under judges and kings. Gore asserts that the Book of Mormon politeia in Mosiah is in allusive dialogue not just with the Bible but also the Jaredite experience of kingship in Ether. This allusive (intertextual) feature is present not just in the Book of Mormon but any text (Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and other writings) in the biblical tradition. The textual connection is conveyed when the biblical Noah is a type and King Noah the anti-type. The same is true of the biblical Gideon, who is a narrative bridge between the period of the judges and the transformation to monarchy; the Book of Mormon Gideon serves a similar typological function, bridging the reign of kings to the period of judges. Our modern notions of federalism and democracy owe much to the biblical legacy of covenant and republicanism, and although the Book of Mormon political structures share some features with modern federalism, the roots of both go deep into the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Mormon politeia, also a branch of that biblical political legacy, requires that readers understand that filiation, and demands awareness of the dialogue between the Book of Mormon and the Bible on the subject, so such reading can enrich our understanding of both Hebraic scriptures.
[Page 2]There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book we read becomes luminous with manifold allusion. Every sentence is doubly significant, and the sense of our author is as broad as the world.1—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Everything in the universe goes by indirection. There are no straight lines.2—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Modern readers too often misunderstand ancient narrative. Typical of this incomprehension has been the inclination of modern biblical critics to view repetitions as narrative failures. Whether you call such repetitions types, narrative analogies, type scenes, midrashic recurrences, or numerous other names, this view of repeated elements has dominated modern readings of Hebraic narratives for at least 200 years. Robert Alter, who introduced a new yet antique understanding of repetitions in the Hebrew Bible in the 1980s, began to reverse this trend. Such repeated elements aren’t failures or shortcomings but are themselves artistic clues to narrative meaning that call readers to appreciate the depth of the story understood against the background of allusion and tradition. Richard Hays has brought similar insights to Christian scripture. The Book of Mormon incorporates the same narrative features as are present in other Hebraic narrative. The ancient rabbis highlighted the repeating elements in biblical narrative, noting that “what happens to the fathers, happens to the sons.” The story of Moroni’s raising the standard of liberty in Alma 46 illustrates the repetitive expectation by seeing the events of the biblical Joseph’s life repeated in the lives of these Nephite descendants of Joseph. Such recurrence in narratives can, considering the insights of Alter and Hays, reveal richness and depth in the narrative without detracting from the historical qualities of the text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Modern readers too often and easily misread modern assumptions into ancient texts. One such notion is that when the reader encounters repeated stories in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Herodotus, or numerous other texts, the obvious explanation that requires no supporting argument is that one text is plagiarizing or copying from the other. Ancient readers and writers viewed such repetitions differently. In this article, I examine the narratives of a young woman or girl dancing for a king with the promise from the ruler that whatever the dancer wants, she can request and receive; the request often entails a beheading. Some readers argue that a story in Ether 8 and 9, which has such a dance followed by a decapitation, is plagiarized from the gospels of Mark and Matthew: the narrative of the incarceration and death of John the Baptist. The reader of such repeated stories must study with a mindset more sympathetic to the conceptual world of antiquity in which such stories claim to be written. Biblical and Book of Mormon writers viewed such repetitions as the way God works in history, for Nephi asserts that “the course of the Lord is one eternal round” (1 Nephi 10:19), a claim he makes barely after summarizing his father’s vision of the tree of life, a dream he will repeat, expand upon, and make his own in 1 Nephi chapters 11–15 (and just because it is developed as derivative from his father’s dream in some way, no reader suggests it be taken as a plagiaristic borrowing). Nephi’s worldview is part of the shared mental system illustrated by his eponymous ancestor — Joseph, who gave his name to the two tribes of Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh, the latter through which Lehi traced his descent (Alma 10:3) — for youthful Joseph boasts two dreams of his ascendance over his family members, interprets the two dreams of his fellow inmates, and articulates the meaning of Pharaoh’s two dreams, followed by his statement of meaning regarding such [Page 2]repetitions: “And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (Genesis 41:32). O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know the dancer from the dance? W. B. Yeats “Among the Schoolchildren”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
As we come unto Him, God will come to our rescue, whether to heal us or to give us the strength to face any situation.
On June 20, 2001, representatives of BYU’s Maxwell Institute, The Catholic University of America (CUA), and Beth Mardutho, a Syriac studies institute, met together to discuss the digital imaging of key holdings in the Semitics/ICOR Library of CUA’s Mullen Library. CUA’s Semitics/ICOR Library houses one of the largest collections in the world of early and rare books on the Christian East. All parties shared a particular interest in early Syriac printed works, both for their continuing value to contemporary Syriac Christian communities as well as to Syriac scholars. Many early printed catalogs, text editions, grammars, lexica, and other instrumenta and studies have never been superseded or replaced. Their rarity and inaccessibility to scholars has long been a serious problem for the field of Early Christian Studies. The faculty and staff of Catholic University recognized this need as well and generously agreed to work with BYU and Beth Mardutho to provide digital access to their collection. BYU and Beth Mardutho entered into a three-way agreement with CUA to scan a broad selection of their Syriac book holdings, with BYU focusing on titles of primarily academic interest and Beth Mardutho on materials of broader interest to the Syriac churches. The results of this Institute project are now avail-able free of cost on the Web as the Brigham Young University & The Catholic University of America Syriac Studies Reference Library (http://www.lib.byu.edu/dlib/cua/).
The birthplace and spiritual heart of Christian monasticism is the Nitrian Desert of Egypt and the long, shallow valley of Scetis (Wadi el-Natrun). It was to here, from the fourth century onwards, that Macarius the Great and others of the sainted desert fathers retreated from the world, devoting their lives to worship and prayer. While some monks chose to live in isolation as hermits, many others banded together to establish the first monasteries, building churches for worship and libraries for study.
I have examined the Book of Mormon as a product of grand symbolic processes that touch on archetypal themes in the collective unconscious and unleash associated energies in the way described by Jung. Though the Book of Mormon’s specific origins can be located in the tensions between European and Indian cultures, it is clear from its farreaching influence that it can also be applied helpfully to issues in hundreds of cultures and without regard to particular historical contexts. Much as Black Elk’s vision of the six grandfathers and the many sacred hoops of the world gave hope and identity to his people, the Book of Mormon has shown a similar ability to bring peace and a sense of belonging to many people in many places. Regardless of one’s reaction to my overarching thesis that the Book of Mormon is best understood as a symbolic history capable of uniting the un-unitable in shamanic balance, I believe there are more important questions to reflect upon than whether the Book of Mormon is literally an translation of an ancient record or literally a product of nineteenth century or psychological influences. These more important questions center on why it is that the Book of Mormon occupies such an important place in the collective psyche of so many. Instead of worrying about its ancient, modern, or psychological origins, we should be asking what it is about the book that has had power to motivate millions of people to spend their time and energy—some even sacrificing careers and fortunes—in efforts to share this book with others.
Contemporary Mormon interpretive literature emphasizes atrocities found in scripture, with little attention as to whether they are morally defensible (e.g., the near sacrifice of Isaac, the execution by fire of Alma and Amulek’s converts, and the conquest of Caanan). Notes a strain in Mormonism that argues for a God who, in order to strengthen humanity, arranges events that infiict great pain and suffering, especially on the faithful. He then outlines a set of core ethical paradigms. [R.H.B.]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
When the Savior’s all and our all come together, we will find not only forgiveness of sin, … “we shall be like him.”
May your positive memories of BYU stay with you throughout your life. May your BYU connections continue to be a strong influence in all that you do. May you know that you will always be welcome here on campus on this consecrated ground.
Abstract: For nearly 200 years, skeptics have promoted different naturalistic explanations to describe how Joseph Smith generated all the words of the Book of Mormon. The more popular theories include plagiarism (e.g. of the Solomon Spaulding manuscript), collaboration (with Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, etc.), mental illness (bipolar, dissociative, or narcissistic personality disorders) and automatic writing, also called “spirit writing, “trance writing,” or “channeling.” A fifth and currently the most popular theory posits that Joseph Smith possessed all the intellectual abilities needed to complete the task. A variation on this last explanation proposes that he used the methods of professional storytellers. For millennia, bards and minstrels have entertained their audiences with tales that extended over many hours and over several days. This article explores their techniques to assess whether Joseph Smith might have adopted such methodologies during the three-month dictation of the Book of Mormon. Through extensive fieldwork and research, the secrets of the Serbo-Croatian storytellers’ abilities to dictate polished stories in real time have been identified. Their technique, also found with modification among bards throughout the world, involves the memorization of formulaic language organized into formula systems in order to minimize the number of mental choices the tale-teller must make while wordsmithing each phrase. These formulas are evident in the meter, syntax, or lexical combinations employed in the storyteller’s sentences. Professional bards train for many years to learn the patterns and commit them to memory. When compared to Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, the historical record fails to support that he had trained in the use of formula systems prior to 1829 or that his dictation employed a rhythmic delivery of the phrases. Neither are formula patterns detected in the printed 1830 Book of Mormon. Apparently, Smith did not adopt this traditional storyteller’s methodology to dictate the Book of Mormon.
Abstract: In the past decades much of the debate regarding Joseph Smith and plural marriage has focused on his motivation — whether libido or divine inspiration drove the process. Throughout these debates, a small group of observers and participants have maintained that Joseph did not practice polygamy at any time or that his polygamous sealings were nonsexual spiritual marriages. Rather than simply provide supportive evidence for Joseph Smith’s active involvement with plural marriage, this article examines the primary arguments advanced by monogamist proponents to show that important weaknesses exist in each line of reasoning.
Abstract: In the October 2015 issue of The Journal of Mormon History, Gary Bergera presents a richly illustrated article, “Memory as Evidence: Dating Joseph Smith’s Plural Marriages to Louisa Beaman, Zina Jacobs, and Presendia Buell” (95–131). It focuses on a page from the “Historian’s Private Journal,” which Bergera dates to “specifically September or thereabouts” of 1866 (99). Wilford Woodruff’s handwriting on that page describes Joseph Smith’s plural marriage sealings and dates his marriage to Louisa Beaman to “May 1840,” to Zina Huntington on “October 27, 1840,” to Presendia Huntington on “December 11, 1840,” and also to Rhoda Richards on “June 12, 1843.” The first three dates on the historian’s document are important, as Bergera explains: “If accurate, Woodruff’s record not only pushes back the beginnings of Joseph Smith earliest Nauvoo plural marriage by a year but it also requires that we reevaluate what we think we know — and how we know it — about the beginnings of LDS polygamy” (95–96). The key question is whether the information on that page can be considered “accurate” in light of other available documents dealing with these plural sealings. During the remaining thirty-four pages of the article, Bergera presents an argument that 1840, not 1841, is the most reliable year for the Prophet’s earliest Nauvoo plural unions. This essay examines why his analysis of the records appears to be incomplete and his conclusions problematic.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
A Reason for Faith was written to do just as the title implies: provide reasons for faith by offering faithful answers to sincere questions. Before the Internet, historical and doctrinal questions not addressed in LDS Church curriculum were mostly found in the scholarly articles of academic journals. This is no longer the case. These topics are now widely debated and discussed online and in other forums. And when members of the LDS Church come across information that is unfamiliar, they may feel surprise, fear, betrayal, or even anger. Respected LDS scholars have teamed with Laura Harris Hales to offer help in A Reason for Faith: Navigating LDS Doctrine and Church History. Together these authors have spent an average of 25 years researching these topics. Their depth of knowledge and faith enables them to share reliable details, perspective, and context to both LDS doctrine and Church history. The information in these essays can begin an exciting process of discovery for readers as they learn from a source they can trust. Each chapter is engaging and thought-provoking, providing an invaluable resource for both the merely curious and the seriously concerned. ISBN 978-1-9443-9401-1
Whether it is a no-problem day or we are in the midst of an intensive period of testing and trial in our lives, we can find strength in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Abstract: This article is centered on possible causes for the fall of Israel and, secondarily, Judah. The topic is not new. The very destruction of these ancient kingdoms may be the cause for the production of much of the Biblical literature that drives our interpretive enterprise. My proposal is that Max Weber’s socio-political theories of power and domination, sometimes called the tripartite classification of authority, may provide a fruitful lens by which to understand some of the reasons Judah persisted for more than a century after the fall of Israel. Specifically, I wish to investigate whether the lack of routinization of charismatic authority was a contributing factor in Israel’s fall.
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Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Samuel
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
A response to Mark Thomas’s book review of Warfare in the Book of Mormon. It is impossible to prove whether the Book of Mormon is an ancient document or not. The book Warfare was written with the premise that the Book of Mormon is an ancient record, and comparisons of Book of Mormon warfare and Near Eastern military practices are sound. No comparison with warfare in Napoleon’s day or Spaulding’s manuscript is necessary.
Discusses what the Book of Mormon says about war. God has forbidden the shedding of blood (Ether 8:9). However, he does not command men to subject themselves to bondage, but rather to protect their freedom (Alma 6:9-14).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Most Latter-day Saints take for granted the existence of portraits of the Three Witnesses, but in fact no likeness of Oliver Cowdery was available to the Church until 1883, and then it was touch-and-go whether one would be obtained. Had it not been for the faith and tenacity of James H. Hart, who pursued the portrait when others had failed, we might never have known just what Oliver Cowdery looked like. In the course of following the trail of the portrait, Hart was also able to conduct important interviews with David Whitmer.
Issued by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve in 1995, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” has instructed and inspired Latter-day Saints throughout the world, including many LDS scholars who seek to strengthen and defend marriages and families. This new volume, edited by Alan Hawkins, David Dollahite, and Thomas Draper, all of The School of Family Life at Brigham Young University, draws together the best of their latest findings.
Twelve essays based on Book of Mormon teachings that establish the concepts and principles of the Bible. Jesus Christ is the mediator; the pure in heart will come unto Christ; it is required that we forgive one another because of Christ’s Atonement; Alma speaks of the Fall of Adam, the birth of Christ, and the law of Moses; Samuel the Lamanite testifies of Christ; Christ teaches in the land Bountiful; Mormon reveals the God of miracles; Ether teaches of faith; Moroni teaches the way to judge good and evil and exhorts all to come unto Christ.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
After Joseph Smith received the gold plates from the angel Moroni, he had to take great measures to protect them from people who wanted to steal them for their monetary value. Although Joseph did not leave much documentation of such experiences, the people who were closely associated with him at the time did. Using what records still exist, Hedges pieces together some of the stories of Joseph’s challenges in obtaining and protecting the gold plates.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
“Now, since we know the Lord loves all of his children, we need to inquire whether our being here at this time with these blessings is by chance or whether there might be a purpose to it.”
The word resurrection is employed at varying frequencies in specific books and by individual writers in the Book of Mormon. Although Alma uses resurrection most often overall, Abinadi uses it more often per thousand words spoken. Some phrases in which resurrection is used in unique patterns by different speakers include power of the resurrection, first resurrection, and resurrection with the words time or with body. Some phrasal uses of resurrection in the Book of Mormon are not found in the Bible (such as resurrection and presence appearing together). This study of the usage of one individual word appears to show that individual voices are preserved in the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The word Gentiles appears 141 times in the Book of Mormon (the singular Gentile appears only five times.) It appears more frequently than key words such as baptize, resurrection, Zion, and truth. The word Gentiles does not appear with equal frequency throughout the Book of Mormon; in fact, it appears in only five of its fifteen books: 1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, 3 Nephi, Mormon, and Ether. Additionally, Book of Mormon speakers did not say Gentiles evenly. Some speakers said the word much less often than we might expect while others used it much more. Nephi1 used Gentiles the most (43 times), and Christ Himself used it 38 times. In addition to analyzing which speakers used the word, this study shows distinctive ways in which Book of Mormon speakers used this word.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Gordon B. Hinckley - I know of no single practice that will have a more salutary effect upon your lives than the practice of kneeling together as you begin and close each day. Somehow the little storms that seem to afflict every marriage are dissipated when, kneeling before the Lord, you thank him for one another, in the presence of one another, and then together invoke his blessings upon your lives, your home, your loved ones, and your dreams.
With prayer and faith and in humility, testimony is borne to you. May we all be inspired together. May our hearts be lifted in praise to our Redeemer.
You young men and you young women, most of you will marry and have children. Your children will have children, as will the children who come after them. Life is a great chain of generations that we in the Church believe must be linked together.
Examines the Book of Mormon language, the materials upon which the text was written, the translation of the book, and the problems of the Book of Ether. The author finds that the Book of Mormon is “one of the most cunning and wicked impositions ever palmed upon the world”
As parents we can hold life together … with love and faith, passed on to the next generation, one child at a time.
RSC Topics > D — F > Discipleship
Quite apart from the matter of school or missions or marriage or whatever, life ought to be enjoyed at every stage of our experience and should not be hurried and wrenched and truncated and torn to fit an unnatural schedule which you have predetermined but which may not be the Lord’s personal plan for you at all.
Our health and our wholeness are unquestionably linked with our holiness. We need very much for body, mind, and spirit to come together, to unite in one healthy, stable soul.
The 2010 and 2011 BYU Easter Conferences This volume brings together talks from two Brigham Young University Easter Conferences. Presentations address the Savior, his life, his mission, the Atonement, and his influence in our lives today. The contributors include Elder John H. Groberg, Elder Gerald N. Lund, Robert L. Millet, and others. The topics range from the infinite sweep of the Atonement to its personal reach in perfecting individuals. “It is always a challenge to talk or write about the Atonement of Jesus Christ,” notes Elder Lund. “First of all, it is infinite in its scope. It is the most profound and pivotal event in all of eternity. And we are so totally and utterly finite. We can but glimpse its importance and come only to a small understanding of its full meaning for us.” ISBN 978-0-8425-2784-2
The focus of this project is to bring together all the known paintings and photographic images of Brigham from his lifetime. Additionally, a representative sample of the numerous graphic images of Brigham appearing in newspapers, magazines, and books from the same period are reproduced. Illustrations of the Mormon leader in these publications sometimes closely reflect the photographic record because they are based on original photographs or because they were made from personal observations by a trained artist. In many cases, artists met Brigham face-to-face and then worked from photographic images to finish their work. Other illustrations, however, range from the ridiculously funny to the blatantly vicious, like many political cartoons of the day. ISBN 1-5700-8625-7
In the year 1850, Elder Lorenzo Snow of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles arrived in Italy as a missionary. He and his companions spent much of their time with a Waldensian community. Elder Snow soon began sending missionaries to Switzerland to preach the gospel to French speakers there and began publishing church materials into French. The new materials caused a lot of opposition from Swiss Protestants and Italian Catholics. Elder Snow then went to England, where he solicited the help of an anonymous translator, and together they completed the translation of the Book of Mormon into Italian. Elder Snow returned to Italy soon after, bringing copies of Il Libro di Mormon with him, but he and the other missionaries did not find much success. Because of the influence of the Catholic Church on the government, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not given much freedom in their preaching. Il Libro di Mormon similarly did not significantly help the missionary work. Almost all the Italian converts to the church were French-speaking Waldensians. Because of the lack of progress, the Italian mission was closed in 1867 and not reopened until a century later, in 1966.
Also available for free at BYU ScholarsArchive.
A review of Lehi in the Desert, The World of the Jaredites, There Were Jaredites, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 5.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Hugh Nibley > Scholarship, Footnotes, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, CWHN, Editing > Book of Mormon
May we enjoy our time together and take full advantage of opportunities to serve and be blessed by others.
Under the guidance of some of the best thinkers on the Book of Mormon, the Abinadi narrative springs to life as each chapter approaches Abinadi’s story and words from a different perspective. Whether viewed through a sociopolitical, literary, theological, philosophical, or historical lens, new insights and a new appreciation for the richness of Abinadi’s discourse will help readers reignite their passion for the beauty and depth of the Book of Mormon. This volume is written for an informed, Latter-day Saint audience and seeks to make a contribution with other high-quality research and writing being done on the Book of Mormon. It is produced by members of Brigham Young University’s Book of Mormon Academy, a group of scholars dedicated to research on the Book of Mormon. Each of the members brings a different area of expertise to bear on the Abinadi narrative. As that narrative is viewed from a variety of angles, its richness, beauty, and profound meaning come more clearly into focus. ISBN 978-1-9443-9426-4
Abstract: In this article, Paul Hoskisson discusses the question of whether Janus parallelism, a sophisticated literary form found in the Hebrew Bible and elsewhere in manuscripts of the ancient Near East, might also be detected in the Book of Mormon. Because the Book of Mormon exists only in translation, answering this question is not a simple matter. Hoskisson makes the case that 1 Nephi 18:16 may provide the first plausible example of Janus parallelism in the Book of Mormon. [Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See Paul Hoskisson, “Janus Parallelism: Speculation on a Possible Poetic Wordplay in the Book of Mormon,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 151–60. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Parallelism
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
There are two ways to read a text, through exegesis and through eisegesis. The first means, approximately, “reading out of the text,” while the second means, approximately, “reading into the text.” Both are legitimate ways of approaching a text. Anyone who reads the scriptures will at times engage in both exegesis and eisegesis, whether knowingly or unwittingly. Therefore, the more conscientiously and consciously we engage in rigorous and careful exegesis and eisegesis, the better the chance that our reading of the scriptures will truly enlighten the mind and provide substance for the soul. I will illustrate both approaches using the term familiar spirit found in 2 Nephi 26:12, Isaiah 29:4, and 1 Samuel 28.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
In teaching Book of Mormon at Brigham Young University over the past quarter century, I have rarely found a student, whether true freshman or returned missionary, who knows what the word mark means in Jacob 4:14.1 Most of them know that the mark symbolizes Christ in this verse, but they do not know what a mark is. That is, if a mark symbolizes Christ, then mark must be something in real life other than Christ. In fact, most Book of Mormon readers justifiably feel satisfied and uplifted by relying on what they think mark means in this verse. While it is true that great lessons can be learned from this verse by relying simply on the symbolic meaning of mark, when the meaning of mark as it fell from the Prophet’s lips while translating becomes clear, whole new, additional dimensions of understandings of Jacob’s warning begin to unfold.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This volume presents a collection of essays dedicated to the life and work of a great scholar, John W. Welch, a polymath who is known to his many friends as “Jack.” It honors a man who has contributed prodigiously—as author, editor, and organizer—to a growing body of rigorous, faithful Mormon scholarship.Volumes such as this, which celebrate the life and career of an esteemed colleague, are typically described with the German term \"festschrift,\" a word that denotes not only festive celebration but esteem, respect, and gratitude for contributions that deserve to be honored. We deliberately use the word \"honor\" in the subtitle of this book, intending to express precisely those sentiments.Those who have watched and worked with Jack over many years of extraordinarily rich productivity have sometimes wondered whether he ever sleeps. All have benefited enormously from his work and remarkable insights.
The Book of Mormon was written in a language that was grounded in Hebrew and Egyptian; the people of the Book of Mormon most likely spoke this same language. It is interesting, then, that the Book of Mormon authors periodically included definitions for certain terms that they used in their writing, as if their audience did not understand them. This technique, known as a gloss, suggests that those terms may not have been a part of that ancient language. In an attempt to uncover the true origin of such words, this article dissects the Book of Mormon term Irreantum and delves into its linguistic characteristics to determine whether the term could have originated from Hebrew, Egyptian, ancient South Semitic, or another language.
When we become instruments in the hands of God, we are used by Him to do His work.
The New Rendition of the Gospel of Luke provides a modern English translation of Luke’s Greek text. It is excerpted from The Testimony of Luke by S. Kent Brown. This Rendition was created mainly by Eric D. Huntsman. Luke lays claim to writing more than any other New Testament author. With his Gospel and Book of Acts, this second-generation Christian’s portrait of the world out of which Jesus and his church arose is beyond measure. Here, readers will discover a newly opened window into the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, offering a welcoming vista warmed by the presence of the caring and compassionate Son of God and graced by the personalities, stories (especially of women), and parables (such as the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son) that only Luke has preserved. This Rendition is part of the BYU New Testament Commentary series. This scholarly project aims to create a faithful modern English translation together with a full, in-depth, carefully researched Latter-day Saint commentary for each book on the New Testament. More of the New Rendition and commentary volumes will be added in coming months and years. As of the beginning of 2019, volumes have been published on Mark, Luke, First Corinthians, and Revelation.
The 47th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium While Jesus and his disciples were at or near Caesarea Philippi, Peter testified that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Martha had a similar divine testimony, proclaiming, “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.” In much the same way, a standard part of Latter-day Saint discourse includes bearing testimony that “Jesus is the Christ,” but what do we mean when we say that Jesus is the Christ? This volume compiles essays given at a BYU Sidney B. Sperry Symposium that uniquely address such questions from a Latter-day Saint perspective, bringing together both biblical scholarship and Restoration insights that invite us to come to Christ and apply gospel teachings to real life. ISBN 978-1-9443-9453-0
You and the Lord, working together, can accomplish anything. Never forget—God did not put us here to fail.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were among US soldiers in World War II who endured the atrocities of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines and the brutality of Japanese POW camps. This is the story, largely told through their personal accounts, of a group of twenty-nine Latter-day Saint POWs in the Philippines, the events that brought them together to form an informal branch of the Church in an infamous POW camp, a remarkable event in the history of the Church, and the events that would later pull them apart—twelve to their liberation and seventeen to their death. ISBN 978-1-9503-0413-4
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Stable families provide the fabric that holds society together, benefiting all mankind.
Abstract: Alma refers to Gazelem in his instructions to his son Helaman in Alma 37:23. This article proposes and explores the concept of identifying Gazelem as a Jaredite seer. Other theories of the identity of Gazelem are addressed in this article but not explored in depth. It discusses the full context of Alma’s words, the Jaredite secret combinations and their oaths, Gazelem’s seer stone, and the Nephite interpreters. Additionally, it proposes a possible timeline that Gazelem lived among the Jaredites. It also discusses the usage of “Gazelam” as a substitute name for Joseph Smith in early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: In 1 Nephi 1:16–17, Nephi tells us he is abridging “the record of my father.” The specific words Nephi uses in his writings form several basic but important patterns and features used repeatedly by Nephi and also by other Book of Mormon writers. These patterns and features provide context that appears to indicate that Nephi’s abridgment of Lehi’s record is the third-person account found in 1 Nephi 1:4 through 2:15 and that Nephi’s first-person account of his own ministry begins in 1 Nephi 2:16.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: The Book of Mormon describes a dark mark on the skin that distinguished people who rebelled against God and his laws from those who obeyed God. The Old Testament refers to a mark that fits this description and has nothing to do with natural skin color. The law of Moses prohibited the Lord’s covenant people from cutting sacrilegious marks (ancient tattoos) into their skin. The Bible simply calls these prohibited tattoos “marks” (Leviticus 19:28). This biblical meaning of the word mark, together with biblical meanings of other related words, helps us understand all Book of Mormon passages associated with the Lamanite mark.
Obviously we cannot completely control the events that come at us daily, but we can indeed control the worthwhileness of those events. We worship an omniscient God and know that “all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
When Alma the Younger returned to Zarahemla following his mission to the Zoramites, “he caused that his sons should be gathered together, that he might give unto them every one his charge, separately, concerning the things pertaining to righteousness” (Alma 35:16). The Book of Mormon contains a significantly larger amount of counsel from Alma to his wayward son Corianton than to Helaman and Shiblon.
Within Alma’s teachings, we discover a concise explanation of the Fall of Adam and three elements necessary to reclaim each individual from the Fall, namely, death, the Atonement, and the Resurrection. This chapter will discuss the Fall of Adam and these three elements in Alma’s teachings to Corianton and also in the inspired teachings of modern apostles and prophets. This chapter will conclude that we can control only one of the three elements necessary to reclaim mankind from the Fall: whether we use the Atonement to repent of our sins and forgive others.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > D — F > Death
RSC Topics > D — F > Fall of Adam and Eve
RSC Topics > Q — S > Resurrection
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
RSC Topics > T — Z > Virtue
For three days, April 11-13, 2002, Brigham Young University hosted a unique conference titled “Salvation in Christ: Christian Perspectives.” Scholars, theologians, and interested laypersons came together to celebrate the redemptive act of our Lord Jesus Christ and to explain their understandings of salvation in Christ from the viewpoints of their respective Christian denominational backgrounds. A broad spectrum of Christian approaches were represented, as was the range of issues needing to be addressed with the monumental topic of “Salvation in Christ” as the theme for the gathering. The purpose of the conference was for participants to speak, listen, and learn from one another--to become better acquainted with various faith traditions, particularly different perspectives on the major doctrines associated with Christian salvation. ISBN 0-8425-2606-4
Spencer W. Kimball spent innumerable hours working on a biography of his father, Andrew, but was unable to finish it. This book, completed by Spencer’s son and biographer, Edward L. Kimball, brings that desire to fulfillment. Father of a Prophet is the link between Andrew’s apostle father (Heber C. Kimball) and his prophet son (Spencer W. Kimball), and it provides an important prologue to the biographies Spencer W. Kimball (1977), and Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball (2005). Andrew presided for twelve years over the Indian Territory Mission, and he worked for years as a salesman in Utah and Idaho traveling from village to village. Then, in 1898, Church leaders called Andrew to move with his family to Arizona and preside over the St. Joseph Stake, covering southeastern Arizona and extending to El Paso, Texas, including the Mormon settlements in the Gila River Valley. Andrew invested himself deeply in his adopted community. He served a term in the Arizona legislature and exerted statewide influence as chair of the agricultural and horticultural commission. Whenever a vacancy occurred in the Quorum of the Twelve, Andrew’s name received speculative mention. His twenty-five years in stake administration illuminate the Church’s maturation from pioneer times to a period of international growth, and his exemplary loyalty and personal high principles were passed on to his son Spencer, especially as father and son served together in the stake presidency.
If two people love the Lord more than their own lives and then love each other more than their own lives, working together in total harmony with the gospel program as their basic structure they are sure to have this great happiness.
The Book of Mormon is a religious text which, like the Bible, may be subjected to various methods of analysis. This thesis discusses whether literary methods of analysis are applicable to a sacred text, and suggests rules which should govern such a method of analysis. Following these rules, the thesis provides an analysis of specific themes particular to the Book of Mormon and suggests how they are integral to the structure of the text. Then it relates the linguistic problems which the authors encountered in their transcription and translation labours, and considers the writers’ self-conscious compositional efforts in relation to the moral message which the book proclaims. Two anomalies--large sections from the Book of Isaiah and progressively intrusive editorializing--are then examined in terms of their incorporation into the thematic and structural integrity of the text. Finally, consideration is given to the hermeneutical problem the contemporary reader encounters in reading and comprehending an ancient text. The thesis demonstrates that there is a closely integrated relationship between the form and the content of the text, and argues that the authors’ achievement of their purpose--to preach a message to a distant, future audience--can be considered a sophisticated linguistic and literary accomplishment.
I invite each of you to “step up with me.” Let us “walk together” in service to this great university and the students it produces.
A number of texts from the Qumran scrolls demonstrate the community’s interest in heavenly ascent and in communion with angels. This article lays out a pattern observable in some of the poetic/liturgical texts (for example, the Hodayot and other noncanonical psalms) in which the leader of the community is taken up into the divine council of God to be taught the heavenly mysteries, is appointed a teacher of those mysteries, and is then commissioned to share the teachings with his followers. Upon learning the mysteries, the followers are enabled to likewise ascend to heaven to praise God with the angels. In some texts, the human worshippers appear to undergo a transfiguration so that they become like the heavenly beings. This article further illustrates how these elements can be found together in a liturgical text known as the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice; their collective presence suggests that all were part of a ritual sequence. Finally, the article argues that these same elements, or traditions related to them, can be found in passages from the Old Testament.
Review of Rosalynde Frandsen Welch, Ether: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 128 pages. $9.95 (paperback).
Abstract: The Book of Ether is a sometimes-overlooked gem of a text within the Book of Mormon, a history within a history that deserves careful and innovative investigation. Rosalynde Frandsen Welch offers such with a novel perspective in her entry in the Maxwell Institute’s series of “brief theological introductions” to the books within the Book of Mormon. The principal focus of Welch’s analysis is on issues concerning Moroni’s editorial purposes, how he interacts with his source text, and the ethics of his agenda for his abridgment of the Jaredite record. She critiques what she sees as Moroni’s lack of interest in the Jaredite record for its own sake and his attempts to “Christianize” the indigenous religion and culture of the former inhabitants of the land he occupies. Additionally, Welch presents Moroni as offering his future audience a “reader-centered theology of scripture” that seeks to transfer the authority of Scripture from the author to the reader. This review finds some of Welch’s proposals to be problematic but recognizes the great value of her beautifully written contribution to the academic study of the Book of Ether and the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Standing in holy places is all about being in good company, whether you are alone or with others.
RSC Topics > L — P > Prophets
Harold B. Lee - “The Church has need of every member that all may be edified together.”
“I strongly believe that one of the best barometers by which you can measure whether you are taking advantage of what BYU uniquely offers is your activity in your ward or other congregation.”
As we learn to better recognize and respond to the promptings of the Spirit, we will find answers to our prayers and have increased capacity to know how and whether those promptings are from the Holy Ghost.
Editorials concerning whether or not changes should be made to the Book of Mormon. Lipsit warns against tampering with Divine will; Clark argues that the book’s imperfections show that Joseph Smith was not the author; Winslow supports correction of punctuation and grammatical errors; Wardle gives a history of various Book of Mormon editions, saying that a corrected edition is needed; Christenson argues for a modern English version of the Book of Mormon; Shute, whose original proposal for another edition of the Book of Mormon aroused the controversy, urges the RLDS church to work on foreign language translations of the Book of Mormon and to set up a committee to produce a “good English” translation of the Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith began an ambitious program to revise the biblical text in June 1830, not long after the organization of the Church of Christ and the publication of the Book of Mormon. While the result came to be known as the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), it was not a literal word-for-word translation of ancient biblical languages from a manuscript but more of an inspired revision or paraphrase based on the King James Version in English, carried out primarily between June 1830 and July 1833.1 Since Joseph Smith never specifically addressed how or exactly why he made the particular changes he did, it is an open question whether he felt he was restoring ancient material, making inspired commentary, modernizing the language, a combination of things, or something else.2 Another open question related to this project is its status among Latter-day Saint scripture. Is the entire JST considered canonical or not? Perhaps a further open question is whether the JST project was ever finished. This paper will address these issues by giving an overview of statements and approaches toward the JST.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
A teacher at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion for three decades, T. Edgar Lyon regularly drew more students than could squeeze into his classroom. Lyon’s gift as a vivid storyteller made Church history “come alive.” Dr. Lyon, eyes twinkling, would ask: “Why did Brigham Young choose oxen over horses or mules to move wagons westward?” “Better gas mileage,” Lyon beamed: “They could survive on poor grass without supplemental grain, and they ate less in comparison to the weight they pulled.” Lyon always affirmed, “The testimony is in the details.” Lyon’s rich biography, revealed through an engaging narrative, explores his mission and mission presidency in the Netherlands, University of Chicago study under renowned biblical scholars, contributions to seminary and institute programs during the Church Educational System’s formative years, and work with the Nauvoo Restoration project.
Newel Knight (1800–1847) was one of the very earliest Latter-day Saint converts and maintained a lifelong friendship and close association with Joseph Smith Jr. The journals of Newel Knight are part of a handful of essential manuscript sources that every historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints relies on to understand its early history. He was one of a few early converts to provide an eyewitness account of the founding events in Church history, including the rise and fall of the Church in Missouri, miraculous healings, legal battles, the construction and dedication of the Kirtland Temple, the first marriage performed by Joseph Smith Jr., the martyrdom, and the cold, difficult exodus from Illinois to Winter Quarters. Knight’s history has always been a difficult source to use because it was never published in one volume until now. This book brings together his various accounts into one place to tell the story of the rise of the Latter-day Saints. ISBN 978-1-9443-9483-7
Abstract: In this personal essay, Ann Madsen reflects on the ways in which the healing power of Christ converges with His exalting power at Easter. Cold gives way to warmth, pride to submission, and reflection to sanctification. The weekly Sacrament provides a time for cleansing, renewal, and drawing our thoughts toward the Lord. The path leads to us becoming like Him.
The heritage of prayer in this church teaches us that, whether or not we settle the question of foreknowledge, there is a point in reaching up to that Person, not a thing, who is himself free and has used his freedom to forbid to himself the use of force.
Historical narratives are extracted from the Book of Mormon and quoted verbatim to create a Book of Mormon history. The selections are arranged in historical order from 1 Nephi to Mormon, with the exception of the book of Ether, which is placed last.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > L — P > Marriage
We may never know in this life why we face what we do, but we can feel confident that we can grow from the experience.
Since historians cannot prove or disprove the truth of the Book of Mormon or whether Joseph Smith was a prophet, they should adopt a middle ground and only discuss secondary issues. Thus, they simply seek to understand how the Book of Mormon influences those who believe in it without discussing whether or not it is true.
RSC Topics > D — F > Fall of Adam and Eve
Robert J. Matthew’s first article in the Autumn 1968 issue of BYU Studies dealt primarily with the making of the Inspired Version of the Bible. It considered two major aspects: (1) the preparation of the manuscript notes by the Prophet Joseph Smith and his scribes, and (2) the publication of the printed editions by The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS). This article will discuss a number of passages that are unique to the Inspired Version and also some of the implications in the text that are frequently overlooked. There are at least three levels at which one may read the Inspired Version. The first and simplest level is to compare it with the King James Version to find the variant readings. The second and perhaps the most informative level is to analyze each variant to determine the actual change in meaning that resulted from the Inspired Version rendition. The third and most difficult level is to examine the Inspired Version not only for content but also for style. This level is not limited to what is said but also involves an analysis of how it is said. The third level is particularly important because it deals with the question of whether the Inspired Version is a restoration of the original text of the Bible. Although not all of the variants in the Inspired Version are suitable for this kind of critical examination, a number of passages are thus suited, and these are highly interesting and even provocative when analyzed. Such passages have characteristics about them which strongly suggest inspiration and even restoration of the original text in some instances.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Oh, how we adore Jesus for his atonement! For his free gift of immortality to all!
Furthermore, whether you realize it or not, you are a generation drenched in destiny.
Meekness is needed in order for us to be spiritually successful—whether in matters of the intellect, in the management of power, in the dissolution of personal pride, or in coping with the challenges and routine of life. With meekness, living in “thanksgiving daily” is actually possible even in life’s stern seasons.
In recent decades, prophets have repeatedly emphasized how a strong marriage and family are the basis of a robust society; they have counseled and warned of the many modern obstacles that can erode a healthy family life. This book draws on inspiring personal stories, research from sociology and psychology, and doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ to present key principles that, when applied, will help a marriage thrive. The authors use three broad content areas—the things we each need to do personally to improve our marriage (Me), the things we need to do together as a couple to strengthen our marital relationship (We), and ways we can more fully involve God in our marriage relationship (Thee). This three-part approach is theoretical and practical and will help guide you to a successful and happy marriage. ISBN 978-1-9443-9431-8
Quotes from Ether and Orson Pratt to discuss the impracticalities of Jaredite barges.
Joseph and Hyrum Smith exemplified leadership as they worked together in organizing and operating the Church, teaching, speaking, and building temples and towns. As leaders, they held firm to their convictions, roused the hearts and minds of men and women in varied walks of life, and left legacies sufficient to stamp them as two of the most remarkable and influential men of the nineteenth century. The stories and examples of their shared leadership illustrate how they honored agency, exerted righteous influence, grew through adversity, forged bonds of obligation and love, governed conflict, and organized through councils. Their examples in this book can help us transform our personal perspective of leadership, lead with an eternal focus, heal and bless others through our leadership, learn and grow by asking authentic questions, share leadership in the home, and lead in the governmental arena. By incorporating these principles in our lives, we can foster more satisfying relationships in our homes, our Church service, and our professional lives. The book concludes with a call for each of us to carry on their legacy, which transcends time and place. Their lives and teachings are filled with lessons and skills we can easily apply today. ISBN 978-0-8425-2754-5
The article describes how DNA was used to discover the probable identity of the parents and family of Hiram Page, a central figure of the early Mormon movement. The primary subjects of the DNA study were a 5th generation descendant of Hiram Page and a 5th generation descendant of Philander Page and the testing was done by Family Tree DNA while the Page DNA surname project was used for comparison together with YSearch, the online Y-DNA database.
The Book of Mormon is an account of God’s dealings with his people in America and is a second witness for Christ. 3 Nephi may be considered the “Fifth Gospel” and the Doctrine and Covenants represents the “Sixth Gospel” of Christ. Together these works set forth the correct way of life.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Reports the discovery of bones of a mastodon 83 feet below the surface, about 100 feet from the Mohawk river at a village of Cohoes, near Troy, New York. The Book of Mormon is not mentioned but this and the article following it, “The Mastodon of the Book of Ether” are used to support the Book of Mormon.
Compares the attitudes of the people during the Civil War with people who fought in Book of Mormon wars. During the Civil War, Americans fought to the bitter end rather than surrendering when they saw that they would suffer defeat. Similar attitudes prevailed in the Book of Mormon when the Lamanites destroyed all the Nephites (Mormon 6) and the Jaredites slaughtered one another (Ether 15).
The author suggests that some scientific body endeavor to prove or disprove whether archaeological discoveries validate the Book of Mormon.
With the rapid and visible growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it was inevitable that doctrinal differences would arise between the Latter-day Saints and people of other faiths. Members of the LDS Church profess to be Christians, yet others doubt or do not understand this claim.
The contributors to Latter-day Christianity hope that the 10 essays contained in this full-color, illustrated book will help Latter-day Saints who want to explain their beliefs and will be useful to people outside the LDS Church who want a simple and clear statement of those beliefs. The essays address such topics as whether Latter-day Saints are Christian and what they believe about God, the Bible, personal revelation, human deification, salvation, and proselytization.
Book of Ether, Chapter 1
Winner of the Geraldine McBride Woodward Award for Best Publication in International Mormon History (Mormon History Association). Today we are mostly unfamiliar with the conditions the German Saints faced during World War II. They did not have ready access to the many conveniences American Saints took for granted—including their local Church leaders, clean places to meet, cars, and temples. In fact, German Saints could only experience the temple by crossing the Atlantic Ocean and most of the North American continent. Germany was one of the war fronts where homes were destroyed and friends and families were killed. Unlike American soldiers returning to their homes, nearly half of the German Saints had no home to which to return. In Harm’s Way contains compelling accounts of thousands of members of the Church in East Germany who found themselves in a precarious situation during World War II. They were compelled to live under the tyranny of Nazi Germany and participate in offensive and defensive military actions. The story of how they lived and died under those conditions has never before been told. This volume brings together the accounts of hundreds of Church members who survived the war—preserved in hundreds of personal interviews, journals, letters, and photographs. Their stories of joy and suffering are presented in this book against the background of the rise and collapse of the Third Reich. Readers will be amazed at the faith and dedication demonstrated by these Saints, young and old, military and civilian. A photo of a soldier with a swastika on his uniform evokes strong emotions. Reading this book opens our eyes to the possibility that the soldier may be caught in the turmoil of a political landscape, between duty to God and loyalty to country. Perhaps he is a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood or a branch president, a father of six or a former missionary. ISBN 978-0-8425-2746-0
The author of this paper accuses Moroni of not letting competent professionals view the golden plates. Mysteries concerning the ancient Mesoamericans, will forever remain unknown until Moroni descends and reveals to professionals where to find the hidden golden plates. One such mystery, for instance, pertains to whether or not Quetzalcoatl is related to the Asian Buddha.
Submitting oneself to an ordeal was viewed in several ancient legal systems as a means of seeking a divine dispensation of judgment. The idea that justice will prevail in a contest between good and evil survives in the spontaneous schoolyard ordeal: “Cheaters never prosper” chant the children who win the replay after a dispute over whether the original ball was fair or foul. Piaget found that young children often believe that natural events are punishment for moral transgressions, while teenagers discard the idea of immanent justice in favor of mechanical chance.
Nearly every society has, at some time in its development, made formal use of the ordeal to test guilt and innocence, and nearly every society has used water as one of the mediums to reveal the truth--God’s judgment. This study examines the common elements of water ordeals in secular and scriptural contexts. An overview of trials by water is followed by specific analysis of water ordeals in the Near East generally, which in turn serves as background for detailing the literal and metaphorical water ordeals in the Old Testament, New Testament and Book of Mormon.
Abstract: In its action, setting, and arrangement, the crucifixion may be viewed as a stark mockery of the final judgment scene. This article provides a brief review of the relevant scriptures, considered together with some related apocryphal and other early Christian writings of interest in regard to the crucifixion. These sources point to the interpretation that the gospel writers saw in the crucifixion a striking symbolism that can provide a strong reminder, witness, and warning of the coming judgment. The Lord is seen in the crucifixion as at once representing His humility in submitting Himself to be judged and, conversely, His authority and power to be the judge of all. The crucifixion signifies the concept of a reciprocal or two-way judgment, as emphasized in the Book of Mormon, where mankind first judges the Lord, and later are to be judged accordingly by Him in return.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Members of different faiths need to work together to affirm religious liberty, necessary in preserving human rights, human dignity, and human flourishing.
Thomas S. Monson -Together we shall move forward doing His work.
Missionary service is a priesthood duty—an obligation the Lord expects of us who have been given so very much.
Abstract: The Book of Abraham has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention since some of the papyri once owned by Joseph Smith were rediscovered. A focus of this attention has been the source of the Book of Abraham, with some contending that the extant fragments are the source, while others have argued that the source is either other papyri or something else altogether. New investigations suggest that, while the relationship between papyri and text is not clear, it is clear that the fragments are not the source and that the method of translation was not the Kirtland Egyptian Papers. Additionally, further investigations into the source of the Book of Abraham as well as the interpretations of the facsimiles have made it clear that much of the controversy about the Book of Abraham has been based on untested assumptions. Book of Abraham studies have made significant strides forward in the last few decades, while some avenues of research are in need of further pursuit.
This article discusses possible explanations regarding the procedures Joseph Smith and his associates used in mounting the Joseph Smith Papyri fragments and their reasons for doing so. The backing materials, some of which contain drawings of a temple plan and plat sketches of northeastern Ohio townships, provide a valuable historical artifact that helps historians answer questions associated with the papyri. The dimensions, gluing techniques, and cutting patterns of the backing paper and papyri also help explain the mounting process, as does an examination of the handwriting on the backing paper. Careful analysis suggests that a portion of the backing material came from several sheets of paper glued together to make a large sheet on which plans for a temple were drawn. Historical evidence suggests that in late 1837 or early 1838, pieces of papyri were glued to this and other papers and cut into smaller pieces, some of which were put under glass to preserve the papyrus fragments from further deterioration.
The issues tying the United States and the Middle East together are not simple. From oil, to terrorism, to Isis, Vali Nasr explains why maintaining interactions with the Middle East is crucial at this time.
The Autobiography of Andrew Jenson, first published in 1938 by the Deseret News Press in Salt Lake City, Utah, tells the personal story of a Danish Mormon convert who eventually served as Assistant Church Historian of the LDS Church for over forty years. The author mined his voluminous personal journals and assembled Church records to tell the story of the Restoration of the gospel since the 1850s when he arrived in Utah as a European immigrant. Through his synthesized research, writing, and reflections, readers come away with deeper appreciation for the men and women whose lives constitute Mormon history. Jenson told their stories together with his life experiences, creating an important window into the Mormon past. ISBN 978-1-944394-00-4
The first Latter-day Saint missionaries to Japan encountered formidable language, religious, and cultural barriers. After considerable efforts, Church officials closed the mission in 1924. Later, the gospel was reintroduced in mid-century, when it took root. Since that time, Mormon missionaries have baptized many believers, several missions have opened, auxiliary organizations such as the Relief Society have been instituted, and two temples have been constructed. This volume celebrates the Church’s first hundred years among the Japanese. The articles explore such issues as the Japanese presses’ portrayal of Mormonism and answer questions such as what the historical and cultural challenges are to successful missionary work in Japan; why the Book of Mormon needed to be translated three times in one century; and whether Latter-day Saint converts hail from specific areas based on the region’s religious traditions. The essays in the book let readers witness the expansion and growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints among the Japanese.
Whether full-time missionaries or members, we should all be good examples of the believers in Jesus Christ.
Genealogies, family stories, historical accounts, and traditions … form a bridge between past and future and bind generations together in ways that no other keepsake can.
Original version of this book.
The essays in this volume, including four on today’s world, were selected by a panel of Hugh Nibley’s colleagues. They are singular in their penetration, their originality, and their vitality. Reaching from the apocalyptic visions of original “treasures in heaven” down to the climax of history, they are more than mind-stretching. The delight of Nibley’s brilliant and sometimes biting prose style imparts a sense of the agelessness of what he calls the “three-act play” of human existence. Written specially for this book, the author’s own “intellectual autobiography,” together with his introductory paragraphs for the various chapters, complete the work of making the book a fitting and permanent record of one of the past outstanding historians
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Criticisms, Apologetics
The Book of Mormon is a prophetic book. It was written by prophets and about prophets. It was foreseen by prophets and foresees our day. It was brought forth by prophetic gifts for prophetic purposes. It speaks in a clarion voice of warning to those who would survive the last days. The articles in this volume, brought together under one cover for the first time, approach the Book of Mormon through a variety of prophetic themes. They speak out incisively on such topics as the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, internal and external evidences of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, literary style in the Book of Mormon, ancient temples and the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon’s teachings for the last days.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley (CWHN)
These essays were originally published together in the 1970 Deseret Book publication by the same title and are all included in Mormonism and Early Christianity, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 4. 10–44, 168–208, 391–434.
Three of Nibley’s important essays on the fate of the primitive Christian church and its institutions and beliefs previously available only in academic journals in 1959-60, 1961, and 1966 are reprinted and indexed for the Mormon audience.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > History > Christian History, Apostasy
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Jesus Christ > Forty-Day Ministry
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Temples > Ancient Temples
New to this edition is Gary Gillum’s “Hugh Nibley: Scholar of the Spirit, Missionary of the Mind”; the bibliography has been dropped.
The essays in this volume, including four on today’s world, were selected by a panel of Hugh Nibley’s colleagues. They are singular in their penetration, their originality, and their vitality. Reaching from the apocalyptic visions of original “treasures in heaven” down to the climax of history, they are more than mind-stretching. The delight of Nibley’s brilliant and sometimes biting prose style imparts a sense of the agelessness of what he calls the “three-act play” of human existence. Written specially for this book, the author’s own “intellectual autobiography,” together with his introductory paragraphs for the various chapters, complete the work of making the book a fitting and permanent record of one of the past outstanding historians
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Criticisms, Apologetics
“Reprinted as part three of “Lehi in the Desert”; “The World of the Jaredites”; “There Were Jaredites.” The description of the Jaredite boats seem to resemble the boat of Ut-Napitshtim, who was the Sumerian counterpart of Noah. Old Jewish and even older Indian sources record the use of shining stones that protect the owner beneath the water. These have been traced back to Babylonian tales of the deluge. Since the Jaredite record reports that their boats were patterned after Noah’s ark, ancient myths that surely have their foundation in real events help to provide greater understanding of the book of Ether. The book of Ether meets all the criteria of epic traditions of heroic societies. The remains of heroic societies are difficult to identify.
This wide-ranging series discusses the “epic milieu” of the second millennium B.C. and places the Jaredites in their historical context alongside the Babylonians, Egyptians, early Greeks, and others. It makes a comparison between the book of Ether and ancient writings of Babylon, Egypt, Sumer, and others.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Peoples > Jaredites
Part 1 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Peoples > Jaredites
Part 2 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Peoples > Jaredites
Part 3 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Peoples > Jaredites
Part 4 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Peoples > Jaredites
Part 5 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Peoples > Jaredites
The description of the Jaredite boats seem to resemble the boat of Ut-Napitshtim, who was the Sumerian counterpart of Noah. Old Jewish and even older Indian sources record the use of shining stones that protect the owner beneath the water. These have been traced back to Babylonian tales of the deluge. Since the Jaredite record reports that their boats were patterned after Noah’s ark, ancient myths that surely have their foundation in real events help to provide greater understanding of the book of Ether. The book of Ether meets all the criteria of epic traditions of heroic societies. The remains of heroic societies are difficult to identify.
This wide-ranging series discusses the “epic milieu” of the second millennium B.C. and places the Jaredites in their historical context alongside the Babylonians, Egyptians, early Greeks, and others. It makes a comparison between the book of Ether and ancient writings of Babylon, Egypt, Sumer, and others.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Peoples > Jaredites
The Improvement Era was an official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1897 and 1970.
A study of the book of Ether and how it matches other societies of its day.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Peoples > Jaredites
Suggests that early mythology writers not only were aware of the parallels between religious stories and myths but often used wove parallels together to create their faith-promoting myths.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Topics > Scripture Study
Suggests that early mythology writers not only were aware of the parallels between religious stories and myths but often used wove parallels together to create their faith-promoting myths.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Topics > Scripture Study
Also called “The Epic Literature of the Book of Ether.“
Ether left his tracks in the sand, but it was the brother of Jared that left most of them.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Ether
A combination of five articles from the Improvement Era series There Were Jaredites (February–June 1956).
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Peoples > Jaredites
Also called “Struggle for Power.“
Everybody was moving around. (The first few minutes of this lecture were not recorded.)
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Ether
The Book of Mormon is a prophetic book. It was written by prophets and about prophets. It was foreseen by prophets and foresees our day. It was brought forth by prophetic gifts for prophetic purposes. It speaks in a clarion voice of warning to those who would survive the last days. The articles in this volume, brought together under one cover for the first time, approach the Book of Mormon through a variety of prophetic themes. They speak out incisively on such topics as the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, internal and external evidences of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, literary style in the Book of Mormon, ancient temples and the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon’s teachings for the last days.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Also called “The Boats of the Jaredites.“
In cartoons, the bad guys are bad because they’re fighting the good guys, and teh good guys are good because they’re fighting the bad guys. That’s the only reason that’s ever given. Well, that’s the story of the Jaredites, isn’t it: the good guys and the bad guys fighting with no in-betweens. We’ll see more of that here.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Ether
One Eternal Round is the culmination of Hugh Nibley’s thought on the book of Abraham and represents over fifteen years of research and writing. The volume includes penetrating insights into Egyptian pharaohs and medieval Jewish and Islamic traditions about Abraham; Greek, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian myths; the Aztec calendar stone; Hopi Indian ceremonies; and early Jewish and Christian apocrypha, as well as the relationship of myth, ritual, and history.
This chapter discusses periods past and future in which the gods come together to save mankind and bring them to godhood.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > History > Christian History, Apostasy > Dispensations, Axial Times
Also called “The Hopi Indians; The Druze; Wisdom Literature; The Copper Scroll; The Chilam Balam.
When the Aztecs came to the valley of Mexico, and I quote, “their cities’ need for firewood was already denuding the valley of Mexico of trees. An epic famine . . .” We are going to have an epic famine here today, aren’t we—great famines and deforestation? What we find is steadily advancing drought in these chapters of Helaman; it’s very clearly indicated. All the clues are there, and they all fit together so beautifully, like this one: “An epic famine in the year one of the rabbit decimated the Mexican people. Their empire might well have fallen before they could employ the arts of the wheel or the bronze.” We don’t know about these other things. But how about these merchants going around when they got prosperous? They learned a thing or two from the Nephites, started to make money, and got rich. Does that mean they had to be wicked?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
In this lesson, we pick out some peculiar items in the Book of Ether to show how they vindicate its claim to go back to the very dawn of history. First, the account of the great dispersion has been remarkably confirmed by independent investigators in many fields. Ether, like the Bible, tells of the Great Dispersion, but it goes much further than the Bible in describing accompanying phenomena, especially the driving of cattle and the raging of terrible winds. This part of the picture can now be confirmed from many sources. In Ether, the reign and exploits of King Lib exactly parallel the doings of the first kings of Egypt (entirely unknown, of course, in the time of Joseph Smith) even in the oddest particulars. The story of Jared’s barges can be matched by the earliest Babylonian descriptions of the ark, point by point as to all peculiar features. There is even ample evidence to attest the lighting of Jared’s ships by shining stones, a tradition that in the present century has been traced back to the oldest versions of the Babylonian Flood Story.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
The essays in this volume, including four on today’s world, were selected by a panel of Hugh Nibley’s colleagues. They are singular in their penetration, their originality, and their vitality. Reaching from the apocalyptic visions of original “treasures in heaven” down to the climax of history, they are more than mind-stretching. The delight of Nibley’s brilliant and sometimes biting prose style imparts a sense of the agelessness of what he calls the “three-act play” of human existence. Written specially for this book, the author’s own “intellectual autobiography,” together with his introductory paragraphs for the various chapters, complete the work of making the book a fitting and permanent record of one of the past outstanding historians
Ever since the days of the Prophet Joseph, presidents of the Church have appealed to the Saints to be magnanimous and forbearing toward all of God’s creatures. But in the great West, where everything was up for grabs, it was more than human nature could endure to be left out of the great grabbing game, especially when one happened to get there first, as the Mormons often did. One morning, just a week after we had moved into our house on Seventh North, as I was leaving for work, I found a group of shouting, arm-waving boys gathered around the big fir tree in the front yard. They had sticks and stones, and in a state of high excitement were fiercely attacking the lowest branches of the tree, which hung to the ground. Why? I asked. There was a quail in the tree, they said in breathless zeal, a quail! Of course, said I, what is wrong with that? But don’t you see, it is a live quail? A wild one! So they just had to kill it. They were on their way to the old B. Y. High School and were Boy Scouts. Does this story surprise you? What surprised me was when I later went to Chicago and saw squirrels running around the city parks in broad daylight; they would not last a day in Provo. Like Varro’s patrician friends, we have taught our children by precept and example that every living thing exists to be converted into cash, and that whatever would not yield a return should be quickly exterminated to make way for creatures that do. (We have referred to this elsewhere as the Mahan Principle; Moses 5:31.) I have heard influential Latter-day Saints express this philosophy. The earth is our enemy, I was taught does it not bring forth noxious weeds to afflict and torment man? And who cared if his allergies were the result of the Fall, man’s own doing? But one thing worried me: if God were to despise all things beneath Him, as we do, where would that leave us? Inquiring about today, one discovers that many Latter-day Saints feel that the time has come to put an end to the killing.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Chapters > Moses 4
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Moses > Characters > Adam, Eve
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Stewardship, Creation, Earth, Environment
The essays in this volume, including four on today’s world, were selected by a panel of Hugh Nibley’s colleagues. They are singular in their penetration, their originality, and their vitality. Reaching from the apocalyptic visions of original “treasures in heaven” down to the climax of history, they are more than mind-stretching. The delight of Nibley’s brilliant and sometimes biting prose style imparts a sense of the agelessness of what he calls the “three-act play” of human existence. Written specially for this book, the author’s own “intellectual autobiography,” together with his introductory paragraphs for the various chapters, complete the work of making the book a fitting and permanent record of one of the past outstanding historians
When I was in high school, everybody was being very smart and emancipated, and we always cheered the news that some scholar had discovered the original story of Samson or the Flood or the Garden of Eden in some ancient nonbiblical writing or tradition. It never occurred to anybody that these parallels might confirm rather than confound the scripture. For us the explanation was always perfectly obvious: the Bible was just a clumsy compilation of old borrowed superstitions. As comparative studies broke into the open field, parallels began piling up until they positively became an embarrassment. Everywhere one looked, there were literary and mythological parallels. Trying to laugh them off as “parallelomania” left altogether too much unexplained. In the 1930s, English scholars started spreading out an overall pattern that would fit almost all ancient religions. Finally, men like Graves and Santillana confront us with huge agglomerations of somehow connected matter that sticks together in one loose, gooey mass, compacted of countless resemblances that are hard to explain but equally hard to deny. Where is this taking us? Will the sheer weight and charge of the stuff finally cause it to collapse on itself in a black hole, leaving us none the wiser? We could forego the obligation of explaining it and content ourselves with contemplating and admiring the awesome phenomenon for its own sake were it not for one thing: Joseph Smith spoils everything. A century of bound periodicals in the stacks will tell the enquiring student when scholars first became aware of the various elements that make up the superpattern, but Joseph Smith knew about them all, and before the search ever began, he showed how they are interrelated. In the documents he has left us, you will find the central position of the Coronation, the tension between matriarchy and patriarchy, the arcane discipline for transmitting holy books through the ages, the pattern of cycles and dispensations, the nature of the mysteries, the great tradition of the Rekhabites or sectaries of the desert, the fertility rites and sacrifices of the New Year with the humiliation of the kind and the role of substitute, and so forth. Where did he get the stuff? It would have been convenient for some mysterious rabbi to drop in on the penniless young farmer when he needs some high-class research, but George Foote Moore informs us that “so far as evidence goes, apocalyptic things of that sort were without countenance from the exponents of what we may call normal Judaism.” Take, for example, the tradition that the sacrifice of Isaac merely followed the scenario of an earlier sacrifice of Abraham himself. Nobody has heard of that today until you tell them about it, when, of course, they shrug their shoulders and tell you that they knew about it all along. Which prompts me to recommend a simple rule for the ingenuous investigator: always ask the expert to tell you the story first. I have never found anyone who could tell me the Joseph Smith Abraham story, and the apocrypha records which report it have all been published since his day. Today the story of Abraham casts a new light on the story of Isaac. Here is some of it.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible > Old Testament > Characters > Abraham, Sarah, Abram, Sarai
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Abraham > Characters > Abraham, Sarah, Abram, Sarai
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
In this lesson we pick out some peculiar items in the Book of Ether to show how they vindicate its claim to go back to the very dawn of history. First, the account of the great dispersion has been remarkably confirmed by independent investigators in many fields. Ether like the Bible tells of the Great Dispersion, but it goes much further than the Bible in describing accompanying phenomena, especially the driving of cattle and the raging of terrible winds. This part of the picture can now be confirmed from many sources. In Ether the reign and exploits of King Lib exactly parallel the doings of the first kings of Egypt (entirely unknown, of course, in the time of Joseph Smith) even in the oddest particulars. The story of Jared’s barges can be matched by the earliest Babylonian descriptions of the ark, point by point as to all peculiar features. There is even ample evidence to attest the lighting of Jared’s ships by shining stones, a tradition which in the present century has been traced back to the oldest versions of the Babylonian Flood Story.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a prophetic book. It was written by prophets and about prophets. It was foreseen by prophets and foresees our day. It was brought forth by prophetic gifts for prophetic purposes. It speaks in a clarion voice of warning to those who would survive the last days. The articles in this volume, brought together under one cover for the first time, approach the Book of Mormon through a variety of prophetic themes. They speak out incisively on such topics as the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, internal and external evidences of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, literary style in the Book of Mormon, ancient temples and the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon’s teachings for the last days.
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible > Old Testament > Characters > Ezekiel
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a prophetic book. It was written by prophets and about prophets. It was foreseen by prophets and foresees our day. It was brought forth by prophetic gifts for prophetic purposes. It speaks in a clarion voice of warning to those who would survive the last days. The articles in this volume, brought together under one cover for the first time, approach the Book of Mormon through a variety of prophetic themes. They speak out incisively on such topics as the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, internal and external evidences of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, literary style in the Book of Mormon, ancient temples and the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon’s teachings for the last days.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Criticisms and Apologetics
The Book of Mormon is a prophetic book. It was written by prophets and about prophets. It was foreseen by prophets and foresees our day. It was brought forth by prophetic gifts for prophetic purposes. It speaks in a clarion voice of warning to those who would survive the last days. The articles in this volume, brought together under one cover for the first time, approach the Book of Mormon through a variety of prophetic themes. They speak out incisively on such topics as the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, internal and external evidences of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, literary style in the Book of Mormon, ancient temples and the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon’s teachings for the last days.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Criticisms and Apologetics > Literary Style
The Book of Mormon is a prophetic book. It was written by prophets and about prophets. It was foreseen by prophets and foresees our day. It was brought forth by prophetic gifts for prophetic purposes. It speaks in a clarion voice of warning to those who would survive the last days. The articles in this volume, brought together under one cover for the first time, approach the Book of Mormon through a variety of prophetic themes. They speak out incisively on such topics as the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, internal and external evidences of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, literary style in the Book of Mormon, ancient temples and the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon’s teachings for the last days.
“The Mormon View of the Book of Mormon” (1967)
“The Book of Mormon: A Minimal Statement” (2004)
Journal of the Book of Mormon and Restoration Scripture Volume 19 Issue 1 (2010)
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a prophetic book. It was written by prophets and about prophets. It was foreseen by prophets and foresees our day. It was brought forth by prophetic gifts for prophetic purposes. It speaks in a clarion voice of warning to those who would survive the last days. The articles in this volume, brought together under one cover for the first time, approach the Book of Mormon through a variety of prophetic themes. They speak out incisively on such topics as the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, internal and external evidences of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, literary style in the Book of Mormon, ancient temples and the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon’s teachings for the last days.
Hugh Nibley provides insights from Latter-day Saint scripture about the last days. In the Little Apocalypse of Matthew 24 and Joseph Smith—Matthew, Jesus prophesies of the events that will precede the end of the world and emphasizes that his Second Coming will be a complete surprise. People are not supposed to prepare for that day; rather, they should live every day as if the Lord were coming on that day. The only preparation is to avoid taking advantage of others, oppressing the poor, and living in luxury. The difference between the righteous and the wicked is that the righteous are the ones who are repenting. Strictly speaking, there are no “good guys”; everyone needs to repent. Numerous stories in the Book of Mormon illustrate distinctions between righteous and wicked behavior. These scripture stories were intended for our day so that we may learn how to properly prepare for the last days.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > History > Christian History, Apostasy > Eschatology, Last Days
The essays in this volume, including four on today’s world, were selected by a panel of Hugh Nibley’s colleagues. They are singular in their penetration, their originality, and their vitality. Reaching from the apocalyptic visions of original “treasures in heaven” down to the climax of history, they are more than mind-stretching. The delight of Nibley’s brilliant and sometimes biting prose style imparts a sense of the agelessness of what he calls the “three-act play” of human existence. Written specially for this book, the author’s own “intellectual autobiography,” together with his introductory paragraphs for the various chapters, complete the work of making the book a fitting and permanent record of one of the past outstanding historians. The text available here is from the 2nd edition published in 2004. It is available only in PDF format. ISBN 0-8849-4338-0
Reprinted in Eloquent Witness: Nibley on Himself, Others, and the Temple, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 17.
EDITORS NOTE: With Christmas still fresh in our memories, Professor Hugh Nibley, in this article especially prepared for the readers of the Millennial Star, gives us an interesting insight into what the world looks for in the celebration of Christmas. Nibley briefly looked into the question of whether it is possible that the bewildering profusion of Christmas observances might contain, among other things, a latent longing for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Jesus Christ > Birth, Christmas
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Jesus Christ > Childhood
Reprinted in The Prophetic Book of Mormon.
Vividly displays internal and external evidences to test whether the Book of Mormon is or is not a forgery, using the standard scholarly criteria for detecting forged writings. Very insightful comments on methodology for studying the Book of Mormon, evaluating evidence, using newly discovered documents, metal plates, literary criticism, poetry, lower criticism, and history. Also comments on animals, weights and measures, and the use of the Bible in the Book of Mormon.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Criticisms and Apologetics
The Improvement Era was an official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1897 and 1970.
Discusses forgery throughout religious history and how we might test whether or not Joseph Smith forged the Book of Mormon.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Criticisms and Apologetics
A continuation of “Since Cumorah: New Voices From the Dust.”
A discussion on whether Lehi and his family brought traces of Persian culture to the Americas because of Zoroaster’s influence on Jewish thought.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
The Improvement Era was an official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1897 and 1970.
A discussion on whether parts of Fascimile No. 1 should have a hand or part of a wing from a bird to provide commentary on previous scholars’ opinions on the piece.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Abraham
A condensed version of this talk was published under the same title in BYU Today, November 1982, 8–12. The full text was reprinted in Approaching Zion, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 9. 202–51.
An address about whether we must work for all we have or whether it is a gift from God. In the address, he posits that we must work but that we haven’t earned anything; it is a gift from God.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Zion, Babylon > Wealth, Law of Consecration
“Twenty-three years ago on this same occasion, I gave the opening prayer, in which I said: ‘We have met here today clothed in the black robes of a false priesthood.’ Many have asked me since whether I really said such a shocking thing, but nobody has ever asked what I meant by it. Why not? Well, some knew the answer already, and as for the rest, we do not question things at the BYU. But for my own relief, I welcome this opportunity to explain: a ‘false priesthood’?”
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Education, Learning > Brigham Young University (BYU)
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Zion, Babylon > Leaders and Managers
The full text of a talk under the same title.
An address about whether we must work for all we have or whether it is a gift from God. In the address, he posits that we must work but that we haven’t earned anything; it is a gift from God.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Zion, Babylon > Wealth, Law of Consecration
The following statement was written on request for a journal that is published in eight languages and, therefore, insists on conciseness and brevity: “Teaching a Book of Mormon Sunday School class ten years later, I am impressed more than anything by something I completely overlooked until now, namely, the immense skill with which the editors of the book put the thing together. The long book of Alma, for example, is followed through with a smooth and logical sequence in which an incredible amount of detailed and widely varying material is handled in the most lucid and apparently effortless manner. Whether Alma is addressing a king and his court, a throng of ragged paupers sitting on the ground, or his own three sons—each a distinctly different character—his eloquence is always suited to his audience, and he goes unfailingly to the peculiar problems of each hearer.Throughout this big and complex volume, we are aware of much shuffling and winnowing of documents and informed from time to time of the method used by an editor distilling the contents of a large library into edifying lessons for the dedicated and pious minority among the people. The overall picture reflects before all a limited geographical and cultural point of view: small, localized operations, with only occasional flights and expeditions into the wilderness; one might almost be moving in the cultural circuit of the Hopi villages. The focusing of the whole account on religious themes, as well as the limited cultural scope, leaves all the rest of the stage clear for any other activities that might have been going on in the vast reaches of the New World, including the hypothetical Norsemen, Celts, Phoenicians, Libyans, or prehistoric infiltrations via the Bering Straits. Indeed, the more varied the ancient American scene becomes—as newly discovered artifacts and even inscriptions hint at local populations of Near Eastern, Far Eastern, and European origin—the more hospitable it is to the activities of one tragically short-lived religious civilization that once flourished in Mesoamerica and then vanished toward the northeast in the course of a series of confused tribal wars that was one long, drawn-out retreat into oblivion. Such considerations would now have to be included in any ‘minimal statement’ this reader would make about the Book of Mormon.”
“The Mormon View of the Book of Mormon” (1967)
“Chapter 13: The Mormon View of the Book of Mormon” (1989)
Journal of the Book of Mormon and Restoration Scripture Volume 19 Issue 1 (2010)
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This is a collection of statements by scientists on the following topics: how scientists have become impatient with religion, how science has all the answers, how difficult it is to truly understand the past, the question of whether science is a cause or a pretext, the assertion that science is not based on purely inductive reasoning, and the illusion of already knowing as the greatest enemy to serious research.
Reprinted in CWHN 8:54-126. Vividly displays internal and external evidences to test whether the Book of Mormon is or is not a forgery, using the standard scholarly criteria for detecting forged writings. Very insightful comments on methodology for studying the Book of Mormon, evaluating evidence, using newly discovered documents, metal plates, literary criticism, poetry, lower criticism, and history. Also comments on animals, weights and measures, and the use of the Bible in the Book of Mormon.
A family that is studying the Book of Mormon together describes the children’s reactions and the knowledge they received from reading it.
BYU’s unique, spiritually infused education gave my father (and all of us) the chance, the space, and the fuel to grow as disciples of Christ and children of God serving in this world.
Examines prophecies in the Book of Mormon and relates them to historical events of the twentieth century. Prophecies are classified as follows: (1) the vision of Nephi—1 Nephi 3:210-216 (RLDS scriptures); (2) the prophecy of Nephi—2 Nephi 11:116-117; (3) the word of Christ relative to gentile disobedience—3 Nephi 9:64-71, and the return of the Jews —3 Nephi 9:85-101; (4) warning to Gentile America—Ether 1:29-35.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The Book of Mormon presents a tale of the plight and flight of a family from biblical Jerusalem, stitched together through a variety of narrators. As the title page claims, this book contains the record of the Nephite people, descendants of Lehi, who was commanded by God to leave Jerusalem in order to save his family from destruction. From that command, the text becomes one of movement and escape, so that the Nephite race can avoid destruction. As this story is one about avoiding annihilation, it necessarily becomes one of reproduction: How do the Nephites reproduce the people of God to spread the word of God?
Our testimonies let us trust that we are part of a very important pattern in building the kingdom of God, even if we can’t see it in its entirety. Every skill, talent, and ability we have, whether inborn or developed in callings or other areas of our lives, helps us be more serviceable in the kingdom.
Ten prominent Church scholars presented at the symposium on the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. Their in-depth study of the Joseph Smith Translation and related scriptures clarifies the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and show how Joseph Smith restored many plain and precious truths to that holy book. This volume brings together those addresses, illuminating this inspired translation as perhaps no other book had done.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Moses Topics > Joseph Smith Translation (JST) > History
Old Testament Topics > Symposia and Collections of Essays
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect woman. It only requires a man and a woman committed to strive together toward perfection.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks addresses the arguments of those who term themselves believing Latter-day Saints yet advocate that Latter-day Saints should “abandon claims that [the Book of Mormon] is a historical record of the ancient peoples of the Americas.” The argument that it makes no difference whether the Book of Mormon is fact or fable is surely a sibling to the argument that it makes no difference whether Jesus Christ ever lived.
The literary sophistication of the Book of Mormon is manifest at all levels of the text: vocabulary, rhetoric, narrative, and structure. A prime example of this craftsmanship is the concept of ethnicity, that is, how different social groups are defined and distinguished in the record. Nephi defines ethnicity by four complementary concepts: nation (traditional homeland), kindred (descent group), tongue (language group), and people (covenant community). While all four concepts are relevant to the Nephite record, people predominates. The term people is by far the most frequently used noun in the Book of Mormon and is the basis of a distinctive covenant identity given by God to Nephi. Following God’s law was the essential condition of this covenant and the basis of most of the sermons, exhortations, commentary, and other spiritual pleas of this sacred record. The covenant of the chosen people accounts for much of what befalls the Nephites and Lamanites, positive and negative, in this history. Mormon and Moroni follow Nephi’s covenant-based definition of ethnicity in their respective abridgments of the large plates of Nephi and the plates of Ether.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
I believe something powerful happens anytime we gather as God’s covenant people anywhere in the world, no matter how many people the gathering may include. That power can be difficult to describe, but perhaps these words of the Savior explain it best: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”.
RSC Topics > D — F > Dispensations
RSC Topics > G — K > Heaven
RSC Topics > T — Z > Temples
RSC Topics > T — Z > Zion
It has been inspiring to see the Lord’s hand in bringing the forces together which will lead to an inevitable victory. There will be a temple in West Africa.
Islam, the faith of the Muslims, is a major world religion. Its believers are found on all of the inhabited continents. Nearly one out of every six people on earth today is Muslim. In common with Christians generally, Mormons as a whole know little of Islam and its adherents. Yet the two religions have many interesting similarities and parallels. Examples include a firm belief in a living God and obedience to him; emphasis on the family; assistance to the poor and other social concerns; a sense of man’s obligation to testify of God; belief in a physical resurrection and a life thereafter; and a total commitment to values and lifestyle rather than a mere creedal recitation. Islam is considered a “biblical faith” in part because Muhammad, the Arabian prophet of the Muslim world, revered the teachings of Abraham and Moses and other Bible prophets. To this common ground between Muslims and Mormons is added the fact that both Muhammad and Joseph Smith are regarded by their respective adherents as instruments in the hand of God in revealing new scriptures, the Qur’an and the Book of Mormon—in each case under angelic direction. In bringing together papers from a symposium held at Brigham Young University in October 1981, this book on Mormons and Muslims presents some of the finest and ablest exponents and interpreters of the Muslim faith. As well as relationships between that faith and Christianity generally, the book offers a new dimension in that much of the focus centers for the first time on parallels, similarities, and contrasts with the religion of the Latter-day Saints. This can be both explicit and implicit, as in chapters on pre-Islamic and Arabian prophets, the idea of redemption in Christianity and Islam, the Muhammad-Joseph Smith comparison, and religious practices of women in Islamic countries. Many spontaneously arising questions about analogies between Mormonism and Islam find here an informed forum for discussion, especially by the Mormon participants who have lived among Muslims and studied their cultures and life-styles. As prophetic figures, how do Joseph Smith and Muhammad compare? What is the role of women in the Muslim faith? Could Hud, the Qur’an prophet, actually be the Book of Mormon Lehi? Is there really a relationship between Jesus Christ and the Mahdi, the redemptive figure in Islam? Not all the answers are here, but the concepts, experiences, and suggested conclusions will certainly inform and stimulate each reader’s thinking. For both critic and believer, for both scholar and general reader, for both Mormon and Muslim, as well as for all serious students of comparative religion, here is an intriguing and authentic exchange leading to a deepening understanding of “spiritual foundations and modern manifestations.” ISBN 0884944832
This article is a travelogue of visitors to Easter Island. The underlying question is whEther or not certain aspects of the island reflect cultural characteristics of the Nephite voyagers during the time of Hagoth.
The Book of Mormon peoples had portions of the Bible. The Jesuits who came to the New World burned many books and it is possible they contained portions of the Bible handed down by Native Americans. The Book of Mormon has warnings for the United States—Ether 1:4; 3 Nephi 9:12; Ether 3:13.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Partaking of bread and water each Sunday is a fundamental part of the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — a solemn moment in which the mortal Savior’s mission and ministry are remembered and pondered by those who partake individually and as a congregation. This paper explores instructions provided by the Savior himself as found in the Mormon canon of scriptures, together with a review of how this practice has changed over time as part of the LDS Church liturgy. Moreover, the meaning associated with this sacred ordinance is analyzed by way of the Savior’s teachings in ancient scripture through Mormon prophets in modern times, particularly in light of a more recent emphasis shared by the LDS Church leadership.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
an excerpt from Hugh Nibley: a Consecrated Life Greg Kofford Books, January 2003.
Did Hugh Nibley really tether a goat to his front lawn so he wouldn’t have to mow it? Did Hugh and his friend scribble Book of Mormon passages in Egyptian in one of Utah’s red rock canyons? Would he walk home from work, forgetting he had driven that day? This article looks at what truths lurk behind these and other stories.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Hugh Nibley > Folklore
When you are faced with the question of whether you really believe some principle of the gospel, I encourage you to hold fast to the things that you know are true because the answers to the rest will come to you in time.
Abstract: This paper examines the testimonies of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon— not only the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses, but many others who experienced and testified of the reality of the Book of Mormon plates. Together, these testimonies offer impressive support for the claims of Joseph Smith regarding the Book of Mormon and, thus, the Restoration. The variety and complexity of their collective testimony makes finding a single, alternative, non-divine explanation for the witness experiences challenging, indeed.
[Editor’s Note: A very similar version of this essay was delivered as an address at the annual FairMormon Conference in August 2020.].
Abstract: The temporarily rather comfortable “fit” between the Restored Gospel and American civic religion is a thing of the past, and we contemporary Latter-day Saints seem to find ourselves in a more and more marginalized position, theologically and socially. This was where our predecessors, both earlier in this dispensation and among the first Christians, were located, and it may not be an altogether bad thing. It will, for instance, force us to take our beliefs more seriously, less casually. And it may well drive us back to the unique resources provided by the Restoration, which have much to offer.
Peterson addresses Thomas Murphy’s criticism of the Book of Mormon and shows that Murphy does not incorporate other scholars, whether they be in favor of or against the Book of Mormon, into his research. Rather, he uses his own opinions and previous writings as the basis for his claims.
In Understanding the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy applies his unusual background in the history of historiography to the Book of Mormon, using the same techniques of literary analysis that are fruitfully employed in the study of classical Chinese, classical Greek, and other historical writing. He is able to identify very distinct historiographical approaches for Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni. While he brackets the question of whether or not they were actually distinct historical persons, the most intuitively obvious reading of his work strongly suggests that they were—a proposition that has profound implications for the controversy surrounding the origin and authorship of the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Over the centuries, many religious thinkers — precisely because they are religious thinkers — have put a premium on intellectual attainment as a prerequisite for salvation. This has sometimes yielded an elitism or snobbishness that is utterly foreign to the teachings of the Savior. The Gospel as taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints values education and knowledge, certainly. But not unduly. Intellectuals, while heartily welcome among the Saints and, when faithful, much appreciated for their potential contributions to the Church, have no claim on any special status in the Kingdom simply because of their (real or pretended) intellectuality, whether here or in the hereafter.
Book of Mormon Topics > Criticisms and Apologetics > Intellectualism
Abstract: Loss, pain, and suffering are too often, it seems, co-sojourners through our lives. To one degree or another, we all become familiar with these elements of a life lived in an imperfect world. It is inevitable — and virtually universal — that such companions foster questions about the meaning of life and whether there is a God who is the author, director, and finisher of that meaning. For those who conclude that God is real and has part in our lives, suffering can have or acquire eternal significance, enhanced by the personal realization that God, too, suffers and has suffered. In the Christian paradigm, God shares our suffering and we, in turn, share in His. In the depths of our sorrow we have, literally, a “co-sufferer” sharing our journey. As Christians, we are called upon to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. This act not only gives us a new name, but may require us to bear loss, pain, and suffering as did Christ — to acquire the “marks of Jesus” in our own lives. Indeed, for some, such bearing may be a key part of becoming what God plans for us to become.For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
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The theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic Abu ?amid Mu?ammad b. Mu?ammad al-Ghazali (d. AD 1111 in his Persian hometown of Tus, after spending much of his career in Baghdad) has sometimes been characterized as the single most influential Muslim besides the Prophet Mu?ammad himself. The Andalusian philosopher and jurist Abu al-Walid Mu?ammad b. A?mad b. Rushd (d. AD 1198 in Marrakesh, modern-day Morocco, but ultimately buried in his family tomb in Córdoba, Spain) is generally considered to be the greatest medieval commentator—whether Jewish, Christian, or Muslim—on the works of Aristotle. Often known as Averroës, a corruption of his Arabic name, Ibn Rushd was respected even by medieval Christians. For example, Dante Alighieri, in his immortal Inferno, placed him only on the rim of Hell—in the relatively benign Limbo of unbaptized infants—and not among the torturous punishments of Hell’s lower levels.
Daniel Peterson examines the book of Mosiah as an initial step in determining the overall doctrine of priesthood in the Book of Mormon. He attempts to account for every verse in the book of Mosiah that deals, either directly or indirectly, with questions of priesthood and authority. He discusses the priesthood in the small plates, the roles of priests, whether early Nephite priests were ordained, and the church in the days of Mosiah2.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
One important and fruitful area of Book of Mormon studies has focused on ancient Hebrew literary forms present in the text. After years of studying these fascinating forms, Hugh W. Pinnock offers his perspective on their beauty, function, and background. By design this book offers a basic working knowledge of only some of the ancient literary forms identified in the Book of Mormon. Together they represent a significant percentage of the types of ancient forms drawn upon by the Nephite prophets.
The author explains that knowledge of ancient Hebrew writing forms and Jewish poetry is incomplete even today, and much less so in the Prophet Joseph Smith’s day. The book aims to deepen faith in the authenticity of the Book of Mormon by calling attention to its ancient character and affirming that it was translated—not written, or even capable of being written—in early 19th-century America.
Mapping Mormonism brings together contributions from sixty experts in the fields of geography, history, Mormon history, and economics to produce the most monumental work of its kind. More than an atlas, this book also includes hundreds of timelines and charts, along with carefully researched descriptions, that track the Mormon movement from its humble beginnings to its worldwide expansion. A work of this magnitude rarely comes along. Mapping Mormonism’s first edition proved to be a landmark reference work in Mormon studies; now it is further improved and updated with the latest information in this second edition. This work covers the early Restoration, the settlement of the West, and the expanding Church, giving particular emphasis to recent developments in the modern Church throughout all regions of the world. Of all the books on Church history, Mapping Mormonism may be the single most effective work to date at giving an expansive vision of the rise of the LDS Churcha vision as vibrant as those who have led the way in building Zion. In 2012, Mapping Mormonism won the Mormon History Association Best Book Award and the Cartography and Geographic Information Society Best Atlas Award.
Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered at the Adjourned Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 11, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.
Omer, a descendant of Jared, departed the Jaredite lands to a place by the seashore. His community’s domesticated animals consisted of elephants and other unidentified animals that had perished by the time the Nephites arrived. Pratt muses about the disappearance of these animals and the remnants of curious animals found in New York.
Abstract: Walking for 500 miles in a foreign country through heat, arduous terrain, and many inconveniences is difficult enough. Add to the equation a man in a wheelchair, and the task appears impossible. The solution? Determination, humility, humor, faith, love, and someone, or many, who give you a push. I’ll Push You is a true story and parable for life that will give readers hope and encouragement.
Review of Patrick Gray & Justin Skeesuck, I’ll Push You: A Journey of 500 Miles, Two Best Friends, and One Wheelchair (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2017). 296 pp. $24.99 (hardback); $15.99 (paperback).
Martin Raish suggests that although there are only two dictionaries of Mesoamerican archaeology and culture, both are quite good and can be augmented with some excellent travel guides and wall maps. Together they help readers better understand the terminology of art history and archaeology, become more conversant with the names of sites and cultures, and feel more confident about the general outlines of history in likely Book of Mormon lands. The author specifically recommends two dictionaries, a volume on Mesoamerican religions, an atlas, some traveler’s guides, and some National Geographic Society maps.
This bibliographic article identifies descriptions of the Hill Cumorah that go beyond Joseph Smith’s account. The author includes firsthand reports of the hill’s appearance at the time the sacred events took place and accounts by visitors who focus on emotional, spiritual, poetic, or nostalgic aspects of their experience. Some of the featured descriptions are written by James Gordon Bennett, Oliver Cowdery, Orson Pratt, George Q. Cannon, Susa Young Gates, photographer George E. Anderson, and Anthony W. Ivins. Taken together, the accounts enrich our understanding and appreciation of the Hill Cumorah and the role it played in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. This article includes recommendations for post–World War II studies on the hill and a sidebar that discusses a clue to the history of the name Cumorah being associated with the hill near Palmyra.
The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants are the accepted standard scriptures of the Church following its reorganization. They determine Church government, doctrine, and practices of the Church. Together they solidify the saints into one faith.
Review of Jerry D. Grover, Jr., Geology of the Book of Mormon. Vineyard, UT: Self-Published, 2014. 233 pp. +xi, including index and references. $39.99.
Abstract: Over recent decades, several Latter-day Saint scholars and scientists have offered analysis and comparison to geologic events and the destruction recorded in 3 Nephi 8-9. Jerry Grover makes an important contribution to this literature as he provides background on geologic processes and phenomena, details the geologic features of the Tehuantepec region (Mesoamerica), and applies this information to not only the description of 3 Nephi 8-9, but other incidents in the Book of Mormon likely connected to geologic events. In doing so, Grover yields new insights into the narratives he examines, and adds clarity to geographic details that have been subject to varying interpretations. .
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Review of John L. Lund. Joseph Smith and the Geography of the Book of Mormon. The Communications Company, 2012. 209 pp. + xviii, including index.In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?
–Joseph Smith Jr.
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Abstract: The “tongue of angels”
has long been a point of interest to Latter-day Saints, who wonder whether it really is as simple as speaking under the influence of the Spirit or if it might mean something more. Drawing on the structure of Nephi’s record and the interactions with angels that Nephi recorded, we learn that this notion of speaking with the tongue of angels has connections with ancient Israelite temple worship and the divine council. Nephi places the act of speaking with the tongue of angels at the culmination of a literary ascent, where one must pass through a gate (baptism) and by a gatekeeper (the Holy Ghost). This progression makes rich allusions to imagery in the visions of Lehi, Nephi, and Isaiah, where these prophets were brought into the presence of the Lord, stood in the divine council, and were commissioned to declare the words of the Lord. Nephi’s carefully crafted narrative teaches that all are both invited and commanded to follow the path that leads to entrance into the Lord’s presence, and ultimately grants membership into the heavenly assembly.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
The eyewitness testimony makes it virtually indisputable that Joseph Smith had a real set of metal plates, a fact that even skeptical scholars have accepted. Likewise, the practice of writing on metal plates in antiquity is well-known, as thousands of ancient metal documents have been discovered. But some still raise questions about whether the Book of Mormon plates are consistent with known ancient examples, and hypothesize that Joseph made a fake set of plates to fool his followers. To address this issue, I compare the descriptions of the plates given by the witnesses (both official and unofficial) who saw and/or handled the plates for themselves with authentic metal plates and other artifacts from the ancient and medieval worlds. Features such as their appearance, how they were bound and sealed, the size of both individual plates and the bound set, and the characters said to be on the plates can be directly compared with real-world examples of pre-modern inscriptions, metal plates, and other metallic artifacts. While there is no single artifact that directly compares with the Book of Mormon plates, every detail has precedent and is within the scope of practices and capabilities of pre-modern peoples. In contrast, it would have been difficult for someone unskilled in metallurgy (such as Joseph Smith) to create a fake set of plates consistent with the specifications provided by the witnesses. As such, it seems likely that the witnesses were describing a real, tangible, ancient artifact that they saw and handled. This comparative study of the metal plates with known ancient artifacts also helps us deepen our appreciation for the expensive and labor-intensive process that real ancient people endured to create the plates and then painstakingly engrave their record for our benefit today.
“Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.” I reaffirm this promise given by the Lord in the early days of the Restoration of this Church. I pray that each of us will have the privilege of enjoying righteous friendships and mentoring relationships as we grow together in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This comparison of Joseph Smith and John Milton focuses on their literary output and especially the preparation each had for dictating a long religious work, in Milton’s case Paradise Lost and in Smith’s the Book of Mormon. Most notable authors, including Milton, had a long apprenticeship that involved writing several “try works,” practice works that served as tutorials and stepping stones preparing their authors for their magnum opus. Joseph Smith had no such trial period for learning how to weave together intricate subplots, multitudes of characters, and historical background detail. Milton, in particular, had all the advantages of a first-rate English education. Smith, by contrast,had the most meager of educational opportunities. According to his wife, at the time he dictated the Book of Mormon, he “could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter.” In spite of these disadvantages, Smith dictated most of the Book of Mormon over a period of less than three months, whereas Milton’s dictation of Paradise Lost took place over more than a decade. While it has been popular since 1830 for critics to debunk or diminish the Book of Mormon, it has stood the test of time in more ways than one.
I invite you to take opportunities in department and college councils to counsel together about ways in which you might help all members of the BYU campus community feel a greater sense of belonging.
Sets forth criteria to qualify writings to be called scripture and then asks if the Book of Mormon is scripture. Scripture must center on God, reveal Christ, have a moral and ethical approach to its teachings, and has to agree with previously accepted scripture. Issues a challenge for the reader to find out for oneself whether or not the Book of Mormon is scripture.
The Discovery of the Jaredite Records—Coriantumr—Ether—The Dispersion at Babel—The Journey of the Jaredites—Atlantis
The Judgments of God on the Jaredites—The Extinction of the Race—The Hill Ramah—Shiz and Coriantumr—Ether
This dictionary contains all of the places and people of the Book of Mormon. Each entry comprises a thorough treatment of the subject in clear and understandable vocabulary; scriptural references are included.
“The increasing interest taken in the study of the Book of Mormon and in the history of the people whose origin, progress, and destruction it narrates, encourages the author of this little work to think that this addition to the literature of the subject will not be like one born out of due time but will be received as an acceptable aid to the study of its sacred pages. To the members of the Theological Classes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether of the quorums of the Priesthood, of the Sunday Schools, Church Schools, or Improvement Associations, we particularly submit this book-- the first of its kind-- believing it will afford them material help in their investigations of Book of Mormon subjects, and their study of Nephite and Jaredite history; and we trust it wil not be without value to every one who takes an interest in the races who rose, flourished and vanished in Ancient America. This Dictionary contains the name of every person and place mentioned in the Book of Mormon, with a few other subjects of interest referred to therein.” [Author]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: In this important paper, Noel Reynolds extends his 1980 argument for the chiastic structure of 1 Nephi to demonstrate that 2 Nephi can be seen as a matching structure with a similar nature. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that chiasmus is not a phenomenon that confines itself to the details of words and phrases at the level of scriptural verses but can extend to much larger units of meaning, allowing the rhetorical beauty and emphasis of their overall messages to shine more brilliantly when they are considered as purposefully crafted wholes.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original. See Noel B. Reynolds, “Chiastic Structuring of Large Texts: Second Nephi as a Case Study,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 333–50. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Chiasmus
Review of Gordon Paul Hugenberger, Marriage as a Covenant: A Study of Biblical Law and Ethics Governing Marriage Developed from the Perspective of Malachi (Supplements to Vetus Testam, Book 52). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1994. Pp. xx + 414. Paperback reprint edition with a modified subtitle published in 2014 by WIPF & STOCK, Eugene, Oregon. 343 pages, plus bibliography and four indices.
Abstract: In his book Marriage as a Covenant, author Gordon Paul Hugenberger begins with the late 20th century Bible-studies insight that in Israel, covenants were devices used to make binding on unrelated persons the same obligations blood relatives owed to each other. So by covenant, marriage partners became one bone and flesh. This thorough study of the Hebrew Bible and related literatures argues that the view of marriage as a covenant in Malachi 2:10‒16 echoes the first marriage in Genesis 2 and is consistent with the other passages in the Bible that have often been mistakenly interpreted to promote a patriarchalist view denigrating the position of wives vis-à-vis their husbands.
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Abstract: This paper brings together contemporary Ancient Near East scholarship in several fields to construct an updated starting point for interpretation of the teachings of the Book of Mormon. It assembles findings from studies of ancient scribal culture, historical linguistics and epigraphy, Hebrew rhetoric, and the history and archaeology of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant, together with the traditions of ancient Israel to construct a contextualized perspective for understanding Lehi, Nephi, and their scribal training as they would have been understood by their contemporaries. Lehi and Nephi are shown to be the beneficiaries of the most advanced scribal training available in seventh-century BCE Jerusalem and prominent bearers of the Josephite textual tradition. These insights give much expanded meaning to Nephi’s early warning that he had been “taught somewhat in all the learning of [his] father” (1 Nephi 1:1). This analysis will be extended in a companion paper to provide the framework that enables the recognition and tracking of an official Nephite scribal school that ultimately provided Mormon with the records that he abridged to produce our Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The great political question among Book of Mormon peoples was “Who has the right to rule?” Did Nephi’s descendants and those who followed them have a legitimate right to rule? Or should the right have belonged to Lehi’s oldest son Laman and his descendants? This quarrel is the cause of centuries of political and military struggle. But this was not the only problem. Even within Nephite society, an endless number of dissenters challenged the government. They often split away to join the Lamanites when they could not win control inside the Nephite system. These dissenters typically argued for the Lamanite view, in part because they thought they could line their own nests that way. By paying close attention to how this struggle was waged, we can see one of the reasons the Book of Mormon was written. Of course it is a witness for Christ and his teachings. But in addition, it provides reasons why we should believe that the tradition of the Nephites was just and correct. The two messages of the book are tied together in such a way that whoever accepts the teachings of Christ accepts that Nephi was a legitimate ruler, and vice versa.
Abstract: While Alma 36 has long been one of the most admired examples of classical Hebrew chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, critiques in the last two decades have questioned whether, in fact, it really meets the requirements of classical biblical chiasms. The principal objections have pointed to the large sections of the chapter that are not easily included in the chiasm as outlined by John W. Welch and other proponents. Until now, this debate has not taken note of dramatic new developments in the analysis of Hebrew rhetoric over the last fifty years. The following essay turns to the discoveries made in this new approach to Hebrew rhetoric and shows that when the new “levels analysis” is incorporated into a study of Alma 36, the entire text does have a role to play in the extended chiastic structure of the chapter.[Editor’s Note: An abbreviated version of this paper was presented at the 2019 Sperry Symposium and was included in that shortened form in the symposium volume. See Give Ear to My Words: Text and Context of Alma 36–42, edited by Kerry M. Hull, Nicholas J. Frederick, and Hank R. Smith, Religious Studies Center, 2019, 451–72. This complete and updated version is herein published by Interpreter with permission of the RSC.].
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Chiasmus
Many great scientists such as Newton and Einstein spoke and wrote freely of their religious thoughts and feelings, seeing no fundamental conflict between them and their science. Today there is a tendency to emphasize conflict more than harmony. Sometimes people of faith are criticized as blind, naive, or shallow, while scientists are painted as arrogant, unfeeling, or deceived. Educated dialogue between these two camps has too often been reduced to shallow platitudes or, even worse, silence. Truth is not in conflict with itself. Religious truth is established through revelation, and scientific inquiry has uncovered many facts that have thus far stood the test of time. It is incumbent upon us to seek insights into all truth to mesh together, where possible, its parts at their proper interface. We discover bridges between scientific and religious knowledge best if we pursue them through study, faith, and ongoing dialogue. The Summerhays lectures and this book are dedicated to discover and share insights on how the truths of revealed religion mesh with knowledge from the sciences. ISBN 978-0-8425-2786-6
The rendering of the Greek text of the Epistle to the Hebrews into modern English presents a flowing and easily understood translation of one of the most beautiful biblical studies of the nature and ministry of Christ. The English rendering comes from an extensive and excellent Commentary entitled The Epistle to the Hebrews by Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes forthcoming in 2019. This translation seeks to correct one of the major problems the King James translators were unable to overcome. These men were classists and knew well the power and beauty of the Attic prose of Plato and Aristotle. Unfortunately, “the rubbed down and difficult Greek” of the New Testament era held a number of mysteries they were unable to solve. This left a number of passages, especially in the dense and difficult writings of the epistles, very hard to understand in their translation. In this new rendering of the Greek text, the current translators have attempted to present the true sense of the New Testament writings as faithfully and clearly as possible in modern English. It strives to balance the esoteric details of a text with the importance of communicating the breadth of its meaning as clearly as possible to English readers. Sometimes grammatical and syntactical forms that make good sense in Greek seem stilted, odd, and even weird when translated word for word into English. The translators’ purpose has been to render the Greek in such a way that an educated reader could readily understand its meaning. They have consistently tried to avoid an overly “literal” translation, which would likely obscure original intents. They have, therefore, followed Bruce Metzger’s dictum to be “as literal as possible, but as free as necessary” in order to communicate to the English reader the meaning of the text. This Rendition is part of the BYU New Testament Commentary series. This scholarly project aims to create a faithful modern English translation together with a full, in-depth, carefully researched Latter-day Saint commentary for each book on the New Testament. As of 2019, volumes have been published on Mark, Luke, First Corinthians, and Revelation. More of the New Rendition and commentary volumes will be added in coming months and years.
The New Rendition of the book of Revelation provides a modern English translation of the Greek text while remaining true to the Apostle John’s intent. This translation is excerpted from The Revelation of John the Apostle by Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes. The text of Revelation in the King James Version seems oblique and in some cases inexplicable, but this New Rendition clarifies many misunderstood or misinterpreted passages and helps make John’s powerful testimony more understandable and applicable to the modern disciple. The authors have studied, taught, and published scholarly works on the book of Revelation for decades and aim to make the text accessible with this version. Insights into the meaning of this grand apocalyptic book are drawn from early Christian perspectives, Latter-day Saint scriptures, and a panoply of references to churches, angels, trumpets, seals, signs, beasts, and elders leading to the great marriage supper of the Lamb of God and the establishment of the celestial New Jerusalem. This Rendition is part of the BYU New Testament Commentary series. This scholarly project aims to create a faithful modern English translation together with a full, in-depth, carefully researched Latter-day Saint commentary for each book on the New Testament. More of the New Rendition and commentary volumes will be added in coming months and years. As of 2019, volumes have been published on Mark, Luke, First Corinthians, and Revelation.
The New Rendition of the book First Corinthians provides a modern English translation of the Greek text while remaining true to Paul’s intent. This translation is excerpted from Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians by Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes. This new version clarifies many previously vague or misunderstood passages and enlightens the text for today’s readers. This epistle is particularly interesting and important to faithful Christians interested in the Apostle Paul’s testimonies of knowledge, revelation, purity, gifts of the spirit, the sacrament, charity, the resurrection, baptism for the dead, heavenly glory, and many other topics crucial to the life of righteousness. This Rendition is part of the BYU New Testament Commentary series. This scholarly project aims to create a faithful modern English translation together with a full, in-depth, carefully researched Latter-day Saint commentary for each book on the New Testament. More of the New Rendition and commentary volumes will be added in coming months and years. As of 2019, volumes have been published on Mark, Luke, First Corinthians, and Revelation.
The author points out the existence of secret organizations in the United States: the Ku Klux Klan, the Loyal League, the Grand Army of the Republic and Fenianism. The Book of Mormon shows how secret societies brought destruction. Richards quotes all of Ether 8:13-26 and Helaman 6:22-30, and urges the Saints to “keep from all secret combinations and political associations”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Discourse by Apostle Franklin D. Richards, delivered in the New Stake Tabernacle, Provo, Sunday Afternoon, Aug. 30, 1885. Reported By: John Irvine.
The prophet Joseph Smith taught in the Nauvoo House concerning the stick of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Lehi was of the family of Manasseh and Ishmael and his family were of the house of Ephraim. The one hundred sixteen lost pages of the Book of Mormon contained a clear account of Ishmael’s ancestry. That is the reason, the prophet said, that no mention of Ishmael’s genealogy is in the Book of Mormon. Richards discusses the marriage relationships and union of the families. Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters thus combining the two tribes. Richards writes that this fulfills the prophecy in Genesis 48:20 that Ephraim and Manasseh togEther should become a multitude of nations.
The prophet Joseph Smith taught in the Nauvoo House concerning the stick of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Lehi was of the family of Manasseh and Ishmael and his family were of the house of Ephraim. The one hundred sixteen lost pages of the Book of Mormon contained a clear account of Ishmael’s ancestry. That is the reason, the prophet said, that no mention of Ishmael’s genealogy is in the Book of Mormon. Richards discusses the marriage relationships and union of the families. Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters thus combining the two tribes. Richards writes that this fulfills the prophecy in Genesis 48:20 that Ephraim and Manasseh together should become a multitude of nations.
The prophet Joseph Smith taught in the Nauvoo House concerning the stick of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Lehi was of the family of Manasseh and Ishmael and his family were of the house of Ephraim. The one hundred sixteen lost pages of the Book of Mormon contained a clear account of Ishmael’s ancestry. That is the reason, the prophet said, that no mention of Ishmael’s genealogy is in the Book of Mormon. Richards discusses the marriage relationships and union of the families. Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters thus combining the two tribes. Richards writes that this fulfills the prophecy in Genesis 48:20 that Ephraim and Manasseh together should become a multitude of nations.
The prophet Joseph Smith taught in the Nauvoo House concerning the stick of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Lehi was of the family of Manasseh and Ishmael and his family were of the house of Ephraim. The one hundred sixteen lost pages of the Book of Mormon contained a clear account of Ishmael’s ancestry. That is the reason, the prophet said, that no mention of Ishmael’s genealogy is in the Book of Mormon. Richards discusses the marriage relationships and union of the families. Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters thus combining the two tribes. Richards writes that this fulfills the prophecy in Genesis 48:20 that Ephraim and Manasseh together should become a multitude of nations.
The Kinderhook plates remind one of the gold plates. They were metal plates clasped together with a ring. Hieroglyphics were imprinted upon them. They were taken to Joseph Smith to translate. He declared them to be genuine anti- Mormon literature and proclaimed them to be a hoax.
Moroni warns that anyone who should possess the land of promise must serve God or be swept off (Ether 2:9-12).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Gives examples of truths the world would have lost if the Book of Mormon had not been brought forth (Alma 41:10; 2 Nephi 2:24-25; 1 Nephi 3:7; Ether 12:26-27). The Book of Mormon corrects some errors in the philosophies and religions of men.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Music is a language that speaks to everyone. Its healing power is expressed by people in every country in the world. Whether we listen to music in church, at home, or in the concert hall, we do it to feel better about our circumstances.
A fictionalized play (based on Ether 8-9) characterizing Omer, Akish, Jared, Zalmonah (Jared’s daughter), and the struggle for the Jaredite throne. Comprises a prologue and four acts.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle held the North American record for the widest unsupported interior space at its completion in 1867. Finished two years before the arrival of the railroad, it was constructed primarily of local stone, timber, and adobe. One of a long succession of buildings constructed to permit members of the Mormon faith to hear from their prophet, the Tabernacle accommodated over thirteen thousand people. A recent seismic upgrade provided a unique opportunity to view details of the historic building. Construction challenges, acoustics, the development of the organ, and subsequent alterations and upgrades are amply illustrated, providing a complete story of this magnificent edifice. Early meetings in the Mormon faith were held in private homes or outdoors. The first buildings constructed by the Church, the Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples, were multipurpose buildings that were woefully inadequate to accommodate the growing number of Saints. After arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young decided to construct a hall where thousands could attend services. The Salt Lake Tabernacle is a bold and daring building, setting a North American record for an unsupported interior span. Developed from bridge trusses, the building was frankly modern in the way it eschewed traditional ornamentation and styles and clearly expressed its form on the exterior. Brigham Young relied upon bridge builder Henry Grow and architects William Folsom and Truman O. Angell to realize the unprecedented structure. Grow tested the truss capacity with scale models and oversaw the construction of the lofty trusses. Folsom developed the initial plans, but then Angell worked out the details of the stand, seating, and gallery. Together they created an audience hall that seated approximately thirteen thousand and held as many as fifteen thousand with congregants standing in the aisles. The recent seismic upgrade of the building provided an opportunity to view many original details and finishes that were long hidden underneath later layers and additions. The upgrade allows the building to be of service continuing into the next century. Built from local materials and volunteer labor before the railroad arrived in the Great Basin, the Tabernacle stands as a witness to the collective sacrifice made by members of the Mormon faith. Driven from homes and disavowed by families, these early Saints made the arduous trek to the West to follow a prophet, and this remarkable building made it possible for many thousands of them to gather as one under a single roof.
This second of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the authors have learned from Nibley. Nearly every major subject that Dr. Nibley has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the sacrament covenant in Third Nephi, the Lamanite view of Book of Mormon history, external evidences of the Book of Mormon, proper names in the Book of Mormon, the brass plates version of Genesis, the composition of Lehi’s family, ancient burials of metal documents in stone boxes, repentance as rethinking, Mormon history’s encounter with secular modernity, and Judaism in the 20th century.
This paper first lists a number of personal experiences which are mentioned but not unduly emphasized in Donna Hill’s biography and which, taken together, appear to have been more than coincidental influences on the formulation of Latter-day Saint doctrine and Church practices.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Hugh Nibley > Scholarship, Footnotes, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, CWHN, Editing > Joseph Smith
Hopeful and heartbreaking, sobering and exultant. A Call to Russia captures missionary life as experienced by a mission president, his wife and daughter, and the sisters and elders who served under him. But above all, this book is an invitation to reflect upon our own lives. Some glimpses from President Rogers: “Every morning Merriam still wakes up and asks, ‘Where am I?’ while I shake off the night’s slumber and involuntarily ask, ‘Who am I?’” “Our senior district president recently asked me, ‘What are your greatest impressions since coming here?’ I answered, ‘Faith and love. Love and faith.’ And the way things seem to fall apart on at least a weekly basis before they’re somehow put back together.” “In our quest to see God’s face, what most matters in mortality is how we face one another—with what patience, tenderness, mercy, and good humor.” “Another great blessing—a mission makes us more aware than otherwise of our personal inadequacies.” “A friend wrote me, ‘You’ve certainly changed.’ It’s good others can see how the gospel has indeed changed us—how we have repented. As a great assistant to the president put it, ‘The best missionary is a repenting missionary.’” “We all confront, all the time, a choice between two paths. One is higher, with steeper terrain, where you often strain to catch your breath or to reach a handhold. The other lies well below it and tends if anything toward a gradual and easy descent.”
Swords are an important weapon in the Book of Mormon narrative. The prophet Ether reported that in the final battle of the Jaredites, King Coriantumr, with his sword, “smote off the head” of his relentless enemy Shiz (Ether 15:30). Swords were also used by the earliest Nephites (2 Nephi 5:14) and were among the deadly weapons with which that people were finally “hewn down” at Cumorah by their enemies (Mormon 6:9–10). While the text suggests that some Jaredites and early Nephites may have had metal weaponry (1 Nephi 4:9; 2 Nephi 5:14; Mosiah 8:10–11; Ether 7:9), references to metal weapons, including metal swords, are rare.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article discusses the possibility that DNA is not dependable evidence either for or against the veracity of the Book of Mormon. It is difficult to ascertain whether Book of Mormon people were literal descendants of Israel and how similar those genetics are with modern Israelites. Therefore, no conclusive statements can be made concerning the DNA of Book of Mormon people.
Critics of the Book of Mormon frequently claim that some of the Book of Mormon witnesses later doubted or denied their testimony of the Book of Mormon. They also claim that the activities of the Three Witnesses while out of the church cast doubt upon the reliability of their earlier written testimony. I review evidence for these claims and also discuss the issue of what may constitute a witness of the Book of Mormon and whether the witnesses ever doubted or denied their testimony of the Book of Mormon. Evidence for later disbelief in the Book of Mormon by the witnesses is unpersuasive. I detail several miscellaneous issues relating to Jerald and Sandra Tanner’s criticisms of the Book of Mormon.
Abstract: Zoram, the servant of Laban, is a character from the Book of Mormon who is only mentioned a few times and on whom little information is given. This article analyzes what information is given in the Book of Mormon and contextualizes its historical background, all coupled with the observations of Latter-day Saint Church leaders and scholars. Insight is provided concerning Zoram’s Hebraic descent in the tribe of Manasseh and his working duties under Laban’s command, along with how all this affected his role in assisting Lehi’s family. The meaning of his name in Hebrew and possible correlations to the meaning of his life’s events are explained. The oath between Nephi and Zoram is discussed, and the debate regarding whether Zoram was a slave or servant is addressed, to show that he was likely a free servant.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Repetition appears purposefully within Book of Mormon narratives as a principle of reinforcement and confirmation. It seems that every important action, event, or character is repeated in the Book of Mormon. These repetitions emphasize the law of witnesses at work within the book (e.g., “in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established”; Ether 5:4). Further, they underscore the relevance of one character or action to people living in a different time, and they link narratives together with what Robert Alter calls “type-scenes.” Analyzed in detail as particularly striking are threefold repetitions in Nephi’s task to retrieve the brass plates and repetition of the word “power” in the missionary endeavor of the sons of Mosiah. Larger repeated narratives treat escape and travel to a promised land; repentance; and the nature, rise, and effect of secret combinations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Many Book of Mormon passages are given life by the pictures or images they awake in our minds. In Ether the power comes from referring directly to “mountain waves.” The memorable picture of King Noah is not so direct, being formed from a figure of speech: the ruler is like a “dry stalk” crushed under foot. Without their imagery, these verses would lose their beauty and vitality.
…my hope is that we can as colleagues across campus think faithfully and diligently together about how we can make inquiry, creativity, and research a more effective part of how we not only transmit known information but, more important, how we enhance teaching by participating personally in the process of discovery and the creation of new knowledge.
I hope in our time together this morning we can think carefully and seriously about what we really are and, more important, what we desire and need to become. I am satisfied that this aim of a BYU education—to build character—cannot be neglected or diminished because all of the aims and the mission of this great university are so intimately related to one another.
I believe being acceptable to God and having the approval of the right kind of men and women are the ultimate accreditation that we should each personally seek. And the basic standard by which we will be measured is whether or not we serve Christ.
Contradictions shown in two letters written by Professor Charles Anthon about his dealings with Martin Harris including whether or not he gave Harris a written opinion on the authenticity of the characters shown to him.
The temple sealing has greater meaning as life unfolds. It will help you draw ever closer together and find greater joy and fulfillment.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Leviticus
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Daniel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Each year during Christmastime, neighborhoods are illuminated by hundreds of little lights, filling all with a sense of wonder. These decorations awaken within us a sense of joy and hope as we remember the lights—a new star and glorious angels (Matthew 2:2; Luke 2:9–14)—which illuminated the night that first Christmas in Judea some 2000 years ago. But we should not forget the lights that shone upon the Nephites that first Christmas. They also saw the new star (3 Nephi 1:21) as well as an entire night without any darkness (3 Nephi 1:15, 19). For the believing Nephites, that light was lifesaving—because there was no darkness, their lives were spared. Since that night, vast numbers of disciples of Christ have been filled with the Savior’s light. However, the Book of Mormon’s testimony of the birth of Christ does not begin on that night. Samuel the Lamanite prophesied of those signs five years earlier (Helaman 14:2–8), and various Book of Mormon prophets going back to Lehi had spoken in great anticipation of coming birth of Christ. At Book of Mormon Central, we have discussed several of these prophecies in our KnoWhys over the past few years. As a special thank you to our readers, viewers, and friends, we have collected those KnoWhys here, and present them togEther under the heading: Because There Was No Darkness: The Birth of Christ, a Book of Mormon Perspective. May there be no darkness for you this Christmas season, and may the light and life of Christ fill your hearts this Christmas season, and always. Merry Christmas, Book of Mormon Central
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: A recent review of Joseph M. Spencer’s book The Vision of All: Twenty-Five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi’s Record made the case that the book contains several challenges and problems, in particular that it advocates a theologically deficient interpretation of Isaiah that denies Isaiah’s witness of Jesus Christ. This response provides an alternative reading of Spencer’s work and suggests these assertions are often based on misunderstanding. At stake in this conversation is the question of whether or not there is more than one valid way to read Isaiah that draws upon a faithful, Restoration perspective. While Spencer may interpret and frame some things differently than some other Latter-day Saint scholars, the prophecies of Isaiah provide enough richness and possibility to accommodate a chorus of faithful approaches.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Criticisms and Apologetics > Book Reviews
This article is an analysis of the geographical statements given in the Book of Ether and possible North American correlations.
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Skousen reports on his work on a critical text of the Book of Mormon, notably his work with the Wilford Wood original manuscript fragments, which in 1937 Wood purchased from Lewis Bidamon’s son, Charles. The project has illuminated Hebrew-like expressions in the original text, some errors of transmission between the original and the printer’s manuscripts, and more information concerning the translation process.
Discusses the importance of the Bible, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Book of Mormon. Together they constitute the doctrine of the Church. The Book of Mormon is a valuable testament of Christ from cover to cover.
Since the Book of Mormon was first published in 1830, its critics have endeavored to find explanations for it other than the one given by Joseph Smith. Some have suggested that the source for much of the history and theology in the Book of Mormon was an early nineteenth-century book entitled View of the Hebrews, by Ethan Smith. This book is a faithful and accurate reproduction of the 1825 second edition of View of the Hebrews. The intent in publishing it has been to make it available to all interested readers—whether critics, believers in the Book of Mormon, or scholars of early American religious history. This printing reproduces not only the original spelling and punctuation but also, as much as possible, the original layout, typefaces, and type sizes. Readers may find topics of some interest for Latter-day Saint history, but it is clear that they will need to look elsewhere to find the origin of the Book of Mormon. ISBN 1-5700-8247-2
This article discusses whEther or not the Nephites had the Aaronic priesthood, concluding that the Nephites operated under the Melchizedek priesthood from the time of Lehi to the coming of Christ.
The New Rendition of the Gospel of Mark provides a modern English translation of Mark’s earliest known Greek texts. It is excerpted from The Gospel according to Mark by Julie M. Smith. There is no such thing as perfect translation, even theoretically. This Rendition reflects Julie Smith’s deliberate choice to translate as literally as possible in order to aid the reader in appreciating the literary features of Mark’s text. These include purposeful repetitions, awkward constructions, intentional word choices, and similar features. One exception to the principle of strictly literal translation is that the Greek idioms in Mark are translated with comparable English idioms. A second exception is for culturally specific expressions. For example, “the fourth watch” is translated as “when night was ending,” and “over three hundred denarii” is rendered as “over a year’s wages.” But aside from these two exceptions, the quest for authentic literalism is the overriding concern—even at the cost of smoothness and elegance. There is no doubt that this Rendition will strike the reader as infelicitous at first. But hewing closely to the source text outweighs, in this context, the benefits of attempting to improve the source. This New Rendition will sound a little foreign to LDS readers accustomed to the distinctive register of the King James Version—which strikes the modern reader as elegant, formal, and magisterial. But because the New Rendition more closely reflects the original tone of Mark’s text, readers soon experience this dynamic Gospel more as it would have sounded to a first-century audience: not antiquated, lofty, or reverent but rather common, plain, and impressive. This Rendition is part of the BYU New Testament Commentary series. This scholarly project aims to create a faithful modern English translation together with a full, in-depth, carefully researched commentary for each book on the New Testament. More of the New Rendition and commentary volumes will be added in coming months and years. As of 2019, volumes have been published on Mark, Luke, First Corinthians, and Revelation.
Elder Soares teaches that as women and men work together in true and equal marriage partnerships, they will enjoy the unity taught by the Savior. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims the principle of full partnership between woman and man, both in mortal life and in the eternities.
Because by far the greatest portion of the Book of Mormon is narrative—though admittedly in several different ways—other literary modes embedded in the narrative flow are less obvious and consequently less easily identified and read in terms of their own unique generic conventions. One such passage occurs in the fourth chapter of 2 Nephi, verses 16 though 35, a passage that is often referred to as the “Psalm of Nephi,” at least since Sidney Sperry provided this formulation in his commentary on the Book of Mormon. The question to be discussed with reference to these verses is not whether they are a psalm in the biblical sense of the term but rather the nature and extent of their poetic qualities and some of the most central interpretive implications inextricably connected with their lyricism.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
For any among you who have made serious mistakes and are feeling spiritually scarred, remember the words of Isaiah: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Radiocarbon dating indicates early culture in Arizona was contemporaneous with mastodons in the vicinity of 4000 b.c. This may be the first serious evidence supporting the survival of this animal as late as the Jaredites. The book of Ether has “elephants” less than two millennia later.
A former Mormon gives a personal account of how he came to lose faith in Mormonism and the Book of Mormon and eventually reject Mormonism altogether.
Recent years have witnessed a growing recognition in the academy that the Book of Mormon deserves closer attention than it has received. Not surprisingly, adherents to the various Mormon faiths have long read the book with some care. But larger numbers of believing and nonbelieving academics have come to recognize that, despite its often didactic style and relative literary artlessness, the Book of Mormon exhibits remarkable sophistication. This is perhaps nowhere truer than in those passages where the volume interacts—whether explicitly or implicitly—with biblical texts (always in or in relation to the King James rendering). Close reading of the Book of Mormon makes clear that Mormonism’s founding text models a profoundly inventive biblical hermeneutic that deserves a place in the burgeoning field of reception history. How does Mormon scripture understand and react to particular biblical texts, and what might be learned about the potential meanings of those biblical texts in light of such interactions?
“I’m not a historian, and I’m therefore unprepared to answer a question that has come to bother me. I want to know when the word ’studies’ in the phrase ’Book of Mormon studies’ passed—if it ever has passed—from being a plural to being a singular noun. Let me illustrate what I mean with a brief example. When the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies began publication in 1992, was it a journal in which to publish studies (plural) of the Book of Mormon, or was it a journal in which work in Book of Mormon studies (singular) might appear? This is the sort of question I want to answer. However nascent or inchoate it might be at present, is there a singular (but, of course, interdisciplinary) field of research called Book of Mormon studies? And if so, for how long exactly has this been the case? I suspect there was some point in time at which it became possible to hear the phrase ’Book of Mormon studies’ as pointing to something in the singular, to a conversation or (the beginnings of) a coherent discipline, rather than as gesturing toward disparate bits of academic prose that might be grouped together because they all say something about the Book of Mormon. When did it become possible—if it’s even possible now—to be a Book of Mormon scholar in a recognizable field? Now, it might seem like an overly fine distinction I’m drawing, but I think the distinction makes a real difference. Take, for instance, the case of Hugh Nibley. Today, we can ask what Nibley’s contribution to Book of Mormon studies was without hoping just for a list of his published research on the Book of Mormon. That is, it’s possible today to ask how Nibley shaped a field, how his writings on the Book of Mormon helped to determine what others might do with their careers, or how he made himself indispensable for those who work on this particular volume of scripture. At the same time, I’m not sure that when Nibley first turned his scholarly attention to the Book of Mormon, it was possible to ask these kinds of questions, or at least that there was anyone to ask them about. Prior to Nibley’s work, I gather, there were only studies (in the plural) about the Book of Mormon. Today, however, after and thanks to Hugh Nibley, there seems to exist something like a field or a discipline—again, however small or fledgling—of Book of Mormon studies (in the singular).” [Author]
“These [comprehensiveness, materiality, strength, and reach], then, are the four criteria that I think might help decide whether a reading of the Book of Mormon rises to the level of a whole-book reading at all (the frist two criteria, both yes-or-no sorts of issues), and of whether a reading has the kind of gravity necessary to trigger a genuine transformation of the field of Book of Mormon studies (the last two criteria, both matters of judging where a project might fall on a spectrum of possibilities). If an aspiring whole-book reading of the Book of Mormon arises soon that proves able to satisfy the first two criteria and to sufficiently satisfy the last two criteria, then I suspect we will have witnessed the beginning of a new era in Book of Mormon studies. Such an era would be more polemical in nature than the past couple of decades have been, but, I suspect, polemical in a productive rather than a destructive fashion. All the kinds of studies that have been produced during the past two decades-- and even before that, all throughout the second half of the twentieth century-- can and should, of course, continue. But I sincerely hope they will find their places on a terrain that has been seismically altered by the emergence of something new: a compelling reading of the whole of the Book of Mormon.” [Author]
Abstract: The interpreters were a pair of seer stones used by Book of Mormon prophets and provided to Joseph Smith for translating the Nephite record. Martin Harris described them as two white, marble- like stones that could be looked into when placed in a hat. Joseph Smith described them as spectacles with which he could read the record and later as two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow. Others described them as smooth stones, diamonds, or glasses. Reconciling these various descriptions and determining the actual appearance of the interpreters requires an assessment of the credibility of each source and an understanding of how the interpreters were used in translating. It also requires an understanding of how words such as glasses, transparent, and diamonds were used in Joseph Smith’s day, particularly in reference to seer stones. An assessment of the various descriptions of the interpreters in light of these factors lends support to both Martin Harris’s and Joseph Smith’s accounts. By these accounts, the interpreters were smooth, mostly white, perhaps translucent stones set in a long metal frame. Although they superficially resembled eyeglasses, the stones were set much too far apart to be worn as such. They were not clear like eyeglasses but were transparent in the sense that they, like other seer stones, could be “looked into” by a person gifted as a seer of visions.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Abstract: Doctrine and Covenants 9:7–9 is conventionally interpreted as the Lord’s description of the method by which the Book of Mormon was translated. A close reading of the entire revelation, however, suggests that the Lord was not telling Oliver Cowdery how to translate but rather how to know whether it was right for him to translate and how to obtain the faith necessary to do so. Faith would have enabled Oliver Cowdery to overcome his fear and translate, just as it would have enabled Peter (in Matthew 14) to overcome his fear and walk on water.
Enhance your study of the New Testament with help from respected gospel teachers. the New Testament and the Latter-day Saints contains a collection of findings from BYU religion professors and other renowned scholars that is perfect for any student of the New Testament. Whether you use it for personal or family study, lesson or talk preparation, or to help you participate in the ongoing dialogue of world academicians, this is one book your gospel library can\'t do without.Inside you\'ll find:Susan Easton Black on New Testament WomenJoseph Fielding McConkie on Special Witnesses of the Birth of ChristMonte S. Nyman on the Stumbling Blocks of First CorinthiansAnd more!The New Testament contains some of the most personal details of our Savior\'s life on earth, and now you can increase your love for this book of scripture as you gain a deeper appreciation of its cultural setting, historical significance, and doctrinal insights by reading the New Testament and the Latter-day Saints.
Contents (first edition):
Preface
Contributors
1. The New Testament and the Latter-day Saints / John K. Carmack
2. Rhetoric versus Revelation: A Consideration of Acts 17, verses 16 to 34 / Richard P. Anderson
3. The New Testament Women: The Exemplars / Susan Easton-Black, Alan K. Parrish
4. The Doctrine of Justification and the Writings of the Apostle Paul / Edward J. Brandt
5. Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils / Leland H. Gentry
6. The “I Am” Passages in the Gospels and in 3 Nephi / James R. Harris
7. The Beatitudes: Eight Qualities that Savor the Eternal Quest / Clark V. Johnson
8. The Book of Mormon, an Interpretive Guide to the New Testament / Dennis Largey
9. Isaiah as Taught By the New Testament Apostles / Victor L. Ludlow
10. We Have Found the Messiah, Which is the Christ / Robert J. Matthews
11. Special Witnesses of the Birth of Christ / Joseph Fielding McConkie
12. Jesus and Josephus Told of the Descruction of Jerusalem / Keith H. Meservy
13. Jude: A Call to Contend for the Faith / T. John Nielsen II
14. Is Any Sick Among You?: Anointing the Sick with Oil in Early Christian and Latter-day Thology and Practice / Walter A. Norton
15. The Stumbling Blocks of First Corinthians / Monte S. Nyman
16. Interpreting the New Testament / Chauncey C. Riddle
17. The Book of Romans: An Orthodox Description of Faith, Works, and Exaltation / Joseph B. Romney
18. Visions of Christ in the Spirit World and the Dead Redeemed / Catherine Thomas
19. Joseph Smith and the Apocalypse of John / Rodney Turner
20. The Revelation / S. Michael Wilcox
21. Securing Divine Protection: Putting on the Armor of God / Clyde J. Williams
Index
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Kirtland, Ohio, is of unique historical interest because of its roots in Church history and because so many Church members trace their ancestry there. This handy guide brings together a wealth of family history and historical sources to help genealogists, historians, and other researchers. The volume includes photographs of the Kirtland Temple and maps of the area. ISBN 0-8425-2600-5
The Book of Mormon is a translation, containing details of the original language in which it is written. Very few of the writers would have had a working knowledge of Egyptian; the writing would more likely be a Hebraized Egyptian. The Book of Mormon contains many passages from Isaiah, more correctly translated than in the King James Version. Various examples of the Hebrew construct state are evident in Joseph Smith’s translation, together with direct translations of Hebrew idioms.
Moroni wandered alone for sixteen years before adding to the abridged record of his father. When he did make his additions, he also wrote the title page of the Book of Mormon, but in two stages, each stage necessitating a return to the Hill Cumorah. The second paragraph clearly follows his decision to abridge the book of Ether.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
No one doubts that the hill where Joseph Smith received the plates is known as Cumorah, but is the hill where the final battles between the Nephites and Lamanites took place another Cumorah? The book of Ether tells us that Omer traveled to this place of the last battles of the Nephites, and that the relatively short duration of this journey would not account for the three thousand miles from Middle America to New York. A similar journey was undertaken by Limhi’s men, of equally short duration. The description of the geographical features around the final battle site is also at odds with the topography of present-day Cumorah.
Many critics deny that the first five books of the Old Testament were written by Moses and consider them to be childish myths. However, when Nephi and Lehi examined the brass plates, they found them to contain “the five books of Moses.” And in the Book of Mormon, the Savior himself confirms their authorship. The book of Ether also offers confirmation of the Tower of Babel story.
An analysis of the text of 3 Nephi to Moroni. Third Nephi was written by Nephi, the son of Nephi, the son of Helaman. Fourth Nephi in turn was written by the son of Nephi3, also called Nephi, and Nephi’s son Amos and grandsons Amos and his brother Ammaron. The book of Mormon was principally inscribed by Mormon and Moroni. The book of Ether exposes the terrible end of a people persisting in wickedness. The book of Moroni shows his love for his enemies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The most significant allegory in the Book of Mormon is the allegory of the tame and wild olive tree, which appears in Jacob 5. Six different types of prayers are found in the Book of Mormon. Perhaps the best example of a true song is “The Song of the Vineyard,” actually a quotation from Isaiah. There is only one example of an extended genealogy, that of Ether, the last Jaredite prophet.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article discusses how Moroni was alone for thirty-six years. He finished the Book of Mormon, abridged the book of Ether, and wrote the title page.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Most contemporary Old Testament scholars question whether Moses wrote the Pentateuch, but the Book of Mormon affirms Moses’ authorship. Questions arise as to how Jeremiah’s prophecies appeared on the brass plates and what the nature of the Book of the Law was. According to the brass plates, Laban and Lehi were descendants of Manasseh. How then did they come to be living in Jerusalem? The brass plates, on which may be found lost scripture, may have been the official scripture of the ten tribes.
Sidney Sperry discusses whether the Cumorah in New York is the only one or whether there is another Cumorah somewhere in Central America. He looks at evidence in the books of Ether, Mormon, Mosiah, and Omni, as well as various scholarly opinions about the matter. There is no explanation of how the Hill Cumorah in New York came to be called Cumorah or how, if there are indeed two Cumorahs, the plates were transported from one to the other.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Moroni was alone for thirty-six years. He finished the Book of Mormon, abridged the book of Ether, and wrote the title page.
Moroni was alone for thirty-six years. He finished the Book of Mormon, abridged the book of Ether, and wrote the title page.
Elder Stevenson teaches the importance of kindness, love, and respect, offering specific counsel to children, youth, and adults.
Abstract: Moses 7 is one of the most famous passages in all of Restoration scripture. It is also one of the most problematic in regard to its description of the people of Canaan as black (v. 8) and as a people who were not preached to by the patriarch Enoch (v. 12). Later there is also a mention of “the seed of Cain,” who also are said to be black (v. 22). This article examines the history of interpretation of Moses 7 and proposes an alternative understanding based on a close reading of the text. In contrast to traditional views, it argues that the reason for Enoch’s not preaching to the people of Canaan stems not from any sins the people had committed or from divine disfavor but from the racial prejudice of the other sons of Adam, the “residue of the people” (vv. 20, 22) who ironically are the only ones mentioned as “cursed” in the text (v. 20). In looking at the implications of this passage for the present-day Restoration, this article notes parallels between Enoch’s hesitancy and various attitudes toward black priesthood ordination throughout the Restoration traditions, including the Community of Christ where the same type of hesitancy existed. This article argues that, rather than being indicative of divine disfavor toward persons of African descent, this tendency is a response to the racist attitudes of particular eras, whether the period of the Old Testament patriarchs or the post-bellum American South. Nevertheless, God can be seen as working through and within particular contexts and cultures to spread the gospel to all of Adam’s children irrespective of race.
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to publish this article from an author outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but from a related Restoration faith tradition. Adam Stokes was formerly with the Community of Christ and currently is an ordained Apostle and Elder in The Church of Jesus Christ with the Elijah Message—The Assured Way [Page 160]of the Lord. Adam notes that “while the Book of Moses is not officially part of my church’s canon, my own personal beliefs still accept the Joseph Smith translation/Inspired Version as inspired and sacred scripture and I read it often.” We are grateful for the faithful insights Elder Stokes kindly provides for the Book of Moses.]
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 6:13–7 — Enoch
Book of Mormon language frequently contains lengthy structures of rather awkward English. Some may consider these to be instances of poor grammar, weakness in writing (Ether 12:23–26), or the literary ineptness of a fraudulent author; however, I see them as potentially significant support for a translation from a Near Eastern language in an ancient American setting. Many of these examples of awkward, lengthy structures in English parallel Semitic (and Egyptian) patterns, particularly the circumstantial or hal-clause. In response to critics of my previous proposal to that effect, this article is a lengthier treatment of these lengthy structures found in the Book of Mormon.
Believers and non-believers have both assembled their separate sets of misconceptions about the Book of Mormon. So as truth emerges, everyone gets to be surprised in some ways, including the author. Previous thoughts on Book of Mormon language have been tEthered to the text. As a linguist, knowledgeable in Egyptian and Semitic languages, and as a leading authority in a relevant Native American language family, the author brings togEther evidence for an enlightening line of language history from Nephi to Now. His studies in comparative Uto-Aztecan clarify a number of Book of Mormon language matters.
This fourth volume by the Book of Mormon Academy at Brigham Young University is a careful study of the intersections of two ancient texts: The Book of Mormon and the Bible. The authors approach the two books of scripture from within two fundamental frameworks. First, several of the essays explore the books in terms of the worlds from which they come with their related ideals, interests, and origins. Second, a number of the authors analyze topics based on the texts themselves, closely studying the two texts and helping readers better understand connections. ISBN 978-1-9503-0430-1
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The word amateur derives from the Latin for “love.” An amateur is at root a lover—a lover of sport, science, art, and so forth. Tanner explains, “There is much to recommend the professional ethic, including rigor, methodology, high standards of review, and so forth. . . . Yet it is hoped that we also never cease to be amateurs in our professions—that is, passionate devotees of our disciplines.” This book gathers together brief messages entitled “Notes from an Amateur” that were periodically sent to the faculty at Brigham Young University by former academic vice president John S. Tanner. Tanner’s words reflect his years of experience as a scholar, an administrator, and a disciple, addressing with characteristic insight and wisdom an impressive range of topics from the seemingly mundane to the inspiring. This book is enhanced by the evocative art of Brian Kershisnik. ISBN 978-0-8425-2801-6
The book of Ether is an edited version of the twenty-four gold plates found by Limhi and translated by Mosiah. Its themes include secret combinations, the importance of following prophets, and wickedness brings destruction. It teaches of Christ’s premortal spirit body, that Three Witnesses would testify of the Book of Mormon, and that a New Jerusalem will be built in the western hemisphere.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
As we search, pray, and believe, we will recognize miracles in our lives and become miracle workers in the lives of others.
Each of our [Christlike] deeds may share only a pinpoint of light, but added together they begin to make a significant difference.
The Ninth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU As the final installment in the book of Mormon Symposium series, this volume examines the last four books of the Nephite record: 4 Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni. Perhaps more than any other part in the Book of Mormon, this section powerfully portrays the cycle through which the ancient inhabitants of America passed many times—the cycle that took them from righteousness to wickedness, from Zion to destruction. Twenty-five contributors here explore the details of this tragic cycle—as it occurred in both the Nephite and the Jaredite civilizations—and also discuss many related doctrinal and historical issues. Realizing the Book of Mormon’s relevance to our day, the writers further take the opportunity to point out the many modern applications. ISBN 0-8849-4974-5
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
“As the final installment in the book of Mormon Symposium series, this volume examines the last four books of the Nephite record : 4 Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni. Perhaps more than any other part in the Book of Mormon, this section powerfully portrays the cycle through which the ancient inhabitants of America passed many times-the cycle that took them from righteousness to wickedness, from Zion to destruction. Twenty-five contributors here explore the details of this tragic cycle-as it occurred in both the Nephite and the Jaredite civilizations-and also discuss many related doctrinal and historical issues. Realizing the Book of Mormon’s relevance to our day, the writers further take the opportunity to point out the many modern applications.” [Publisher]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
An account of the discovery of the Kinderhook plates—six brass plates held together by a ring. R. Wiley discovered them in a mound and hoped that Joseph Smith would be able to decipher them and that they would prove the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Feb. 11, 1883. Reported By: Unknown.
Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Feb. 11, 1883 Reported By: Unknown.
Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at a Priesthood Meeting, held in the Salt Lake Assembly Hall, Saturday Evening, October 6, 1883. Reported By: John Irvine.
Terry explores briefly the inconsistent usage of second-person pronouns in the English translation of the Book of Mormon. Based on clues in the text of the Book of Mormon itself and on the descriptive accounts left by Joseph and others, two general theories have arisen regarding this unusual translation process. Whether or not this is accurate, one thing is certain: Joseph Smith did not “translate” the Book of Mormon, not if people mean that translating involves having a sound understanding of the source language and culture and then converting a document from that language into the target language.
One of the really important things we should think about each day is the blessings we have received and whether those blessings seem to be coming to us in response to our obedience to laws and commandments of the Lord. We should always remember to express our gratitude for these blessings. I think this is helpful to think about, even though, as King Benjamin put it, we will always be “unprofitable servants”—that is, always in debt to our Father in Heaven.
Moroni, the final writer and compiler of the Book of Mormon, provides three endings to the book. His first ending, in Mormon 8–9, can be called a “signature ending”—the primary purpose here is to state that the writing is finished and to identify the author and his father and nation. Moroni, yet alive, provides a second ending, a “farewell ending,” in Ether 12. This type of ending both concludes the work and wishes the reader well but then warns or rejoices that the narrator will meet the reader at the final judgment. In the final farewell ending (in Moroni 10), Moroni, the lone survivor of his people, expresses joy and hope. The three endings remind latter-day readers to acknowledge the destruction of the Nephite and Jaredite nations and provide doctrinal, logical, and scriptural arguments in defense of the Book of Mormon and its doctrines.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This first of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the contributors have learned from Dr. Nibley. Nearly every major subject that he has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the influence of Nibley, Copts and the Bible, the Seventy in scripture, the great apostasy, the book of Daniel in early Mormon thought, an early Christian initiation ritual, John’s Apocalypse, ancient Jewish seafaring, Native American rites of passage, Sinai as sanctuary and mountain of God, the Qurʾan and creation ex nihilo, and the sacred handclasp and embrace.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Hugh Nibley > Scholarship, Footnotes, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, CWHN, Editing > Comparative Analysis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > A — C > Church History 1820–1844
RSC Topics > L — P > Love
The application of some techniques of literary analysis to the Jaredite exodus narrative in Ether 1–3 and 6 reveals that it is more than just a historical account. The author or editor of the narrative uses imagery and dialogue to help the reader look beyond the historical facts and see elements of the creation, Christ, and temples, among other things.
Since 1998 the Brigham Young University Museum of Art has hosted the biennial Art, Belief, Meaning Symposium. The purpose of the symposium is to provide an opportunity for Latter-day Saint artists, critics, and commentators to contribute to the ongoing discussion about issues related to art and spirituality. Our goal is to articulate our interest in the making of art that not only is relevant and meaningful for our day, but which also bears witness and gives perspective to the realities that flow from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The symposium provides a welcome forum for discussion regarding issues that have always concerned serious religious artists: • What is the role of the artist in relation to the mission of the Church? • What is the place of self expression, belief, and inspiration in religious art? • Do artists have a “mission” through their work? • How does individual testimony find expression in the work of the artist? • Does religion create untenable tensions in the expression of the artist? • What is the relationship between idea and technique in religious art? • Can religious art find expression through contemporary art movements? This series provides an opportunity for like-minded believers, those with deep and often passionate interests in the arts, to come together, reason together, and benefit from each others’ points of view. Hopefully others who find themselves confronted by similar issues will benefit from a careful reading of these essays.
The prophets of God continually raise their warning voices and lovingly give counsel to strengthen our families and heighten the spirituality of our children. This is a gospel-centered “best practices” book for husbands and wives, fathers and mothers that is founded on prophetic teachings and substantiated by good science. This book will help readers gain new and important insights about our most important responsibilities in time and eternity—our families. By bringing together the “words of wisdom” from both religious sources and from the discoveries of solid research, families can be better equipped in their pursuit of success and happiness. ISBN 978-0-8425-2850-4
The writers of the Book of Mormon emphasized that Lehi was a descendant of Joseph because they knew that the tribe of Joseph would be the means of saving the rest of the house of Israel in the last days. Those of the lineage of Ephraim and Manasseh will work together as the tribe of Joseph in the last days.
The author sees the publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls to be a catalyst for bringing the Bible and Book of Mormon together (2 Nephi 3:12).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
People deciphering Book of Mormon geography have argued about whether the Nephite “north” is true north. This article reports hieroglyphs found in Rio Azul that were oriented correctly to the cardinal directions.
In 1875, a few days before the first missionaries to Mexico were to depart, Brigham Young changed his mind: rather than have them travel to California where they would take a steamer down the coast and then go by foot or horseback inland to Mexico City, Brigham asked if they would mind making the trip by horseback, going neither to California nor Mexico City, but through Arizona to the northern Mexican state of Sonora—a round trip of 3,000 miles! He instructed them to look along the way for places to settle and to determine whether the Lamanites were ready to receive the gospel. But Brigham Young had other things in mind: the Saints might need another place of refuge, and advanced exploration was a logical course to pursue, should that need ever arise. The most promising site for such a refuge lay to the south, perhaps Mexico.
One of the great miracles of the Book of Mormon occurred when the brother of Jared asked the Lord to touch some clear stones so they would provide light inside the barges that would take his people across the ocean to the New World. To some modern readers, the story seems implausible. This article surveys a number of ancient and medieval accounts of glowing stones, including some said to have been used in Noah’s ark and the “fish” the Lord prepared to swallow Jonah. The parallels to the Jaredite story are remarkable and suggest an ancient milieu for the book of Ether.
The English translation of the Book of Mormon shows many characteristics of the Hebrew language. In many places the words that have been used and the ways in which the words have been put together are more typical of Hebrew than of English. These Hebraisms, as I will call them, are evidence of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon—evidence that Joseph Smith did not write a book in English but translated an ancient text and that his translation reflects the Hebrew words and word order of the original.
Determined to read the Book of Mormon in purely naturalistic nineteenth century terms, rather than as an ancient text, recent criticisms of that volume of scripture are offended by some descriptions of Lamanites in the text. This is particularly true when the Nephites describe the Lamanites in pejorative terms, such as blood-thirsty, idolatrous, ferocious, idle, lazy, and filthy. The question is whether these terms can be considered “racist,” and whether supposed “racist” attitudes of the Nephites are evidence against the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
A polemic that states that the Book of Mormon “by no means is made up of a series of skillfully constructed pieces, nor even of individual forgeries cunningly concocted. The workmanship must appear spurious to any person who brings a small share of scholarship or of critical knowledge to test it. In short, it is a clumsy affair altogether, which can only in its present shape impose upon the ignorant, the illiterate, and the most credulous”
Accounts of the pioneers’ trek across the plains have inspired Latter-day Saints of different lands and cultures for generations. But as the Church becomes more global, there are other histories to tell. Voyages of Faith is a new book that tells one of those histories. The first compilation of its kind, Voyages brings together scholarly research, personal reminiscences and stories of inspiration and faith of Latter-day Saints in the Pacific Islands over the last 150 years. Contributors to the book include native Pacific Islanders, notably Chieko N. Okazaki, the first non-Caucasian called to the Relief Society, Young Women’s and Primary general boards. While some chapters are scholarly in focus, others give insight into the emotions and experiences of contemporary Polynesian Latter-day Saints. Voyages chronicles early LDS Church life in the pacific, missionary work and pacific temples. There is even an account written by a surviving Church member from the Kalaupapa leper colony. The content is drawn from presentations made during the last 20 years to the Mormon Pacific Historical Society, an organization dedicated to gathering, recording and publishing LDS history of the Pacific area. Grant Underwood, BYU historian and editor of Voyages, said although the stories within the volume are about Pacific Islanders, they will inspire all who read them. This book relates wonderful accounts of ordinary people receiving extraordinary blessings, said Underwood. It’s inspirational for readers to know that God has been dealing with his children all over the world. Underwood said the publication of Voyages illustrates the worldwide nature of the Church. Stories of faith and courage can come from any culture and inspire any culture, he said. Polynesians have had many wonderful spiritual experiences that can hearten Saints everywhere. Voyages of Faith is the second volume in the Studies in Latter-day Saint History series published by the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at Brigham Young University
If we can truly gather together in the spirit of unity and look to our Savior for guidance, we can tap into power and knowledge that can only be gained by employing this gospel methodology.
Called as an Apostle at age 25, Heber J. Grant was acutely aware of his inadequacies. Feeling unseasoned and unsure, he questioned whether he had the “qualities that count” for such a position. Yet he took solace in his faith: “There is one thing that sustains me and that is the fact that all powers, of mind or body, come from god and that He is perfectly able and willing to qualify me for His work provided I am faithful in doing my part.” Despite insecurities, Grant always excelled. His single mother, Rachel Ivins Grant, gently fostered the tenacity, industry, and faith that permeated his life. This is the little-known story of Heber J. Grant and his values before he became Church President. “When a leader reaches distinction, we often wonder about his background, the experiences that influenced and molded his aspirations and character. Here, Ronald W. Walker has painstakingly accessed the most reliable sources, mined intimate details, and penetrated to the story behind the story. This is the finest work yet on the formative years of the Church’s seventh president.” —Truman Grant Madsen This book was simultaneously published as BYU Studies Journal volume 43 number 1.
Hearkening to the call of Christ from His Spirit, or through another’s countenance, or both, we become genuinely honest, simple, solid, true—often together with someone we may not have trusted before.
Suggests that some of the legends of the Popol Vuh have affinities with the book of Ether. Notes the meaning of “Shiblon” (lion cub) and a possible connection with Ixbalan (little jaguar).
Central to the Book of Mormon are the prophets Mormon and Moroni. Moroni abridged the Book of Ether and authored Mormon 8-9 and the book of Moroni. Washburn presents a fictitious narrative of Moroni’s story told in first person as though Moroni had recorded it.
Several approaches to interpreting Joseph Smith’s use of the so-called Jewish and Christian apocryphal literature have been employed both by critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter LDS), and by those professing faith in the Church and whose interests may be classified as apologetic. These approaches span the range of being probative of Joseph Smith’s restoration of lost texts and scripture and being dismissive of Mormonism generally, because its sacred religious texts are founded on flagrant plagiarism of apocryphal literature.[1] Before one can answer the most important historical question at hand, how Joseph Smith used the Apocrypha and what relationship that body of literature had to early Mormon writings, it seems prudent to first of all establish some controls on the discussion. This is necessary because previous discussions have largely contented themselves with drawing out parallels between apocryphal writings and early Mormon publications without any discussion of whether or not Joseph Smith had access to the texts under discussion. Moreover, a wide variety of modern translations of ancient apocryphal texts are often employed when there is no possible way that someone living in the early nineteenth century could have known them. This is particularly important when citing phrases or words that Joseph Smith might have incorporated into the language of his revelations.
Book of Moses Topics > Basic Resources > Surveys and Perspectives on Ancient Sources from Outside the Bible
RSC Topics > A — C > Bible
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Using different methodological approaches and considerations, Thomas Wayment and John Gee each approach the question of whether Paul was speaking to his spouse in Philippians 4:3; their intent is to determine if the question can be answered with any degree of confidence. The related question of whether Paul was ever married is not addressed here, although that issue has been of interest since at least the second century AD and perhaps earlier. Instead, these authors consider only the question of whether a specific noun that is sometimes used to refer to a wife was intentionally used that way by Paul.
Preface: The following article was published in the Regent University Law Review in the first number of its 2008-2009 volume, pages 79-103. The article is reprinted here by permission without any substantive modifications. Because law reviews are not easily available on the Web or elsewhere to most readers, I am pleased to give wider exposure to this first foray into the idea of a Mormon jurisprudence. Regent University is an Evangelical Christian institution.
This article grew mainly out of a talk that was delivered on February 14, 2004, to the first national meeting of the student chapters of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, held at Harvard Law School. Four years later, on February 13, 2008, Scott Adams, a third-year member of the law review at Regent University Law School contacted me and said that he was hoping to “put something together on Mormonism and the law,” to see if the law review might publish it. Scott rightly indicated that, according to his research, “no one has ever attempted to tackle the ambitious project of considering Mormonism, in general, and analyzing its potential implications on law (for example, how might an LDS judge see the law, as opposed to a Catholic).” Scott was thinking about writing a paper himself on natural law from an LDS perspective. I responded by suggesting that he contact Cole Durham, Francis Beckwith, and Nate Oman; and I offered to send him a copy of my Harvard speech, expressing interest in publishing that paper as a companion piece with his.
As it would soon turn out, the editor-in-chief and board of the Regent law review were very eager to publish my piece, especially if it could appear with another article presenting an “opposing viewpoint.” They suggested a member of their faculty, and after brief deliberations, all was agreed. In the end, however, no opposing or additional articles were forthcoming, and so this article was published on its own. I thank Scott and his fellow students for their help in checking and enriching the footnotes. They also had hopes that this publication would build good relationships between Evangelicals and future LDS students, which I too hope has occurred.
This essay tries to identify what a “Mormon” jurisprudence would, and would not, look like. Beyond its immediate relevance to legal thought, this article might have broader applications in helping LDS scholars in other disciplines to think about, for example, what a Mormon theory of literary criticism might look like, or what would be distinctive about a Mormon approach to political theory or to any other discipline. I believe that any such Mormon academic approach (1) would be solidly rooted in all LDS scripture, (2) would be inclusivistic, privileging fullness and openness over closure and completeness, and (3) would be fundamentally pluralistic and not reductionistic.
Obviously, this piece is just a beginning. There is much more to be done here. I have continued to work along these lines for the past decade and have published other things growing out of this paper, for example, a talk about rights and duties given at Stanford Law School, published in the Clark Memorandum (Fall, 2010), 26, http://www.jrcls.org/publications/clark_memo/issues/cmF10.pdf, and my Maeser lecture at Brigham Young University, available at http://byustudies.byu.edu/PDFLibrary/50.3WelchThy-08f4ba7e-d3a2-444f-bc8c-0ce842c12fc4.pdf.
I would hope next to articulate the specific implications of these ideas with respect to legal attitudes toward statutory construction, judicial activism, the spirit and letter of the law, justice and mercy, equality and freedom, pacifism and justifiable use of force, corrections and forms of punishment, degrees of fiduciary duties, types of contracts, the foundations of family law, the principles of constitutional law, and many other topics. This development would utilize historical, scriptural, logical, ethical, and other analyses.
Naturally, this article is neither complete nor comprehensive in scope. How could it truly exemplify my theory if it were otherwise? This was all I could cover in a brief presentation even to a group of bright law students gathered on a Valentine’s Day at Harvard. And I probably already had included enough here to bewilder most Baptist readers of the Regent University Law Review who were just then hearing for the first time about Mitt Romney and wondered how a Mormon might approach the law as the president of the United States.
That question, of course, is still up for grabs; and Latter-day Saints are more interested in political and legal issues than ever before. So I hope that readers may find this article still to be stimulating and, as reader Sid Unrau has commented, “well worth reading, contemplating, and building upon, … a valuable start for those who wish to further the subject.”.
John Welch considers what records were brought together to form the book of Ether and examines which parts of the book might have been composed by Moroni. He looks for paraphrases included in the book and seeks to discover what influenced Moroni’s rendition of the Jaredite story. He concludes that stating comprehensively who wrote the book of Ether is no simple matter.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
John Welch displays the overall chiastic structure of Alma 36, suggests a detailed analysis of the text, traces the strands of repetition that weave paired sections tightly together, assesses the chapter’s degree of chiasticity, and compares the words and phrases of Alma 36 with the two other firsthand Book of Mormon accounts of Alma’s conversion. He suggests that there are many spiritual and intellectual implications to this study.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
This article defines fifteen criteria one can use to measure the strength or weakness of a proposed chiastic pattern in a given text. The need for rigor in such studies depends primarily on how the results of the proposed structural analyses will be used. Ultimately, analysts may not know with certainty whether an author created inverted parallel structures intentionally or not; but by examining a text from various angles, one may assess the likelihood that an author consciously employed chiasmus to achieve specific literary purposes.
The close readings in this book bring many new details to light, making the legal cases in the Book of Mormon clear to ordinary readers, convincing to attorneys, and respectable to scholars of all types, whether Latter-day Saints or not. All readers can identify with these compelling legal narratives, for they address pressing problems of ordinary people.
Joseph Smith believed in sustaining the law. This book presents his main legal encounters in the context of his day. Party to more than two hundred suits in the courts of New York, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and elsewhere, he faced criminal charges as well as civil claims and collection matters. In the end, he was never convicted of any crime, and he paid his debts. These incidents were significant institutionally as well as personally. Eleven legal scholars analyze these legal encounters. Topics cover constitutional law, copyright, disorderly conduct, association, assault, marriage, banking, land preemptive rights, treason, municipal charters, bankruptcy, guardianship, habeas corpus, adultery, and freedom of the press. A 53-page legal chronology presents key information about Joseph’s life in the law. An appendix provides biographies of sixty lawyers and judges with whom he was involved, some being the best legal minds of his day. This book is for anyone interested in the life of Joseph Smith, whether general readers, historians, lawyers, or law students. Each chapter tells a fascinating story based on controlling legal documents—many just recently discovered—that allow detailed legal analysis and accurate understanding. The full book is available for free here: Sustaining the Law, edited by Gordon A. Madsen, Jeffrey N. walker, and John W. Welch Individual chapters: Preface Introduction Joseph Smith and the Constitution The Smiths and Religious Freedom Jesse Smiths 1814 Church Tax Protest Standing as a Credible Witness in 1819 Being Acquitted of a Disorderly Person Charge in 1826 Securing the Book of Mormon Copyright in 1829 Organizing the Church as a Religious Association in 1830 Winning against Hurlbuts Assault in 1834 Performing Legal Marriages in Ohio in 1835 Looking Legally at the Kirtland Safety Society Tabulating the Impact of Litigation on the Kirtland Economy Losing Land Claims and the Missouri Conflict in 1838 Imprisonment by Austin Kings Court of Inquiry in 1838 Protecting Nauvoo by Illinois Charter in 1840 Suffering Shipwreck and Bankruptcy in 1842 and Beyond Serving as Guardian under the Lawrence Estate 1842-1844 Invoking Habeas Corpus in Missouri and Illinois Defining Adultery under Illinois and Nauvoo Law Legally Suppressing the Nauvoo Expositor in 1844 Legal Chronology of Joseph Smith Lawyers and Judges in the Legal Cases of Joseph Smith Glossary of Early Nineteenth-Century Legal Terms Contributors Index
Some have argued that Mormonism began with a book, the Book of Mormon. This printed beginning quickly spawned a prolific amount of published material both expounding and defending early doctrines of the Latter-day Saints. Between 1836 and 1860 about ninety Church members authored a variety of written works. Although many publications were based on the writings of Parley P. Pratt and Orson Pratt, some represented original ideas. Most pamphlets grew from missionary efforts, but others countered anti-Mormon literature then in circulation. In promoting truth, Mormons found the press to be a powerful weapon. These early pamphlets developed from the interactions of Church members with themselves, their message, and their neighbors. As Mormonism grew, David Whittaker explains, the press became a key element in providing the institutional glue for helping to hold together this dynamic social and religious movement. Whittaker’s dissertation explores the rise and development of pamphlet literature during the Church’s formative years. Whittaker’s dissertation explores the rise and development of pamphlet literature during the Church’s formative years.
The parable of the laborers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1–6 demonstrates the possibilities and limitations of constructing metaphoric models of salvation. It also exposes the inadequacy of applying human economic analogies to divine relations and invites its audience to consider the function and purpose of using metaphors to understand spiritual concepts. An anonymous fourteenth-century Middle English poem called Pearl retells this parable and questions whether terrestrial concepts of value and exchange should frame salvation as a transaction based on merit. The poem demonstrates in metaphoric models that heavenly relationships, particularly salvation and grace, operate on a different scale, not one of terrestrial binary or comparative value but of celestial fulness.
Explains the contents and organization of the book of Moroni. Discusses the loosely related but important items that Moroni brought together including ordinances, Mormon’s sermons and letters, Moroni’s exhortation and farewell including his final testimony of Jesus Christ.
When you’re sitting there wondering if you can stand back up again, remember that sometimes the test is not about overcoming but about whether we will keep trying no matter how hard things seem to be. Never give up. Do all things cheerfully that lie in your power, and then stand still with the assurance that God will help you.
Frederick G. Williams, a counselor to Joseph Smith, wrote that Lehi and his family landed in Chile. The author of this paper, a great-great-grandson of the original Williams, assesses the likelihood of the accuracy of this proposition. He addresses the question of whether this statement was a revelation, discusses the nature of the original document on which the statement was written, and compares other early documents on the subject.
There are twenty-seven poets represented in this bilingual anthology and over 130 poems; these range from the sixteenth century to the present but with the bulk coming from the twentieth century. There is also a broad range of topics and political points of view, as well as a diversity of racial and cultural ethnicity represented among the poets. But whether they were native African, Portuguese-born, or mestizo, the principle guiding criterion for their inclusion is their poems’ inherent literary value.
The number seven was significant to the pre-Columbian communities of Mesoamerica, as it was in the Book of Mormon. A pan-Mesoamerica legend tells of a core people descended from seven tribes, which may coincide with the seven lineages mentioned three times in the Book of Mormon. While no verifiable evidence ties these two accounts together, a closer look at the Mesoamerican legend is warranted. This article examines numerous depictions of the seven tribes in Mesoamerican art contained in their lienzos (pieces of fabric with historical drawings or maps), illustrated books called codices, and post-Conquest documents that were shown to and translated for Spanish clergy, who made a record of the various accounts.
Abstract: Scriptural accounts of celestial beings visiting the earth are abundant in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Whether a descending deity or angelic beings from celestial realms, they were often accompanied by clouds. In this paper a short analysis of the various types of clouds, including imitation clouds (incense), will be discussed. The relation between the phenomenon of supernatural beings, sometimes in clouds, may have had a great influence on descendants of Book of Mormon cultures. For these people, stories that were told from one generation to the next would have been considered ancient mythological lore. It may be plausible that future generations attempted to duplicate the same type scenario of celestial beings speaking and visiting their people. These events were sometimes recorded in stone.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
In … Church meetings around the world, we come together seeking companionship—the good company of brothers and sisters in the gospel and the comfort of sweet communion with the Spirit of God.
We, too, must choose whether we will serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, or follow the gods of indulgence and sin that clamor for our attention on every side.
In order to assist the Savior, we have to work together in unity and in harmony. Everyone, every position, and every calling is important.
RSC Topics > T — Z > War
Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, June 12, 1881. Reported By: John Irvine.
Discourse by President Wilford Woodruff, delivered at the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, July 20, 1883. Reported By: John Irvine.
During the early 1970s, a practical need arose for a Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Bible. As explained by George A. Horton Jr., director of curriculum production and distribution for the Church Educational System, three different Bibles were in circulation among Church members—one for adults, one for seminary students, and one for Primary children. Not only did this system create an element of chaos, but it also increased costs. [1] About this time, the Spirit of the Lord seemed to be hovering over several people in various organizations within the Church. Two of these people were Horton and his colleague Grant E. Barton, who was then serving as a member of the newly formed Meetinghouse Library Committee. [2] Horton and Barton were neighbors who carpooled together to the Church Office Building, using the occasion to discuss a desire to have one Bible as well as teaching aids for an LDS edition. [3] Barton, Horton, and another colleague decided to survey various organizations of the Church to help them decide “what the ideal characteristics/features would be of the ideal Bible that would be used by all.”
Book of Moses Topics > Joseph Smith Translation (JST) > Latter-day Saint Edition of the Bible
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > A — C > Church History 1878–1945
RSC Topics > L — P > Missionary Work
RSC Topics > Q — S > Service
RSC Topics > T — Z > Testimony
There are at least two key ways in which we are already distinctive from most other universities. And when you put these two features together, I believe they make us truly unique in ways that are consistent with our prophetically approved mission.
I hope that because of our efforts to create a community of belonging, we may one day say, “The campus of BYU, the mountains of BYU, the buildings of BYU, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer as their hearts were knit together in love.”
I can predict with a high degree of certainty that there will be many times in your postgraduate life when you will face decisions that will ultimately be determined by whether you are motivated by pride and riches on the one hand or whether you are moved to act consistently with truths that resonate in your heart and in your mind on the other.
Whether we are right in the middle of a global pandemic, experiencing devastating loss and grief, or we are experiencing the joyful moments of life, we must never forget to express gratitude.
A major theme in the Book of Mormon is the depiction of Native Americans as descendants of ancient Hebrews. Other prominent ideas are the restoration of pure Christianity to an apostate world, the visit of Jesus to the western hemisphere, and recurring cycles of ruin and renewal. All of this raises the question: “Is all of this true?” Wunderli has made an avocation of examining this and related questions by digging deeply into the Book of Mormon and surveying the large body of research generated by scholars of various disciplines. He succinctly summarizes his own findings and this mass of often conflicting information, then adds his own trenchant analysis to the mix. Fascinating reading due to how Wunderli has structured the book as his own personal quest for answers, An Imperfect Book is an accessible but thorough overview of major controversies involving authorship, use of idiom, anachronisms, contrived names, borrowed passages, and prophecies made and fulfilled within the book’s own narrative frame. Wunderli includes a discussion of dozens of curiosities such as the relative absense of polygamists in a culture where one would expect it and sons named after their fathers (Alma junior), which one would not expect among ancient Israelites. Wunderli has examined the arguments and reduced the data to a collection of informative observations and reasoned arguments in an altogether readable work.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 16, 1856. Reported By: G. D. Watt.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 8, 1862. Reported By: G. D. Watt.
Moroni
This compilation of groundbreaking articles about Joseph Smith is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles on young Joseph Smith’s leg surgery, the historical setting and early accounts of the First Vision, friends’ and family members’ recollections of Joseph’s early religious experiences, Joseph’s 1826 trial, and more. Contents “Joseph Smith’s Boyhood Operation: An 1813 Surgical Success” LeRoy S. Wirthlin “Awakenings in the Burned-over District: New Light on the Historical Setting of the First Vision” Milton V. Backman Jr. “The Earliest Documented Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision” Dean C. Jessee “Katharine Smith Salisbury’s Recollections of Joseph’s Meetings with Moroni” Kyle R. Walker “The Colesville Branch and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon” Larry C. Porter “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History” Dean C. Jessee “Joseph Smith and the Manchester (New York) Library” Robert Paul “Money-Digging Folklore and the Beginnings of Mormonism: An Interpretive Suggestion” Marvin S. Hill “Joseph Smith’s 1826 Trial: The Legal Setting” Gordon A. Madsen
This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles on Moroni’s visits, the Anthon transcript, the original Book of Mormon manuscript, the Dogberry Papers, copyright law in 1830, and more. Contents “A Survey of Pre-1830 Historical Sources Relating to the Book of Mormon” David A. Palmer “Where Were the Moroni Visits?” Russell R. Rich “The Anthon Transcript: People, Primary Sources, and Problems” Stanley B. Kimball “The Colesville Branch and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon” Larry C. Porter “The Original Book of Mormon Manuscript” Dean C. Jessee “The Dogberry Papers and the Book of Mormon” Russell R. Rich “Copyright Laws and the 1830 Book of Mormon” Nathaniel Hinckley Wadsworth “‘Securing’ the Prophet’s Copyright in the Book of Mormon: Historical and Legal Context for the So-called Canadian Copyright Revelation” Stephen Kent Ehat “‘Entered At Stationers’ Hall’: The British Copyright Registrations for the Book of Mormon in 1841 and the Doctrine and Covenants in 1845” Edward L. Carter “The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon in the Twentieth Century” Noel B. Reynolds
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article discusses why parts of Moroni 7 and 10 are similar to sections of I Corinthians 12 and 13. It also answers why the Book of Mormon is called the stick of Ephraim, given the fact that Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh.
BYU Professor James Faulconer will give the Laura F. Willes Book of Mormon Lecture for 2012–13 on “Sealings and Mercies: Moroni’s Final Exhortation in Moroni 10.” The lecture will be held on Tuesday, January 15, 2013, at 7:00 PM in the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center at Brigham Young University.
The Maxwell Institute and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the publica- tion of part 6 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 6 analyzes the text from 3 Nephi 19 through Moroni 10.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article recounts the events of the night of September 21, 1823, when the angel Moroni visited with the Prophet Joseph Smith and first revealed the hiding place of the divine records.
This article presents an analysis of the five published accounts of Moroni’s visits with Joseph Smith on the night of September 21-22, 1823. These accounts were dictated to secretaries with known record-keeping skills. The article carefully examines eight elements of the vision to create a composite description.
As a witness of significant events in the rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Oliver Cowdery’s importance is superseded only by that of the Prophet Joseph Smith. With the exception of Joseph’s First Vision and the appearances of Moroni, Cowdery participated with the Prophet in the key events of the Restoration. The scope of his experiences include the translation of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the Priesthood, the organization of the Church, the first extensive missionary work of the Church, and divine manifestations in the Kirtland Temple. The youngest of eight children, Oliver Cowdery was born 3 October 1806 in Wells, Rutland County, Vermont. In 1825 he moved to New York, where he worked successively as a clerk in a general store, as a blacksmith, and as a farmer. In 1828 he entered the teaching profession in Manchester, New York, where he first became acquainted with the religious claims of Joseph Smith. His entry into the mainstream of Mormon history occurred in April 1829 when he traveled to Harmony, Pennsylvania, to meet Joseph Smith, who was engaged in the translation of the Book of Mormon. Cowdery assisted Joseph as a scribe during the translation of the major part of that work, and his name appears in the Book of Mormon as one of the witnesses to the reliability of the claims of Joseph Smith regarding its origin and method of translation.
Speaks out on the relationships between “memory and mood, memory and testimony, memory and models, memory and thoughts, and memory and you.” Asay quotes many scriptures from the Book of Mormon to support his ideas, including Alma 36, Moroni 10, Alma 18, and Helaman 5.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article addresses the origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and discusses whether the Saints believed Moroni to be an angel or merely a treasure guardian.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This is the story of how an angel taught a boy to be a prophet. In it, we follow Joseph’s life from the time of the First Vision until he completed the translation and returned the Gold Plates to Moroni. It is the story of a remarkable friendship. Moroni had two responsibilities: first, to give Joseph the Gold Plates and teach him how to translate them and second to teach Joseph how to be a prophet.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This is a new volume from the Book of Mormon Academy at Brigham Young University. This volume explores the relationship between the Nephite and the Jaredite records culturally, politically, literarily, and theologically. The first approach is a cultural-historical lens, in which elements of Jaredite culture are discussed, including the impact of a Jaredite subculture on Nephite politics during the reign of the judges, and a Mesopotamia perspective as seership and divination, and the brother of Jared’s experience as a spiritual transition. The second grouping looks at the book of Ether through a narratological lens, all three papers exploring different aspects of Moroni’s construction of the book of Ether. The third grouping explores the book of Ether’s depiction of women, as it contains one of the most descriptive, yet ambivalent females in the Book of Mormon, both historically and in our contemporary era. Finally, the book of Ether is reviewed via a teaching lens. In Alma 37, Alma the Younger explained the teaching value of the Jaredite records. These last two studies examine ways in which the book of Ether in particular can be taught to a modern audience. ISBN 978-1-9443-9497-4
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Perhaps no theme in the Book of Mormon resonates so powerfully to modern readers as that of separation from and reconciliation with God. The sense of being cut off, isolated, or driven out is attested throughout the book. Similarly, messages from the Book of Mormon prophets of hope, reconciliation, and communion with God seek to alleviate the fears and depression that arise from loneliness or abandonment. This theme is particularly evident in Jacob’s great speech recorded in 2 Nephi 6–10 and the two “last” speeches from Moroni in Mormon 8 and Moroni 10. Jacob and Moroni both address separation from and reconciliation with God, providing a template for the reader to understand their own experiences. In particular, these prophets quote the words of Isaiah to teach how sacred covenants reconcile us to God.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The fourth part covers Nephi the son of Nephi, Amos the son of Nephi, and Amos and Ammaron the sons of Amos the Elder.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The third part covers Nephi the son of Helaman and Nephi the son of Nephi.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The first part covers Alma the Elder and Alma the Younger.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This series identifies a number of well-known Book of Mormon spiritual leaders, many of whom consisted of fathers and their sons (i.e., Alma/Alma the Younger, Mormon/Moroni). The second part covers Helaman the son of Alma and Helaman the son of Helaman.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Captain Moroni cites a prophecy regarding Joseph of Egypt and his posterity that is not recorded in the Bible. He accompanies the prophecy with a symbolic action to motivate his warriors to covenant to be faithful to their prophet Helaman and to keep the commandments lest God would not preserve them as he had Joseph.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The position of the Church concerning war and armed conflicts is dictated by the teachings in the Book of Mormon. War is condemned by God and peace is always valiantly sought. However, at times wars must be fought by the righteous in order to safeguard liberty. Although God aids the righteous in war, the righteous may suffer or be slain.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Mormon uses pejorative wordplay on the name Jaredites based on the meaning of the Hebrew verb yārad. The onomastic rhetoric involving the meaning of yārad first surfaces in Helaman 6 where Mormon also employs wordplay on the name Cain in terms of qānâ or “getting gain.” The first wordplay occurs in the negative purpose clause “lest they should be a means of bringing down [cf. lĕhôrîd] the people unto destruction” (Helaman 6:25) and the second in the prepositional phrase “until they had come down [cf. yārĕdû/yordû] to believe in their works” (Helaman 6:38). Mormon uses these pejorative wordplays as a means of emphasizing the genetic link that he sees between Jareditic secret combinations and the derivative Gadianton robbers. Moroni reflects upon his father’s earlier use of this type of pejorative wordplay on “Jaredites” and yārad when he directly informs latter-day Gentiles regarding the “decrees of God” upon the land of promise “that ye may repent and not continue in your iniquities until the fullness be come, that ye may not bring down [cf. *tôrîdû/hôradtem] the fullness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land hath hitherto done” (Ether 2:11). All three of these onomastic allusions constitute an urgent and timely warning to latter-day Gentiles living upon the land of promise. They warn the Gentiles against “coming down” to believe in and partake of the works and spoils of secret combinations like the Jaredites and the Nephites did, and thus “bringing down” their own people to destruction and “bringing down” the “fullness of the wrath of God” upon themselves, as the Jaredites and the Nephites both did.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Genesis 30:23–24 offers a double etiology for Joseph in terms of “taking away”/“gathering” (ʾāsap) and “adding” (yāsap). In addition to its later narratological use of the foregoing, the Joseph cycle (Genesis 37–50) evidences a third dimension of onomastic wordplay involving Joseph’s kĕtōnet passîm, an uncertain phrase traditionally translated “coat of many colours” (from LXX), but perhaps better translated, “coat of manifold pieces.” Moroni1, quoting from a longer version of the Joseph story from the brass plates, refers to “Joseph, whose coat was rent by his brethren into many pieces” (Alma 46:23). As a military and spiritual leader, Moroni1 twice uses Joseph’s torn coat and the remnant doctrine from Jacob’s prophecy regarding Joseph’s coat as a model for his covenant use of his own coat to “gather” (cf. ʾāsap) and rally faithful Nephites as “a remnant of the seed of Joseph” (Alma 46:12–28, 31; 62:4–6). In putting that coat on a “pole” or “standard” (Hebrew nēs — i.e., “ensign”) to “gather” a “remnant of the seed of Joseph” appears to make use of the Isaianic nēs-imagery of Isaiah 11:11–12 (and elsewhere), where the Joseph-connected verbs yāsap and ʾāsap serve as key terms. Moroni’s written-upon “standard” or “ensign” for “gathering” the “remnant of the seed of Joseph” constituted an important prophetic antetype for how Mormon and his son, Moroni2, perceived the function of their written record in the latter-days (see, e.g., 3 Nephi 5:23–26; Ether 13:1–13).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Topics > Persons and Peoples > Joseph (Ancient Egypt)
Book of Mormon Topics > Doctrines and Teachings > Gather
Abstract: Paronomasia in the Hebrew text of Exodus creates narrative links between the name Miriam (Mary) and the “waters” (mayim) of the Re[e]d Sea from which Israel is “pulled” and the nearby “bitter” waters of Marah. Nephi sees Mary (Mariam), the mother of Jesus, associated with the “love of God,” and thus to both “the tree of life” and “the fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25) vis-à-vis “the fountain of filthy water” (1 Nephi 12:16). Mormon was named after “the land of Mormon” (3 Nephi 5:12). He associates his given name with “waters,” which he describes as a “fountain of pure water” (Mosiah 18:5), and with the good “desires” and “love” that Alma the Elder’s converts manifest at the time of their baptism (Mosiah 18:8, 10‒11, 21, 28). Mormon’s accounts of the baptisms of Alma the Elder’s people, Limhi’s people, the people at Sidom (Alma 15:13), and a few repentant Nephites at Zarahemla who responded to Samuel the Lamanite’s preaching (Helaman 16:1), anticipate Jesus’s eventual reestablishment of the church originally founded by Alma, the baptism of his disciples, and their reception of the Holy Ghost — “that which they most desired” (see 3 Nephi 19:9‒14, 24). Desire serves as a key term that links all of these baptismal scenes. Mormon’s analogy of “the bitter fountain” and its “bitter water” vis-à-vis the “the good fount” and its “good water” — which helps set up his discussion of “the pure love of Christ,” which “endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47‒48) — should be understood against the backdrop of Lehi’s dream as Nephite “cultural narrative” and the history of Alma the Elder’s people at the waters of Mormon. As Mormon’s people lose the “love [which] endureth by faith unto prayer” (Moroni 8:26; see also Moroni 8:14‒17; 9:5) they become like the “bitter fountain” (Moroni 7:11) and do not endure to the end in faith, hope, and charity on the covenant path (cf. 2 Nephi 31:20; Moroni 7:40‒88; 8:24‒26). The name Mormon (“desire is enduring” or “love is enduring”), as borne by the prophet-editor of the Book of Mormon, embraces the whole cloud of these associations.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Proper Names
Book of Mormon Topics > Literary and Textual Studies > Wordplay
Abstract: Although not evident at first glance, shared terminology and phraseology in Malachi 3:1 (3 Nephi 24:1) and Moroni 7:29–32 suggest textual dependency of the latter on the former. Jesus’s dictation of Malachi 3–4 to the Lamanites and Nephites at the temple in Bountiful, as recorded and preserved on the plates of Nephi, helped provide Mormon a partial scriptural and doctrinal basis for his teachings on the ministering of angels, angels/messengers of the covenant, the “work” of “the covenants of the Father,” and “prepar[ing] the way” in his sermon as preserved in Moroni 7. This article explores the implications of Mormon’s use of Malachi 3:1. It further explores the meaning of the name Malachi (“[Yahweh is] my messenger,” “my angel”) in its ancient Israelite scriptural context and the temple context within which Jesus uses it in 3 Nephi 24:1.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Abstract: In two related prophecies, Moroni employs an apparent wordplay on the name Joseph in terms of the Hebrew idiom (lōʾ) yôsîp … ʿôd (+ verbal component), as preserved in the phrases “they shall no more be confounded” (Ether 13:8) and “that thou mayest no more be confounded” (Moroni 10:31). That phraseology enjoyed a long currency within Nephite prophecy (e.g., 1 Nephi 14:2, 15:20), ultimately having its source in Isaiah’s prophecies regarding Jerusalem/Zion (see, for example, Isaiah 51:22; 52:1– 2; 54:2–4). Ether and Moroni’s prophecy in Ether 13 that the Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem would “no more be confounded” further affirms the gathering of Israel in general and the gathering of the seed of Joseph in particular.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The fear that Moroni’s soldier’s speech (Alma 44:14) aroused in the Lamanite soldiers and the intensity of Zerahemnah’s subsequently redoubled anger are best explained by the polysemy (i.e., multiple meanings within a lexeme’s range of meaning) of a single word translated “chief” in Alma 44:14 and “heads” in Alma 44:18. As editor of a sacred history, Mormon was interested in showing the fulfilment of prophecy when such fulfilment occurred. Mormon’s description of the Lamanites “fall[ing] exceedingly fast” because of the exposure of the Lamanites’ “bare heads” to the Nephites’ swords and their being “smitten” in Alma 44:18 — just as “the scalp of their chief” was smitten and thus fell (Alma 44:12–14) — pointedly demonstrates the fulfilment of the soldier’s prophecy. In particular, the phrase “bare heads” constitutes a polysemic wordplay on “chief,” since words translated “head” can alternatively be translated “chief,” as in Alma 44:14. A similar wordplay on “top” and “leader” in 3 Nephi 4:28–29, probably again represented by a single word, also partly explains the force of the simile curse described there.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The best explanation for the name “Nephi” is that it derives from the Egyptian word nfr, “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” “fair,” “beautiful.” Nephi’s autobiographical wordplay on his own name in his self-introduction (and elsewhere throughout his writings) revolves around the evident meaning of his name. This has important implications for how the derived gentilic term “Nephites” was understood over time, especially among the Nephites themselves. Nephi’s early ethno-cultural descriptions of his people describe them as “fair” and “beautiful” (vis-à-vis the Lamanites). These early descriptions subsequently become the basis for Nephite ethno-cultural self-perceptions. The Nephites’ supposition that they were the “good” or “fair ones” was all too frequently at odds with reality, especially when Nephite “chosenness” was understood as inherent or innate. In the end the “good” or “fair ones” fell (Mormon 6:17‒20), because they came to “delight in everything save that which is good” (Moroni 9:19). The Book of Mormon thus constitutes a warning against our own contemporary cultural and religious tendency toward exceptionalism. Mormon and Moroni, like Nephi their ancestor through his writings on the small plates, endeavor through their own writing and editorial work to show how the “unbelieving” descendants of the Nephites and Lamanites can again become the “good” and the “fair ones” by choosing to come unto Christ, partaking of his “goodness,” and doing the “good” stipulated by the doctrine of Christ.
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Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The most likely etymology for the name Zoram is a third person singular perfect qal or pôʿal form of the Semitic/Hebrew verb *zrm, with the meaning, “He [God] has [is] poured forth in floods.” However, the name could also have been heard and interpreted as a theophoric –rām name, of which there are many in the biblical Hebrew onomasticon (Ram, Abram, Abiram, Joram/Jehoram, Malchiram, etc., cf. Hiram [Hyrum]/Huram). So analyzed, Zoram would connote something like “the one who is high,” “the one who is exalted” or even “the person of the Exalted One [or high place].” This has important implications for the pejoration of the name Zoram and its gentilic derivative Zoramites in Alma’s and Mormon’s account of the Zoramite apostasy and the attempts made to rectify it in Alma 31–35 (cf. Alma 38–39). The Rameumptom is also described as a high “stand” or “a place for standing, high above the head” (Heb. rām; Alma 31:13) — not unlike the “great and spacious building” (which “stood as it were in the air, high above the earth”; see 1 Nephi 8:26) — which suggests a double wordplay on the name “Zoram” in terms of rām and Rameumptom in Alma 31. Moreover, Alma plays on the idea of Zoramites as those being “high” or “lifted up” when counseling his son Shiblon to avoid being like the Zoramites and replicating the mistakes of his brother Corianton (Alma 38:3-5, 11-14). Mormon, perhaps influenced by the Zoramite apostasy and the magnitude of its effects, may have incorporated further pejorative wordplay on the Zoram-derived names Cezoram and Seezoram in order to emphasize that the Nephites had become lifted up in pride like the Zoramites during the judgeships of those judges. The Zoramites and their apostasy represent a type of Latter-day Gentile pride and apostasy, which Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni took great pains to warn against.
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Old Testament Scriptures > Deuteronomy
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The biblical etiology (story of origin) for the name “Cain” associates his name with the Hebrew verb qny/qnh, “to get,” “gain,” “acquire,” “create,” or “procreate” in a positive sense. A fuller form of this etiology, known to us indirectly through the Book of Mormon text and directly through the restored text of the Joseph Smith Translation, creates additional wordplay on “Cain” that associates his name with murder to “get gain.” This fuller narrative is thus also an etiology for organized evil—secret combinations “built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:22–23; 11:15). The original etiology exerted a tremendous influence on Book of Mormon writers (e.g., Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Mormon, and Moroni) who frequently used allusions to this narrative and sometimes replicated the wordplay on “Cain” and “getting gain.” The fuller narrative seems to have exerted its greatest influence on Mormon and Moroni, who witnessed the destruction of their nation firsthand — destruction catalyzed by Cainitic secret combinations. Moroni, in particular, invokes the Cain etiology in describing the destruction of the Jaredites by secret combinations. The destruction of two nations by Cainitic secret combinations stand as two witnesses and a warning to latter-day Gentiles (and Israel) against building up these societies and allowing them to flourish.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Moses Topics > Chapters of the Book of Moses > Moses 4–6:12 — Grand Council in Heaven, Adam and Eve
Abstract: The names Mary and Mormon most plausibly derive from the Egyptian word mr(i), “love, desire, [or] wish.” Mary denotes “beloved [i.e., of deity]” and is thus conceptually connected with divine love, while Mormon evidently denotes “desire/love is enduring.” The text of the Book of Mormon manifests authorial awareness of the meanings of both names, playing on them in multiple instances. Upon seeing Mary (“the mother of God,” 1 Nephi 11:18, critical text) bearing the infant Messiah in her arms in vision, Nephi, who already knew that God “loveth his children,” came to understand that the meaning of the fruit-bearing tree of life “is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore it is the most desirable above all things” (1 Nephi 11:17-25). Later, Alma the Elder and his people entered into a covenant and formed a church based on “love” and “good desires” (Mosiah 18:21, 28), a covenant directly tied to the waters of Mormon: Behold here are the waters of Mormon … and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God … if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized …?”; “they clapped their hands for joy and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts” (Mosiah 18:8-11). Alma the Younger later recalled the “song of redeeming love” that his father and others had sung at the waters of Mormon (Alma 5:3-9, 26; see Mosiah 18:30). Our editor, Mormon, who was himself named after the land of Mormon and its waters (3 Nephi 5:12), repeatedly spoke of charity as “everlasting love” or the “pure love of Christ [that] endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47-48; 8:16-17; 26). All of this has implications for Latter-day Saints or “Mormons” who, as children of the covenant, must endure to the end in Christlike “love” as Mormon and Moroni did, particularly in days of diminishing faith, faithfulness, and love (see, e.g., Mormon 3:12; contrast Moroni 9:5).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Several of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s earliest revelations, beginning with Moroni’s appearance in 1823, quote the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 with the Lord “suddenly com[ing] to his temple” as “messenger of the covenant.” Malachi 3:1 and its quoted iterations in 3 Nephi 24:1; Doctrine and Covenants 36:8; 42:36; 133:2 not only impressed upon Joseph and early Church members the urgency of building a temple to which the Lord could come, but also presented him as the messenger of the Father’s restored covenant. Malachi’s prophecy concords with the restored portion of the “fulness of the record of John” and its “messenger” Christology in D&C 93:8 in which Jesus Christ is both “the messenger of salvation” (the “Word”) and the Message (also “the Word”). The ontological kinship of God the Father with Jesus, angels (literally messengers), and humankind in Joseph’s early revelations lays the groundwork for the doctrine of humankind’s coeternality with God (D&C 93:29), and the notion that through “worship” one can “come unto the Father in [Jesus’s] name, and in due time receive of his fulness” (D&C 93:19; cf. D&C 88:29). D&C 88 specifies missionary work and ritual washing of the feet as a means of becoming, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, “clean from the blood of this generation” (D&C 88:75, 85, 138). Such ritual washings continued as a part of the endowment that was revealed to Joseph Smith during the Nauvoo period. Missionary work itself constitutes a form of worship, and temple worship today continues to revolve around missionary work for the living (the endowment) and for the dead (ordinances). The endowment, like the visions in which prophets were given special missionary commissions, [Page 2]situates us ritually in the divine council, teaches us about the great Messenger of salvation, and empowers us to participate in his great mission of saving souls.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Abstract: Under the duress of a lengthy war, and prompted by recent Lamanite military successes, as well as incensed at the government’s failure to resupply Helaman’s armies with provisions and to send men to reinforce the city Nephihah, Moroni sent a second scathing letter to the leaders of the Nephite nation in the Nephite capital city Zarahemla. As other scholars have noted, the name Zarahemla likely denotes “seed of compassion” or “seed of sparing.” In this article, I propose that Moroni’s rhetoric in the letter includes an acerbic word-irony involving the meaning of Zarahemla perhaps achieved in terms of the Hebrew verb yaḥmōl (“[he] will spare,” from ḥml, “spare,” “have compassion.” This word-irony points out that although the Lord had spared the people of Zarahemla and the Nephites in the past, the uncompassionate behavior of the nation’s leaders in Zarahemla was creating conditions under which the Lord would not spare the leadership in Zarahemla. Moroni wrote, “Behold, I come unto you, even in the land of Zarahemla, and smite you with the sword … For behold, the Lord will not suffer that ye shall live and wax strong in your iniquities to destroy his righteous people. Behold, can you suppose that the Lord will spare you…?” (Alma 60:30–32). The covenant background of this threat will also be explored.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: The name Heshlon, attested once (in Ether 13:28), as a toponym in the Book of Mormon most plausibly denotes “place of crushing.” The meaning of Heshlon thus becomes very significant in the context of Ether 13:25–31, which describes the crushing or enfeebling of Coriantumr’s armies and royal power. This meaning is also significant in the wider context of Moroni’s narrative of the Jaredites’ destruction. Fittingly, the name Heshlon itself serves as a literary turning point in a chiastic structure which describes the fateful reversal of Coriantumr’s individual fortunes and the worsening of the Jaredites’ collective fortunes. Perhaps Moroni, who witnessed the gradual crushing and destruction of the Nephites, mentioned this name in his abridgement of the Book of Ether on account of the high irony of its meaning in view of the Jaredite war of attrition which served as precursor to the destruction of the Nephites.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: In his well-known volume about the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy focuses primarily on the book’s main narrators. However, he also makes a number of observations about other figures in the book that are of particular interest, including some about Captain Moroni. In addition to those I address elsewhere, these observations range from the assertion that Captain Moroni slaughtered his political opponents in one instance, to his claim that Moroni is not depicted as “particularly religious,” to his claim that Moroni had a “quick temper.” The question is: Are such observations supported in the text? Carefully examining this question both shows the answer to be “no” and allows a deeper look into Captain Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: In his well-known volume about the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy focuses primarily on the book’s main narrators. However, he also makes a number of observations about other figures in the book that are of particular interest, including some about Captain Moroni. In addition to those I address elsewhere, these observations include the claim that Moroni lacked the typical religious virtues — which Hardy identifies as “humility, self-sacrifice, kindness, and relying upon the Lord.” They also include the assertion that Helaman, in his manifest reliance upon God, serves as a counterexample to Moroni’s military leadership. A close look at the text, however, indicates that both these claims are mistaken.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Moroni reports receiving a revelation in which the Lord told him, “If those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and iniquities, ye shall go up to battle against them” (Alma 60:33). Because Pahoran, the chief governor of the Nephites at the time, turns out to be innocent of the charges contained in Moroni’s revelation, it is easy to think that Moroni’s revelation is mistaken in some way. Textual clues, however, suggest the revelation and its accompanying epistle were directed not only to Pahoran but also to many other generals, who were likely guilty of the sins mentioned by Moroni. Thus, contrary to previous thinking, Moroni’s revelation may have, in fact, been accurate.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A natural tension seems to exist between two important features of the Book of Mormon. On one hand, Mormon includes in his record a version of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave to the Nephites—an address that sets the standard for discipleship and that contains teachings obviously opposed to violence. In it, we hear about not resisting evil, turning the other cheek, going another mile when compelled to go one, loving our enemies—and so forth (3 Ne. 12:39–44). On the other hand, Mormon also presents various Nephite leaders as righteous even though they were immersed in violence. Captain Moroni stands out among these leaders because his wartime activities dominate the last third of the book of Alma: we see him in significant detail. The juxtaposition of these two threads appears contradictory. We see righteous men, including prophetic figures, engaged in the very activities that the text itself seems to prohibit. And this apparent contradiction seems significant even though most of these leaders lived before the Sermon was even given. This is because it is natural to think of the Book of Mormon as a whole—as a collection of significant experiences and teachings that are consistent with one another and that together present a unified, divine message to the world. We thus expect to see the book’s most prominent leaders actually live the standard found in the book’s most prominent teachings— whether they actually possessed the Sermon on the Mount or not. And therein lies the problem. Although these prominent teachings clearly seem to be opposed to violence, we see these prominent leaders very much engaged in violence. It is not necessarily obvious how to resolve this tension. One strategy, of course, would be to ignore the tension and to simply avoid thinking about it. But a sacred text requires more from us than that. So the apparent disparity has to be faced. How is it possible to reconcile Captain Moroni with the Sermon on the Mount?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
“The six studies in this volume share a common focus on persons who made a remarkable difference in Book of Mormon history. Beginning with the all-important founding generation of the Lehite peoples and their epic journey across Arabia, and ending with the last known survivor of the Nephite-Lamanite wars of the fourth century A.D., these studies attempt to set both heroes and heroines of the Book of Mormon narrative within their times, bringing their world to life… In all, these studies take Book of Mormon students into places where few studies have ventured, probing possibilities, that enrich our understanding of people who made a difference, who kept their faith, and who believed that God has orchestrated events in their lives.” [Author]
This article consists of a list of the fifteen books of the Book of Mormon and a chronological order of the Book of Mormon scribes, from Nephi to Moroni.
This article is a collection of Book of Mormon scriptures that reiterate the promises of the Lord concerning the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The end justifies the means, so these stories are designed to increase interest in the Book of Mormon. Hundreds of books have been written founded on the Bible, and there are some wonderfully colorful accounts of the founding of Christianity in Judea, Alexandria, and Rome. It is surprising that more has not been done dealing with the ancient history of the western world. Several of these stories were first published in the Improvement Era, and acknowledgment is made to that magazine for the encouragement it extended to the author, who traveled twice to Mexico and excavated among the ruins there to gain information at first hand. If any boy or girl, after perusing these pages, is inspired to turn direct to the beautiful and simple language of the Book of Mormon itself, the purpose of “The Cities of the Sun” has been accomplished.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Lengthy retelling of the conflict of Amalickiah and Ammoron against Moroni, Teancum, and Lehi.
Lengthy retelling of the conflict of Amalickiah and Ammoron against Moroni, Teancum, and Lehi.
Lengthy retelling of the conflict of Amalickiah and Ammoron against Moroni, Teancum, and Lehi.
Lengthy retelling of the conflict of Amalickiah and Ammoron against Moroni, Teancum, and Lehi.
Lengthy retelling of the conflict of Amalickiah and Ammoron against Moroni, Teancum, and Lehi.
Refers to the dangerous and unstable secret societies that are located throughout Europe and America and relates them to the secret combinations spoken of by Moroni.
Refers to the dangerous and unstable secret societies that are located throughout Europe and America and relates them to the secret combinations spoken of by Moroni.
This testimony affirms that Moroni visited Joseph Smith in his room on September 21, 1823, and, among other things, showed Joseph where the plates were hidden. After four years, Joseph received the plates and translated them.
Abstract: In the middle of the 16th century there was a short-lived surge in the use of the auxiliary did to express the affirmative past tense in English, as in Moroni «did arrive» with his army to the land of Bountiful (Alma 52:18). The 1829 Book of Mormon contains nearly 2,000 instances of this particular syntax, using it 27% of the time in past-tense contexts. The 1611 King James Bible — which borrowed heavily from Tyndale’s biblical translations of the 1520s and ’30s — employs this syntax less than 2% of the time. While the Book of Mormon’s rate is significantly higher than the Bible’s, it is close to what is found in other English-language texts written mainly in the mid- to late 1500s. And the usage died out in the 1700s. So the Book of Mormon is unique for its time — this is especially apparent when features of adjacency, inversion, and intervening adverbial use are considered. Textual evidence and syntactic analysis argue strongly against both 19th-century composition and an imitative effort based on King James English. Book of Mormon past-tense syntax could have been achieved only by following the use of largely inaccessible 16th-century writings. But mimicry of lost syntax is difficult if not impossible, and so later writers who consciously sought to imitate biblical style failed to match its did-usage at a deep, systematic level. This includes Ethan Smith who in 1823 wrote View of the Hebrews, a text very different from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon in this respect. The same may be said about Hunt’s The Late War and Snowden’s The American Revolution.
Editor’s note: Because of the complex typesetting of this article, it has not been reproduced on this webpage. The reader is referred to the PDF version to view the article.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The archaeology of New York—and specifically the Hill Cumorah—is persuasive evidence that Book of Mormon peoples did not live in that region. By implication, the Cumorah of the golden plates is not the Cumorah of the final battles—Mormon’s hill and Moroni’s hill are not one and the same. These conclusions follow from a few basic points and assumptions that the author explores in this article.
“But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.” [Moroni 7:47]
President David O. McKay was intimately involved with the planning and construction of this largest temple that the Church had ever built. Its operation reflects some of the challenges the Church faced in the changing cultural climate of Southern California. This volume is a comprehensive history of the Los Angeles Temple. The text is illustrated with more than a hundred photographs of the construction, groundbreaking, installation of the angel Moroni, and cornerstone ceremony—many of which have not been previously published. This book is also enhanced with beautiful illustrations using modern artwork and photographs. Among the more notable artwork is the exquisite cover painting of the Los Angeles Temple by Kendall Davenport titled “A More Excellent Hope” (see more of Kendall’s artwork online at www.kendalldavenport.com ). ISBN 978-1-9443-9435-6
WE have frequently been solicited to publish, in pamphlet form, the following letters of OLIVER COWDERY, addressed to W. W. PHELPS. We at last avail ourselves of the opportunity to do so, being fully assured that they will be read with great interest by the Saints generally; while from the peculiar work on which they treat, togEther with the spirit of truthfulness in which they are written, not forgetting their style as compositions, we have no doubt but that many of the honest-hearted may, by their perusal, be led to a further examination of those principles, the origin of which is therein set forth. It will be understood that Brother PHELPS wrote answers to these letters which generally contained some questions upon the subject treated of, accounting for the style in which they are written.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article speaks of Joseph Smith’s visions of Moroni, the last battles of the Jaredites, and of the Nephites on the hill Cumorah.
Further discussion on the gathering of Israel; biblical prophecies on the restoration of Israel; “rehearsal of what was communicated” to Joseph Smith by Moroni; summary of Book of Mormon teachings concerning the redemption of Israel in the latter days.
Description of Joseph Smith’s discovery of the golden plates; description of the hill in Palmyra, N.Y. “in which these records were deposited”; location identified as the “hill Cumorah”; identified as the same location where the Nephites and Jaredites were exterminated
Visitation of Moroni to Joseph Smith in 1823; description of Moroni’s physical appearance and instructions to Joseph Smith
Description of the topography of the hill Cumorah; description of the “cement” box in which the plates were deposited; description of Joseph Smith’s first attempt to retrieve the plates; extensive quotations of Moroni’s teachings and instructions to Joseph Smith; history of Joseph Smith from 1823–1827; concluding remarks
Review of Daniel and Nephi (1993), by Chris Heimerdinger: and Samuel: Moroni's Young Warrior (1993), by Clair Poulson.
Moroni prophesied on 21 September 1823 that Joseph’s name, and by implication the book he would eventually translate and publish, should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues. Many current criticisms of the Book of Mormon trace their roots to the antagonistic critiques by 19th-century authors, beginning with Abner Cole, Alexander Campbell, and E. D. Howe. Campbell in particular was responsible for introducing the environmental theory: that Joseph Smith introduced 19th-century elements into his story. Travelers to Salt Lake City published their exposés, which were mostly critical of the Latter-day Saints and their book of sacred scripture. Mark Twain’s dismissive treatment of the book forged lasting popular misconceptions of the book. Fiction writers of the 19th century contributed to suspicion of and ignorance about Mormonism and the Book of Mormon. In more recent times, Fawn M. Brodie, Thomas O’Dea, and Robert V. Remini perpetuated environmental claims about the book. Recent Latter-day Saint scholars— Hugh Nibley, Richard Bushman, and Terryl Givens— represent those who speak good of the book and try to correct misperceptions about it.
This article states that skeptics and critics of the Book of Mormon who must see to believe may not find the answer in seeing. The true testimony comes from reading its sacred pages.
This article discusses the life and mission of the angel Moroni, his visits with Joseph Smith, and his role in the translation of the Book of Mormon.
Our lesson today is the testimony of three men that the prophecy of the coming forth and translation of the Book of Mormon had been fulfilled. When Moroni finished the record of the Nephites he closed with the prophetic words which formed our last lesson; we here have a solemn statement of the manner of their accomplishment. It appears, from this testimony, that these three witnesses saw the sacred plates and the engravings thereon, that an angel of God, who is generally understood to be Moroni himself, came down from heaven and showed them to the witnesses; also, that the voice of the Lord declared unto them that the engravings had been translated by the gift and power of God, and that He commanded them to bear record of these things. (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 17.) And to be obedient to that commandment they send this testimony forth to all the world, that all men may know what great things God had done and was now doing for His children on this earth. It is worthy of especial note that though these witnesses all left the Church, and for a time entertained very bitter feelings towards the Prophet Joseph Smith, yet they never denied this testimony nor faltered in their allegiance to the Book of Mormon; though often strongly urged by apostates and unbelievers to do so. But their unvarying reply was that they had seen and heard the angel and that their testimony, as printed,, was true in every particular.
Many persons who do not believe in the divinity of Joseph Smith’s mission endeavor to prove that there was no necessity of any prophet being raised up to perform the work which he accomplished. They claim that the work done by Jesus Christ and His apostles rendered the coming of a prophet in this day entirely unnecessary. But there were some particulars in which the dispensation introduced by the Savior, and continued by His apostles, was wanting to make it a complete and final one. In the first place, it was not a gathering dispensation. No attempt was made in those days to gather all who accepted the Gospel to one place, where they could be instructed in the ways of God, build temples to His name, and prepare for the second coming of the Redeemer. Secondly, some of the chief apostles after the time of Christ plainly foretold the falling away, or apostasy of the church, and the restoration of the Gospel in its fullness at a later day. Paul, in his second epistle to the Thessalonians, ii:3, says, “Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day (the day of Christ’s second coming) shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” He speaks of evidences of this falling away, Titus i:10-11, “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, * * * whose mouths must be stopped; who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.” A graphic picture, not only of that day, but also of this day of hireling priests. No doubt the final step of the falling away of the people from the plain truths of the Gospel took place when Constantine, one of the Roman emperors, accepted the Christian faith, and established it as the state religion of Rome. In order that the principles of that faith might be rendered more acceptable to the pagan Romans, many of its most precious truths were changed, and heathen rites introduced. From this union of Christian and pagan belief the Roman Catholic Church originated, the- head of which, the Pope of Rome, professes to have received his authority direct from Peter, the chief apostle after Christ. There are many objections to this claim, chief of which is the fact that none of the popes have ever claimed or exercised the gifts and blessings pertaining to the Priesthood which Peter held. Again, so many changes have been introduced into the Catholic faith, that neither it nor the religions which have sprung from it can well be the everlasting, unchangeable Gospel. If, then, the Priesthood of God was taken from the earth with the death of the apostles, a restoration of that power would be necessary to prepare the people for the second advent of the Savior. This would mean that some person formerly holding that power should restore it to some one upon the earth. It would necessarily be the visit of an angel to a prophet. John, the Revelator (Rev. xiv, 6), says: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” If this angel was to come to the earth, as John declares, there must of necessity have been an individual prepared to receive him and his message. Hence the necessity of a latter- day prophet. Joseph Smith was verily raised up most opportunely for this work. As we shall see in continuing the history of the Prophet, he received the message of that angel (Moroni), and afterward received the Priesthood from other angels (John the Baptist, and Peter, James and John), thus literally fulfilling many prophecies concerning these events.
After receiving his first vision, as related in the last lesson, Joseph continued his usual labor, withstanding the attacks of his enemies, and cherishing in his heart the remembrance of the vision he had seen. Many attempts were made to cause him to deny having received this revelation, but they were all unsuccessful. For three years and a half he had no further manifestation from heaven, and during all that time he saw himself and those near and dear to him, shunned by those who had formerly been friendly. He was sometimes forced into the society of those who scoffed at all religious beliefs, and many things conspired to rob him of the great testimony he had obtained; but he still held it. On the night of September 21, 1823, he had retired to rest, and was silently praying that God would give him a heavenly manifestation, to dispel all doubts. While thus engaged, he was surprised to observe the room becoming lighter, until the brilliancy exceeded that of the sun at noon. In the midst of this glorious light stood a personage, rather taller than an ordinary man, clothed in a robe of dazzling brightness, with head, face, neck, hands, wrists, feet, and ankles bare, and surrounded by a light even more brilliant than that which filled the remainder of the room. His countenance was most beautiful to behold, bearing an expression of earnest love and tenderness. He moved without touching the floor, for he did not require its support. This glorious personage called Joseph by name, and announced himself as an angel, Moroni, sent of God to deliver a message. He said that God was about to restore the Gospel to the earth, and that Joseph was the instrument chosen for the performance of this work. As a consequence of his accepting this mission, Joseph should be known throughout the earth, being loved by the pure, but reviled by the ungodly. Moroni also stated that in a hill near the town of Manchester were concealed holy records, which contained an account of a people who inhabited this land many centuries before. These records should be delivered to Joseph, in connection with the Urim and Thummim, and with the aid of this instrument he should be enabled to translate the records into the English language. While listening to these instructions, Joseph was enabled to see in vision the hill described by the angel, and the exact spot where the records were concealed. This vision was so distinct that when he afterwards visited the hill he found the place of concealment, without difficulty. Moroni then proceeded to quote from the Bible the prophecies contained there, pointing to the great latter-day work. He impressed upon Joseph’s mind the around, he saw Moroni at his side. The angel informed Joseph that a period of four years must elapse before he would have the privilege of taking the plates, . and that during that time he would be tried and tempted, and instructed in the things of God. The angel further told him that he might visit the hill each year on the 22nd of September, when he would be permitted to view the plates, and receive further instructions and counsel. Moroni then imparted much valuable knowledge to Joseph, and finally showed him some of the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven, and also the followers of the Evil One; Moroni warned Joseph to avoid the influence of Satan, and keep himself pure and unspotted from the world. Joseph, after having restored the stone and the thin cover of earth to their former place, saw the departure of the angel, and then returned to his home.
As stated in the last lesson, four years were to pass away from the time Joseph first saw the plates, before they were to be entrusted to him. In other words, Joseph waited until he was nearly twenty-two years old before he received the precious charge. It would perhaps enter the minds of some, that Joseph having received all these manifestations and knowing what his mission was to be, would not have felt inclined to continue the labors of every-day life; but such was not the case. He well knew that the routine of daily toil was all necessary in its place, and he further knew that he must remain humble, or he would fail in fulfilling the purposes of God. Accordingly, Joseph continued working on his father’s farm for nearly two years after the events related in the last lesson, when he received the offer of employment elsewhere. Accepting this offer, Joseph went to his new place of labor in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where he entered the employ of a man named Josiah Stoal. While laboring there, Joseph boarded at the house of Isaac Hale, who had a daughter named Emma, a very worthy young woman, whom Joseph learned to love sincerely. She returned the affection, and her father was asked to give his consent to their marriage. At first he hesitated, for he knew that Joseph was poor, but finally, in January of the year 1827, his consent was given, and Joseph and Emma were married on the 18th of that month. They left Pennsylvania and traveled northward to the house of Joseph’s parents. He went to work on the farm, in order to obtain means for the support of his family. Nothing of an extraordinary character occurred during the following summer, and at length the 22nd day of September came—the day when the records were to be delivered into Joseph’s hands. During the four years that he had been waiting, he had visited the hill on each anniversary of the angel’s appearance, and there met Moroni and received necessary instruction from him, and hence he was well prepared for the charge about to be conferred upon him. On the morning of that day Joseph again visited the hill Cumorah, and was told by the angel to lift the records out of the box. As he did so he was filled with inexpressible joy, for he knew that the plates thus entrusted to him were of a most precious character. TogEther with the plates was the Urim and Thummim, which was to be used by Joseph in translating the records, and this instrument was fastened to a large breastplate of pure gold. The plates were of gold, and were fastened with rings along one edge, thus presenting the appearance of a book. (As these records have been described in a former lesson, see No. 42, it is not considered necessary to repeat the description here.) Joseph was told by the angel that he alone would be held responsible for the plates, and that the only way he could resist the efforts which would be made to take them from him, would be by remaining faithful to his trust and to the commandments of God. But if he was unfaithful, and by his carelessness permitted the plates to be lost, the displeasure of God should come upon him, and he should be destroyed. Even on the journey toward his home, with the precious records in his charge, Joseph experienced the power of the Evil One, for unknown men under the influence of Satan attacked him three different times, and it was only by the assistance of God that he was enabled to withstand them and keep the records. At length, in a bruised and weary condition he reached his home.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The work of translation proceeded rather slowly, Martin Harris acting as scribe and writing from the Prophet’s dictation. It is impracticable here to enter into all the details of this labor. During the progress of the work Martin brought very deep trouble upon both himself and Joseph by allowing the first 116 pages of manuscript to be lost. For a time it seemed that Joseph would lose his calling for having allowed Martin to take the manuscript away, but by his sincere repentance he regained the favor of God, although his error cost him great sorrow and much additional labor. Martin Harris, however, was never permitted to be his scribe again. His place was filled temporarily by Emma, the wife of Joseph, but she was so bowed down with sorrow with the death of her babe that she could render but little assistance. It was at this time that Oliver Cowdery, a young school teacher who had received a testimony of the divinity of Joseph’s mission, came and offered to act as a scribe. This offer was most willingly accepted, and the work of translation was resumed April 7, 1829. While proceeding with their work, they came to a passage in the record referring to baptism for the remission of sins, and desiring light on this subject, on the 15 of May, 1829, they went into the woods to pray. As they were thus engaged, an angel appeared to them, announcing himself as John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ and the one who baptized Him. Laying his hands upon their heads, he said, “Upon you my fellow-servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels and of the gospel of repentance and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord In righteousness.” He then gave them instructions as to the powers of the Aaronic Priesthood, and told them to baptize each other for the remission of their sins. After John the Baptist left them they followed out his instructions and experienced such joy as they had never before known. During the month following this event the work of translation proceeded, and many persons became convinced of the truth of Joseph’s teaching. Eleven of these were chosen as witnesses to the record, and their testimony is found in the commencement of the Book of Mormon. This record was at last completed and published, and the plates were given back to Moroni. In the month of June, 1829, Peter, James, and John, three of Christ’s apostles appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and bestowed upon them the Melchisedek Priesthood, giving them instructions as to its powers. Thus the Holy Priesthood, in all its glory, was restored to the earth in our day.
After the flood the whole earth was of one language. As the people journeyed from the east they came into a valley which was called Shinar. In this valley they burned brick, and undertook to build a tower which would reach up to heaven. But the Lord came down and saw that the people were united and all spake one language, and He said, “Let us confound their language that they may not understand one another’s speech.” The Lord thereupon scattered them abroad upon the face of the earth and caused them to speak different lan- guages. Because of this confusion of tongues the place was called Babel. At the time these people were scattered upon the face of the earth there lived among them two great men, Jared and his brother. The account of these men and those that left the valley of Shinar with them is given in the Book of Mormon, in the Book of Ether by Moroni. From the account of Moroni, God scattered the people from the tower of Babel in His anger. The descendants of Jared and his brother and those who followed them to this continent were all ultimately destroyed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Review of The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni (2000), by Jerry L. Ainsworth
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A testimonial by an individual in the navy who studied the Book of Mormon and felt a great spiritual power accompany the book. The promise in Moroni 10 had a long lasting effect upon him.
Samuel, Moroni's Young Warrier (1993), by Clair Poulson.
RSC Topics > G — K > Gifts of the Spirit
RSC Topics > G — K > Holy Ghost
RSC Topics > Q — S > Spiritual Gifts
This is not an essay in the usual sense. Instead, it is a close reading of Moroni 10, looking verse by verse at what Mornoi might be teaching us. The overarching question is, to what does Moroni exhort us as he seals his book and writes his final words? Examining each of Morni’s eight exhortations, Faulconer shows one way to study scriptures and perhaps to think about them afresh. In addition to the importantadmonition to pray about the truth of the Book of Mormon, he sees in this chapter a message of God’s mercy and of our need for charity.
This essay evaluates Grant Hardy’s Understanding the Book of Mormon, particularly assessing Hardy’s claim that narrative theory can allow readers from a variety of perspectives to (at least temporarily) sidestep the Book of Mormon’s controversial history and engage with the text as a literary artifact. The paper argues that Hardy’s approach facilitates a deeper understanding of the book’s complex deployments of narrative voice and temporality but ultimately cannot efface the interpretive differences that stem from such divergent positions as belief and unbelief.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > Q — S > Scriptures
Review of Heroes from the Book of Mormon (1995), by Deseret Book
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
What we have of Jesus’s ministry to the Nephites is an abridged version because the Lord wished to “try the faith of [his] people” (3 Nephi 26:6–13). Dutiful to his charge, Mormon did not provide a full account of Jesus’s teachings, but his son Moroni provided three quotations of portions that his father did not.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
From the time the church acquired the property comprising the Hill Cumorah, artist and sculptor Torleif S. Knaphus had often spoken to the Brethren about creating a monument on that hallowed hill. His testimony of the restoration of the gospel created a desire to honor in a tangible way the sacred event of the angel Moroni’s visit to Joseph Smith and Moroni’s eventual transfer of the gold plates to Joseph for translation. This article chronicles Knaphus’s upbringing, artistic development, and conversion to the church. The design and creation of the Hill Cumorah monument were his consuming passion for five years and a rare opportunity to add his testimony to the great latter-day work. He was commissioned to create many statues and bas-reliefs for the church, some of which are featured in a sidebar to this article.
Abstract: Modern readers too often misunderstand ancient narrative. Typical of this incomprehension has been the inclination of modern biblical critics to view repetitions as narrative failures. Whether you call such repetitions types, narrative analogies, type scenes, midrashic recurrences, or numerous other names, this view of repeated elements has dominated modern readings of Hebraic narratives for at least 200 years. Robert Alter, who introduced a new yet antique understanding of repetitions in the Hebrew Bible in the 1980s, began to reverse this trend. Such repeated elements aren’t failures or shortcomings but are themselves artistic clues to narrative meaning that call readers to appreciate the depth of the story understood against the background of allusion and tradition. Richard Hays has brought similar insights to Christian scripture. The Book of Mormon incorporates the same narrative features as are present in other Hebraic narrative. The ancient rabbis highlighted the repeating elements in biblical narrative, noting that “what happens to the fathers, happens to the sons.” The story of Moroni’s raising the standard of liberty in Alma 46 illustrates the repetitive expectation by seeing the events of the biblical Joseph’s life repeated in the lives of these Nephite descendants of Joseph. Such recurrence in narratives can, considering the insights of Alter and Hays, reveal richness and depth in the narrative without detracting from the historical qualities of the text.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article is a photographic essay regarding the Joseph Smith Jr. home, where the angel Moroni visited. It includes details of activities outside the home as well as a discussion of the translation of the gold plates.
This article relates Joseph Smith’s vision of the angel Moroni, his revelation of where the golden plates were hidden, and Joseph’s yearly visits to the Hill Cumorah for instruction.
This article provides “an account of the dedication of the Angel Moroni Monument at Hill Cumorah, near Palmyra, New York,” and discusses the significance of this dedication to the Church.
Late one night in 1823 Joseph Smith, Jr., was reportedly visited in his family’s farmhouse in upstate New York by an angel named Moroni. According to Smith, Moroni told him of a buried stack of gold plates that were inscribed with a history of the Americas’ ancient peoples, and which would restore the pure Gospel message as Jesus had delivered it to them. Thus began the unlikely career of the Book of Mormon , the founding text of the Mormon religion, and perhaps the most important sacred text ever to originate in the United States. Here Paul Gutjahr traces the life of this book as it has formed and fractured different strains of Mormonism and transformed religious expression around the world. Gutjahr looks at how the Book of Mormon emerged from the burned-over district of upstate New York, where revivalist preachers, missionaries, and spiritual entrepreneurs of every stripe vied for the loyalty of settlers desperate to scratch a living from the land. He examines how a book that has long been the subject of ridicule--Mark Twain called it “chloroform in print”--has more than 150 million copies in print in more than a hundred languages worldwide. Gutjahr shows how Smith’s influential book launched one of the fastest growing new religions on the planet, and has featured in everything from comic books and action figures to feature-length films and an award-winning Broadway musical.
RSC Topics > G — K > Grace
A story of a young man who took Moroni’s challenge (Moroni 10:3-5). After he prayed, the Spirit manifested the truth of the Book of Mormon to him.
“This is the first fully annotated, academic edition of the Book of Mormon in its 200-year history. Modelled after the Oxford line of annotated Bibles, it provides readers with the information they need to understand this classic text of American religious history. This edition reformats the complete scriptural text in the manner of modern Bible translations with paragraphs, quotation marks, poetic stanzas, and section headings, all of which clarify the book’s complicated narrative structure. As a result, readers experience a more accessible and readable presentation than the standard version. Annotations explain the meaning and context of specific passages, delineate extended arguments, identify rhetorical patterns, explore theological implications, highlight ancient and modern parallels, and point out intertextual connections, particularly with the Bible. “The Book of Mormon is subdivided into internal books; in this edition, each book is preceded by an introduction that discusses its key themes and literary features, at the same time offering a quick overview of major figures, events, and sermons. The three primary narrators--Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni--receive special attention. In addition to the annotations, which focus on the text itself, there are twelve general essays that introduce readers to various ongoing conversations about the text. There are also several maps and charts, as well as a comprehensive list of biblical quotations and allusions. The editorial material is informed by contemporary biblical and historical scholarship; while it deals forthrightly with both the strengths and weaknesses of the narrative, it nevertheless treats the Book of Mormon as a sacred text, worthy of careful study and respect.” [Summary from Amazon]
RSC Topics > A — C > Church History 1820–1844
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > G — K > Grace
RSC Topics > G — K > Hope
After Joseph Smith received the gold plates from the angel Moroni, he had to take great measures to protect them from people who wanted to steal them for their monetary value. Although Joseph did not leave much documentation of such experiences, the people who were closely associated with him at the time did. Using what records still exist, Hedges pieces together some of the stories of Joseph’s challenges in obtaining and protecting the gold plates.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
While Jacob records 15,000 words in the Book of Mormon, he is often underappreciated, perhaps living in the shadow of his older brother Nephi. This study illustrates how Nephi, King Benjamin, and Moroni used Jacob’s words and expanded the influence of his literary legacy.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In our search for understanding, it is often instructive to determine what something does not mean. This is the case with the ending on some Book of Mormon names, -(i)hah. Because one of the most common names ending with -(i)hah is Moronihah, the son of Moroni, it might be tempting to understand these names as patronymic; however, of eleven names with the suffix -(i)hah, Moronihah is the only occurrence in which the father is known. The case of the brothers Mathoni and Mathonihah also casts doubt on this interpretation. The suffix -(i)hah can also be interpreted as a shortened form of Jehovah, yhwh. For this to occur, however, -i(j)ah would have to switch to -(i)hah through metathesis, which is extremely rare in Semitic languages. Among other arguments against this understanding are that there are no instances in the corpus in which -(i)hah is used as a shortened form of Jehovah and, with one possible exception, no geographical name compounds with yhwh, as -(i)hah does in the Book of Mormon. Although this leaves the question currently unresolved, the use of sound methodology has helped to settle what -(i)hah is not, which will ultimately aid in determining what it is.
The title of liberty fashioned by Moroni represented a rallying point for those who would defend the most cherished aspects of Nephite culture: families, religion, peace, and freedom. A key facet of the title of liberty incident is its deep-rooted martial setting, suggesting that the title of liberty functioned as a war banner. Numerous aspects of the title of liberty episode related to warfare and battle standards fit comfortably in an ancient Mesoamerican context. Additionally, various linguistic and poetic features in the details surrounding the title of liberty in Alma 46 closely correlate to Mesoamerican traditions, indicative of a common cultural origin.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article is a report reviewing historical events dealing with the Hill Cumorah. The author recounts the history of the Nephite plates from the time Nephi began inscribing on them to when Ammaron turned them over to Mormon, followed by Moroni’s acquisition of the plates and their placement in Hill Cumorah. Reference is also made to the sealed plates yet to be translated.
Old Testament Topics > Restoration and Joseph Smith
Old Testament Topics > Restoration and Joseph Smith
The Old Testament prophecies that Moroni quoted to Joseph Smith
Old Testament Topics > Restoration and Joseph Smith
Abstract: The story of Joseph Smith retrieving gold plates from a stone box on a hillside in upstate New York and translating them into the foundational text of the Restoration is well known among Latter-day Saints. While countless retellings have examined these events in considerable detail, very few have explored the geological aspects involved in this story. In particular, none have discussed in detail the geological materials that would have been required by the Nephite prophet Moroni ca. ad 421 to construct a sealed container able to protect the gold plates from the elements and from premature discovery for some fourteen centuries. This paper reports the outcomes from a field investigation into what resources would have been available to Moroni in the Palmyra area. It was conducted by the authors in New York state in October 2017.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
A youth oriented challenge to read the Book of Mormon. Youth relate testimonial experiences they had while reading the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Today I would like to talk about the war we are waging to defend our homes. Our social fabric has been attacked around the edges, and now it is moving to the center—our homes! I’ll use Moroni’s strategies of preparing places of security to suggest ways to protect our homes and renew our powers today.
Review of Moroni's Promise: The Converting Power of the Book of Mormon (1995), by Glenn L. Pearson
Review of Rosalynde Frandsen Welch, Ether: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 128 pages. $9.95 (paperback).
Abstract: The Book of Ether is a sometimes-overlooked gem of a text within the Book of Mormon, a history within a history that deserves careful and innovative investigation. Rosalynde Frandsen Welch offers such with a novel perspective in her entry in the Maxwell Institute’s series of “brief theological introductions” to the books within the Book of Mormon. The principal focus of Welch’s analysis is on issues concerning Moroni’s editorial purposes, how he interacts with his source text, and the ethics of his agenda for his abridgment of the Jaredite record. She critiques what she sees as Moroni’s lack of interest in the Jaredite record for its own sake and his attempts to “Christianize” the indigenous religion and culture of the former inhabitants of the land he occupies. Additionally, Welch presents Moroni as offering his future audience a “reader-centered theology of scripture” that seeks to transfer the authority of Scripture from the author to the reader. This review finds some of Welch’s proposals to be problematic but recognizes the great value of her beautifully written contribution to the academic study of the Book of Ether and the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
You don’t have to be Captain Moroni to make a difference. Our Father in Heaven needs you to be who you are, in your family. He planned it that way.
When the angel Moroni first appeared to the young Prophet Joseph Smith, he told young Joseph that God had a work for him to do, and further, that the work would begin the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah. He was further told that the gospel would be preached unto all nations, that a people might be prepared for the millennial reign. The book that Moroni delivered to Joseph, and the other revelations of the Restoration, make it very clear, that one of the greatest responsibilities incumbent upon this dispensation is to prepare a people for the Savior’s second coming.
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
Old Testament Topics > Prophets and Prophecy
Review of Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 4, Third Nephi through Moroni (1992), by Joseph Fielding McConkie, Robert L. Millet, and Brent L. Top
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > L — P > Obedience
RSC Topics > T — Z > Temptation
This article describes how Moroni experienced two aspects of war—he rallied his soldiers in defense of their liberties and later witnessed the destruction of his people. Moroni later wrote concerning the destruction of his people.
Byron Merrill discusses Moroni’s mission, both during his mortal life and in his role as the angel who brought the Book of Mormon to the last dispensation. The scriptures tell of the strength of his educational preparation and his relationship with his father. Moroni deals with signs of the latter days such as pollutions, fashions, pride, and miracles. Merrill describes the latter-day functions of Moroni and the reason why his statue is atop so many temples.
This article remarks on the new monument on the Hill Cumorah, which commemorates the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, a most significant book.
Review of David F. Holland, Moroni: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2021). 147 pages. $9.95 (paperback).
Abstract: David Holland, the youngest son of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, is the John Bartlett Professor of New England Church History at Harvard Divinity School. Consistent with his training and focus, Holland has approached Moroni as an historian. Hence, despite the subtitle to this series about books in the Book of Mormon, Holland has done neither systematic nor dogmatic theology in his contribution.
In the spirit of President Ezra Taft Benson’s plea to take the Book of Mormon more seriously, this discussion contains a sweeping review of Book of Mormon doctrines and the crucial role the book plays in the restoration. Robert Millet summarizes the highlights of the teachings of Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, King Benjamin, Abinadi, Alma the Younger, Samuel the Lamanite, Jesus Christ, Mormon, and Moroni, and delineates prominent themes throughout the Book of Mormon.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Although chapters 8 and 9 of the book of Moroni (Mormon’s epistles to Moroni) were placed with Mormon and Moroni’s abridgment by Moroni sometime between the years ad 401 and 421, these chapters were not written at that time. The insertion into the text of these epistles was done for doctrinal reasons; however, mixed in with the doctrinal message are certain facts and phrases that deal with their historical-chronological setting. By analyzing the specific chronological clues contained within Mormon’s epistles and comparing them with his abridged record of the final years of the Nephite nation, we can create a set of chronological time frames which then can be compared to construct a reasonable historical setting of ad 375 to 376.
This article discusses Moroni’s abridgment of the gold plates, his wanderings, his address concerning the future, the war at Cumorah, and how to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon (Moroni 10:4).
Review of Ronald V. Huggins. “From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism.” Dialogue 36/4 (2003): 17–42.
An LDS tract that describes Joseph Smith’s encounter with Moroni, the contents of the Book of Mormon, the role of the witnesses, and presents some of the book’s internal evidences.
An LDS tract that describes Joseph Smith’s encounter with Moroni, the contents of the Book of Mormon, the role of the witnesses, and presents some of the book’s internal evidences.
A response to a letter by C. Sumter Logan of the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Ogden.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Bible > New Testament > Characters > Paul
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Characters > Moroni
Reprinted in The Prophetic Book of Mormon, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 8.
Captain Moroni was a man of peace. This talk analyzes war, government, management, the political tactics and strategies of Amalickiah, and the constant struggle between those who follow the ways of righteousness and those who promote wicked political agendas. Includes notes about similar political problems in ancient Mesoamerican societies.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
287 pp. Transcripts of 27 lectures with 5 lectures by John W. Welch.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the last of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part four covers 3 Nephi 6 through Moroni 10. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
Reprinted as “Bar-Kochba and Book of Mormon Backgrounds,” in The Prophetic Book of Mormon.
Points out that Yadin’s discoveries seem to show, among other things, that the presumably feminine name Alma was also used by Jews as a masculine name, just as it was in the Book of Mormon. Draws a number of parallels between the Bar Kochba artifacts and the Lehi colony. Compares materials in the Book of Mormon about Lehi, Captain Moroni, and the name Alma with Palestinian warfare and practices from the first century A.D.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > History > Jewish History > Bar Kochba
Originally presented as a talk given in the 1980s at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.
Captain Moroni was a man of peace. This chapteranalyzes war, government, management, the political tactics and strategies of Amalickiah, and the constant struggle between those who follow the ways of righteousness and those who promote wicked political agendas. Includes notes about similar political problems in ancient Mesoamerican societies.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Extinction of Moroni’s People; Roman Satire; Spiritual Gifts.“
Here you’ll notice Moroni takes up the story. He picks up the record at his father’s command and takes over the record at this time. This has all happened after Cumorah. This is about A.D. 401, so this is fifteen years after Cumorah. He writes the rest of Mormon’s book.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Mormon
Also called “Formula of Faith, Hope, and Charity; Gifts.“
In Moroni 1:1, Moroni tells us that he’s writing an appendix to the Book of Mormon. He hadn’t intended to write any more, but he had some time on his hands. He ended it with the Jaredites. That’s where it should end, back there, showing that they suffered the same things. Well, I’m going to skip to just the high points here, and then I may go back to some others.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Moroni
Also called “The Garment of Joseph; Religious Brotherhoods.“
We were talking about the battles and the scrolls. We are told in Alma 46:20 that Moroni waves his banner and summons the people to maintain this title upon the land, entering into a covenant with the Lord. They make a covenant, and they not only come under the banner but they also sign their names. They sign all their names.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Also called “Book of Mormon Names.“
The plot thickens now as we get closer and closer to home. We are in Alma 62. Of course, Moroni was very, very glad and relieved to receive Pahoran’s letter. I wonder if he felt cheap or something when he found out he had been completely wrong after all the shouting, raving, and ranting against Pahoran. His heart was filled with exceedingly great joy to find out that he wasn’t a traitor, as he thought he was. He really jumped the gun that time. But at the same time “he did also mourn exceedingly.” Moroni is something of a manic-depressive, isn’t he? He’s an overachiever, he’s a military genius, and he only lives a very short life. He just wears himself out, I think. He’s that sort of person. We get these beautiful character delineations in the Book of Mormon. We learn that things are often wrong with the world, but [we should] be careful how we place the blame. We don’t want to do things like that.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Alma
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Books > Helaman
287 pp. Transcripts of 27 lectures with 5 lectures by John W. Welch.
Hugh Nibley is one of the best-known and most highly revered of Latter-day Saint scholars. For over forty years this near-legendary teacher has enthralled his readers and listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge, his wit, and his untiring research in defense of Latter-day Saint beliefs. Now you can join Dr. Nibley in the last of four Honors Book of Mormon classes that he taught at BYU during 1988–90. Part four covers 3 Nephi 6 through Moroni 10. It is vintage Nibley, with his insights, humor, and passionate convictions, discussing a book that he loves and knows so well.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
This lesson is on an unusual theme. The Book of Mormon story of Moroni’s “Title of Liberty” gives valuable insight into certain practices and traditions of the Nephites, which they took as a matter of course but which are totally unfamiliar not only to the modern world but to the world of Biblical scholarship as well. Since it is being better recognized every day that the Bible is only a sampling (and a carefully edited one) of but one side of ancient Jewish life, the Book of Mormon must almost unavoidably break away from the familiar things from time to time, and show us facets of Old World life untouched by the Bible. The “Title of Liberty” story is a good example of such a welcome departure from beaten paths, being concerned with certain old Hebrew traditions which were perfectly familiar to the Nephites but are nowhere to be found either in the Bible or in the apocryphal writings. These traditions, strange as they are, can now be checked by new and unfamiliar sources turned up in the Old World and are shown to be perfectly authentic.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Book of Mormon > Ancient Near East
In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
This lesson is on an unusual theme. The Book of Mormon story of Moroni’s “Title of Liberty” gives valuable insight into certain practices and traditions of the Nephites which they took as a matter of course but which are totally unfamiliar not only to the modern world but to the world of Biblical scholarship as well. Since it is being better recognized every day that the Bible is only a sampling (and a carefully edited one) of but one side of ancient Jewish life, the Book of Mormon must almost unavoidably break away from the familiar things from time to time, and show us facets of Old World life untouched by the Bible. The “Title of Liberty” story is a good example of such a welcome departure from beaten paths, being concerned with certain old Hebrew traditions which were perfectly familiar to the Nephites but are nowhere to be found either in the Bible or in the apocryphal writings. These traditions, strange as they are, can now be checked by new and unfamiliar sources turned up in the Old World, and shown to be perfectly authentic.
Hugh Nibley addresses issues that cause people to question the historicity of the Book of Mormon. He gives evidence to support the claim that people inhabited the American continent for centuries before the arrival of the Nephites, that the Hill Cumorah was not too far away for Moroni to reach, and that the “fulness of iniquity” described in the Book of Mormon has much evidence in extant art from that time.
Abstract: In 1834, Oliver Cowdery began publishing a history of the Church in installments in the pages of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. The first installment talks of the religious excitement and events that ultimately led to Joseph Smith’s First Vision at age 14. However, in the subsequent installment published two months later, Oliver claims that he made a mistake, correcting Joseph’s age from 14 to 17 and failing to make any direct mention of the First Vision. Oliver instead tells the story of Moroni’s visit, thus making it appear that the religious excitement led to Moroni’s visit.
This curious account has been misunderstood by some to be evidence that the “first” vision that Joseph claimed was actually that of the angel Moroni and that Joseph invented the story of the First Vision of the Father and Son at a later time. However, Joseph wrote an account of his First Vision in 1832 in which he stated that he saw the Lord, and there is substantial evidence that Oliver had this document in his possession at the time that he wrote his history of the Church. This essay demonstrates the correlations between Joseph Smith’s 1832 First Vision account, Oliver’s 1834/1835 account, and Joseph’s 1835 journal entry on the same subject. It is clear that not only did Oliver have Joseph’s history in his possession but that he used Joseph’s 1832 account as a basis for his own account. This essay also shows that Oliver knew of the First Vision and attempted to obliquely refer to the event several times in his second installment before continuing with his narrative of Moroni’s visit.
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The Sixth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU Nineteen papers on a variety of topics related to the largest book in the Book of Mormon, Alma, make up this volume. These topics include the relevance of the book of Alma to our modern situation, classic discourses of Alma the Younger, the doctrinal and spiritual understanding afforded by Alma’s counsel to his son Corianton, and an enlightening look at the anti-Christ Korihor. The missionary experiences of the sons of Mosiah and Captain Moroni are also discussed. The conclusions drawn in these papers reflect the authors’ testimony of what Alma himself knew to be true: that God’s word has—and always will have—“a great tendency to lead the people to do that which [is] just.” ISBN 0-8849-4841-2
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Additional Authors: Paul R. Cheesman, Charles Randall Paul, Rex C. Reeve, Morgan W. Tanner, and S. Michael Wilcox.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Do you want to expand and deepen your study of the Book of Mormon? If so, you will find what you’re looking for in this commentary written by gospel scholars D. Kelly Ogden and Andrew C. Skinner. This volume is the second of a two-volume, reader-friendly exploration of the book of scripture that is the keystone of our religion. It incorporates sound doctrinal commentary with quotations from General Authorities and explanations of difficult passages — all sprinkled generously with the authors’ own experiences to illustrate great lessons and personal applications. Interspersed with the commentary are feature articles that offer new glimpses into such topics as the importance of record keeping, the purpose of a covenant people, teachings regarding war, the sealing power, God as a God of miracles still today, the Americas as the promised land, and the love of God for all his children. Highly informative and easy to read, this commentary on the Book of Mormon provides stimulating views that complement the scriptures. It will be treasured by anyone who wishes to understand more fully the teachings of those whom the Lord called in the land of promise to testify of him.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The literary sophistication of the Book of Mormon is manifest at all levels of the text: vocabulary, rhetoric, narrative, and structure. A prime example of this craftsmanship is the concept of ethnicity, that is, how different social groups are defined and distinguished in the record. Nephi defines ethnicity by four complementary concepts: nation (traditional homeland), kindred (descent group), tongue (language group), and people (covenant community). While all four concepts are relevant to the Nephite record, people predominates. The term people is by far the most frequently used noun in the Book of Mormon and is the basis of a distinctive covenant identity given by God to Nephi. Following God’s law was the essential condition of this covenant and the basis of most of the sermons, exhortations, commentary, and other spiritual pleas of this sacred record. The covenant of the chosen people accounts for much of what befalls the Nephites and Lamanites, positive and negative, in this history. Mormon and Moroni follow Nephi’s covenant-based definition of ethnicity in their respective abridgments of the large plates of Nephi and the plates of Ether.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
“This thesis has been a study of possible lexical Hebraisms occurring in the Book of Mormon in the sections entitled ’The Words of Mormon’ through ’Moroni.’ A Hebraism was defined as any word of phrase which appeared to be a literal rendering of a Hebrew lexicographic mode of speech, in that the English had a usage or connotation which was not normal; whereas, if translated literally into Hebrew it would represent standard usage. Nearly two hundred such items were found, some one hundred twenty of which were discussed in the body of the thesis. Of these, nouns contributed over sixty examples, verbs more than thirty and the remainder were distributed among the rest of the parts of speech. This accumulation of Hebraisms could be evidence either of Joseph Smith’s exceptional ability to recall biblical wording while under the influence of the Holy Spirit or evidence of Hebraic wording in the original coming through in Joseph Smith’s translation.” [Author]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Old Testament Topics > Women in the Old Testament
This article claims that Moroni’s visits to Joseph Smith in September 1823 stand second only in importance to the First Vision. It is significant that Moroni’s visitations preceded the restoration of the priesthood and the organization of the Church.
This article states that a testimony of the Book of Mormon comes by the Spirit (Moroni 10:4) and not from scientific research, nor from argument. And yet, the author claims, modern findings are vindications or supports to one’s testimony. Such evidences are cement buildings, gold plates with ancient inscriptions, and stone boxes as depositories of metal records.
In Understanding the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy applies his unusual background in the history of historiography to the Book of Mormon, using the same techniques of literary analysis that are fruitfully employed in the study of classical Chinese, classical Greek, and other historical writing. He is able to identify very distinct historiographical approaches for Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni. While he brackets the question of whether or not they were actually distinct historical persons, the most intuitively obvious reading of his work strongly suggests that they were—a proposition that has profound implications for the controversy surrounding the origin and authorship of the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > Q — S > Restoration of the Gospel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Describes different aspects of warfare as found in the Book of Mormon, with emphasis on the battle techniques of Moroni. Notes that detailed accounts of warfare do not appear in the Book of Mormon until the period of the judges.
Describes different aspects of warfare as found in the Book of Mormon, with emphasis on the battle techniques of Moroni. Notes that detailed accounts of warfare do not appear in the Book of Mormon until the period of the judges.
There were four families who were charged with the care of the plates that contained the records of the Nephites. Jacob’s family, King Benjamin’s family, Alma and his family, and Mormon and his son Moroni. The author provides a dated list of the historians.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Another War—Moroni the Leader of the Nephites—The Tactics of the Lamanites—Zerahemnah—The Battle at Riplah—Defeat of the Lamanites
Amalickiah—His Apostasy and Treason—Moroni’s Title of Liberty—The Nephites Respond to His Call—Lehonti—He is Poisoned by Amalickiah—The King of the Lamanites Treacherously Slain—Amalickiah Marries the Queen and is Proclaimed King—A Disastrous Lamanite Raid
The Relief of Manti—The Overthrow of the Kingmen—Pachus Slain—The Struggle at Moroni—Teancum Slays Ammoron, but at the Cost of His Own Life— Teancum’s Noble Character
Peace Once More—The Results of the War—The Labors of Helaman—Shiblon Receives the Records—Hagoth, the Ship-builder—Another War—Moronihah—Pahoran’s Death—Contention Regarding the Chief Judgeship—Paanchi’s Rebellion—The Gadianton Bands—Assassination of Pahoran II.—Another Lamanite Invasion
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The Last Long Series of Wars—Mormon—The Final Conflict at Cumorah—The Last of the Nephites
The Women of the Book of Mormon—Their Condition and Position—Abish— Isabel—Marriage—Amulek—Moroni’s Title of Liberty—The Mothers of the Ammonites— Two Extremes
The Art of War Among the Nephites—Their Weapons, Armor and Fortifications —Moroni’s Line of Defense
Church Discipline Among the Nephites—Treatment of the Unrepentant—The Word of the Lord Regarding Transgressors—The Testimony of Moroni
Describes different aspects of warfare as found in the Book of Mormon, with emphasis on the battle techniques of Moroni. Notes that detailed accounts of warfare do not appear in the Book of Mormon until the period of the judges.
Describes different aspects of warfare as found in the Book of Mormon, with emphasis on the battle techniques of Moroni. Notes that detailed accounts of warfare do not appear in the Book of Mormon until the period of the judges.
“The increasing interest taken in the study of the Book of Mormon and in the history of the people whose origin, progress, and destruction it narrates, encourages the author of this little work to think that this addition to the literature of the subject will not be like one born out of due time but will be received as an acceptable aid to the study of its sacred pages. To the members of the Theological Classes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether of the quorums of the Priesthood, of the Sunday Schools, Church Schools, or Improvement Associations, we particularly submit this book-- the first of its kind-- believing it will afford them material help in their investigations of Book of Mormon subjects, and their study of Nephite and Jaredite history; and we trust it wil not be without value to every one who takes an interest in the races who rose, flourished and vanished in Ancient America. This Dictionary contains the name of every person and place mentioned in the Book of Mormon, with a few other subjects of interest referred to therein.” [Author]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In this volume, nine Latter-day Saint scholars each address the question of Book of Mormon authorship from a different approach. The tests of authenticity they employ rely on analytical techniques borrowed from such diverse disciplines as history, literature, statistics, and ancient Near Eastern studies. For both layman and scholar, this book makes exciting reading. While ultimate acceptance of the Book of Mormon as the word of God is and will remain a spiritual matter, the reasoned analyses, comparisons, and examinations contained in these pages add to the swelling volume of evidence that supports Joseph Smith’s account of the authorship of that book. ISBN 0-8849-4469-7
Abstract In an earlier paper, I concluded that Lehi and Nephi were highly trained Josephite scribes and were associated with an official Jerusalem scribal school that preserved ancient Manassite traditions. There they acquired advanced writing skills and classical Hebrew and Egyptian, which would become the scriptural languages of the Nephite peoples. These they maintained in the new promised land and passed on from generation to generation through the entire thousand-year Nephite dispensation, even though the Nephite language itself would naturally evolve. Evidence of how they did this surfaces repeatedly throughout the Book of Mormon. The following paper documents how both Mormon and his son Moroni abridged and concluded the religious, military, and political records of Book of Mormon peoples, thus preserving key elements of the vast Nephite records collection for a later dispensation. That scribal process parallels the roles and schools of other cultures of the ancient Near East.
This article deals with defining the exact date of Alvin Smith’s death which helps the author to pinpoint the visits of Moroni.
This article is a reprint of a conference talk by LeGrand Richards. The Book of Mormon is tangible evidence that the angel Moroni came to visit the earth with the greatest message possible: that Jesus is the Christ. The author states that some prophecies and statements found in the Bible can only be understood by the added information found in the Book of Mormon.
Some may ask, Can you really go wrong with love—in any form? But Mormon taught that “if ye have not charity, ye are nothing” and that “whoso is found possessed of it [charity] at the last day, it shall be well with him”. Obviously, saying that charity is important is an understatement. But what if people understate charity and are left with a form that isn’t even the same charity Mormon spoke of? What if the present understanding of charity has already shifted from the divine precept taught in the Book of Mormon?
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > L — P > Love
Review of Studies in Scripture: 1 Nephi to Alma 29 (1987); and Studies in Scripture: Alma 30 to Moroni (1988), edited by Kent P. Jackson.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Moroni’s years of wandering alone after the battle of Cumorah have been often discussed, but not in the context of how they impacted his writing and editorial work. John Bytheway’s latest offering provides us insight into the man Moroni and how his isolation impacted the material that he left for his latter-day readers.
Review of John Bytheway, Moroni’s Guide to Surviving Turbulent Times. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017). 159 pp., $11.99.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Grant Hardy’s 2010 book Understanding the Book of Mormon changed the landscape of Book of Mormon studies by paying careful attention to the role of that scripture’s three primary editors, who were also narrators. Hardy teases out the specific personality of each one: Nephi, a theologian concerned with his legacy and place in history; Mormon, a historian whose choice and placement of primary sources often reveals as much as his own narration; and Moroni, the wandering survivor of one dying civilization who chose to focus his brief record on the fall of a previous one. Through detailed textual criticism, Hardy invites readers to better understand the complexity and richness of the Book of Mormon
A discussion of the origin of the Book of Mormon. It is an abridgment by Mormon from many other writings of ancient prophets and was hidden by Moroni in the Hill Cumorah; its location was revealed to Joseph Smith and he translated and published the book. An explanation of why Joseph Smith never displayed the golden plates for public view to prove their authenticity. The Lord works by faith and establishes truth through the testimony of witnesses. Includes the testimonies and stories of the Three Witnesses and Eight Witnesses.
Roberts offers his thoughts on the origin and character of government, both in general and amongst the Children of Israel in the Old Testament.
Roberts discusses the peculiarities of succession in the Nephite kingship, both in the land of Nephi and later in the land of Zarahemla, while also presenting a summary history of the governance of the people of Nephi up to the point of King Mosiah, the son of King Benjamin.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts relates the reunion of the people of Zeniff and Alma the Elder with the Nephites at Zarahemla. He discusses the bloody revolutions throughout history and compares them to the peaceful “revolution” undertaken by King Mosiah at the end of his reign by changing the mode of government to what Robert characterizes as a “republic” under the reign of the judges. Some modes of operation of the new government are discussed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts summarizes some of the work of Guizot regarding the relations between church and state. He classifies the Nephite Republic as most closely resembling one in which the church and state were distinct societies. He provides examples from the text to demonstrate this. He then summarizes the events of the Amlicite Revolt, the first severe trial the new republic faced, five years into its existence.
Roberts gives us a brief summary of the efforts of Alma the Younger and Amulek in Ammonihah, as well as the success of the sons of Mosiah in their missionary labors among the Lamanites. He details the persecution of the people of Ammon and their seeking refuge among the Nephites and the several wars of conquest attempted by the Lamanites in the following years. He mentions the childhood and upbringing of Captain Moroni during these conflicts and his victory over Zerahemnah.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts sets out Alma the Younger as one of the great exemplars of the scriptures, saying “there is scarcely any condition of life that Alma’s life will not instruct.” He discusses the demoralizing effect of war upon communities and details Amalickiah’s attempted rebellion amongst the Nephites, Captain Moroni’s response with the Title of Liberty, and Amalickiah’s flight and subsequent and unbelievable rise to the Lamanite throne.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts details how Captain Moroni both spiritually and physically fortified his people for the potential future conflicts with the Lamanites. The reversal of the Lamanites in trying to take the cities of Ammonihah and Noah is detailed. Roberts spends time discussing the physical characteristics of Moroni’s fortifications and speculates that fortifications in Ohio built centuries later may have taken inspiration from them.
Roberts discusses the failed political attempts by “monarchists” among the Nephites to reform the government to a system more to their liking. The subsequent actions of Captain Moroni relevant to them are discussed, as is Moroni’s role appointed role as a “dictator” in the Roman tradition for the preservation of the people. Amalickiah’s series of successes, leading up to his ignominious assassination at the hands of Teancum is also discussed. Roberts offers brief insights as to how that action is sometimes perceived in modern times, against how it would have been understood anciently.
Roberts discusses Ammoron assuming the throne after the death of his brother, and his two-front war against the Nephites, both on the east and the west. The efforts of the Nephites in retaking their captured cities are detailed, especially that of Helaman and his army of stripling Lamanites in the west. The lack of support in terms of men and materiel from the Nephite government in Zarahemla is mentioned, as is the determination of Helaman and his men to hold out regardless.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts discusses Moroni’s epistle to Pahoran, accusing the latter of disloyalty and destruction if he did not live up to the obligations of his office. The revolution of Pachus and the monarchists is revealed in Pahoran’s response, and Moroni goes to the besieged chief judge’s aid, putting down the erstwhile rebellion. Roberts offers thoughts on the seeming harshness of the Nephites’ capital punishment of those who rebelled and would not take up arms in defense of their government and their people. Following the defeated insurrection, Moroni is able to send reinforcements to his beleaguered fellows.
Roberts discusses the waning days of the war with the Lamanites, until Ammoron’s assassination by Teancum near the City of Moroni. The rebuilding process, both spiritual and physical, following the war is mentioned, as is the passing of its chief figures within a handful of years. Roberts discusses the impossibility of knowing a great deal about Captain Moroni, but compares him favorably to Washington. He concludes by stating that “[t]he fate of the Nephite Republic is a warning to all free governments…that the people of a republic—a free people—must be a righteous people or the days of their prosperity are numbered…”
Roberts offers his thoughts on the origin and character of government, both in general and amongst the Children of Israel in the Old Testament.
Roberts discusses the peculiarities of succession in the Nephite kingship, both in the land of Nephi and later in the land of Zarahemla, while also presenting a summary history of the governance of the people of Nephi up to the point of King Mosiah, the son of King Benjamin.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts relates the reunion of the people of Zeniff and Alma the Elder with the Nephites at Zarahemla. He discusses the bloody revolutions throughout history and compares them to the peaceful “revolution” undertaken by King Mosiah at the end of his reign by changing the mode of government to what Robert characterizes as a “republic” under the reign of the judges. Some modes of operation of the new government are discussed.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts summarizes some of the work of Guizot regarding the relations between church and state. He classifies the Nephite Republic as most closely resembling one in which the church and state were distinct societies. He provides examples from the text to demonstrate this. He then summarizes the events of the Amlicite Revolt, the first severe trial the new republic faced, five years into its existence.
Roberts discusses Ammoron assuming the throne after the death of his brother, and his two-front war against the Nephites, both on the east and the west. The efforts of the Nephites in retaking their captured cities are detailed, especially that of Helaman and his army of stripling Lamanites in the west. The lack of support in terms of men and materiel from the Nephite government in Zarahemla is mentioned, as is the determination of Helaman and his men to hold out regardless.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts gives us a brief summary of the efforts of Alma the Younger and Amulek in Ammonihah, as well as the success of the sons of Mosiah in their missionary labors among the Lamanites. He details the persecution of the people of Ammon and their seeking refuge among the Nephites and the several wars of conquest attempted by the Lamanites in the following years. He mentions the childhood and upbringing of Captain Moroni during these conflicts and his victory over Zerahemnah.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts sets out Alma the Younger as one of the great exemplars of the scriptures, saying “there is scarcely any condition of life that Alma’s life will not instruct.” He discusses the demoralizing effect of war upon communities and details Amalickiah’s attempted rebellion amongst the Nephites, Captain Moroni’s response with the Title of Liberty, and Amalickiah’s flight and subsequent and unbelievable rise to the Lamanite throne.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Roberts details how Captain Moroni both spiritually and physically fortified his people for the potential future conflicts with the Lamanites. The reversal of the Lamanites in trying to take the cities of Ammonihah and Noah is detailed. Roberts spends time discussing the physical characteristics of Moroni’s fortifications and speculates that fortifications in Ohio built centuries later may have taken inspiration from them.
Roberts discusses the failed political attempts by “monarchists” among the Nephites to reform the government to a system more to their liking. The subsequent actions of Captain Moroni relevant to them are discussed, as is Moroni’s role appointed role as a “dictator” in the Roman tradition for the preservation of the people. Amalickiah’s series of successes, leading up to his ignominious assassination at the hands of Teancum is also discussed. Roberts offers brief insights as to how that action is sometimes perceived in modern times, against how it would have been understood anciently.
Roberts discusses Moroni’s epistle to Pahoran, accusing the latter of disloyalty and destruction if he did not live up to the obligations of his office. The revolution of Pachus and the monarchists is revealed in Pahoran’s response, and Moroni goes to the besieged chief judge’s aid, putting down the erstwhile rebellion. Roberts offers thoughts on the seeming harshness of the Nephites’ capital punishment of those who rebelled and would not take up arms in defense of their government and their people. Following the defeated insurrection, Moroni is able to send reinforcements to his beleaguered fellows.
Roberts discusses the waning days of the war with the Lamanites, until Ammoron’s assassination by Teancum near the City of Moroni. The rebuilding process, both spiritual and physical, following the war is mentioned, as is the passing of its chief figures within a handful of years. Roberts discusses the impossibility of knowing a great deal about Captain Moroni, but compares him favorably to Washington. He concludes by stating that “[t]he fate of the Nephite Republic is a warning to all free governments…that the people of a republic—a free people—must be a righteous people or the days of their prosperity are numbered…”
A discussion of the origin of the Book of Mormon. It is an abridgment by Mormon from many other writings of ancient prophets and was hidden by Moroni in the Hill Cumorah; its location was revealed to Joseph Smith and he translated and published the book. An explanation of why Joseph Smith never displayed the golden plates for public view to prove their authenticity. The Lord works by faith and establishes truth through the testimony of witnesses. Includes the testimonies and stories of the Three Witnesses and Eight Witnesses.
A discussion of the origin of the Book of Mormon. It is an abridgment by Mormon from many other writings of ancient prophets and was hidden by Moroni in the Hill Cumorah; its location was revealed to Joseph Smith and he translated and published the book.
Affirms the need for a “New Witness” to confirm the divine nature and authenticity of the Bible. The Book of Mormon is the new witness and was translated by the “gift and power of God.”
Suggests that the reader remember that the Book of Mormon is an abridgment of records of a more extensive nature. The first one hundred fifty-seven pages, however, are the writings of Nephi and were inserted just as they came from the hand of Nephi and those kings who followed him. The latter part of the book was the work of Moroni, Mormon’s son. The book must be read with real desire and a prayerful heart. The Holy Ghost will attend and confirm the divine origin of the book, but not in an imposing way—the reader must ask.
Moroni warns that anyone who should possess the land of promise must serve God or be swept off (Ether 2:9-12).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
After Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage and crossing of the Red Sea, another enemy, the Amalekites, attacked the camp on its pilgrimage to worship God at Sinai. Moses, in response to this cowardly act, directed Joshua to fight them. For his part, Moses would stand atop a nearby hill holding the rod of God. “And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.” Moses, however, was tired and could not always keep his hands up, so “Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun” (Exodus 17:8– 12, emphasis added), allowing Joshua and the men of Israel to prevail in the battle.
In a letter to his son Moroni, Mormon warns against the practice of baptizing little children. He identifies two false assumptions of his day used to justify infant baptism: little children are born with sin (see Moroni 8:8) and will suffer divine punishment in hell if they die without having been baptized (see Moroni 8:13). While the exact nature of this aberrant practice is unknown, it was apparently common enough among the Nephites of Mormon’s day to warrant swift and unequivocal prophetic censure. Mormon describes the rite as particularly wicked and erroneous in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A poem about Moroni and the Title of Liberty.
A poem about Moroni and the Title of Liberty.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
RSC Topics > D — F > Eternal Life
RSC Topics > G — K > Grace
RSC Topics > G — K > Holy Ghost
RSC Topics > L — P > Mercy
RSC Topics > Q — S > Spiritual Gifts
RSC Topics > T — Z > Zion
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Genesis
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Ezekiel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Leviticus
Old Testament Scriptures > Numbers
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Daniel
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Jeremiah/Lamentations
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Judges
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Old Testament Scriptures > 1 & 2 Kings/1 & 2 Chronicles
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Helaman
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In this article, the South African Mission celebrates the anniversary of Moroni’s visit by organizing a campaign to sell and distribute copies of the Book of Mormon.
Quotes Revelation 14:6-8 and explains that Moroni was the angel who held the keys of the gospel and came to earth in the latter days to commit them to Joseph Smith. Gives a biographical outline of Moroni’s mortal life and discusses his latter-day work in bringing the Book of Mormon to light.
Quotes Revelation 14:6-8 and explains that Moroni was the angel who held the keys of the gospel and came to earth in the latter days to commit them to Joseph Smith. Gives a biographical outline of Moroni’s mortal life and discusses his latter-day work in bringing the Book of Mormon to light.
This article argues that the appellation “Moroni” shows up in Asia, the Americas, and even in Paul’s exclamation “maranatha” (1 Cor. 16:22).
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Royal Skousen’s essay shed light on enigmatic references in Jacob 6:13 and Moroni 10:34 to “the pleasing bar of God.” After establishing that the term “pleading bar” is an appropriate legal term, he cites both internal evidence and the likelihood of scribal errors as explanations for why “pleasing bar,” instead of the more likely “pleading bar,” appears in current editions of the Book of Mormon.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See Royal Skousen, “The Pleading Bar of God,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 413–28. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.]
.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Carl T. Cox has graciously provided me with a new account of Moroni showing the Book of Mormon plates to Mary Whitmer (1778-1856), wife of Peter Whitmer Senior. Mary was the mother of five sons who were witnesses to the golden plates: David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses; and Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, John Whitmer, and Peter Whitmer Junior, four of the eight witnesses.
For a long time we have known that Mary Whitmer was also shown the plates. These accounts are familiar and derive from David Whitmer and John C. Whitmer (the son of John Whitmer). For comparison’s sake, I provide here two versions of their accounts (in each case, I have added some paragraphing).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mosiah
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The version available here online at Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is a reproduction of theprinted version of ATV, published in 2004–2009 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and MormonStudies, now a part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.No textual adjustments to the printed version have been made.ATV appears in six books and gives a complete analysis of all the important cases of textual variation(or potential variation) in the history of the Book of Mormon. It starts out with the title page of the Bookof Mormon and the two witness statements, then turns to 1 Nephi and continues through the Book ofMormon to the end of Moroni.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Near the end of his life, the prophet Nephi referred to the day of judgment and declared that we, the readers of the Book of Mormon, will stand face to face with him before the bar of Christ (2 Nephi 33:11). Similarly, the prophets Jacob and Moroni referred to meeting us when we appear before “the pleasing bar” of God to be judged.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jacob
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The record translated and published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon was composed by Mormon and other authors in some sequence. Here at last we can read the text in its sequence of composition. The result is an utterly original reading of the Book of Mormon. This reading reveals surprises within the text itself. The biography of Mormon composed over three decades shapes the historical narrative; an original introduction to the earliest (and lost) abridgment is recovered from what is now called 3 Nephi; and a groundbreaking revision of the received tradition regarding the Small and Large Plates of Nephi is brought forward. Additional essays by the editor introduce evidence for an order of composition by Mormon, Moroni, and others. Material is presented that 1 Nephi was added in June 1829, and compiled from additional plates recovered from Cumorah. Other essays give new insights into the role of lineage in the transmission of records, speculate on an alternate history of the “lost leaves” of 1828, and introduce a theory of translation essential for scholarly study of the Book of Mormon. And happily, the text has been freed from the constraints of column and verse, and oriented to the epic and historic genres more appropriate for its wingspan and tragic grandeur, for appreciating the complexity of its composition. [Publisher]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Joseph Smith made various refining changes to the Book of Mormon text, most of them minor and grammatical in nature. However, one type of textual change has been virtually unstudied in Book of Mormon scholarship: extemporaneous change that was present the moment Smith dictated the original text to his scribes. This type of change appears to have been improvisational, a fix or repair made in the middle of a thought or expression. I study these improvisations in depth — where they might appear historically, their purpose, and their authorship — in two articles. The evidence points to ancient authors and editor-engravers whose extemporaneous changes appeared during the early layers of the Book of Mormon’s construction. In this paper, Article One, we study the improvisations found in the quoted ancient texts of ancient prophets, then in the embedded texts of authors who improvise, and finally in the improvisational narratives of the major editor-engravers — Mormon, Nephi, and Moroni. The findings tell us much about the Book of Mormon as scripture, and about the construction and compilation of scripture by ancient editors and authors.
Abstract: Joseph Smith made various refining changes to the Book of Mormon text, most of them minor grammatical in nature. However, one type of textual change has been virtually unstudied in Book of Mormon scholarship: extemporaneous change that was present the moment Smith dictated the original text to his scribes. This type of change appears to have been improvisational, a fix or repair made in the middle of a thought or expression. I study these improvisations in depth — when they appeared historically, their purpose, and their authorship. The evidence of Article One points to ancient authors and editor-engravers whose extemporaneous changes appeared during the early layers of the Book of Mormon’s construction. But how were these improvisations affected by later contributors? In this paper, Part 2, we study the improvisational work of Moroni as compiler, finishing-editor, and conservator, and of Joseph Smith as modern translator. The findings tell us much about the Book of Mormon as scripture, and about the construction and compilation of scripture by ancient editors and authors.
The claim that a personal letter in the Book of Mormon mimics a form indicative of modern rather than ancient composition is critiqued. The majority of letters in the Book of Mormon follow the ancient Hittite-Syrian, Neo-Assyrian, Amarna, and Hebrew epistolary format in which the correspondent of superior rank is always listed first. Other clues to ancient composition are noted.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Students of the Book of Mormon who have attempted to establish a rough (internal) date for the composition of Mormon’s two letters in Moroni 8–9 have come to different and inconsistent conclusions. Nonetheless, there seems to be evidence enough from the text to arrive at reasonably certain conclusions as to when the letters are supposed to have originated. At the same time, the fact that the text never bothers to state the exact circumstances under which the letters were produced is theologically suggestive. What might be the interpretive and especially theological implications that follow from the establishment of rough dates for the letters? This essay argues from textual evidence that the reader should understand the two letters to have been written at rather different times: Moroni 8 in the years 345–50, and Moroni 9 in the years 375–80. It then draws interpretive and theological conclusions about the import of these dates: principally that Moroni’s inclusion of the letters forces readers to recognize that Mormon’s history is inventive and theologically motivated.
Review of Adam S. Miller, Mormon: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 162 pages. $9.95 (paperback).
Abstract: Adam Miller has created a thoughtful and enlightening theological study of the book of Mormon. It is obvious from his textual commentary that Miller has given a significant amount of thought and effort into teasing out practical insights from the book’s original authors. Except for some clumsy distractions that occasionally appear in his text, I would highly recommend Miller’s analysis of Mormon’s and Moroni’s apocalyptic narratives.
Contents:
Rooted and Built Up in Christ / Carlos E. Asay
The Old Testament: An Indispensable Foundation / George A. Horton
Noah, the Ark, the Flood: A Pondered Perspective / James R. Christianson
The Seed of Abraham in the Latter Days / Bruce A. Van Orden
Genesis 22: The Paradigm for True Sacrifice in Latter-day Israel / Andrew C. Skinner
Trust in the Lord: Exodus and Faith / S. Kent Brown
Kibroth-Hattaavah: The Graves of Lust / Jeff O’Driscoll
The Latter-day Significance of Ancient Temples / Richard O. Cowan
Joseph and Joseph: “He Shall Be Like Unto Me” (2 Nephi 3:15) / Ann N. Madsen, Susan Easton Black
“Has Thou Considered My Servant Job?” / John S. Tanner
Prophets: How Shall We Know Them? / Joseph F. McConkie
Jesus’ Commandment to Search the Words of Isaiah / L. LaMar Adams
A Latter-day Saint Reading of Isaiah in the Twentieth Century: The Example of Isaiah 6 / Paul Y. Hoskisson
Micah, the Second Witness with Isaiah / Monte S. Nyman
The Restoration of the Tribes of Israel in the Writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel / Stephen D. Ricks
The Last Shall Be First and the First Shall Be Last / LaMar E. Garrard
Daniel: Ancient Prophet for the Latter Days / H. Dean Garrett
Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: A Latter-day Prophecy of Joel, Peter, and Moroni Examined / Alan K. Parrish
Malachi and the Latter Days / Rex C. Reeve Jr
Justification, Ancient and Modern / Chauncey C. Riddle
Ancient Hebrew “Psychology”: A Radical Option for Educators in the Latter Days / Neil J. Flinders, Paul Wangemann
The Restoration as Covenant Renewal / David Rolph Seely
Joseph Smith’s Use of the Old Testament / Grant Underwood
The Brass Plates: An Inspired and Expanded Version of the Old Testament / Robert L. Millet
The Old Testament: Voice from the Past and Witness for the Lord Jesus Christ / Robert J. Matthews
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Old Testament Topics > Symposia and Collections of Essays
The Book of Mormon exhibits the intimate relationship between God and his people. The brother of Jared’s experience is a fine example. The driving force of the prophets was moral and religious, rather than economic and political. Social injustice was condemned by Nephi, Jacob, Alma, and Captain Moroni. Although little is said about the status of the family, respect for women and family affection are standard. Workers were well treated and friendship was promoted between Nephites and Lamanites. The Book of Mormon displays a high caliber of personal religion and brotherhood.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Moroni wandered alone for sixteen years before adding to the abridged record of his father. When he did make his additions, he also wrote the title page of the Book of Mormon, but in two stages, each stage necessitating a return to the Hill Cumorah. The second paragraph clearly follows his decision to abridge the book of Ether.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The records of the Nephite, Jaredite, and Mulekite peoples comprise the Book of Mormon, of which Mormon is the principal editor. Four divisions are evident—namely, the small plates of Nephi, Mormon’s explanatory notes, the literary labors of Mormon, and the literary labors of Moroni. The first division, the small plates of Nephi, is analyzed in this chapter.
The prophecies given by Moroni to Joseph Smith come from Malachi, Isaiah, and Joel. The Malachi prophecies deal with the rise and restoration of the church, preparation for the millennium, and the significance of the sons of Levi. The Isaiah prophecies, explained in the Doctrine and Covenants, give a direct explanation of the millennium and Joseph’s own role in the preparation for it. The Joel prophecies have to do with the events just prior to the “great and terrible day of the Lord.”
An analysis of the text of 3 Nephi to Moroni. Third Nephi was written by Nephi, the son of Nephi, the son of Helaman. Fourth Nephi in turn was written by the son of Nephi3, also called Nephi, and Nephi’s son Amos and grandsons Amos and his brother Ammaron. The book of Mormon was principally inscribed by Mormon and Moroni. The book of Ether exposes the terrible end of a people persisting in wickedness. The book of Moroni shows his love for his enemies.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 3 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 4 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The literary problem caused by the parallels between Moroni 7–10 and 1 Corinthians 12–13 can be explained if one realizes that Moroni had access to the same teachings of Christ as Paul, and that both received revelation, so that the Lord himself might be the author of both dissertations. Different prophets might have had similar inspiration in dealing with the same topics.
This article discusses how Moroni was alone for thirty-six years. He finished the Book of Mormon, abridged the book of Ether, and wrote the title page.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This article discusses how some reject the Book of Mormon on account of its supernatural origin. Joseph Smith claimed that an angel revealed to him where to find the plates and that God inspired him in translating them. However, the Book of Mormon is harmonious with the Bible, and the story of its origin should not surprise anyone.
In a lecture presented at several universities throughout the United States, Dr. James E. TAlmage spoke on early Latter-day Saint history. In this first part, he focused on the young Joseph Smith and the First Vision, as well as a basic overview of the Book of Mormon and its ancient origins.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The writings of Jacob and his descendants form part of the small plates, a section of the Book of Mormon that Mormon included intact, presumably without editing. Only on the small plates may Joseph Smith have found someone’s “handwriting” other than that of Mormon or Moroni. Speaking in the first person, Jacob and his descendants seem more individual, even in translation, than other writers whose words were more obviously edited by Mormon and Moroni. From Jacob through Omni, the record displays the complex variety one expects of a text written by many hands. The stylistic diversity of Jacob and his descendants is a powerful witness that we are dealing with material written by several ancient authors rather than by one person in early nineteenth-century New York.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Enos
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Jarom
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Omni
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Words of Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
You and I can not only survive but prevail, as did Moroni, in our efforts to stand for truth in perilous times.
The Ninth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU As the final installment in the book of Mormon Symposium series, this volume examines the last four books of the Nephite record: 4 Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni. Perhaps more than any other part in the Book of Mormon, this section powerfully portrays the cycle through which the ancient inhabitants of America passed many times—the cycle that took them from righteousness to wickedness, from Zion to destruction. Twenty-five contributors here explore the details of this tragic cycle—as it occurred in both the Nephite and the Jaredite civilizations—and also discuss many related doctrinal and historical issues. Realizing the Book of Mormon’s relevance to our day, the writers further take the opportunity to point out the many modern applications. ISBN 0-8849-4974-5
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
“As the final installment in the book of Mormon Symposium series, this volume examines the last four books of the Nephite record : 4 Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni. Perhaps more than any other part in the Book of Mormon, this section powerfully portrays the cycle through which the ancient inhabitants of America passed many times-the cycle that took them from righteousness to wickedness, from Zion to destruction. Twenty-five contributors here explore the details of this tragic cycle-as it occurred in both the Nephite and the Jaredite civilizations-and also discuss many related doctrinal and historical issues. Realizing the Book of Mormon’s relevance to our day, the writers further take the opportunity to point out the many modern applications.” [Publisher]
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Review of The Book of Mormon: Fourth Nephi through Moroni, From Zion to Destruction (1995), edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr.
Moroni, the final writer and compiler of the Book of Mormon, provides three endings to the book. His first ending, in Mormon 8–9, can be called a “signature ending”—the primary purpose here is to state that the writing is finished and to identify the author and his father and nation. Moroni, yet alive, provides a second ending, a “farewell ending,” in Ether 12. This type of ending both concludes the work and wishes the reader well but then warns or rejoices that the narrator will meet the reader at the final judgment. In the final farewell ending (in Moroni 10), Moroni, the lone survivor of his people, expresses joy and hope. The three endings remind latter-day readers to acknowledge the destruction of the Nephite and Jaredite nations and provide doctrinal, logical, and scriptural arguments in defense of the Book of Mormon and its doctrines.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Thomas employs form criticism to identify the original historic core of Joseph Smith’s 1823 vision of the angel Moroni. To do this, he examines some details of the vision including Moroni’s citation of Malachi 3 and 4. He also examined some historical traditions preceding the 1823 vision including magic/money digging, 19th-century visionaries, a tradition of buried books, etc. He determined that ’no historical anachronisms exist in the original core narratives.’ He reasons that Joseph Smith ’very likely had an actual vision on the night of 21-22 September 1823.’ He then discusses what it meant in the 19th century to have a vision. From this analysis he concludes the essay with a description of the core elements of what can rationally be presumed to have happened during Joseph Smith’s 1823 vision.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Mormon
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Abstract: Brian Hales has observed that we cannot understand Joseph Smith’s marriage practices in Nauvoo without understanding the related theology. However, he implies that we are hampered in coming to a complete understanding of that theology because the only primary evidence we have of that theology is the revelation now recorded as Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants and a few entries in William Clayton’s journal. This paper argues that we have more primary evidence about Joseph Smith’s sealing theology than we realize. The accounts we have of the First Vision and of Moroni’s first visits in 1823 have references to the sealing power embedded in them, ready for Joseph to unpack when he was spiritually educated enough to ask the right questions.
Old Testament Scriptures > Twelve Minor Prophets
Though the Book of Mormon expressly states that it is written in the “language of the Egyptians,” (1 Nephi 1:2), nevertheless, it quite clearly reflects a number of Hebrew idioms and contains numerous Hebrew words. This is no doubt due to the fact that the Nephites retained the Hebrew language, albeit in an altered form (See Mormon 9:35). Moreover, it is not impossible that the plates themselves contained Hebrew words, idioms,and syntax written in Egyptian cursive script (Moroni’s “reformed Egyptian”—see Mormon 9:32). In this present treatise, we will not be concerned so much with the methodology involved in the writing of the Book of Mormon as with the evidence for the use of Hebrew expressions, or of expressions akin thereto. Only the more important examples will be cited.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
An author may promise in the course of writing to return to a subject later to supply further details. Actually keeping such a promise can prove difficult. Even with modern writing aids, memory can betray a person into failing to tuck in the corners of plot or information. Mormon, the editor of much of the Book of Mormon as we have it, made these types of promises at least seven times. In each case, he or his son Moroni followed through perfectly.
“The Book of Mormon provides resounding and great answers to what Amulek designated as ’the great question’—namely, is there really a redeeming Christ? (Alma 34:5–6). The Book of Mormon with clarity and with evidence says, ’Yes! Yes! Yes!’ ” This declaration by Elder Neal A. Maxwell is the first in what might be described as a treasure trove of answers—a collection of twenty-seven though-provoking essays exploring and explaining the great truths found in the book of Mormon. Selected from more than three decades of symposia and conferences held at Brigham Young University, these essays by General Authorities and religious educators are filled with insights that will appeal to any serious student of the “keystone of our religion.” A Book of Mormon Treasury covers a wide variety of gospel topics, from “Agency and Freedom,” “Faith, Hope, and Charity,” and “The Doctrine of a Covenant People” to “Abinadi’s Commentary on Isaiah,” “The Natural Man: An Enemy to God,” and “The Concept of Hell.” Arranged to follow the order of the books in the Book of Mormon, each essay provides a deeper look into familiar doctrines, illuminating the gems of truth found within this sacred book of scripture. Among the valuable insights offered are these: “The highest and most revered purpose of the Book of Mormon is to restore to Abraham’s seed that crucial message declaring Christ’s divinity, convincing all who read its pages ’with a sincere heart, with real intent’ that Jesus is the Christ (Moroni 10:4).”—Elder Jeffrey R. Holland “Even as the criticism of the Book of Mormon continues to intensify, the book continues to testify and to diversify its displays of interior consistency, conceptual richness, and its connection with antiquity.”—Elder Neal A. Maxwell “Serious and careful study of the Fall in the Book of Mormon can drive people to their knees, bringing them to acknowledge their own weaknesses and thus their need for the Lord’s redemption. The Atonement is necessary because of the Fall, and unless people sense the effects of Eden—both cosmically and personally—they cannot comprehend the impact of Gethsemane and Calvary.”—Robert L. Millet ISBN 978-1-5903-8099-4
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
Katherine Smith Salisbury, the last surviving member of the Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family was frequently sought out by converts, missionaries, and reporters for her recollections of those early events of the Restoration. Such visitors reported that she was a willing and able conversationalist on matters pertaining to her family and was quick to share her testimony of the truth of the work they helped to establish. Her early connection with Mormonism and her willingness to speak and write about her experiences make Katharine’s recollections an important source for the study of early Latter-day Saint history.One such recollection, published by a newspaper in 1895, appears at the end of this article.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The fifth part consists of chapter V.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The eighth part consists of chapter VIII.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The second part consists of chapter II.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The seventh part consists of chapter VII.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The first part consists of chapter I.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The tenth part consists of chapter X.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The fourth part consists of chapter IV.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The sixth part consists of chapter VI.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The ninth part consists of chapter IX.
This series is a novel based on the fictional character Mulek, an inhabitant of the city of Zarahemla during the war between Amalickiah and Moroni. The third part consists of chapter III.
John Welch considers what records were brought together to form the book of Ether and examines which parts of the book might have been composed by Moroni. He looks for paraphrases included in the book and seeks to discover what influenced Moroni’s rendition of the Jaredite story. He concludes that stating comprehensively who wrote the book of Ether is no simple matter.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
This paper explores several relationships between the texts in Moroni 2–6 and the words and deeds of Jesus in 3 Nephi 18. The opening chapters of Moroni contain the words that Jesus Christ spoke to the twelve when he ordained them to the high priesthood, the words used by the Nephites in administering the sacrament, and also a few words by Moroni about baptism, church membership, congregational worship, and ecclesiastical discipline. This study demonstrates that these instructions and procedures were rooted in the words and deeds of the resurrected Jesus in 3 Nephi 18 as he administered the sacrament, gave instructions to his disciples, and conferred upon the twelve the power to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost. Thus, one can appreciate the extent to which Nephite ecclesiastical procedures were based directly on the Savior’s instructions and ministry. Those practices, essential to the restored gospel, came from that divine source.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
In Moroni 7:20, Mormon raises a question that deserves close attention in Book of Mormon studies: “How is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?” In relation to questions of culture, space, mortal limitations, and time, Mormon’s question and the answers he poses are rich with potential for scholarly work and deeper understanding of discipleship. Close contemporary readings of Mormon’s sermon could challenge and enlarge spiritual perspective, sensitivity to God’s grace, and relationships in the world.
The Book of Mormon prophet and writer Moroni prophesied that he would come forth “triumphant through the air” at a future date (Moroni 10:34). Wight sees a quite literal fulfillment in this prophecy in the statues of Moroni on the top of the Salt Lake Temple and the Hill Cumorah, saying that Moroni now stands triumphant in the air.
RSC Topics > T — Z > Testimony
The title page of the Book of Mormon was most likely written by Moroni, but in recent years scholars have suggested that Mormon, Moroni’s father, may have written the first six lines of the title page, with Moroni writing the rest. However, a more in-depth analysis of the text on that page and the specific language that is used provides evidence supporting the notion that the title page was, in fact, written solely by Moroni.
Abstract: The role played by the Holy Ghost is an especially important connecting thread that runs through the Book of Moroni. The book illuminates the various ways in which the Holy Ghost transforms fallen human beings into redeemed members of the kingdom of God. Three phrases — “cleave unto charity,” “possessed of it,” and “that ye may be filled with this love” — are particularly revelatory of the role the Holy Ghost plays in our exaltation. But the positive process illuminated by these phrases has an obverse. Those who reject the Holy Ghost cleave to and are possessed of Satan. They are filled with his hatred. Though his message is primarily positive, Moroni has witnessed and describes what happens to those who reject the influence of the Holy Ghost.