Printed Journal Welcome to Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, the peer-reviewed journal of The Interpreter Foundation, a nonprofit, independent, educational organization focused on the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Non-print versions of our journal are available free of charge, with our goal to increase understanding of scripture. Our latest papers can be found below.

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Now Available in DVD/Blu-ray Combo

On sale at Deseret Book and their retail affiliates and also from deseretbook.com. The price is $24.99 and the online link is https://www.deseretbook.com/product/6078120.html.


Joseph Smith: A Life Lived in Crescendo

Edited by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Available Now

This two-volume set (1100 pages total) seeks to enrich study of the life and teachings of Joseph Smith through essays by knowledgeable and faithful scholars on selected punctuation marks of Joseph Smith’s final years in Nauvoo. While some of Joseph Smith’s contemporaries saw these events and doctrinal developments as evidence that he was a fallen prophet, modern Latter-day Saints, looking back, see them as a glorious culmination to a faithful life.

Go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/ for more information

Margaret Barker’s Master Classes on the Hebrew Scriptures

The Interpreter Foundation is pleased to offer two seminars from noted scholar Dr. Margaret Barker.

The Nov. 9 seminar looked at the changes and developments in the text of the Hebrew Scriptures and the work of the scribes who transmitted them.

This provided the context for the second seminar on Nov. 16 where Dr. Barker examined five examples from Qumran texts of Deuteronomy and Isaiah to explore how and why differences arose, and which of the versions was the more likely to have been used by the first Christians.

This class is for everyone interested in the story of the Hebrew Scriptures. Knowledge of Hebrew is not required.

Video and audio recording of both seminars are available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/margaret-barker-master-classes-on-the-hebrew-scriptures/.

The Man with No Name: The Story of the Brother of Jared as an Anti-Babel Polemic

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 319-333
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Abstract: Within the text of the Book of Mormon, the name of Jared’s brother is never revealed. Various reasons have been offered for the lack of a name, but nothing conclusive has been offered. Taking a cue from the polemical nature of Old Testament theology, this paper argues that the opening of the book of Ether is a polemic against Babel, with the brother of Jared being contrasted against the people and ruler of Babel. Led by the mighty hunter Nimrod, the people of Babel refused God’s command to multiply and fill the earth. Instead, they gathered together, built a tower to reach the heavens, and explicitly sought to make a name for themselves. In response, the Lord confounded their language and scattered them abroad. In contrast, the brother of Jared was a mighty, unnamed man who communed with the heavens on top of a high mountain. The language of his people was spared, and they spread across the face of the promised land. Moroni’s abridgement of Ether thus may present the anti-Babel origins of the Jaredites.

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Restoring Melchizedek Priesthood

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 263-318
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Abstract: Church historical sources make four differing claims as to when, how, and by whom Melchizedek priesthood was restored. These seemingly conflicting sources have led to many theories about what happened, including the idea that Joseph Smith changed his narrative and rewrote history as his ideas of priesthood evolved. A closer look at the sources, more carefully defining the terminology, and being more aware of ancient patterns provide a better solution for understanding the purpose and relationship of these four narratives and thus the nature of the Melchizedek priesthood Joseph Smith restored.

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“That They May Know That They Are Not Cast Off Forever”: Jewish Lectionary Elements in the Book of Mormon

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 243-262
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Abstract: It is not uncommon for Jews who join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to notice connections between certain events in the Book of Mormon and modern Jewish practices associated with the feasts of Passover, Weeks, Tabernacles, and Rosh Hashanah. Aware that traditional Christianity holds not only that Jews were ousted from God’s covenant but that Jewish traditions in support of that covenant are spiritually worthless, these Jews find great comfort in these connections as well as in Book of Mormon statements that affirm their continued inclusion in that covenant. But aren’t there also connections to the modern Jewish lectionary—the order in which Jews today read and explain their scriptures as part of their worship services? And don’t these connections similarly affirm Jewish efforts to uphold that covenant? This article explores these possibilities, first by describing three of the most basic principles behind that lectionary and second by showing how Book of Mormon prophets, Jacob in particular, adhere to these principles in their presentation of passages from the Hebrew Scriptures. In this way, this article shows how the Book of Mormon strengthens its already strong refutation of Christian supersessionism and encourages its readers to value Jews as Jews and to cease all anti-Semitic activities and attitudes.

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Insights into the Story of Korihor Based on Intertextual Comparisons

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 223-242
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Abstract: A brief outline of the saga of Korihor, the Anti-Christ, is provided along with a discussion of his affinities with other Book of Mormon anti-Christs, including those in the order of Nehors. Literary allusions suggesting Korihor as a foil to the king of the Lamanites are examined. Evidence of a schism among the order of Nehors leading to violence is discussed. Korihor’s unusual death is examined within the context of the theme of crushing the serpent from the stories of Adam, Eve, and Cain.

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Did Korihor Usurp the Words of Zeniff?

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 211-222
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Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains several instances where a speaker or author in the Book of Mormon quotes a previous one. This article presents one such example: It appears that Korihor usurped the words of Zeniff, quoting some of them for his own purposes. The context of this reference to Zeniff’s words lies in Korihor’s claims that the Nephites were in bondage to the priests, just as the Lamanites wanted to bring Zeniff’s people into bondage. The connections between these two passages cross multiple generations and narrative events internally, and multiple pages of translated, dictated manuscript by Joseph Smith. It provides yet another example of the authenticity and complexity of the Book of Mormon, revealing the subtle rhetorical devices of the Book of Mormon, and further revealing the devices of an anti-Christ.

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Nurture and Harvest:
A Continued Conversation with
The Annotated Book of Mormon

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 109-210
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Abstract: Because Grant Hardy’s important book deliberately contextualizes the Book of Mormon in light of “the generally agreed upon findings of modern biblical scholars and historians,” it invites further discussion on points in which the Book of Mormon and other significant biblical scholars and historians challenge those findings. Hardy also declares that his commentary “is consistently focused on the plain meaning of the text,” which is understandably appealing, but which is in tension with Joseph Smith’s foundational observation that “the different teachers of the religion understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.” I argue on several key issues that a different contextualization can radically change meaning.

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Uncanonized Revelations

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 103-108
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Review of Stephen O. Smoot and Brian C. Passantino, eds., Joseph Smith’s Uncanonized Revelations (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2024). 184 pages, $24.99 (hardcover).

Abstract: In an important new volume, we now have easy access to revelations received by the Prophet Joseph Smith that were not included in the Doctrine and Covenants.

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The Anomaly: Elliott West’s Continental Reckoning and its Latter-day Saints

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 97-102
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Review of Elliott West, Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023). 704 pages, $39.95 (hardcover).

Abstract: This review explores how Latter-day Saints are portrayed in a new landmark history of the American West. Noting the author’s generally accurate portrayal of the Saints, this review focuses on some areas that were missing in this Bancroft Prize winning book that has numerous implications for Latter-day Saint studies.

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LDS Perspectives on the Atonement?

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 65-96
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Review of Deidre Nicole Green and Eric D. Huntsman, eds., Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Atonement (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2024). 344 pages, $35.00 (paperback).

Abstract: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Atonement promises to provide new perspectives on the atonement that reflect awareness of scriptural and theological scholarship. The essays on the scriptural background are solid. The essays providing theological perspectives are uneven, at best. Indeed, the theological essays show little awareness of the major works in philosophical theology in the last sixty years—with one notable exception. Moreover, a feminist perspective that argues against seeing Christ’s blood that he shed as an appropriate basis for atonement theory receives the greatest attention. This review elucidates, explores, assesses, and critiques these approaches.

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Nameless: Mormon’s Dramatic Use of Omission in Helaman 2

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 39-64
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Abstract: There are many reasons why a narrator may choose to provide or withhold the names of various characters. This article hypothesizes that Mormon intentionally omitted the name of a key character from the book of Helaman related to the origin of the Gaddianton robbers. While it is not possible to know exactly what information Mormon and other Nephite recordkeepers had or preserved, it is at least plausible that Mormon might have intentionally omitted the name of a clandestine operative in the first two chapters of Helaman as a specific strategy to emphasize this operative’s secrecy and allow the reader to take on his identity more easily. By using this narrative strategy, Mormon can powerfully demonstrate to the reader the importance of resisting tyranny in the defense of freedom. Moreover, Mormon thrills his readers with a tale of spy vs. spy: the Gaddianton robbers versus the nameless organization that initially defeats them. This article suggests that Mormon is a careful editor capable of the rare literary magic of revealing hidden truths that can best be said through silence.

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“I Shall Gather In”: The Name Joseph, Iterative Divine Action, and the Latter-day Harvest Ingathering of Israel as Themes in 3 Nephi

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 1-38
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Abstract: The identity of “the people of Nephi who were spared, and also those who had been called Lamanites, who had been spared” (3 Nephi 10:18) as “a remnant of the seed of Joseph” (3 Nephi 5:23; 10:17; compare Alma 46:23–27; Ether 13:6–10) or “a remnant of the house of Joseph” (3 Nephi 15:12) is key to understanding Jesus’s Isaiah-based teaching at the temple in Bountiful in 3 Nephi. That teaching emphasizes iterative divine action (implied in the name Joseph [yôsēp], compare yôsîp) to restore and gather Israel and Judah. Like Mormon’s prophecies in 3 Nephi 5:23–26 and 26:8, Jesus’s sermon frequently describes the gathering of Israel in language that recalls Isaiah 11:11–12, especially the verbs yôsîp, ʾāsap, and qibbēṣ. The name Joseph is etiologized in terms of the Hebrew verbs ʾāsap (“take away,” “gather in”) and yāsap (“add,” “do again”), and the verbs ʾāsap (“gather in”) and qibbēṣ (“gather together”) are elsewhere used in harvest contexts, suggesting that ancient prophets and the Lord himself conceived of the gathering of Israel as a harvest ingathering.

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Who Holds the Keys?

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61 (2024): vii-xx
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Abstract: While, for understandable reasons, Protestant Christendom tends to downplay the question, the more ancient Christian churches have historically placed considerable weight on what is often termed “apostolic succession.” The Catholic church, for instance, strongly affirms the “primacy of Peter” and the status of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, as ancient Peter’s lineal successor. Curiously, perhaps, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although it was founded on the American frontier in the early nineteenth century, takes a view of the matter that crucially resembles the Catholic viewpoint more than it does a western Protestant one. But the Latter-day Saint view differs dramatically on the history of the apostolic succession and, accordingly, on the identity of the modern successors to the ancient apostles.

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Are There Ten Commandments for Latter-day Zion?

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61 (2024): 497-556
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Abstract: New faith traditions often modify existing religious tenets to accommodate the particulars of their membership’s needs. A specific example is how different faith communities have modified the Ten Commandments both inside and outside the historic Jewish community. This paper argues that Joseph Smith received a Latter-day Decalogue that was canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants but went unrecognized as such by either Smith or the early Saints. While some of the commands in this new set of commandments are familiar (thou shalt not kill, steal, nor commit adultery), others are specific to the conditions of the latter days. This paper also argues that this revelation (Doctrine and Covenants 59) warrants elevated consideration whenever Latter-day Saints discuss soteriology. When a Latter-day Saint asks the age-old question, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?,” section 59 should reside in the proverbial quiver of response arrows alongside the Deuteronomist, the Pauline epistles, Nephi’s appendix, the words of Alma, the sayings of Jesus from the Gospels and the New World, and the temple covenants.

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Further Evidence from the Book of Mormon for a Book of Moses-Like Text on the Brass Plates

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61 (2024): 415-494
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Abstract: Students of the Book of Mormon have long mined the Old Testament as a rich source of influence on Nephite writers. However, surprising recent finds suggest that an ancient text related to the Book of Moses may have been an especially significant influence as well. That possibility was raised in Noel Reynolds’s early analytical paper, “The Brass Plates Version of Genesis.” He found thirty-three proposed parallels between the Book of Moses and the Book of Mormon, some of which pointed to a one-way connection with the Book of Moses as the source. Our recent collaboration resulted in identifying a total of nearly one hundred parallels that cannot be readily explained based on influence from the KJV Bible, some of which further point to a text like the Book of Moses as the source for influence on Nephite writers. That prior work was not as exhaustive as we believed. Thirty-six prospective new parallels are proposed here. Finally, a reasonable challenge to the hypothesis of a Book of Moses text on the brass plates is also considered: why didn’t Book of Mormon preachers quote from the Book of Moses more directly?

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“This Stone Shall Become the Great, and the Last, and the Only Sure Foundation”: A Nephite Poetics of Dramatic Fusion and Transfer in Jacob 5

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61 (2024): 375-414
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Abstract: In this study, three intersecting images are traced through the small plates until Jacob 5, where they directly (or by implication) culminate in the final section of Zenos’s allegory. The three images appear fused together in Nephi’s and Jacob’s writings. Specifically, this literary study tracks the images of the olive vineyard, the sheepfold and pasture, and the cornerstone or rock foundation. These oddly fused (or adjacent) images, though complexly employed, can be understood best as representing not only Christ but a gospel-centered record to be revealed by him. Fundamental to this reading is the idea that the Good Shepherd gathers his sheep by means of a stone or rock comparable to the gospel of Christ. In making this case, it is helpful to compare related texts such as 2 Nephi 25 and 3 Nephi 27. The value of this analysis is to demonstrate a unity amidst complexity in the aesthetic of the Book of Mormon and to offer alternative readings of certain scriptures, especially Jacob 5. Zenos’s allegory is read here as tragicomedy and as one locus for the aforementioned images.

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An Analysis of the Financial Incentives in Attacking the Restoration

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61 (2024): 361-374
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Abstract: With the popularity of social media growing exponentially, prominent critics of the Church are leveraging the platforms, particularly YouTube, as a key resource to produce thousands of negative videos about the Church. The accusations made in the videos about Church history, leadership, doctrine, and culture are so numerous that it could take months or even years to research fully, all while the flood of new content continues. It is easy for those exposed to the accusations to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume and, therefore, assume at least some of it must be true. This could place at least some members on a path to a faith crisis. While many members understand the need to seek information from reliable sources to cope with such accusations, for some it may also be of value to consider the financial incentives for the extensive hostile content being created. In this paper the business models and apparent revenue of several influential organizations are considered, which may help explain why the content, especially video content, is being produced in such volume. Financial incentives, of course, do not necessarily call a work into question but can be of interest in seeking to understand behaviors and the relationship between business models and organizational output and success.

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“Armed with Righteousness and with the Power of God”: Allusions to Priestly Clothing, Priesthood, and Temple in 1 Nephi 14:14

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61 (2024): 333-360
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Abstract: Nephi saw in vision that in the latter-days “the saints of the church of the Lamb” and “covenant people of the Lord” who, though scattered across the earth, “were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14). Nephi’s prophetic statement is loaded with meaning. This study explores how “armed with righteousness” means “clothed with righteousness” (Psalm 132:9) not merely in a martial, but also in a priestly sense (compare 1 Samuel 17:5; Isaiah 59:17). This concept relates to the latter-day temple and its ordinances, which enable the Lord’s people to “go forth” from the temple “armed with [the Lord’s] power” with his “name . . . upon them, and [his] glory be round about them” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:22). When we consider the spiritual power and protection associated with being “armed” or “clothed with righteousness,” we can better appreciate the value of temple ordinances that involve clothing or investiture. These ordinances help us “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”—investing the recipients with the priestly power of Christ’s Atonement, which authorizes them to do his work, enables them to withstand temptation, and enables them to stand in the spiritual battles of mortal life.

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The Seven Women Seeking the Bridegroom: Isaiah 4:1 as Transition Point in a Redemption Allegory

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61 (2024): 295-332
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Abstract: Nephi laboriously copied many of the words of Isaiah in hopes that his readers would rejoice in Christ. While Isaiah 4:1 (2 Nephi 14:1) is generally not viewed as Messianic, there may be an allegorical interpretation that would place this verse among Isaiah’s other Messianic writings. A pre-Nicene patristic writer, Victorinus of Poetovio, interpreted the seven women of Isaiah 4:1 as representing the seven churches of the Apocalypse and the one man as Christ. Victorinus’s Christ-centered interpretation of Isaiah 4:1 has received very little attention in modern scholarship. This paper uses textual analysis to determine if a Christ-centered allegorical interpretation may be considered a strong reading of the verse and the surrounding text (Isaiah 3–4). The results of this analysis show that Isaiah 4:1 may symbolize Zion’s turning point in a doctrinally rich allegory of Zion’s sin, sorrow, repentance, and redemption through Jesus Christ.

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The Eucharist of the Latter-day Saints:
The Sacrament in the Broader Christian Context

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61 (2024): 271-294
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Abstract: This paper views the sacrament prayers and rituals of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the broader context of Christian eucharistic worship, focusing on how the Latter-day Saint observances both resemble and differ from those of other Christian communities. It argues that, contrary to what is often supposed, the Church has a relatively “high” eucharistic theology.

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“One Drop of Salvation from the House of Majesty”: An Analysis of the Revelation of the Magi and Restoration Scripture

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61 (2024): 235-270
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Abstract: An early Christian text called the Revelation of the Magi presents itself as a history of the Magi before and after the birth of Jesus Christ. This text offers important insights into how the early Christian world may have conceptualized how other nations outside of Israel similarly looked forward to the advent of the Messiah, how they worshiped God, and how they knew who their Savior would be. The Book of Mormon similarly presents itself as text written by early believers in Jesus Christ. It is centered primarily around two civilizations outside the land of Israel who knew who Jesus was, worshiped him, and prophesied about him. Both texts begin with similar premises, and each shares a remarkable level of consistency in matters of doctrine and narrative. Furthermore, the Revelation of the Magi contains citations from a book of Adam that have striking similarities to details revealed in other Restoration scripture regarding Adam and his children. While the Revelation of the Magi is not scripture, it is nonetheless a text that many modern readers will find beneficial in highlighting beliefs of early Christians.

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