“They Shall Be Scattered Again”: Some Notes on JST Genesis 50:24–25, 33–35

Abstract: This article examines the extension of the etiological wordplay on the name Joseph (in terms of the Hebrew verbs ʾāsap and yāsap), recurrent in the canonical text of Genesis, into the JST Genesis 50 text, where Joseph learns about and prophesies of a future “Joseph” who would help gather Israel after they had been “scattered again” by the Lord. This article also analyzes the pairing of the prophetic and seeric roles of Moses and the latter-day “Joseph” at the beginning and ending of JST Genesis and explores the significance of this framing. The importance of Moses and Joseph Smith writing the word of the Lord in order to fulfill their prophetic responsibility to “gather” Israel emerges.

Over the past few years, several articles exploring potential instances of wordplays related to the name Joseph in the Book of Mormon have appeared in print. For example, initial forays explored Nephi’s exegetical juxtaposition of Isaiah’s prophecies on the basis of the yāsap/ yôsîp-idiom as a wordplay on the name Joseph (compare 2 Nephi 25:17, 21; 29:1 to Isaiah 11:11; 29:14) in anticipation of a future seer named Joseph.[1] Subsequent studies have identified Nephi’s adaptation of biblical [Page 108]Joseph-wordplay to draw parallels between his own life and that of Joseph in Egypt (his ancestor),[2] the interrelated meanings of the names Joseph and Ephraim,[3] Jacob’s use of the yôsip-idiom in Isaiah 11:11, 2 Nephi 6:14, and Jacob 6:2 (in connection with the name Joseph), and other potentially significant examples of similar phenomena in the Book of Mormon.[4] The present study differs from these previous efforts in that it explores the text of the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 50, including the Joseph-relevant onomastic phenomena. I will attempt to show that this novel aspect of scriptural wordplay is worthy of our attention.

Wordplay on the name Joseph [yôsēp] exploiting the verbs yāsap (“add”) and ʾāsap (“take away”; “gather”) constitutes a prominent feature of the Hebrew text of the Genesis narratives that recount the life of Joseph the patriarch and its aftermath (Genesis 37–Exodus 1).[5] Famously, Rachel explains Joseph’s naming in Genesis 30:23–24 on the basis of both verbs (“And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away [ʾāsap; or, has gathered up] my reproach: and she called [Page 109]his name Joseph [yôsēp]; and said, The Lord shall add [yōsēp] to me another son”). Joseph’s brothers’ hatred for him and his spiritual gifts receives a double emphasis in terms of the verb yāsap (“and they hated him yet the more [wayyôsipû ʿôd]”; “And they hated him yet the more [wayyôsipû ʿôd] for his dreams, and for his words,” Genesis 37:5, 8).[6] The narrator further describes Joseph’s “gathering” his brothers into prison or a place of keeping using the verb ʾāsap (“And he put them all together [wayyeʾĕsōp; or, he gathered them] into ward three days,” Genesis 42:17) — a very early “gathering” of the bĕnê yiśrāʾēl (the sons/children of Israel, so designated in Genesis 42:5). Judah recounts the threat of Joseph (still in disguise) that will be activated if he and his brothers failed to bring Benjamin down to Egypt, a threat which subtly recalls the brothers’ earlier hatred for Joseph (“Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more [lōʾ tōsipûn],” Genesis 44:23). The death of the patriarch Jacob/Israel is also described in terms of a “gathering” of Israel in Joseph’s presence: “And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up [wayyeʾĕsōp] his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered [wayyēʾāsep] unto his people. And Joseph [yôsēp] fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him” (Genesis 49:33–50:1). Lastly, the transition in the book of Exodus from the preceding patriarchal Genesis narratives to an account of Israel’s gathering and exodus from Egypt includes a final direct wordplay on the name Joseph: “Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph [yôsēp] … And he said … Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join [wĕnôsap, be added] also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land” (Exodus 1:8, 10). These examples demonstrate how firmly the narrative welds the name Joseph to the two verbs with which his name is first etiologized[7] and to the concepts these verbs express: adding/doing again and gathering/taking away.

In this study, I endeavor to show that the thematic emphasis on Joseph’s name with regard to the verbs yāsap and ʾāsap extends to the [Page 110]textual restorations[8] of JST Genesis 50. Joseph’s prophecy “that they [i.e., the house of Israel] shall be scattered again” (JST Genesis 50:25) links Israel’s future to the meaning of Joseph’s name, “may he [God] add,” “may he do again.” In other words, the phrase “they shall be scattered again” functions as an expression of the yāsap concept with the Lord as the implied agent of the divine passive,[9] just as he is the implied subject of the verb yôsēp as constituting the name Joseph.

Moreover, the Lord’s swearing a prophetic oath to Joseph replicates the onomastic connection between Joseph and ʾāsap/“gathering”: “And the Lord sware unto Joseph [yôsēp] that he would preserve his seed forever, saying, I will raise up Moses [mōšeh], and a rod shall be in his hand, and he shall gather together [cf. wĕʾāsap] my people, and he shall lead them as a flock” (JST Genesis 50:34). The future raising-up of Moses as a “seer” tasked with the “gathering” of Israel in fulfillment of promises made to Joseph in Egypt anticipates the role of a future “Joseph” who, after Israel had been “scattered again,” would be similarly tasked as “seer” with commencing the work of gathering Israel for the last time in fulfillment of the same divine promises. In fact, it is the prophetic reality of Israel’s being “scattered again” that will necessitate the Lord “set[ting] his hand again [yôsîp … yādô]” by raising up a Moses-like seer who would be named yôsēp to commence the work of gathering Israel “again.” The name Joseph/yôsēp, understood in terms of the two verbs with which it is etiologized in Genesis 30:23–24 (ʾāsap and yāsap), succinctly summarizes the divine action of “gathering” Israel “again” as a complete redress of Israel’s being “scattered again,” all in fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant.

The work of gathering of Israel for the final time would include the restoration of divine words originally given to and written down by Moses in fulfillment of promises made to Joseph the patriarch — words [Page 111]that would be “had again,” even after their deliberate diminution and suppression. The proposed “Joseph” wordplay in JST Genesis 50, together with the pairing of Moses’s and Joseph Smith’s seeric roles, helps to form a kind of Moses- and “Joseph”-centric inclusio with the Lord’s promise to Moses in Moses 1:41. This inclusio frames the JST Genesis material in terms of the work of two great prophet-seers: Moses and a latter-day Joseph.

“They Shall Be Scattered Again and a Branch Shall Be
Broken Off”: The Scattering of Gathered Israel

Joseph “gathers” (wayyeʾĕsōp) his brothers into “prison” in Egypt and eventually the whole family of Jacob-Israel (Genesis 42). Years later, the narrative of the latter’s life concludes with a scene that poignantly emphasizes “gathering.” Moshe Garsiel avers[10] that this scene is punctuated with wordplay on the name Joseph: “And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up [wayyeʾĕsōp] his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered [wayyēʾāsep] unto his people. And Joseph [yôsēp] fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him” (Genesis 49:33–50:1). This wordplay explicitly links Joseph’s name to the Pentateuchal theme of divine “gathering” in the spirit world,[11] including the “gathering” of Israel in the spirit world. In a symbolic sense, Jacob’s “gathering up” his feet and being “gathered to his people” represents Israel’s gathering on both sides of the veil. Phillip S. Johnston notes that the phrase “gathered unto his people” as a thematic expression “indicates joining one’s ancestors in the afterlife. Most scholars assume this reunion takes place in Sheol (as in Ps. 49), even if Sheol is never mentioned in the same context.”[12] The image of wayyēʾāsep/gathering of Jacob-Israel to his “people” in Sheol or the spirit world is consonant with this scene from the vision of President Joseph F. Smith:

And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the [Page 112]testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality; and who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer’s name. All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand. They were assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God into the spirit world, to declare their redemption from the bands of death. Their sleeping dust was to be restored unto its perfect frame, bone to his bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided, that they might receive a fulness of joy. (D&C 138:12–17)

President Smith goes on to state that he saw the patriarch Jacob-Israel himself in this august gathering, along with Abraham and Isaac (D&C 138:41).

The image of Jacob being “gathered” to his people or kindred in the spirit world helps establish the backdrop for Joseph’s prophecy of Israel’s being scattered again and then gathered. In the context of the JST’s expansion of Genesis 50, the Joseph-wordplay in Genesis 49:33–50:1 sets the stage for the onomastic allusions to the names Joseph and Ephraim that occur in Joseph’s speech to his brothers:

And Joseph [yôsēp] said unto his brethren, I die, and go unto my fathers; and I go down to my grave with joy. The God of my father Jacob be with you, to deliver you out of affliction in the days of your bondage; for the Lord hath visited me, and I have obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit [pĕrî] of my loins, the Lord God will raise up a righteous branch out of my loins; and unto thee, whom my father Jacob hath named Israel, a prophet; (not the Messiah who is called Shilo;) and this prophet shall deliver my people out of Egypt in the days of thy bondage. And it shall come to pass that they shall be scattered again [cf. yôsîpû *lĕhizzārôt[13]] and a branch shall be broken off, and shall be carried into a far country [cf. ʾereṣ rĕḥôqâ]; nevertheless they shall be remembered in the [Page 113]covenants of the Lord, when the Messiah cometh; for he shall be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the Spirit of power; and shall bring them out of darkness into light; out of hidden darkness, and out of captivity unto freedom. (JST Genesis 50:24–25)

The phrase “they shall be scattered again,” as antonymic of Israel’s initial “gathering” under Moses and as synonymic of the Lord’s “adding” or doing something “again” to gather Israel in the future recalls the name Joseph (cf. yôsîp … yādô liqnôt, “[he] shall set his hand again … to recover,” Isaiah 11:11). This phrase particularly recalls the double-etiology for Joseph’s naming in terms of the verbs ʾāsap (“take away,” “gather”) and yāsap (“add,” “do something again”) in Genesis 30:23–24. The apparent wordplay or onomastic allusion creates a link between the name Joseph and the destiny of Joseph’s descendants as those who would “add” to be scattered by the Lord, broken off from the tree of Israel (cf. Jacob 5), and exiled to a far country (including the Americas), but then remembered when the Lord would gather Israel in fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant.

Joseph’s prophecy of “branches” being “broken off, and carried into a far country” furnishes an immediate interpretation of one part of his father Jacob’s blessing upon him: “Joseph [yôsēp] is a fruitful bough [bēn pōrāt; literally, a fruitful son], even a fruitful bough [bēn pōrāt] by a well; whose branches [bānôt; literally, daughters] run over the wall” (Genesis 49:22). The “fruitful son” concept is particularly reinforced by Joseph’s use of the phrase “fruit of my/thy loins” (JST Genesis 50:24, 26–27, 30–31), since the name Ephraim suggests the meaning “doubly fruitful.” Joseph clearly uses “branch” in the same familial or kinship sense as “descendants.” Joseph’s reference to his father’s poetic blessing and the derived image of a “righteous branch” raised up “out of the fruit of my loins” also recalls the much earlier interrelated etiological wordplay on the name of Joseph’s son Ephraim in the etiology for his name: “And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful [hipranî] in the land of my affliction” (Genesis 41:52; cf. Genesis 48:4, and especially JST Genesis 48:9–10).

Lehi’s prophecy concerning the scattering and gathering of Israel in 1 Nephi 10, which Nephi places in between his account of his father Lehi’s dream of the tree of life (1 Nephi 8) and his own vision of the tree [Page 114]of life (1 Nephi 11–14), constitutes the first such prophecy[14] in the Book of Mormon:

Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel, that they should be compared like unto an olive tree, whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth. Wherefore, he said it must needs be that we should be led with one accord into the land of promise, unto the fulfilling of the word of the Lord, that we should be scattered upon all the face of the earth. And after the house of Israel should be scattered they should be gathered together again; or, in fine, after the Gentiles had received the fulness of the Gospel, the natural branches of the olive tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, should be grafted in, or come to the knowledge of the true Messiah, their Lord and their Redeemer. (1 Nephi 10:12–14)

Lehi clearly had Zenos’s allegory of the olive trees (later reproduced in toto in Jacob 5) in mind when he made this prophecy. Noel B. Reynolds notes that Lehi’s use of Zenos here constitutes “the earliest use of Zenos’s allegory in the Book of Mormon.”[15] But Lehi also appears to have had Joseph’s prophecy in mind, forms of which appear in 2 Nephi 3 and JST Genesis 50. Both texts existed on the brass plates of Laban. Lehi’s phrase “whose branches should be broken off and scattered” (as recorded by Nephi) clearly “uses language from Zenos’s allegory.”[16] Nevertheless, Lehi’s words are also clearly consonant with Joseph’s prophecy (“they shall be scattered again and a branch broken off”). This raises the intriguing possibility of a more ancient inspiration for Zenos’s allegory, namely, textual dependency on the prophecy of Joseph in Egypt. Elements of Zenos’s allegory and his other prophecies regarding the gathering of Israel[17] may originally stem from the prophecy of [Page 115]Joseph in Egypt. Another textual indication that such may be the case is Zenos’s evident use of the yôsîp-idiom throughout the allegory (i.e., language expressing iterative divine action or results in terms of doing or becoming something “again”; Jacob 5:29, 33, 58, 60–61, 63, 67, 73–75 [cf. v. 77]).[18] If so, Zenos’s replete use of this idiom functions as an onomastic allusion back to Joseph in Egypt and his prophecy, including the Lord’s promises to gather Israel again. At the same time, it would also function as an allusion forward to a future Joseph through whom the Lord of the vineyard’s iterative action and iterative results would be accomplished.

Jacob, the son of Lehi and the brother of Nephi — the one who later provides a complete text for Zenos’s allegory for the olive tree in Jacob 5 — relays the following prophetic promise regarding the scattering and gathering of Israel spoken to him by an angel. Jacob’s inclusion of this prophecy constitutes part of an interpretive introduction to his covenant speech, a speech which begins in 2 Nephi 6 and runs through 2 Nephi 10, the central text of which is Isaiah 49:22–52:2:

Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance. (2 Nephi 6:11)

This verse, like Jacob’s sermon as a whole, looks forward on the gathering of Israel as described in Isaiah 49:22–23, but also on the fulfillment of Isaiah 11:11–12:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again [yôsîp] the second time to recover the remnant [Page 116]of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble [wĕʾāsap, gather] the outcasts of Israel, and gather together [yĕqabbēṣ] the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Jacob’s particular interest in Isaiah 11:11 is confirmed three verses later when he directly quotes or paraphrases this prophecy: “And behold, according to the words of the prophet, the Messiah will set himself again [cf. yôsîp] the second time to recover [his people]” (2 Nephi 6:14).[19] Jacob’s interpretation of Isaiah 11:11 is clearly reminiscent of Joseph’s prophecy regarding Israel, “nevertheless they shall be remembered in the covenants of the Lord, when the Messiah cometh; for he shall be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power” (JST Genesis 50:25). Assuming this part of Joseph’s prophecy existed on the brass plates along with the portion attested in 2 Nephi 3, Jacob’s use of the term Messiah (māšîaḥ = anointed one) here may have been influenced by the use of the same or a similar term in Joseph’s prophecy.

Jacob’s covenant sermon in 2 Nephi 6–10 represents something of a sequel to, or a fuller working out of, Nephi’s exegetical explanation of Isaiah 48–49 to his brothers (see 1 Nephi 22). Nephi sees in Isaiah’s words a fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant in Israel’s scattering and subsequent gathering. Isaiah 49:22–23 serves as a key text both in Jacob’s covenant sermon and in Nephi’s earlier exegesis. However, Nephi’s exegesis also relies heavily on the prophecy of the coming forth of the sealed book Isaiah 29, including v. 14, wherein the Lord promises “I will proceed [yôsîp] to do a marvellous work among this people.” Nephi’s exegesis and Isaiah’s prophecy also use language reminiscent of Joseph’s prophecy.

Comparing the language of JST Genesis 50:25 with 1 Nephi 22:8, 11–12 and Isaiah 29:14, 18–19 helps visualize the similarity and possible intertextual relationships between these prophecies:

[Page 117]JST Genesis 50:25

1 Nephi 22:8, 11–12

Isaiah 29:14, 18–19

And it shall come to pass that they shall be scattered again [cf. yôsîpû *lĕhizzārôt] and a branch shall be broken off, and shall be carried into a far country; nevertheless they shall be remembered in the covenants of the Lord, when the Messiah cometh; for he shall be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the Spirit of power; and shall bring them out of darkness into light; out of hidden darkness, and out of captivity unto freedom.

And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed [cf. yôsīp] to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.… Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed [cf. yôsīp] to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel. Wherefore, he will bring them again [cf. yôsîp] out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.

Therefore, behold, I will proceed [yôsīp or yôsip] to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder … And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase [wĕyospû] their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

It is also clear that Nephi’s exegesis of Isaiah 48–49 is textually dependent upon Isaiah 29:14, 18–19 among other texts.[20] However, the language of Nephi’s exegesis and that of Isaiah 29:14, 18–19 exhibit remarkable similarity to Joseph’s prophecy in JST Genesis 50:25. It is likely that Nephi knew some form of this prophecy (cf. 2 Nephi 3), and it is not impossible that Isaiah himself knew some form of the prophecy of Joseph in Egypt.

The language of divine deliverance from bondage is prominent and very similarly expressed in all three of these texts: “and [he] shall bring them out of darkness into light; out of hidden darkness, and out of captivity unto freedom”; “he will bring them again out of captivity … and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness”; “the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” [Page 118]This language all revolves around the agentic role that Moses fulfilled in delivering Israel out of Egypt (“this prophet shall deliver my people out of Egypt in the days of thy bondage,” JST Genesis 50:24), but it also anticipates a future figure who would play a similar role who would be named Joseph (JST Genesis 50:33; 2 Nephi 3:15; see further below).

Of course, Joseph Smith never lived to see the complete gathering and latter-day redemption of Israel — a work which remains ongoing on both sides of the veil and a work in which he continues as an active participant.[21] However, Joseph did translate and bring forth “the book” whose words the deaf would hear and which would cause “the eyes of the blind [to] see out of obscurity, and out of darkness” (Isaiah 29:18). He did establish a church whose members would be given power to “bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness” (D&C 1:30) and in which would gather a people sufficient to lay the foundation for the complete gathering of Israel.

Nephi foresaw that “after they [the house of Israel] were restored they should no more [lōʾ yôsîpû] be confounded, neither should they be scattered again [wĕlōʾ yôsîpû]” (1 Nephi 15:20; cf. 1 Nephi 14:2; Ether 13:8).[22] Although Israel had been “scattered again,” in fulfillment of the prophecy of Joseph in Egypt, the prophetic and seeric work of Joseph Smith has ensured that the spiritual blessings and conditions will prevail such that Israel shall never be “scattered again.” Here again, Nephi’s use of Isaianic language[23] echoes the name Joseph and perhaps does so in interaction with the prophecy of Joseph in Egypt.

“And His Name Shall Be Called Joseph”: The Centrality
of Joseph’s Name in Joseph’s Prophecy

The centrality of the name Joseph in the canonical text of Genesis is clear from the examples cited at the beginning of this study. This centrality receives even greater emphasis in the JST Genesis text with Joseph explicitly prophesying that the future seer would be named Joseph:

[Page 119]JST Genesis 50:33

2 Nephi 3:14–15

And that seer will I bless, and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise I give unto you; for I will remember you from generation to generation;

And thus prophesied Joseph [yôsēp], saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise;

and his name shall be called Joseph [yôsēp], and it shall be after the name of his father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation.

and his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.

The identification of the future raised-up seer as one who would be named yôsēp is even more explicit in JST Genesis 50:33 than in the text of 2 Nephi 3:15. The language of the JST Genesis text suggests that the Lord explicitly told Joseph the name of the latter-day seer: “and his name shall be called Joseph [i.e., yôsēp].” The Book of Mormon text reflects Joseph relaying this same information without the direct use of his name: “and his name shall be called after me [i.e., yôsēp].” All of this seems to suggest that Joseph, at some point, recorded and relayed this information referring to himself in the first person.

“And He Shall Gather My People”: Moses as
Antetype for the Future “Joseph”

The typological pairing of Moses’s and the future Joseph’s prophetic and seeric roles is established in JST Genesis 50:27–32, before the latter’s naming in JST Genesis 50:33. In JST Genesis 50:34–35, Moses’s specific prophetic role in gathering Israel and the relationship of the prophetic-seeric role of writing the divine word to the former is made clear in JST Genesis 50:34–35. Moses’s “writ[ing] the word of the Lord” represents a vital aspect of his “gathering” Israel. Writing the word of the Lord as a part of gathering, of course, has implications for the latter-day Joseph. A comparison of JST Genesis 50:34–35 and 2 Nephi 3:17 bring some additional, significant details into focus:

[Page 120]JST Genesis 50:34–35

2 Nephi 3:17

And the Lord sware unto Joseph that he would preserve his seed forever, saying,

And the Lord hath said:

I will raise up Moses [mōšeh],

I will raise up a Moses [Egyptian, a begotten (son); Hebrew mōšeh, i.e., a puller]

and a rod shall be in his hand, and he shall gather together my people, and he shall lead them as a flock, and he shall smite the waters of the Red Sea with his rod [Hebrew maṭṭēhû; Egyptian mdw=f]

and I will give power unto him in a rod;

And he shall have judgment, and shall write the word [Hebrew dābār; Egyptian mdw/md.t/mt.t] of the Lord.

and I will give judgment unto him in writing.

And he shall not speak many words [Hebrew dĕbārîm; Egyptian, mdwt]

Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking.

for I will write unto him my law by the finger of mine own hand.

But I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand;

And I will make a spokesman [Hebrew dibber; Egyptian mdwty,] for him, and his name shall be called Aaron.

and I will make a spokesman for him.

In a roundabout way, Nephi refers to the prophetic oath, “the Lord sware unto Joseph that he would preserve his seed forever, saying: I will raise up [a] Moses,” in 2 Nephi 25:21: “Wherefore, for this cause hath the Lord God promised unto me that these things which I write shall be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation, that the promise may be fulfilled unto Joseph [yôsēp], that his seed should never perish as long as the earth should stand” (2 Nephi 25:21). Nephi recalls this oath in immediate conjunction with his exegetical use of Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 in 2 Nephi 21:17 as an onomastic wordplay on the name Joseph: “And the Lord will set his hand again [yôsîp] the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state [quoting Isaiah 11:11]. Wherefore, he will proceed [yôsīp or yôsip] to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of [Page 121]men [quoting Isaiah 29:14].”[24] The Lord’s prophetic oath would not only require a Moses to “gather” Israel and “write the word of the Lord,” but also a latter-day seer — a Joseph — to gather Israel, to re-“add” ancient scripture, and to bring forth modern scripture, including divine law (see, e.g., D&C 42).

The Lord’s first gathering of Israel in ancient Egypt begins with his commanding Moses, “Go, and gather [wĕʾāsaptā] the elders of Israel together” (Exodus 3:16), a commandment that Moses and Aaron fulfilled together: “And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together [wayyaʾaspû] all the elders of the children of Israel” (Exodus 4:29). The Hebrew text here employs the same key verb, ʾāsap, so closely connected to Joseph, his name, and the family gathering scenes in Egypt detailed in the Joseph narrative cycle (Genesis 37–50).

It is worth noting here the slight textual variance between JST Genesis 50:34 (“I will raise up Moses”) and 2 Nephi 3:17 (“I will raise up a Moses”).[25] In either case, underlying texts would very likely have read identically, since a Semitic/Hebrew original would have lacked an indefinite article. The Book of Mormon rendering, “a Moses,” helps us see that the name Moses can function as a substantivized participle or even as a title. Michael P. O’Connor notes that the Hebrew form mōšeh constitutes a “pseudo-active-participle form,” suggesting the meaning “puller.”[26] This datum squares with the Lord’s promise to Moses in Moses 1:25, “thou shalt be made stronger than many waters,” and the concept of Moses baptizing or “pulling” Israel through Red (or Reed) [Page 122]Sea in the Exodus.[27] The biblical text employs an etiology that suggests a passive meaning for the name of Moses — i.e., “pulled” or “drawn”: “And she called his name Moses [mōšeh]: and she said, Because I drew him [mĕšîtihû] out of the water” (Exodus 2:10). However, the Hebrew etiology betrays a consciousness of the Egyptian origin of Moses — “begotten” from Egyptian ms(i), “beget” (cf. Rameses, Tuthmosis, Ahmose, etc.) — in its use of birth imagery that depicts Moses being pulled from or “begotten” from water, evocative of amniotic fluid.

Even earlier, JST Genesis 50 makes clear that Moses’s name — like Joseph Smith’s personal name — was foreknown and foreordained: “For a seer will I raise up to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he shall know that he is of thy house; for he shall be nursed by the king’s daughter, and shall be called her son” (JST Genesis 50:29). Nathan Arp, noting the clear connection between Exodus 2:10 and JST Genesis 50:29, also noted the evident wordplay on Moses in terms of “son”: “It is fitting that Joseph, who knew Egyptian, would prophesy of Moses and include an Egyptian pun.”[28]

It is further possible that the versions of Joseph’s prophecy preserved in JST Genesis 50 and 2 Nephi 3 both preserve the echoes of another Egyptian pun. The phrases “and a rod shall be in his hand … and he shall smite the waters of the Red Sea with his rod” (JST Genesis 50:34) along with “and I will give power unto him in a rod” (2 Nephi 3:17) are immediately juxtaposed with “and [he] shall write the word of the Lord … And he shall not speak many words” (JST Genesis 50:35) and “Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking” (2 Nephi 3:17). In terms of an Egyptianism, the wordplay would turn on the Egyptian lexeme mdw, which as a noun means both “rod” and “word” and as a verb means to “speak.”[29] If valid, such a wordplay would operate very similar to the Egyptianistic wordplay on “rod” and “word” in 1 Nephi 11:25, “And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God,” and 1 Nephi 15:23–24, “And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of [Page 123]iron …? And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish.” It is also Nephi who states that “by his [Moses’s] word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither”[30] and that “Moses, by his word according to the power of God which was in him, smote the rock, and there came forth water” (1 Nephi 17:26, 29).[31] The Hebrew term for “rod” in the exodus narratives is maṭṭeh — a term also attested in the collocation maṭṭēh [hā]ʾĕlōhîm, “rod of God” (Exodus 4:20; 17:9) which parallels the Egyptian expression mdw– nṯr (“word of God,” “divine decree,” “sacred writings”)[32] — may constitute a loanword from Egyptian mdw,[33] if not derived from Hebrew nāṭâ (Qal, “reach out,” “spread out,” “stretch out”; Hiphil, “stretch out,” “spread out,” “extend, bestow”).[34] For Nephi, the “rod” and the “word” were interchangeable and this seems to have been rooted in the polysemy of Egyptian mdw. The possibility that Nephi thought to connect the “rod of iron” with the “word of God” when he had a vision of the tree of life because of the similar Egyptianistic wordplay evident in Joseph’s story on the brass plates is an intriguing one.

Notably, both versions of Joseph’s prophecy also conclude with the promise, “And I will make a spokesman for him” which also appears to add to the wordplay. The Hebrew term used for “spokesman” in the Exodus account is dibber, a formation from the same root as the verb dābar, “speak,” and the noun dābār, “word,” “thing.” This term corresponds semantically to the Egyptian mdw-derived word mdwty, “talker” or “speaker.”[35]

Just as Moses in his seeric role gathered, delivered, and preserved Israel through the event of the Exodus with the help of Aaron as “spokesman” (dibber,[36] JST Genesis 50:35; Exodus 4:16; JST Exodus [Page 124]7:1; 2 Nephi 3:17), Joseph Smith as seer would accomplish much of the initial work of the gathering and restoration of Israel with Sidney Rigdon functioning as a “spokesman” and scribe in writing the word:

And it is expedient in me that you, my servant Sidney, should be a spokesman unto this people; yea, verily, I will ordain you unto this calling, even to be a spokesman unto my servant Joseph. And I will give unto him power to be mighty in testimony. And I will give unto thee power to be mighty in expounding all scriptures, that thou mayest be a spokesman unto him, and he shall be a revelator unto thee, that thou mayest know the certainty of all things pertaining to the things of my kingdom on the earth. (D&C 100:9–11)

This revelation describes Joseph Smith’s and Sidney Rigdon’s interrelationship in language reminiscent of the biblical descriptions of the relationship between Moses and Aaron.

Here we recall that the rendition of the prophecy of Joseph in Egypt in 2 Nephi 3 drew an additional parallel between Moses’s seeric/ prophetic role and that of the latter-day Joseph. Just as Aaron functioned as a spokesman for Moses, the latter-day, raised-up seer named Joseph would also have a “spokesman”:

And the Lord said unto me also: I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it. And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust; for I know their faith. (2 Nephi 3:18–19)

Joseph’s prophecy echoes the meaning of the name Ephraim (“doubly fruitful”) in the collocation “fruit of thy loins” as a designation for Joseph’s descendants, including Ephraim’s descendants. The “spokesman of thy loins,” as a Josephite-Ephraimite descendant would be given the gift of “writ[ing] the writing” of Joseph’s descendants to Joseph’s latter-day descendants as part of the divine translation process that would enable “the words” to “go forth” to those descendants. Moses “gather[ed] together [the Lord’s] people … as a flock,” with the “his rod” (JST [Page 125]Genesis 50:34), even the “rod of God” (Exodus 4:20, 17:9) — a Pharaonic image — with Aaron as spokesman. A latter-day “Joseph” would gather together the Lord’s people with the word of God, written as dictated by the seer himself and even preached by scribes as “spokesm[e]n” (JST Genesis 50:35).

On one level, this prophecy was fulfilled by Oliver Cowdery in his scribal work for Joseph Smith during the process of the Book of Mormon’s divine translation. However, it was also fulfilled by Sidney Rigdon in his service to Joseph as both a scribe and a spokesman. In each instance, these spokesmen were instrumental in “writ[ing] the word of the Lord,” preaching that word, and enabling it to go forth to gather the Lord’s people.

Former and Latter-day Prophets and Seers:
The Framing of JST Genesis

The relationship between the prophecy of Joseph in Egypt (JST Genesis 50) and the revelation to Moses in JST Genesis 1/Moses 1:41 has been obscured by the canonization of the latter in the Book of Moses, where it has been severed from its JST Genesis context. Both prophecies bookend or frame the JST Genesis text as a self-contained literary unit. Both allude to, and even play on, the name “Joseph,” pointing to the restorative work that the raised-up seer would accomplish. The Vision of Moses (Moses 1), which stands at the head of JST Genesis, includes the Lord’s prophetic promise to Moses:

A

And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught

B

and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write,

C

behold, I will raise up another like unto thee;

B'

and they shall be had again

A'

among the children of men — among as many as shall believe. (Moses 1:41)

With respect to the JST Genesis text, this chiastic prophetic promise hints at the name Joseph (in terms of the meanings of ʾāsap and yāsap) as the one explicitly named in JST Genesis 50, and constitutes the first pairing of Moses’s and the future Joseph’s seeric/prophetic roles. This pairing in JST Genesis 50 recurs ahead of the Pentateuchal narrative’s intense focus on the life, leadership, and lawgiving of Moses.

[Page 126]Conclusion

The thematic Joseph wordplay that begins with Rachel’s double-etiology in Genesis 30:23–24 using the verbs ʾāsap (“gather,” “take away”) and yāsap (“add,” “increase,” “do [something] again”) and which recurs on both verbs through the late chapters of the Joseph Cycle (Genesis 37–50 and Exodus 1:8–10), also extends to the Moses 1 and JST Genesis 50 textual restorations. Joseph’s prophecy that the house of Israel, “shall be scattered again; and a branch shall be broken off, and shall be carried into a far country” (JST Genesis 50:25) alludes to Jacob’s final blessing upon him (see especially Genesis 49:22) and plays on the name Joseph in at least two ways. First, the phrase “they shall be scattered again” suggests the iterative divine action implied in the name Joseph — “may he [God] add,” “may he do [something] again” — a jussive verb form from the causative stem of yāsap. Second, the passive verb form of “scatter” as an antonym of “gather” recalls the etiological association of Joseph’s name with the Hebrew verb ʾāsap. The repetition of the collocation “fruit of my loins/fruit of thy loins” (JST Genesis 50:24, 26–27, 30–31) recalls Jacob’s blessing Joseph as a “fruitful son/bough” with “fruitful daughters/ branches” (Genesis 49:22) and particularly the name Ephraim (“doubly fruitful”), adding a distinctive onomastic flavoring to this prophecy of what Joseph’s descendants through Ephraim and Manasseh would accomplish (cf. also D&C 133:26–34).

Moreover, Joseph’s prophecy that Moses would “gather together my people” (JST Genesis 50:24) anticipates the similar role that the future raised-up seer named “Joseph” would fulfill. The pairing of Moses’s and the future Joseph’s roles at the beginning and the ending of JST Genesis (Moses 1:41 and JST Genesis 50) suggests that understanding Moses’s prophetic and seeric roles as gatherer of Israel and one called to “write the word of the Lord” in order to gather Israel is necessary also to understand Joseph Smith’s prophetic and seeric roles.

[Author’s Note: I would like to thank Suzy Bowen, Allen Wyatt, Jeff Lindsay, Victor Worth, Alan Sikes, and Robert F. Smith for contributing to the publishing of this article.]

1. Matthew L. Bowen, “‘He Shall Add’: Wordplay on the Name Joseph and an Early Instance of Gezera Shawa in the Book of Mormon,” Insights 30, no. 2 (2010): 2‒4, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&context=insights; Matthew L. Bowen, “Onomastic Wordplay on Joseph and Benjamin and Gezera Shawa in the Book of Mormon,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 18 (2016): 255–73, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/onomastic-wordplay-on-joseph-and-benjamin-and-gezera-shawa-in-the-book-of-mormon/. Nephi’s evident use of wordplay on “Joseph” in 1 Nephi 22:8–12 has recently been given a more in-depth treatment in Matthew L. Bowen, “‘The Lord God Will Proceed’: Nephi’s Wordplay in 1 Nephi 22:8–12 and the Abrahamic Covenant,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 50 (2022): 51–70, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-lord-god-will-proceed-nephis-wordplay-in-1-nephi-228-12-and-the-abrahamic-covenant/.

2. Matthew L. Bowen, “‘Their Anger Did Increase Against Me’: Nephi’s Autobiographical Permutation of a Biblical Wordplay on the Name Joseph,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 23 (2017): 115–36, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/their-anger-did-increase-against-me-nephis-autobiographical-permutation-of-a-biblical-wordplay-on-the-name-joseph/.

3. Matthew L. Bowen and Loren Blake Spendlove, “‘Thou Art the Fruit of My Loins’: The Interrelated Symbolism and Meanings of the Names Joseph and Ephraim in Ancient Scripture,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 28 (2018): 273–298, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/thou-art-the-fruit-of-my-loins-the-interrelated-symbolism-and-meanings-of-the-names-joseph-and-ephraim-in-ancient-scripture/.

4. See, e.g., Matthew L. Bowen, “‘They Shall No More Be Confounded’: Moroni’s Wordplay on Joseph in Ether 13:1–13 and Moroni 10:31,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 30 (2018): 91–104, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/they-shall-no-more-be-confounded-moronis-wordplay-on-joseph-in-ether-131-13-and-moroni-1031/; Matthew L. Bowen, “‘The Messiah Will Set Himself Again’: Jacob’s Use of Isaiah 11:11 in 2 Nephi 6:14 and Jacob 6:2,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 44 (2021): 287–306, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-messiah-will-set-himself-again-jacobs-use-of-isaiah-1111-in-2-nephi-614-and-jacob-62/. These examples are not intended to be exhaustive.

5. See Moshe Garsiel, Biblical Names: A Literary Study of Midrashic Derivations and Puns, trans. Phyllis Hackett (Ramat Gan, Israel: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1991), 172–74.

6. On how the Joseph-wordplay recurs as a theme in Nephi’s writings, see Bowen, “Their Anger Did Increase Against Me.”

7. “As a critical term applied to narrative, etiology refers to stories that tell how something came to be or came to have its definitive characteristics. In Scripture such stories are typically told about names of persons and places, rites and customs, ethnic identities, and natural phenomena.” Michael H. Floyd, “Etiology,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary of the Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 2007), 2:352. In the Hebrew Bible, these etiologies frequently involve wordplay.

8. Robert J. Matthews, “A Plainer Translation”: Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible — A History and Commentary (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1975), 253. David Rolph Seely suggests that “Some of the corrections and revisions were small, including sometimes only vital punctuation changes. Other revisions were much more lengthy, restoring large passages of text.” David Rolph Seely, “The Joseph Smith Translation: ‘Plain and Precious Things’ Restored,” Ensign, 27, no. 8 (August 1997): 10, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1997/08/the-joseph-smith-translation-plain-and-precious-things-restored. The content of JST Genesis 50, much of it found in another version in 2 Nephi 3, suggests that it had once existed as an ancient text in some form.

9. A divine passive construction is a grammatical construction in which the implied but unstated agent of the passive verb is God.

10. Garsiel, Biblical Names, 173.

11. In addition to Genesis 49:33, the phrase “gathered unto his people” occurs in Genesis 25:8, 17; 35:29; Numbers 20:24, 26; 27:13; 31:2; and Deuteronomy 32:50 (2 x). Philip S. Johnston notes that “this distinctive phrase occurs ten times, and only in the Pentateuch. It is only used of the patriarchs, Moses and Aaron, and only occasionally.” Philip S. Johnston, Shades of Sheol: Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 33.

12. Johnston, Shades of Sheol, 34.

13. Cf., e.g., Ezekiel 6:8: “Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered [bĕhizzārôtêkem] through the countries.”

14. This, of course, excludes the title page of the Book of Mormon, authored by Moroni many centuries later.

15. Noel B. Reynolds, “Nephite Uses and Interpretations of Zenos,” in The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, The Bible, and Jacob 5, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: FARMS, 1994), 22.

16. Ibid.

17. See, e.g., 1 Nephi 19:15–16: “Nevertheless, when that day cometh, saith the prophet, that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their fathers. Yea, then will he remember the isles of the sea; yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in, saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, from the four quarters of the earth”; 3 Nephi 10:16–17: “Yea, the prophet Zenos did testify of these things, and also Zenock spake concerning these things, because they testified particularly concerning us, who are the remnant of their seed. Behold, our father Jacob also testified concerning a remnant of the seed of Joseph. And behold, are not we a remnant of the seed of Joseph? And these things which testify of us, are they not written upon the plates of brass which our father Lehi brought out of Jerusalem?” See also Helaman 15:11.

18. See Matthew L. Bowen, “‘I Have Done According to My Will’: Reading Jacob 5 as a Temple Text,” in The Temple: Ancient and Restored, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and Donald W. Parry (Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2016), 247–48; see also Bowen and Spendlove, “Thou Art the Fruit of My Loins.”

19. See Matthew L. Bowen, “‘The Messiah Will Set Himself Again’: Jacob’s Use of Isaiah 11:11 in 2 Nephi 6:14 and Jacob 6:2,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 44 (2021): 287–306, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-messiah-will-set-himself-again-jacobs-use-of-isaiah-1111-in-2-nephi-614-and-jacob-62/.

20. See Matthew L. Bowen, “‘The Lord God Will Proceed’: Nephi’s Wordplay in 1 Nephi 22:8–12 and the Abrahamic Covenant,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 50 (2022): 51–70, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-lord-god-will-proceed-nephis-wordplay-in-1-nephi-228-12-and-the-abrahamic-covenant/.

21. See especially D&C 138:57.

22. See Matthew L. Bowen, “‘They Shall No More Be Confounded’: Moroni’s Wordplay on Joseph in Ether 13:1–13 and Moroni 10:31,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 30 (2018): 91–104, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/they-shall-no-more-be-confounded-moronis-wordplay-on-joseph-in-ether-131-13-and-moroni-1031/.

23. Ibid.

24. See more recently Bowen, “Onomastic Wordplay,” 255–73; see also Bowen, “He Shall Add,” 2–4.

25. Robert F. Smith argues that this is both indefinite and superlative, since it refers back to the Moses listed in 2 Nephi 3:9–10, and that the Egyptian indefinite article was used to indicate this second mention of Moses was “uniquely” the same, wˁ Mś “a Moses (literally), uniquely Moses, one and only Moses.” Robert F. Smith, Egyptianisms in the Book of Mormon and Other Studies (Provo, UT: Deep Forest Green Books, 2020), 39, https://books.google.com/books?id=y4IdzgEACAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&hl=en. Smith cites to Alan Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, 3rd rev. ed. (London: Oxford University Press, 1957), 78 [§97], 194 [§262.1 superlative]; James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 2:41 [§4.9], 103–104 [§9.4 end].

26. M. O’Connor, “The Human Characters’ Names in the Ugaritic Poems: Onomastic Eccentricity in Bronze-Age West Semitic and the Name Daniel in Particular,” in Biblical Hebrew in Its Northwest Semitic Setting: Typological and Historical Perspectives, ed. Steven E. Fassberg and Avi Hurvitz (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2006), 270n7.

27. See, e.g., Matthew L. Bowen and Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “A Literary Masterpiece: Many-Great Waters and Moses’ Mission to Baptize,” Book of Moses Essay #43, Pearl of Great Price Central (website), https://www.pearlofgreatpricecentral.org/a-literary-masterpiece-many-great-waters-and-moses-mission-to-baptize.

28. Nathan Arp, “Joseph Knew First: Moses the Egyptian Son,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 32 (2019): 196, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/joseph-knew-first-moses-the-egyptian-son/.

29. Raymond O. Faulkner, A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian (London: Oxford University Press, 1999), 122. Hereafter cited as CDME.

30. Matthew L. Bowen, “What Meaneth the Rod of Iron?,” Insights 25, no. 2 (2005): 2–3, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/insights/vol25/iss2/3/.

31. Ibid.

32. CDME, 122.

33. J.M.A. Janssen, “Égyptologie et Bible,” in L’Ancien Testament et L’Orient (Louvain: Publication Universitaires de Louvain, 1957), 40; R.J. Williams, “Egypt and Israel,” in The Legacy of Egypt, ed. John R. Harris (Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford University Press, 1971), 263.

34. Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vol. 2 (Leiden, NDL: Brill, 2001), 692–93.

35. CDME, 123.

36. Exodus 4:16: “And he [Aaron] shall be thy spokesman [dibber] unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.”

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