[9:7] And he also commanded that his people should depart out of the land, and (A) I and my people went into the land that we might possess it.
[9:8] And we began to build buildings, and to repair the walls of the city, yea, even the walls of the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shilom.
[9:9] And we began to (B) till the ground, yea, even with (C) all manner of seeds, with seeds of corn, and of wheat, and of barley, and with neas, and with sheum, and with seeds of (D) all manner of fruits; and (E) we did begin to multiply and prosper in the land.
[9:10] Now it was the cunning and the craftiness of king Laman, to bring my people into bondage, that he yielded up the land that we might possess it.
[9:11] Therefore it came to pass, that after we had dwelt in the land for the space of twelve years that king Laman began to grow uneasy, lest by any means my people should wax strong in the land, and that they could not overpower them and bring them into bondage.
[9:12] Now they were a lazy and an idolatrous people; therefore they were desirous to bring us into bondage, that they might glut themselves with the labors of our hands; yea, that they might feast themselves upon the flocks of our fields.
[9:13] Therefore (F) it came to pass that king Laman (G) began to stir up his people that they should contend with my people; therefore there (H) began to be wars and contentions in the land.[9:14] For, in the thirteenth year of my reign in the land of Nephi, away (I) on the south of the land of Shilom, when my people were watering and feeding their flocks, and tilling their lands, a numerous host of Lamanites (J) came upon them and began to slay them, and to take off their flocks, and the corn of their fields.[9:15] Yea, and it came to pass that they fled, all that were not overtaken, even into the city of Nephi, and did call upon me for protection.[9:16] And it came to pass that I did (K) arm them with bows, (L) and with arrows, (M) with swords, (N) and with cimeters, and with clubs, (O) and with slings, and with all manner of weapons which we could invent, and I and my people did (P1) go forth against the Lamanites to battle.[9:17] Yea, (Q) in the strength of the Lord did we (P2) go forth to battle against the Lamanites; for I and my people did cry mightily to the Lord that he would deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, for we were awakened to a remembrance of the deliverance of our fathers.[9:18] And God did hear our cries and did answer our prayers; and we did go forth in his might; yea, we did (P3) go forth against the Lamanites, and in one day and a night we did slay three thousand and forty-three; we did slay them even until we had driven them out of our land. [. . .]
[9:19] And I, myself, with mine own hands, did help to bury their dead. And behold, to our great sorrow and lamentation, two hundred and seventy-nine of our brethren were slain.
[10:1] And it came to pass that we again began to establish the kingdom and (A′) we again began to possess the land in peace. And I caused that there should be weapons of war made of every kind, that thereby I might have weapons for my people against the time the Lamanites should come up again to war against my people.
[10:2] And I set guards round about the land, that the Lamanites might not come upon us again unawares and destroy us; and thus I did guard my people and my flocks, and keep them from falling into the hands of our enemies.
[10:3] And it came to pass that we did inherit the land of our fathers for many years, yea, for the space of twenty and two years.
[10:4] And I did cause that the men should (B′) till the ground, and raise (C′) all manner of grain and (D′) all manner of fruit of every kind.[10:5] And I did cause that the women should spin, and toil, and work, and work all manner of fine linen, yea, and cloth of every kind, that we might clothe our nakedness; and thus (E′) we did prosper in the land—thus we did have continual peace in the land for the space of twenty and two years.[10:6] And (F′) it came to pass that king Laman died, and his son began to reign in his stead. And he (G′) began to stir his people up in rebellion against my people; therefore they (H′) began to prepare for war, and to come up to battle against my people.[10:7] But I had sent my spies out round about the land of Shemlon, that I might discover their preparations, that I might guard against them, that they might not (J′) come upon my people and destroy them.[10:8] And it came to pass that they came up (I′) upon the north of the land of Shilom, with their numerous hosts, men (K′) armed with bows, (L′) and with arrows, (M′) and with swords, (N′) and with cimeters, and with stones, (O′) and with slings; and they had their heads shaved that they were naked; and they were girded with a leathern girdle about their loins.[10:9] And it came to pass that I caused that the women and children of my people should be hid in the wilderness; and I also caused that all my old men that could bear arms, and also all my young men that were able to bear arms, should gather themselves together to (P1′) go to battle against the Lamanites; and I did place them in their ranks, every man according to his age.[10:10] And it came to pass that we did (P2′) go up to battle against the Lamanites; and I, even I, in my old age, did (P3′) go up to battle against the Lamanites. And it came to pass that we did go up (Q′) in the strength of the Lord to battle.
Leo said...
I had the same initial thought before reading your conclusion: this would be harder to do than not. The other thought I have is that I suppose this lends credence to a word-for-word translation since a cultural translation would have no need of preserving Nephite literary form. Or maybe it's that it's detectable in this case despite it not being word for word.
[25] Behold, I was about to write the names of those who were never to taste of death, but the Lord forbade; therefore I write them not, for they are hid from the world.[26] But behold, I have seen them, and they have ministered unto me.[27] And behold they will be among the Gentiles, and the Gentiles shall know them not.[28] They will also be among the Jews, and the Jews shall know them not.[29] And it shall come to pass, when the Lord seeth fit in his wisdom that they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them.[30] And they are as the angels of God, and if they shall pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus they can show themselves unto whatsoever man it seemeth them good.
[31] Therefore, great and marvelous works shall be wrought by them, before the great and coming day when all people must surely stand before the judgment-seat of Christ;[32] Yea even among the Gentiles shall there be a great and marvelous work wrought by them, before that judgment day.[33] And if ye had all the scriptures which give an account of all the marvelous works of Christ, ye would, according to the words of Christ, know that these things must surely come.[34] And wo be unto him that will not hearken unto the words of Jesus, and also to them whom he hath chosen and sent among them; for whoso receiveth not the words of Jesus and the words of those whom he hath sent receiveth not him; and therefore he will not receive them at the last day;
[12] And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he touched every one of them with his finger save it were the three who were to tarry, and then he departed.[13] And behold, the heavens were opened, and they were caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.[14] And it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which they saw and heard;[15] And whether they were in the body or out of the body, they could not tell; for it did seem unto them like a transfiguration of them, that they were changed from this body of flesh into an immortal state, that they could behold the things of God.[16] But it came to pass that they did again minister upon the face of the earth; nevertheless they did not minister of the things which they had heard and seen, because of the commandment which was given them in heaven.[17] And now, whether they were mortal or immortal, from the day of their transfiguration, I know not;
[2] I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.[3] And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)[4] How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Leo said...
If true then the implication is that the NT must be in pretty decent shape as is or else I suspect these disciples would not have bothered sharing it.
Wm Jas Tychonievich said...
The presence of so much NT material in the BoM already implies that, I think, regardless of how it got there.
In the BOM’s description of the corruption of the scriptures, the main concern seems to be that “plain and precious” material is being removed. What remains would be comparable to a “Jefferson Bible” — true as far as it goes, but severely distorted by the omission of crucial information.Leo said...
I might be wrong but I was thinking the portions of the NT we have in the BoM are pretty limited so as to suggest that only those portions (like the sermon on the mount) are reasonably accurate. I also am not sure how many Pauline epistles are cited in the BoM besides what you showed yesterday. But if the disciples handed over an intact NT, that suggests a much broader endorsement to me unless what they handed over was annotated for what they endorsed and didn't.
(image) |
| Gustave Moreau, La fille de Jared dansant devant Akish (1876) |
1. The dancing daughter of Jared
Here's a tale of Jaredite devilry from the Book of Ether. See if it reminds you of anything:
And it came to pass that he begat Omer, and Omer reigned in his stead. And Omer begat Jared; and Jared begat sons and daughters.
And Jared rebelled against his father, and came and dwelt in the land of Heth. And it came to pass that he did flatter many people, because of his cunning words, until he had gained the half of the kingdom. And when he had gained the half of the kingdom he gave battle unto his father, and he did carry away his father into captivity, and did make him serve in captivity;
And now, in the days of the reigns of Omer he was in captivity the half of his days. And it came to pass that he begat sons and daughters among whom were Esrom and Coriantumr; and they were exceedingly angry because of the doings of Jared their brother, insomuch that they did raise an army and gave battle unto Jared. And it came to pass that they did give battle unto him by night. And it came to pass that when they had slain the army of Jared they were about to slay him also; and he plead with them that they would not slay him, and he would give up the kingdom unto his father. And it came to pass that they did grant unto him his life.
And now Jared became exceedingly sorrowful because of the loss of the kingdom, for he had set his heart upon the kingdom and upon the glory of the world.
Now the daughter of Jared being exceedingly expert, and seeing the sorrows of her father, thought to devise a plan whereby she could redeem the kingdom unto her father. Now the daughter of Jared was exceedingly fair. And it came to pass that she did talk with her father, and said unto him:
Whereby hath my father so much sorrow? Hath he not read the record which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old, that they by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory?
And now, therefore, let my father send for Akish, the son of Kimnor; and behold, I am fair, and I will dance before him, and I will please him, that he will desire me to wife; wherefore if he shall desire of thee that ye shall give unto him me to wife, then shall ye say:
I will give her if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king.
And now Omer was a friend to Akish; wherefore, when Jared had sent for Akish, the daughter of Jared danced before him that she pleased him, insomuch that he desired her to wife. And it came to pass that he said unto Jared:
Give her unto me to wife.
And Jared said unto him:
I will give her unto you, if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king.
And it came to pass that Akish gathered in unto the house of Jared all his kinsfolk, and said unto them:
Will ye swear unto me that ye will be faithful unto me in the thing which I shall desire of you?
And it came to pass that they all sware unto him, by the God of heaven, and also by the heavens, and also by the earth, and by their heads, that whoso should vary from the assistance which Akish desired should lose his head; and whoso should divulge whatsoever thing Akish made known unto them, the same should lose his life. And it came to pass that thus they did agree with Akish. And Akish did administer unto them the oaths which were given by them of old who also sought power, which had been handed down even from Cain, who was a murderer from the beginning. And they were kept up by the power of the devil to administer these oaths unto the people, to keep them in darkness, to help such as sought power to gain power, and to murder, and to plunder, and to lie, and to commit all manner of wickedness and whoredoms.
And it was the daughter of Jared who put it into his heart to search up these things of old; and Jared put it into the heart of Akish; wherefore, Akish administered it unto his kindred and friends, leading them away by fair promises to do whatsoever thing he desired (Ether 8:1-17).
2. The dancing daughter of Herodias
I assume anyone with even a passing familiarity with the New Testament will immediately recognize the dancing-for-decapitation plot point in Ether as being strangely similar to one found in the Gospels:
This obviously calls to mind the story of the daughter of Herodias, as told in Mark 6 (and Matthew 14):
And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel,
Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
And he sware unto her,
Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
And she went forth, and said unto her mother,
What shall I ask?
And she said,
The head of John the Baptist.
And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying,
I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her (Mark 6:21-26).
Essentially the same story is told in Matthew 14, but I have quoted the Mark version because it has more in common with the story in Ether. (Matthew omits the reference to "the half of my kingdom" and does not say Herod is "exceeding" sorry.)
3. Two different types of parallels
I think it's important to recognize that the story in Ether parallels that in Mark in two very different ways.
First, and most obviously, there is the core similarity of the plot itself: Someone wishes to be rid of an enemy but does not have the power to do so themselves, so they have their daughter ingratiate a powerful person by dancing for him, which leads to that person agreeing to bring them the enemy's head. This core parallel is reinforced by some incidental similarities in the way the story is told. For example, in both stories "the daughter" is unnamed (only in extrabiblical tradition is the daughter of Herodias called Salome), is said to have "pleased" the man she danced for, and so on.
The other parallels are of the type discussed in this blog's inaugural post, "Lehi, Nephi, and the pillar of fire that 'dwelt upon a rock': A case study of hard-to-define biblical parallels." I have yet to coin a suitable term to refer to parallels of this kind, and so they remain as "hard to define" as ever.
As you will recall if you've read that post, the Book of Mormon's opening verses introduce two characters, Nephi and Lehi, and relate Lehi's vision in which "a pillar of fire . . . dwelt upon a rock" (1 Ne. 1:6). Searching for Nephi and Lehi in the King James Bible, you will find that Nephi (i.e., naphtha) was the name given to a liquid that was "poured on the great stones" and "kindled a flame" (2 Macc. 1:31-32), while Lehi is a place name, introduced one verse after we are told that Samson "dwelt in the top of the rock" (Judg. 15:8). So in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, Lehi is connected with someone or something that "dwelt" on a "rock," and Nephi is connected with a fire burning on a rock -- but the stories incorporate these elements in entirely different ways, so that the stories themselves are not similar at all.
The two dancing-daughter stories are similar, but in addition there are parallels of this Lehi-Nephi type (for lack of anything better to call them), where biblical elements appear in the Book of Mormon story but fit into that story in a completely different way:
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they [the wise men] departed into their own country another way.And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:And was there until the death of Herod: . . . But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. (Matt. 2:12-15, 19-20).
4. Skeptical explanations
Obviously, skeptics are going to explain any biblical parallels in the Book of Mormon as plagiarism or "borrowing" on the part of Joseph Smith: Smith took the main theme from the story of the daughter of Herodias and adapted it for his story about Jared and Omer. It's puzzling that Smith would plagiarize so heavily from the Bible, though -- the one text that he knew most of the potential readers of the Book of Mormon would be intimately familiar with, making his plagiarism extremely easy to detect. If Smith wanted to lift material from the Bible, we would expect him to at least try to disguise it. Instead, we have lots of very obvious Bible plagiarism -- including, in other parts of the book, extensive copy-and-pastes from famous passages in the epistles of Paul. Why would a fraudulent Joseph Smith -- who was obviously neither stupid nor lacking in creativity -- have done that?
And the Lehi-Nephi type parallels can't easily be explained as conscious plagiarism. If Smith made a conscious decision to plagiarize the main story of Salome, it would make no sense to add in other elements from that story -- half the kingdom, exceeding sorrow, oaths to do whatever is requested -- but to work them into the story in a completely different way. This would obviously be more difficult than either straightforward plagiarism or original storytelling, and what purpose would it serve but to make the plagiarism more obvious? What does the "half the kingdom" reference add to the Jared story, except as another telltale sign of the biblical source?
I think the only explanation is that the Lehi-Nephi parallels were added subconsciously: Thinking of the daughter of Herodias story primed Smith's mind, by subconscious free-association, to think of other themes and expressions from that story, and also from another murderous-Herod story. He put these into his text because they just appeared in his mind, without being consciously aware that they had their source in the New Testament.
5. Believing explanations
Coincidence is always a possibility. One need only peruse one of those lists of Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences to be persuaded that two very real events can be connected in multiple ways be sheer coincidence. Some of the similarities are straightforward (each president was shot in the head on a Friday and succeeded by a Southerner named Johnson who was born in '08) and others are more of the "Lehi-Nephi" variety (Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theatre; Kennedy was shot in a Ford automobile, a Lincoln). Other explanations are obviously to be preferred, though.
HomeStadter said...
An idea that may be worth pondering re: "biblical contamination", and the hard-to-define parallels - that these were done deliberately. If we assume that the Book of Mormon is the stick of Ephraim that is supposed to flow together with the stick of Judah (again making the assumption that this refers the bible), as in 2 Nephi 3:12, then these might not be accidents from Joseph Smith's subconscious, but deliberate markers pointing us to the other compilation and designed to change the way we understand both Bible and Book of Mormon stories by comparing the parallel passages.
No particular insights jump out of the examples you mentioned in this post. Esther was a secret combination is interesting but doesn't seem to lead to any important conclusions far as I can tell, and the overall theme seems to parallel the psalm image of the wicked falling into their own trap. If the dancing/half kingdom is a marker of secret combinations does that imply Herod was in a secret combination or that he was their chump? King Lamoni also used the half kingdom phrase, but I don't see anything to suggest secret combinations were part of that story.
Some other parallels off the top of my head:
8 saved in Noahs ark: 8 arks of the Jaredites
Alma the Yr: Saul on the road to Damascus
Jacob 5: Romans 11 Olive tree
Almas the word of God as a seed: Parable of the SowerWm Jas Tychonievich said...
HS, I think that's true for some kinds of parallels but not others. In the two olive tree allegories, for example, or the two seed comparisons, we have two versions of a similar teaching, and reading each in light of the other should be beneficial. In the stories of Alma and Saul, we perhaps have God dealing with two different people in similar ways, and again comparisons might be instructive. The number eight being associated with Noah and the Jaredites (and circumcision, and baptism) could be symbolism intentionally created by God.
In the case of the two dancing-for-decapitation stories, these are the actions of wicked people, and so it seems unlikely that God created the parallel on purpose by inspiring them to act in similar ways. If the parallels are neither unreal (pure contamination) nor just coincidence, then I think the secret combination angle (Satan inspiring similar works of darkness among different peoples) is the best explanation.
For parallels like those in 1 Nephi 1:6, it's hard to see how comparing the passages could shed any light on anything. Do we understand Lehi's vision better by thinking about Samson dwelling on a rock, the Philisitines spreading in Lehi, and naphtha kindling a flame on the great stones?Wm Jas Tychonievich said...
Lamoni's father's offer of "half of the kingdom" actually makes more sense than its biblical counterparts. Lamoni's father's life is begging to have his life spared, offering, so of course he's willing to make extravagant offers. We see precedent for such an offer in Mosiah 19, where the Lamanites tell the people of Limhi they will "spare their lives" in exchange for "one half of all they possessed."
In the case of Ahasuerus and Herod, it's not clear why they are offering half their kingdom or what they expect to get in exchange. Akish is hoping to secure the daughter of Jared's hand in marriage, but Ahasuerus is already married to Esther. Indeed, she is already the queen, which makes the offer of "half the kingdom" rather strange. In the case of Herod, I suppose it's possible he was hoping to acquire his own stepdaughter as a second wife, but it doesn't seem likely, and the text gives no indication of that or any other motive.Anonymous said...
As for 1 Nephi 1:6: I am reading In the Language of Adam in which the author argues there was a temple ritual alluded to in Isaiah and throughout the Book of Mormon. He thinks that the Holy of Holies had as important features an outcropping of bedrock and a candlestick. The candlestick is the many branched menorah which represents the tree of life i.e. the Queen of Heaven, now known to us as Mary.
Perhaps we are meant to look at Samson dwelling on a rock as meaning we need to be founded on the rock. Naptha on a rock might be making a point about the tree of life being dependent on the creator, a sort of who is greater David, or his descendant whom he called Lord situation (candles bear flames which would represent the white fruit).
OTOH I may be getting last in a maze of symbolism, drawing connections where none was intended. I've got nothing about the philistines spreading in Lehi. Perhaps that land has some other significance and is called something else in other descriptions.HomeStadter said...
On the gripping hand - if JS subconsciousness did supply these words and images, it must have perceived some connection greater than 'lets fill in some random bible stuff here'. Our subconscious connections sometimes are trite and dumb, but there is always some connection tighter than random in general category.
PS. Above comment is mine, did not mean to post as anon.HomeStadter said...
Thinking about 1 Ne 1:6 more - it now seems to me that the burning bush is also supposed to be a representation of the tree of life, with what comes out of her is Jesus Christ, in that case the voice.
Leo said...
Maybe "asynchronous syncs" is a usable term for these odd connections. I like the connection you made between the specific language suggesting an evil ordinance of sorts and the language used by secret combos. Seems plausible. Esther not looking too great in that view.
Nevertheless, it is not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment. Again, it is written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more express than other scriptures, that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men, altogether for my name's glory.Wherefore, I will explain unto you this mystery . . . . I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name. Wherefore -- Eternal punishment is God's punishment. Endless punishment is God's punishment (D&C 19:6-8, 10-12).
. . . not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end (1 Ne. 14:3).. . . their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever and has no end (2 Ne. 9:16).
Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God. My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more (Mosiah 27:28-29).
But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins. Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell . . . . And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul. . . .I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! (Alma 36:12-13, 16, 18-20).
Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work (Alma 26:15).
And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death (Morm. 9:13).
That is not dead which can eternal lie,And with strange aeons even death may die.
Leo said...
Death is given to man as a gift from God, the means by which we escape this mortal corruption, so I think Endless sleep works just fine. It's the sleep that came from Endless just as the punishment to the wicked came from Eternal.
Wm Jas Tychonievich said...
Leo, compare the passages in this post with Alma 42:6, where “man became lost forever” in the fall of Adam and Eve. It’s hard to read this as a reference to God. I think we have to understand it as “potentially forever” or “would be forever were it not for divine intervention.”
(I ran across that passage today in my regular scripture study. I didn’t find it when preparing this post because “forever” wasn’t one of the words I searched for.)
O Lord, behold this people repenteth; and they [the people] have swept away the band of Gadianton from amongst them [the people] insomuch that they [the Gadiantons] have become extinct, and they [who?] have concealed their [the Gadiantons'] secret plans in the earth. Now, O Lord, because of this their [the peoples'] humility wilt thou turn away thine anger . . . (Hel. 11:10-11).
tekorra said...
"Secret plans" seems to be the exact explicated satanic rites and machinations of this band; the same term is used in Alma 37. These were originally on the records written by Ether and translated by Mosiah, but kept hidden or sealed up from the lay Nephites to prevent them from exercising them and destroying themselves. "retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations; yea, and all their signs and their wonders ye shall keep from this people." Moroni says something similar in Ether 8:20 where he won't detail them to us, the Gentiles. Ergo, they weren't fully disclosed in the records passed down among the Nephites. It says Gadianton "was exceedingly expert in many words, and also in his craft" which makes me wonder if he was a kind of scribe, historian, or boffin and was inspired by the Devil to seek out these plans in the sealed record in the archive. The only problem with this theory is that it says he didn't obtain these from the records delivered unto Helaman; "those secret oaths and covenants did not come forth unto Gadianton from the records which were delivered unto Helaman". Unless this is talking of the free records passed down, and not the sealed portion kept/retained from the Nephites. "Therefore ye shall keep these secret plans of their oaths and their covenants from this people, and only their wickedness and their murders and their abominations shall ye make known unto [the Nephites]. (Also, why would Ether include these in his record?)
"conceal[ing] their secret plans in the earth" strikes me as the Nephites sealing these oaths back up, similar to Alma 37 where they must be "retained" and "kept from the people"; sealed back up in the archive or hidden up in the ground. But that does beg a good question, as you point out; why keep them written down? Plus we see that a few years later there was a group of dissenters and Lamanites who "did search out all the secret plans of Gadianton". Did they access these records by searching for where they were kept? Or were they instructed in these plans by the Devil directly?
Back in Ether 8 it says "Whereby hath my father so much sorrow? Hath he not read the record which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old, that they by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory?" Is this saying the oaths were in the Jaredite records that were passed down? Why would they do that? Why would the few Jaredite people who came across the ocean choose to keep the records of the evil oaths that led to the fall of Babel?Ftan said...
Interesting thoughts from a close reading of 3pl pronouns.
In Ether 6, the they of vv8-10 has been interpreted to refer to the Jaredites rather than their vessels, with the result that the verbs break and mar have archaic meaning.
In Ether 8, the whereby seems archaic, with a contextual meaning of 'why?' The OED has it last in Malory, which would mean it's very archaic, late ME even.
Another interesting tidbit is this: No "after that S" usage for more than half the dictation, then 115 of them, starting at 3 Nephi 12. High rates, last seen in the early 1600s. So did Joseph Smith one day in May 1829 decide that he needed to up his archaic game, and start using "after that S" 2/3 of the time, or was it revealed? Similar thing, of course, with wherefore ~ therefore and whoso ~ whosoever (see Metcalfe, ed., 1993). But also with "if it so be". Just three of these before 3 Nephi 16, then 39, the most ever. The only texts with more than ten are late ME, by Chaucer and Lydgate.J Argyle said...
@Ftan -I sometimes wonder if there wasn't a 1600s person involved in the translation process somehow, someone knowledgeable of the scholarly debates about how to translate that eventually led to the KJV. The 'gifts of the spirit' such as translation may be the spirit allowing us to access other people's minds and use their capabilities, or to view written documents.
As to OP. The people burying it require some explanation. Maybe the plans are like The Ring of Power; they can't be destroyed and are a hazard. Secret combinations seem like a criminal syndicate and or a political movement/conspiracy at first glance, but there has to be something more than that to them, something that explains why they are such a force, and why normal people would find it so hard to resist joining them.G. said...
I have always wondered *why* the people buried their plans instead of just destroying them. Especially considering the BofM emphasis on burying records precisely so they can later 'speak from the dust.' I have never noticed the pronoun ambiguity until you pointed it out.
My best speculation up till now was that the format of the records was considered sacred, if perverted, too sacred to destroy. Perhaps they venerated records too much to destroy any record, or the records had been recorded on objects where the underlying object was considered sacred.
The only mention of record destruction that I can recall is Alma 14, where they burn the saints and their scriptures in one big fire. Perhaps this became a defining event for the scribal class.
Vi una columna de luz, más brillante que el sol, directamente arriba de mi cabeza; y esta luz gradualmente descendió hasta descansar sobre mí. . . . Al reposar sobre mí la luz, vi en el aire arriba de mí a dos Personajes, cuyo fulgor y gloria no admiten descripción. Uno de ellos me habló, llamándome por mi nombre, y dijo, señalando al otro: "Éste es mi Hijo Amado: ¡Escúchalo!"
I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. . . . When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other -- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (JS-H vv. 16-17)
And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi were encircled about as if by fire, even insomuch that they durst not lay their hands upon them for fear lest they should be burned. Nevertheless, Nephi and Lehi were not burned; and they were as standing in the midst of fire and were not burned. And when they saw that they were encircled about with a pillar of fire, and that it burned them not, their hearts did take courage. For they saw that the Lamanites durst not lay their hands upon them; neither durst they come near unto them, but stood as if they were struck dumb with amazement (Hel. 5:23-25).
And it came to pass that when they cast their eyes about, and saw that the cloud of darkness was dispersed from overshadowing them, behold, they saw that they were encircled about, yea every soul, by a pillar of fire. And Nephi and Lehi were in the midst of them; yea, they were encircled about; yea, they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire, yet it did harm them not, neither did it take hold upon the walls of the prison; and they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory (Hel. 5:43-44).
And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people (Ex. 13:21-22).
And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians (Ex. 14:24).
And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle (Ex. 33:9-11).
James Argyle said...
Elijah and the chariot of fire might be a similar thing. It says there were horses and chariots of fire (and Israelites? v.12) between Elisah and Elijah, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. A whirlwind is roughly hollow cylinderish, and perhaps saying it was also of fire was assumed.
"And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (2 Kings 2:11)Wm Jas Tychonievich said...
Good point, James.
This indicates not only a uniformity of style, but also to a uniform trend of thought. This reveals the innermost recesses of human thinking wherein idea and language are woven into one web, and there can be no room for a stranger. This is the style of a man which is the man himself. Our [Jewish] sages must have meant just this when they declared that no two prophets speak in identical style (p. 42).
Yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been cast out and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst visit them in thine anger with speedy destruction (Alma 33:10, explicitly quoting 3 Zenos).
And they shall be visited with thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquakes, and all manner of destructions, for the fire of the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them, . . . And when these things have passed away a speedy destruction cometh unto my people; for . . . when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man then cometh speedy destruction, and this grieveth my soul (2 Ne. 26:6, 10-11, with strong links to 1 Zenos).
Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come except ye repent, saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generation shall visit your destruction (Hel. 13:10, with strong links to 1 Zenos).
Jacob G. said...
Romans 11 draws from what you call Zenos fragment 2. Perhaps Paul read it when he was in Arabia for three years. Speculatively, 'Arabia' may have meant 'Lihyan', where some people still remembered Lehi and Nephi and their preachings, referenced in D&C 33.
There are other ways Paul could have read Zenos, but as far as I can tell, it was completely absent from the Jerusalem schools where Paul was instructed.Wm Jas Tychonievich said...
I'm currently working on a post about how 2 Zenos relates textually to Isaiah, Paul, and Luke. Stay tuned.
"Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews -- even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world" (1 Ne. 10:4)."And behold he cometh, according to the words of the angel, in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem" (1 Ne. 19:8)."For according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (2 Ne. 25:29).
And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels, of his coming; for the time cometh, we know not how soon. Would to God that it might be in my day; but let it be sooner or later, in it I will rejoice (Alma 13:25).
And now, I speak somewhat concerning that which I have written; for after I had made an abridgment from the plates of Nephi, down to the reign of this king Benjamin, of whom Amaleki spake, I searched among the records which had been delivered into my hands, and I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi (W of M v. 3).
Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there (Alma 36:22).
And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God (1 Ne. 1:8).
And now, my son, this was the ministry unto which ye were called, to declare these glad tidings unto this people, to prepare their minds; or rather that salvation might come unto them, that they may prepare the minds of their children to hear the word at the time of his coming (Alma 39:16).
William Wright (WW) said...
A counter argument to Alma having come across Nephi's written prophecies and referencing them by the time he is talking to his sons in Alma 36 - 42 are his concluding words to Helaman the following year before he disappeared without a trace - found in Alma 45.
He speaks to Helaman in private and shares a prophecy with him that the people of Nephi will be destroyed within 400 years of Jesus' manifestation to them, and that their falling away will begin within the fourth generation:
"... from that day, even the fourth generation shall not all pass away before that great iniquity shall come."
This of course mirrors Nephi's own prophecy as well as the vision he saw with the angel, which also mentions the fourth generation not all passing away before they begin to fall:
"But the Son of Righteousness shall appear unto them; and he shall heal them, and they shall have peace with him, until three generations shall have passed away, and many of the fourth generation shall have passed away in righteousness.
And when these things have passed away a speedy destruction cometh unto my people; for, notwithstanding the pains of my soul, I have seen it"
So, Alma is saying the same thing that Nephi wrote, but he doesn't reference him at all. Rather, Alma tells Helaman that this is a 'new' prophecy or revelation that he has received via the spirit of revelation, and instructs Helaman to write it down (see vs. 9-10). If he was referencing Nephi's words, I would have to think he would have said so, and even pointed Helaman to the direct reference, and there wouldn't have been any need for Helaman to write down the prophecy again as if it was a new thing.
This seems to suggest that neither Alma nor Helaman had access to what Nephi wrote, at least the material at the end of what is now 2 Nephi.
Which makes it a bit of a mystery as to who Nephi thinks he is writing to at that point. He keeps referring to people who are his 'brethren' at some future time, instructing them to remember things, and even foresees that those specific words will be preserved and handed down from generation to generation - which would seem to imply that Alma and then Helaman would have them, based on Alma's injunction to Helaman on preserving the records that have been handed down - but this doesn't seem to be the case.
Samuel the Lamanite would be another example of someone who seems to have received similar information independently of any knowledge of a previous written record. He also prophesied of the Nephite destruction within 400 years of his statement (he said this 5 years before Jesus' birth), and directly says that rather than this came from "whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart". This again strongly implies that even though Samuel is repeating prophecy of both Nephi and Alma, he has no knowledge of either of their prophecies.William Wright (WW) said...
Sorry - second to last sentence is garbled (typing/ thinking too fast...). Meant to say ".. that rather than this coming from some other written source, this came from 'whatseover things the Lord put into his heart.'"
Wm Jas Tychonievich said...
This is complicated somewhat by the strong possibility that both Alma and Samuel the Lamanite are quoting Zenos in those passages, as is Nephi in 2 Ne. 26, though not in 1 Ne. 12. (The evidence for this will be outlined in a future post.)
I don't think that prophesying or speaking "whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart" necessarily excludes references to the past prophecies of others. Ample counterexamples can be found, the most obvious probably being the Book of Revelation (which incorporates an impressive proportion of all the prophetic material in the OT) and the prophecies of Joseph Smith.
And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.And after he was slain I saw the multitudes of the earth, that they were gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb; for thus were the twelve called by the angel of the Lord. And the multitude of the earth was gathered together; and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building, like unto the building which my father saw.
And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: "Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb."And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great.
And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: "Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (1 Ne. 11:33-36).
And I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, that if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me and been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of the other tribes whom they know not of, that these sayings which ye shall write shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, that through the fulness of the Gentiles, the remnant of their seed, who shall be scattered forth upon the face of the earth because of their unbelief, may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer.And then will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth; and then will I fulfil the covenant which the Father hath made unto all the people of the house of Israel (3 Ne. 16:4-5).
And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, of whom my father had spoken; and I also beheld the prophet who should prepare the way before him. And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him; and after he was baptized, I beheld the heavens open, and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abide upon him in the form of a dove. And I beheld that he went forth ministering unto the people, in power and great glory; and the multitudes were gathered together to hear him; and I beheld that they cast him out from among them.And I also beheld twelve others following him. And it came to pass that they were carried away in the Spirit from before my face, and I saw them not.And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the heavens open again, and I saw angels descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them.And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men. And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out (1 Ne. 11:27-31).
And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day.And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament. And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth (1 Ne. 1:9-10).
And he [Jesus] saith unto him [Nathanael], Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man (John 1:51).
"The angels of God ascending and descending" certainly sounds like a reference to Jacob's dream -- "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it" (Genesis 28:12) -- with the Son of man playing the role of the ladder.
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him (Mark 1:10).
Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb? Behold they are they who shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel (1 Ne. 12:9).
If Joseph -- in the form of the book kept by his tribe, the plates of brass -- will go forth unto all nations, what of the other 11 starry beings who also go forth? Well, according to Nephi's later prophecies, each of the other tribes will also produce a holy book, and these, too, will go forth to the world.
This book is the Cherubim. Not the Book of the Cherubim, but the Cherubim themselves.
Well, this post has certainly raised more questions than it has answered. I'm just thinking aloud and welcome comments.
Jacob G. said...
First thought is Philip K. Dicks idea that its really 45 AD and the intervening time is illusory. If something like that were true, or could be true, there is no way we could reason about it.
(image) |
| Vincent Van Gogh, Olive Trees (1889) |
For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant (Isa. 5:7).I will liken thee, O house of Israel, like unto a tame olive tree, which a man took and nourished in his vineyard (Jacob 5:3).
"he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes" (Isa. 5:2)"wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" (Isa. 5:4)
"the other part of the tree hath brought forth wild fruit" (Jacob 5:25)"a part thereof brought forth wild fruit" (Jacob 5:45)
3. In both stories, the owner of the vineyard asks rhetorically, in almost the same language, what more he could possibly have done for the vineyard.
"What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?" (Isa. 5:4)
"What could I have done more for my vineyard?" (Jacob 5:41)"But what could I have done more in my vineyard?" (Jacob 5:47)"What could I have done more for my vineyard?" (Jacob 5:49)
4. Both texts juxtapose pruning and digging, a combination that is not found elsewhere in scripture. In Zenos, the lord of the vineyard and his servant repeatedly prune and dig about the olive trees in an attempt to save them. In Isaiah, the owner of the vineyard refuses to do so.
"it shall not be pruned, nor digged" (Isa. 5:6)
"I will prune it, and dig about it" (Jacob 5:4)"he pruned it, and digged about it" (Jacob 5:5)"And the Lord of the vineyard caused that it should be digged about, and pruned" (Jacob 5:11)"Let us prune it, and dig about it" (Jacob 5:27)"I have digged about it, and I have pruned it" (Jacob 5:47)"Wherefore, dig about them, and prune them" (Jacob 5:64)"I nourished my vineyard, and pruned it, and dug about it" (Jacob 5:76)
"A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard" (Luke 13:6)
"like unto a tame olive tree, which a man took and nourished in his vineyard" (Jacob 5:3)
"cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" (Luke 13:7)
"that they may not cumber the ground of my vineyard" (Jacob 5:9)"all sorts of fruit did cumber the tree" (Jacob 5:30)"I also cut down that which cumbered this spot of ground" (Jacob 5:44)"Let us go to and hew down the trees . . . that they shall not cumber the ground of my vineyard" (Jacob 5:49)"and the bad be hewn down . . . that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard" (Jacob 5:66)
"I shall dig about it, and dung it" (Luke 13:8)
"I will prune it, and dig about it" (Jacob 5:4)"he pruned it, and digged about it" (Jacob 5:5)"And the Lord of the vineyard caused that it should be digged about" (Jacob 5:11)"Let us prune it, and dig about it" (Jacob 5:27)"I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it" (Jacob 5:47)"dig about the trees" (Jacob 5:63)"Wherefore, dig about them, and prune them, and dung them" (Jacob 5:64)"I nourished my vineyard, and pruned it, and dug about it, and dunged it" (Jacob 5:76)
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches (Romans 11:16)I have preserved the roots and the branches of the first fruit (Jacob 5:60)
"And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them" (Romans 11:17)"they came to the tree whose natural branches had been broken off, and the wild branches had been grafted in" (Jacob 5:30)
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee (Romans 11:21).But, behold, the servant said unto the Lord of the vineyard: Spare it a little longer. And the Lord said: Yea, I will spare it a little longer, for it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard (Jacob 5:50-51).
And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? (Rom. 11:23-24)And the branches of the natural tree will I graft in again into the natural tree; And the branches of the natural tree will I graft into the natural branches of the tree; and thus will I bring them together again, that they shall bring forth the natural fruit, and they shall be one (Jacob 5:67-68).
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 Ne. 10:12-14).
And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles.Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was compared unto an olive tree, by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our father; and behold are we not broken off from the house of Israel, and are we not a branch of the house of Israel?And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, . . . they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved.And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God?Behold, I say unto you, Yea; they shall be remembered again among the house of Israel; they shall be grafted in, being a natural branch of the olive tree, into the true olive tree (1 Ne. 15:7, 12-16).
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. . . .Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (John 15:1-2, 4-6).
That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might receive the word with joy, and as a branch be grafted into the true vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God (Alma 16:17).
[W]e are thus highly favored, for we have these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard (Alma 13:23).
Jacob G said...
Might '...the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.' of Matthew and Luke also be a reference to 2 Zenos? In Jacob 5 its fruitless branches that are cut off not trees but its similar. IIRC the Lord is always wanting to burn them, and the servant is always suggesting some new thing to try with them.
Only Romans 11 gets the overall message of the parable while the other examples is just similar imagery.
Any ideas why the 'vineyard' seems to have mostly olive trees in it (at least 5) but doesn't talk about any vines? Some linguistic quirk perhaps?Jacob G said...
And the phrase 'the first shall last and the last shall be first.' A bit different in v.63 'the first and the last; and the last and the first...'
WJT said...
Good possible connections. Thanks.
No idea why it's set in a vineyard when vines and grapes play no role in the story. I would have thought it a clumsy error of JS's if not for Jesus' own parable about a fig tree in a vineyard.
(image) |
| Sheri Doty, Abish Teaching the Lamanites |
No El, no El, no El, no El-- Christmas carol
(1) Names used by Isaiah (Immanuel) and Malachi (Elijah), appearing in the Book of Mormon only where whole chapters from those books are quoted verbatim, by Nephi (2 Ne. 17:14, 18:8) and Jesus (3 Ne. 25:5) respectively.(2) References to the biblical figures Israel -- which, significantly, means "fights against El" -- and (probably) Samuel. Jesus' reference to "all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after" (3 Ne. 20:24) presumably refers to the biblical Samuel, since Samuel the Lamanite was a very recent prophet.(3) Lamanite-affiliated names: Lemuel, Ishmael, and Samuel. These are the only El names that belong to Book of Mormon rather than biblical figures, although the names themselves are biblical.
And Ammon began to speak unto him with boldness, and said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God?And he answered, and said unto him: I do not know what that meaneth.And then Ammon said: Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit?And he said, Yea.And Ammon said: This is God (Alma 18:24-28).
Suffer not yourself to be led away by any vain or foolish thing; suffer not the devil to lead away your heart again after those wicked harlots. Behold, O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words (v. 11).
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds (Rev. 2:20-22).
But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them (Deut. 30:17).And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods (1 Kgs. 11:3-4).
And he became a great hinderment to the prosperity of the church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them (Mosiah 27:9).
And now I will ease your mind somewhat on this subject. Behold, you marvel why these things should be known so long beforehand. Behold, I say unto you, is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul will be at the time of his coming? (v. 17)
I perceive that thy mind is worried concerning the resurrection of the dead. Behold, I say unto you, that there is no resurrection -- or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put on immortality, this corruption does not put on incorruption -- until after the coming of Christ. Behold, he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead. But behold, my son, the resurrection is not yet (Alma 40:1-3).
Corianton had a problem with the doctrine of the resurrection, but not the one you would expect. Rather than doubting that resurrection was possible, he apparently believed that it was already happening in his time, before the coming of Christ.
Alma's next point is not explicitly tied to Corianton's worries, but we can still assume that that is his reason for bringing up this otherwise seemingly unimportant question and for having "inquired diligently of the Lord to know" (v. 9) more about it:
Now there must needs be a space betwixt the time of death and the time of the resurrection. And now I would inquire what becometh of the souls of men from this time of death to the time appointed for the resurrection? (vv. 6-7)
Alma then addresses misconceptions (presumably those of Corianton under the influence of Isabel) about the meaning of "first resurrection":
Now, there are some that have understood that this state of happiness and this state of misery of the soul, before the resurrection, was a first resurrection. Yea, I admit it may be termed a resurrection, the raising of the spirit or the soul and their consignation to happiness or misery, according to the words which have been spoken.
And behold, again it hath been spoken, that there is "a first resurrection, a resurrection of all those who have been, or who are, or who shall be, down to the resurrection of Christ" from the dead. Now, we do not suppose that this first resurrection, which is spoken of in this manner, can be the resurrection of the souls and their consignation to happiness or misery. Ye cannot suppose that this is what it meaneth (vv. 15-17).
The passage I have put in quotation marks is quoting Abinadi (Mosiah 15:21), who is the one who introduced the idea of a "first resurrection," so apparently Isabel accepted the authority of Abinadi (who converted Alma Sr., Corianton's grandfather) but interpreted his words differently from Alma.
Alma then begins his discussion of the meaning of "restoration":
Yea, this bringeth about the restoration of those things of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets. The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every "limb and joint shall be restored to its" body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things "shall be restored to" their proper and "perfect frame." And now, my son, this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets (Alma 40:22-24).
The quotation marks indicate that Alma is here paraphrasing (with some parts quoted verbatim) his own former missionary partner Amulek (Alma 11:43-44). However, the first reference to this general "restoration" (as opposed to Nephi's references to the restoration of Israel) is again from Abinadi (Mosiah 15:24).
Alma goes on to refute the false understanding of "restoration" promoted by "some" (i.e. Isabel's group):
And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the restoration of which has been spoken; for behold, some have wrested the scriptures, and have gone far astray because of this thing. And I perceive that thy mind has been worried also concerning this thing. But behold, I will explain it unto thee (Alma 41:1).
He explains that "restoration" means the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked punished. Then he says:
And now behold, my son, do not risk one more offense against your God upon those points of doctrine, which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin. Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness (Alma 41:9-10).
Note that Corianton's offense against God concerns "points of doctrine" rather than sexual sin.
Alma moves on to the next "worry" of Corianton's:
And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand -- which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery (Alma 42:1).
As an aside, I note the synchronicity that just this morning I read these lines from Edward FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, quoted in The King in Yellow:
Oh Thou who burn'st in Heart for those who burn
In Hell, whose fires thyself shall feed in turn;
How long be crying, 'Mercy on them, God!'
Why, who art Thou to teach, and He to learn?
As a further synchronicity, FitzGerald notes (though this is not quoted in The King in Yellow) that this tetrastich is supposed "to have arisen from a Dream, in which Omar's mother asked about his future fate," leaving it unclear whether it was Omar or his mother that had the dream. This syncs with the subject of my recent post, "Who had the vision that converted Abish?"
This ends our synchronistic intermission. Back to the harlot Isabel.
Alma's lengthy explanation of the punishment of sinners is not germane to our topic here. He concludes with this:
O my son, I desire that ye should deny the justice of God no more. Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God (Alma 42:30).
To summarize, Corianton's main false beliefs, which we are assuming reflect the teachings of Isabel, are: (1) that resurrection is already happening; (2) that resurrection happens immediately after death, since otherwise what would happen between death and resurrection?; (3) that the "first resurrection" is not a resurrection of the body but the survival of the soul; (4) that "restoration" means being restored from sin to happiness; and (5) that it would be unjust for God to punish sinners.
I think this whole complex of ideas can be traced to a different interpretation of the teachings of Abinadi. He taught:
But behold, the bands of death shall be broken, and the Son reigneth, and hath power over the dead; therefore, he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead. And there cometh a resurrection, even a first resurrection; yea, even a resurrection of those that have been, and who are, and who shall be, even until the resurrection of Christ -- for so shall he be called (Mosiah 15:20-21).
I think a natural interpretation of this is that Christ will bring a resurrection when he comes, but that "there [also] cometh a resurrection, even a first resurrection" -- "first" because it happens before the later resurrection brought by Christ. What will be different about the resurrection brought by Christ? Perhaps it is a bodily resurrection, whereas the first resurrection (which has been happening all along) is simply a raising of the spirit after bodily death.
Abinadi certainly seems to be saying in this passage that the first resurrection includes absolutely everyone who dies before the resurrection of Christ. In fact, when Alma quotes Abinadi to Corianton, he even adds the implied word all: "a first resurrection, a resurrection of all those who have been, or who are, or who shall be, down to the resurrection of Christ."
Abinadi continues:
And now, the resurrection of all the prophets, and all those that have believed in their words, or all those that have kept the commandments of God, shall come forth in the first resurrection; therefore, they are the first resurrection. They are raised to dwell with God who has redeemed them; thus they have eternal life through Christ, who has broken the bands of death (vv. 22-23).
Here the first resurrection is equated with being "raised to dwell with God" to "have eternal life." In other words, it appears that everyone in the first resurrection -- meaning everyone before the resurrection of Christ -- goes to Heaven. There is no explicit mention of the resurrection of the body. Against the seeming universalism of the preceding verses, these seem to limit the first resurrection to the prophets, those who have believed the prophets, and those who have kept the commandments.
He goes on to include others, too, though, again suggesting universalism:
And these are those who have part in the first resurrection; and these are they that have died before Christ came, in their ignorance, not having salvation declared unto them. And thus the Lord bringeth about the restoration of these; and they have a part in the first resurrection, or have eternal life, being redeemed by the Lord (vv. 20-24).
Thus far, we can understand how someone might misunderstand Abinadi as saying that all sinners (or at least all before Christ) will be "restored" rather than punished. But how to reconcile this with what Abinadi says next?
But behold, and fear, and tremble before God, for ye ought to tremble; for the Lord redeemeth none such that rebel against him and die in their sins; yea, even all those that have perished in their sins ever since the world began, that have wilfully rebelled against God, that have known the commandments of God, and would not keep them; these are they that have no part in the first resurrection. Therefore ought ye not to tremble? For salvation cometh to none such; for the Lord hath redeemed none such; yea, neither can the Lord redeem such; for he cannot deny himself; for he cannot deny justice when it has its claim (vv. 26-27).
Alma Sr. had been a priest of Noah but was then converted by Abinadi. Alma Jr. was at first "numbered among the unbelievers" and sought "to destroy the church of God" (Mosiah 27:8, 10) which had been founded by his father on the teachings of Abinadi, but he later converted to his father's Abinadite religion. Now we have Alma Jr.'s son Corianton falling in with Isabel's movement, which apparently accepted the teachings of Abinadi but not those of either of the Almas, for Alma Sr. also implied that not everyone would "be numbered with those of the first resurrection" (Mosiah 18:9). Now it also appears that Isabel did not have exactly the same words of Abinadi as the Almas, for the verses quoted above flatly contradict her doctrine, and one can only "wrest" these things so far.
The words of Abinadi as we have them were written down by Alma Sr. from memory some time after he had heard them (Mosiah 17:4) and are thus unlikely to be strictly accurate. Is it possible that Isabel's movement was founded by someone who was also present in the court of Noah and was converted by Abinadi's words, but remembered them somewhat differently?
And that leads us to another possible significance of the designation "harlot." It is said of Noah and his priests (of whom Alma Sr. was one):
And it came to pass that he placed his heart upon his riches, and he spent his time in riotous living with his wives and his concubines; and so did also his priests spend their time with harlots (Mosiah 11:14).
The wording "and so did also his priests" implies that the priests did the same thing that Noah himself did, and that "harlots" is thus a pejorative reference to their own wives and concubines (which they also had; see Mosiah 11:4). For those who condemn polygamy, taking additional wives and concubines is equated with "committing whoredoms" (Jacob 2:23).
What happened to Alma Sr.'s wives and concubines when he converted to the doctrine of Abinadi and fled the court of Noah? Their husband's falling out of favor with the king would have put them in danger, so it seems likely that they would have fled with him. However, the converted Alma could not have remained "married" to any but one of them, and this abandonment might naturally have led to a falling-out. Thus we have a perfect explanation for a woman, called a "harlot," who accepted Abinadi, was at odds with the Almas, and had a somewhat different recollection of what exactly Abinadi had taught: Isabel was one of Alma Sr.'s former wives or concubines. Rather than being a seductive young temptress, she was a woman old enough to be Corianton's grandmother, and perhaps his actual grandmother, or else one of his grandmother's former sister-wives.
If this line of thinking is correct, it sheds light on another question that has bothered me for a long time: Why had Alma Jr. been trying to destroy his father's church in the first place? Actively trying to destroy the church, and to lead away others after him, suggests not mere waywardness but religious zeal. Alma Jr. is often compared to Saul of Tarsus -- the parallels are so obvious that critics accuse Joseph Smith of plagiarizing the New Testament story -- but Saul's motive is clear. Saul was a strict Pharisee (Acts 26:5), Christians venerated a scathing critic of the Pharisees as the Son of God, and Saul saw it as his religious duty to extirpate this heretical sect. Alma Jr., in stark contrast, was the son of the founder and high priest of the very religion he sought to destroy! Where did his heterodox views come from?
If his own mother was Isabel, promulgating a rival interpretation of Abinadi (on whose authority as a prophet Alma Sr.'s church rested), it all makes sense. It also explains his success in "stealing away the hearts of" so many in Alma Sr.'s church and "causing much dissension among" them (Mosiah 27:9). As happened after the assassination of Joseph Smith, different believers in the murdered prophet understood (or in some cases "wrested") his teachings differently and founded rival sects.
This has all been highly speculative, but I think it explains a lot and is thus likely to be a good seed.
. . . and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace (Alma 24:19).
For those who did not belong to their church did indulge themselves in sorceries, and in idolatry or idleness, and in babblings, and in envyings and strife . . . (Alma 1:32).
Now they were a lazy and an idolatrous people; therefore they were desirous to bring us into bondage, that they might glut themselves with the labors of our hands; yea, that they might feast themselves upon the flocks of our fields (Mosiah 9:12).Yea, and thus they were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity (Mosiah 11:6).Thus they were a very indolent people, many of whom did worship idols, and the curse of God had fallen upon them because of the traditions of their fathers; notwithstanding the promises of the Lord were extended unto them on the conditions of repentance (Alma 17:15).
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation (Deut. 32:31).
And he beheld that they did contain:
(1) the five books of Moses [Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy], which gave an account [in Genesis] of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents;
And also (2) a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah [parts of Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles];
And also (3) the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah [Isaiah, parts of Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah; plus other prophets like Zenos and Zenock].
And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of:
(1) the creation of the world,and also (2) of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents;And also (3) a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah;And also (4) the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah;and also (5) many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.
And he beheld that they did contain the five books:
(1) of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world,and also (2) of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents;And also (3) a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah;And also (4) the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah;and also (5) many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.
[10] And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel.[11] For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.[12] And all these things must surely come, saith the prophet Zenos. And the rocks of the earth must rend; and because of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: The God of nature suffers.[13] And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.[14] And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17] Yea, and all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord, saith the prophet; every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall be blessed.
by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness (P: 1 Ne. 19:11)fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness (S1: Joel 2:30-31)
all these things must surely come (P: 1 Ne. 19:12)
all these things must come to pass (S2: Matt. 24:6)
signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel (P: 1 Ne. 19:13).And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man . . . and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (S2: Matt. 24:30).
they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, . . . and be hated among all nations (P: 1 Ne. 19:14).Then shall they . . . kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations (S2: Matt. 24:9).
all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in . . . from the four quarters of the earth (P: 1 Ne. 19:16).they shall gather together his elect from the four winds (S2: Matt. 24:31)
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood (S1: Joel 2:31)shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light (S2: Matt. 24:29)
to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death (P: 1 Ne. 19:10)and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead with healing in his wings (S3: 2 Ne. 25:13)
The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice . . . and others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, . . . and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up (P: 1 Ne. 19:11).And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away . . . . And they shall be visited with thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquakes . . . for the fire of the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them (S3: 2 Ne. 26:5-6).
And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel (P: 1 Ne. 19:13).And after they have been scattered, and the Lord God hath scourged them by other nations . . . until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ (S3: 2 Ne. 25:16).
concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea (P: 1 Ne. 19:10)concerning another sign, a sign of his death, . . . there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead (S4: Hel. 14:20)
However, Samuel later seems to say that the darkness will be worldwide:
darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days (S4: Hel. 14:27)
with the thunderings and the lightnings . . . by tempests . . . and by mountains which shall be carried up (P: 1 Ne. 19:11)there shall be thunderings and lightnings . . . there shall be great tempests . . . and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great (S4: Hel. 14:21, 23)
the rocks of the earth must rend (P: 1 Ne. 19:12)the rocks which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass,shall be broken up; yea, they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath (S4: Hel. 14:21-22)
Woe unto you, ye blind guides (S2: Matt. 23:16)
Ye blind guides (S2: Matt. 23:24)Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides? (S4: Hel. 13:19)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets . . . And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. . . . Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city . . . thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee (S2: Matt. 23:29-30, 34, 37)
Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them . . . ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; . . . if a prophet come among you . . . ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him . . . O that I had repented, and had not killed the prophets, and stoned them (S4: Hel. 13:24-26, 33)
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate (S2: Matt. 23:38)your houses shall be left unto you desolate (S4: Hel. 15:1)
And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! (S2: Matt. 24:19)your women shall have great cause to mourn in the day that they shall give suck. . . . and woe unto them which are with child (S4: Hel. 15:2)
and many of the fourth generation shall have passed away in righteousness. And when these things have passed away a speedy destruction cometh unto my people (S3: 2 Ne. 26:9-10)Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come except ye repent, saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generation shall visit your destruction (S4: Hel. 13:10)
they perish because they cast out the prophets, and the saints, and stone them, and slay them (S3: 2 Ne. 26:3)Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them (S4: Hel. 13:24)
they yield unto the devil and choose works of darkness rather than light (S3: 2 Ne. 26:10)how long will ye choose darkness rather than light? (S4: Hel. 13:29)
the fire of the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them (S3: 2 Ne. 26:6)the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you (S4: Hel. 13:30)
And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of his birth, and also of his death and resurrection (S3: 2 Ne. 26:3)this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming (S4: Hel. 14:3)And behold, again, another sign I give unto you, yea, a sign of his death (S4: Hel. 14:14)
After my seed and the seed of my brethren [the Lamanites] shall have dwindled in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles; yea, after the Lord God shall have camped against them round about, and shall have laid siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them; and after they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not, yet the words of the righteous shall be written, and the prayers of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten (S3: 2 Ne. 26:15).Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth -- Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them (S4: Hel. 15:11-12).
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come (S1: Joel 2:31)Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord (T1: Mal. 4:5)
Note that the two texts differ on what will happen before the great and terrible day.
The parallels with 2 Ne. 25-26 are more extensive. First, they both represent someone or something rising with healing in his wings. Second, if we assume that "Son" in the Book of Mormon is a scribal error for the homophone "Sun," both texts identify this healing figure as the Sun of righteousness.
he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings (S3: 2 Ne. 25:13)
But the Son of righteousness shall appear unto them; and he shall heal them (S3: 2 Ne. 26:9)
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings (T1: Mal. 4:2)
Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble (S3: 2 Ne. 26:4)and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts (T1: Mal. 4:1)
Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble (S3: 2 Ne. 26:4).
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch (T1: Mal. 4:1).
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss (T2: 1 Cor. 3:12-13, 15)
4.3. 1 Nephi 22 (T3)
I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh (S1: Joel 2:28)the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men (T3: 1 Ne. 22:16)
As this study proves, each prophet expresses praise and blessing by converting derogatory phrases of his own to the good, employing phrases characteristic of his book alone. Consequently, even if we did not know the authorship of a prophecy of comfort such as "Then will I build you, and not break you down, and will plant you and not pluck you up" (Jeremiah XLII:10), it would still be ascribed to Jeremiah -- for only in his book are to be found these very phrases in the contrary meanings: "Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up" (Jeremiah XLV:4; and also XXIV:6). . . . This mode of converting prophecies from doom to solace, and vice versa, with the same verbiage for both, proven customary in the prophetic books -- is never the case with two different prophets. We have no example of one prophet expressing good or evil by inverting the expressions of another (The Indivisible Isaiah, pp. 38-39).
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds (S2: Matt. 24:30-31)and the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion, and might, and power, and great glory. And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth (T3: 1 Ne. 22:24-25)
Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble (S3: 2 Ne. 26:4).
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch (T1: Mal. 4:1).
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire (T2: 1 Cor. 3:12-13, 15)
For behold, saith the prophet, the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men; for the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned . . . Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire (T3: 1 Ne. 22:15, 17).
they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not (S3: 2 Ne. 26:15)they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet (T3: 1 Ne. 22:23)
and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall (T1: Mal. 4:1).the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall (T3: 1 Ne. 22:24).
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come (S1: Joel 2:31)
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord (T1: Mal. 4:5)
But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day, shall be numbered among the Lamanites (T4: Alma 45:14)
and many of the fourth generation shall have passed away in righteousness. And when these things have passed away a speedy destruction cometh unto my people; . . . for because they yield unto the devil and choose works of darkness rather than light, therefore they must go down to hell (S3: 2 Ne. 26:9-10)
Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of darkness, and lasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities; yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light and knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come (T4: Alma 45:12)
And he said unto them: Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart; and behold he hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the sword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people. . . . And four hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence. Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction (S4: Hel. 13:5, 9-10).Behold, I perceive that this very people, the Nephites, according to the spirit of revelation which is in me, in four hundred years from the time that Jesus Christ shall manifest himself unto them, shall dwindle in unbelief. Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct . . . I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come (T4: Alma 45:10-12).
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved . . . Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, "Lord, and what shall this man do?"Jesus saith unto him, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me."Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, "He shall not die"; but, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" (John 21:20-23)
And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil -- And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world (3 Ne. 27:14-16).
Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them [the Jews], which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and that Messiah is he who should be rejected of the Jews (2 Ne. 25:18).
Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven. And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father (3 Ne. 28:7-8).
Leo said...
Am I to understand that based on your update you now say the BoM DOES presume a second coming?
I've been thinking about this topic off and on ever since my sons and I explored something called "the little season theory". The gist is pretty simple: the second coming occurred soon after the tribulation of Jerusalem when it was destroyed around 70 AD. He returned and has already completed his 1000 year reign on earth. We now live in the "little season" when the devil has been released to make war on the saints. In most versions I've seen, Jesus' kingdom has been reduced from a worldwide domain to now being confined to the North Pole (from which the tales of Santa Clause/elves derive).
I actually like the theory a lot in principle. In practice, it's difficult to fully embrace since you would have to assume most of recorded history has been heavily edited/censored. It makes Revelation easier to reconcile, however.
But I have also toyed with the idea you started with here (i.e. there is no Second Coming) and I have wondered if that idea has legs.Wm Jas Tychonievich said...
I still lean toward there being no Second Coming. The update is just to note that the BoM, like the IVG, does include an apparent reference to it. I'm familiar with the "little season" idea but don't think it really works very well.
I guess it's important to define what exactly we mean by "Second Coming," though. Obviously the resurrected Jesus has come back to Earth from time to time (3 Nephi and the First Vision being two unavoidable examples) and will presumably continue to do so. What I mean by "no Second Coming" is that, as the BoM says, no Messiah is coming. Insofar as the various Messiah prophecies were correct, they referred to what Jesus did the first time he came. He's not coming back to complete his Messianic work, because that's already done.JacobG said...
3 Nephi is the second coming teaching of the Book of Mormon. It doesn't say it explicitly, but it establishes that among the things God might do is unleash massive destruction, and then come down and establish a just society among the survivors. Granted, he doesn't establish this perfect society the way it's generally envisioned, but the whole thing is a second coming in miniature.
My assumption is there were several smaller comings like this, including in AD 70, and that's why we have little to no trace of Jewish gospels or Christians. This depends on my reading of JST Matthew 24 and some passages of the synoptics, which draw parallels between Jerusalem's coming destruction and Christ's coming. I don't see anything about it in John either, though.Wm Jas Tychonievich said...
That's a very promising approach, Jacob. Samuel the Lamanite makes some of the same prophecies as Matt. 24, but to a different people at a different time, with both Samuel and Jesus apparently quoting or alluding to Zenos. So perhaps "second coming" prophecies relate not to a single unique event still in the future but to a sort of thing that happens from time to time.
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. . . . Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (Mal. 4:1, 5-6).For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. . . . Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming (JS-H vv. 36-39, also D&C 2).
shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up (Mal. 4:1, King James Version).shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them (JS-H v. 37, Moroni's Malachi quotation).
the day that cometh shall burn them up, . . . for they shall be as stubble (2 Ne. 26:4)stubble . . . the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire . . . shall be burned (1 Cor. 3:12-13, 15)shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned (1 Ne. 22:15).
And now it came to pass that when Jesus had told these things [i.e. dictated Malachi 3-4] he expounded them unto the multitude . . . .And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people; but behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken. And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them (3 Ne. 26:1, 6-9).
my elder brothers, who were Laman, Lemuel, and Sam (1 Ne. 2:5)
I did not rebel against him like unto my [elder] brothers (1 Ne. 2:16)
thou and thy [elder] brothers should go unto the house of Laban (1 Ne. 3:4)
thy [elder] brothers murmur (1 Ne. 3:5)
Laman and Lemuel did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers (1 Ne. 3:28)
counsel with your elder brothers . . . be nourished by your brothers" (Alma 39:10)
the firstborn . . . was Pagag. . . . they chose all the [younger] brothers of Pagag (Ether 6:25-26)
And I also spake unto him that I should carry the engravings, which were upon the plates of brass, to my [biological] elder brethren, who were without the walls. . . . And he, supposing that I spake of the brethren of the church, . . . did follow me (1 Ne. 4:24, 26).
And now there was a great mourning and lamentation among the people of Limhi, the widow mourning for her husband, the son and the daughter mourning for their father, and the brothers for their brethren (Mosiah 21:9).
And the voice of the Lord came to Ammon, saying: Thou shalt not go up to the land of Nephi, for behold, the king will seek thy life; but thou shalt go to the land of Middoni; for behold, thy brother Aaron, and also Muloki and Ammah are in prison. Now it came to pass that when Ammon had heard this, he said unto Lamoni: Behold, my brother and brethren are in prison at Middoni, and I go that I may deliver them (Alma 20:2-3).
[Ammon, after having parted from his biological brothers,] departed out of their synagogue, and came over to a village which was called Ani-Anti, and there he found Muloki preaching the word unto them; and also Ammah and his brethren. . . . Aaron and a certain number of his brethren were taken and cast into prison, and the remainder of them fled out of the land of Middoni unto the regions round about. And those who were cast into prison suffered many things, and they were delivered by the hand of Lamoni and Ammon, and they were fed and clothed (Alma 21:11, 13-14).
Behold, now it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites sent a proclamation among all his people, that they should not lay their hands on Ammon, or Aaron, or Omner, or Himni, nor either of their brethren who should go forth preaching the word of God, in whatsoever place they should be, in any part of their land (Alma 23:1).
1. One or another of any number. Here are ten oranges; take either orange of the whole number, or take either of them. In the last phrase, either stands as a pronoun or substitute.2. One of two. This sense is included in the foregoing.
And now, behold, the Lamanites could not retreat either way, neither on the north, nor on the south, nor on the east, nor on the west, for they were surrounded on every hand by the Nephites (Hel. 1:31).
And now behold, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni, and their brethren did rejoice exceedingly . . . . And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice (Alma 25:17, 26:1)
And I am filled with charity, which is everlasting love; wherefore, all children are alike unto me; wherefore, I love little children with a perfect love; and they are all alike and partakers of salvation-- Mormon, Moroni 8:17"Except to the eye of love, one Aberdeen terrier looks very much like another Aberdeen terrier, sir. Mr. Blumenfeld, I am happy to say, did not detect the innocent subterfuge.""Jeeves," I said -- and I am not ashamed to confess that there was a spot of chokiness in the voice -- "there is none like you, none."-- P. G. Wodehouse, "Episode of the Dog McIntosh"
[H]e denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile (2 Ne. 26:33).
***
