The Plates, Prophecy, and Perils of the Jews (1 Nephi 19)

Nephi takes a moment to record his intent with the plates as commanded by the Lord. See the previous post, "More detail about the plates", on this subject.

6 Nevertheless, I do not write anything upon plates save it be that I think it be sacred. And now, if I do err, even did they err of old; not that I would excuse myself because of other men, but because of the weakness which is in me, according to the flesh, I would excuse myself.

Nephi wants to make it clear that there is a difference between the messenger and the message. The message is perfect, the messenger is not. Notice that Nephi isn't making excuses, but is simply pointing out that all men have flaws. In verse 7, he differentiates between what some flawed men do with scripture vs. others. Those who are righteous recognize that the scriptures are of great worth while others set them aside, thinking they know more than God, or than those whom they assume are pretending to speak for Him.

God reveals to Nephi the date and time of the birth of Jesus Christ. This is remarkable in that the Bible, at least the parts that were extant, recovered, and compiled in the 4th century A.D., does not record any such detail. To the people in Jerusalem, the events that had been prophesied would be a clear enough sign to those witnessing them that Christ would soon be born or had already been born. The people of the Americas, being a world away from those in Jerusalem, needed a reference point by which to track the advent of the Savior. Therefore, it is likely the Lord saw fit to give them this information for this, among other reasons. They also saw signs in the heavens, as noted in verses 10-14.

The commotions accompanying the death of the Savior are also recorded so that Nephi's people would know what would be in store for them when that day arrived. That Nephi records specifically what would happen to the Jews at that time, according to prophecies recorded by prophets not published in our present-day Bible. They include Zenock, Neum, and Zenos.

The Dead Sea Scrolls have something to say about pre-Messianic prophets who taught about the coming of the Lord:

Some scholars believe that the greatest single revelation of the scrolls is the existence of a great prophetic tradition that has been completely forgotten. Its greatest representative is the mysterious "Teacher of Righteousness" or "Righteous Teacher," a major prophet whose very existence was unknown until 1950. How could a figure of such immense importance both to christians and Jews have been completely forgotten? It was because his name was blotted out by Rabbinical or "official" Jews, who persecuted him severely and drove him into the desert because he preached the coming of the Messiah.

He was of priestly descent, being of the line of Zadok, another mysterious prophet, whom some believed lived at the time of Moses and who is the type of the true priest who looked forward to the Messiah. Allegro believes that the Teacher of Righteousness himself may have been called Zadok. The important thing is the discovery not of controversial individuals but of an undeniable tradition of a line of persecuted Messianic prophets. This is in perfect agreement with the Zenock and Zenos tradition in the Book of Mormon. Since one of the commonest phenomena in the apocryphal literature, including the scrolls, is the frequent duplication and corruption of proper names, it might not be too much to suggest that Zadok might even be a corruption of Zenock, since of course in Hebrew the vowels are not written, and the Hebrew "d" resembles the "n" closely enough (in the archaic script) to have been confused by an early copyist—a very common type of mistake. Be that as it may, the peculiar type of prophet represented by Zenock and Zenos is now fully established by the scrolls.

"The Dead Sea Scrolls: Some Questions and Answers", from Old Testament and Related Studies by Hugh W. Nibley, pp. 245–51

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Zenos is one of four Israelite prophets of Old Testament times cited in the book of Mormon whose writings appeared on the plates of brass but who are not mentioned in the Old Testament (see also Zenock; Neum; and Ezias). Zenos is quoted or mentioned by Nephi₁ (1 Ne. 19:10–17), Jacob (Jacob 5:1–77; 6:1), Alma₂ (Alma 33:3–11, 13, 15), Amulek (Alma 34:7), Nephi₂ (Hel. 8:19–20), and Mormon (3 Ne. 10:14–17).

Although specific dates and details of Zenos' life and ministry are not known, the Book of Mormon provides considerable information about him from his teachings and related facts. Evidently he lived sometime between 1600 and 600 B.C. because he was apparently a descendant of Joseph of Egypt and his writings were on the plates of brass taken from Jerusalem to the Americas by Nephi₁ about 600 B.C. He may also have been a progenitor of the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi (cf. 3 Ne. 10:16). Zenos spent time "in the wilderness" (Alma 33:4), but also preached "in the midst" of the "congregations" of God (Alma 33:9). Some of his enemies became reconciled to him through the power of God, but others were visited "with speedy destruction" (Alma 33:4, 10). Finally, he was slain because of his bold testimony of the coming of the "Son of God" (Hel. 8:13–19).

A major theme in the teachings of Zenos was the destiny of the house of Israel. His allegory or parable comparing the house of Israel to a tame olive tree and the Gentiles to a wild olive tree constitutes the longest single chapter in the Book of Mormon, Jacob chapter 5 (see Book of Mormon: Book of Jacob). The allegory refers to major events in the scattering and gathering of the house of Israel (see Allegory of Zenos).

The second-longest quotation from Zenos in the Book of Mormon is his hymn of thanksgiving and praise recorded in Alma 33:3–11, which emphasizes prayer, worship, and the mercies of God. A careful comparison of the style and contents of this hymn with Hymn H (or 8) and Hymn J (or 10) of the Thanksgiving Hymns of the Dead Sea Scrolls, noting certain striking similarities, suggests that the three may have been written by the same person. Further, the life situations of the author (or authors) are very similar (CWHN 7:276–83). Some LDS scholars anticipate that other evidences of Zenos' writings may appear as additional ancient manuscripts come to light.

"Zenos" from To All the World: The Book of Mormon Articles from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, by Daniel H. Ludlow, pp. 321–23

In this chapter, Nephi is essentially writing a letter to his posterity in the Americas, pleading with them that when they see these signs at the end of the 600 years, that they take heed and repent and believe in Christ. In verse 23, he states, "And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning."

That is the purpose of the scriptures, after all. We are to liken them to our own lives so that we can learn the lessons that others have learned and also anticipate what to learn from the trials and tribulations we can see on the horizon.

Reformed Egyptian

Figure 1: A sample of the characters on the plates of the Book of Mormon. These characters were copied by Martin Harris and taken back to New York to be authenticated by scholars. One of the scholars Harris met was Charles Anton, who signed an affidavit attesting that they were authentic characters. When Anton discovered the nature of the translation, however, he destroyed the affidavit.

The Book of Mormon, according to Moroni, was written in a script called "reformed Egyptian" (Mormon 9:32). This script, accordingly, is some sort of Hebrew-Egyptian hybrid script, Moroni and other Nephite prophets indicate (1 Nephi 1:2).

Critics have often leveled the following criticisms against the usage of "reformed Egyptian" in the Book of Mormon:

1. They claim that no self respecting Jews would ever use the language of their dire enemies, the Egyptians.

2. They claim that there is no evidence for any kind of "reformed Egyptian" script in reality.

As shall be demonstrated, both of these accusations are false. Not only is there ample evidence that ancient Hebrews were utilizing, among other things, the language of the Egyptians but also that there are examples of hybrid scripts that comprise both Hebrew and Egyptian.

First, it must be noted that "reformed" is being used not as a proper noun, but as an adjective. It is describing the script. In other words, Moroni is simply indicating that the Egyptian script has been "altered", "modified" or "changed" by the Nephites. Secondly, this particular script was used only by the Nephites (Mormon 9:34). We therefore should not be surprised if we do not find an exact script similar to that of the Book of Mormon since "reformed Egyptian" was uniquely Nephite. With that in mind, let us proceed.

We shall first explore the accusation that Hebrews would never use the script of their enemies the Egyptians. M. T. Lamb, a critic of the Book of Mormon during the latter half of the 19th century, claimed that "There are a multitude of reasons that make such a statement altogether improbable. In the first place, Lehi had lived all his lifetime, ... in the city of Jerusalem, surrounded constantly by those who spoke only the Hebrew language.... In the second place, the Jews hated the Egyptians with a bitter hatred, and it is therefore inconceivable that a true-born Jew a real lover of his own people, loyal and patriotic as he professes to have been, would have been willing thus to insult his people, or that the Jews around him would have endured the insult. In the third place, the ancient Jew had an unusual veneration for his mother tongue, the sacred Hebrew.... Now that such a man with such a venerated language could have accepted instead the Egyptian tongue, which was associated only with ignominy and dishonor, [is] the height of absurdity...." (M. T. Lamb The Golden Bible pg. 89-91)

Other critics, such as Jerald and Sandra Tanner, John Ankerberg, Marvin Cowan, Grant Palmer and many more have echoed similar sentiments.

However, contrary to these anti-Mormons, there is now massive historical evidence that the ancient Jews of Lehi's day were writing in Egyptian.

Take, for example, the Amherst Papyrus. This document, written around the 4th century BC, contains Psalms 20: 2-6 written in Aramaic utilizing demotic Egyptian characters.

John Tvedtnes, a scholar in ancient Near Eastern languages and history, has this to say:

"More significant, however, was an ostracon uncovered at Arad in 1967. Dating "toward the end of the seventh century B.C.," it reflects usage from shortly before 600 B.C., the time of Lehi. The text on the ostracon is written in a combination of Egyptian hieratic and Hebrew characters, but can be read entirely as Egyptian. Of the seventeen words in the text, ten are written in [Egyptian] hieratic and seven in Hebrew. However, all the words written in Hebrew can be read as Egyptian words, while one of them, which occurs twice, has the same meaning in both Egyptian and Hebrew.19 Of the ten words written in hieratic script, four are numerals (one occurring in each line).20 One symbol, denoting a measure of capacity, occurs four times (once in each of the four lines), and the remaining Egyptian word occurs twice. Thus, while seventeen words appear on the ostracon, if one discounts the recurrence of words, only six words are written in hieratic (of which four are numerals), and six in Hebrew." ("Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5/2 (1996): 156–163.)

Daniel C. Peterson, in responding to John Ankerberg, has this to say about "Dr." Ankerberg's accusation:

"The statement "When modern Jews copy their scripture, they use Hebrew. They do not use Egyptian or Arabic, the language of their historic enemies" is quite an astonishing display of ignorance. Since the Egyptian language has been dead for centuries, it is hardly remarkable that modern Jews do not read the Bible in Egyptian. On the other hand, "the first and most important rendering [of the Old Testament] from Hebrew [into Arabic] was made by Sa'adya the Ga'on, a learned Jew who was head of the rabbinic school at Sura in Babylon (died 942)" (George A. Buttrick, ed., The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible [hereafter IDB], 4 vols. and supplement [Nashville: Abingdon, 1962–1976], 4:758b). Thus, Jews have indeed translated the Bible into "Arabic, the language of their historic enemies." They also have translated it into the language of their "historic enemies" the Greeks (IDB 4:750b on the Septuagint) and Aramaeans (IDB 1:185-93; 4:749-50, on the Aramaic Targums)." (Daniel C. Peterson, "Chattanooga Cheapshot, or The Gall of Bitterness (Review of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Mormonism by John Ankerberg and John Weldon)," FARMS Review of Books 5/1 (1993): 1–86.)

As John S. Thompson has shown, "hieratic was the more commonly used Egyptian script in Israel" during Lehi's time. Thompson also goes on to elaborate on more Israelite texts that have been written in Egyptian scripts, such as some of the Lachish letters. (Glimpses of Lehi's Jerusalem pg. 267)

So, the claim that the ancient Hebrews would never use the Egyptian language or would never write their texts in Egyptian is totally false. There are numerous examples of such, only some of which have been provided herein.

Now, what about the second claim? What about the claim that there are no examples of Hebrew-Egyptian hybrid scripts? This too is false.

William Hamblin, a professor of Middle Eastern history at BYU, has shown numerous examples of texts written in scripts that utilize some form of "Semitic language with modified Egyptian hieroglyphic characters". These examples include:

1. Egyptian hieratic and demotic.
2. Byblos Syllabic texts.
3. Cretan hieroglyphics.
4. Meroitic
5. Psalm 20 in demotic Egyptian.
6. Proto-Sinaitic and the alphabet.

See here: http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=636

I have only touched on the surface of this issue. Latter-day Saint scholars have done a lot of work on this subject that the reader is encouraged to check out.

However, regardless of how brief this treatise may have been, it is clear that the ancient Hebrews not only wrote their texts in Egyptian but also utilized Hebrew-Egyptian hybrid scripts. The Book of Mormon is right on the mark in this regards. "Reformed Egyptian" is not a miss but a surprising bulls-eye for the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.

For further reading:

http://en.fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms/Reformed_Egyptian

My Favorite Books on the Book of Mormon

I thought that I would quickly post a bibliography of some of my favorite books written on the Book of Mormon. These books range from books that described the history, context, doctrine and evidences of the Book of Mormon. As you study the Book of Mormon, may I suggest that, if possible, you pick up some of these titles as secondary reading.

1. Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 6 volumes, by Brant Gardner

2. Echos and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, edited by Daniel C. Peterson, Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch

3. Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites by Hugh Nibley

4. Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon edited by John W. Welch and Melvin J. Thorne

5. Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins edited by Noel B. Reynolds

6. Testaments: Links Between the Book of Mormon and the Hebrew Bible by John Tvedtnes and David Bokovoy

7. Christ and the New Covenant by Elder Jeffry R. Holland

8. Since Cumorah by Hugh Nibley

9. Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins edited by Noel B. Reynolds

10. King Benjamin's Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom" edited by John W. Welch and Stephen D. Ricks

11. New Witnesses for God, 3 volumes, by Elder B. H. Roberts

12. The Book of Mormon and Other Hidden Books: Out of Darkness, Unto Light by John Tvedtnes

13. An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon by John Sorenson

14. Isaiah in the Book of Mormon edited by John W. Welch and Donald W. Parry

15. Glimpses of Lehi's Jerusalem edited by John W. Welch and David and Jo Ann Seely

16. Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses by Richard L. Anderson

17. Plates of Gold: The Book of Mormon Comes Forth by Matthew B. Brown

18. New Witness for Christ in America, 2 volumes, by Francis W. Kirkham

19. By the Hand of Mormon by Terryl Givens

20. Teachings of the Book of Mormon, 4 volumes, by Hugh Nibley

Well, there is a short list of my favorite books. There are many more that I could add, but this will suffice for now. Any of these titles are very good and invaluable for your personal Book of Mormon study.

Is Joe an Anti-Christian?

A Note to the Reader: Normally this blog deals with Book of Mormon issues, but I was compelled to post this on the blog. So, enjoy.

Recently, on the Mormon Apologetics & Discussion Board, some non-LDS Christians complained that Mormons do not have the right to call the Street Preachers at the Manti Pageant or at Temple Square "Anti-Mormons". Furthermore, they said, the word "Anti-Mormon" is nothing but a slanderous epithet.

Because of this, I posted the following parable, what I like to call the parable of Joe the Atheist, on MADB in order to illustrate how those who will not allow the Latter-day Saints to call said Street Preachers Anti-Mormon are using a double standard. Well, here it is:

Meet Joe. Joe was once a Christian, saved, mind you, when he was 14. But now Joe is an atheist. Joe, according to his autobiography My Life Out of the Christian Cult: How I Lost Christianity and Embraced Darwinism, saw past the "lies, delusions and falsehoods of Christianity" when he was in college and took courses in Biology, Geology and History. He was shocked, he writes in his book, when he learned that the Earth is 6 Billion years old and that man evolved from lower species over millions of years. Furthermore, he was shocked to discover in his History class about the Crusades, that Martin Luther was a virulent anti-Semite, that John Calvin condoned the burning of a rival theologian and how the Puritans engaged in full blown genocide against the Native Americans in order to secure their "City Upon a Hill". Why hadden't his Pastor told him about this? As Joe researched more, he was flabbergasted to learn of the textual errors in both the Old and New Testament and that the original manuscripts do not exist. Why had this never been discussed in Sunday School?

Well, that was it for Joe. He became convinced that Christianity was false and renounced his faith.

Now, meet Joe 20 years later. Joe is the proprietor and web-master of Jesuslied.com and a local bookstore Atheist Press wherein Joe happily writes, prints, and distributes pamphlets entitled Is the Bible Inerrant?, Behind the Mask of Christianity, 20 Reasons Why Jesus Lied, Problems with Christian History and The False Teachings of Christianity. He even makes high production value DVDs such as Jesus Vs. Science and has had friends distribute this, and his other materials, to Christian patrons who are arriving for Church or large gatherings. While at these gatherings of Christians, Joe wipes his rear with the New Testament. He throws crosses on the ground and proudly waves banners proclaiming that Peter was a violent thug for cutting off the ear of the soldier trying to arrest Jesus and that Paul was a lunatic and simply hallucinating. He calls out Christians and records them (for his blog and Youtube, no less) as he asks questions designed to prey on their ignorance.

"Did you know that Mary would have been a teenager when she got pregnant with Jesus? That makes God a pedophile! He impregnated a teenage girl!" Joe Screams.

"Did you know that Paul's first recorded version of his "vision" on the road to Damascus was over two decades after it supposedly happened?" He asks another young Christian couple minding their own business.

"Your religion is stupid. It is virulent. It tares apart families! There is no God! Jesus was not the Messiah! He was a liar!" Joe continues.

Well, that is not all Joe has up his sleeve. He has brought along some friends, and together they dress up as the wives and concubines of Abraham, David and Solomon (to show just how amoral they were) and parade around as these Christians try to enjoy their services.*

Later, Joe writes on his blog that Christians who complain that his activities are less than honorable and downright uncivil are simply "anti-Atheist" and refuses to allow them to call him and "Anti-Christian" because it is just the "Christian N-word"**

Now, here is my question to the likes of Aaron and his ilk (or anyone else for that matter):

1. Is Joe an Anti-Christian?

A simple "Yes" or "No" with an explanation would suffice.

2. If you voted "Yes" then what is the difference between Joe's actions and those of Street Preachers like Aaron?

3. If you answered "No" then see the follow up question #2.

* Note: At the 2008 Manti Pageant, anti-Mormon protesters dressed up as Joseph Smith and his 34 wives in an attempt to shock Mormons at the pageant and show just how immoral Joseph Smith must have been.
**Note: Bill McKeever has described the word "anti-Mormon" as the "Mormon N-Word" on his website.

Mormon Mythbuster: Mormons do not believe in nor do they read the Bible!

Not true.

On LDS.org, the Church's principal means of disseminating doctrine on the Web, these are the statistics for Google searches related to the Bible:

"bible" = about 12,100 mentions
"New Testament" = about 9,710 mentions
"Old Testament" = about 12,000 mentions

Together, the total is over 33,800. And that is just for those three sets of keywords. There are many more keywords that appear in the Bible itself that we could analyze, but this is a sufficiently convincing example.

Okay, so we mention the Bible on our web site. But what do we say about it? Do we actually believe it to be true, or are we just mentioning it as a criticism of it?

See for yourself. These search results from lds.org (which appear to be more limited as compared to the Google numbers) list all articles in all publications by the Church that refer to the keywords "bible", "new testament", and "old testament".

Look at the page-by-page results and read some of the articles to discover what we actually say. What you see here is what we use in all of our Gospel instruction lessons for Sunday School, Young Women's and Young Men's organizations (teens from 12-18), Primary (children under 12), Relief Society (women 18 and over), and Priesthood quorums (males 12 and over). They also include all of our General Conference sessions and firesides, support materials, magazine articles, and other special talks and occasions recorded for posterity.

We read and refer to the Bible. A lot.

Not once will you ever read of any of our leaders denouncing the Bible. The LDS Article of Faith #8 states: "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."

That is, when we weigh how the Bible came to be with how the Book of Mormon came to be, there are obvious differences that must be taken into account as we read, study, ponder, and pray. BUT, we believe both to be the word of God.

Our Bible is the King James Version (KJV). We are told by prophets, who are told by God via revelation, to use that version of the many that exist because it is the most correct of all translations. Joseph Smith was commanded to correct the scribal transmission errors and outright changes that were made, which version we call the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), but because Joseph was unable to complete that version and present it before the Church members for their acceptance before he was martyred, we use the King James Version.

As always, when in doubt, check it out. Ask someone who is a faithful member what they believe. There are always lots of people to tell you otherwise, but you'll really only know both sides when you also ask someone who is an adherent.

The Role of the Compass (1 Nephi 18, Part II)

"And it came to pass that after they had bound me insomuch that I could not move, the compass, which had been prepared of the Lord, did cease to work."

These are the words of Nephi as we return to the events that occurred after he calls Laman and Lemuel and those that heeded them to repentance. The ship they had built was well on its way to the promised land, they had been preserved numerous times in miraculous ways by God's power, yet they had returned to their riotous and rebellious ways of living.

The compass, yet another miracle showing God's power, ceased to point the direction in which they should steer the ship to arrive safely in the promised land. They were now adrift in a storm (see vs. 13) and for four days were not only driven backwards, but were dangerously close to being capsized.

After much lamentation and suffering on the part of the righteous members of the group, Laman and Lemuel finally saw that their actions had contributed to their dire situation and agreed to untie Nephi.

Immediately, the compass began to function again. Nephi prayed for deliverance and the storm abated. The sea calmed and Nephi again directed the ship toward the promised land using the direction given by the compass.

We should pause to note here how the compass was a physical reminder to them, much like manna was to the children of Israel, of the absolute necessity of relying on the guidance of the Spirit at all times and in all places. In order for us to hear the promptings of the Spirit in our hearts, we have to be living in such a way that we can recognize those promptings. The Lord provided the compass as a way to create a more recognizable dependency to show how lost they would be without Him.

Note that Nephi and Lehi seem to have gotten along just fine without the compass directing their every move. Numerous times we read of both Lehi and Nephi listening to the Spirit and responding to it and the compass is not mentioned as part of those experiences. They both had visions and angelic visits that seem to be separate from the experience of using the compass for guidance.

The compass, then, seems to have been prepared for the members of the family who were less inclined to listen to the Spirit. More importantly, it shows that the Lord did not forsake them for this, but made every effort to include them in the migration to the promised land so they could participate in the blessings found there for themselves and their posterity. He could have left them behind in Jerusalem to perish, yet did everything possible to give them the benefit of their own doubts so they could share in the same blessings as those who were inclined to listen to the Spirit.

God's plan was greater than Laman and Lemuel's disobedience.

Likewise, God's plan for us is greater than our individual disobedience. The Book of Mormon and other holy scriptures are modern-day compasses to guide us in these latter days. If we heed them, we will be blessed and guided. If we reject them, we will reap certain consequences, but God will still endeavor to bring us back to Him through adversity.

As soon as they arrive in the promised land, they begin to plant seeds that they had brought with them. Whether they were commanded to bring seeds or whether it seemed like a good idea when confronted with the unknowns of a new land is not noted in the Book of Mormon. But we do see that the Jaredites (see the Book of Ether), who came to the Americas at the time of the Tower of Babel many centuries before Lehi's group, also brought seeds with them. Therefore, it stands to reason that they were commanded of the Lord to do so for some purpose not stated.

Nephi's record shows that many animals were found in the promised land. The latest research into what animals existed in the Americas near 600 B.C. will be the subject of another post.

Authentic Egyptian Names in the Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon claims a close tie to all things Egyptian (1 Nephi 1:1-2, Mosiah 1:2-4). Indeed, the very script that Mormon used in abridging the plates was, according to him, an Egyptian script called amongst the Nephite scribes "reformed Egyptian" (Mormon 9:32). Because of this, and considering that 1) Lehi was a descendant of Joseph of Egypt (1 Nephi 5:14) and 2) Egypt had a strong cultural and religious connection with Israel during Lehi's time, we should not be surprised to find strong Egyptian influences amongst the peoples of the Book of Mormon.

One such influence can be seen in the names of several people in the Book of Mormon. These names, as have been noted by Latter-day Saint scholars, are authentic ancient Egyptian names. The following comes from Dr. Hugh Nibley's classic work Lehi in the Desert (pages 25-30) and can be accessed online on the website of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute.

Aha (BM), son of Nephite commander in chief.
Aha (OW), a name of the first Pharaoh; it means "warrior" and is a common word.

Aminadab (BM), Nephite missionary in time of the judges.
Amanathabi (OW), chief of a Canaanite city under Egyptian domination. The name is "reformed" Egyptian.

Ammon (BM), the commonest name in the Book of Mormon.
Ammon (Amon, Amun) (OW), the commonest name in the Egyptian Empire: the great universal God of the Empire.

Ammoni-hah (BM), name of a country and city.
Ammuni-ra (OW), prince of Beyrut under Egyptian rule.

Cezoram (BM), Nephite chief judge.
Chiziri (OW), Egyptian governor of a Syrian city.

Giddonah (BM), a) high priest who judge Korihor, b) father of Amulek.
Dji-dw-na (OW), the Egyptian name for Sidon.

Gidgiddoni and Gidgiddonah (BM), Nephite generals.
Djed-djhwt-iw-f and Djed-djhwti-iw-s plus ankh (OW), Egyptian proper names meaning "Thoth hath said: he shall live," and "Thoth hath said: she shall live," respectively. On this pattern the two Nephite names mean "Thoth hath said I shall live," and "Thoth hath said: we shall live," respectively.

Gimgim-no (BM), city of Gimgim, compare Biblical No-Amon, "City of Amon."
Kenkeme (OW), Egyptian city, cf. Kipkip, seat of the Egyptian dynasty in Nubia.

Hem (BM), brother of the earlier Ammon.
Hem (OW), means "servant," specifically of Ammon, as in the title Hem tp n 'Imn, "chief servant of Ammon" held by the high priest of Thebes.

Helaman (BM), great Nephite prophet.
Her-amon (OW), "in the presence of Amon," as in the Egyptian proper name Heri-i-her-imn. Semitic "l" is always written "r" in Egyptian, which has no "l." Conversely, the Egyptian "r" is often written "l" in Semitic languages.

Himni (BM), a son of King Mosiah.
Hmn (OW), a name of the Egyptian hawk-god, symbol of the emperor.

Korihor (BM), a political agitator who was seized by the people of Ammon.
Kherihor (also written Khurhor, etc.) (OW), great high priest of Ammon who seized the throne of Egypt at Thebes, cir. 1085 B.C.

Manti (BM), the name of a Nephite soldier, a land, a city, and a hill.
Manti (OW), Semitic form of an Egyptian proper name, e.g., Manti-mankhi, a prince in Upper Egypt cir. 650 B.C. It is a late form of Month, god of Hermonthis.

Morianton (BM), the name of a Nephite city and its founder, cf. the Nephite province Moriantum.
Meriaton and Meriamon (OW), names of Egyptian princes, "Beloved of Aton" and "Beloved of Amon" respectively.

Nephi (BM), founder of the Nephite nation.
Nehi, Nehri (OW), famous Egyptian noblemen. Nfy was the name of an Egyptian captain. Since BM insists on "ph," Nephi is closer to Nihpi, original name of the god Pa-nepi, which may even have been Nephi. (Note: I have covered the name "Nephi" in an earlier post. See "Some Notes on the Name Nephi".)

Paanchi (BM), son of Pahoran, Sr., and pretender to the chief-judgeship.
Paanchi (OW), son of Kherihor, a) chief high priest of Amon, b) ruler of the south who conquered all of Egypt and was high priest of Amon at Thebes.

Pahoran (BM), a) great chief judge, b) son of the same.
Pa-her-an (OW), ambassador of Egypt in Palestine, where his name has the "reformed" reading Pahura; in Egyptian as Pa-her-y it means "the Syrian" or Asiatic.

Pacumeni (BM), son of Pahoran.
Pakamen (OW), Egyptian proper name meaning "blind man"; also Pamenches (Gk. Pachomios), commander of the south and high priest of Horus.

Pachus (BM), revolutionary leader and usurper of the throne.
Pa-ks and Pach-qs (OW), Egyptian proper name. Compare Pa-ches-i, "he is praised."

Sam (BM), brother of Nephi.
Sam Tawi (OW), Egyptian "uniter of the lands," title taken by the brother of Nehri upon mounting the throne.

Zemna-ri-hah (BM), robber chief.
Zmn-ha-re (OW), Egyptian proper name: the same elements as the above in different order—a common Egyptian practice.

Zeniff (BM), ruler of Nephite colony.
Znb, Snb (OW), very common elements in Egyptian proper names, cf. Senep-ta.

Zenoch (BM), according to various Nephite writers, an ancient Hebrew prophet.
Zenekh (OW), Egyptian proper name; once a serpent-god.

The reader must remember that in Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Egyptian, vowels do no exist, and thus the more important factor are the consonant roots, which are spot on in the names of these figures in the Book of Mormon and other Egyptian names. Furthermore, the presence of a variation in vowels in these names is, as Nibley notes, "...strong confirmation of their common origin, since names are bound to undergo some change with time and distance, whereas if the resemblance were perfect, we should be forced to attribute it, however fantastic it might seem, to mere coincidence. There must be differences; and what is more, those differences should not be haphazard but display definite tendencies. This brings us to a most impressive aspect of Book of Mormon names."

In summation, the presence of Egyptian names in the Book of Mormon is not only something that should create appreciation on behalf of the reader for the context from whence the Book of Mormon came (i.e. the ancient Near East) but is also strong evidence of its antiquity. Egyptian was not understood in Joseph Smith's antebellum America. Indeed, only a select few scholars in Europe could barely read Egyptian. For Joseph Smith to get any authentic Egyptian names in the Book of Mormon if he were simply writing it is beyond credulity. The presence of Egyptian names in the Book of Mormon can force only one conclusion: that whoever wrote the Book of Mormon was familiar with an ancient Near Eastern background.

For further reading, see the following:

http://www.farms.byu.edu/publications/booksmain.php?bookid=59

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/pdf.php?filename=NDM1Mjg3MTgxLTktMS5wZGY=&type=amJtcw==

http://en.fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms/Names

Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon claims to be a record written by a series of ancient Hebrew prophets to "the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God." (Book of Mormon Title Page) If this claim were true, there should be evidence that the author(s) of the Book of Mormon was/were familiar with Hebrew poetic and rhetorical structuring.

As it turns out, the Book of Mormon is indeed ripe with many forms of Hebraic poetic rhetorical devices. One example is that of what has been called chiasmus. Chiasmus "is a form of parallelism used as a poetic structure in some ancient writings from the Middle East and Greece". (J. Welch, "Chiasmus in Alma 36," FARMS Working Paper WEL-89a, Foundations for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Provo, Utah, 1989). This form of parallelism is very common in Jewish literature, including the Book of Mormon.

Without a doubt, the leading authority on chiasmus in the Book of Mormon is John W. Welch, a scholar at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute who, while on his mission in Germany in the 1960's, discovered chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. (The interesting account of his discovery is in the newest edition of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=jbms&id=448)

Professor Welch has written extensively on this issue, so I will not repeat everything that he has already discussed. Nevertheless, these few examples of chiasmus will serve as a good example as to the Hebrew nature of the Book of Mormon.

Mosiah 3:18,19:
(Men will drink damnation to their souls unless)
(a) They HUMBLE themselves

(b) and become as little CHILDREN

(c) believing that salvation is in the ATONING BLOOD OF CHRIST;

(d) for the NATURAL MAN

(e) is an enemy of GOD

(f) and HAS BEEN from the fall of Adam
(f') and WILL BE forever and ever

(e') unless he yieldeth to the HOLY SPIRIT

(d') and putteth off the NATURAL MAN

(c') and becometh a saint through the ATONEMENT OF CHRIST

(b') and becometh as a CHILD

(a') submissive, meek and HUMBLE.


Mosiah 5:10-12:
(a) And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the NAME of Christ

(b) must be CALLED by some other name;

(c) therefore, he findeth himself on the LEFT HAND of God.

(d) And I would that ye should REMEMBER also, that this is the NAME

(e) that I said I should give unto you that never should be BLOTTED out,

(f) except it be through TRANSGRESSION;
(f') therefore, take heed that ye do not TRANSGRESS,

(e') that the name be not BLOTTED OUT of your hearts.

(d') I say unto you, I would that ye should REMEMBER to retain the NAME

(c') written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the LEFT HAND of God,

(b') but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be CALLED,

(a') and also, the NAME by which he shall call you.


Alma 41: 13-14:

O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish--

(a,a) GOOD for that which is GOOD;
(b,b) RIGHTEOUS for that which is RIGHTEOUS;
(c,c) JUST for that which is JUST;
(d,d) MERCIFUL for that which is MERCIFUL.

(d')Therefore, my son, see that you are MERCIFUL unto your brethren;
(c') deal JUSTLY,
(b') judge RIGHTEOUSLY,
(a') and do GOOD continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward;

(d'') yea, ye shall have MERCY restored unto you again;
(c'') ye shall have JUSTICE restored unto you again;
(b'') ye shall have a RIGHTEOUS judgment restored unto you again;
(a'') and ye shall have GOOD rewarded unto you again.

But these are not all the examples of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Entire sections, such as Alma's discourse to his son, seem to have been edited by Mormon in such a way that they, for added emphasis, are structured chiastically. (See bottom page).

These interesting Hebraic elements in the Book of Mormon are strong evidence that the book was written by someone familiar with ancient Hebrew rhetorical and poetic strategies. Considering that Joseph Smith did not study Hebrew until 5 years after the Book of Mormon, this further makes him an unlikely author of the text.

Note: This has been but a very short introduction to this issue. The reader, therefore, is encouraged to follow up by reading the following.
http://www.jefflindsay.com/chiasmus.shtml#1

This website gives a good introduction to the issue with an excellent bibliography for further research.

Also see:



From Alma's discourse:

  (a) My son, give ear to my WORDS (1)
  (b) KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS of God and ye shall PROSPER IN THE LAND (2)
   (c) DO AS I HAVE DONE (2)
    (d) in REMEMBERING THE CAPTIVITY of our fathers (2);
     (e) for they were in BONDAGE (2)
      (f) he surely did DELIVER them (2)
       (g) TRUST in God (3)
        (h) supported in their TRIALS, and TROUBLES, and AFFLICTIONS (3)
         (i) shall be lifted up at the LAST DAY (3)
          (j) I KNOW this not of myself but of GOD (4)
           (k) BORN OF GOD (5)
            (l) I sought to destroy the church of God (6-9)
             (m) MY LIMBS were paralyzed (10)
              (n) Fear of being in the PRESENCE OF GOD (14-15)
               (o) PAINS of a damned soul (16)
                (p) HARROWED UP BY THE MEMORY OF SINS (17)
                 (q) I remembered JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD (17)
                 (q') I cried, JESUS, SON OF GOD (18)
                (p') HARROWED UP BY THE MEMORY OF SINS no more (19)
               (o')  Joy as exceeding as was the PAIN (20)
              (n') Long to be in the PRESENCE OF GOD (22)
             (m') My LIMBS received their strength again (23)
            (l') I labored to bring souls to repentance (24)
           (k') BORN OF GOD (26)
          (j') Therefore MY KNOWLEDGE IS OF GOD (26)
         (h') Supported under TRIALS, TROUBLES, and AFFLICTIONS (27)
        (g') TRUST in him (27)
       (f') He will deliver me (27)
      (i') and RAISE ME UP AT THE LAST DAY (28)
     (e') As God brought our fathers out of BONDAGE and captivity (28-29)
    (d') Retain in REMEMBRANCE THEIR CAPTIVITY (28-29)
   (c') KNOW AS I DO KNOW (30)
  (b') KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS and ye shall PROSPER IN THE LAND (30)
  (a') This is according to his WORD (30).

Book: Ancient Americans: Rewriting the History of the New World

Book of Mormon scholarship under the prominent LDS researchers today has been the mainstay of arguments for a different understanding of pre-Columbian populations in the Americas. At a certain point in recent history, that began to change as new publications, often independently authored, brought to light other theories and evidences that have the potential to change the consensus of typical American Indian studies.

One of those publications is "Ancient Americans: Rewriting the History of the New World" by Charles C. Mann. Published in 2005, this book outlines an alternative to previously held conclusions about pre-Columbian American civilizations as well as a new way of viewing the events that followed European contact with the Americas.

Mann is not LDS, which makes his work all that more interesting to me. I find it refreshing to see that we are not the only ones who question the status quo when it comes to ancient American research. There is much more to be discovered that will cast new light on our currently held understanding about ancient American civilizations.

Video: LDS Church Growth Through 2007

The LDS Church has grown in leaps and bounds in the last century since it was founded in 1830. Church growth is often highlighted in news stories that treat various topics of Mormonism. Have a look at this updated video that highlights Church growth on a map of the world. The dots on the map correspond to "stakes", units of the Church that roughly correspond to what in the Catholic church would be called a diocese. A stake is made up of several "wards" (equivalent to a parish). Each ward has around 400 individuals and each stake has between 4,000 and 5,000 individuals.

Click an icon to watch the video...