1 Ne 14:21-25
From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
The Book of Mormon > First Nephi > Chapter 14
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Contents |
Questions
Verse 21
- Did John have to find words to describe what he saw or was he given the words that needed to be written?
Verse 22
Verse 23
- Nephi says that the John’s revelation (or the Bible itself--see lexical note below) was “plain and pure, and most precious and easy to the understanding of all men.” However, in 1 Ne 15:3 he says that Lehi’s revelation was “hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord.” Does this mean that Lehi’s revelation is, in itself, more difficult to understand than John’s or is something else going on here?
Verse 24
- Where did Nephi learn to use a word like "apostle" if it appears nowhere in the Old Testament?
Verse 25
- Why was Nephi not allowed to become a second witness to what John would see and write?
Lexical notes
Verse 23
- "The things which were written." In the phrase "the things which were written were plain and pure, and most precious and easy to the understanding of all men," the "things that were written" could be read either as referring to the things which were written by John, the "apostle of the Lamb" (v. 24), or as referring to the things which were written in the Bible, "the book . . . proceeding out of the mouth of the Jew." If the latter view is adopted, the grammatical structure of verse 23 would be taken as significant in that the preceding verse (v. 22) and subsequent verse (v. 24) are talking about John, as is the beginning of verse 23; however, on this view, the material following the first semicolon would be taken as a modifying tangent about the book in which John's revelation is recorded, and so the final clause of the verse would be taken as a continuation of this tangent describing the book that John's revelation is found in rather than John's revelation itself. Furthermore, this verse may be alluding back to 1 Ne 13:28-29 where "plain and precious things" are described as being taken away from the Bible.
Exegesis
Verse 23 provides commentary on the nature of the revelations written by John. They are "just and true", "plain and pure", "precious" and "easy to the understanding of all men". These descriptors are self-explanatory, and, upon reflection, it seems an easy enough step to further assert that prophetic writings in general follow this pattern. That is certainly the case with modern revelations. Most would agree Joseph Smith's revelatory writing, for instance, are generally simple and straightforward, yet somehow manage to be inspiring and persuasive to so many notwithstanding their simplicity.
Perhaps a qualification for a good prophet is the ability not to get too much in the way of the message by letting rhetoric and personality creep in. While Joseph seemed to display plenty of both in his social communications, it would be fair to say that his revelations generally do not.
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