Site:SS lessons/BOM lesson 7

From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.

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2 Ne 3:1-5

The Book of Mormon > Second Nephi > Chapter 3

Previous (2 Ne 2:26-30)

Next (2 Ne 3:6-10)

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Questions

vv. 1-25: Notice the use of types and shadows: Lehi blesses his son Joseph by telling him of Joseph of old who prophesied of Moses and the latter-day Joseph. Presumably this blessing to Joseph was more than just information. Presumably it gave him something he could use in his own life. In addition, it compares Moses and Joseph Smith in a way that helps us understand each better. Is this use of types and shadows the way that we are to apply the scriptures to ourselves? Of what types do we see shadows in today’s world?

v. 5: To what degree has this prophecy been fulfilled? If you think it is still being fulfilled, what would it take for it to be completed?

v.1&3: Why does Lehi make it a point to keep reminding Joseph that he was born during the time of Lehi's greatest afflictions?

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verses 7-8

Whom are these verses about? What does it mean to say “he shall do no other work, save the work which I shall command him"?

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Verse 9

Great like unto Moses. In what ways was Moses great? How does the delivering role of the seer being described here relate to the bringing forth of the word and convincing in verse 11ff?

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 11

Why is Joseph Smith here described as a seer rather than a prophet? (How do the two differ, or do they?)
How did Joseph Smith bring forth the Lord's word to Lehi's son Joseph's descendants?

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Verse 12

Lehi says that the writings of Judah and those of his descendants "shall grow together." What does that metaphor mean?
What does that metaphor tell us about the relation of the Bible and the Book of Mormon?
How will they, together, confound false doctrine, rid us of contention, and establish fruit among Lehi's son Joseph's descendants?

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Verse 15

How is the Prophet Joseph like Joseph in Egypt? How did the ancient Joseph bring the Lord's people salvation, and how is that like what modern Joseph did?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 16: What is “the promise of Moses"?

v. 17: How were the ancient Joseph and Moses the same? What is the significance of a rod? What rod did Joseph Smith have?

v. 18: How many spokesmen did Joseph Smith have? How does the fact that he had more than one cohere with this verse? What does this tell us about prophecy?

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 23: What does it mean to say that Lehi’s son Joseph is blessed because of the covenant? How is he blessed? Why is it an important blessing to know that your descendants many generations hence will not be destroyed?

v. 24: To whom is this verse referring?

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Exegesis

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Verse 5

How should we interpret Lehi's statement to the children of Laman "I know that if you are brought up in the way ye should go ye will not depart from it"? Does Lehi mean that he knows that this is a characteristic specifically of these grandchildren? Or is he stating this as a general rule (like Prov 22:6)--generally true despite the exceptions?

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Exegesis

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

The curse the Lamanites are given is sometimes understood to principally refer to a darker skin color. But, as a physical curse referring to skin color Lehi's statement "that the cursing may be taken from you and be answered upon the heads of your parents" wouldn't make much sense. If instead we interpret the curse as spiritual--for example, if not having the gospel truths is itself a curse--then Lehi's statement here makes sense.

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Questions

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Verses 15-16

Motivation to ponder. What makes Nephi begin to think about the scriptures? What has just happened that motivates verse 15? What are “the things of the Lord” (v. 16)? Surely a good part of what Nephi means has already been mentioned in verse 15, namely the scriptures. But what else might he have in mind?

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Verses 15-35

Structure. Can you explain Nephi's movement from one section to another (see link to outline below)?

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Lexical notes

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Verse 14

The word "history" appears in the Book of Mormon only in the small plates: three times in Nephi's two books, and three times in Jacob (1 Ne 9:2; 2 Ne 4:14; 2 Ne 5:33; Jacob Heading; 1:2, 3). In every case except this one, "history" refers to a string of events, rather than to a record of such events. What this particular phrase means here is complex at the very least: "a more history part."

A more history part. The phrase "a more history part" (verse 14) may mean, in more modern language "the more historical part." In that case Nephi is saying that the more historical part of what Nephi has to record is recorded on his other plates.

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Exegesis

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Questions

vv. 17-18: Why does Nephi, of all people, grieve about his iniquities? What is the connection between seeing the goodness of the Lord and grieving about one’s iniquities? What does Nephi’s grief teach us? What iniquities might Nephi have had? Given the context, what sins might he have found particularly tempting? Do verses 13 and 27-29 suggest and answer to this question?

v. 19: Here we see Nephi turn from grief, in the beginning of the verse, to hope, in the end. What does the change we see happening in this verse tell us about our own sorrows? Is sorrow or guilt bad? What is the difference between Nephi’s sorrow and harmful sorrow? Compare 2 Cor 7:10. What is the sorrow to death? When do we find ourselves in the kind of sorrow Nephi experiencing? If someone is experiencing the sorrow to death rather than the sorrow to life, how can that change?

vv. 20-25: What things is Nephi grateful for? Can you draw specific parallels to the things we should be thankful for? Are these some of the “things of the Lord,” mentioned in v. 16? How does memory serve Nephi in this verse? How ought it to serve us?

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Lexical notes

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Verses 16 through 35 bear such a striking resemblance to the style and structure of the biblical poetic writings that the section is often referred to as the "Psalm of Nephi." For an analysis of similarities to Hebrew poetry, see the article by Steven Barton.

Verses 16-17 open the first stanza of the Psalm of Nephi. The unit appears to be a series of 3 couplets organized in chiastic form.

A. Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord;
B. And my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.

C. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works,
c. My heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am!

b. Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh;
a. My soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.

This chiasm is a good example of the tendency to contrast antithetical ideas when using chiastic form. Typically, the center point of a chiasm will be the point at which an opposite idea is introduced.

Hence,

A. soul delighteth

B. heart pondereth

C. goodness of the Lord

is contrasted with:

c. wretched man

b. heart sorroweth

a. soul grieveth

Verses 18-20. If we ignore the arbitrary punctuation of Grandin and arrange the lines similar to a passage from the Psalms or Isaiah, the verses break out differently:

I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me,

And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins.

Nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted,

My God hath been my support;

He hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness,

And he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

In some ways, the thought groupings and punctuation are stronger when arranged in this manner.

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Lexical notes

Regardless of what language Nephi used to transmit the "Psalm of Nephi," there are, in the passage, enough Hebraisms and similarities to Hebrew poetry to conjecture a Hebrew language original. When we conclude so, we can make some interesting observations.

Verses 21 and 22. The two lines are linked by parallel elements of syntax and morphology. The parallelism of Hebrew poetry often extends beyond a rhythm of thought and ideas to that of morphology, syntax, and phonetics, resemblances which tend to be less obvious, especially in translation.

He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.
He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.

If we translate the passage back into Hebrew, and arrange it into typical "verse" format, we observe that each line begins with the verb form "he hath" followed by a parallel in the Hebrew root aleph - yod - bet (enemy) with aleph - heh - bet (love). The two words have similar roots (in fact yod and heh are related root letters). The second half of each line begins with "unto" ("od" in the Hebrew) followed in the Hebrew by the infinitive construct verb form.

Thus vs 21b in Hebrew would read: od kkelot bbesari(compare Ruth 2:23). In vs 22, the phrase "the causing of them to quake" is awkward in English, but brings to mind the hiphil "causative" verb form in the Hebrew. Verse 22b in Hebrew might read: od ham'idu mippanai (compare Ps 69:23) [an alternative choice would be od hacharidu mippanai (compare Ezek 30:9)].

When we stack these together the correspondences in the first clause of both lines become more evedent:

he hath filled / aleph - heh - bet
he hath confounded / aleph - yod - bet

And in the final clause of both lines we have:

connective od / infinitive construct / of my flesh
connective od / infinitive construct / "from my face"

The parallel at the end of each line is not readily apparent in English, but the idiom for "before me" in Hebrew reads literally from my face, which draws a connection to "of my flesh" in the first line. The syntactic link is further bolstered by the personal posessive suffix yod affixed as the final character of both lines.

As interesting as these musings might be (to some), we are tempted to ask the question, "Does a poetic interpretation effect the message conveyed by the text?" If we establish a parallel between these two lines, the answer is yes, because then we are justified in viewing them as one thought unit:

He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.
He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.

As such, we have a much stronger statement than if the two lines were merely treated as successive lines among many others. As a unit, the verse has sharper contrast. As a unit, the statement is more emphatic! The lines together would be understood as:

He has filled me such that I am completely consumed with his love,
But my enemies he has so confounded that they tremble with fear!

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Exegesis

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Questions

vv. 26-30: What is Nephi’s answer to the troubles he has? to his weakness in the face of temptation, for example? Why is “enemy” singular in verse 27 and plural in verse 29? When did Nephi’s soul “droop in sin"? What was that sin?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

In verse 26 and 27 Nephi asks himself several questions about his own weaknesses. He asks why he is so depressed given the mercy he knows the Lord shows his children. He asks why he yields to sin. He asks why he is angry at his enemy. All of these are failings he recognizes in himself. In short he asks himself why he isn't better than he is. Instead of addressing these questions directly Nephi does two things. First he addresses himself in the imperative in relation to these questions. (For example, to the question of why he is depressed, he says to himself "rejoice;" and to the question of why he is angry at his enemy he says to himself "do not anger because of mine enemies.") Second, Nephi asks the Lord to make him better (see verses 31-35).

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Questions

vv. 31-35: Why does this psalm of Nephi end in a prayer? In our more ordinary terms, what are the things Nephi prays for?

v. 32: Since obedience seems to be what I do rather than what the Lord does for me, what does it mean to pray to be obedient?

v. 33: What does it mean to be encircled in the robes of the Lord’s righteousness? (Compare Isa 61:10 and Baruch 5:2. Baruch is in the Apocrypha.) What surrounded Nephi in 18?

v. 34: Is there a significant difference between faith in God and trust in God? What does it mean to trust in the arm of flesh? When might we find ourselves doing that?

v. 35: Compare this verse to James 1:5. What might Joseph Smith have thought as he translated this verse?

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Exegesis

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Questions

vv. 1-7: Contrast v. 1 with 2 Nephi 4:27-29. Following the pattern of Moses and Israel that Nephi has referred to on several occasions, Nephi leaves Laman and Lemuel, taking his family and those who would follow him into the wilderness. The Doctrine and Covenants uses a related imagery when it commands us to leave Babylon, (See, for example, D&C 133:5, 7, and 14). What kinds of meanings can this type have for us today? How can we leave “Babylon” and go into the wilderness? Where is the wilderness today?

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Verse 6 : Does the phrase "also my sisters" suggest that all Nephi's sisters went with him?

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Questions

v. 18: Nephi states that he did not want his people to have a king, but he doesn't explain why or what other options he considered before giving in to their request. Was Nephi thinking of 1 Samuel 8, when Samuel was faced with a similar challenge? How might Nephi's aversion to monarchy be connected with political developments in the last years of the Southern Kingdom?

v. 19: When Nephi says he became his people’s ruler and teacher, is he using these two words to say the same thing (as Gen 1:1 does when it says that the world was “without form and void” in the beginning, or when an angry sister tells her brother to “shut up and be quiet"), or is he saying he was two things, that he was a ruler and he was a teacher? If we think of “ruler and teacher” as two ways of saying the same thing, what might that tell us about being a ruler? A father or mother? Does it say anything about contemporary politics? If we think of “ruler and teacher” as different things here, what does that tell us about Nephi’s relation to his people?

v. 20-25: Reading these verses in the post Civil Rights era is uncomfortable for many. What options for interpretation are available here? What is the curse that came upon those who followed Laman and Lemuel? Was it the darkened color of their skin or something else? If it was the darkness of their skin, how does that explain their idleness and mischief? If it was something else, what was it? What is the relationship between the curse and the idleness?

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Verse 20-25

These verses seem problematic to many. At first glance it appears that God is cursing the Lamanites for their lack of obedience by giving them black skin. If God gives black skin as a punishment (or curse), that seems to suggest that those with black skin are inferior in the eyes of God. But this is not what we want to believe of God, because it suggests an imperfection in him who has no imperfection. On the other hand, modifying our views on the equality of different races is an unacceptable way of resolving the tension. What is the best way to read these verses in order to resolve the tension? What is a faithful, yet less disturbing, reading of this verse?

Is it reasonable to interpret the nature of the cursing as being cut off from the present of the Lord (see v.20)? What does it mean to be cut off from the presence of the Lord? No more angels for Laman and Lemuel? No more working Liahona? No more Holy Ghost? No more contemporary prophet? In what way do the Nephites enjoy the presence of the Lord that the Lamanites do not?

What do these verses about being cut off from the presence of the Lord suggest about his nature? Many members find comfort in the view that we move away from the Lord rather than him moving away from us. But in these verses, the Lamanites are "cut off" from the Lord's presence (see v.20). He "causes" the curse to come on them (v. 21) and he "causes" the skin of blackness to come on them (v.21). He "causes" that they become loathsome (v.22). In other words, when Laman and Lemuel are cut off from the presence of the Lord, this isn't simply something that do to themselves, but something that the Lord has done to them.

What other scriptures can we look to for evidence that God doesn't value his children according to the color of their skin?

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Verse 22

In verse 22, the Lord tells Nephi that he will cause the Lamanites to be loathsome to the Nephites.

What does loathsome mean? Are the Lamanites loathsome to the Nephites because they have black skin? Are they loathsome because they are idle (see v. 24)? Are they loathsome because of some other aspect of the curse? Are they loathsome as a result of their iniquities and failure to hearken or are they loathsome as a result of the curse the Lord causes because of the Lamanites' iniquities and failure to hearken? Verse 22 suggests that if the Lamanites were to change their ways then they would not be loathsome. Is this because they would no longer have black skins (no need for the Lord to worry about whether they are enticing to the Nephites if they are on the strait and narrow), or is it because the Nephites would have thought of being separated from the presence of the Lord as loathsome?
Why does the Lord make the Lamanites loathsome to the Nephites?
When the sons of Mosiah went to preach to the Lamanites did they see them as loathsome? More broadly, did the people of King Mosiah continue to see the Lamanites as loathsome during this time period?

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Verse 23

In verse 23, we are told that those who mix with the Lamanites will be cursed with the same cursing. A natural way to intepret this is to suppose that the Lamanites are given the curse of black skin and anyone who mixes with them gets black skin. But what if we interpret the curse to mean being cut off from the presence of the Lord? Can verse 23 reasonably be read this way? Those who mix with the Lamanites will be cut off from the presence of the Lord just as the Lamanites were--a sore cursing indeed.

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Verse 24

How does the cursing that the Lamanites receive cause them to become idle?

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Lexical notes

Notice in verse 25 how the Lord uses the actions of the wicked to bring people to a remembrance of him.

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 27: Nephi says that he and his people “lived after the manner of happiness.” What does that phrase say that “we lived happily” doesn’t say? What is “the manner [or ‘way’] of happiness"?

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Site:SS lessons/BOM lesson 7

From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.

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Verses 7-8

Verse 9

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Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 15

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Verse 5

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Verses 15-16

Verses 15-35

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Verse 14

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Verses 15-35

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Verse 18

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Verse 20-25

Verse 22