Talk:Jacob 1:1-5

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

I think anxiety in verse 5 is best thought of as care for, or, as Merriam-Webster indicates for anxious, ardently or earnestly wishing. Jacob, like Nephi in 1 Nephi 10:17 and the beginning of 1 Nephi 11, had strong desires to know the things of the Lord; he also desired to know, like many prophets, what would become of the people he loved--his people. Jacob's sermons indicate that he was successful in learning truths about the creation, the fall and the atonement.

Hi 128.163.123.33, In verse when Jacob says "because of faith and great anxiety" do you think Jacob is referring to his own faith and anxiety? --Matthew Faulconer 07:00, 14 Apr 2005 (CEST)

You raise a good question. Jacob clearly states that the resultant manifestations were made to us (some plural group), "because of faith and great anxiety." Jacob in 2 Ne 6:3 makes clear that he had great anxiety for his people. However, I think your question clarifies the situation. It seems similar to Enos' experience in praying that the records would be preserved and brought to the Lamanites Enos 1:16; he was told that this was the same desire his fathers had and that their faith was great, like his own. Did the Lord previously promise the preservation of the records, or did Enos' request push it over the top (so to speak). The situation with Jacob may have been similar; it may have been the collective faith and anxiety of those spiritually responsible for the people (Lehi, Nephi, Jacob) that led to the manifestation. It still seems like I am missing an important application or insight from these verses. --128.163.123.33 06:33, 14 Apr 2005 (CEST)

I wonder if part of what Jacob is doing is explaining why the Nephites have a better understanding of what is going to happen to them than did those in Jerusalem they left behind. Take each group's relative knowledge of the coming of Christ as an example. It is hard to know exactly how much those in Jerusalem at that time knew about Jesus, but it is clear (isn't it?) that they knew then far less than what Nephi & Jacob know at this point in the Book of Mormon.

>It still seems like I am missing an important application or insight from these verses.

Like you I assume that the "faith and anxiety" was something that Lehi, Nephi and Jacob had had. So, in that case, I think there is an insight here for leaders. The insight would be that leaders can receive miraculous knowledge about the people they are responsible for, even to knowing something of their future (at least collectively), if they have great faith and "anxiety." Also I think a note on the meaning of "anxiety" in the lexical notes section would be interesting. It would be interesting to see the dictionary definition contemporaneous with when Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon.

--Matthew Faulconer 08:34, 19 Apr 2005 (CEST)