D&C 84

• Verses 1-5
• Verses 6-10
• Verses 11-15
• Verses 16-20
• Verses 21-25
• Verses 26-30
• Verses 31-35
• Verses 36-40
• Verses 41-45
• Verses 46-50
• Verses 51-55
• Verses 56-60
• Verses 61-65
• Verses 66-70
• Verses 71-75
• Verses 76-80
• Verses 81-85
• Verses 86-90
• Verses 91-95
• Verses 96-100
• Verses 101-105
• Verses 106-110
• Verses 111-115
• Verses 116-120

To see the entire commentary for Doctrine & Covenants 84 on one page, click here.

Outline and brief overview

The structure of the revelation

More so than most of the revelations in the D&C, this section is a pieced-together series of tangents or excurses that, in the end, can only be confessed to be woven together so beautifully that they form a single, even flawless story. The danger, however, of introducing such a broad reading of the complex structure of this revelation is that one immediately sets oneself to the task of deciding where one excursus begins and where another ends, to what one tangent attaches and what it implies as it closes, etc. In other words, reading this revelation as a series of patched-together pieces seems inevitably to point to text-critical studies rather than a hermeneutical approach. However, interpretation, in this case, probably cannot be done without some responsible textual criticism. Brought together, these two approaches open up one of the richest texts in the Doctrine and Covenants.

A preliminary reading of the structure of this revelation, then:

  No.   Verses    Textual Status            Theme
  1     1-5       Main argument             Location of Zion
  2     6a        Tangent to (1)            Sons of Moses
  3     6b-16     Tangent to (2)            Priesthood lineage
  4     17-28     Tangent to (3)            Aaronic vs. Melchizedek Priesthoods
  5     29-30     Tangent to (4)            Appendage offices
  6     31-32     Return to (2)             Sacrifice in Zion
  7     33-38     Tangent to (2)/(6)        Becoming sons of Moses/Aaron
  8     39-42     Tangent to (7)            The oath and covenant
  9     43        Return to (1)             Commandment to heed the Word
  10    44-48     Tangent to (9)            The Word of the Lord
  11    49-53     Tangent to (10)           The status of the world
  12    54-56     Another tangent to (10)   The status of the saints
  13    57        Return to (10)            Repentance of the saints
  14    58-61     Return to (1)/(9)         A new commandment
  15    62-95     Tangent to (14)           Expounding the new commandment
  16    96-102    Tangent to (15)           Results of missionary effort
  17    103-108   Return to (14)            Details and specifics
  18    109-110   Tangent to (17)           Unity of the body
  19    111-116   Return to (17)            Details and specifics again
  20    117-120   Return to (14)            Final commission

Following this all-too-briefly considered parsing of this section, the main argument of the section is confined to verses 1-5, 43, 58-61, 103-108, and 111-120. The main argument, extracted from the remainder of the text, is quite simple: Zion has been located, and so the saints must be open to new revelation; and the new revelation that is issued immediately is a commandment to send forth missionaries to gather the people to Zion. Everything in this revelation should be read according to this underlying theme.