Jarom

Verse 2:

Jarom states the he writes only to keep a record of the events of his people; “but I shall not write the things off my prophesying, nor of my revelations. For what could I write more than my fathers have written? For have not they revealed the plan of salvation? I say unto you, Yea; and this sufficeth me.” (Jarom 1:2) Jarom says that the plan of salvation is enough prophecy anyway, and thus he will only write about the events.

 

Written 9-9-14

 

Verse 10:

In this book, it is explicitly state that if the Nephites were to give up the commandments that they would be destroyed. I am thinking that the reason why this is explicitly stated is because it will become relevant to the reader in the later generations (i.e. Omni 1:6).

 

Written 9-9-14

Enos

Enos 1

 

Verse 13:

“And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him – that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps they might be brought unto salvation-” - Enos 1:13

 

                This verse expresses the main concern of Enos along with everyone who revers the plates as holy word of God, that the plates should survive no matter what happens to the rest of the world. That they would be survive to be available and help people in the future, whoever it may be. This concern is first explicitly expressed in the Book of Mormon through this passage.

                When I first read this verse, I was very confused because of the overuse of commas made me read that Enos was asking God for the Nephites to fall into transgression and the Lamanites should not be destroyed… “if it should be” (or if God would allow it). But no, “that if it should be, that my people the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed,” is all part of the conditional. Enos is asking that even if it were the case that: the Nephites should be destroyed and the Lamanites survive, that the plates of the Naphites would survive with them.

                In this verse Enos is asking God for the plates to survive over anything else. Enos is addressing the worst case scenario when he says that the Nephites may be destroyed and the Lamanites not, this is the case that each of the two societies is turned upside down. Enos’s first priority is the word of God, even above his own people. One could say that the word of God is the only thing with importance, because without the word of God, the Nephites would be reduced to nothing. The people of Zarahemla are an example of this. As in Omni 1:17, Amaleki describes the people of Zarahemla as a people with a corrupted language and without a record; that they denied the Creator.

                People are fallible and corruptible; Enos knows that the word of God is not and wishes for it to survive above anything else.

 

Written 9-9-14

 

Verse 20:

 

“And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore that Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors were vain; their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us.

Verse 21:

And it came to pass that the people of Nephi did till the land, and raise all manner of grain, and of fruit, and flocks of herds, and flocks of all manner of cattle of every kind, and goats, and wild goats, and also many horses.”

 

                Verses 20 and 21 draw a cultural distinction between the Lamanites and the Nephites. The Lamanites are hunters, savage tent dwellers, and the Nephites seem a little more humane and organized. The Nephites grow and raise their nutritional resources, and are apparently appalled by the Lamanites short skin girdles. The Bible also has a similar distinction between two types of culture. In Genesis 4:2 we find that “Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.” This becomes a cultural distinction when their descendants come forth. The descendants of Cain are settlers that work the soil and the descendants of Seth are keepers of flocks, and tent dwellers. Moses and the Israelites go through a transition from being nomads, keepers of flocks, and wanderers in the dessert, to people that become settled in the promise land. But in Enos, though the Nephites are settlers, they keep flocks and work the soil, while the Lamanites are hunters that live in tents. But the outstanding cultural distinction between the two is that the Lamanites are described more like savages.

 

Written 9-9-14

Jacob 7

“And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old; and the record of this people being kept on the other plates of Nephi, wherefore, I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days.”

 

This is, very intentionally, a very lonely-feeling verse. It poetically conveys a sense of abandonment by emphasizing, “time passed away with us”; with this phrase it adds a temporal distance from their home to the special distance from Jerusalem; it adds a sort of partial nostalgia to the sense of being far away. I took note of this verse because of its poetic intent. But as I read on, I found that this verse and its sentiment is actually more relevant in what follows in the Book of Mormon. This feeling is sated when the Nephites find the people of Zarahemla in “The Book of Omni”.

 

Written 9-8-14

Jacob 5

Jacob 5 is a very long chapter. It reads as a parable about olive trees and farmers, but is in fact an allegory representing the Israel and the Gentiles. It tells the story of Judaism, Christianity, and the development of all the churches and denominations, in “olive tree” form. Kind of like how the Book of Enoch tells the sequences of the Bible in “animal form”.


Written 9-8-14

Jacob 4

Verse 18:

“Behold, my beloved brethren, I will unfold this mystery unto you; if I do not, by any means, get shaken from my firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of my over anxiety for you.”

 

Can a prophet be too anxious for his people? can he be too concerned? Can he get too excited to listen to God? This verse expresses these ideas affirmatively. I guess one’s devotion to God has not to do with how emotionally excited they get. Sometimes one’s own anxiety, even one’s own joy, can get in the way of God’s intention. This is why I like this verse. It expresses that a follower of God must have his emotions on check and under control. And just because you believe that you are chosen by God it does not mean that you have a right to speak your heart out without restrain or careful thought.

 

Jacob 3

Verse 5:
"Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father -  that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredomes committed among them."
The Book of Mormon speaks pretty strongly against polygamy. I am not sure how they have the reputation of being polygamists, I guess it is something I should ask.

This is also the case in the first chapter of Jacob, "And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring may wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son." (Jacob 1:15)


Written 9-4-14






Verse 10:

“Wherefore ye shall remember your children, how that ye have grieved their hearts because of the example that ye have set before them; and also, remember that ye may, because of your filthiness, bring your children unto destruction and their sins be heaped upon your heads at the last day.”

 

It is a common theme in the Bible to have, the sin of the parents affect their children. A prime example of this thinking is present in the Ten Commandments, “for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:5-6) In these verses it states that the curse of a parent may be passed on to the children. One can see how this works primarily through the principle of original sin, “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Another passage that exemplifies this idea as a common belief is in John, “His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2).

            Although it seems that God and the cosmic laws may work in this manner, God does command that justice should not be served (at least by humans) in this way; Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin. (Deuteronomy 24:16). Ezekiel 18 is an excellent example that not only regards but wrestles with this common thought.

 

What I find interesting about Jacob 3:10, is that although there is plenty of examples of the punishment of the parents being passed on to the children, there is not many examples of the punishment of the children being heaped on the parents. That is, the parents are being blamed for the sins of the children because of how they were influenced or raised; as if the parents are held accountable of the lives of the children. There is a sense of this theme in the New Testament as well, “It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble” (Luke 17:2) But Jacob 3:10 connects the concept of accountability with inter-generational punishment.

Written 9-8-14

2 Nephi 10

Verse 11:

"And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles."

When I first read this I thought it means that there would be no king on this land. This conception was reinforced when I read Nephi saying, "And it came to pass that they would that I should be their king, But I, Nephi, was desirous that they should have no king; nevertheless, I did for them according to that which was in my power." The way Nephi says this, makes me think that he acted like a king to his people by governing over them although he did not accept the status of kingship. But then I also read that "Nephi began to be old and he saw that he must soon die; wherefore, he anointed a man to be a king and a ruler over his people now, according to the reigns of the kings." (Jacob 1:9)
I realized that 2 Nephi 10:11 probably did not mean that there would be no kings in the land but only that this would be the case for the Gentiles.


Written 9-4-14