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Full-Text Articles in Religious Education
2 Nephi 26 And 27 As Midrash, Grant Hardy
2 Nephi 26 And 27 As Midrash, Grant Hardy
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Nephi was the only Book of Mormon author to receive what might be called a classical Hebrew education. He had ambivalent feelings about his training—indeed, he specifically noted that the tradition would end with himself: “I . . . have not taught my children after the manner of the Jews” (2 Nephi 25:6; see vv. 1–2). So it is not surprising that he remains the most literate, book-learned of the Nephite prophets. That is to say, his writings exhibit the most connections with earlier prophecies and texts, and he structures his teachings in a way that suggests he is working …
The Pleading Bar Of God, Royal Skousen
The Pleading Bar Of God, Royal Skousen
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Near the end of his life, the prophet Nephi referred to the day of judgment and declared that we, the readers of the Book of Mormon, will stand face to face with him before the bar of Christ (2 Nephi 33:11). Similarly, the prophets Jacob and Moroni referred to meeting us when we appear before “the pleasing bar” of God to be judged.
Textual Analysis Of Book Of Mormon Continues
Textual Analysis Of Book Of Mormon Continues
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
FARMS and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the release of part 2 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 2 analyzes the text from 2 Nephi 11 through Mosiah 16.
“What Meaneth The Rod Of Iron”?, Matthew L. Bowen
“What Meaneth The Rod Of Iron”?, Matthew L. Bowen
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Latter-day Saint scholars Hugh W. Nibley and John A. Tvedtnes have discussed at length how a staff, rod, and sword came to be commonly identified with the word of God in the ancient Near East.¹The evidence they cite from the Bible, the earliest Hebrew commentators, modern biblical scholarship, and elsewhere affirms Nephi’s unambiguous assertion that the “word of God” is a “rod.”
Wordplay On The Name ‘Enos’, Matthew L. Bowen
Wordplay On The Name ‘Enos’, Matthew L. Bowen
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In his analysis of Mosiah 1:2–6 and 1 Nephi 1:1–4, John A. Tvedtnes notes that in many instances “Nephite writers relied on earlier records as they recorded their history.”1 He makes a convincing argument that the description of King Benjamin teaching his sons “in all the language of his fathers” (Mosiah 1:2) is modeled on Nephi’s account.
“Look To God And Live”, Kristian S. Heal
“Look To God And Live”, Kristian S. Heal
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Near the end of the children of Israel’s journey to the promised land following their miraculous escape from Egypt, they once again began to complain against the Lord and against Moses. As a result of this sin, the Lord sent “fiery serpents” among them (Numbers 21:6). Faced with physical death, the people went to Moses, confessed their sins, and entreated him to pray to the Lord to take the serpents away. However, the serpents were not taken away as requested. Instead, in what may have seemed an expression of deep irony—but was in reality a sacred symbol—Moses was instructed to …
Update: The “Familiar Spirit” In 2 Nephi 26:12, Paul Y. Hoskisson
Update: The “Familiar Spirit” In 2 Nephi 26:12, Paul Y. Hoskisson
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
There are two ways to read a text, through exegesis and through eisegesis. The first means, approximately, “reading out of the text,” while the second means, approximately, “reading into the text.” Both are legitimate ways of approaching a text. Anyone who reads the scriptures will at times engage in both exegesis and eisegesis, whether knowingly or unwittingly. Therefore, the more conscientiously and consciously we engage in rigorous and careful exegesis and eisegesis, the better the chance that our reading of the scriptures will truly enlighten the mind and provide substance for the soul. I will illustrate both approaches using the …
“He Shall Add”: Wordplay On The Name Joseph And An Early Instance Of Gezera Shawa In The Book Of Mormon, Matthew L. Bowen
“He Shall Add”: Wordplay On The Name Joseph And An Early Instance Of Gezera Shawa In The Book Of Mormon, Matthew L. Bowen
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In explaining the prophecies of Isaiah in which his soul delighted, Nephi sets up an intriguing wordplay on the name Joseph. On several occasions he combines segments of Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 to foretell the gathering and restoration of Israel at the time of the coming forth of additional scripture. The most discernible reason for Nephi’s interpretation of these two specific texts in the light of each other is their shared use of the Hebrew verb yāsap, which literally means “to add” but can have the more developed senses to “continue” or “proceed to do” something and “to do …
A New Witness To The World, By Robert A. Rees (Salt Lake City: By Common Consent Press, 2020), Lane Welch
A New Witness To The World, By Robert A. Rees (Salt Lake City: By Common Consent Press, 2020), Lane Welch
BYU Studies Quarterly
This book provides a series of essays that analyze and contextualize the text of the Book of Mormon while providing Professor Rees’s faithful perspective on the text. Though each essay stands on its own as a separate work, the later essays, handling the context of Joseph Smith’s work as a nineteenth-century American writer, do reference and build off one another. These later essays handle the backgrounds and processes of various American writers contemporary to Joseph Smith, providing an effective survey of the literary milieu into which the Book of Mormon first entered; the earlier essays are more focused on the …