Digital Commons Network^™

Approaching Completion: The Book Of Mormon Critical Text Project: A Review Of Royal Skousen's Analysis Of Textual Variants Of The Book Of Mormon And The History Of The Text Of The Book Of Mormon: Grammatical Variation, Grant Hardy

BYU Studies

Analysis of Textual Variants

Orson Scott Card’S “Artifact Or Artifice”: Where It Stands After Twenty-Five Years, Jeff Lindsay

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

When Orson Scott Card wrote “The Book of Mormon: Artifact or Artifice?” in 1993, he applied keen skills as an author of fiction to help readers understand how to detect the many hidden assumptions an author brings into a text. Subtle details such as the choice of what to explain or what not to explain to readers can quickly reveal the era and environment of the author. The value of Card’s analysis is reconsidered in light of extensive Book of Mormon studies since 1993 and has been found, for the most part, to have withstood the test of time well, …

Understanding The Abrahamic Covenant Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

BYU Studies

Latter-day Saint discourse concerning Abraham and the blessings and covenants given to him by the Lord is distinguished by its reliance on the restoration of ancient scriptures and other revelations given to Joseph Smith. The revival of scholarly interest in Abraham in recent decades provides a timely opportunity to explore the contemporary findings of biblical scholars from a Latter-day Saint perspective—which, in turn, invites an in-depth exploration of how the Lord’s covenants with Abraham were understood by the Nephite prophets in the Book of Mormon, how their perspectives compare with contemporary biblical scholarship, and how the Nephite perspective may modify …

Abinadi's Legacy: Tracing His Influence Through The Book Of Mormon, John L. Hilton Iii

Faculty Publications

Eminent author Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "All minds quote. Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment. There is no thread that is not a twist of these two strands. By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote." Identifying these instances of textual weavings is one aspect of a literary field known as intertextuality, an area that holds great promos for Book of Mormon research. Grant Hardy has suggested that it would be fruitful for our understanding of the Book of Mormon "to track various phrases throughout the Book of Mormon to determine which Nephite …

The Abinadi Narrative, Redemption, And The Struggle For Nephite Identity, Daniel L. Belnap, Dan Belnap

Faculty Publications

Though there is no question that the Book of Mormon’s primary purpose is to impart an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this message is generally embedded by its editors and authors in very distinct historical and political settings. This is particularly true of Mormon, who often crafted his narratives so that a given prophetic ministry intersected and interacted with the sociopolitical concerns of the contemporary Nephite population. One such concern emerging again and again in Nephite history was their identity or relationship as Israel.

The Abinadi Narrative, Redemption, And The Struggle For Nephite Identity, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

Though there is no question that the Book of Mormon’s primary purpose is to impart an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this message is generally embedded by its editors and authors in very distinct historical and political settings. This is particularly true of Mormon, who often crafted his narratives so that a given prophetic ministry intersected and interacted with the sociopolitical concerns of the contemporary Nephite population. One such concern emerging again and again in Nephite history was their identity or relationship as Israel. This question lay at the heart of a number of social and religious movements …

“ America Reads” And The Book Of Mormon, D. Todd Christofferson

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Between 1828 and 1831, the American Bible Society launched an aggressive campaign to put a copy of the Old and New Testament in every American home. During those three years, over 500,000 copies of “the Good Book” were printed and distributed across the country, illustrating just how much Protestant Americans considered themselves to be a God-fearing and Bible-believing people. At the same time of the American Bible Society’s ambitious initiative, a young man named Joseph Smith from upstate New York was translating and printing an additional sacred book of scripture, eventually published as the Book of Mormon.

The Ancient Doctrine Of The Two Ways And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Scholars have long recognized that a number of ancient cultures shared a traditional doctrine of the Two Ways that could be used to instruct youth and others in the right way to live their lives. While the language of the Two Ways surfaces on occasion in both the Old and New Testaments, the doctrine is not developed or explained in any detail in the Bible. However, noncanonical texts of the Greco-Roman period display a highly developed and stylized form of the doctrine in both Jewish and Christian traditions. The earliest known version of these stylized forms of the doctrine occurs …

“The Intent For Which It Was Given”: How The Book Of Mormon Teaches The Value Of Scripture And Revelation, Nicholas J. Frederick

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The book of Jarom is a short chapter, consisting of only fifteen verses, that nonetheless manages to summarize the affairs of the Nephites over an approximately forty-year period. In the midst of his outline of the current Nephite status quo, Jarom makes mention of the religious climate of the time: “Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he …

Women And The Book Of Mormon: The Creation And Negotiation Of A Latter-Day Saint Tradition, Susanna Morrill

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

The following article by Susanna Morrill first appeared in Historicizing "Tradition" in the Study of Religion, ed. Steven Engler and Gregory Price Grieve (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2005), 127-44. We believe that it has, unfortunately, not received the attention it deserves for the light it sheds on the ways the Book of Mormon has been received by its readers. Morrill writes from the perspective that the Book of Mormon is a product of the nineteenth-century, but we feel that all stand to learn much from her analysis. We would like to express our gratitude to Professor Morrill, as well as to …

The Structure Of The Book Of Alma, Joseph M. Spencer

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Since John Welch discovered Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon fifty years ago, students of the volume have paid attention to textual structures. Unfortunately, little attention has yet been paid to book-length structures, structures organizing larger stretches of the Book of Mormon. Analysis of whole books within the Book of Mormon has largely remained in a preliminary phase.3 In this note, however, I lay out what appears to be the intentional organizational structure of the book of Alma.

Improvisation And Extemporaneous Change In The Book Of Mormon Part 1: Evidence Of An Imperfect, Authentic, Ancient Work Of Scripture, Gerald E. Smith

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Joseph Smith made various refining changes to the Book of Mormon text, most of them minor and grammatical in nature. However, one type of textual change has been virtually unstudied in Book of Mormon scholarship: extemporaneous change that was present the moment Smith dictated the original text to his scribes. This type of change appears to have been improvisational, a fix or repair made in the middle of a thought or expression. I study these improvisations in depth — where they might appear historically, their purpose, and their authorship — in two articles. The evidence points to ancient authors and …

The Book Of Mormon Versus The Consensus Of Scholars: Surprises From The Disputed Longer Ending Of Mark, Part 2, Jeff Lindsay

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Following the account of the ministry of Christ among the Nephites as recorded in the Book of Mormon, Christ gave a charge to His New World disciples (Mormon 9:22–25). These words are nearly like the commission of Christ to His apostles at the end of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:9–20). According to the general consensus of modern Bible scholars, Christ did not speak those words; they are a later addition. If so, this is a problem for the Book of Mormon. Fortunately, recent modern scholarship offers compelling reasons for overturning the old consensus against the longer ending of Mark. …

A Book Of Mormon Bibliography For 2016

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

The Maxwell Institue is currently making efforts to update the work of Donald Parry, Jeanette Miller, and Sandra Thorne, who prepared the volume A Comprehensive Annotated Book of Mormon Bibliography (1996). This earlier work is now available at the Maxwell Institutes website (see http:/ /publications.mi.byu.edu/book/ a-comprehensive -annotated-book-of-mormon-bibliography/), and updates will also be made available on the Institute's website.

To assist in this effort, the editors of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies have decided to include in each issue of the Journal a bibliography of scholarly work published on the Book of Mormon during the previous year. We have …

Heralding A New Age Of Book Of Mormon Scholarship, Steven T. Densley Jr.

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Book of Mormon Central has produced a fantastic resource for students and teachers of the Book of Mormon. Knowing Why updates prior discoveries and provides new and interesting insights based upon solid scholarship.

The Divine Council In The Hebrew Bible And The Book Of Mormon, Stephen O. Smoot

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The Book of Mormon purports to be a record that originates from the ancient Near East. The authors of the book claim an Israelite heritage, and throughout the pages of the text can be seen echoes of Israelite religious practice and ideology. An example of such can be seen in how the Book of Mormon depicts God’s divine council, a concept unmistakably found in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). Recognizing the divine council in both the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Mormon may help us appreciate a more nuanced understanding of such theological terms as “monotheism” as …

How The Book Of Mormon Reads The Bible: A Theory Of Types, Michael Austin

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Typology is one of those words whose meaning shifts dramatically with the position of its user. For religious believers studying the scriptures, typology is a mode of history-the belief that certain events and people should be understood as both fully historical and fully allegorical at the same time. To the unbeliever (or the believer in different things), typology is a mode of rhetoric-a connecting strategy that writers use to create retroactive links between otherwise unrelated stories or that readers use to infer connections between otherwise unconnected things. Those in the first group see the repetition of key narrative elements from …

"A Very Fine Azteck Manuscript": Latter-Day Saint Readings Of Codex Boturini, Christopher James Blythe

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

THE BooK OF MORMON presented itself as a history of previously unidentified New World civilizations with origins in the ancient Near East. To defend its claims of historicity, believers pointed to the work's correspondence with the Bible and their own spiritual witnesses. They also insisted that, independent of their supernatural access to this ancient world, archaeological discoveries had authenticated and would continue to authenticate the book's historical claims. This article documents the all-but-forgotten Latter-day Saint use of Codex Boturini-a sixteenth-century Mesoamerican codex depicting the Mexica (i.e., Aztec) migration from their mythical homeland Atzlan to Tenochtitlan, the seat of the empire's …

Samuel And His Nephite Sources, John Hilton Iii, Sunny Hendry Hafen, Jaron Hansen

BYU Studies

Samuel the Lamanite is a unique and powerful individual in the Book of Mormon. Dennis Largey described him as “one of the most colorful figures in the Book of Mormon,” stating that “few readers can forget the image of this fearless servant of God announcing the dramatic signs of Christ’s birth and death, crying repentance from the walls of Zarahemla."

Meeting Zoram, Collin Charles Russell

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Zoram, the servant of Laban, is a character from the Book of Mormon who is only mentioned a few times and on whom little information is given. This article analyzes what information is given in the Book of Mormon and contextualizes its historical background, all coupled with the observations of Latter-day Saint Church leaders and scholars. Insight is provided concerning Zoram’s Hebraic descent in the tribe of Manasseh and his working duties under Laban’s command, along with how all this affected his role in assisting Lehi’s family. The meaning of his name in Hebrew and possible correlations to the meaning …

Jacob’S Protector, Matthew L. Bowen

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The name Jacob (yaʿăqōb) means “may he [i.e., God] protect,” or “he has protected.” As a hypocoristic masculine volitive verbal form,1 it is a kind of blessing upon, or prayer on behalf of the one so named that he will receive divine protection and safety (cf. Deuteronomy 33:28). Textual evidence from Nephi’s writings suggests that his brother Jacob’s protection was a primary concern of their parents, Lehi and Sariah. Lehi saw Nephi as the specific means of divine protection for Jacob, his “first born in the wilderness.” Moreover, the term “protector” is used twice in LDS scripture, in both instances …

Book Of Mormon Citations In General Conference, 1965–2014, Sharon Black, Brad Wilcox, Kyle Lyons

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Joseph Smith referred to the Book of Mormon as the keystone of our religion; however, the book was not frequently studied in worship services or in gospel instruction in the early Church. In the 1970s, focus on the scriptures increased as the curriculum for adult gospel study shifted from manuals discussing the scriptures to the actual scripture texts. The Book of Mormon became part of the correlated curriculum for Sunday School Gospel Doctrine lessons, and Seminaries and Institutes also increased their use of scriptural content. In response, Church leaders oversaw the preparation of a fully cross-referenced version of the standard …

The Book Of Mormon As Biblical Interpretation: An Approach To Lds Biblical Studies, Joseph M. Spencer

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

Recent years have witnessed a growing recognition in the academy that the Book of Mormon deserves closer attention than it has received. Not surprisingly, adherents to the various Mormon faiths have long read the book with some care. But larger numbers of believing and nonbelieving academics have come to recognize that, despite its often didactic style and relative literary artlessness, the Book of Mormon exhibits remarkable sophistication. This is perhaps nowhere truer than in those passages where the volume interacts—whether explicitly or implicitly—with biblical texts (always in or in relation to the King James rendering). Close reading of the Book …

“Arise From The Dust”: Insights From Dust-Related Themes In The Book Of Mormon Part 1: Tracks From The Book Of Moses, Jeff Lindsay

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

In light of Noel Reynolds’ hypothesis that some material in the Book of Moses may have been present on the brass plates that Nephi used, one may wonder if Nephi or other authors might also have drawn upon the use of chains in the Book of Moses, particularly Satan’s “great chain [that] veiled … the earth with darkness” (Moses 7:26) and the “chains of darkness” (Moses 7:57). Though the phrase “chains of darkness” is not used in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 1:23, quoting Lehi, combines chains and obscurity, where obscurity can have the meaning of darkness. In fact, …

An Other Testament: On Typology, Joseph M. Spencer

Maxwell Institute Publications

How should we read the Book of Mormon? And does the Book of Mormon itself have anything to say about it? Joseph Spencer follows the lead of Nephite prophets who interpreted Isaiah and other prophets typologically—according to “types” and “shadows”—in order to preach salvation through Jesus Christ. By focusing on history, memory, time, repentance, and conversion, An Other Testament explores what it means to believe God provided the Book of Mormon to change a person like you and a world like ours.

“See That Ye Are Not Lifted Up”: The Name Zoram And Its Paronomastic Pejoration, Matthew L. Bowen

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The most likely etymology for the name Zoram is a third person singular perfect qal or pôʿal form of the Semitic/Hebrew verb *zrm, with the meaning, “He [God] has [is] poured forth in floods.” However, the name could also have been heard and interpreted as a theophoric –rām name, of which there are many in the biblical Hebrew onomasticon (Ram, Abram, Abiram, Joram/Jehoram, Malchiram, etc., cf. Hiram [Hyrum]/Huram). So analyzed, Zoram would connote something like “the one who is high,” “the one who is exalted” or even “the person of the Exalted One [or high place].” This has important implications …

To “See And Hear”, Kevin L. Tolley

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The world of the Nephite nation was born out of the world of seventh century bc Jerusalem. The traditions and tragedies of the nation of Judah set the stage for what would happen over the next ten centuries of Book of Mormon history. In his opening statements, Nephi tells of an explosion of divinely commissioned ministers preaching in the holy city. He declares that Jerusalem was a place of “many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent” (1 Nephi 1:4).1 Nephi alludes to the prophetic service of Jeremiah (c. bc 626-587), Zephaniah (c. bc 640‑609), Obadiah (c. bc …

Telling The Story Of The Coming Forth Of The Book Of Mormon, Stephen O. Smoot

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The book From Darkness unto Light: Joseph Smith’s Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon by Michael Hubbard MacKay and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat is an outstanding resource for anyone interested in early Latter-day Saint history and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. It provides a compelling narrative about the recovery, translation, and publication of the Book of Mormon that utilizes the most cutting-edge historical scholarship available today.

Many Witnesses To A Marvelous Work, Daniel Peterson

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

At the end of October each year, speakers from the Church Educational System, as well as other gospel scholars, gather at Brigham Young University to make presentations at the Sidney B. Sperry Symposium. The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder is a compilation of the addresses given at the forty-fourth symposium, in 2015. This volume does not so much delve into the doctrine of the Book of Mormon as it studies the history behind its coming into the world. Just as the doctrine itself is inspirational, the story behind the coming forth of …

Zarahemla Revisited: Neville’S Newest Novel, Matthew Roper, Paul Fields, Larry Bassist

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

This article is the third in a series of three articles responding to the recent assertion by Jonathan Neville that Benjamin Winchester was the anonymous author of three unsigned editorials published in Nauvoo in 1842 in the Times and Seasons. The topic of the unsigned editorials was the possible relationship of archeological discoveries in Central America to places described in the Book of Mormon narrative. The first article shows that, contrary to Neville’s claims, Winchester was not a proponent of a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon, but rather a hemispheric one. Since this was a view commonly held …