Another great example of complex Old Testament quotations is 3 Nephi 20 and 21 when Jesus himself is speaking. With "complex" I mean that you don't just memorize some Bible verses and dictate it on the fly. This post will focus on 3 Nephi 20. 3 Nephi 21 will be evaluated in a later post. In 3 Nephi 20:11, Jesus reminds the people of an Isaiah passage he said would be fulfilled in 3 Nephi 16:17 about the gathering of Israel. He elaborates on this over the next few chapters and from verse 16 and on, he begins to quote several Old Testament passages in between his own words. The color coding represents a match or close match with a passage in the Bible.
Book of Mormon
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Bible
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Reference
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16 Then shall
ye, who are a remnant of
the house of Jacob,
go forth among them;
and ye shall be in the
midst of them who shall be many; and ye shall be among them as a lion among the beasts of
the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth
through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
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8 And the remnant of
Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as
a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a
young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through,
both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
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Micah 5:8-9
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17 Thy hand shall be lifted
up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
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9 Thine hand shall be
lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
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18 And I
will gather my people together as a man gathereth his sheaves into the floor.
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12 But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand
they his counsel: for he
shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
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Micah 4:12-13
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19 For I will make my people with whom the Father hath
covenanted, yea, I will
make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass. And thou
shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain
unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. And behold, I am he who doeth it.
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13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy
hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I
will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance
unto the Lord of the whole earth.
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20 And it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that
the sword of my justice shall hang over them at that day; and
except they repent it shall fall upon them, saith the Father, yea, even upon
all the nations of the Gentiles.
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21 And it shall come to pass that I will establish my people, O
house of Israel.
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22 And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto
the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob;
and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven
shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the
midst of you.
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23 Behold, I am he of whom Moses spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord
your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear
in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that
every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the
people.
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15 The Lord thy
God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of
thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
…
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among
their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth;
and he shall speak unto
them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. |
Deuteronomy 18:15,19
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24 Verily I say unto you, yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those
that follow after, as many as have spoken, have testified of me.
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Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow
after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
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Acts 3:24 (!)
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25 And behold, ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are
of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father
made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the
earth be blessed.
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and
in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
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Genesis 12:3
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26 The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me
to bless you in turning away every one of you from his
iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant—
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27 And after that ye were blessed then fulfilleth the Father the
covenant which he made with Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the
earth be blessed—unto the pouring out of the Holy Ghost through
me upon the Gentiles, which blessing upon
the Gentiles shall make them mighty above all, unto
the scattering of my people, O house of Israel.
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and
in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
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Genesis 12:3
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28 And they shall be a scourge unto the people of this land.
Nevertheless, when they shall have received the fulness of my gospel, then if
they shall harden their hearts against me I will return their iniquities upon their own
heads, saith the Father.
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I
will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the
Lord God
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Ezekiel 11:21
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29 And I will remember the covenant which I have made with my
people; and I have covenanted with them that I would gather them
together in mine own due time, that I would give unto them again
the land of their fathers for their inheritance, which is the land
of Jerusalem, which is the promised land unto them forever, saith the Father.
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30 And it shall come to pass that the time cometh, when the fulness of
my gospel shall be preached unto them;
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31 And they shall believe in me, that I am Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, and shall pray unto the Father in my name.
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32 Then shall
their watchmen lift
up their voice, and with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall
see eye to eye.
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8 Thy watchmen shall
lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they
shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring
again Zion.
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Isaiah 52:8
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33 Then will the Father gather them together again, and give unto
them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance.
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34 Then shall they break
forth into joy—Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the
Father hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
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9 Break forth into joy,
sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his
people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
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Isaiah 52:8-9
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35 The Father hath made
bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the
earth shall see the salvation of the Father; and the
Father and I are one.
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10 The Lord hath
made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of
our God.
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36 And then shall be brought to pass that which is written: Awake, awake again, and put on
thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy
city, for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and
the unclean.
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1 Awake, awake; put on
thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into
thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
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Isaiah 52:1-3
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37 Shake thyself from the
dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
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2 Shake thyself from
the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy
neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
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38 For thus saith the Lord:
Ye have sold yourselves for naught, and ye shall be redeemed without money.
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3 For thus saith the Lord, Ye
have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed
without money.
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39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that my people shall know my name; yea, in that day they
shall know that I am he that doth speak.
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6 Therefore my
people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in
that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
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Isaiah 52:6-7
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40 And then shall they say: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of
him that bringeth good tidings unto them, that publisheth peace;
that bringeth good tidings unto them of good, that publisheth salvation; that
saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!
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7 How beautiful upon
the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that
publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
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41 And then shall a cry go forth: Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch
not that which is unclean; go ye out of the midst of her; be
ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.
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11 Depart ye, depart ye, go
ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go
ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels
of the Lord.
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Isaiah 52:11-15
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42 For ye shall not
go out with haste nor go by flight; for the Lord will go
before you, and the God of Israel shall be your rearward.
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12 For ye shall not go out
with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before
you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward.
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43 Behold, my servant shall
deal prudently; he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
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13 Behold,
my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and
extolled, and be very high.
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44 As many were astonished
at thee—his visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than
the sons of men—
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14 As many
were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than
any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
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45 So shall
he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him,
for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had
not heard shall they consider.
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15 So shall
he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him:
for that which had not been told them shall they see;
and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
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46 Verily, verily, I say unto you, all these things shall surely come,
even as the Father hath commanded me. Then shall this covenant which the
Father hath covenanted with his people be fulfilled; and then
shall Jerusalem be inhabited again with my people, and it shall be
the land of their inheritance.
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Some reflections:
- I find it interesting that Jesus is quoting prophets so liberally. He seems to be demonstrating that their words are as good as his since he revealed it to them in the first place.
- He doesn't quote chronologically. Micah 5 is quoted before Micah 4. Isaiah 52:8-9 is quoted before Isaiah 52:1-3, etc. Still, the text is coherent.
- The text displays a deep knowledge of the Old Testament. Try preparing a coherent and meaningful talk for sacrament meeting where half of it is various Old Testament passages interspersed. Not big enough of a challenge? OK, try dictating the words to a scribe on the fly instead without manuscript. For me, it's another one of many examples where the Book of Mormon text itself indicates that it was written by someone with a lot of time and notes and not Joseph Smith.
- One of the quotes is actually from the New Testament. Acts 3:24 is the Chapter after the day of of Pentacost, probably not too long after. We know from 3rd Nephi 8:5 and 10:18 that Christ visited the Americas almost a year after his death. The Day of Pentacost was 50 days after his resurrection. This means that Peter had presumably already uttered these words when Christ repeated them to the Nephites, although they probably hadn't been written down yet, at least not in the Book of Acts as we have it. Just a little oddity.