Friday, April 10, 2020

Zenos and Enos

While I was studying Alma 33, I came across an interesting similarity between the life of Enos (son of Jacob) and the Zenos passage Alma-2 quotes to the poor Zoramites, regarding prayer:



4 For he said: Thou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was in the wilderness; yea, thou wast merciful when I prayed concerning those who were mine enemies, and thou didst turn them to me.
5 Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my field; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me. (Alma 33)

Compare the highlighted parts of that passage with these details from the story of Enos:



3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; ...

11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.
12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith.
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 by any means be destroyed, 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— ...
16 And I had faith, and I did cry unto God that he would preserve the records; and he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time.
17 And I, Enos, knew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest. (Enos 1) 

Not sure exactly what to make of this similarity. Is it possible that Enos, as a record-keeper, knew of this passage from Zenos and tailored his writing to mirror these words?  Perhaps.