- Numbers 35:33
- Isaiah 24:5
- Jeremiah 3:1
- Psalm 106:38-39
- Moses 5:16-25, 35
- The Lord's Prayer as found in Matthew 6:9-13
- D&C 1:15-16
- D&C 52:14-18
- 3 Nephi 9
- Mormon 8:31,38
Old Testament
33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. (Numbers 35)
So the very first time we see this root, it shows up twice in the same verse, and it connects the righteousness of a people with the state of the land. Sin pollutes the land. This is a concept that shows up over and over again.
Next is Isaiah, in the context of describing desolation that accompanies covenant rebellion:
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. (Isaiah 24)
This is an important verse because it connects the defiled state of the earth directly to the breaking of the everlasting covenant.
Jeremiah uses the root as he compares Israel's covenant rebellion to adultery, which adds a new layer of meaning to the metaphor of the covenant relationship between Christ and the church:
1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 3)
In this verse, "greatly polluted" is translated from the Hebrew:
תֶּחֱנַ֖ף חָנ֥וֹף
"ha-no-wp te-he-nap"
This is a repeat of the same root twice in a row, the equivalent of saying "pollutedly polluted."
In Psalms, we get a pairing of "chaneph" with its companion root "tame" (as discussed in the previous post:
38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. (Psalm 106)
This passage begins by comparing covenant rebellion to child sacrifice (which I discussed in great length in this post about Ezekiel 16). We get a new idea in verse 39 which specifies the nature of this idolatry -- the people trusted in their own works and inventions rather than relying on God.
By searching the Old Testament, we've found a new layer of meaning for "chaneph." When we replace God's wisdom with something else (of our own making), we are practicing a form of idolatry which pollutes the ground (especially as this new center of our focus causes us to reject the prophets). This will play heavily in the additional scriptures we look at. But first, let's look in the Pearl of Great Price.
Pearl of Great Price
I'll move to the Book of Moses next, since it deals with ancient matters. In the story of Cain and Abel, we see a contrast between a wicked man who loved Satan more than God who makes a delayed, half-hearted offering to God for disingenuous reasons (Moses 5:18-19) and a righteous man who makes a full offering to God of the firstling of his flock, including "the fat thereof" (Moses 5:20).
Cain hearkened not to the voice of the Lord but instead said: "Who is the Lord that I should know him?" (Moses 5:16)
We know how the story goes from here. Cain is enticed by greed (Moses 5:38) into murdering his brother and entering an oath with Satan. The Lord says unto Cain:
35 ...What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood cries unto me from the ground.
36 And now thou shalt be cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand.
37 When thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. (Moses 5)
He becomes a cursed vagabond. The earth curses him such that he will not be able to receive the strength of the earth from tilling. This is a great example of the concepts surrounding "chaneph" if you ask me. The blood of the righteous pollutes the earth as it relates to the purpose of the creation itself.
New Testament
With those OT and PoGP references as a backdrop, let's revisit the Lord's Prayer and see it with new eyes:
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6)
The message here seems to be: "Lord, we worship Thee (not idols of our own invention). We seek Thy will during mortality, not our own. Today, we will strive to engage the creation righteously and ask Thee to cause it to yield its strength up to us. Help us avoid Satan's temptations to misuse our time on earth and the abundance which comes from Thee."
Doctrine and Covenants
I'll note two references here. First, in Section 1, notice how the Lord describes the state of the world:
15 For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant;
16 They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall. (D&C 1)
Verse 15 is a pretty clear reference to Isaiah 24:5. Verse 16 explains that "every man walketh in his own way." This is followed by a description of idolatry. Without ordinances, there is no covenant path to follow!
Interestingly, in the very next verse (D&C 1:17), the Lord describes this predicament as a "calamity." The solution to the calamity involves prophets and angels. (This will be the subject of part three of this series.)
The next reference from the Doctrine & Covenants is found in Section 52:14-18, where we are given a pattern to avoid deception by maintaining a contrite spirit and "obey[ing] [God's} ordinances." We are to "[tremble] under [God's] power" in order to "be made strong" and "bring forth fruits of praise and wisdom."
Book of Mormon
Ready for the grand finale of this very long post? Since this is a Book of Mormon blog, I decided to end with 3 Nephi 9. Read the entire chapter and notice how the intense destruction is framed. Christ wanted to "gather" His covenant people (see 3 Nephi 10:4-6) "and [they] would not."
The destruction in chapter 9 is a result of the rejection of the prophets (the voice of the Lord), "to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come up any more unto me against them." (3 Nephi 9:7) This concept is repeat many times in the chapter. The ground has certainly become polluted by their covenant rebellion and became a curse rather than a blessing. Those who are spared are given an invitation:
13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?
14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me. (3 Nephi 9)
In the next post, the final post in this three-part series, we will begin with Moroni's description of the "great pollutions upon the face of the earth" in our day and what we can do to maintain the perspective which will allow us to heed Christ's invitation.