"Divided hither and thither" -- a sermon in a phrase, part 1

My most recent post (re-)introduced a concept I recently learned about from Stisa which gives a name to a phenomenon I've noticed and blogged about in the past -- metalepsis.  In short, it's a technique used by ancient scribes to reference an older account by using key wording from that account as they tell a different story. I gave the example from Mormon 8:8, from which I unpacked four sermons last October. I ended the post by quoting Helaman 10:1 and hinting that a sermon is packed into words "divided hither and thither" in that verse.

Here is the whole verse:

1 And it came to pass that there arose a division among the people, insomuch that they divided hither and thither and went their ways, leaving Nephi alone, as he was standing in the midst of them. (Helaman 10)

This all began as a hunch on my part.  The initial thought was: "What a weird way to end a story!" The mental image of the people dividing into two groups and going their own way conjured an image of Moses parting the Red Sea.

Of course, Nephi had just finished teaching the people about the role of prophets, including a reference to Moses, so I went back and reviewed that passage:

11 Therefore he was constrained to speak more unto them saying: Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up?
12 And now behold, if God gave unto this man such power, then why should ye dispute among yourselves, and say that he hath given unto me no power whereby I may know concerning the judgments that shall come upon you except ye repent?
13 But, behold, ye not only deny my words, but ye also deny all the words which have been spoken by our fathers, and also the words which were spoken by this man, Moses, who had such great power given unto him, yea, the words which he hath spoken concerning the coming of the Messiah. (Helaman 8)

Notice the common elements between this passage and the verse above: division/parting, "one man"/"Nephi alone," two groups of people (one preserved and one destroyed)

And just before that, Mormon described how Nephi was causing two distinct reactions among the people, a group of believers and group that was hostile:

5 Therefore [the corrupt judges] did cry unto the people, saying: Why do you suffer this man to revile against us? For behold he doth condemn all this people, even unto destruction; yea, and also that these our great cities shall be taken from us, that we shall have no place in them.
6 And now we know that this is impossible, for behold, we are powerful, and our cities great, therefore our enemies can have no power over us.
7 And it came to pass that thus they did stir up the people to anger against Nephi, and raised contentions among them; for there were some who did cry out: Let this man alone, for he is a good man, and those things which he saith will surely come to pass except we repent;
8 Yea, behold, all the judgments will come upon us which he has testified unto us; for we know that he has testified aright unto us concerning our iniquities. And behold they are many, and he knoweth as well all things which shall befall us as he knoweth of our iniquities;
9 Yea, and behold, if he had not been a prophet he could not have testified concerning those things. (Helaman 8)

As I read and re-read the passage, the words "divided hither and thither" really stood out as a key connecting phrase. I looked up every instance I could find in all of the scriptures where "hither and thither" is used in connection with "divide" or something like it. Aside from the verse above (Helaman 10:1), I found four references in the Book of Mormon and two in the Old Testament. That's it. Here they are:

Old Testament

8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. (2 Kings 2)


14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. (2 Kings 2)

Book of Mormon

2 Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea. (1 Nephi 4)


26 Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great work; and ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither, and they passed through on dry ground. (1 Nephi 17)


11 Therefore he was constrained to speak more unto them saying: Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up? (Helaman 8)


8 For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God. (Helaman 12)

Aside from Mormon's more generic use of the phrase in Helaman 12 (which relates to the story it follows, for reasons I'll flesh out in a future post), the rest of these passages make reference to Nephi-2, Moses, or Elijah. Very interesting. As I read through these, I marveled at the connections between the three prophets being mentioned. Here's a rough draft of what was starting to take shape in my head:

All three had power over the elements. All three are associated with the sealing power.  Moses and Elijah were present at the Kirtland Temple dedication when important priesthood keys were restored.  All three had mysterious non-deaths (only according to latter-day scripture in the case of Moses).

What's the deeper message from all of this? Well, it seems to have a lot to do with priesthood authority and the purpose of mortality. "One man" is given power to cause a division by preaching the word of God. This results in the formation of a covenant people -- creation by division. We'll get into this in more depth in the next post.