The Hebrew word for face would seem a quite trivial thing to make a blog post about, but I find it interesting for several reasons. Just like other body parts, face can be taken literally but also carry deeper symbolic meaning. For an ancient Jew, the face was also synonymous with "presence". This is sometimes reflected in the English translations of the Old Testament. The Hebrew word is paneh (פָנִים). For example, Psalm 95, that has been discussed many times on this blog, begins like this:
1 O come, let us unto the Lord: let us make a noise to the of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with , and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is a God, and a great above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our .
"Face" is not even mentioned once in English in these verses, but in the Hebrew text it is found twice (the bold parts). A literal translation of the bold part in verse 6 would read "kneel face Yahweh". That would make little sense in English. Knowing that the Lord's face has to do with his presence, the translators choose the preposition "before" even though there is no preposition in the Hebrew text. This is only one of very many examples, which means that whenever "paneh" is used in Hebrew in the meaning of presence, it gets a bit lost in translation.
"Before the Lord" or "paneh Yahweh" is often used in the context of bringing sacrifices to the Lord. As I have often mentioned before, the Book of Mormon frequently uses Old Testament terms in a context that seems to expand on or show a deeper meaning to the Old Testament usage. "Before the Lord" in the Book of Mormon is almost always in the context of humility. The Book of Mormon people humble themselves before the Lord. They were humble in the Lord's presence, or literally his face. Perhaps this indicates that bringing sacrifices in the temple, which by definition is in the Lord's presence, is an act of humility.
The word, "face", is also frequently used in the early chapters of Genesis. Notice the reference to the creation in verse 5 of the Psalm quoted above. There is a poetic reference to both hands and face that is lost in translation. The creation account mentions the face of the waters and the face of the earth. Searching for "face" in the Book of Mormon, I also found that the overwhelming majority of uses of this word, is in the phrase "face of the earth/land". Lord Wilmore has previously postulated that this is a covenant term, and I think he is absolutely right. I want to expand on the theme in his linked post to further demonstrate this. The Book of Mormon frequently describes the activity of a chosen covenant people on the face of the (promised) land. I am not going to quote a lot of these verses, but I find Ether 6:12 particularly interesting:
12 And they did upon the shore of the . And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his over them.
13 And it came to pass that they went forth upon the face of the land, and began to till the earth.
If the Nephite language preserved this feature from Hebrew, perhaps the "face of the land" and "before the Lord" were linked by a common word as it would be in Hebrew. This is also seen in the early chapters of Genesis. When Adam and Eve had partaken of the fruit, they
hid themselves from the presence (Hebr. paneh) of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)
Instead of humbling themselves before the face of the Lord, they hid themselves from it. This is repeated when describing the curse of Cain.When Cain's sacrifice was rejected, his countenance (Hebr. paneh) fell, as we read in Genesis 4:5. Then he murdered his brother, Abel, and was cursed.
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall me. (Genesis 4:14)
Cain was banished from the face of the earth and hidden from the face of the Lord. But how could he be driven out from the face of the earth? He would be a fugitive and vagabond, but surely he was not going to be sent to another planet(!). I think there is a deeper and profound meaning here. Temporarily, we are all on the face of mother earth that was created for us to learn and grow. Her presence lets us enjoy the bounty she can bring forth, the fruit of the tilled ground. The face of mother earth is a gateway to the face/presence of the Lord. In the context of the plan of salvation, we know this to be the case. Because of his murder and rebellion, Cain was banished from the face of the earth, who would no longer yield its strength, and thereby also excluded from the possibility to come before (the face of) the Lord.
The humble Jaredites in Ether 6:12 represent the polar opposite of that. I have recently written about a reversal of curses in the beginning of Genesis, but apparently there are layers to that. Bowing ourselves upon the face of the earth in humility, tilling the earth and bringing forth her yield as a righteous sacrifice before the Lord, leads us to his face/presence.