Jacob's personality -- Part 2

Having looked for Jacob's "distinct voice" in the Book of Mormon, I am trying to get under his skin. I showed some examples in part 1. Compared to other Book of Mormon writers and the relative proportion of his writings, Jacob seems very focused on

• His anxiety for the welfare of the Nephites
• Taking his duty to preach very seriously, to avoid his garments being stained with the blood of his listeners
• The awful endless torment of the damned, the "lake of fire and brimstone"

All these three seem related somehow and they help us understand the person, Jacob. He is an anxious person and his anxiety is related to the welfare of his people. He does everything in his power to help them understand and avoid "the consequences of sin" (2 Nephi 9:48), which he describes liberally in strong symbolic terms. That is why he also takes his duty to preach so seriously.

In general, Jacob comes across as a dramatic and even a bit poetic type of person. In addition to the trends from the quotes in part 1, this side of his personality I think is reflected in statements like these:

O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster (2 Nephi 9:10)

O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust! (Jacob 2:15)

our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days (Jacob 7:26)

Add to that, Jacob is also quoting from the Book of Psalms several times in his book, which is not otherwise frequently quoted in the Book of Mormon. Perhaps Jacob was musically talented too?

There are of course too few clues to get a deep understanding of Jacob's personality and perhaps my analysis is a bit off. But I think it's an interesting exercise nonetheless. The Book of Mormon authors were real people with distinct personalities and character traits and I hope that I'm able to meet them some day and thank them for their invaluable contribution.

For more fact-based information about Jacob, this is what we know

• He was born in the wilderness after his family had fled Jerusalem, meaning he never lived in Jerusalem like his parents and older brothers. All he knew about Jerusalem was what he had heard and read
• He suffered much affliction and sorrow in his childhood because of the rudeness of his brothers (2 Nephi 2:1)
• He saw the Savior in his youth (2 Nephi 2:4 and 2 Nephi 11:3)
• After they separated from Laman, Lemuel and the others, Jacob was consecrated by Nephi a priest and teacher over the people
• The Book of Mormon says nothing about his age, but he might have lived to be very old, and possibly also had children at an old age (remarried?), since his son Enos was still alive 179 years after Lehi left Jerusalem (Enos 1:25), which would be a few years before Jacob's birth.

Jacob's personality -- Part 1

I know, it's a bold title. But I have thought about it since reading Grant Hardy's "Understanding the Book of Mormon". His book analyzes the writings of the three main authors, Nephi, Mormon and Moroni, to get under their skin. Jacob is not included but might perhaps be the fourth main author. His words are found in the Book of Jacob and 2 Nephi 6-10, except for the longer Isaiah and Zenos quotes in there.

I made a few posts a while back, pointing out "distinct Book of Mormon voices". Sometimes, certain expressions are typical for a particular Book of Mormon author. I noticed a couple of typical Jacob expressions too and I wonder if they say something about him as a person. Consider this:

Nevertheless, I speak unto you again; for I am desirous for the welfare of your souls. Yea, mine anxiety is great for you; and ye yourselves know that it ever has been. For I have exhorted you with all diligence (2 Nephi 6:3)

For because of faith and great anxiety, it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people, what things should happen unto them. (Jacob 1:5)

And ye yourselves know that I have hitherto been diligent in the office of my calling; but I this day am weighed down with much more desire and anxiety for the welfare of your souls than I have hitherto been. (Jacob 2:3)

Behold, my beloved brethren, I will unfold this mystery unto you; if I do not, by any means, get shaken from my firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of my over anxiety for you. (Jacob 4:18)

Except for these quotes by Jacob, being anxious about other people's welfare is only expressed once by Alma (Alma 13:27) and once by Lehi (2 Nephi 1:16) in the Book of Mormon, at least as far as I was able to find. Another one:

O, my beloved brethren, remember my words. Behold, I take off my garments, and I shake them before you; I pray the God of my salvation that he view me with his all-searching eye; wherefore, ye shall know at the last day, when all men shall be judged of their works, that the God of Israel did witness that I shook your iniquities from my soul, and that I stand with brightness before him, and am rid of your blood. (2 Nephi 9:44)

And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day. (Jacob 1:19)

Now, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, according to the responsibility which I am under to God, to magnify mine office with soberness, and that I might rid my garments of your sins, I come up into the temple this day that I might declare unto you the word of God. (Jacob 2:2)

Alma talks a lot about having your garments washed white in the blood of the Lamb. But the idea of not having your garments stained from the sins of the people you address, is only mentioned more than once by Jacob. We will consider a third example and then discuss in part 2 if this can help us learn something about Jacob's personality.

their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever and has no end. (2 Nephi 9:16)

For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment. (2 Nephi 9:19)

they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment (2 Nephi 9:26)

loose yourselves from the pains of hell that ye may not become angels to the devil, to be cast into that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death. (Jacob 3:11)

And according to the power of justice, for justice cannot be denied, ye must go away into that lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever, which lake of fire and brimstone is endless torment. (Jacob 6:10) 

The lake of fire and brimstone is mentioned several times in the Book of Mormon. Once by Nephi, once by Alma (and once sarcastically by the leaders in Ammonihah), once by King Benjamin and 5 times by Jacob. He keeps returning to that sea of fire and brimstone in his sermons. What do we make of all this? I will try to get to that in part 2.

The Holy one of Israel

It's nice to live in an age with digital texts and search functions, making these kinds of studies easier. I looked at the term, "the Holy one of Israel" in the scriptures. In the Old Testament, the majority of the 31 occurrences come from Isaiah. In the Book of Mormon, there is also a clear trend to be seen, as demonstrated in the below summary of all the 38 occurrences there.

"The Holy one of Israel" in the Book of Mormon
Chapter(s)	Author/voice	#Occurrences
1 Nephi 19	Nephi quoting Zenos	2
1 Nephi 20-21	Nephi quoting Isaiah	1
1 Nephi 22	Nephi commenting on Isaiah and Zenos(?)	6
2 Nephi 1	Lehi	1
2 Nephi 3	Lehi	1
2 Nephi 6	Jacob	3
2 Nephi 7-8	Jacob quoting Isaiah	0
2 Nephi 9	Jacob	12
2 Nephi 12-24	Nephi quoting Isaiah	4
2 Nephi 25-31	Nephi commenting on Isaiah and prophecying	5
Omni 1	Amaleki	2
3 Nephi 22	Jesus quoting Isaiah	1

Some observations

• One family accounts for almost all of it (Lehi, Nephi and Jacob)
• 37 of the 38 occurences are from the small plates of Nephi. The only occurence outside the small plates is Jesus quoting Isaiah in 3 Nephi.
• 33 of the 38 occurences are found in the introduction to, the quoting of or the commentary after Old Testament prophets

The trend is very clear: Nephi and Jacob have picked up this term from Isaiah and Zenos and are eager to demonstrate who the "Holy one of Israel" really is. Isaiah might as usual be a bit ambiguous and hard to understand but Nephi wants to speak plainly. 2 Nephi 25:4,7,29

for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy... But behold, I proceed with mine own prophecy, according to my plainness; in the which I know that no man can err... and Christ is the Holy One of Israel

Distinct BoM voices - "Lamb of God"

Analyses have confirmed that the Book of Mormon is written by multiple authors. Sometimes this is seen from certain expressions that are characteristic for one of the authors. "Born again" is typical for Alma as discussed here.

The "Lamb of God" is another such example. There are three Book of Mormon prophets who uses this expression. Alma uses it once, Moroni uses it once and Nephi uses it 31 times! In particular in 1st Nephi 11-14, where Nephi recounts his vision, he is using this expression a lot. One may argue that it is not always Nephi but sometimes the angel who uses this expression, but in any case it is Nephi recording the words. 

Distinct BoM voices - "Born again"

There are many examples of distinct voices in the Book of Mormon. After all, the different authors had different personalities and different approaches to the gospel. One that I just noticed is the concept of being "born again" or "born of God." We tend to associate this with many of our Christian friends in other denominations, but it is an important part of our doctrine and a more common expression in the Book of Mormon than in the Bible.

It is interesting to see where they are coming from. Of the 12 occurences in the Book of Mormon, 11 come from Alma-2. We know Alma's story and his dramatic conversion. With such an experience, the concept of being "born again" is probably more prevalent for him compared to someone who experiences this more gradually like many of the other Book of Mormon voices (presumably), Nephi, Jacob, Mormon and Moroni. Right after his experience with the angel, Alma says in Mosiah 27:25:

And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters

This becomes a common theme in his preaching: Alma 36:5, Alma 5:14, Alma 5:49, Alma 7:14 and Alma 38:6 are examples.

So what about the one use of the phrase "born again" or "born of God" that does not come from Alma? It's found in Alma 22:15 when the Lamanite king asks: "What shall I do that I may be born of God?". This concept has clearly been taught to him by Aaron. The voices of the sons of Mosiah are quite limited in the Book of Mormon, but we know they were together with Alma-2 when they were visited by the angel and converted. Consequently, they too had been "born again" in quite dramatic fashion and this probably became an important topic for them.