Jesus' clothing and the temple

Learning about ancient temple practice and theology, I tend to view things through that lens these days. I wrote previously about the veil and its symbolism. The veil in the first temple was woven from four different colors representing the four elements, which the visible world was thought to consist of. It concealed the glory of God and represented matter, the visible creation. The vestment of the high priest was made of the exact same fabric and represented incarnation. Even though they look differently today, some may notice the similarities that exist between the veil and sacred clothing.

Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered through the veil into the holy of holies. Before he did that, he took off his vestment and changed to a special white linen garment that was only to be worn in the holy of holies. This was the clothing of angels. He did not wear the colored vestment anymore representing incarnation, because he passed into the eternal realms. In the first temple period, the high priest who did all this was also king, representing the Messiah.

Considering all this, I find striking parallels to Jesus' transition through the veil on his "Day of Atonement". The letter to the Hebrews argues that Jesus was a true high priest after the order of Melchizedek, the first priest-king in the ancient temple tradition. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, we see evidence of that.

35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
36 And sitting down they watched him there;
37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Jesus, the king and high priest was about to complete the atonement. He was stripped of his garment, just like the high priest in the temple took off the vestment. The greek word used here in Matthew is 'himation' meaning an outer garment. Jesus had a name or title written over his head. Similarly, the high priest in the temple wore a golden seal on his forehead with the sacred name written on it.

Some verses later, we read

50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent

Here is the transition. Jesus leaves the mortal world and the veil rends to let him through into the holy of holies. Even though his body is lifeless at this point, it will soon come to life again in the first case of a glorious resurrection beyond the veil. To prepare his body for that, Joseph from Arimathæa takes his body and wraps it in fine linen.

59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth

The greek word here is 'sindoni'. This is fine bleached linen, comparable to the garment that the high priest in the temple wore inside the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement. The clothing-temple symbolism doesn't end there. In her book, "Temple Theology", Margaret Barker explains

Most remarkable of all is the description found in 2 Enoch, where Enoch the high priest figure has ascended through the heavens to stand before the throne. The Lord summons Michael to remove Enoch's earthly clothing - the symbol of his mortal body - and to dress him in the garments of glory - the symbol of the resurrection body.

When Jesus appears to the Nephites after his resurrection and ascension into heaven, we read

And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them. (3 Nephi 11:8)

This white robe reminds us of the garment of glory that Enoch received that represented the resurrection, especially a few chapters later when his garments are described as shiny white.

And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof. (3 Nephi 19:25)

"There could be nothing upon the earth so white" indicates a heavenly condition beyond the veil. Both the countenance and garments of Jesus had this whiteness and it infected the disciples that he "smiled upon". I just learned from this blog that this verse in fact was the fulfillment of the so-called priestly blessing ("birkat kohanim") that we read in Numbers 6:23-27

23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

This was to be done by the sons of Aaron, the priests in the tabernacle/temple. In 3 Nephi, Jesus was now the priest-king who had passed through the veil, resurrected and dressed in the white garment of glory. He came to his people to give them this blessing and His name, the name that high priests in the temple traditionally had worn. Figuratively, his disciples became temple priests too and were allowed to enter with Jesus into the holy of holies.

Ancient temple theology in the Book of Mormon

In my last post, I wrote about the veil and its symbolism. Learning more about the first temple and associated theology from Margaret Barker's Book, "Temple theology", I find it remarkable how well it matches temple imagery in the Book of Mormon. I mentioned in my last post that the first temple mirrored the creation account. This is one aspect of the creation-covenant connection that Lord Wilmore (the other blogger for those who are new to this blog) has posted extensively about. I also mentioned that the veil reflected the second day of creation. The holy of holies or the inner sanctuary of the temple, reflected the first day of creation. According to Barker

In the second temple, it was empty, yet the mystical and apocalyptic texts from that period were set in a richly furnished holy place, a place of fire where the great Holy One was enthroned before countless angels.

This can be seen in the Book of Enoch. In chapter 14, Enoch, a high priestly figure, has a vision

the vision caused me to fly and lifted me upward, and bore me into heaven

Here he enters into a heavenly temple 

And its floor was of fire, and above it were lightnings and the path ¹⁸ of the stars, and its ceiling also was flaming fire. And I looked and saw therein a lofty throne: its appearance was as crystal, and the wheels thereof as the shining sun, and there was the vision of ¹⁹ cherubim. And from underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire so that I could not look ²⁰ thereon. And the Great Glory sat thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than the sun and ²¹ was whiter than any snow.

When Barker argues that Enoch's vision reflects ancient temple practice, it's very natural to conclude the same for Lehi

8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.
9 And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day.
10 And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament. (1 Nephi 1)

The context is also interesting. Lehi was a prophet living in Jerusalem born in the mid-7th BC century, a few decades prior to the deuteronomic reform. I will not go into that in detail here, but this article provides more context. The main point is that Lehi probably came from the high priestly first temple tradition that Barker writes about. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that the Nephite temples and theology corresponded to the high priestly theology associated with the first temple. In 2 Nephi 5:16, Nephi built a temple and wrote that he "did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon".

With this background, I came to the surprising realization of a possible temple setting for King Lamoni's story. I touched upon this in a previous post with the heaven-earth theme but without making the temple connection. Since the holy of holies reflects the first day of creation, the creation of "heaven and earth", we naturally associate it with the "heaven" part and the light that was created on the first day.

To recap briefly, in Alma 18, Ammon makes an allusion to the creation account when he asks King Lamoni if he believes in God who "created all things which are in heaven and in the earth". Lamoni responds that he only knows the earth but is not familiar with heaven. In a temple context, the veil has blocked Lamoni's view of the holy of holies. He has not walked the covenant path through the temple that ultimately will allow him to enter, as I describe in the previous post that I linked to.

But this all changes at his conversion. In Alma 19:6, we read:

Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God

This seems like a temple setting. King Lamoni, who knew nothing about heaven (holy of holies) because of the veil, had the veil cast away from his mind. It permitted him to see the light that was created on the first day and that the holy of holies in Nephite temples would represent. Notice also the "glory of God" that was the name Enoch used in his temple vision quoted above. In my previous post, I also quoted Barker's statement about "those who passed beyond the veil [who] found themselves outside time". This is the "light of everlasting life" that was lit up in Lamoni's soul. "Carried away" is another covenant/temple marker as Lord Wilmore explains in this post.

My guess is that an "endowed" Nephite reading this, would immediately recognize the temple allusions here as the author probably intended. Who knows, perhaps Lamoni, the king and first Lamanite convert, went on to become a high priest in a temple in the land of Jershon?

Messengers and Angels in the Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon makes little distinction between messengers and angels.  This is fitting, since the Hebrew word can mean either.

מֲלְאָךְ "malak"

1 messenger,

• a. one sent with a message
• b. a prophet.
• c. priest.
• d. a messenger from God acting as an interpreter and declaring what is right.

2 angel, as messenger of God, 

3 the theophanic angel 

(Source link)

The Book of Mormon contains numerous examples of prophets playing the role of messenger, a tradition which fits in with the High Priestly tradition later suppressed in the Old Testament by the Deuteronomic tradition, which focused more on the law of Moses.  (Interestingly, a similar theological struggle is happening today between those Christians who believe the word of God has already been given and no more is needed, and those who believe in modern revelation given to mankind through divinely called prophets.)

Take for example Alma-2, who experienced a visitation from an angel of God and spoke about it often throughout the rest of his life, using words like these:

7 But behold, the Lord in his great mercy sent his angel to declare unto me that I must stop the work of destruction among his people; yea, and I have seen an angel face to face, and he spake with me, and his voice was as thunder, and it shook the whole earth. (Alma 38)

In her book Temple Theology, Margaret Barker points out a unique passage in 2 Enoch, where Enoch is brought to stand before God and given a divine commission:

2 Thus (in a moment of eternity) I saw the Lord's face, but the Lord’s face is ineffable, marvellous and very awful, and very, very terrible.
...
4 And I fell prone and bowed down to the Lord, and the Lord with his lips said to me:
5 Have courage, Enoch, do not fear, arise and stand before my face into eternity.
6 And the archistratege Michael lifted me up, and led me to before the Lord’s face.
7 And the Lord said to his servants tempting them: Let Enoch stand before my face into eternity, and the glorious ones bowed down to the Lord, and said: Let Enoch go according to Your word.
8 And the Lord said to Michael: Go and take Enoch from out (of) his earthly garments, and anoint him with my sweet ointment, and put him into the garments of My glory.
9 And Michael did thus, as the Lord told him. He anointed me, and dressed me, and the appearance of that ointment is more than the great light, and his ointment is like sweet dew, and its smell mild, shining like the sun’s ray, and I looked at myself, and (I) was like (transfigured) one of his glorious ones. (2 Enoch 22)

Barker points out the following about this passage:

The LORD summons Michael to remove Enoch's earthly clothing -- the symbol of his mortal body -- and to dress him in the garments of glory -- the symbol of the resurrection body. Enoch is then anointed with a fragrant myrrh oil and sees himself transformed into an angel. (Temple Theology, p. 57)

The connection to our modern temple worship is quite obvious, but something else caught my attention, too. I see a symbolic "rebirth" happening as Enoch is given a glorious garment to represent his glorious resurrection.

You can imagine that if a similar garment was worn by the Nephites and symbolized their devotion to the everlasting covenant, taking off the garment (becoming "naked") would have been a very big deal.

Also, the pattern established in this passage fits precisely with a pattern we see in the Book of Mormon, particularly in the case of Alma-2. There is a heavenly vision, a "falling down" in fear, a command to arise, and then a fearless proclaiming of the Gospel for the rest of his days.

Notice what Alma teaches immediately upon "arising" after a period of lifelessness, and notice that the fear he had prior to his collapse is completely gone. He speaks of a new birth:

23 And it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed for the space of two days and two nights, the limbs of Alma received their strength, and he stood up and began to speak unto them, bidding them to be of good comfort:
24 For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.
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;
26 And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. (Mosiah 27)

In the Book of Moses we read Enoch's own words on the same topic (including a description of Adam's questions to God about the need for baptism and an account of Adam's baptism):

58 Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, saying:
59 That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory; ...68 Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. (Moses 6)

It makes me wonder if Alma had the same experience Enoch had, or something very similar.

"Before the foundation of the world" in the Book of Enoch

One very important aspect of the plan of salvation is that it was prepared from the beginning, before the foundation of the world. Recently I've begun to appreciate how significant this doctrine really is. The great plan of redemption is not a backup plan, it is the plan. The entire purpose of creation centers around this plan.

This truth is taught plainly in the Book of Mormon.

King Benjamin taught it:

6 I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—
7 I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world. (Mosiah 4)

Alma-1 referenced it in his baptismal prayer:

13 And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world. (Mosiah 18)

Alma-2 taught it:

25 Now, if it had not been for the plan of redemption, which was laid from the foundation of the world, there could have been no resurrection of the dead; but there was a plan of redemption laid, which shall bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, of which has been spoken.
...
30 And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works. (Alma 12)

There are other examples, too.

In the Book of Enoch, we get a description of Enoch's vision of "the Son of Man" being prepared before the foundation of the world to be "a fountain of righteousness" and "the light of nations."

1. In that place I beheld a fountain of righteousness, which never failed, encircled by many springs of wisdom. Of these all the thirsty drank, and were filled with wisdom, having their habitation with the righteous, the elect, and the holy.
2. In that hour was this Son of man invoked before the Lord of spirits, and his name in the presence of the Ancient of days.
3. Before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of heaven were formed, his name was invoked in the presence of the Lord of spirits. A support shall he be for the righteous and the holy to lean upon, without falling; and he shall be the light of nations.
4. He shall be the hope of those whose hearts are troubled. All, who dwell on earth, shall fall down and worship before him; shall bless and glorify him, and sing praises to the name of the Lord of spirits.
5. Therefore the Elect and the Concealed One existed in his presence, before the world was created, and for ever. (1 Enoch 48)

Here we have yet another connection between the Book of Enoch and the Book of Mormon, supporting the idea that some version of this text was present on the Brass Plates, and that the priesthood tradition of the Nephites more closely followed the High Priest/prophetic tradition than the Deuteronomic tradition we find in the Old Testament.

A possible link between Creation-Covenant Connection, the Book of Enoch, and the Nephite destruction

In this post I outlined a Hebrew connection between "creation" and "covenant."

In the Book of Enoch (an apocryphal book which was considered scripture in Old Testament times and by the early Christians) we find a passage which outlines this "creation-covenant connection" pretty clearly. Notice the elements of the physical creation, listed in great detail. At several points (highlighted in red) the text specifically indicates that the elements are kept in check "through the oath." Notice also that at the end of this excerpt there is a specific mention of sinners being destroyed from the face of the Earth (highlighted in yellow):

16. And these are the secrets of this oath, and they are strong through this oath, and Heaven was suspended, before the world was created, and forever.
17. And through it the earth was founded upon the water, and from the hidden recesses of the mountains come beautiful waters, from the creation of the world and for ever.
18. And through that oath the sea was created, and as its foundation, for the time of anger, he placed for it the sand, and it does not go beyond it, from the creation of the world and for ever.
19. And through that oath the deeps were made firm, and they stand and do not move from their place, from the creation of the world and for ever.
20. And through that oath the Sun and the Moon complete their course and do not transgress their command, from the creation of the world and for ever.
21. And through that oath the stars complete their course, and he calls their names, and they answer him, from the creation of the world and for ever.
22. And likewise the spirits of the water, of the winds, and of all the breezes, and their paths, according to all the groups of the spirits.
23. And there are kept the storehouses of the sound of thunder, and of the light of the lightning; and there are kept the storehouses of the hail, and the hoarfrost, and the storehouses of the mist, and the storehouses of the rain and dew.
24. And all these make their confession and give thanks in front of the Lord of Spirits and sing praises with all their power. And their food consists of all their thanksgiving and they give thanks, praise, and exalt, in the name of the Lord of Spirits, forever and ever.
25. And this oath is strong over them and through it they are kept safe and their courses are not disturbed.
26. And they had great joy and they blessed, praised, and exalted, because the name of that Son of Man had been revealed to them.
27. And he sat on the Throne of His Glory and the whole judgment was given to the Son of Man and he will cause the sinners to pass away and be destroyed from the face of the Earth. (1 Enoch 69, source link)

That's about as clear as it can get.

Here's a really interesting detail that stood out to me -- i couldn't help but notice the mention of thunder and lightning (in blue above), which reminded me of the prophecy (and later description) of the destructive elements preceding the coming of Christ to the new world (see 1 Nephi 12:4 and 3 Nephi 8:6-7). This could certainly be coincidental, but is it possible Nephi was shown in vision the same elements he would have known from the Book of Enoch?

The sins of the fallen angels and secret combinations in Ether

In this post I summarized a component of Margaret Barker's Temple Theology regarding the works of darkness taught to men in ancient times by the fallen angels.  Interestingly, amidst sins such as murder and greed, we also find cosmetics.  Huh?

A note about cosmetics

Barker notes that 1 Enoch specifically mentions "the beautifying of the eyelids" as one of these sins, and she suggests that applying cosmetics to the eyes in an effort to be alluring to the lusts of another is a corrupted form of the High Priestly tradition of anointing a son of light with "eyes to see."

A clear description of this is given in the first section of the Book of Enoch, which was an important book of scripture in Old Testament times all the way into the early Christian era:

1. And Azâzêl taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals 〈of the earth〉 and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures. 2. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. (1 Enoch 8)

Consider this in the context of a unique story in the Book of Ether with lust at its core, leading to the formation of a secret combination. What follows is a long passage. I've highlighted elements of the story connected to "the abuse of knowledge" and the sins of the fallen angels as follows:

lust, greed, secret oaths, murder

7 And now Jared became exceedingly sorrowful because of the loss of the kingdom, for he had set his heart upon the kingdom and upon the glory of the world.
8 Now the daughter of Jared being exceedingly expert, and seeing the sorrows of her father, thought to devise a plan whereby she could redeem the kingdom unto her father.
9 Now the daughter of Jared was exceedingly fair. And it came to pass that she did talk with her father, and said unto him: Whereby hath my father so much sorrow? Hath he not read the record which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old, that they by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory?
10 And now, therefore, let my father send for Akish, the son of Kimnor; and behold, I am fair, and I will dance before him, and I will please him, that he will desire me to wife; wherefore if he shall desire of thee that ye shall give unto him me to wife, then shall ye say: I will give her if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king.
11 And now Omer was a friend to Akish; wherefore, when Jared had sent for Akish, the daughter of Jared danced before him that she pleased him, insomuch that he desired her to wife. And it came to pass that he said unto Jared: Give her unto me to wife.
12 And Jared said unto him: I will give her unto you, if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king.
13 And it came to pass that Akish gathered in unto the house of Jared all his kinsfolk, and said unto them: Will ye swear unto me that ye will be faithful unto me in the thing which I shall desire of you?
14 And it came to pass that they all sware unto him, by the God of heaven, and also by the heavens, and also by the earth, and by their heads, that whoso should vary from the assistance which Akish desired should lose his head; and whoso should divulge whatsoever thing Akish made known unto them, the same should lose his life.
15 And it came to pass that thus they did agree with Akish. And Akish did administer unto them the oaths which were given by them of old who also sought power, which had been handed down even from Cain, who was a murderer from the beginning.
16 And they were kept up by the power of the devil to administer these oaths unto the people, to keep them in darkness, to help such as sought power to gain power, and to murder, and to plunder, and to lie, and to commit all manner of wickedness and whoredoms.
...
18 And it came to pass that they formed a secret combination, even as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God; (Ether 8)

It seems pretty clear to me that Moroni set up the story specifically to highlight how lust, greed, murder, and a secret oath all became intermingled, "even as they of old." I can't help but elaborate on that point.


"...even as they of old"

One last point on that note, there is a similar set of stories involving Cain and Lamech in the Book of Moses.  We've encountered numerous connections between the Book of Mormon and the Book of Moses before, and I believe this is yet another one.

Compare Ether 8:14 --

14 And it came to pass that they all sware unto him, by the God of heaven, and also by the heavens, and also by the earth, and by their heads, that whoso should vary from the assistance which Akish desired should lose his head; and whoso should divulge whatsoever thing Akish made known unto them, the same should lose his life.

...with Moses 5:29

29 And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands.

The sins of the fallen angels and the writings of Nephi

Margaret Barker's Temple Theology is packed with really interesting ideas about the worldview of the first temple. I summarized some of those ideas in my last post. I plan to spend some time systematically reviewing the major components of her thesis over the course of several posts.

Before I do that, I'd like to offer up one quick connection I found which helps shed light on secret combinations in the Book of Mormon.

In a section titled "The Abuse of Knowledge" (pp. 45-51), Barker outlines how fallen angels fit into the original temple theology.  In short, these deceivers teach fallen men in the ways of sin and shift their focus to the material world. In addition, they teach men secret oaths to hide their works of darkness. This is a corruption of the everlasting covenant (which is also hidden from plain view, but for completely different reasons). The list of sins includes making weapons and war, fornication, precious metals, jewels, pride, cosmetics (see an interesting note about that in this post), predicting the future/sorcery, etc. In other words, materialism, haughtiness, and greed.

I can't help but see these elements in Nephi's writings, specifically when he mentions secret combinations:

20 And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor.
21 And there are many churches built up which cause envyings, and strifes, and malice.
22 And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever. (2 Nephi 26)