Another side note about "No one knoweth"

This post is designed to point out a curious connection between Alma's sermon to the apostate Nephites in Ammonihah and usage of the phrase "no one knows" in the Book of Mormon.  As I outlined in this post, "no one knows/knoweth" occurs only 5 times in the entire Book of Mormon, in four passages:

1. Alma 40 (twice), in the context of no one but God knowing the timing of the end of the misery of those who died in their sins.
2. Helaman 2, in the context of the origin of secret combinations aimed at destroying the Nephites through secret works of murder and robbery.
3. 3 Nephi 5, in the context of no one in Jerusalem knowing that the Lord led Lehi out of the land.
4. Mormon 8, where Moroni goes out of his way to point out that "no one knoweth the end of the war."  

Curiously, several of these context appear at the start of Alma's sermon in Ammonihah, found in Alma 9, right before he warns the people they will be "visited with utter destruction" "in a time when [they] know not." I've color-coded the relevant parts above and below.

9 Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the hand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?
10 And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he delivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?
11 Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his long-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of endless misery and woe. (Alma 9)

Of course this could be a complete coincidence, but I've learned to trust that this book is capable of teaching really important lessons to those who open their heart to learn from it, so I'm making this note and paying attention to this detail as I continue to study. 

"No one knoweth" -- Part 1

Please read this post to learn how and why I began this deep dive into Mormon 8:8.

To summarize my hypothesis, I believe Moroni points to covenant themes three times in the second half of Mormon 8:8, in a display of just how tightly and subtly the aithors of the Book of Mormon embedded additional layers of meaning into the text.

8 And behold, it is the hand of the Lord which hath done it. And behold also, the Lamanites are at war one with another; 

1. and the whole face of this land 
2. is one continual round of murder and bloodshed; 
3. and no one knoweth the end of the war.

This post will outline how the phrase "no one knoweth" (and similar variants) is used intentionally to point our minds to the Nephites' covenant with God.  In part 2, we'll look at "no one knoweth" and "great knowledge" as a pair of contrasting covenant elements.

As I studied Moroni's dark contrast between "one continual round of murder and bloodshed" with examples of a similar phrase ("the Lord's course is one eternal round"), I wondered if I could find more evidence to support my growing suspicion that this contrast was intentional. I believe I succeeded.

I turned my attention to the phrase that follows: "no one knoweth the end of the war" and searched for every instance of "no one" and "know/knoweth/knew" showing up in the same sentence. I was surprised to find only five instances. I had assumed it would be much more common. I was further surprised to find that among those five examples were three distinct contexts related to aspects of the Nephites that contributed to their eventual fall.  In other words, "no one knows" seems to be a key phrase intended to remind us of the unique covenant circumstances in which the Nephites existed.

Context #1 -- The establishment of the Lehite branch of Israel

This first context is probably the weakest in terms of its direct connection to Mormon 8:8, but as we'll see by the end of this post, it sets the stage for the other contexts.

In 3 Nephi 5, Mormon writes:

20 I am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi. I have reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ, that he brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, (and no one knew it save it were himself and those whom he brought out of that land) and that he hath given me and my people so much knowledge unto the salvation of our souls.
21 Surely he hath blessed the house of Jacob, and hath been merciful unto the seed of Joseph. (3 Nephi 5)

A righteous remnant of the covenant people escaped the destruction that came to those in Jerusalem according to the mercy of God.  This is foundational Nephite doctrine, an essential part of their origin story. We find it referenced repeatedly through the Book of Mormon. "No one knew" but God and those whom he had blessed.  Notice how the idea that "no one knew" in verse 20 is immediately enhanced further with the acknowledgement that God gave the Nephites "so much knowledge unto the salvation of [their] souls." 

We can certainly contrast the fact that "no one knew" the origin of the Nephites with the description of the war that caused the "great and marvelous fall," the end of which "no one knows." As we'll see, the importance of this phrase grows when we look at the other contexts it is used in the Book of Mormon.

Context #2 -- Secret works of darkness

Another example of "no one knoweth" is found in Helaman 2:

3 But behold, Kishkumen, who had murdered Pahoran, did lay wait to destroy Helaman also; and he was upheld by his band, who had entered into a covenant that no one should know his wickedness.
4 For there was one Gadianton, who was exceedingly expert in many words, and also in his craft, to carry on the secret work of murder and of robbery; therefore he became the leader of the band of Kishkumen. (Helaman 2)

In this passage, we learn that the fundamental purpose of entering into this secret covenant was to conceal the "secret work of murder and of robbery."  Kishkumen murdered Pahoran and "did lay wait to destroy Helaman," supported by a band ready to protect him, "that no one should know his wickedness." 

Isn't it ironic, then, that this secret combination ultimately brought about the destruction of the Nephites and subjected those who remained ("there are none save it be the Lamanites and robbers that do exist upon the face of the land") end up locked in a war, the end of which "no one knoweth?"  

Context #3 -- The timing of the resurrection of the dead

Concerning the eternal fate of the fallen Nephites, we find one additional lesson by looking at uses of the phrase "no one knoweth." In Alma 40:3-4 at the start of a passage about the resurrection of the dead, Alma-2 introduces the topic by writing about the mysteries of God:

3 Behold, he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead. But behold, my son, the resurrection is not yet. Now, I unfold unto you a mystery; nevertheless, there are many mysteries which are kept, that no one knoweth them save God himself. But I show unto you one thing which I have inquired diligently of God that I might know—that is concerning the resurrection.
4 Behold, there is a time appointed that all shall come forth from the dead. Now when this time cometh no one knows; but God knoweth the time which is appointed.

Just a few verses later we read:

13 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.
14 Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.

From these verses (I've highlighted in yellow the relevant text to make it easier to find in the passage above), we learn:

1. No one knows the timing of the resurrection of the dead but God.
2. Until their resurrection, the spirits of the wicked are "in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them."
3. They remain in this state "until the time of their resurrection."

If we combine what we learn here with Mormon 8:8, we can see how the phrase "no one knows" is meant to point our minds to the state of the fallen Nephites. Rather than keeping God's commandments and thereby prospering in the land, as was promised to them many times (see Alma 37:13 above as one example), the Nephites rebelled and fell. Their promised land fell into "one continual round of murder and bloodshed." Furthermore, just as their spirits are "in darkness" until a time "no one knows," the Nephite lands have fallen into war. "And no one knoweth the end of the war."

"And behold, it is the hand of the Lord which hath done it."

Chilling.

Conclusion

When I undertake a study like this, I can't help but ask myself if this is all just a coincidence.  In this case, I feel confident concluding it is not.  Here's why:

1. "No one knows" is rarely used in the Book of Mormon, with only five total occurrences. 
2. In my experience, the more unique a phrase is, the more likely its use is intentional by the author, especially when the context aligns.
3. The context of every occurrence aligns.  
• In Alma 40, the context is the fate of wicked spirits who await the resurrection to bring an end to their awful state.
• In Helaman 2, the context is the origin of secret combinations among the Nephites, with a focus on their goal of murdering the righteous Nephite leaders.
• In 3 Nephi 5, the context is a fundamental component of the origin of the Nephites -- that their fathers were led out of the land by God without anyone else knowing.
• In Mormon 8, right after Moroni goes out of his way to point out that God brought about the fall of the Nephites because of their rebellion, he points out that no one knows the end of the war. It's poetic and poignant, but incredibly subtle.

In the next post, I'll show how "no one knows" complements "great knowledge" to create yet another contrasting pair of covenant terms. 

Fear and secret works

Mormon subtly connects "fear" and "secret works." Interestingly, this connection is only present in parts of the Book of Mormon authored by Mormon.  See the table below. Nephi does not seem to do this, nor Jacob, Alma-2 or Moroni, even though each of them mentions "secret works."

In the table below, the line is colored green if both "fear" and "secret works" are mentioned together and red if "secret works" is mentioned without "fear." Notice which author consistently connects these two concepts.

Reference	Author	Fear?	“Secret works”
Alma 37	Alma-2	N/A	21, 23, 25
Helaman 2	Mormon	11: “he feared lest that he should be destroyed;”	4
Helaman 8	Mormon	4: “for they feared the people lest they should cry out against them.”; 10 (x2): “those people who sought to destroy Nephi were compelled because of their fear...insomuch that the remainder of them did fear.”	4
Helaman 10	Mormon	4: “thou hast not feared them,”	3
Helaman 11	Mormon	32: “they did cause great fear to come unto the people upon all the face of the land.”	2 (secret band); 10/26 (secret plans); 25 (secret places, murder, plunder); 28 (work of destruction);
3 Nephi 3	Mormon	12: "this Lachoneus...could not be frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a robber"; 16: “the words and prophecies of Lachoneus ...did cause fear to come upon all the people”; 25: “they did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus,”	7, 9
Mormon 8	Moroni	N/A	27 (secret combinations and the works of darkness)
Ether 8	Moroni	N/A	18 (secret combinations)
2 Nephi 9	Jacob	40: “The righteous fear [the words of truth] not” -- completely different context 31 verses later.	9 (secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.)
2 Nephi 10	Jacob	N/A	15 (secret works of darkness)
2 Nephi 26	Nephi	N/A	22 (works of darkness)
2 Nephi 30	Nephi	N/A	17 (work of darkness)

It is interesting to note how the concept of "fear" gets worked into the text in a variety of contexts when Mormon mentions the secret works, as if he does this on purpose to teach us to connect these secret works with fear:

In Helaman 2, Gadianton fears when Kishkumen did not return from a planned secret murder of Helaman, the chief judge.

In Helaman 8, the corrupt judges feared the people who seemed to be believing the words of Nephi. They were compelled because of their fear not to lay their hands on him.

In Helaman 10, a voice comforts Nephi as he is "much cast down" while pondering the secret works of darkness of the people. The voice tells him he is "blessed" because he "[has] not feared them."

In Helaman 11, the growing numbers of the robbers were able to "defy the whole armies of the Nephites, and also of the Lamanites."  This caused "great fear to come unto the people."

In 3 Nephi 3, the people face a serious threat from the robbers.  Their righteous leader Lachoneus "could not be frightened by ... a robber." He tells the people what they must do in order to stay safe. His "words and prophecies" caused fear to come upon the people. They feared his words. (Later in 3 Nephi 4, when the robbers come to battle against these righteous, prepared Nephites, this happens:

8 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of Giddianhi, had all fallen to the earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.
9 And it came to pass that when the armies of Giddianhi saw this they began to shout with a loud voice, because of their joy, for they had supposed that the Nephites had fallen with fear because of the terror of their armies.
10 But in this thing they were disappointed, for the Nephites did not fear them; but they did fear their God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord they did receive them. (3 Nephi 4)

This is a very interesting spectrum of treatments of the words fear.  We learn several important lessons, right up to the most important lesson -- we should fear God, not man, and certainly not secret works of darkness.

Internal Consistency regarding things to come

The author of the Book of Mormon must have had extensive notes and a lot of time to plan the text. How else can we explain how he knows what is going to come in the later chapters?

Here is an example, from Helaman 2:

12 And more of this Gadianton shall be spoken hereafter. And thus ended the forty and second year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
13 And behold, in the end of this book ye shall see that this Gadianton did prove the overthrow, yea, almost the entire destruction of the people of Nephi.
14 Behold I do not mean the end of the book of Helaman, but I mean the end of the book of Nephi, from which I have taken all the account which I have written.

These are called editorial promises, and there are many of them throughout the book.  I'll highlight two editorial promises in this post.

Mormon's editorial promise about Gadianton

Notice the wording in verse 13: "this Gadianton did prove the overthrow, yea, almost the entire destruction of the people of Nephi."

This is a perfect opportunity for Joseph Smith to accidentally insert a big plot hole into the book.  If he had merely left out the word "almost", we'd have to explain how Mormon, who is killed 96 chapters later (prior to the entire destruction of the Nephites), knew the full extent of the damage Gadianton would do.

By including the word "almost" in the sentence, Mormon reflects an accurate understanding of the effect of Gadianton up to the time of writing, leaving it to Moroni to describe the brutal end of the Nephites.  It's a subtle detail, but a very important one, and the Book of Mormon gets it right.

I believe Mormon had an outline. He reviewed all the records than decided what to include in his record.

In some cases, he included the record word-for-word, such as Alma-2's instructions to his sons found in Alma 36-42 or Moroni's epistle to Pahoran in Alma 60.

Some records he merely summarized, such as the period of wickedness leading up to the massive destruction at the time of Christ's death.

Other events he left out completely. He gives us a long list of what he is leaving out in Helaman 3:

14 But behold, a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the account of the Lamanites and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contentions, and dissensions, and their preaching, and their prophecies, and their shipping and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues and their sanctuaries, and their righteousness, and their wickedness, and their murders, and their robbings, and their plundering, and all manner of abominations and whoredoms, cannot be contained in this work.
15 But behold, there are many books and many records of every kind, and they have been kept chiefly by the Nephites.

A detail like this one would be really hard to keep track of by a person who is attempting to dictate the book in a single draft without notes.

An editorial promise made by Mormon and fulfilled by Moroni

Mormon's outline seems to include a list of what he had promised to include. When he died in battle prior to completing the work, his son Moroni took over.

I believe Moroni was able to complete the record by reviewing the outline and list his father had kept. This brings us to the second editorial promise I'd like to discuss in this post--an example of Moroni fulfilling an editorial promise made by his father. (Many thanks to Stisa for pointing this one out to me.) 

In 3 Nephi 18:36-37, we read about Jesus Christ touching the disciples to give them the power to give the Holy Ghost:

36 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of these sayings, he touched with his hand the disciples whom he had chosen, one by one, even until he had touched them all, and spake unto them as he touched them.
37 And the multitude heard not the words which he spake, therefore they did not bear record; but the disciples bare record that he gave them power to give the Holy Ghost. And I will show unto you hereafter that this record is true.

The bold words above explain what happened.  The italics tell us that the multitude did not hear what Christ spoke to them.  The underlined words contain the editorial promise.

In Moroni 2 (39 chapters later), we read the fulfillment of this promise:

1 The words of Christ, which he spake unto his disciples, the twelve whom he had chosen, as he laid his hands upon them—
2 And he called them by name, saying: Ye shall call on the Father in my name, in mighty prayer; and after ye have done this ye shall have power that to him upon whom ye shall lay your hands, ye shall give the Holy Ghost; and in my name shall ye give it, for thus do mine apostles.
3 Now Christ spake these words unto them at the time of his first appearing; and the multitude heard it not, but the disciples heard it; and on as many as they laid their hands, fell the Holy Ghost.

In my opinion this example is powerful evidence that the author had notes and time. In my opinion, a good theory for how we got the Book of Mormon text will account for this type of detail.  The theory espoused by believers accounts for this in a pretty simple way--Mormon was the author and he had a lot of notes and a lot of time. Naturalistic theories fall short.