Endowment Narratives in the Book of Mormon, Part 4 -- More symbols and their meaning

This has turned into a pretty long series so far, but we aren't done yet.  I hope you've enjoyed the ride.

This post will cover a few additional symbols which appear frequently in the 'endowment pattern' I've outlined in this series.  

Before I get to that, it's probably useful for us to recap what we've covered already:

In part 1, I outlined the basic story structure:

1) There is a call to leave the fallen world behind.
2) Those who heed this call find themselves cast out into the wilderness.
3) Through obedience they gradually regain the presence of the Lord and they are led to a state of rest and abundance.

I included a list of twelve symbols commonly included in the story.

In part 2a and part 2b, I detailed eight different examples of this story pattern in the Book of Mormon.

Part 3 focused on the meaning of each of these twelve symbols and how they relate to the symbolism of the endowment. (Part 3a, part 3b, and part 3c.)

Two Additional Symbols

In the process of reading and rereading these example, I noticed a few additional elements which seem to belong on the list: 'Seeds' and 'crying for mercy.'

Seeds/Grain

The symbolism of the seed is found in many of the examples I've listed. The symbolism here is pretty easy to see.  Partly, the seed "of every kind" language evokes creation imagery. Also, the seed is often likened to the word of God. In another sense, seed/grain represent domesticated plants which are useful for man, and so the same symbolism related to flocks and herds applies to seeds/grain. This helps explain why these two elements are often mentioned together.

A related symbol ("tilling the ground") is a reference to Adam and Eve and is also found immediately after Lehi and his family reach the promise land (1 Nephi 18:24) and right after Jared and his group reach the promise land (Ether 6:13). See also Mosiah 9:9.

Lehi: 

1 Nephi 8:1; 1 Nephi 18:6

Nephi:  

2 Nephi 5:11

Mosiah - Benjamin - Mosiah: 

Not found.

Limhi: 

Mosiah 23:1

Alma-1: 

• (First Pattern) Mosiah 23:1
• (Second Pattern) Mosiah 24:18

(This is very interesting. In consecutive chapters this pattern is repeated in describing two different escapes by the same group of people, and both times it describes them bringing their grain with them. That indicates to me that the grain is an important symbol.)

Anti-Nephi-Lehi: (Not found)

Jared: 

Ether 1:41

Omer: 

Ether 9:17

'Crying' or praying with 'all their heart'

I've posted on this topic in the past (here, here, and here). A person finds mercy through Christ after they cry out to God. In the covenant/endowment context, this is extremely powerful symbolism.

Lehi: 

1 Nephi 1:5 - "my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people."

Nephi:  

2 Nephi 5:1 "I, Nephi, did cry much unto the Lord my God"

Mosiah - Benjamin - Mosiah: 

Mosiah 4:2 - "they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men."

Limhi: 

Mosiah 21:14 "they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions."

Alma-1: 

(First Pattern) Mosiah 23:28 

...they hushed their fears, and began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites, that they would spare them, and their wives, and their children.

(Second Pattern) Mosiah 24:10-12

10 And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God.

11 And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death.

12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

Anti-Nephi-Lehi: 

I couldn't find a perfect fit, but Alma 22:17 describes the King of all the land crying to God.

Jared: 

38 And it came to pass that Jared spake again unto his brother, saying: Go and inquire of the Lord whether he will drive us out of the land, and if he will drive us out of the land, cry unto him whither we shall go. And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth? And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance.

39 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord according to that which had been spoken by the mouth of Jared. (Ether 1)

Omer: 

Ether 9:34 "...Now when the people saw that they must perish they began to repent of their iniquities and cry unto the Lord."

Conclusion

Now that we've added in these two details, I think our list is pretty strong.  So many common elements between these eight stories cannot be a coincidence. The creation of a new covenant people is recorded with these Adam and Eve symbols in order to tell the reader they were striving to fulfill the first commandment God gave to Adam and Eve.

In the next part, we'll look at a few additional scripture stories and see how the archetypal Adam and Eve endowment narrative follows in the stories of Christ, Moses, Abraham, Enos, Lehi's dream, and a few others. Recognizing the pattern helps us unlock additional meaning from these important stories.

April 27–May 3. Mosiah 7–10: “In the Strength of the Lord”

Here are additional resources from this blog to help you in your Come, Follow Me studies this week.

Link to the Come, Follow Me lesson.


Mosiah 7 -- Physical deliverance in the scriptures as a metaphor for spiritual deliverance, The significance of 'east', "Cunning"


Mosiah 8 -- A note about long side stories, "Dry Bones," King Mosiah as a seer


Mosiah 9 -- A story told twice, A note about transitions to first person, Consistent geography


Mosiah 10 -- "Hard Hearts" and a lack of understanding, Laman's complaints

A story told twice

The Book of Mormon sometimes describes different groups splitting or merging, creating complex storylines where we follow different groups and jump back and forth in time. Sometimes this results in the same story told twice. This is the case in Omni and Mosiah 9. I think it's a fascinating story as it is told from two different people in different situations. Here is what I have learned from studying this closely.

In the Book of Omni, Amaleki tells about Mosiah who was warned by the Lord and left the land of Nephi, along with others who would follow the Lord's commandment, found the land and people of Zarahemla and became king. He also tells about a group who left Zarahemla to go back to the land of Nephi. I have been wondering why they would be going back so soon after the Lord had warned them to leave. Then I realized it might not have been so soon. When Amaleki tells the story of Mosiah and his group he does not include himself. He never says "we". The only logical explanation is that he wasn't born yet. His father, Abinadom (Omni 1:10-11), was probably in that group but he wrote two verses and didn't mention it. My guess is that Mosiah was quite young when this happened. Amaleki was born in Zarahemla and lived there until he was old before a group wanted to return to the land of Nephi. By this time, Mosiah is dead and "Benjamin, his son, reigneth in his stead." (Omni 1:23).

Anyway, here is the story from Amaleki's perspective:

27 And now I would speak somewhat concerning a certain number who went up into the wilderness to return to the land of Nephi; for there was a large number who were desirous to possess the land of their inheritance.

28 Wherefore, they went up into the wilderness. And their leader being a strong and mighty man, and a stiffnecked man, wherefore he caused a contention among them; and they were all slain, save fifty, in the wilderness, and they returned again to the land of Zarahemla.

29 And it came to pass that they also took others to a considerable number, and took their journey again into the wilderness.

30 And I, Amaleki, had a brother, who also went with them; and I have not since known concerning them. And I am about to lie down in my grave; and these plates are full. And I make an end of my speaking.

Amaleki never heard anything about the second group that left and were it not for the fact that their leader, Zeniff, wrote a record and a few decades later the group came back to Zarahemla again, we probably wouldn't know anything either. The Book of Mormon keeps following the storyline from the Zarahemla perspective, but when King Benjamin's son, Mosiah II has reigned for 3 years, they are so curious about what happened to this group that Amaleki talks about that they there is a new expedition to find them. At the point where they meet Zeniff's grandson, Limhi, who is now a Nephite king under Lamanites rule, the Book of Mormon jumps back in time to give us the record of Zeniff.

The interesting part is that Zeniff was part of the first group what Amaleki talked about and became the leader of the second group that Amaleki's brother was part of. We get the story again from Zeniff's perspective in Mosiah 9:

1 I, Zeniff, having been taught in all the language of the Nephites, and having had a knowledge of the land of Nephi, or of the land of our fathers’ first inheritance, and having been sent as a spy among the Lamanites that I might spy out their forces, that our army might come upon them and destroy them—but when I saw that which was good among them I was desirous that they should not be destroyed.

2 Therefore, I contended with my brethren in the wilderness, for I would that our ruler should make a treaty with them; but he being an austere and a blood-thirsty man commanded that I should be slain; but I was rescued by the shedding of much blood; for father fought against father, and brother against brother, until the greater number of our army was destroyed in the wilderness; and we returned, those of us that were spared, to the land of Zarahemla, to relate that tale to their wives and their children.

3 And yet, I being over-zealous to inherit the land of our fathers, collected as many as were desirous to go up to possess the land, and started again on our journey into the wilderness to go up to the land; but we were smitten with famine and sore afflictions; for we were slow to remember the Lord our God.

4 Nevertheless, after many days’ wandering in the wilderness we pitched our tents in the place where our brethren were slain, which was near to the land of our fathers.

We learn some interesting things from Zeniff that we don't learn from Amaleki:

• The first group was an army and the intention was to attack the Lamanites and conquer the land of Nephi. Zeniff was supposed to spy out their forces. 
• Omni 1:28 talks about their stiffnecked leader and a contention. Zeniff talks about this same unnamed leader but explains that the reason for this contention was whether they should attack the Lamanites or make a treaty with them. Their leader wanted to attack and Zeniff wanted to make a treaty.
• Zeniff is "over-zealous" to inherit the land and leads another group a second time. Probably a group who agree that they will only try to make a treaty and not go to war, as there is no contention this second time
• The second group that Amaleki had heard nothing about was "smitten with famine and sore afflictions"
• The first group that had most people killed had almost come all the way to their destination as the contention started (the second group found the dead bodies of the first group close to the Land of Nephi). It makes sense because it was after Zeniff had seen "that which was good among" the Lamanites that the fighting started.

Things we learn from Amaleki that we don't learn from Zeniff:

• After the fight among the first group, there were 50 survivors. Zeniff must have been one of them.
• Amaleki had a brother who went with the second group. If I'm correct about Amaleki's father coming to the land of Zarahemla with Mosiah I, perhaps Amaleki's unnamed brother wanted to inherit the land of his father, but only on the premise of making a treaty with the Lamanites, like they intended to this second time? It doesn't seem like he was part of the first group.

It makes sense that Zeniff has more details than Amaleki as Zeniff had first hand experience, whereas Amaleki was in Zarahemla this whole time and could only write what he was told, which would give him knowledge of the first group that returned only, and not the second. 

I just wrote a post about internal consistency between Omni and Mosiah. This is another example. The remarkable part is that Joseph Smith dictated Mosiah first and Omni last, even though chronologically, Omni was first. Because of the jumping back and forth in time he also told the same story twice, but still managed to tie this all together. I'm writing this as if I believe Joseph Smith did all this, but of course I believe that he just dictated what God revealed to him and this also explains the lack of any contradictions in all this complexity. 

Transitions to First Person Voice in the Book of Mormon

Grant Hardy points out 15 distinct points in the Book of Mormon where Mormon transitions from third person voice to third person (quoting someone else directly). In each case, the distinction is very clearly demarcated and the primary source is specifically referenced, usually by saying "and these are the words which he spake" or something similar.

I find this interesting since we get a pretty long list of voices in the text to keep track of.

Here is a list of these transition points and which person is being quoted:

• Zeniff in Mosiah 9:1
• King Mosiah-2 in Mosiah 29:5
• Moroni-1 in Alma 54:5 and Alma 60:1
• Ammoron in Alma 54:16
• Helaman-2 in Alma 56:2
• Pahoran in Alma 61:2
• Giddiannhi in 3 Nephi 3:2
• King Benjamin in Mosiah 2:9
• Alma 2 in Alma 5:2, Alma 7:1, Alma 9:8, Alma 36:1, Alma 38:1, Alma 39:1

"Cunning" in the Book of Mormon

In light of the Hebrew connection between "naked" and "shrewd" or "cunning" in the word arum, I decided to look at how the word cunning is used in the Book of Mormon.

First, a little background on the word itself and what it meant at the time of the publication of the Book of Mormon.  Webster's 1828 dictionary is helpful, offering us two definitions -- "skillful" and curious/ingenious" which are "quite obsolete." We then get three more definitions which are apparently more contemporary: "Shrewd," "deceitful," and "assumed with subtilty."

The word cunning appears 23 times in the Book of Mormon, in the following contexts:

1 Nephi 16:38 -- Laman and Lemuel murmur against their father and accuse him of "work[ing]
many things by his cunning arts"

2 Nephi 9:28, 37 -- 28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. ... 39 O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.
2 Nephi 13 -- [quoting Isaiah] "the cunning artificer"

Mosiah 7:21 -- King Zeniff was "deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman"

Mosiah 9:10 -- King Laman was "cunning" and crafty and brought the people of Zeniff into bondage.

Mosiah 10:18 -- King Laman deceived the Nephites "by his cunning, and lying craftiness."

Mosiah 24:7 (x2) -- The Lamanites began to be a "cunning and a wise people, as to the wisdom of the world, yea, a cunning people, delighting in all manner of wickedness."

Alma 2:1-2 (x2) -- Amlici was a "very cunning man, yea, a wise man as to the wisdom of the world." He drew people away "by his cunning."

Alma 10:13 -- "cunning devices" designed to catch someone in their words and have them cast into prison or slain as a result.

Alma 20:13 -- Lamoni senior chastises Lamoni junior for associating with the Nephite missionaries and accuses them of attempting to deceive them "by their cunning."

Alma 28:13 -- 13 And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.

Alma 44:9 -- Zarahemnah claims it is the Nephites' cunning and not their faith that delivered them.

Alma 46:10/47:35 -- Amalickiah "was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words," and obtained the Lamanite kingdom "by the assistance of his cunning servants."

Alma 51:27 -- The Lamanites obtained cities by the "cunning" of Amalickiah.

Helaman 3:29-30 -- 29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—30 And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.

Helaman 16:21 -- the people suppose that believing in the prophecies of Christ will bring the into servitude "by the cunning and the mysterious arts of the evil one."

3 Nephi 21 -- 9 For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. 10 But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.

Ether 8:2 -- Jared flattered many people "because of his cunning words" to gain half of the kingdom.

Ether 13:16 -- Coriantumr had studied "in all the arts of war and cunning of the world."

The usage of this word seems to fall into three categories, both negative: (1) crafty, deceptive individuals are described as "cunning" and use their skills for their own selfish purposes. (2) Righteous people/efforts are mischaracterized as attempt to decieve by cunning.
(3) Satan's tactics are described as "cunning" and meant to bind us and subject us to misery and endless woe.

Consistent Geography in the Book of Mormon

"Go up" and "go down"

A person travels "down" to Zarahemla and "up" to the Land of Nephi:

1. Omni 1:13 -- Mosiah lead the Nephites "down" into the land of Zarahemla.
2. Mosiah 7:2, 3, 4 -- King Mosiah allows 16 men to "go up" to the land of Lehi-Nephi.
3. Mosiah 8:2 -- King Limhi asks Ammon to tell his people everything that had happened since his grandfather Zeniff "went up" out of Zarahemla.
4. Mosiah 9:3 -- Zeniff leads a group and "go[es] up" from Zarahemla to possess the lands of the Nephites' first inheritance.
5. Mosiah 20:7, 9 -- The Lamanite king send his armies "up" to the Land of Nephi from the wilderness to attack Limhi's people.
6. Mosiah 28:1, 5, 6, 7, 9 -- The sons of Mosiah desire to "go up" to preach to the Lamanites.
7. Mosiah 29:3 -- The people wanted Aaron as their king but he had "gone up" to the land of Nephi.
8. Alma 17:8 -- The sons of Mosiah "go up" to the land of Nephi.
9. Alma 27:8-9 -- Ammon convinced the King of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis to "go down" to Zarahemla to escape persecution from other Lamanites.
10. Alma 47:1 -- Amalickiah the Nephite dissenter loses a battle then flees into the wilderness and then "went up" to the land of Nephi.
11. Alma 49:10 -- If the Lamanite king had "come down" out of the land of Nephi with his army, they might have attacked despite the fortifications.
12. Alma 57:28 -- Nephites lead Lamanite prisoners "down" to Zarahemla. (See also verses 15, 16, 29, and 30.)

There is a wilderness between Zarahemla and the Land of Nephi that is thick enough for a person to become lost.

1. Omni 1:12 -- Mosiah lead the Nephites into the wilderness out of the land of Nephi.
2. Mosiah 7:4-5 -- Ammon and a group of 16 men wander in the wilderness for 40 days trying to find the descendants of Zeniff.
3. Mosiah 8:7 -- King Limhi sent 43 of his people into the wilderness to find Zarahemla bu they got lost and found the land of Desolation instead. (This is also referenced in Mosiah 21:25).
4. Mosiah 9:3-4 -- Zeniff's group journeys into the wilderness to the lands of their first inheritance.
5. Mosiah 18:4, 34 -- Alma-1 hides from King Noah by hiding in the borders of the lands. He is warned of the Lord to hide and departs into the wilderness.
6. Mosiah 22:8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 -- Ammon and King Limhi's people sneak into the wilderness by night and escape to the land of Zarahemla. Lamanites pursue them but get lost in the wilderness (these armies end up finding Alma and his people (see Mosiah 23:30).
7. Mosiah 23:1, 3 -- Alma and his people flee the armies of king Noah into the wilderness (8 days' journey).
8. Mosiah 24:20, 24, 25 -- Alma and his people escape from bondage and travel 12 days' journey to Zarahemla.
9. Alma 16:1 -- The Lamanites come into the borders of the land of Zarahemla from the wilderness side and destroy Ammonihah.
10. Alma 17:7, 9 -- The sons of Mosiah took weapons to provide food for themselves while in the wilderness on their way to preach to the Lamanites.
11. Alma 27:14 -- Ammon and the Anti-Nephi-Lehis travel through the wilderness to get to Zarahemla.
12. Alma 47:1 -- Amalickiah the Nephite dissenter loses a battle then flees into the wilderness and then "went up" to the land of Nephi.