Reprinted as “The Lachish Letters,” in The Prophetic Book of Mormon, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 8. 380–406.
Suggests connections between the Lachish letters written at the time Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians and events associated with Lehi’s departure. Includes political pressures on prophets, types of proper names, and a possible identification of Mulek.

Our challenge is to avoid bondage of any kind, help the Lord gather His elect, and sacrifice for the rising generation.

In “Who Controls the Water? Yahweh vs. Baal,” the lead article in Occasional Papers 4, Fred E. Woods presents a fascinating discussion of the polemical usage of water and storm language in the Deuteronomic History (the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings). As Woods notes, the most active deity at the Canaanite city of Ugarit (located in present-day Syria near the Mediterranean coast) is Baal, the god of water and storm. The strong denunciation of Baal in the Old Testament indicates that the Baal cult had deeply penetrated Israelite culture. And while scholars have long been aware of the explicit warnings against worshipping Baal, the metaphorical arguments against Baal have gone virtually unnoticed.

The creation and flood accounts in Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) contain variations on a phrase commonly translated “the breath of life.” This phrase additionally occurs in some uniquely Latter-day Saint materials relating to creation. After overviewing and analyzing this phrase and its meaning in the Bible, this paper then examines the occurrences of the phrase “the breath of life” in important early Latter-day Saint texts.1 The purpose of this study is to illustrate and explain how and why many Latter-day Saints have come to often employ the phrase “the breath of life,” transforming its traditional biblical meaning into a new, Restoration-oriented use referencing the embodiment of the first human’s premortal spirit and, by extension, the embodiment of all other people’s spirits.

Latter-day temples parallel ancient temples, especially those of the Israelites

The law of obedience and sacrifice today

This compilation of articles exploring topics related to the Old Testament is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles on the Hebrew Bible at the end of the first century, the prophetic commission of Enoch, Joseph as a type of Christ, Moses typology in the Book of Mormon, the Book of Enoch, the Ezekiel Mural at Dura Europos, Psalm 22, singular and plural address in the scriptures, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and more. Contents “Sacred Books: The Canon of the Hebrew Bible at the End of the First Century” Robert L. Maxwell “A Prologue to Genesis: Moses 1 in Light of Jewish Traditions” E. Douglas Clark “Behold I” by Kent P. Jackson “The Narrative Call Pattern in the Prophetic Commission of Enoch (Moses 6)” Stephen D. Ricks “Joseph as a Type of Christ in Syriac Literature” Kristian S. Heal “The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon” Noel B. Reynolds “Elisha and the Children: The Question of Accepting Prophetic Succession” Fred E. Woods “The Ezekiel Mural at Dura Europos: A Witness of Ancient Jewish Mysteries?” Jeffrey M. Bradshaw “‘Wisdom’ (Philosophy) in the Holy Bible” David H. Yarn Jr. “The Psalm 22:16 Controversy: New Evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls” Shon Hopkin “‘My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me’” Shon Hopkin “Temple Worship and a Possible Reference to a Prayer Circle in Psalm 24” Donald W. Parry “‘The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord’: The Anatomy of an Expression” Dana M. Pike “Singular and Plural Address in the Scriptures” James R. Rasband “A Bibliography of LDS Publications on the Old Testament (1830–2005)”

Discourse by Apostle Erastus Snow, delivered at the Quarterly Conference, Parowan, Sunday Afternoon, June 24, 1883. Reported By: John Irvine.

Also called “The Book of Mormon and the Dead Sea Scrolls.“
Now we are going to talk about the Book of Mormon and the Jews in the light of the new discoveries (the Dead Sea Scrolls).

Also called “Insights from Lehi’s Contemporaries: Solon and Jeremiah.“
Lehi and his great contemporaries started a lot of chain reactions. We don’t mention them just because they were interesting curiosities, or anything like that, but because we are still living on their capital.

Also called “Souvenirs from Lehi’s Jerusalem.“
Lehi had full baggage. Remember, his people were especially prepared to transfer the culture from one world to the other. We want to find out first what happened to Jeremiah because that’s very much in the story of Lehi. The reason we are bringing this up is that there are some marvelous documents that have appeared “out of the blue“ right from Lehi’s day.

Also called “The Days of King Zedekiah: ’There Came Many Prophets.’“
Nephi has the four qualities that Matthew Arnold attributes to Homer. The Book of Mormon has them; I don’t know anything else that has them. If you were to be asked, “What is the significance of the Lachish Letters for the Book of Mormon?“ They are immensely important.

Old Testament prophet Jeremiah and Book of Mormon prophet Lehi were contemporaries, and both preached repentance to the people of Jerusalem. Despite their common love for the truth, these men led very different lives because the first was commanded to remain in Jerusalem and the latter was commanded to leave. This article examines the lives and teachings of Jeremiah and Lehi and compares them to each other, suggesting that Jeremiah’s life symbolizes God’s justice and that Lehi’s life symbolizes God’s mercy.

Lehi and his people understood their own times in terms of types and shadows from the past. God’s leading the family out of Jerusalem and reinstituting his covenant with Lehi in a new promised land can be understood only by comparison with the exodus and the roles of Lehi and Nephi in terms of Moses. This article identifies fourteen Mosiac themes and circumstances that Lehi invoked in his sermon recorded in 2 Nephi 1 and illustrates close parallels with these themes in Deuteronomy. Lehi may have compared himself to Moses as a rhetorical device to help his children see the divine direction behind his actions. In his final words to his children, Lehi invokes Moses’ farewell address to the Israelites. In so doing, Lehi casts himself in a role similar to that of Moses. Nephi portrays himself in similar terms on the small plates, apparently following the pattern set by his father.

Abstract: I present evidence of two priesthoods in the Jewish Bible: an Aaronite priesthood, held by Aaron and passed down through his descendants; and a higher Mushite priesthood, held not only by Moses and his descendants but also by other worthy individuals, such as Joshua, an Ephraimite. The Mushite priests were centered in Shiloh, where Joshua settled the Ark of the Covenant, while the Aaronites became dominant in the Jerusalem temple. Like Joshua, the prophet Lehi, a descendant of the northern tribe of Manasseh, held the higher priesthood. His ministry, as recounted in the Book of Mormon, demonstrates four characteristics that show a clear connection to his ancestors’ origins in the northern Kingdom of Israel: (1) revelation through prophetic dreams, (2) the ministry of angels, (3) imagery of the Tree of Life, and (4) a positive attitude toward the Nehushtan tradition. These traits are precisely those which scholarship, based on the Documentary Hypothesis, attributes to texts in the Hebrew Bible that originated in the northern Kingdom of Israel rather than in Judah.

Abstract: Lehi’s dream in 1 Nephi 8 and Nephi’s related vision in 1 Nephi 11–14 contain many features related to the biblical garden of Eden, including most prominently the tree of life. A close reading of the features of Lehi’s dream in light of the earliest Book of Mormon text shows further similarities to the biblical garden, suggesting that the setting of Lehi’s dream is actually the garden of Eden. But the differences are also informative. These include both substantive features absent from the biblical Eden and differences in the language used to describe the features. Many of the variant features are also found in other ancient creation accounts. In view of these observations, it is likely the Book of Mormon presupposes a variant account of the garden of Eden. This variant account forms the backdrop for Lehi’s dream and for other references to the garden in the Book of Mormon.

In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
In the light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, all the Apocryphal writings must be read again with a new respect. Today the correctness of the 91st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants as an evaluation of the Apocrypha is vindicated with the acceptance of an identical view by scholars of every persuasion, though a hundred years ago, the proposition set forth in the Doctrine and Covenants seemed preposterous. What all the apocryphal writings have in common with each other and with the scriptures is the Apocalyptic or eschatological theme. This theme is nowhere more fully and clearly set forth than in the Book of Mormon. Fundamental to this theme is the belief in a single prophetic tradition handed down from the beginning of the world in a series of dispensations but hidden from the world in general and often confined to certain holy writings. Central to the doctrine is the Divine Plan behind the creation of the world that is expressed in all history and revealed to holy prophets from time to time. History unfolds in repeating cycles in order to provide all men with a fair and equal test in the time of their probation. Every dispensation, or “Visitation,” it was taught, is followed by an apostasy and a widespread destruction of the wicked, and ultimately by a refreshing or a new visitation.

In this work the Book of Mormon is seen in a new perspective; we see it in a world setting, not in a mere local one. It takes its place naturally alongside the Bible and other great works of antiquity and becomes one of them.
The Latter-day Saint claim that Ezekiel’s account of the Stick of Joseph and the Stick of Judah is a clear reference to the Book of Mormon has, of course, been challenged. There is no agreement among scholars today as to what the prophet was talking about, and so no competing explanation carries very great authority. The ancient commentators certainly believed that Ezekiel was talking about books of scripture, which they also identify with a staff or rod. As scepters and rods of identification the Two Sticks refer to Judah and Israel or else to the Old Testament and the New. But in this lesson, we present the obvious objections to such an argument. The only alternative is that the Stick of Joseph is something like the Book of Mormon. But did the ancient Jews know about the Lord’s people in this hemisphere? The Book of Mormon says they did not, but in so doing specifies that it was the wicked from whom that knowledge was withheld. Hence it is quite possible that it was had secretly among the righteous, and there is actually some evidence that this was so.

Abstract: Where there is water, there is life, not only literally, as in the Nile River in Egypt and in the cities of Mesopotamia, but also symbolically, as we read in the words of the prophet Ezekiel, who in vision saw a magnificent spring of fresh water flowing east from the temple, healing even the waters of the Dead Sea (Ezekiel 47). A psalm also testifies to the divine beneficence of water (Psalm 1) and John, in Revelation, quotes the Lord as giving to those “athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (21:10‒14), a “crystal clear river” that flows from the center of the temple in the New Jerusalem. Also in the last days, “in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water” (Doctrine and Covenants 133:29). We, the writers and volunteer staff of the Interpreter Foundation, invite readers to help spread and defend the life-giving water of the Restoration, for “the harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37).

Abstract: The Mormon Theology Seminar has produced two volumes of essays exploring 1 Nephi 1 on Lehi’s initial visions, and Jacob 7 on the encounter with Sherem. These essays provide valuable insights from a range of perspectives and raise questions for further discussion both of issues raised and regarding different paradigms in which scholars operate that readers must navigate.
Review of Adam S. Miller, ed., A Dream, a Rock, and a Pillar of Fire: Reading 1 Nephi 1 (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2017), 140 pp., $15.95.

Review of Adam S. Miller and Joseph M. Spencer, eds., Christ and Antichrist: Reading Jacob 7 (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2017), 148 pp., $15.95.

[I]t would be foolish to ignore an avenue that could potentially provide new insights into the Book of Mormon narrative.
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Abstract: The author introduces a syntactic technique known as “enallage”—an intentional substitution of one grammatical form for another. This technique can be used to create distance or proximity between the speaker, the audience, and the message. The author demonstrates how king Limhi skillfully used this technique to teach his people the consequences of sin and the power of deliverance through repentance.

The creation of the earth was repetitiously celebrated in rituals in civilizations of the ancient Near East—Babylon, Assyria, Persia, and Israel. Sources suggest that in Israel, perhaps as early as the Second Temple period, laymen recited the Genesis creation story while priests were offering sacrifices. The laymen were expected to recite the account in towns far away from Jerusalem for the benefit of those who could not go to the holy city. Hearing about the creation enabled listeners to experience a renewal of creation in their own setting.

Abstract: During the Second-Temple Period, Jews remembered and reimagined the story of Abraham to address their own immediate historical and cultural concerns. By exploring these reimaginations, we learn more about the faith and interests of later Jews who looked to their forefather for inspiration and guidance on how to live in a world of change, opportunity, and challenge. Second Temple Jewish writers included in this article are Artapanus, the author of Jubilees; Pseudo-Eupolemus, the author of Genesis Apocryphon; Philo, and Josephus. Abraham was resurrected in these texts, but with the body and soul of the later author, Josephus; these authors live on in the guise of Abraham.

Review of E. Douglas Clark. The Blessing of Abraham: Becoming a Zion People.

Examples from the Old Testament of some of the methods the Lord uses to teach

Abstract: Nephi quotes or alludes to four distinct Old Testament passages — Genesis 22:18; Isaiah 29:14; Isaiah 49:22–23; and Isaiah 52:10 — twice each in 1 Nephi 22:6, 8–12. These four texts form the basis of his description of how the Lord would bring to pass the complete fulfillment of the promises in the Abrahamic covenant for the salvation of the human family. These texts’ shared use of the Hebrew word gôyim (“nations” [> kindreds], “Gentiles”) provides the lexical basis for Nephi’s quotation and interpretation of these texts in light of each other. Nephi uses these texts to prophesy that the Lord would act in the latter-days for the salvation of the human family. However, Nephi uses Isaiah 29:14 with its key-word yôsīp (yôsip) to assert that iterative divine action to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant — taking the form of “a marvelous work and a wonder” — would be accomplished through a “Joseph.” Onomastic wordplay involving the names Abram⁄Abraham and Joseph constitute key elements in 1 Nephi 22:8–12.

Discourse by Apostle Moses Thatcher, delivered in the Tabernacle, Logan, Cache County, Semi-Annual Conference, Thursday Afternoon, October 8, 1885. Reported By: John Irvine.

Contents:

A Surety of a Better Testament / James E. Faust
A Message of Judgment from the Olivet Sermon / Arthur A. Bailey
Miracles: Meridian and Modern / Donald Q. Cannon
He Has Risen: The Resurrection Narratives as a Witness of a Corporeal Regeneration / Richard D. Draper
The Surprise Factors in the Teachings of Jesus / Kenneth W. Godfrey
The Passion of Jesus Christ / Richard Neitzel Holzapfel
Mark and Luke: Two Facets of a Diamond / Roger R. Keller
Truly All Things Testify of Him / Robert England Lee
“Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?”: Medicine and Healing in the Time of Jesus / Ann N. Madsen
“Behold, the Lamb of God”: The Savior’s Use of Animals as Symbols / Byron R. Merrill
The Lord’s Teachings on the Use of This World’s Goods / J. Philip Schaelling
“I Am He”: Jesus’ Public Declarations of His Own Identity / Jonathan H. Stephenson
John’s Testimony of the Bread of Life / Thomas R. Valletta
The Water Imagery in John’s Gospel: Power, Purification, and Pedagogy / Fred E. Woods

In the text of the Old Testament Yahweh is described as the Redeemer of Israel. A redeemer in Israelite society was a close family member who was responsible to help his enslaved kinsmen by buying them out of bondage. A comparable family relationship is created between the Lord and individuals by the making of covenants and the giving of a new name. The adoptive covenant becomes the basis for the Lord’s acts of redemption. This pattern of adoptive redemption can be seen in both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon identifies Yahweh, the God and Redeemer of the Old Testament, with Jesus Christ. It further explains that redemption from spiritual bondage comes through the ransom price of his blood and is available to those who enter into adoptive covenants, which create a familial relationship and allow the Lord to act as their redeemer.

Kinship redemption

A linguistic analysis of the symbol of a barren woman associated with Zion, the earth, and the Lord’s servants

In this paper I intend to deal primarily with the element of deception in the production and employment of apocryphal literature, particularly as it is revealed by the devices of pseudonymity and pseudepigraphy. I am defining pseudonymity here as an author’s intentional adoption of another persona, not merely as a pen name but as an assumed identity. Thus the Testament of Solomon is pseudonymous because the author has clearly adopted the persona of Solomon and speaks, as Solomon, in the first person. On the other hand, Huckleberry Finn would not be pseudonymous by my definition even though Samuel Clemens used the nom de plume Mark Twain, because Clemens did not adopt a persona other than his own; that is, we may assume that Clemens did not return royalty checks made out to Mark Twain, but rather cashed them unashamedly. Sam Clemens was Mark Twain, and there was no real possibility of confusing one person for the other.