2 Nephi 4:28-35

We continue the Psalm of Nephi.

Nephi rejoices in the Lord.

28 Awake, my soul! 

No longer droop in sin. 

      Rejoice, O my heart,

      and give place no more

for the enemy of my soul.

29 Do not anger again

because of mine enemies. 

     Do not slacken my strength

because of mine afflictions.

30 Rejoice, O my heart,

and cry unto the Lord, and say:

     O Lord,

I will praise thee forever;

yea, my soul

     will rejoice in thee,

     my God,

and the rock of my salvation.

                                                      (2 Nephi 4:28 - 30)

Having anguished over his sins, Nephi then rejoices in the Lord.  Matthew Nickerson observes:

Anger is one of the negative effects of sin listed along with several others: remorse, sorrow, ill health, moral weakness, agitation, and waning strength. To single out anger as [Nephi’s sin] seems unwarranted. Anger concludes the list but is not set apart nor made more prominent than any other in the list. Answering his own questions, Nephi expresses trust in the Lord's redemptive powers. He is confident that the Lord's mercies are sufficient to save him from these distressing symptoms of sin…

As described earlier, omitting the specifics of the Psalmist's transgression is an important characteristic of classic individual laments and one I believe that Nephi adheres to. This is a good example of how recognizing the poetic form as it appears in the Book of Mormon can aid our understanding of these passages.[1]

He tells himself to be angry no longer because of his enemies.  Who are his enemies?  John S. Tanner writes:

Before Lehi's death, Nephi had foreseen in revelation the tragic division between Lamanites and Nephites (see 1 Nephi 12:22-23). When Lehi died, Nephi must have known that the long-dreaded crisis was now both inevitable and near. With no father to turn to but his Heavenly Father, Nephi cries for strength: so lonely is his new burden of leadership, so dangerous his enemies, and so strong the temptation to be angry "because of [his] enemies" (2 Nephi 4:29)—meaning, I suppose, his brothers.[2]

He cries out to the Lord, praising Him forever.  He will rejoice in the Lord, “the rock of my salvation” (2 Nephi 4:30).

Nephi asks the Lord for redemption and asks Him to watch over him.

31 O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? 

     Wilt thou deliver me

out of the hands

of mine enemies? 

     Wilt thou make me

that I may shake

     at the appearance of sin?

32 May the gates of hell

be shut continually

     before me,

because that my heart

     is broken

and my spirit

     is contrite! 

     O Lord,

wilt thou not shut

     the gates of thy righteousness

          before me,

that I may walk

     in the path

     of the low valley,

that I may be strict

     in the plain road!

                                        (2 Nephi 4::31 – 32)

Nephi asks the Lord to redeem his soul and deliver him from his enemies.  He asked Him that he would “shake at the appearance of sin” (2 Nephi 4:31).

He was approaching the Lord with a broken heart and contrite spirit.  He asks Him to open the gates of righteousness and walk in the correct path. 

33 O Lord,

wilt thou

encircle me around

     in the robe

of thy righteousness! 

     O Lord,

wilt thou

make a way

     for mine escape

     before mine enemies! 

Wilt thou

     make my path straight

before me! 

Wilt thou

     not place

a stumbling block

in my way—

but that thou wouldst

     clear my way

     before me,

     and hedge not

up my way,

but the ways

     of mine enemy.

34 O Lord,  

     I have trusted in thee,

     and I will trust

in thee forever. 

     I will not put

     my trust

in the arm of flesh;

     for I know

that cursed is he

that putteth his trust

     in the arm of flesh. 

     Yea, cursed is he

that putteth his trust

in man or

     maketh flesh his arm.

                                                (2 Nephi 4:33 - 34)

Nephi asks the Lord to encircle him in a robe of righteousness.  Richard Rust looks at how the word “encircle” is used in the Book of Mormon.

Heaven and hell both encircle. Lehi declares to his family, "I am encircled about eternally in the arms of [the Lord's] love" (2 Nephi 1:15); Nephi pleads for the Lord to "encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness" (2 Nephi 4:33); and Amulek teaches that mercy "encircles [the penitent] in the arms of safety" (Alma 34:16). Conversely, before being spiritually delivered, the fathers "were encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell" (Alma 5:7); Zeezrom is "encircled about by the pains of hell" (Alma 14:6); and Ammon testifies that his Lamanite brethren were formerly "encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction" (Alma 26:15). These are part of the larger Book of Mormon circles that either save or damn.

Put another way, humanity, the Book of Mormon says, is either encircled and lifted up through mercy or encircled by chains and brought down to hell. This movement, rising and falling, or ascent and descent, develops a way to see the book as a whole as the story of mankind's journey through life, fall, and redemption.[3]

He asks the Lord for a straight path to escape from his enemies.  As with “encircled,” straight has different meanings in the Book of Mormon.  John Welch explains:

Straight can mean more than "in a straight line." It can mean "direct." In fact, that is a good meaning as applied to define course or path. Nephi's poetic prayer for redemption in 2 Nephi 4:33 includes the plea "Wilt thou make my path straight." This is one of a number of scriptural images of the path (course) to salvation (eternal bliss, promised land, the way to the keeper of the gate) being a straight (direct) route (see also 2 Nephi 9:41; Alma 37:44). When a mother says, "After school, you come straight home," it means by either the shortest, quickest, safest, or easiest route, as the child has been given to understand. In the case of directions given by the Liahona (see Alma 37:44), a straight or direct course probably connoted "expeditious" or "best." Thus we should be open to more possibilities than one might ordinarily think of.[4]

Nephi has put his trust in the Lord and will do so forever.  He refuses to put his trust in the arm of flesh because “cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh … cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm” (2 Nephi 4:34).

Hugh Nibley writes:

The great man in his old age still speaks the language of the desert: "I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road" (2 Nephi 4:32—33) is the purest Bedouin talk for "May I stick to thewady and not get off the clearly marked mainline that everyone follows!" One hears the echo of innumerable old desert inscriptions in his prayer: "O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy" (2 Nephi 4:33). The immemorial desert custom which required a sheikh to place the edge of his robe (kuffah) over the back of anyone seeking his protection is clearly recalled in Nephi's cry: "O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness!" (2 Nephi 4:33).[5]

Nephi ends his Psalm.

35 Yea, I know that God

will give liberally to him

     that asketh. 

     Yea, my God will give me,

if I ask not amiss;

     therefore I will lift up my voice

unto thee;

      yea, I will cry

unto thee,

     my God,

the rock of my righteousness. 

     Behold, my voice shall

     forever ascend up

unto thee,

my rock

     and mine everlasting God. 

     Amen.

             (2 Nephi 4:35)

I close with an observation from Richard Rust.

The power of Nephi's words is most apparent when the passage is read aloud and also when it is recognized as poetry with its primary appeal to feeling.⁸ I discovered this quality through my own experience: when my family and I read the Book of Mormon together each morning, I recognized the intense nature of passages such as Nephi's psalm. Later, when I searched the Book of Mormon for its poetry, I better understood why I was responding with my feelings to these passages.[6] 

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[1] Nephi's Psalm: 2 Nephi 4:16–35 in the Light of Form-Critical Analysis, Matthew Nickerson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 27, 2013.

[2] Jacob and His Descendants as Authors, John S. Tanner, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 27, 2013.

[3] "At the Judgment-Seat of Christ" - Larger Perspectives, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 27, 2013.

[4] Straight (Not Strait) and Narrow, John S. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 27, 2013.

[5] Lehi and the Arabs, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 27, 2013.

[6] "To Come Forth in Due Time" – Introduction. Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 27, 2013.

2 Nephi 4:15-27

The tone of Nephi’s record suddenly changes after the death of Lehi and ongoing problems with Laman, Lemuel, and the rest of the usual suspects. 

Nephi writes what is one of the most powerful, spiritual, and beautiful psalms in the scriptures.  This is one of the few times Nephi opens up and lets us see Nephi the man instead of Nephi the narrator, author, and teacher/preacher. 

The passion and poetry of 2 Nephi 4:16–35 cannot help but move even the most casual reader of the Book of Mormon. These verses record one of the most powerful personal testimonies ever revealed in scripture with a tone of prophetic poetry that rivals David, Isaiah, or Luke. In his 1947 monograph Our Book of Mormon, Sidney Sperry christened this passage "The Psalm of Nephi," and it has carried that epithet ever since. Sperry recognized in this passage the praise and "deep religious feeling" common to many psalms and noted within its literary structure a rhythm "comparable to the noble cadence of David's poems."¹   [1]

When was this written?  Many Book of Mormon scholars believe it was written after Lehi’s death and his family problems.  If so, this means Nephi wrote this almost 20 years after they arrived in the Promised Land. 

Nephi did not begin the small plates until roughly 30 years after they arrived (see 2 Nephi 5:28-29).  If he wrote this as he was writing the records found on the small plates, he had 30 years to contemplate the events that had occurred.

Nephi begins by telling us what he writes on these plates are “the things of his soul” (2 Nephi 4:15).  What are the things of his soul?  “[M]y soul delighteth in the scriptures” (2 Nephi 4:15).  What he writes he writes for “the learning and the profit of my children” (2 Nephi 4:15). 

16 Behold, my soul delighteth in

    the things of the Lord;

    and my heart pondereth

    continually upon the things

which I have seen and heard.

                                                      (2 Nephi 4:16)

Nephi grieves because of his sins. 

17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding

the great goodness of the Lord,

      in showing me his great and marvelous works,

      my heart exclaimeth:

O wretched man that I am! 

      Yea, my heart sorroweth

because of my flesh;

       my soul grieveth

because of mine iniquities.

18 I am encompassed about,

     because of the temptations

     and the sins

which do so easily beset me.

19 And when I desire

     to rejoice,

     my heart groaneth

because of my sins;

     nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.

                                                                          (2 Nephi 4:15 - 19)

Nephi writes about the great and wonderful things the Lord has done for him.

21 He hath filled me with his love,

      even unto the consuming of my flesh.

22 He hath confounded mine enemies,

      unto the causing of them

to quake before me.

23 Behold, he hath heard

      my cry by day,

      and he hath given me knowledge

      by visions in the night–time.

24 And by day

      have I waxed bold in mighty prayer

before him;

      yea, my voice

      have I sent up on high;

      and angels came down

      and ministered unto me.

25 And upon the wings of his Spirit

     hath my body been carried away

upon exceedingly high mountains. 

     And mine eyes have beheld

great things,

     yea, even too great for man;

     therefore I was bidden

     that I should not write them.

                                                                                  (2 Nephi 4:21 - 25)

Nephi further wrote in his psalm of how "the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy" (2 Nephi 4:26). Nephi also used the word "condescension" in his description of his vision (see 1 Nephi 11:16, 26). He tied the condescension, symbolized by the tree, to "the love of God" (1 Nephi 11:22), and in his psalm he noted that "He hath filled me with his love" (2 Nephi 4:21). The fact that Nephi employed the word "condescension" only in describing the vision and in his psalm—and nowhere else—again suggests that when he wrote the psalm he had the vision in mind.[2]

Nephi asks why?

26  O then,

          if I have seen so great things,

          if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men

   hath visited men

   in so much mercy,

     why should my heart weep

     and my soul linger

in the valley of sorrow,

     and my flesh waste away,

     and my strength slacken,

because of mine afflictions?

27  And why should I yield to sin,

because of my flesh? 

      Yea, why should I give way to temptations,

that the evil one

   have place in my heart

   to destroy my peace

   and afflict my soul? 

     Why am I angry

      because of mine enemy?

                                          (2 Nephi 4:21 - 27)

Nephi tells he has found “the answer to the questions ‘Who are the bad guys? Where is the real enemy?’ In himself. It is his own weakness that makes him frustrated and angry, he says. Why should he take it out on others? (2 Nephi 4:26—35).”[3]

The question has been asked, “What was Nephi’s sin?”  Matthew Nickerson answers:

Some writers have identified anger as the specific sin which "so easily beset" him.¹⁶ Their conclusions are based on 2 Nephi 4:27 where Nephi asks, "Why am I angry because of mine enemy"? My own reading of this passage leaves the exact nature of Nephi’s sin in question. The sentence quoted above is only the last in a series of self-reflective questions Nephi poses concerning the effects of his transgression.[4]

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[1] Nephi's Psalm: 2 Nephi 4:16–35 in the Light of Form-Critical Analysis, Matthew Nickerson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 25, 2013.

[2] Reflections of Nephi's Vision in His Psalm, John A. Tvedtnes, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 25, 2013.

[3] Last Call: An Apocalyptic Warning from the Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 25, 2013.

[4] Nephi's Psalm: 2 Nephi 4:16–35 in the Light of Form-Critical Analysis, Matthew Nickerson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 25, 2013.

2 Nephi 4:13-14

In Nephi’s record, we have an account of the blessings Lehi gave to Laman, Lemuel, the children of Laman and Lemuel, the sons of Ishmael, Zoram, Joseph, Jacob, and Sam.  One name is missing from the list – Nephi’s.

Why didn’t Nephi leave a record of the blessing he received from Lehi?  It’s possible Lehi didn’t give Nephi a blessing.  Evidence does not support this explanation.  Lehi gave all his sons along with some of his grandchildren, his sons-in-law as well as a Laban’s slave who was not a formal member of the family.  (No doubt Zoram was accepted as a member of the family.)  If all these people received a specific blessing, it doesn’t make sense that Nephi would not have received a blessing since the record tells us that, based on Laman and Lemuel’s wickedness, he would receive the first-born’s blessing.

In the book Understanding the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy looks at the question, “Why did Nephi leave his blessing out of his record?”  While we don’t the actual reason, Hardy speculates that Lehi charged Nephi with keeping the family together.  He did not want to see his family separate into different groups.  As we will see, the family did separate shortly after Lehi’s death.  Hardy suggests it’s Nephi’s failure to keep the family together that kept him from recording his blessing. 

Regardless of the reason, it is strange that Nephi would ignore his blessing when making his second set of plates.

Little time passed before the problems between Nephi and Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael became serious.  We read that that they “were angry with [Nephi] because of the admonitions of the Lord” (2 Nephi 4:13).  Once again, the same group is angered by Nephi preaching the word of the Lord and calling them to repentance.

Nephi did record his words, but they were recorded on the other set of plates. The foundations for the separation of the family have been laid.

2 Nephi 4:11-12

Earlier, Lehi had spoken, briefly, to Sam.  “And now my son, Laman, and also Lemuel and Sam, and also my sons who are the sons of Ishmael, behold, if ye will hearken unto the voice of Nephi ye shall not perish.  And if ye will hearken unto him I leave unto you a blessing, yea, even my first blessing” (2 Nephi 1:28).  He know gives Sam his blessing.

We know virtually nothing of Sam.  He’s the third son, just older than Nephi.  John Sorenson gives us this description of Sam.

Sam was the shy and retiring one of the four brothers, it appears. Though older than Nephi, he followed him consistently (1 Nephi 2:17). He may not have been very assertive; at least one would have thought that when Laman and Lemuel "did smite us [two] even with a rod" (1 Nephi 3:28-29) that he could have combined efforts with Nephi (who was "large in stature") to prevent the beating. Furthermore, Sam was as frightened as Laman and Lemuel when Nephi, dressed in Laban's clothes and accompanied by Zoram, approached them at night (1 Nephi 4:28). Perhaps his retiring if not passive nature is why his father in his final blessing (2 Nephi 4:11), while saluting Sam's good heart and behavior, could see that his descendants would not survive as a distinct entity but would be incorporated into Nephi's tribe.[1]

Unlike his other brothers, Sam’s descendants will not be a tribe of their own.  “[Sam’s descendants] shall be numbered with [Nephi’s] seed” (2 Nephi 4:11).  ““Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites” (Jacob 1:13).  Notice Sam’s name is not included in Jacob’s listing of the tribes.

While Nephi tells us little about Sam, Alma₂ does mention him.  The Lamanites joined the Amlicites in their rebellion against the Nephites.  To distinguish themselves from the Nephites, the Amlicites “were distinguished from the Nephites, for they had marked themselves with red in their foreheads after the manner of the Lamanites” (Alma 3:4).  Explaining that the Amlicites did this because of the curse that came upon Laman and Lemuel for their rebellion, we read that this rebellion was against their brethren “who consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men” (Alma 3:6).

Thanks to Alma₂’s record, we learn Sam was a “just and holy [man].” 

With Sam’s blessing, Lehi had finished his blessings, teachings, and words to his family.  Sometime after this, Nephi tells us Lehi died and was buried.

John Sorenson observes:

Second Nephi opens with Lehi teaching his family. His historical resumé in 2 Nephi 1:1-5 sounds like only a short time had passed since the landing, for he speaks entirely about what had transpired en route. His valedictory continues through chapter 3. In 2 Nephi 4:12, the record abruptly states that after Lehi had spoken those things to his household, "he waxed old" and died. My impression is that Lehi lived no more than a couple of years in America and perhaps less than one. In that case his age at death could have been as early as fifty-seven. Considering the arduous circumstances he faced in the last dozen years of his life and especially the intimation in 1 Nephi 18:17-18 that he was viewed as being somewhat sickly, this seemingly premature death is not really surprising.[2]

---

[1] The Composition of Lehi's Family, John L. Sorenson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 20, 2013.

[2] Ibid.

2 Nephi 4:1-10

Chapter 4

Lehi counsels and blesses his posterity—He dies and is buried—Nephi glories in the goodness of God to him—Nephi puts his trust in the Lord forever. About 588–570 B.C.

Lehi has finished with his specific blessings.  Nephi now breaks into his account and shares his thoughts with us.

He emphasizes the importance of Joseph and his prophecies.  Here is an example of where the brass plates had a more detailed record than does our Bible. 

As he ends his first book, Nephi emphasizes the importance of the brass plates as a religious record.  “Wherefore, my brethren, I would that ye should consider that the things which have been written upon the plates of brass are true; and they testify that a man must be obedient to the commandments of God” (1 Nephi 22:30).  While the brass plates were an important part of the religious tradition of the Nephites, Gordon Thomasson shares another important role they played in later Nephite history.

Benjamin gave his son the Nephite national treasures, which are representative of those that a real king was required to possess anciently (Mosiah 1:16). The first of these, the plates of brass, contained among other things much of the Old Testament as we know it, a book of Joseph (2 Nephi 4:2), and a genealogy of Lehi's forefathers back to Joseph (1 Nephi 5:14). These, coupled with the genealogy and records of the kings of the Nephites on the large plates (1 Nephi 6:1; 9:4), proved Mosiah's right to rule by the legitimacy of his descent.⁷  [1]

Having finished speaking about the prophesies of Joseph, Lehi calls to gather the children of Laman.[2]  (Notice, he does not ask Laman to join them.)  He gives specific counsel to them, emphasizing that if “ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence” (2 Nephi 4:4).  He is reiterating his message to their father.

He tells his grandchildren that, “if ye are brought up in the way ye should go ye will not depart from it” (2 Nephi 4:5).  He is echoing the words of Solomon, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”

(Proverbs 22:6).

However, he understands that the chances are small they will be raised in the proper and correct way.  So, to his blessing, Lehi adds these words, “I leave my blessing upon you that the cursing may be taking from you and answered upon the heads of your parents” (2 Nephi 4:6).

In this dispensation, the Lord told Joseph Smith:

And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.

For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized.

And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old, and receive the laying on of the hands.

And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.

D&C 68:25 - 28

Duane Boyce writes:

More than two hundred years after the appearance of Christ, Mormon tells us that the people now called Lamanites “were taught to hate the children of God, even as the Lamanites were taught to hate the children of Nephi from the beginning” (4 Nephi 1:39). On the matter of accountability in general, recall Lehi’s blessing to the children of Laman that “if ye are cursed, behold, I leave my blessing upon you, that the cursing may be taken from you and be answered upon the heads of your parents” (2 Nephi 4:6)—a blessing which he extended to the children of Lemuel as well (2 Nephi 4:9).[3]

 

 Elder Neal Maxwell teaches that choices made by parents have large effects on their children.

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[1] Mosiah: The Complex Symbolism and Symbolic Complex of Kingship in the Book of Mormon, Gordon C. Thomasson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 19, 2013.

[2] Lehi gave this same blessing to give the children of Lemuel (see 2 Nephi 4:9-10).

[3] Were the Ammonites Pacifists? Duane Boyce, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 19, 2013.

2 Nephi 3:21-25

Lehi continues Joseph₂’s blessing, resuming his discussion of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

The word of the Lord will go out to the people based on their faith.  They will be made strong in faith and remember the Lord’s covenants He made with their fathers.

About the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, Nephi would write:

BUT behold, there shall be many—at that day when I shall proceed to do a marvelous work among them, that I may remember my covenants which I have made unto the children of men, that I may set my hand again the second time to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel;

And also, that I may remember the promises which I have made unto thee, Nephi, and also unto thy father, that I would remember your seed; and that the words of your seed should proceed forth out of my mouth unto your seed; and my words shall hiss forth unto the ends of the earth, for a standard unto my people, which are of the house of Israel;

2 Nephi 29:1 - 2

It is not unusual for the Lord to describe His word as hissing forth (“my words shall hiss forth unto the ends of the earth” 2 Nephi 29:2).  This is an interesting word.  I’ve always heard or thought of the word “hiss” in a negative context.  (“My cats hiss when they are threatened;” “The audience hissed their disapproval.”) 

Dictionary.com defines hiss – “to make or emit a sharp sound.”[1]  So, Nephi is telling us that world of the Lord will forcefully and sharply go forth, making it hard for us to miss His important message to us.

Lehi’s blessings contain an interesting feature.  Victor Ludlow explains:

One interesting feature of the covenant references in 2 Nephi is that almost one-half of them are attributed directly to the Lord. That is, the writer introduces a covenant passage with "thus saith the Lord unto me" (2 Nephi 3:7; compare 2 Nephi 6:17; 10:7; and 29:4), completes the passage with "saith the Lord" (2 Nephi 3:12), or quotes the passage in the first-person singular with God as the speaker (see 2 Nephi 3:21; 10:15; and 29:1, 5, 14). In these passages, the Lord, as a premortal spirit being, reveals important covenant teachings to various ancient prophets as recorded in the Book of Mormon. Thus an important feature in 2 Nephi is the recognition of how the premortal Lord amplifies important covenant teachings. Most of these pronouncements of the Savior are found in chapters 3, 10, and 29 as Joseph of Egypt, Jacob (Lehi's son), and Nephi receive divine instruction.[2]

“Finally Lehi concludes, ‘And now, behold, my son Joseph, after this manner did my father of old prophesy,’ for he calls the Patriarch Joseph his father (2 Nephi 3:22).”^[3]

Lehi tells Joseph₂ that, through the covenant the Lord made with Joseph₁, his descendants will not be destroyed because the will follow “the words of the book” (2 Nephi 3:23). 

The Lord will rise up “one mighty among them, who shall do much good, both in word, and in deed, being an instrument in the hands of God” (2 Nephi 3:24).  Joseph Smith will be given the responsibility the restoration of the gospel that will go forth to the descendants Joseph₁ and Joseph₂. 

Lehi closes Joseph₂’s blessing telling him to listen to the teachings of Nephi.  “Remember the words of thy dying father” (2 Nephi 3:25).

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[1] Dictionary.com, entry “hiss,” accessed July 16, 2013.

[2] Covenant Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Victor L. Ludlow, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 16, 2013.

[3][3] Checking on Long-Forgotten Lore, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 16, 2013.

2 Nephi 3:16-20

Lehi continues to quote Joseph₁’s prophecy.  Joseph was told by the Lord that his descendants shall be preserved forever. 

He talks more about Moses.  He will be given a rod for his power.  He will be strong in writing.  The Lord told Moses:

And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables [JST Deut. 10:2 ... which thou brakest, save the words of the everlasting covenant of the holy priesthood, and thou shalt] put them in the ark.

And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me.

Deuteronomy 10:2, 4

But, Moses will be slow in speech and tongue (see Exodus 4:10).  To deal with this, the Lord will give him a spokesman. 

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother?  I know that he can speak well.  And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead [A prophet is a spokesman;  hence he speaks for, or instead of, God] of God.

Exodus 4:14 - 16

Joseph returns to his prophesy concerning Joseph Smith.  He will be given a spokesman.  He will write the words and the spokesman will declare it.  S. Kent Brown writes:

In these last blessings, Lehi taught his children principles for successful living in the promised land and prophesied of a time when his posterity would reject their Redeemer and rebel against the principles of righteousness. They would then lose the lands of their inheritance and be "scattered and smitten" (2 Nephi 1:11).

Even after picturing these difficulties, Lehi assured his family that their descendants would survive the disasters. Eventually, a special seer would bring to pass "much restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren" (2 Nephi 3:24). Lehi also prophesied that the record his people kept would spread to the survivors of his seed and then to all parts of the world (see 2 Nephi 3:18-21).[1]

Joseph Smith will write the words he is given.  When the words go forth, it will “be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust” (2 Nephi 3:19).   Isaiah would also prophesy, “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust” (Isaiah 29:4).

Before his death, Nephi would write:

And there is none other which shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God, to bear testimony of his word unto the children of men; for the Lord God hath said that the words of the faithful should speak as if it were from the dead.

(2 Nephi 27:13).

And now, my beloved brethren, all those who are of the house of Israel, and all ye ends of the earth, I speak unto you as the voice of one crying from the dust: Farewell until that great day shall come.

And you that will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect the words of the Jews, and also my words, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these words shall condemn you at the last day.

For what I seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the judgment bar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey.  Amen.

2 Nephi 33:13 - 15

Richard Rust tells us:

Writers such as Moroni and his father are, however, actually secondary authors of the Book of Mormon; the primary author is Jesus Christ. As Mormon affirms, "I ... do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord" (3 Nephi 26:12).  Likewise, the premortal Savior told Joseph the Patriarch that Joseph Smith would write "the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins" (2 Nephi 3:19).[2]

The voice that cries from the dust, it will cry repentance to “their brethren even after many generations have gone by”  (2 Nephi 3:20).  Nephi  would write, “For those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust” (2 Nephi 26:16).

Moroni would tell us:

Search the prophecies of Isaiah.  Behold, I cannot write them.  Yea, behold I say unto you, that those saints who have gone before me, who have possessed this land, shall cry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the Lord; and as the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant which he hath made with them.

And no one need say they shall not come, for they surely shall, for the Lord hath spoken it; for out of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, and none can stay it; and it shall come in a day when it shall be said that miracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak from the dead.

Mormon 8:23, 26

Warren Ashton comments:

Joseph of Egypt foretold that a latter-day seer bearing his name would bring forth the words of his posterity "from the dust" (see 2 Nephi 3:19–20), and Isaiah later prophesied of a sealed book in the last days that would "whisper out of the dust" (Isaiah 29:4). Finally, the Psalmist predicted that "truth shall spring out of the earth" (Psalm 85:11). Latter-day Saints, of course, see the coming forth of the Book of Mormon—a record literally taken from out of the earth—as the fulfillment of these prophecies concerning our day.[3]

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[1] Nephi's Use of Lehi's Record, S. Kent Brown, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 14, 2013.

[2] Annual FARMS Lecture: The Book of Mormon, Designed for Our Day, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 14, 2013.

[3] Across Arabia with Lehi and Sariah: "Truth Shall Spring out of the Earth", Warren P. Aston, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 14, 2013.

2 Nephi 3:6-15

Lehi continues to discuss Joseph₁’s prophecy.  He explains that he saw the time the Lord would raise “a choice seer “(2 Nephi 3:6).  This seer will be given a work to do.  This work “shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers” (2 Nephi 3:7). 

Joseph₁’s prophecy would provide more information about this seer.

And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled.  Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise;

And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father.  And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.

2 Nephi 3:14 - 15

It is clear that Joseph₁ was telling us about Joseph Smith. 

Lehi delivered to his family a prophecy given by the Lord to Joseph of Egypt that a "righteous branch" of the house of Israel, not the Messiah (2 Nephi 3:5), would be broken off, and in the future a choice seer would be raised out of this lineage (see 2 Nephi 3:6), who would bring many to the knowledge of the covenants made with the fathers (see 2 Nephi 3:7)…

Lehi, a descendant of Joseph, founded the people that would author the Book of Mormon. In 1827 Moroni delivered the gold plates, containing a record of Lehi's descendants, to Joseph Smith, fulfilling the prophecy of Joseph of Egypt. For Joseph Smith was "a choice seer" from the loins of Joseph (2 Nephi 3:7) with the power to bring forth the word of the Lord to Lehi's seed (see 2 Nephi 3:11).[1]

His father Lehi, drawing on the writings of Joseph of old as contained on the brass plates, prophesied about the coming of Joseph Smith, a "choice seer" who would do much to bring the scattered Israelites to a knowledge of the promises made to their ancestors. "Thus prophesied Joseph [in Egypt], saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; . . . and his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand [the Book of Mormon and the Restoration], by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation" (2 Nephi 3:7, 14-15).[2]

He will be called to perform only the work the Lord commands him to do.  The Lord would emphasize this to Joseph Smith. 

Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days.

And in temporal labors thou shalt not have strength, for this is not thy calling.  Attend to thy calling and thou shalt have wherewith to magnify thine office, and to expound all scriptures, and continue in laying on of the hands and confirming the churches.

D&C 24:8 – 9

He will be like unto Moses, in that he will deliver the fullness of the gospel to the world, guiding them to the truth.  Moses also saw this event.  “And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men—among as many as shall believe” (Moses 1:41).

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[1] Lehi and Jeremiah: Prophets, Priests, and Patriarchs, David Rolph Seely, and Jo Ann H. Seely, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 10, 2013.

[2] The Gathering of Israel in the Book of Mormon: A Consistent Pattern, Robert L. Millet, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 10, 2013.