Having shared the prophesies of Isaiah, Nephi turn to his
own prophecy. Nephi delighted in plainness
of words. He would write towards the end
of his record, “And now I, Nephi, cannot
say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of
the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of
men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when
it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be” (2 Nephi 32:7).
Alma2, contending with Zeezrom, reminded him the
words of God are made known to them in plainness.
And
now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words unto them, he stretched
forth his hand unto them and cried with a mighty voice, saying: Now is the time
to repent, for the day of salvation draweth nigh;
Yea,
and the voice of the Lord, by the mouth of angels, doth declare it unto all
nations; yea, doth declare it, that they may have glad tidings of great joy;
yea, and he doth sound these glad tidings among all his people, yea, even to
them that are scattered abroad upon the face of the earth; wherefore they have
come unto us.
And
they are made known unto us in plain terms, that we may understand, that we
cannot err; and this because of our being wanderers in a strange land;
therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have these glad tidings declared
unto us in all parts of our vineyard.
Alma 13:21 - 23
What does Nephi mean when he says he delights in plainness? Richard Rust writes:
Some might think that since Nephi
affirms the plainness of his writing (see for example 2 Nephi 25:7, 33:6), it
is unliterary. Quite the contrary. Nephi uses poetic and rhetorical rhythms and
structures with powerful effectiveness. By the word "plain" he means
"easy to understand" (1Nephi 14:23, 16:29)—and indeed, impossible to
be misunderstood (2 Nephi 25:7, 28). Perhaps it is Nephi's claim to such a
style, however, that has kept many from thinking about the book in literary terms.
As Nibley has commented, it contains none of the "fantastic imagery, the
romantic descriptions, and the unfailing exaggerations that everyone expected
in the literature of [Joseph Smith's] time.19”[1]
Nephi includes his prophesies because “they are worth unto the children of men” (2 Nephi 25:8). While Nephi wrote for his people, he also knew
the day would come when others would be reading his words. He wrote that he knew his words would “be of great worth unto them in the last
days, for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good
have I written them” (2 Nephi 25:8).
When Enos wrestled with the Lord, he asked that the record
be preserved and brought forth in the due time of the Lord (Enos 1:13-16). Mormon wrote that “these things are written unto the remnant of the house of Jacob” and
that they will “come forth in [the Lord’s]
due time” (Mormon 5:12).
[1] "To
Come Forth in Due Time" – Introduction, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 12, 2013.
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