Jacob 5:50-56

50 But, behold, the servant said unto the Lord of the vineyard: Spare it a little longer.

51 And the Lord said: Yea, I will spare it a little longer, for it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard.

52 Wherefore, let us take of the branches of these which I have planted in the nethermost parts of my vineyard, and let us graft them into the tree from whence they came; and let us pluck from the tree those branches whose fruit is most bitter, and graft in the natural branches of the tree in the stead thereof.

53 And this will I do that the tree may not perish, that, perhaps, I may preserve unto myself the roots thereof for mine own purpose.

54 And, behold, the roots of the natural branches of the tree which I planted whithersoever I would are yet alive; wherefore, that I may preserve them also for mine own purpose, I will take of the branches of this tree, and I will graft them in unto them.  Yea, I will graft in unto them the branches of their mother tree, that I may preserve the roots also unto mine own self, that when they shall be sufficiently strong perhaps they may bring forth good fruit unto me, and I may yet have glory in the fruit of my vineyard.

55 And it came to pass that they took from the natural tree which had become wild, and grafted in unto the natural trees, which also had become wild.

56 And they also took of the natural trees which had become wild, and grafted into their mother tree.

Jacob 5:50-56

The Lord of the vineyard is ready to burn the entire vineyard; however, the servant begged the Lord to spare it a little longer Truman Madsen writes:

“Jesus went onto the mount overlooking the temple “as he was wont” (Luke 22:39). In the last days of his life, he lodged or ‘abode’ there (Luke 21:37). On that hill (perhaps halfway up) was a vineyard of olive trees, reminiscent of the allegory of the tame and wild olive tree in the book of Jacob. The trees in that allegorical vineyard would have been hewn down and cast into the fire were it not for the pleading of the servant (Jacob 5:50). The Lord of the vineyard would be grieved to lose even one tree. The Lord of the vineyard, according to one interpretation, was the Father of us all. The servant in the vineyard was the Messiah. The task, the weightiest in all history.”[1]

The Lord agrees, “for it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard.”  The Lord was very concerned about his vineyard and the well-being.  David Seeley and John Welch write about the Lord’s concern.

“The Lord’s love and concern is repeatedly projected. The Lord and his servants toil tirelessly, again and again, to bring forth fruit from this vineyard. No effort was spared. Even after it became obvious that it might be better to cut down all the old trees and start over, the servant begs with the Lord to ‘spare it a little longer’ (Jacob 5:50).”[2]

Paul Hoskisson writes about the place of the apostasy.

“The text states explicitly that between earlier periods, between the scattering of Israel and the day of the former-day Saints and again between the day of the former-day Saints and the Lord’s acknowledgment of the Great Apostasy, ‘a long time passed away’ (Jacob 5:50). Unlike the long passage of time between these previous periods, the allegory makes clear that no significant time transpired between the acknowledgment of the Great Apostasy (Jacob 5:49) and the beginnings of the gathering of Israel (Jacob 5:50 and following).”[3]

The Lord tells the servant to the branches he planted in the farthest part of the vineyard.  Graft them into the tree from where they came.  He will prune the branches whose fruit is bitter and graft natural branches of the tree in their place.

He does it so the tree wouldn’t perish, but to preserve the roots.  He took the roots of the natural branches and grafted them into other trees.  He also planted these branches elsewhere in the vineyard. 

“One of the key elements of the allegory of Zenos is the image of taking cuttings from the tame tree and not just grafting them into other trees (Jacob 5:8–9) but clearing the ground (Jacob 5:44) and ‘planting’ them elsewhere (Jacob 5:23, 24, 25, 54). These branches will take root (Jacob 5:54).”[4]

“The early Saints had a poor view of many Gentiles.  ‘It should be pointed out that the Saints did not categorically condemn all Gentiles. [Orson] Pratt identified the ‘most bitter’ branches destined to be plucked off as only ‘the more wicked portions of the Gentiles.’ According to Zenos, other branches, wild but not so bitter, were to be spared and grafted in elsewhere with the hope that the Lord ‘may yet have glory in the fruit of [his] vineyard’ (Jacob 5:54). Still, the general corruption of the Gentile religious world was a necessary precursor to the final phase of the Lord’s redemptive work.”^[5]

The Lord and the servant took branches from the natural tree, which were wild and grafted them into natural trees, which had also become wild.  Paul Hoskisson explains what God is actually doing.

“Rather than raze the unprofitable, apostate earth, God decided to try one more time to establish the gospel on the earth to see if the trees of the vineyard would produce good fruit. He began by having the branches from the mother tree ‘grafted into the natural trees’ and branches from the natural trees ‘grafted into their mother tree’ (Jacob 5:55 and 56).[6]

They also took branches of the natural trees, which were wild and grated them into the mother tree. 

Noel Reynolds explains how Lehi’s blessing to the posterity of Laman and Lemuel fits into this part of the Allegory.

“When Lehi blesses the posterity of Laman and Lemuel, he promises them that the Lord ‘will not suffer that [they] shall perish’ (2 Nephi 4:7). In this blessing, Lehi outlines how the Lord will fulfill Zenos’s prophecy that he would not immediately pluck off and burn ‘the other part of the tree [that] has brought forth wild fruit’ (Jacob 5:25–27) but would let it grow wild even until it overcomes and displaces the good branch. Eventually, this remaining branch will not be destroyed, but will be grafted back into the natural tree, that is, restored to the knowledge of the covenants of Israel and the true Messiah (Jacob 5:56).”[7]

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[1] The Olive Press: A Symbol of Christ, Truman G. Madsen, Maxwell Institute.

[2] Zenos and the Texts of the Old Testament, David Rolph Seeley and John Welch, Maxwell Institute.

[3] The Allegory of the Olive Tree in Jacob, Paul Y. Hoskisson, Maxwell Institute.

[4] Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5, Wilford M. Hess, Daniel Fairbanks, John W. Welch, and Jonathan K. Driggs, Maxwell Institute.

[5] Jacob 5 in the Nineteenth Century, Grant Underwood, Maxwell Institute.

[6] The Allegory of the Olive Tree in Jacob, Paul Y. Hoskisson, Maxwell Institute.

[7] Nephite Uses and Interpretations of Zenos, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute.