Wednesday, February 26, 2020

2 Nephi 5:10-13


10 And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the law of Moses.
11 And the Lord was with us; and we did prosper exceedingly; for we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance. And we began to raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind.
12 And I, Nephi, had also brought the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass; and also the ball, or compass, which was prepared for my father by the hand of the Lord, according to that which is written.
13 And it came to pass that we began to prosper exceedingly, and to multiply in the land.

After find a new place to live, Nephi tells his they “did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord” (2 Nephi 5:10).  Unlike Laman and Lemuel, he followed Lehi’s counsel.

“And I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning.
My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever” (2 Nephi 1:16-17).

Hugh Nibley tells us:

“From the New World settlement he escaped with as many people as wanted to go with him. They lived the law in its strictness and austerity. We find what they were escaping from in 2 Nephi 5:10. They went out to a rigorous and austere life. ‘And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the law of Moses.’ That was basic. [The others] wouldn't believe the warnings, so he took his family and Zoram and others. ‘And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God.’"[1]

The statues and commandments they followed were a part of the Law of Moses.  John Welch further explains:

“Were they strict in their living of the law of Moses? Well, look at some of the passages like 2 Nephi 5:10. When Nephi establishes the monarchy in the city of Nephi, he does all the things that kings basically do in getting a society going. He builds a temple—you have to have a temple. He establishes the law. He says, we will live the law. What law is it that he says they must live? It's the law of Moses. He says, we will live it according to its statutes, judgments, ordinances, etc. The nomenclature here becomes important, as we will see in a minute. He says, ‘And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things according to the law of Moses.’"[2]

Verse 10 is an example where we see Hebrew wording instead of what we would expect in English. 

“And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the law of Moses” (2 Nephi 5:10).

Donald W. Parry analyzes this verse.

“Unlike English, in which a series of nouns can be introduced by a single definite article (the), Hebrew repeats the definite article for each noun. This kind of repetition is seen throughout the Book of Mormon. A prime example is ‘We did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord’ (2 Nephi 5:10). Of course, it would be much more usual in English to render this as ‘We did observe to keep the judgments, statutes, and commandments of the Lord.’"[3] 

Daniel Peterson observes, “Clearly, as is abundantly attested throughout the Book of Mormon before the coming of Christ, the Mosaic law was practiced among the Nephites (2 Nephi 5:10; 25:24), and equally clearly, therefore, the ‘priests’ of the Book of Mormon were really priests and not merely a nineteenth-century farm boy's retrojection of the circuit-riding revivalist preachers of his own day into his pseudobiblical historical yarn26.”[4]












Living the commandments and keeping the Law of Moses brought prosperity to the land.  Their crops grew and they began to raise herds of animals of all king.  Here we see Christ’s promise fulfilled among Nephi and his followers, “Wherefore, seek ye not the things of this world but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (JST Matthew 6:38).


When Nephi departed, he took the plates of brass, the Liahona, and the sword of Laban with him.  King Benjamin explains the importance of these items, especially the plates of brass.

And he also taught them concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, saying: My sons, I would that ye should remember that were it not for these plates, which contain these records and these commandments, we must have suffered in ignorance, even at this present time, not knowing the mysteries of God.
For it were not possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates; for he having been taught in the language of the Egyptians therefore he could read these engravings, and teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach them to their children, and so fulfilling the commandments of God, even down to this present time.
Mosiah 1:3 - 4

And it came to pass that after king Benjamin had made an end of these sayings to [Mosiah2],  that he gave him charge concerning all the affairs of the kingdom.
And moreover, he also gave him charge concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass; and also the plates of Nephi; and also, the sword of Laban, and the ball or director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him.
Mosiah 1:15 - 16

Hugh Nibley writes:

:"Hardly had the party landed in America when it was necessary for Nephi in turn to "depart . . . and flee into the wilderness' (2 Nephi 5:5). With him he took a select group: 'And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words' (2 Nephi 5:6). It was, that is, strictly a religious body that went forth, taking their tents and journeying 'in the wilderness for the space of many days' (2 Nephi 5:7). They settled down as a religious community, calling themselves the 'people of Nephi' (2 Nephi 5:9). Though they were only a minority group, viewed forever after as traitors and dissenters from the main body, it was they who preserved unbroken and intact all the religious ties with the Old World: it was they who had the records that were brought from Jerusalem (stolen, said the Lamanites!), and the ball and sword that were to become the traditional national treasures (2 Nephi 5:12—14); and as soon as they settled in the wilderness they built a temple 'after the manner of the temple of Solomon' (2 Nephi 5:16), which many of them had seen with their own eyes."[5] 

They prospered and multiplied in the land.


[1] Lecture 43: Alma 1-2, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[2] Lecture 97: 3 Nephi 11, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[3] Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities in the Book of Mormon, Donald W. Parry, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[4] Authority in the Book of Mosiah, Daniel C. Peterson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[5] Churches in the Wilderness, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.

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