First, D&C is coming. I still haven’t decided how to approach it for the blog, but I will be posting a suggested reading list in another week or two. My 2016 list is here, and there are some things to update. So stay tuned.
Outline
3 Nephi 22 Jesus quotes Isaiah 54.
3 Nephi 23 Jesus asks to see the records, to give them more. Rebukes Nephi, makes sure Samuel gets written down.
3 Nephi 24-25 Gives them Malachi.
3 Nephi 26- Mormon summarizes Jesus actions and visit. 1/100th written.
Notes
3Ne 22:9, compare to Isaiah 54:9 and note the KJV italicized word missing in the Book of Mormon. Recall that italics in the KJV were to indicat words in translation that weren’t in the Hebrew. They are certainly implied by the Hebrew, and necessary to make sense in English, but not technically there. Later on with the JST, Joseph Smith is quite sensitive to KJV italics, and often makes changes there. How much sense does this make in English without those italics, as the Book of Mormon has it?
See also my post from Old Testament with Isaiah 54.
3 Nephi 23:8-12 I’ve always found this so interesting. What does it indicate about Mormon’s knowledge of the records and how he writes the Book of Mormon, that he includes Samuel’s record in Helaman 13-16 before he gets to this section about Samuel’s preaching being omitted? What bias on the part of the Nephites led to a failure to write down Samuel’s preaching? Does it change how we should read Helaman 13-16 to know that Mormon in 400+ AD is using a record of Samuel’s preaching that was written from memory 30+years after he spoke it? Can you remember any talks from 30 years ago that you would feel comfortable reconstructing from memory?
Think back to Abinadi. Who gave us his words? A hostile witness who became converted, then fled for his life, and had to reconstruct Abinadi’s words from memory weeks later and on the run. I suspect there is both some inspiration and some authorial/editorial expansion, that some of Abinadi’s and Samuel’s words are “filled in” by Alma, Nephi, and/or Mormon. It’s the nature of the record. See my post here.
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December 4, 2016 at 12:19 am
Something i may be reading wrong but going back over 3 Nephi 23:11-12, is the savior saying all of Samuel’s prophecies were not written down, or just that the fulfillment of – saints actually rising from the grave – was not recorded? It seems to be the latter. Would love your insights.