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110-652: According to 2 Kings 18 :4, King Hezekiah instituted an iconoclastic reform: "He abolished the shrines, smashed the pillars, and cut down the sacred post. He also broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until that time, the Israelites had been offering sacrifices to it; it was called Nehushtan." "Nehushtan" is a pun off either the Hebrew word for "snake" ( נָחָשׁ , nāḥāš ) and/or "brass" ( נְחשֶׁת , nəḥošeṯ ), and thus may mean "The (Great) Serpent" or "The (Great) Brass". The English Standard Version of

220-536: A restoration of Christian gospel. The Book of Mormon is divided into smaller books — which are usually titled after individuals named as primary authors — and in most versions, is divided into chapters and verses. Its English text imitates the style of the King James Version of the Bible. The Book of Mormon has been fully or partially translated into at least 112 languages . According to Smith's account and

330-567: A "nonmainstream literary aesthetic". Narratively and structurally, the book is complex, with multiple arcs that diverge and converge in the story while contributing to the book's overarching plot and themes. Historian Daniel Walker Howe concluded in his own appraisal that the Book of Mormon "is a powerful epic written on a grand scale" and "should rank among the great achievements of American literature". The Book of Mormon presents its text through multiple narrators explicitly identified as figures within

440-621: A 'ultra-righteous king' who relied on YHWH ( verses 1 –8), the most David-like king since David (verse 3, cf. verse 7 with 1 Samuel 18:14). It is contrasted to the apostate northern kingdom which was then destroyed by the Assyrians (verses 9–12). Prompting by Hezekiah's rebellion (verse 7), Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, came to attack Judah, and even after given large amount of tribute (verses 13–16) still demanded Jerusalem to surrender with convincing argumentation (verses 17–37). The narrative of

550-522: A Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reign of Hezekiah , the king of Judah , a part of the section comprising 2 Kings 18:1 to 20:21 , with a parallel version in Isaiah 36 – 39 . This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language . It is divided into 37 verses. Some early manuscripts containing

660-593: A central message. Barnes argues that the Book of Mormon depicts Jesus as a "revolutionary new character" different from that of the New Testament in a portrayal that is "constantly, subtly revising the Christian tradition". According to historian John Turner, the Book of Mormon's depiction provides "a twist" on Christian trinitarianism, as Jesus in the Book of Mormon is distinct from God the Father—as he prays to God during

770-557: A dialogue in which petitioners and deity engage one another in a mutual exchange in which God's contributions originate from outside the mortal recipient. The Book of Mormon also emphasizes regular prayer as a significant component of devotional life, depicting it as a central means through which such dialogic revelation can take place. While the Old Testament of the Christian Bible links revelation specifically to prophetic authority,

880-455: A guided process of miraculous assistance. The Book of Mormon's "eschatological content" lends to a "theology of Native and/or nonwhite liberation", in the words of American studies scholar Jared Hickman. The Book of Mormon's narrative content includes prophecies describing how although Gentiles (generally interpreted as being whites of European descent) would conquer the Indigenous residents of

990-400: A heavy tribute, which also conforms with Sennacherib's record: Sennacherib decided that the tribute from Judah is not enough, so he sent his "big guns", his main officers, consisting of: ' Tartan , Rabsaris , and Rabshakeh ' to force the capitulation of Jerusalem verse 17) . The Assyrians started by using psychological warfare, with Rabshakeh speaking directly to the people of Jerusalem at

1100-407: A messianic appearance at the book's climax. Furthermore, the Book of Mormon's "formal logic" criticizes the theological supports for racism and white supremacy prevalent in the antebellum United States by enacting a textual apocalypse. The book's apparently white Nephite narrators fail to recognize and repent of their own sinful, hubristic prejudices against the seemingly darker-skinned Lamanites in

1210-602: A metal rim and attached to a breastplate. Beginning around 1832, both the interpreters and Smith's own seer stone were at times referred to as the "Urim and Thummim", and Smith sometimes used the term interchangeably with "spectacles". Emma Smith 's and David Whitmer 's accounts describe Smith using the interpreters while dictating for Martin Harris 's scribing and switching to only using his seer stone(s) in subsequent translation. Religious studies scholar Grant Hardy summarizes Smith's known dictation process as follows: "Smith looked at

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1320-626: A mural of the Israelites' deliverance from the plague of serpents by the creation of the bronze serpent. 2 Kings 18 2 Kings 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible . The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by

1430-488: A people whom God had led from Jerusalem to the Western hemisphere 600 years before Jesus 's birth. Smith said this vision occurred on the evening of September 21, 1823, and that on the following day, via divine guidance, he located the burial location of the plates on this hill and was instructed by Moroni to meet him at the same hill on September 22 of the following year to receive further instructions, which repeated annually for

1540-708: A post-resurrection visit with the Nephites—while also emphasizing that Jesus and God have "divine unity," with other parts of the book calling Jesus "the Father and the Son". Beliefs among the churches of the Latter Day Saint movement range between social trinitarianism (such as among Latter-day Saints) and traditional trinitarianism (such as in Community of Christ ). The Christian concept of God's plan of salvation for humanity

1650-465: A record from a much earlier people. There is a subsequent subplot describing a group of families who God leads away from the Tower of Babel after it falls. Led by a man named Jared and his brother , described as a prophet of God, these Jaredites travel to the "promised land" and establish a society there. After successive violent reversals between rival monarchs and faction, their society collapses around

1760-664: A sanctuary or public space as a political maneuver following the Israelite settlement. Hebraist and Old Testament scholar R. H. Kennett hypothesized that Moses made the Brazen Serpent and that the Ark of the Covenant was created specifically to contain it despite no known written reference made to the Ark's contents. Kennett also theorized that should Nehushtan truly date back to the time of Moses, it

1870-425: A seer stone placed in his hat and then dictated the text of the Book of Mormon to scribes". Early on, Smith sometimes separated himself from his scribe with a blanket between them, as he did while Martin Harris, a neighbor, scribed his dictation in 1828. At other points in the process, such as when Oliver Cowdery or Emma Smith scribed, the plates were left covered up but in the open. During some dictation sessions

1980-504: A short time many cities of Judah were occupied and Jerusalem was besieged. King Sennacherib depicted his victory over Lachish in a stone relief in his palace at Nineveh ( Lachish reliefs , now in the British Museum ) and described Hezekiah's desperate situation on several victory monuments ( Sennacherib's Annals ): The Bible text records that Hezekiah initially tried to free himself from Assyrian pressure by conceding defeat and paying

2090-617: A structure in the speech mocking YHWH's power to emphasize that 'YHWH is only one among many gods': Rabshakeh's argument rises from the polytheistic worship system of the empire with the boast that Assyria has the king 'before whom no gods can stand'. This leads to the confrontation and the display of YHWH's power in chapter 19. Other than in the Books of Kings , Ahaz is mentioned in the Book of Isaiah , Books of Chronicles , Gospel of Matthew ( 1:9 ), and Assyrian inscriptions ( ANET 282–284 ), such as

2200-596: A symbol of Yahweh at the time of its destruction. Instead, Rowley theorized that the bronze serpent destroyed by King Hezekiah was a sacred pre-Israelite symbol of serpent worship associated with a Canaanite god and was adapted by the Israelites following the occupation of Jerusalem. W.W.G. Baudissin was also of the belief that the Canaanite bronze serpent was adapted by the Israelites between 850–750 B.C.E following their settlement in Jerusalem. Egyptologist Henry Hall supports

2310-496: A wall" a prophecy of Lehi's posterity—described as descendants of Joseph—overflowing into the New World. Latter-day Saints also believe the Bible prophesies of the Book of Mormon as an additional testament to God's dealings with humanity. In the 1980s, the church placed greater emphasis on the Book of Mormon as a central text of the faith. In 1982, it added the subtitle "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" to its official editions of

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2420-458: Is a frequently recurring theme of the Book of Mormon. While the Bible does not directly outline a plan of salvation, the Book of Mormon explicitly refers to the concept thirty times, using a variety of terms such as plan of salvation , plan of happiness , and plan of redemption . The Book of Mormon's plan of salvation doctrine describes life as a probationary time for people to learn the gospel of Christ through revelation given to prophets and have

2530-401: Is illustrated most thoroughly through intertextuality—the pervasive echoes, allusions, and expansions on the Book of Mormon text that appear in the early converts' own writings." Early Latter Day Saints alluded to Book of Mormon narratives, incorporated Book of Mormon turns of phrase into their writing styles, and even gave their children Book of Mormon names. Like many other early adherents of

2640-501: Is not the serpent that either brings to life or puts to death, but it is God (Mishnah R. H. 3:8, B. Talmud R.H. 29a). In the course of time, however, the people lost sight of the symbolical meaning and regarded the serpent itself as the seat of the healing power, and they made it an object of worship, so that Hezekiah found it necessary to destroy it ( 2 Kings 18:4 ; see also Ber. 10a). The question that puzzled Heinrich Ewald ("Gesch. des Volkes Israel," iii. 669, note 5) and others, "Where

2750-504: Is plausible for Smith to have produced the Book of Mormon himself, based on his knowledge of the Bible and enabled by a democratizing religious culture. The style of the Book of Mormon's English text resembles that of the King James Version of the Bible. Novelist Jane Barnes considered the book "difficult to read", and according to religious studies scholar Grant Hardy, the language is an "awkward, repetitious form of English" with

2860-478: Is that Smith authored the Book, drawing on material and ideas from his contemporary 19th-century environment, rather than translating an ancient record. According to Joseph Smith, in 1823, when he was seventeen years old, an angel of God named Moroni appeared to him and said that a collection of ancient writings was buried in a nearby hill in present-day Wayne County, New York , engraved on golden plates by ancient prophets. The writings were said to describe

2970-468: Is the Book of Third Nephi , which describes a visit by Jesus to the people of the Book of Mormon sometime after his resurrection and ascension; historian John Turner calls this episode "the climax of the entire scripture". After this visit, the Nephites and Lamanites unite in a harmonious, peaceful society which endures for several generations before breaking into warring factions again, and in this conflict

3080-416: The Book of Mormon , three prophets make reference to this event. The first is the prophet Nephi , son of Lehi in a general discourse, the second is many years later by the prophet Alma , and the third is years later by Alma's great-grandson also named Nephi. Nephi tells the people that many of the Israelites perished because of the simplicity and faith required i.e., "and the labor which they had to perform

3190-614: The Book of Moroni . The book's sequence is primarily chronological based on the narrative content of the book. Exceptions include the Words of Mormon and the Book of Ether . The Words of Mormon contains editorial commentary by Mormon . The Book of Ether is presented as the narrative of an earlier group of people who had come to the American continent before the immigration described in 1 Nephi. First Nephi through Omni are written in first-person narrative, as are Mormon and Moroni. The remainder of

3300-781: The Bronze Age : archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo , one at Gezer , one in the sanctuary of the Area H temple at Tel Hazor and two at Shechem . Cultic serpent imagery was not isolated to Canaan. It appeared in surrounding areas, including the Esagila or temple of Marduk as tutelary deity in Babylon , where pairs of bronze serpents were erected beside each entrance to

3410-576: The Gospel of John , Jesus makes a comparison between the raising up of the Son of Man and the act of the serpent being raised by Moses for the healing of the people. Jesus says "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up". ( John 3:14 ) Charles Spurgeon preached a famous sermon on "the Mysteries of the Brazen Serpent" and this passage from John's Gospel in 1857. In

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3520-540: The Nehushtan , a snake-shaped cultic image traced back to Moses (cf. Numbers 21:9 ), can really be attributed to Hezekiah, despite little details were reported, among other acts of piety (verses 6–7). Next are Hezekiah's early foreign political activities: he liberated the kingdom of Judah from Assyrian subservience and conducted successful campaigns against the Philistines (verses 7–8). An Assyrian source noted that Hezekiah

3630-501: The New Testament , re-emphasizes salvific baptism, and introduces the ritual consumption of bread and wine "in remembrance of [his] body", a teaching that became the basis for modern Latter-day Saints' "memorialist" view of their sacrament ordinance (analogous to communion). Jesus's ministry in the Book of Mormon resembles his portrayal in the Gospel of John , as Jesus similarly teaches without parables and preaches faith and obedience as

3740-556: The Ten Lost Tribes , the Book of Mormon actively rejects the hypothesis; the peoples in its narrative have an "ancient Hebrew" origin but do not descend from the lost tribes. The book ultimately heavily revises, rather than borrows, the Hebraic Indian theory. The Book of Mormon may creatively reconfigure, without plagiarizing, parts of the popular 1678 Christian allegory Pilgrim's Progress written by John Bunyan . For example,

3850-519: The anthropomorphic and personal nature of God, the nature of spirits and angels, and the organization of the latter day church . The pivotal event of the book is an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Americas shortly after his resurrection. Common teachings of the Latter Day Saint movement hold that the Book of Mormon fulfills numerous biblical prophecies by ending a global apostasy and signaling

3960-436: The linchpin or " keystone " of their religion. Independent archaeological, historical, and scientific communities have discovered no evidence to support the existence of the civilizations described therein. Characteristics of the language and content point toward a nineteenth-century origin of the Book of Mormon . Various academics and apologetic organizations connected to the Latter Day Saint movement nevertheless argue that

4070-457: The " Nimrud Tablet K.3751 ", which is the first ancient record for the name "Judah" (Yaudaya or KUR.ia-ú-da-a-a) and "Ahaz" (written as "Jeho-ahaz"). Several bullae with the printed name of Ahaz have been found: Extra-biblical sources specify Hezekiah by name, along with his reign and influence. "Historiographically, his reign is noteworthy for the convergence of a variety of biblical sources and diverse extrabiblical evidence often bearing on

4180-419: The "Testimony of Eight Witnesses " which appeared in the original 1830 edition and every official Latter-day Saint edition thereafter. The books from First Nephi to Omni are described as being from "the small plates of Nephi". This account begins in ancient Jerusalem around 600 BC, telling the story of a man named Lehi , his family, and several others as they are led by God from Jerusalem shortly before

4290-413: The "aboriginal inhabitants of the country" (referring to the Nephites and Lamanites who figure in the Book of Mormon's primary narrative). Smith sometimes shared what he said he had learned through such angelic encounters with his family as well. In Smith's account, Moroni allowed him, accompanied by his wife Emma Hale Smith , to take the plates on September 22, 1827, four years after his initial visit to

4400-421: The "utter inadequacy of his or her rac(ial)ist common sense". Adherents of the early Latter Day Saint movement frequently read the Book of Mormon as a corroboration of and supplement to the Bible, persuaded by its resemblance to the King James Version 's form and language. For these early readers, the Book of Mormon confirmed the Bible's scriptural veracity and resolved then-contemporary theological controversies

4510-462: The Adam and Eve story contributes to the Book of Mormon's emphasis "on the importance of human freedom and responsibility" to choose salvation. In the Book of Mormon, revelation from God typically manifests as a dialogue between God and persons, characterizing deity as an anthropomorphic being who hears prayers and provides direct answers to questions. Multiple narratives in the book portray revelation as

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4620-612: The Americas (imagined in the Book of Mormon as being a remnant of descendants of the Lamanites), this conquest would only precede the Native Americans' revival and resurgence as a God-empowered people. The Book of Mormon narrative's prophecies envision a Christian eschaton in which Indigenous people are destined to rise up as the true leaders of the continent, manifesting in a new utopia to be called "Zion". White Gentiles would have an opportunity to repent of their sins and join themselves to

4730-586: The Assyrian siege on Jerusalem in chapter 18 and 19 is presented in a parallel structure: From 18:17 onwards the editors seem to insert another source, which is also used in the Book of Isaiah , that indicates the Assyrians breaking their word after receiving the tribute and putting further pressure on Hezekiah in Jerusalem (cf. 1 Kings 20:1–7 for the equivalent chain of events). This section highlights Hezekiah's religious reforms which may contribute to an exceptional evaluation: he and Josiah ( 2 Kings 22:2 ) alone are comparable to David . The destruction of

4840-577: The Bible and the majority of contemporary English translations refer to the serpent as made of "bronze", whereas the King James Version and a number of other versions state "brass". 2 Kings 18:4 is translated as "brasen" in the King James Version. The Douay-Rheims 1899 edition has "brazen". Eugene H. Peterson , in his paraphrase of the Bible The Message (2002), opted for "a snake of fiery copper". Snake cults had been well established in Canaan in

4950-473: The Bible did not seem to adequately address, such as the appropriate mode of baptism, the role of prayer, and the nature of the Christian atonement. Early church administrative design also drew inspiration from the Book of Mormon. Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith, respectively, used the depiction of the Christian church in the Book of Mormon as a template for their Articles of the Church and Articles and Covenants of

5060-510: The Book of Helaman. Inasmuch as the serpent in the Talmud stands for such evils as talebearing and defamation of character (Genesis 3:4–5), the Midrash finds in the plague of the fiery serpents a punishment for sins of the evil tongue (Numbers 21:5). God said: "Let the serpent who was the first to offend by 'evil tongue' inflict punishment on those who were guilty of the same sin and did not profit by

5170-461: The Book of Mormon as "the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of [the] religion". Although Smith quoted the book infrequently, he accepted the Book of Mormon narrative world as his own. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) accepts the Book of Mormon as one of the four sacred texts in its scriptural canon called the standard works . Church leaders and publications have "strongly affirm[ed]" Smith's claims of

5280-438: The Book of Mormon as its narrative). Whether or not View influenced the Book of Mormon is the subject of debate. A pseudo-anthropological treatise, View presented allegedly empirical evidence in support of its hypothesis. The Book of Mormon is written as a narrative, and Christian themes predominate rather than supposedly Indigenous parallels. Additionally, while View supposes that Indigenous American peoples descended from

5390-408: The Book of Mormon is written in third-person historical narrative, said to be compiled and abridged by Mormon (with Moroni abridging the Book of Ether and writing the latter part of Mormon and the Book of Moroni). Most modern editions of the book have been divided into chapters and verses. Most editions of the book also contain supplementary material, including the "Testimony of Three Witnesses " and

5500-471: The Book of Mormon universalizes Christian salvation as being accessible across all time and places. By implying that even more ancient peoples were familiar with Jesus Christ, the book presents a "polygenist Christian history" in which Christianity has multiple origins. In the climax of the book, Jesus visits some early inhabitants of the Americas after his resurrection in an extended bodily theophany . During this ministry, he reiterates many teachings from

5610-440: The Book of Mormon's portrayal democratizes the idea of revelation, depicting it as the right of every person. Figures such as Nephi and Ammon receive visions and revelatory direction prior to or without ever becoming prophets, and Laman and Lemuel are rebuked for hesitating to pray for revelation. Also in contrast with traditional Christian conceptions of revelations is the Book of Mormon's broader range of revelatory content. In

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5720-492: The Book of Mormon, figures petition God for revelatory answers to doctrinal questions and ecclesiastical crises as well as for inspiration to guide hunts, military campaigns, and sociopolitical decisions. The Book of Mormon depicts revelation as an active and sometimes laborious experience. For example, the Book of Mormon's Brother of Jared learns to act not merely as a petitioner with questions but moreover as an interlocutor with "a specific proposal" for God to consider as part of

5830-443: The Book of Mormon. Ezra Taft Benson , the church's thirteenth president (1985–1994), especially emphasized the Book of Mormon. Referencing Smith's 1832 revelation, Benson said the church remained under condemnation for treating the Book of Mormon lightly. Since the late 1980s, Latter-day Saint leaders have encouraged church members to read from the Book of Mormon daily, and in the twenty-first century, many Latter-day Saints use

5940-447: The Church . The Book of Mormon was also significant in the early movement as a sign, proving Joseph Smith's claimed prophetic calling, signalling the "restoration of all things", and ending what was believed to have been an apostasy from true Christianity. Early Latter Day Saints tended to interpret the Book of Mormon through a millenarian lens and consequently believed the book portended Christ's imminent Second Coming . And during

6050-467: The English manuscript of the Book of Mormon was produced as scribes wrote down Smith's dictation in multiple sessions between 1828 and 1829. The dictation of the extant Book of Mormon was completed in 1829 in between 53 and 74 working days. Descriptions of the way in which Smith dictated the Book of Mormon vary. Smith himself called the Book of Mormon a translated work, but in public he generally described

6160-411: The Indigenous remnant, but if white Gentile society fails to do so, the Book of Mormon's content foretells a future "apocalyptic reversal" in which Native Americans will destroy white American society and replace it with a godly, Zionic society. This prophecy commanding whites to repent and become supporters of American Indians even bears "special authority as an utterance of Jesus" Christ himself during

6270-526: The Latter Day Saint movement consider the Book of Mormon an authentic historical record, translated by Smith from actual ancient plates through divine revelation . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the largest Latter Day Saint denomination, maintains this as its official position. The Book of Mormon as a written text is the transcription of what scholars Grant Hardy and William L. Davis call an "extended oral performance", one which Davis considers "comparable in length and magnitude to

6380-409: The Latter Day Saint movement, Smith referenced Book of Mormon scriptures in his preaching relatively infrequently and cited the Bible more often. In 1832, Smith dictated a revelation that condemned the "whole church" for treating the Book of Mormon lightly, although even after doing so Smith still referenced the Book of Mormon less often than the Bible. Nevertheless, in 1841 Joseph Smith characterized

6490-548: The Mid Eastern world's historical documents". Several bullae bearing the name of Hezekiah have been found: Other artifacts bearing the name "Hezekiah" include LMLK stored jars along the border with Assyria "demonstrate careful preparations to counter Sennacherib's likely route of invasion" and show "a notable degree of royal control of towns and cities which would facilitate Hezekiah's destruction of rural sacrificial sites and his centralization of worship in Jerusalem", with

6600-462: The Nephites are destroyed while the Lamanites emerge victorious. In the narrative, Mormon, a Nephite, lives during this period of war, and he dies before finishing his book. His son Moroni takes over as narrator, describing himself taking his father's record into his charge and finishing its writing. Before the very end of the book, Moroni describes making an abridgment (called the Book of Ether ) of

6710-654: The Spalding manuscript source hypothesis debunked since 1945, when Fawn M. Brodie thoroughly disproved it in her critical biography of Smith. Historians since the early twentieth century have suggested Smith was inspired by View of the Hebrews , an 1823 book which propounded the Hebraic Indian theory , since both associate American Indians with ancient Israel and describe clashes between two dualistically opposed civilizations ( View as speculation about American Indian history and

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6820-532: The ability to translate and that Moroni had taken back the plates to be returned only after Smith repented. Smith later stated that God allowed him to resume translation, but directed that he begin where he left off (in what is now called the Book of Mosiah), without retranslating what had been in the lost manuscript. Smith recommenced some Book of Mormon dictation between September 1828 and April 1829 with his wife Emma Smith scribing with occasional help from his brother Samuel Smith, though transcription accomplished

6930-421: The arrival of Moses's sacred rod would be a public spectacle with an honorary procession, which would be well documented. Instead, he proposes that the bronze serpent became associated with Nehushtan through process of religious syncretism , citing that the gradual fusion of Canaanite and Israelite beliefs and customs. He hypothesized that symbols representing both religions may have been erected side by side within

7040-520: The book is an authentic account of the pre- Columbian exchange world. The Book of Mormon has a number of doctrinal discussions on subjects such as the fall of Adam and Eve , the nature of the Christian atonement , eschatology , agency , priesthood authority , redemption from physical and spiritual death, the nature and conduct of baptism , the age of accountability , the purpose and practice of communion , personalized revelation, economic justice,

7150-415: The book's narrative, the Book was originally engraved in otherwise unknown characters on golden plates by ancient prophets; the last prophet to contribute to the book, Moroni , had buried it in what is present-day Manchester, New York and then appeared in a vision to Smith in 1827, revealing the location of the plates and instructing him to translate the plates into English. The more widely accepted view

7260-551: The book's own narrative. Narrators describe reading, redacting, writing, and exchanging records. The book also embeds sermons, given by figures from the narrative, throughout the text, and these internal orations make up just over 40 percent of the Book of Mormon. Periodically, the book's primary narrators reflexively describe themselves creating the book in a move that is "almost postmodern" in its self-consciousness. Historian Laurie Maffly-Kipp explains that "the mechanics of editing and transmitting thereby become an important feature of

7370-491: The book's place in a causal chain which held that if the Book of Mormon was "verifiably true revelation of God," then it justified Smith's claims to prophetic authority to restore the New Testament church. Latter-day Saints have also long believed the Book of Mormon's contents confirm and fulfill biblical prophecies. For example, "many Latter-day Saints" consider the biblical patriarch Jacob 's description of his son Joseph as "a fruitful bough   ... whose branches run over

7480-436: The book's significance to the faith. According to the church's "Articles of Faith" —a document written by Joseph Smith in 1842 and canonized by the church as scripture in 1880—members "believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly," and they "believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God," without qualification. In their evangelism, Latter-day Saint leaders and missionaries have long emphasized

7590-467: The brazen serpent existed within Jerusalem before the arrival of the Israelites, Rowley argues that there is no record of Nehushtan before the reign of Hezekiah, aside from the Numbers 21 story of the bronze serpent. Rowley states that had Nehushtan been brought into Jerusalem at any time as a genuine relic , there would be a documented record of its arrival or transfer. In his argument, Rowley also inserts that

7700-498: The capture of Lachish and the siege of Jerusalem , are recorded in a number of ancient documents and artifacts: Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement , first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi . The book is one of

7810-471: The city walls' (verses 27–35). Rabshakeh's well-crafted speeches alternate between promises of good things from the Assyrian king and warnings not to trust YHWH nor Hezekiah to protect them: He states four seemingly excellent arguments for capitulation: Rabshakeh hammers on the issue of trust, which is a key issue in 2 Kings 17 , as spoken by the prophets, but here he offers the theological challenge: Hezekiah's acts of destroying places of worship provoke

7920-423: The classic oral epics, such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey ". Eyewitnesses said Smith never referred to notes or other documents while dictating, and Smith's followers and those close to him insisted he lacked the writing and narrative skills necessary to consciously produce a text like the Book of Mormon. Some naturalistic interpretations have therefore compared Smith's dictation to automatic writing arising from

8030-427: The displeasure of YHWH, and the implication: neither Hezekiah nor Egypt nor YHWH can be trusted to deliver the people. He ends his speech with an audacious claim that Sennacherib, not Hezekiah, is doing the will of God (verse 25) and that the Assyrian king will be the shepherd-king for Israel, a composite of Moses , Joshua and Solomon , to bring the people to a land full of prosperity (verse 32). Brueggemann observes

8140-553: The earliest and most well-known unique writings of the Latter Day Saint movement. The denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement typically regard the text primarily as scripture (sometimes as one of four standard works ) and secondarily as a record of God's dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas . The majority of Latter Day Saints believe the book to be a record of real-world history, with Latter Day Saint denominations viewing it variously as an inspired record of scripture to

8250-559: The early 400s CE. On its title page, the Book of Mormon describes its central purpose as being the "convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations." Although much of the Book of Mormon's internal chronology takes place prior to the birth of Jesus, prophets in the book frequently see him in vision and preach about him, and the people in

8360-525: The evidence suggesting the use throughout Hezekiah's reign, and the Siloam inscription . An inscription bearing the name "Shebnayahu" was discovered on the lintel above the entrance of a rock-cut tomb which suggests the connection to Shebna , the court officer mentioned in 2 Kings 18:18 and 2 Kings 19:2 . The accounts of Sennacherib of Assyria, including his invasion into the Kingdom of Judah , especially

8470-540: The fall of that city to the Babylonians . The book describes their journey across the Arabian peninsula , and then to a "promised land", presumably an unspecified location in the Americas, by ship. These books recount the group's dealings from approximately 600 BC to about 130 BC, during which time the community grows and splits into two main groups, called Nephites and Lamanites , that frequently war with each other throughout

8580-450: The food which had given any taste desired, should be punished by means of that creature to which everything has the same taste (Tan., ed. Buber, Ḥuḳḳat, xlv. [337]; Midrash R. Num. xix. 22). The Mishnah does not take literally the words "Every one who was bitten by a serpent would look at the serpent and live", but interprets them symbolically. The people should look up to the God of heaven, for it

8690-402: The hill, and directed him to translate them into English. Smith said the angel Moroni strictly instructed him to not let anyone else see the plates without divine permission. Neighbors, some of whom had collaborated with Smith in earlier treasure-hunting enterprises, tried several times to steal the plates from Smith while he and his family guarded them. As Smith and contemporaries reported,

8800-485: The martyr narrative of Abinadi in the Book of Mormon shares a complex matrix of descriptive language with Faithful's martyr narrative in Progress . Some other Book of Mormon narratives, such as the dream Lehi has in the book's opening, also resemble creative reworkings of Progress story arcs as well as elements of other works by Bunyan, such as The Holy War and Grace Abounding . Historical scholarship also suggests it

8910-448: The movement's first years, observers identified converts with the new scripture they propounded, nicknaming them "Mormons". Early Mormons also cultivated their own individual relationships with the Book of Mormon. Reading the book became an ordinary habit for some, and some would reference passages by page number in correspondence with friends and family. Historian Janiece Johnson explains that early converts' "depth of Book of Mormon usage

9020-439: The narrative in his own words. Early observers, presuming Smith incapable of writing something as long or as complex as the Book of Mormon, often searched for a possible source he might have plagiarized. In the nineteenth century, a popular hypothesis was that Smith collaborated with Sidney Rigdon to plagiarize an unpublished manuscript written by Solomon Spalding and turn into the Book of Mormon. Historians have considered

9130-404: The narrative worship Jesus as "pre-Christian Christians." For example, the book's first narrator Nephi describes having a vision of the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus, said to have taken place nearly 600 years prior to Jesus' birth. Late in the book, a narrator refers to converted peoples as "children of Christ". By depicting ancient prophets and peoples as familiar with Jesus as a Savior,

9240-411: The narrative. In their pride, the Nephites repeatedly backslide into producing oppressive social orders, such that the book's narrative performs a sustained critique of colonialist racism. The book concludes with its own narrative implosion in which Lamanites suddenly succeed over and destroy Nephites in a literary turn seemingly designed to jar the average antebellum white American reader into recognizing

9350-451: The narratives" of the Book of Mormon for several years by making outlines, whether mental or on private notes, until he began dictating in 1828. Smith's oral recitations about Nephites to his family could have been an opportunity to work out ideas and practice oratory, and he received some formal education as a lay Methodist exhorter. In this interpretation, Smith believed the dictation he produced reflected an ancient history, but he assembled

9460-464: The next three years. Smith told his entire immediate family about this angelic encounter by the next night, and his brother William reported that the family "believed all he [Joseph Smith] said" about the angel and plates. Smith and his family reminisced that as part of what Smith believed was angelic instruction, Moroni provided Smith with a "brief sketch" of the "origin, progress, civilization, laws, governments   ... righteousness and iniquity" of

9570-524: The opportunity to choose whether or not to obey God. Jesus' atonement then makes repentance possible, enabling the righteous to enter a heavenly state after a final judgment . Although most of Christianity traditionally considers the fall of man a negative development for humanity, the Book of Mormon instead portrays the fall as a foreordained step in God's plan of salvation, necessary to securing human agency, eventual righteousness, and bodily joy through physical experience. This positive interpretation of

9680-444: The passage in 2 Kings 18:4, M. G. Easton noted that "the lapse of nearly one thousand years had invested the 'brazen serpent' with a mysterious sanctity; and in order to deliver the people from their infatuation, and impress them with the idea of its worthlessness, Hezekiah called it, in contempt, 'Nehushtan', a brazen thing, a mere piece of brass". The tradition of naming it Nehushtan is not considered older than Hezekiah's time. In

9790-565: The plates by holding or moving them wrapped in cloth, although without seeing the plates themselves. Their accounts of the plates' appearance tend to describe a golden-colored compilation of thin metal sheets (the "plates") bound together by wires in the shape of a book. The manuscript was completed in June 1829. E. B. Grandin published the Book of Mormon in Palmyra, New York, and it went on sale in his bookstore on March 26, 1830. Smith said he returned

9900-403: The plates to Moroni upon the publication of the book. Multiple theories of naturalistic composition have been proposed. In the twenty-first century, leading naturalistic interpretations of Book of Mormon origins hold that Smith authored it himself, whether consciously or subconsciously, and simultaneously sincerely believed the Book of Mormon was an authentic sacred history. Most adherents of

10010-407: The plates were entirely absent. In 1828, while scribing for Smith, Harris, at the prompting of his wife Lucy Harris , repeatedly asked Smith to loan him the manuscript pages of the dictation thus far. Smith reluctantly acceded to Harris's requests. Within weeks, Harris lost the manuscript , which was most likely stolen by a member of his extended family. After the loss, Smith recorded that he lost

10120-399: The process itself only in vague terms, saying he translated by a miraculous gift from God. According to some accounts from his family and friends at the time, early on, Smith copied characters off the plates as part of a process of learning to translate an initial corpus. For the majority of the process, Smith dictated the text by voicing strings of words which a scribe would write down; after

10230-452: The rest of the narrative. Following this section is the Words of Mormon , a small book that introduces Mormon , the principal narrator for the remainder of the text. The narration describes the proceeding content ( Book of Mosiah through to chapter 7 of the internal Book of Mormon ) as being Mormon's abridgment of "the large plates of Nephi", existing records that detailed the people's history up to Mormon's own life. Part of this portion

10340-579: The same events. Significant data concerning Hezekiah appear in the Deuteronomistic History, the Chronicler, Isaiah, Assyrian annals and reliefs, Israelite epigraphy, and, increasingly, stratigraphy". Archaeologist Amihai Mazar considers the tensions between Assyria and Judah "one of the best-documented events of the Iron Age" and "Hezekiah's story is one of the best to cross-reference with the rest of

10450-592: The scribe confirmed they had finished writing, Smith would continue. Many accounts describe Smith dictating by reading a text as it appeared either on seer stones he already possessed or on a set of spectacles that accompanied the plates, prepared by the Lord for the purpose of translating. The spectacles, often called the "Nephite interpreters," or the " Urim and Thummim ," after the biblical divination stones, were described as two clear seer stones which Smith said he could look through in order to translate, bound together by

10560-404: The serpent's example". One of the complaints in this case was dissatisfaction with the manna . Whereas the manna is said to have had any taste desired by the person eating it (Shemot Rabbah 25:3), to the serpent all things had the taste of dust, in accordance with the words: "And dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" (Genesis 3:14). It was very appropriate, therefore, that they who loathed

10670-488: The serpents. Verse 9 says, "Moses made a copper serpent and mounted it on a standard; and when bitten by a serpent, anyone who looked at the copper serpent would recover." The term appears in 2 Kings 18:4 in a passage describing reforms made by King Hezekiah , in which he tore down the high places , cut down symbols of Asherah , destroyed the Nehushtan, and according to many Bible translations, gave it that name. Regarding

10780-429: The subconscious. However, Ann Taves considers this description problematic for overemphasizing "lack of control" when historical and comparative study instead suggests Smith "had a highly focused awareness" and "a considerable degree of control over the experience" of dictation. Independent scholar William L. Davis posits that after believing he had encountered an angel in 1823, Smith "carefully developed his ideas about

10890-669: The temple. According to Lowell K. Handy, the Nehushtan may have been the symbol of a deity for snakebite cure within the Temple in Jerusalem . In the biblical story, following their Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites set out from Mount Hor to go to the Red Sea . However they had to detour around the land of Edom ( Numbers 20 :21 , 25). Impatient, they complained against Yahweh and Moses ( Numbers 21:4–5 ), and in response God sent " fiery serpents " among them and many died. The people came to Moses to repent and asked him to ask God to take away

11000-840: The text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century ), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint , made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus ( B ; G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} ; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus ( A ; G {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}} ; 5th century). This chapter introduces Hezekiah as

11110-473: The text". Barnes calls the Book of Mormon a "scripture about writing and its influence in a post-modern world of texts" and "a statement about different voices, and possibly the problem of voice, in sacred literature". The Book of Mormon is organized as a compilation of smaller books, each named after its main named narrator or a prominent leader, beginning with the First Book of Nephi (1 Nephi) and ending with

11220-412: The theory that the Nehushtan destroyed by Hezekiah was not associated with Yahweh, but Hall alternately suggests that it was an ancient serpent image carried from Egypt by the ancestors of the Israelites. This theory is supported by acknowledging the standard Egyptian practice of using the image of a serpent as to defend themselves against snake bites, in a form of sympathetic magic . In his notion that

11330-400: The time that Lehi's family arrive in the promised land further south. The narrative returns to Moroni's present ( Book of Moroni ) in which he transcribes a few short documents, meditates on and addresses the book's audience, finishes the record, and buries the plates upon which they are narrated to be inscribed upon, before implicitly dying as his father did, in what allegedly would have been

11440-521: The uncovered golden plates and, in some cases, handle them. Their written testimonies are known as the Testimony of Three Witnesses , who described seeing the plates in a visionary encounter with an angel, and the Testimony of Eight Witnesses , who described handling the plates as displayed by Smith. Statements signed by them have been published in most editions of the Book of Mormon. In addition to Smith and these eleven, several others described encountering

11550-536: The wall of the city using the Hebrew language and employing shrewd rhetoric on Israelite faith while undermining it. The Rabshakeh is not a common messenger, as he is a 'propagandist and skill negotiator' with the ability of speaking the 'language of diplomatic disputation', with a purpose to divide the people of Judah along calls lines ( verse 27 ). The envoy delivered two speeches: one directed to King Hezekiah and his officers/negotiators, including Shebna and Eliakim , (verses 19–25) and one to 'the (warring) people on

11660-625: Was either maintained by priests after fleeing to Nob from Shiloh or accompanied the Ark as it was carried off by the Philistines . This is not widely accepted due to no known tradition or association between the Serpent and Ark. There is a Brazen Serpent Monument on Mount Nebo in Jordan created by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni. Similarly, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel , Michelangelo painted

11770-576: Was limited. In April 1829, Oliver Cowdery met Smith and, believing Smith's account of the plates, began scribing for Smith in what became a "burst of rapid-fire translation". In May, Joseph and Emma Smith along with Cowdery moved in with the Whitmer family, sympathetic neighbors, in an effort to avoid interruptions as they proceeded with producing the manuscript. While living with the Whitmers, Smith said he received permission to allow eleven specific others to see

11880-526: Was the 'leader of an anti-Assyrian coalition from 705 BCE onwards', and he even 'arrested a pro-Assyrian king of Ekron in this capacity'. The editors included the description of the northern Israel kingdom's defeat to the Assyrians (cf. verses 9–11 with 2 Kings 17:3–6 ), as well as the cause of it, namely, the 'entire population's lack of loyalty to the Torah' (verse 12). The Assyrians stormed Judah, likely in response to Hezekiah's rebellion (verse 7) in 701 BCE. In

11990-565: Was the brazen serpent till the time of Hezekiah?" occupied the Talmudists also. They answered it in a very simple way: Asa and Joshaphat, when clearing away the idols, purposely left the brazen serpent behind, in order that Hezekiah might also be able to do a praiseworthy deed in breaking it (Ḥul. 6b). Old Testament scholar H. H. Rowley proposed that Nehushtan, as it was known during Hezekiah’s reign, had no origins in Yahwism despite being regarded as

12100-437: Was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished." In the latter narrative, Alma tells the people of Antionum that many of the Israelites died because they lacked the faith to look at the brazen serpent. He then compared the brazen serpent to a type of Christ and exhorted the people to look to Christ and spiritually live. These same themes from Alma were reiterated by Nephi in

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