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Come, Follow Me: BOOK OF MORMON DECEMBER 30–JANUARY 5 Which Plates Did the Book Introductory pages of Mormon Come from? The plates of Mormon given to the Prophet Joseph Smith he Book of Mormon Some of the sources for The Book of Lehi was written by many the plates of Mormon T (part of Mormon’s ancient prophets who abridgement; the 116 recorded their words on pages lost by Martin Harris) different sets of metal The Small Plates of Nephi (600 BC–130 BC *): plates. These records were 1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, Jacob, later abridged to create Enos, Jarom, Omni the plates of Mormon, or 1 Nephi through Omni (unabridged; included from the gold plates that Joseph the small plates of Nephi) Smith translated. The Large Plates Mormon’s of Nephi explanation (600 B.C.–A.D. 385): The Words of Mormon DISCUSSION for including Lehi, Mosiah, Alma, the small Compared to all that Helaman, 3 Nephi, Mosiah through plates of could have been recorded 4 Nephi, Mormon 1–7 Mormon 7 Nephi on the gold plates, (abridgment of the large plates of Nephi by Mormon) Mormon and others were Moroni’s com- The Plates of Ether inspired to choose only a pletion of his (around 2,300 BC– Mormon 8–9 small portion for the Book father’s book sometime Ether (the plates of Ether before 130 BC) of Mormon (see Words of abridged by Moroni) The writings Mormon 1:5 and 3 Nephi Moroni of Moroni, 26:6). How can knowing including the title page this influence your per- The Plates of Brass The sealed spective of the chapters we (4,000 BC–600 BC): portion Many quotations from have today? ◼ these plates appear in the Book of Mormon. BEACH BRYAN OF JOSEPH SMITH AND ANGEL MORONI BY ILLUSTRATION * Dates represent the approximate time period covered by each set of plates. WEEK 38 Liahona 1.
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    HEBREW NAMES IN THE BOOK OF MORMON by John A. Tvedtnes [Editor’s note: This paper was presented by John the preface to the work, David Noel Freedman wrote, Tvedtnes at the Thirteenth World Congress of Jewish “The editor is to be commended for his catholicity and Studies in Jerusalem, August 2001.] courage and for his own original contributions in sev- eral domains including a unique treatment of the Book In the spring of 1830, Joseph Smith, a young American of Mormon.”6 Taking his cue from Welch, Donald W. farmer in the state of New York, published a volume Parry, a member of the Dead Sea Scrolls translation entitled the Book of Mormon. The book purports to be team and contributor to the Oxford series Discoveries an abridgment of the history of a small group of people in the Judaean Desert,7 published The Book of Mormon who left Jerusalem about 600 B.C.E. and, led by a Text Reformatted According to Parallelistic Patterns in prophet named Lehi, came to the Americas. The abridg- 1992,8 just a few years after he published an article on ment was essentially prepared about a thousand years “Hebrew Literary Patterns in the Book of Mormon.”9 later by a prophet named Mormon. Smith claimed that he had translated the text from metallic plates with In 1979, Welch organized the Foundation for Ancient divine assistance. Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS). Although the organization is perhaps best known for producing the While more than twenty thousand people—mostly Dead Sea Scrolls CD-ROM distributed through Brill,10 Americans and British—came to accept the book dur- one of its primary activities is the publication of schol- ing Joseph Smith’s lifetime, most people considered it arly books and papers on the Book of Mormon, includ- to be the work of a charlatan.1 Today, more than eleven ing the semiannual Journal of Book of Mormon Stud- million people profess a belief in the Book of Mormon ies.
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    Section 2 The Structure of the Book of Mormon Charts 13–25 Structure Chart 13 Book of Mormon Plates and Records Key Scripture Words of Mormon 1:3–11 Explanation Many ancient documents such as King Benjamin’s speech or the plates of brass were quoted or abridged by the ancient authors who compiled the books found on the small and large plates of Nephi. The abridgments, quotations, and original writings of those Book of Mormon historians are displayed on the left-hand and middle columns of this chart and are then shown in relation to the new set of plates produced by Mormon and Moroni that was delivered to Joseph Smith by the angel Moroni. Joseph dictated the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon from the plates of Mormon. Copying that original manuscript, parts of which survive today, Oliver Cowdery prepared a printer’s manuscript (owned by the RLDS Church). The first edition of the Book of Mormon was typeset from that printer’s manuscript. Source Grant R. Hardy and Robert E. Parsons, “Book of Mormon Plates and Records,” in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. (1992), 1:196. Charting the Book of Mormon, © 1999 Welch, Welch, FARMS Book of Mormon Plates and Records Quotation Abridgment Record of Lehi Small Plates of Nephi Plates 1 & 2 Nephi, Jacob, of Brass Enos, Jarom, Omni Benjamin’s Words of Speech Mormon Book of Lehi Record (lost 116 pages) of Zeniff Large Plates of Nephi Records Lehi, Mosiah, Alma, of Alma Helaman, 3 & 4 Nephi Plates of Records of Sons Mormon Mormon of Mosiah Sealed Plates Epistles of (not translated) Helaman, Pahoran, Moroni Ether Records of Nephi3 Records of Moroni the Jaredites Documents Title Page from Mormon The Book Printer’s Original of Mormon Manuscript Manuscript 1830 1829–30 1829 Charting the Book of Mormon, © 1999 Welch, Welch, FARMS Chart 13 Structure Chart 14 Contents of the Plates of Brass Key Scripture 1 Nephi 5:11–14 Explanation The plates of brass contained a copy of the Law (five books of Moses), a history of the Jews, Lehi’s genealogy, and the writings of many prophets.
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    Section 3 Chronology of the Book of Mormon Charts 26–40 Chronology Chart 26 Life Spans of Lehi’s Lineage Key Scripture 1 Nephi–Omni Explanation This chart shows the lineage of Lehi and approximate life spans of him and his descendants, from Nephi to Amaleki, who were re- sponsible for keeping the historical and doctrinal records of their people. Each bar on the chart represents an individual record keeper’s life. Although the Book of Mormon does not give the date of Nephi’s death, it makes good sense to assume that he was approximately seventy-five years old when he died. Source John W. Welch, “Longevity of Book of Mormon People and the ‘Age of Man,’” Journal of Collegium Aesculapium 3 (1985): 34–45. Charting the Book of Mormon, © 1999 Welch, Welch, FARMS Life Spans of Lehi’s Lineage Life span Lehi Life span with unknown date of death Nephi Jacob Enos Jarom Omni Amaron Chemish Abinadom Amaleki 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 YEARS B.C. Charting the Book of Mormon, © 1999 Welch, Welch, FARMS Chart 26 Chronology Chart 27 Life Spans of Mosiah’s Lineage Key Scripture Omni–Alma 27 Explanation Mosiah and his lineage did much to bring people to Jesus Christ. After being instructed by the Lord to lead the people of Nephi out of the land of Nephi, Mosiah preserved their lives and brought to the people of Zarahemla the brass plates and the Nephite records. He also taught the people of Zarahemla the gospel and the lan- guage of the Nephites, and he was made king over both Nephites and Mulekites.