Biblical Prophetic Speech Formulas and Samuel the Lamanite

Samuel the Lamanite

Through the ages the Lord has used different ways to instruct his prophets and because of this his prophets have used different speech forms to relate his messages.  In his article entitled "Thus Saith the Lord":Prophetic Language in Samuel's Speech"  John Welch outlines six different formulas used by prophets of old and new, that have all been applied and can be found in the works of Samuel the Lamanite in the Book of Mormon. 

1. Messenger Formula. "Thus saith the Lord" Either God or a prophet is the speaker of the messenger formula.   This is used 39 times in the Book of Mormon and twice by Samuel (Helaman 13:8, 11).

2. Proclamation Formula.  "Listen to the words of Christ" or "Hearken to the word of the Lord" Samuel used the phrase "hearken unto the words which the Lord saith" (Helaman 13:21).  This phrase is often used at the beginning of a revelation or prophecy.

3. Oath Formula. "As the Lord liveth" This terminology is usually added to a testimony to add emphasis.  Samuel stated: "As surely as the Lord liveth shall these things be, saith the Lord" (Helaman 15:17 and Helaman 13:26).

4. Woe Oracle.  Usually found as part of a judgment speech. Professor Welch breaks down the Woe Oracle into 4 characteristics 1. the accusation 2. the addressee 3. the intent of the accusation 4. and the promise of judgment.  Samuel the Lamanite used many woe oracles here is one from Helaman 13:16-17:

Accusation: Yea, and wo
Addressee: be unto all the cities which are in the land round about
Intent: because of the wickedness and abominations which are in them
Promise of Judgment: And behold, a curse shall come upon the land, saith the Lord of Hosts

5. Announcement Formula. "I say unto you" In this formula the Lord usually speaks to an individual or group in first person. This formula is found at the beginning of a clause usually starting with the words yea, behold or therefore. Samuel uses this formula three times.  (Helaman 15:6, 12, 14)

6. Revelation Formula. "The word [of the Lord] came unto me, saying".  At the beginning of Samuel's ministry to the Nephites, he said, "behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him" (Helaman 13:3) Samuel told the Nephites that they would cry unto the Lord, "O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us" (Helaman 13:36).

As  you can see all six of these formula's are present in the teachings of Samuel the Lamanite to the people of Nephi in Zarahemla.  These formulas are used all throughout the Book of Mormon by other prophets as well.  As John Welch suggested the presence of these formulas does add authenticity to the Book of Mormon as something that Joseph Smith Jr. wouldn't have been aware of.  With that said further research into the teaching styles of prophets throughout history could add greatly to our understanding of prophetic language in all scriptures.

Correlations Between The Book of Mormon and The Narrative of Zosimus (History of the Rechabites)

Bedouin desert dwellers

Many of you are familiar with the Book of Mormon and even more so with the story of Lehi's dream found in 1st Nephi in the Book of Mormon but very few are familiar with the Narrative of Zosimus.  According to John Welch "the first known reappearance in modern times of the Narrative of Zosimus was its translation into Russian from an Old Church Slavonic text in the 1870's, almost fifty ears after the translation of the Book of Mormon into English." This story is now found in the series called "The Ante-Nicene Fathers". The story of the Narrative of Zosimus is about a righteous man named Zosimus who dwelt in a cave in the desert and prayed to the Lord in hopes of obtaining the land of blessedness.  

In order to get to this promised land or land of blessedness Zosimus wanders in a wilderness until he is so exhausted that only through prayer and divine intervention he finally reaches his destination.  In this land he encounters a wall of darkness eerily similar to Lehi's wandering in darkness at the beginning of his dream.  Zosimus is able to transport past the cloud of darkness by the help of two trees and their branches.  He then crosses water and sits by a beautiful tree eating fruit and drinking of its life sustaining water that flows from its roots.  He is then met by an angel who asks him what he wants and then becomes his escort through this journey.  He sees a vision in which he thinks he sees the Son of God who introduces him to a group of sons of God. If any of the story so far sounds familiar (which it should) it then becomes really interesting.  Zosimus is told by this group of sons of God their history.  Their history is engraven on stone plates and they speak of being led by their father and escaping Jerusalem's destruction at the time of Jeremiah.  Through this they survived the scattering of Israel and were able to occupy as Welch puts it "this otherworldly land of paradise and abundance only because of their righteousness." Later on Zosimus gets shown a book in which he learns that although the people in Jerusalem are wicked that eventually mercy will be extended to them in which he finds great joy.  Although this is a really quick synopsis of the Narrative of Zosimus there are many parallels between this apocryphal story and the early chapters of the Book of Mormon.  Here are just a few pointed out by John Welch:

- Dwelling in the desert (1 Nephi 2:4)
- Being led by prayer and faith (1 Nephi 1:5, 11:3, and 16:29)
- Wandering through a dark and dreary waste (1 Nephi 8:7)
- Being caught away to the bank of a river (1 Nephi 8:3)
- Crossing to the other side of a river or abyss and passing through a great mist (1 Nephi 8:32)
- Coming to a tree whose fruit is most sweet above all other fruit (1 Nephi 8:11)
- Eating from the tree, which also gave forth a fountain of living waters (1 Nephi 11:25)
- Being greeted by an angelic escort (1 Nephi 11:2-3)
- Being interrogated as to desires (1 Nephi 11:2)
- Beholding a vision of the Son of God or of those like sons of God (1 Nephi 1:6, 11:29)
- Keeping records on soft plates or tablets (1 Nephi 3:24, 9:1-6)
- Recording the history of a group of people who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem at the time of  Jeremiah. (1 Nephi 1:4, 7:14)
- Being led to a land of promise and of great abundance because of righteousness (1 Nephi 18:25)
- Practicing constant prayer (Alma 34 :21-27)
- Keeping high standards of chastity and piety (Jacob 2:25-28)
- Receiving revelations concerning the wickedness of the people of Jerusalem and the Old World (1 Nephi 10:11)
- Obtaining assurances of the mercy to be extended to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the world who repent and enter into covenants with God (1 Nephi 1:14, 10:3)



Father Lehi and the Liahona

The Narrative of Zosimus as Welch points out may reflect someones memory of Lehi and his departure from Jerusalem although the Narrative in its present form doesn't date anywhere near the time frame of Nephi and Lehi who left Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah in 597 B.C.  I suppose it is possible that Lehi's expedition could have influenced other groups on the departure of 11 years in the desert 8 of which were traveling to modern day Oman or Yemen from Jerusalem.  Another possible common influence between these two groups is that of the Rechabites.  The Rechabites were a nomadic religious group located in the southern deserts of Israel. They date back from Jonadab ben Rechab, the founder who lived some time during the ninth century B.C. (2 Kings 10:15-17).  Although not much is known about this group we do know that Jeremiah thought highly of them inviting them into the temple in Jeremiah 35.  They were know for abstaining from wine and dwelling in dents as nomads.

Lehi knew and respected Jeremiah in the Book of Mormon and heavy emphasis is placed on Lehi when he dwelt in a tent.  Lehi was called many things including a visionary man and his family at time complained of many things but never his ability in the desert.  This may be because as Nibley suggests he was a trader who spent much time in the desert.  As such he would have surely been familiar with the Rechabites.  In the Book of Mormon the drinking of wine is looked upon in negative connotations except in sacramental circumstances. 

Bedouin tent

Since it can be seen that there are numerous parallels between these two texts and enough correlations between the visions and experiences of Zosimus and that of Nephi and Lehi that even an unfamiliar reader should admit that further studies would be promising.  I for one would be intrigued with a more in-depth study of the two texts but can also admit that the studies that have been done point towards an authentic ancient near eastern background for the Book of Mormon.

For the original article from John Welch I have posted a link to his website and highly recommend reading in and many others.

http://johnwwelch.com/flipBooks?page=4




 

Metals and Golden Plates in Mesoamerica, Daniel Johnsons 2010 BMAF lecture

The Sword of Laban and the War Scroll (of the Dead Sea Scrolls) Description of Ancient Israelite Swords

War Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls

I will be briefly summarizing some of John W. Welch's notes on the correlations between how the Book of Mormon's description of the Sword of Laban and the War Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls and how it describes ancient Israelite swords and I will leave a link to the article from John Welch entitled "The workmanship Thereof Was Exceedingly Fine" below for further research.  To start off with we will remember that Nephi obtained the Sword of Laban when he found Laban the Jewish Military leader drunk in Jerusalem and Nephi used Laban's sword to decapitate him.  Because of Laban's political/military position it is safe to assume that his sword would probably differ to some degree from the average Israelite soldiers sword but probably not by much maybe by length and workmanship.

In 1 Nephi 4:9 Nephi states, "And I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof: and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of most precious steel.

Luristan, circa 1500–500 BC. A cast bronze short
 sword with parallel-sided blade, integral guard
 and hilt

In the War Scroll it states, "The swords shall be of purified iron, refined in a crucible and whitened like a mirror, work of a skillful craftsman; and it will have shapes of an ear of wheat, of pure gold, encrusted in it on both sides.  And it will have two straight channels right to the tip, two on each side.  Length of the sword: one cubit and a half.  And its width; four fingers.  The scabbard will be four thumbs; it will have four palms up to the scabbard and diagonally, the scabbard from one part to the other (will be) five palms.  The hilt of the sword will be of select horn, craftwork, with a pattern in many colours: gold, silver and precious stones."

Welch points out that Laban's sword blade is made of "the most precious steel," while the swords of the Israelite army will have blades "of purified iron...whitened like a mirror." Nephi describes the hilt as being made "of pure gold."  The Israelite swords will have a hilt "of select horn...with pattern in many colours: gold, silver and precious stones," though designs in pure gold are also mentioned.  Both the Nephite and Qumran descriptions speak of the quality or "workmanship" of "craftwork" of the swords saying they were "exceedingly fine" or "of a skillful craftsman."

John Welch then goes on to compare the lengths.  Because the War Scroll is very precise in the description of the length of the sword it makes it interesting because the Book of Mormon does not give the length of the Sword of Laban.  Without knowing the measurement of a cubit used by the Israelites it can give us a couple of interpretations of the War Scroll sword length.  It tells us that it was a cubit and a half in length, so if a cubit measured 17.5 inches then the total sword length would have been 26.25 inches long (just over two feet) while a cubit of 20.4 inches would give a length of 30.6 inches or 2.5 feet long.  Welch reminds us at this point of a 7th century sword found in Verde Jericho which measured 3 feet in length and quotes William J. Adams who purposed that Nephi would have had a much easier time decapitating Laban using the longer sword.  So is it possible that an Israelite leader such as Laban may have had a longer sword than the average soldier?  This may or may not be the case but either way because Laban would have taken place before the War Scroll his type of sword may have been a direct influence for the "ideal" Israelite sword described in the War Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Layard’s Monuments of Nineveh, published in 1853, all of which I believe come from the Northwest Palace of Assurnasirpal (ruled 883-859 BC) at Nineveh and show the use of long swords. 

http://johnwwelch.com/sites/johnwwelch.com/files/flipbooks/the_workmanship_thereof_was_exceedingly/

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?ol=2&num=2&id=39&cat_id=483


 

Ancient Jewish, Mayan and Hopi Ceremony Correlations (continued)

(Video of 1913 Hopi Snake Ceremony, the Kisi is the tree looking object to the right of the video that the dancers pass by and gather around as well)


So a few months ago I put together a blog post about ancient Hebrew ceremonies with similar correlations that are found in Mesoamerica.  The focus of this post was centered mainly on Sukkot or the feast of the tabernacles an ancient Hebrew ceremony and what seems to be its new world equivalent in the Mayan Cha Cha'ac ceremony still practiced to this day in the Yucatan in southern Mexico.  In this post I wanted to continue with the a Hopi practice that also has similarities to Sukkot. This is the use of the Hopi Kisi.  Here is a link to the first half of this post.

 http://inthecavityofarock.blogspot.com/2012/10/ancient-hebrew-ceremonies-in-mesoamerica.html
  

Although the Kisi is involved in ceremonies that differ from Sukkot or the Cha Cha'ac to some degree, it is the use and structure of the Kisi that is reminiscent of the alters from both of the previously mentioned ceremonies. According to Tom Cryers in his book Visual Testament he states the Kisi is the most prominent Hopi setting, and the one most available to the public eye, and the one most widespread in the Americas, and the one used in both the Flute and Snake festivals or ceremonies which take place in the full moon of the fall.  The Kisi is a bower made of leafy cottonwood branches.  Kissay in Hebrew means "covered throne".  According to Hugh Nibley all over the ancient world , the King sat in a Kissay of green bowers at the New Year. (Nibley 1975:170).  Keh' seh, in Hebrew, means "full moon festival, appointed time."  The Hopi kisi is a little booth with its opening facing east and is sometimes walled and carpeted inside with buffalo robes.  The leaves are left on the branches that cover it on the outside.  The entrance is covered with a buckskin or a wedding robe.  Cryers also noted that the construction of such a leafy structure was practiced by the children of Israel in Moses' day as part of the "feast of tabernacles," which is also called the Feast of booths or the Fest of Ingathering (Sukkot). 

Hopi Antelope Dancers with Kisi (tree looking structure to
the left of the picture)

So you may ask what is the importance of finding similarities between the Jewish Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), the Mayan Cha Cha'ac ceremony and the use of the Hopi Kisi?  The religious use of these as noted in the above noted blog post have a lot in common as well.  With the Hopi Kisi we can also see a similar reason for the use of the structure.  The ceremonies in which the Kisi is used all have a surrounding theme of the need for rain.  This was also an important part of the previous two examples.  These seem to have roots in Sukkot which was done for the same reason as noted in Zechariah 14:16-17 which states,

"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 

And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain."

This is also important to the relevance of the Book of Mormon which claims to be the record of a group of Jews who were commanded to leave Jerusalem around 600BC and were lead by the Lord into the new world where they became a great civilization that divided amongst itself and were known as the Nephites and Lamanites.  We know that during their existence (from 600 BC to at least 400AD) that the Law of Moses was practiced by the Nephites and more than likely apostate forms by the Lamanites.  These were practiced until the law was fulfilled and a new law given by the resurrected Savior Jesus Christ which appeared to the Nephites and Lamanites in 33AD.  Many of these old law practices and new practices can be found in the religious ceremonies of the indigenous around Mesoamerica and the Native Americans of the Southwest of the United States mainly the ancient Maya and Ancient Pueblo (Anasazi and Hohokam) who are the descendants of our modern day Hopi, Zuni, Pima, Gila River and many other tribes .  So if links between these civilizations and their religious ceremonies and beliefs can be tied together with those of the Jewish old world they stand as evidence of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. 

The Popul Vuh and its Relation to The Book of Mormon

Wheat and Barley in The Book of Mormon

More Mesoamerican Influence in Hohokam Society (Casa Grande Arizona)

The Big House (Casa Grande) in Casa Grande, AZ
Hohokam 1350AD

Here are a few pictures form my families recent visit to some more ruins found in Casa Grande, AZ.  This is known as the "Big House" or "Casa Grande".  The ruins here date to around 1300-1400 AD.  Some date back earlier such as the unexcavated ball court which dates back to 900 AD.  Inside the ball court they found a ball but many of these ancient rubber balls have been found.  These ball courts differ in size at most locations. Although this one is unexcavated it is easy to see it is a bit smaller than the one at Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix although similar in shape.  In between these two is a larger square ball court much more reminiscent of the Mayan and Aztec ball courts.  This is the Snaketown ball court that was reburied shortly after excavation on the Gila River Reservation.  The last picture is a piece of shell artwork used in a bracelet that is a snake and bird which archaeologists state may have been influenced by the art from the Southern Mesoamerican tribes (the Mayans).  The purpose of these last two blog posts is to show that the direction of migration made by many of the civilizations found in Mesoamerica (mainly the Mayans) was to relocate to the north.  This is consistent with what the Book of Mormon teaches of the various groups that migrated north (Helaman 3:3,7)

3. And it came to pass in the forty and sixth, yeah , there was much contention and many dissensions; in the which there were an exceedingly great many who departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and went forth unto the land northward to inherit the land.

7. And there being but little timber upon the face of the land, nevertheless the people who went forth became exceedingly expert in the working of cement; therefore they did build houses of cement, in the which they did dwell.

Thus we see that the Pueblo people (the Hohokam and Anasazi) were more than likely ancestors of those Nephite/Lamanite people who migrated northward.  This also matches with many of the migration stories held by the tribes still in the American Southwest today. The use of cement or what is known as caliche (cuh-LEE-chee), a concrete like mix of sand, clay and calcium carbonate (limestone) was used to build whole permanent settlements throughout the southwestern Sonoran desert.  The book of Helaman in the Book of Mormon also speaks about the use of wood.  I took over 200 cedar and other types of trees that were carried from more than 60 miles away used to make the roofs of the Big House.

Casa Grande Hohokam Ruins

Me in front of the west side of Casa Grande

Unexcavated ball court at Casa Grande that dates to 900 AD.
There was a ball found in this court when first discovered.

Mesoamerican influence on shell fragments for bracelet.

Follow up to Zelph Post Evidence of Mesoamerican Influence in NorthAmerica

I decided to show some evidence of Mesoamerican influence from Mayan times found here in North America. The following pictures I took less than a half hour from my house in Phoenix Arizona. The last picture is less than 10 minutes from my house in Chandler Arizona on the Gila River Indian Reservation. These are pictures of ancient Hohokam ball courts that were influenced by the Mayan ball courts although the rules of play may have differed. The time frame for these ball courts is estimated at 500AD-1200AD. Archaeologists and anthropologists assume that the ball courts probably date to the earlier dates on that spectrum because they appeared to be unused around 1200 AD and this may be due to changes in religious practices. I will be adding future influences that show travel and influence up to and through the Heartland theory lands of Michigan and Ohio Valley.

Me infront of Ancient Hohokam ball court in Phoenix AZ.



Me and my crew at ancient Hohokam ball court panorama view.



Artists depiction of Hohokam ball game at Pueblo Grande
in modern day Phoenix AZ.



Ancient Hohokam ball court in Snaketown Gila River Indian Reservation
showing Mesoamerican (Mayan) influence.   This ball court has been buried
by Pima/Gila River Indian Government for preservation. (South of Chandler AZ)

Zelph and the Lands of the Book of Mormon

Zion's Camp group at Zelph Mound

One of the main stories that always seems to surface when speaking to Heartlanders or those who think that the Book of Mormon took place in North America is the story of Zelph.  The story goes something like this.  During the Zion's Camp march to Missouri a handful or so of the members came upon what is known as Naples Mound 8 or now more commonly known as Zelph mound and discovered the remains of a skeleton about a foot underneath the surface of the mound.  We know of the experience because we have the noted stories or journals of seven of the members who were there. In an article by Tyler Livingston (no relation) in April of 2010 entitled "Zelph in relation to Book of Mormon Geography" he noted that each of the recorded experiences of the 7 members differed in details.  He then noted that John Lund in citing Kenneth Godfrey, notes what the accounts do agree upon. 

1. On June 2, 1834 members of Zion's Camp, traveling through Illinois, unearthed skeletal remains of a man near the top of a large burial mound.
2. Joseph Smith learned what he knew about the skeletal remains by way of a vision after the discovery.
3. The man was a white Lamanite named Zelph, a man of God and a great warrior who served under a known leader named Onandagus.
4. Zelph was killed in a battle with the Lamanites by the arrow found with his remains.

It must be noted that we do not have an official statement from Joseph Smith in relation to this story but he did comment in a letter to his wife Emma the next day and stated something to the effect of "wandering the plains of the Nephites" and noted that picking up skulls as an authentication of the Book of Mormon but for some reason never mentions Zelph or Onandagus.  It is because of this statement that many state that the Book of Mormon must have taken place in North America for Joseph Smith to note that they were "wandering the plains of the Nephites" while they were in Illinois.  There is more to this story though as we look a bit deeper.

Tyler also notes that John A. Widtsoe a member of the Quorum of the twelve apostles stated: "This is not of much value in Book of Mormon geographical studies, since Zelph probably dated from a later time when Nephites and Lamanites had been somewhat dispersed and wandered over the country."  Tyler than hammers the nail in the coffin with the account of Levi Hancock which he noted was the longest and most detailed of the accounts.  Levi stated that in his version while Joseph was under inspiration he stated that "This land was called the Land of Desolation."  If Joseph Smith were speaking about the same "Desolation" mentioned in the Book of Mormon, this statement would place Zarahemla, Bountiful, Manti and most of the Book of Mormon cities too far south for a Heartland/Great Lakes geography. If we accept the story of Zelph as fact we must also accept the implications. Thus if the land of Desolation is in fact in Illinois this displaces the whole North American  Heartland geography.



Ancient Hohokam Ball Court on Gila River Reservation
(now buried for preservation)

So where does this take us with the story of Zelph and the revelation by Joseph Smith?  Well there a few different options.  One is that this group of Nephites or Lamanites found in North America were part of (or ancestors of) the many different migration groups mentioned in the Book of Mormon. In Alma 63 it speaks of multiple migrations including Hagoth building a large ship and sailing "into the land northward".  We also read in Helaman 3 of many people including most of the "People of Ammon" migrating to the land north.  If the Book of Mormon did take place in Mesoamerica (Southern Mexico/Guatemala area) than these travels northward by migrating groups could be the reason that Nephite and Lamanite bones are found as far north and north east as Illinois or farther. But is there any evidence of these migrations?

We know that long before the Book of Mormon times (600b.c.-400a.d.) there were trade routes between North and South America. As I have noted in many of my other blog posts we know that the People of Ammon were a covenanted peaceful people.  Interestingly enough if they did indeed travel northward as noted in Helaman 3 than we could expect to find a peaceful people north of Mesoamerica which is exactly what we find with the Hopi Indians in northern Arizona (Hopi actually means "peaceful little ones".  There is a lot of correlation between the Hopi and the Nephite and Lamanites found in the Book of Mormon which I have already covered in other blog posts so we will just chalk this up as the first sign of evidence for now.  Also in Phoenix and  south east Phoenix (Casa Grande) Arizona we have remains of the Hohokam people part of which is now on the Gila River Indian Reservation.  These remains include  ball courts which without doubt would be a direct influence from the Mayans and Olmecs from Mesoamerica. 

Cahokia Mound in Illinois/Missouri

There are many other signs of influence of Mesoamerica found in North America and these include the building structure of many of the larger mounds in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys one in particular is Cahokia who bears a resemblance to many of the Mayan Temples only Cahokia is made of earth.  Other signs include copper ear spools and pottery found among the remains of the Hopewell civilization that could be considered markers of southern influence.  Also of note is that in 1870's and 1880's further excavations in the Zelph mound were made with bore relics with connections to both Michigan and Mexico. 

If these signs of southern influence are indeed the case of Mesoamerican influence and migrations than Joseph Smith would still be correct in stating that remains of Book of Mormon people are had among North America.  They just wouldn't have been the same groups that we read directly about in the Book of Mormon, instead we would be dealing with satellite groups and or their ancestors.