What was the Brother of Jared’s name? Does it ever say? Well, it was the custom of the people of Nephi to call their lands, and their cities, and their villages, yea, even all their small villages, after the name of him who first possessed them Alma 8:7 And the Jaredites called the name of the place Moriancumer Ether 2:13 So was his name Moriancumer? It’s possible. But the custom was the Nephites’ custom, not the Jaredites’. Could they have had the same custom? Probably. How did the tradition begin? And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare […]

Ether 1:6-32 is Ether’s genealogy. Why do we need to know all that? There is a similar time in 1 Chronicles 5-9, which are pretty much all just the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and ectara of Joseph. That proves to be important later, when it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, […]

and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts Mormon 3:12 Mormon didn’t have faith in the Nephites. But James said But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. James 1:6-7 Does that mean, that if Mormon prayed in faith, would the Nephites have repented? Maybe. But […]

And these Gadianton robbers, who were among the Lamanites, did infest the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof began to hide up their treasures in the earth; and they became slippery, because the Lord had cursed the land, that they could not hold them, nor retain them again. Mormon 1:18 I don’t think that Mormon means that the treasures literally “became slippery”. I think he only means that figuratively. When something is slippery, it slides out of your hands easily. My guess is the Lord made it so the treasures slid out of their possession easily. How? Well, maybe the […]

But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. 3 Nephi 21:10 Who is Jesus talking about? He’s talking about Joseph Smith, who would translate these words almost 2,000 years later. That means that Joseph Smith might have known that he was going to be martyred. But maybe he didn’t understand who it was talking about, although I don’t think that’s likely. […]

And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one. 3 Nephi 11:27 But I thought we didn’t believe in the Trinity! We don’t. The Guide to the Scriptures says, These three persons are one in perfect unity and harmony of purpose and doctrine. God, Godhead They’re not the same person. They just are in unity. We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity […]

Starting in 3 Nephi 2, the people begin to be very wicked, even after they see the sign of Christ’s birth! A few chapters later, they repent, but soon, most of the people go wicked again. There are lots and lots of wars, contentions, robbing, murders, etcetera, and etcetera. But maybe there’s a point to all this. If they weren’t righteous enough to stay believers after they saw an amazing sign, then perhaps they weren’t righteous enough to see Christ. And behold, that great city Moronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants thereof, to hide their iniquities and […]

In Helaman 3, it says 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. And they did travel to an exceedingly great distance, insomuch that they came to large bodies of water and many rivers. Helaman 3:3-4 It then goes on to describe all about what they did there. But how would they know? Well, that’s not the first time people went to the land northward. And the first ship did also return, and many more people did enter into it; and they also […]

Yea, had it not been for the war which broke out among ourselves; yea, were it not for these king-men, who caused so much bloodshed among ourselves; … yea, if we had gone forth against them in the strength of the Lord, we should have dispersed our enemies. Alma 60:16 Why is he talking about the king-men? Pahoran can’t send help due to the king-men, but how would Moroni know that? Well, he doesn’t. But why mention them then? He’s reminding Pahoran of the last time the king-men attacked. He’s saying “the Lord gave us these afflictions because we were […]

And it came to pass that Moroni commanded that his army should go against those king-men, to pull down their pride and their nobility and level them with the earth, or they should take up arms and support the cause of liberty. Alma 51:17 What does “to pull down their pride and their nobility and level them with the earth” mean? Pull down their pride means to take off their pride; to stop them from being proud. They are proud because their parents are important people. They are proud because that means that they would be kings. Now those who […]