Book of Mormon

Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.  And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount … And [Moses] hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone … And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words … And heGod?, Moses?^[ii] wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. 

In Exodus 32:16 we are told that the two first tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God; but here Moses is commanded to provide tables of his own workmanship, and God promises to write on them the words which were on the first.  That God wrote the first tables himself, see proved by different passages of Scripture at the end of Clarke’s note at “Ex 32:35”.  But here, in Exodus 34:27, it seems as if Moses was commanded to write these words, and in Exodus 34:28 it is said, and he wrote upon the tables; but in Deuteronomy 10:1-4 it is expressly said that God wrote the second tables as well as the first.

In order to reconcile these account let us suppose that the ten words, or ten commandments, were written on both tables by the hand of God himself, and that what Moses wrote, Exodus 34:27, was a copy of these to be delivered to the people, while the tables themselves were laid up in the ark before the testimony, whither the people could not go to consult them, and therefore a copy was necessary for the use of the congregation; this copy, being taken off under the direction of God, was authenticated equally with the original, and the original itself was laid up as a record to which all succeeding copies might be continually referred, in order to prevent corruption.  This supposition removes the apparent contradiction; and thus both God and Moses may be said to have written the covenant and the ten commandments: the former, the original; the latter, the copy …

It may be supposed that this mode of interpretation is contradicted by Exodus 34:28: AND HE wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant ; but that the pronoun HE refers to the Lord, and not to Moses, is sufficiently proved by the parallel place, Deuteronomy 10:1-4;  At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first-and I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables-and I hewed two tables of stone as at the first-And HE wrote on the tables according to the first writing.  This determines the business, and proves that God wrote the second as well as the first tables, and that the pronoun in Exodus 34:28 refers to the LORD, and not to Moses.  By this mode of interpretation all contradiction is removed.  Houbigant imagines that the difficulty may be removed by supposing that God wrote the ten commandments, and that Moses wrote the other parts of the covenant from Exodus 34:11 to 34:26, and thus it might be said that both God and Moses wrote on the same tables.  This is not an improbable case, and is left to the reader’s consideration.

Either a transcript of the whole law now delivered, or the words included from Exodus 34:11 to Exodus 34:26.  God certainly wrote the ten words on both sets of tables.  Moses either wrote a transcript of these and the accompanying precepts for the use of the people, or he wrote the precepts themselves in addition to the ten commandments which were written by the finger of God.  See Clarke on Exodus 34:1.  Allowing this mode of interpretation, the accompanying precepts were probably what was written on the back side of the tables by Moses; the ten commandments, what were written on the front by the finger of Jehovah: for we must pay but little attention to the supposition of the rabbins, that the letters on each table were cut through the stone, so as to be legible on each side.

Touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness – Ether 3:4; 6:3

Noah, it will be remembered, was according to the English Bible translation, commanded to make a “window” to the ark.  But it is pretty well agreed that the translation of the word rendered “window” is not good.  The word means literally a shining object, and rabbinical tradition has it that the shining object was really a stone which the Patriarch had found in the river Pison and which was made luminous. (Footnote* See Dr. Clark’s Commentary)  If this tradition is based on fact, the Brother of Jared must have known it, and that would account for his prayer and the miraculous answer that he obtained.

That precious stones can be made to shine seems to have been demonstrated by scientific experiments.  In June, 1920, Dr. T. Coke Squance, of Sunderland, England, was reported to have succeeded in changing a sapphire of faint pink hue into a beautiful ruby, by means of the action of radium.  “During the process,” the report said, “the lustre was increased to such an extent that the stone had almost the brilliance of a diamond.”  … It seems, then, that the Brother of Jared, when praying the Lord to touch the stones and make them luminant, was in possession, by some means, of a knowledge that scientists of today are just beginning to dip into.

A scientific invention was announced in Philadelphia on Oct. 20, 1926, by Dr. W. D. Coolidge before the Franklin institute.  It consisted of a new cathode ray tube.  According to the accounts, cathode rays in a darkened room became visible as a purple glow, and a crystal of calcite placed in these rays became glowing, as if red hot, although it was perfectly cold, and continued to glow for some time.  Granite also became luminous. (Footnote** Juvenile Instructor , Dec., 1926, p. 691)

What this was cannot be absolutely ascertained.  The original word tsohar signifies clear or bright; the Septuagint translate it by (                ), “collecting, thou shalt make the ark,” which plainly shows they did not understand the word as signifying any kind of window or light.  Symmacbus translates it (                 ), a transparency; and Aquila, (             ), the noon.  Jonathan ben Uzziel supposes that it was a precious luminous stone which Noah, by Divine command, brought from the river Pison.  It is probably a word which should be taken in a collective sense, signifying apertures  for air and light.

But who gave the brother of Jared the idea about the stones in the first place?  It was not the Lord, who left him entirely on his own; and yet the man went right to work as if he knew exactly what he was doing.  Who put him on to it?  The answer is indicated in the fact that he was following the pattern of Noah’s ark, for in the oldest records of the human race the ark seems to have been illuminated by just such shining stones.  We have said that if the story of the luminous stones was lifted from any ancient source, that source was not the Talmud (with which the Book of Mormon account has only a distant relationship) but a much older and fuller tradition, with which the Ether story displays much closer affinities.  The only trouble here is that these older and fuller traditions were entirely unknown to the world in the time of Joseph Smith, having been brought to light only in the last generation.

Sandia national Laboratories in new Mexico have recently developed radioluminescent lights that invite some interesting comparisons with the Jaredite stones.  These lights are intended to “serve needs for lighting where no electricity is readily available” (SNL News Release, p. 1).  Their life expectancy is about 20 years and they are described as being “bright” and very “intense.”  The radioluminescent lights are made from a highly porous silica matrix – {aerogel” – in which a phosphor such as zinc sulfide is dispersed …

Radioluminescent light is consistent with and supplies an intriguing parallel matching the requirements of the Jaredite stones: they are small, long-lasting, and physically harmless.  It is possible that the Jaredite stones were created in a similar fashion, according to existing physical laws.

While some natural explanations might be presented, I can only say that the Book of Mormon account attributes their power to divine influence.  This is the same explanation given in many of the early texts we have surveyed.

I believe that there is evidence to show that Lehi and his family were craftsmen and artisans – probably metalworkers. (In the Near East, sons typically enter into the same occupation as their fathers.  Hence, the occupation pursued by Nephi can be reasonably expected to be that of his father as well.)  For example, we have Nephi’s keen interest in the sword of Laban when he encounters him drunk on the streets in 1 Nephi 4:9.  Nephi’s steel bow (1 Nephi 16:18) might also be an indication of his occupation. (His inability to repair the bow in the desert could be explained by either the lack of iron ore in the region or by the fact that the Lord had forbidden them to make fires.) …

When the Lord tells Nephi, in the land of Bountiful, to build a ship, he has to give detailed instructions on how to do it. (1 Ne 17:8; 18:1-4)  But there is no record that Nephi had to ask how to prepare the metal tools with which he built the ship.  Rather, he simply asked the Lord where he could find the “ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship.”   He then constructed a  bellows, lit a fire and fabricated the tools. (1 Ne 17:8-11, 16) …

Further evidence for Nephi’s metal-working skills came after the group’s arrival in the New World.  It was he who prepared the plates of ore from which the Book of Mormon ultimately developed (1 Ne 19:1), smelting the ore and forming the plates themselves.  He also manufactured “many swords” based on the pattern of the weapon he had taken from Laban in Jerusalem (2 Ne 5:14).  But the full range of his talents is explained in the verses which follow this entry: “And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance … (2 Ne 5:15-17)

Jack Welch, after reading the first draft of this paper, suggested in private conversations that the skepticism of Laman and Lemuel upon the discovery of the Liahona or compass outside Lehi’s tent one morning (1 Ne 16:10) may be yet another indication of Nephi’s metalworking skills.  Lehi’s elder sons seem not to be impressed by this marvelous instrument.  Welch has proposed that this might be because they thought the brass ball-like device had been manufactured by their brother in an attempt to convince them that they were doing the right thing by following their father into the wilderness (Welch notes that 1 Ne 16:38 refers to Nephi’s using “cunning crafts”). 

While the Book of Mormon does not tell us whether the Liahona functioned partly on geomagnetic principles, Nephi did say that it contained two spindles, one of which functioned as a directional pointer, and that the body was made of “fine brass” (1 Nephi 16:10, 28).  Brass is an excellent noncorroding and nonmagnetic case for a compass.  Those who are familiar with modern compasses might naturally ask whether the Liahona worked on a similar principle, with a magnetic function for one spindle, and a possible azimuth setting [the angle created by plotting from due “north” the point on the eastward horizon where a planet or star arises] for the other.  Perhaps part of Laman’s skepticism was based on some familiarity with just such a technology.

But what sort of “cunning artifice” did Laman imagine Nephi employed in order to transmit divine messages to the surface of the ball-shaped Liahona (1 Nephi 16:26-29)?  Moreover, as Laman and Lemuel later learned to their dismay, the Liahona functioned or failed based directly upon the faith, heed, and diligence given to it and to the Lord (1 Nephi 16:28-29); Mosiah 1:16; Alma 37:40-41, 44-45), all of which is very reminiscent of the mode in which the Nephite interpreters-directors-Urim and Thummim functioned best (Mosiah 8:13; Alma 37:23; D&C 9:7-9; 10:1-5; Joseph Smith-History 1:35).

Although we do not know specifically what Laman had in mind, it is worth noting that the function of magnetic hematite was well understood in both the Old and New Worlds before Lehi left Jerusalem.  Magnetite, or lodestone, is, of course, naturally magnetic iron . . .

Whatever the nature of the Liahona, it is intriguing to note that certain properties of compasses might have been familiar to those who were blessed with its guiding functions, and that those who were skeptical of Nephi and the Liahona might have logically turned to those characteristics in seeking to find a plausible rationalization.

In the above quote, Robert F. Smith focuses exclusively on the principle of magnetism as the determining factor in Laman’s linking the Liahona with Nephi.  By combining Nephi’s knowledge of magnetism (as proposed by Smith) with his knowledge of metallurgy (as proposed by Tvedtnes and Welch above) the reasons for Laman’s linking the Liahona with Nephi increase significantly.

Swords have often been seen as symbols of divine authority and kingship.  Numerous examples from the mythology, literature, and history of the world attest to distinct patterns.  The sword of Laban from the Book of Mormon fits these patterns and can be compared to the sword of Goliath.  The sword of Laban can also be traced as part of the royal regalia that gives authority throughout Nephite history, and later as it appears in the Restoration. (“The Sword of Laban as a Symbol of Divine Authority and Kingship,” in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 2 Issue 1, 1993, pp. 39-72)

the Liahona, deserves special attention.  The Liahona was a “ball or director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him” (Mosiah 1:16).  The Liahona was, in fact, a royal treasure, passed from father to son by Nephi’s descendants.  Few details in the Book of Mormon have been ridiculed more than the Liahona, and yet few more accurately reflect what one might find in an authentic ancient record …

Royal treasure like the Liahona were once well known, such as the one pictured in the Emperor Charles V’s left hand (fig. 1).  It is an orbis terrarum, Reichsapfel, or orb … It is a symbol of earthly rule and heavenly power, and its use in royal and religious iconography is an implicit claim to worldly dominion, symbolizing its possessor’s power over this earth.  It represents an assertion of “holding the world in the palm of one’s hand” (Gordon C. Thomasson, “Mosiah: The Complex Symbolism and Symbolic Complex of Kingship in the Book of Mormon,” in  Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 2 Issue 1, 1993, p. 28)