Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Mosiah 3

1. 3:1 sounds like there's been a break, something has happened, and Benjamin calls the people's attention back.

2. It's easy to imagine this summons and response in 3:2-3 as a rite.  Of course, he gets the same message as the shepherds in Luke 2.  Like the shepherds, Benjamin is told that all people get the good tidings.  It's interesting to note that shepherd is a traditional imagine in Israelite prophesy for the leaders of the people (see, e.g., Ezekiel 34, Zechariah 10-11), but I don't know what to make of that, that wouldn't be pure speculation.

3. 3:15 -- I'll say!

4. 3:17 -- previously we had Nephi saying that there was "none other name given under Heaven", save Christ (2 Nephi 31:21), and now Benjamin says the same thing, omitting the "under Heaven" bit -- "there shall be no other name given", period, except Christ, who is the Lord Omnipotent (=YHWH).  Nephi separated out Yahweh in Heaven from Christ on Earth, identifying them and also distinguishing them by which side of the temple veil they're on -- Benjamin collapses them together.

5. Put[ting] off the natural man is an undressing / clothes-changing image.

1 comment:

  1. Regarding point number five on Dave's notes for Mosiah chapter 3. 

    I think this reference to verse number 19 is more than simply imagery of dressing or undressing, or of changing from one man to the next. This is a fundamental scripture dealing with aspects of the mysteries as discussed in the doctrine of Adam-God has preached by Joseph in the King Follet discourse. And later many times by Brigham Young. 

    The word Adam is an old word that goes back farther than Hebrew, Aramaic further back even then Sanskrit. It lies in the roots of the language of the ancients where "-dam" is the root word implying natural state and "a" is the prefix of negating.

    So when the scripture talks about natural man as the enemy to God and discusses Adam at the same time, even  the fall of Adam, what we're seeing here is a window into the understanding that the natural man is at odds with Adam the very father of mankind. 

    It is as if the name Adam is synonymous with the word saint. 

    So the question is, was he Dam before the fall, and Adam after the fall? Renaming after all was a common convention. 

    And that is a rabbit hole that is deeper than Alice ever imagined traveling down...

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