Scriptures/The Book of Mormon/1 Nephi/8

Scriptures/The Book of Mormon/1 Nephi.
1 Nephi 8 at churchofjesuschrist.org

1 And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind.

2 And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness he spake unto us, saying: Behold, I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have seen a vision.

3 And behold, because of the thing which I have seen, I have reason to rejoice in the Lord because of Nephi and also of Sam; for I have reason to suppose that they, and also many of their seed, will be saved.

4 But behold, Laman and Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you; for behold, methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness.

5 And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me.

6 And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him.

7 And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste.

8 And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.

9 And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field.

10 And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.

I beheld a tree: This is the tree of life, which was also represented by the menorah, which was crafted to be the image of a fruiting tree. It is associated with the divine feminine, though my thoughts on the significance of the divine feminine are not well developed, it is clear that there was an ancient appreciation for it which we don't understand well because it was systematically removed from Jewish culture around the time of Nephi, under the guise for purging idolatry. It's is not unlikely that idolatry was occurring, but the very fact that Nephi and his family are fleeing and that this very same purge also blotted out references to the messiah, and Christ, also suggests that if the goal was to purge idolatry, they were overzealous. Considering that these ideas would be something Lehi would be familiar with, and considering that I interpret a layer of this dream that is associated with Lehi's family, I think it it would be plain that in such a layer, Sariah would be associated with the tree.

11 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.

I beheld that the fruit thereof was white: Already we see that there is a possibility of connection between this fruit and Nephi. However, not only is the fruit white, but it is desirable, (verse 10) such that ideas associated with silver, (whiteness/Laban, and desire/lust) which were brought up in a negative way in 1 Nephi 4, are here brought up in a positive way, where the whiteness is associated with Nephi, and the desire is a desire for that which brings happiness. Typically, we associate this fruit with Christ, and rightly so. This is how the fruit is explained to Nephi, but there appears to be a layer to these symbols that likens Lehi's family to what he sees, and not just because they appear in the dream.

12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit.

13 And as I cast my eyes round about, that perhaps I might discover my family also, I beheld a river of water; and it ran along, and it was near the tree of which I was partaking the fruit.

I beheld a river of water: We see here a symbol that relates to Laman, who Lehi had likened to a river and wanted that he should be continually running into the fountain of all righteousness.

14 And I looked to behold from whence it came; and I saw the head thereof a little way off; and at the head thereof I beheld your mother Sariah, and Sam, and Nephi; and they stood as if they knew not whither they should go.

your mother Sariah, and Sam, and Nephi: This conjunction of names has me intrigued. I expect that such lists are often significant. There is a similar progression of concepts in Mosiah 25:12.

15 And it came to pass that I beckoned unto them; and I also did say unto them with a loud voice that they should come unto me, and partake of the fruit, which was desirable above all other fruit.

16 And it came to pass that they did come unto me and partake of the fruit also.

17 And it came to pass that I was desirous that Laman and Lemuel should come and partake of the fruit also; wherefore, I cast mine eyes towards the head of the river, that perhaps I might see them.

18 And it came to pass that I saw them, but they would not come unto me and partake of the fruit.

19 And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood.

I beheld a rod of iron: In the layer of interpretation that suggests that Lehi's family has affinity with the symbols, it appears the Lehi would be connected to the rod of iron. Now, of course, the rod of iron is not just Lehi. We know that it is the word of God. Lehi, is, for his family, as God and his word is, for all the world. God is likening himself to Lehi, and his family to Lehi's family.

it extended along the bank of the river: The river again, connects with Laman, Lehi's first son, and the one who causes him the most worry. Lehi has sought to guide Laman to the tree, to get Laman to let go of the world and accept happiness and salvation as God has offered it.

20 And I also beheld a strait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood; and it also led by the head of the fountain, unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a world.

a large and spacious field: The valley of Lemuel is what Lehi named the valley where they camped, and here is where I see Lemuel manifesting in the dream. Considering how Lehi appears to make refernce to the Hekal, via its original Sumerian meaning, in referring to a great and spacious building, the reference here to a spacious field may be a reference to the Garden of Eden, for the word "Eden" also has its roots in Sumerian and referred to a "plain".

as if it had been a world: The Hebrew word for "world" is "olam" (עוֹלָם). Considering that there are significant connections to Jewish temple imagery and spaces, it has been suggested that Lehi is here connecting this space to the porch of the temple which is "ulam" (אוּלָם).^[1] See verse 26 for allusion to nave of the temple; the hekal.

21 And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood.

22 And it came to pass that they did come forth, and commence in the path which led to the tree.

23 And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.

24 And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.

25 And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed.

26 And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.

a great and spacious building: In the layer of this dream where the Lord is using the symbols that have been inside of Lehi's head as he worries about his family, this is clearly the influence of Jerusalem. Lehi's old-school ways of understanding the God of Israel, and of worshiping him, have gone out of fashion, and those that follow God in this way are mocked. As a non-Jewish family, descended from Josephite refugees, he might easily be mocked as a quaint foreigner with absurd customs. Jerusalem, is referred to by Nephi, as "that great city", and a common word for the corrupted temple of Solomon in Nephi's day was "hekal", a word borrowed from Sumerian, through Akkadian, which referred to any large and spacious building. More particularly, even though the word was sometimes used to refer to the temple as a whole, the "hekal" refers to the nave, or the holy place. It is the first and largest of the two actual rooms inside the temple.^[2] The fact that this building in Lehi's dream is high, above the earth, is also telling. This is usually how you would describe a temple's location. Jerusalem was up. To go to the temple was to go up. To go from the courtyard into the temple building itself was to go up, and to go into the Holy of Holies where God resided and appeared, was also to go up. When a temple building is not available, the mountains are the places we go to meet God, for a temple is, symbolically, above the earth.

27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.

come at: The original Book of Mormon manuscript uses "came up". In the printers manuscript, it was changed to "came at".^[3] This is particularly significant in this case, because there appears to be temple imagery and structure to the vision. When describing movement between temple spaces, in Hebrew though, each succeeding temple space is consider higher than the other, so words suggesting altitude are often used in places where we might not otherwise think to use them. As per my comments in verse 26, there is some textual suggestion that the space along the iron rod with the great and spacious building is a space analogous to the nave of the temple. Central, of course, is space with the Tree of Life, so we might imagine that this is analogous to the Holy of Holies. The use of the word "up" here also suggests that the tree is in the Holy of Holies, a space more central, or higher, in the temple.^[4]

28 And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.

29 And now I, Nephi, do not speak all the words of my father.

30 But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.

31 And he also saw other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building.

32 And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads.

many were drowned in the depths of the fountain: The fountain Laman runs into, is not the fountain of all righteousness.

33 And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.

34 These are the words of my father: For as many as heeded them, had fallen away.

35 And Laman and Lemuel partook not of the fruit, said my father.

36 And it came to pass after my father had spoken all the words of his dream or vision, which were many, he said unto us, because of these things which he saw in a vision, he exceedingly feared for Laman and Lemuel; yea, he feared lest they should be cast off from the presence of the Lord.

37 And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off; yea, my father did preach unto them.

38 And after he had preached unto them, and also prophesied unto them of many things, he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord; and he did cease speaking unto them.

Notes

As with many visions, the symbols have meaning at multiple levels. Lehi was a man dealing with personal issues, worrying about his family, and his specific circumstances. He had expressly developed symbols which he associated with them as well as cultural symbols and icons from his cultural background. As I started reading this chapter, expressly looking for wordplay relating to people's names, a possibility of a connection of the fruit of the tree of life to Nephi became apparent. As I pursued the possibility suggested there, I found that the other major symbols also seemed to show connection with members of his family such that it would seem that the Lord molded symbols that Lehi was already dwelling on, into a landscape which told him the story of his family, and also likened Lehi's concern for his family to God's own concern for his larger family, of which Lehi's is a part.

This observation works together well with D. John Butler's separate observation that there seems to be a connection between this vision and the specific temple cultural issues that Lehi was dealing with in his day.

Nephi does an excellent job, in his own version of this vision, of highlighting how these symbols relate to God and his family, so I have focused here on highlighting the connections I see to Lehi's family.

References