Book of Mormon Commentary

The Book of Mormon is another testimony of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Written by an ancient prophet named Mormon, it contains a compilation of the history and writings of Mormon's progenitors, from Nephi to Mormon's son, Moroni. These prophets add to the richness found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News of the Savior of the World. Jesus visits the people after his resurrection and imparts to them the teachings He imparted to the Jews at Jerusalem.

Part One: The Small Plates

The story begins around 600 BC with a young man named Nephi. He begins his account as follows

I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

What follows is an account that he calls the small plates. This account covers the first 143 pages of the Book of Mormon. At the end of this account, we are introduced to the compiler, Mormon, who writes

1 And now I, Mormon, being about to deliver up the record which I have been making into the hands of my son Moroni, behold I have witnessed almost all the destruction of my people, the Nephites.
2 And it is many hundred years after the coming of Christ that I deliver these records into the hands of my son; and it supposeth me that he will witness the entire destruction of my people. But may God grant that he may survive them, that he may write somewhat concerning them, and somewhat concerning Christ, that perhaps some day it may profit them.
3 And now, I speak somewhat concerning that which I have written; for after I had made an abridgment from the plates of Nephi, down to the reign of this king Benjamin, of whom Amaleki spake, I searched among the records which had been delivered into my hands, and I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi.
4 And the things which are upon these plates pleasing me, because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that many of them have been fulfilled; yea, and I also know that as many things as have been prophesied concerning us down to this day have been fulfilled, and as many as go beyond this day must surely come to pass—
5 Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record upon them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people.
6 But behold, I shall take these plates, which contain these prophesyings and revelations, and put them with the remainder of my record, for they are choice unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.
7 And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.

If you are reading the Book of Mormon for the first time this may sound rather odd. We don't have an introduction from Mormon, and suddenly in verse three here he says "And now, I speak somewhat concerning that which I have written." For a greater understanding of what happened here, we have to go to the history of Joseph Smith to gain context. I will write about that later on. For the time being, essentially what happened was that Joseph Smith was given charge to translate the plates upon which Mormon wrote his compilation. He began the translation work and when he completed about 116 pages of manuscripts, Martin Harris convinced Joseph to let him take the manuscript to show his unbelieving wife. Martin Harris had mortgaged his farm to pay for the translation and publishing of the Book of Mormon. Joseph felt an obligation to Martin and pleaded to the Lord to let him give the manuscript to Martin. He does, and Martin Harris' wife and her cohorts steal the manuscript. It is now lost. One hundred and sixteen pages of the Book of Mormon are lost to history. The Lord chides Joseph Smith and takes his translating gift away from him for a time. The Lord tells Joseph in a revelation, set in Doctrine and Covenants 10

6 Behold, they have sought to destroy you; yea, even the man in whom you have trusted has sought to destroy you.
7 And for this cause I said that he is a wicked man, for he has sought to take away the things wherewith you have been entrusted; and he has also sought to destroy your gift.
8 And because you have delivered the writings into his hands, behold, wicked men have taken them from you.
9 Therefore, you have delivered them up, yea, that which was sacred, unto wickedness.
10 And, behold, Satan hath put it into their hearts to alter the words which you have caused to be written, or which you have translated, which have gone out of your hands.
11 And behold, I say unto you, that because they have altered the words, they read contrary from that which you translated and caused to be written;
12 And, on this wise, the devil has sought to lay a cunning plan, that he may destroy this work;
13 For he hath put into their hearts to do this, that by lying they may say they have caught you in the words which you have pretended to translate.
14 Verily, I say unto you, that I will not suffer that Satan shall accomplish his evil design in this thing.
15 For behold, he has put it into their hearts to get thee to tempt the Lord thy God, in asking to translate it over again.
16 And then, behold, they say and think in their hearts—We will see if God has given him power to translate; if so, he will also give him power again;
17 And if God giveth him power again, or if he translates again, or, in other words, if he bringeth forth the same words, behold, we have the same with us, and we have altered them;
18 Therefore they will not agree, and we will say that he has lied in his words, and that he has no gift, and that he has no power;
19 Therefore we will destroy him, and also the work; and we will do this that we may not be ashamed in the end, and that we may get glory of the world.

But God had a plan already set, as He shares with Joseph

34 But behold, here is wisdom, and because I show unto you wisdom, and give you commandments concerning these things, what you shall do, show it not unto the world until you have accomplished the work of translation.
35 Marvel not that I said unto you: Here is wisdom, show it not unto the world—for I said, show it not unto the world, that you may be preserved.
36 Behold, I do not say that you shall not show it unto the righteous;
37 But as you cannot always judge the righteous, or as you cannot always tell the wicked from the righteous, therefore I say unto you, hold your peace until I shall see fit to make all things known unto the world concerning the matter.
38 And now, verily I say unto you, that an account of those things that you have written, which have gone out of your hands, is engraven upon the plates of Nephi;
39 Yea, and you remember it was said in those writings that a more particular account was given of these things upon the plates of Nephi.
40 And now, because the account which is engraven upon the plates of Nephi is more particular concerning the things which, in my wisdom, I would bring to the knowledge of the people in this account—
41 Therefore, you shall translate the engravings which are on the plates of Nephi, down even till you come to the reign of king Benjamin, or until you come to that which you have translated, which you have retained;
42 And behold, you shall publish it as the record of Nephi; and thus I will confound those who have altered my words.

The Lord instructed Mormon to include the small plates of Nephi into his compilation as he says in the Words of Mormon

3 And now, I speak somewhat concerning that which I have written; for after I had made an abridgment from the plates of Nephi, down to the reign of this king Benjamin, of whom Amaleki spake, I searched among the records which had been delivered into my hands, and I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi.
4 And the things which are upon these plates pleasing me, because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that many of them have been fulfilled; yea, and I also know that as many things as have been prophesied concerning us down to this day have been fulfilled, and as many as go beyond this day must surely come to pass—
5 Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record upon them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people.
6 But behold, I shall take these plates, which contain these prophesyings and revelations, and put them with the remainder of my record, for they are choice unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.
7 And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.

Nephi, the original writer of these small plates also didn't know why he needed to write two separate accounts of the same events, but he writes them nonetheless as commanded by the Lord. In 1 Nephi 9, we read

1 And all these things did my father see, and hear, and speak, as he dwelt in a tent, in the valley of Lemuel, and also a great many more things, which cannot be written upon these plates.
2 And now, as I have spoken concerning these plates, behold they are not the plates upon which I make a full account of the history of my people; for the plates upon which I make a full account of my people I have given the name of Nephi; wherefore, they are called the plates of Nephi, after mine own name; and these plates also are called the plates of Nephi.
3 Nevertheless, I have received a commandment of the Lord that I should make these plates, for the special purpose that there should be an account engraven of the ministry of my people.
4 Upon the other plates should be engraven an account of the reign of the kings, and the wars and contentions of my people; wherefore these plates are for the more part of the ministry; and the other plates are for the more part of the reign of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people.
5 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not.
6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.

Nephi had no idea why the Lord wished him to write a second account. Mormon didn't have any idea why he should add it into the compilation, but he did. The Lord knew that Joseph Smith would give the first part away to men who would conspire to destroy the work and the Lord found a way to accomplish the goal.

Part Two: Kings and Judges and Wars

The Book of Mormon has three distinct phases. The first phase covered the small plates of Nephi, the accounts of the early prophets and Nephi's and Jacob's writings on the Savior. The second part starts with the sermon of King Benjamin, a righteous man who worked for his own gains and did not overburden his people. Beloved by all, he gave a long sermon on the importance of accepting Jesus Christ. We read in Mosiah 3

5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.
6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.
7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.
8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.
9 And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.
10 And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men.
11 For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned.

King Benjamin transferred his power and authority over to his son Mosiah who reigned after him in righteousness. However, Mosiah wished to change the system, as he feared destruction at the hands of a wicked king. To this point in the Nephite history, they had not had a wicked king. But two things happened under King Mosiah's watch to make him reconsider passing on the kingship to one of his sons. The first incident was with a group of people who, under the leadership of a man named Zeniff, left the Nephites to back to the Land of Nephi which the Lamanites controlled. Zeniff hoped to gain some of the land of his fathers. He made a deal with the king of the Lamanites to obtain a particular piece of land. The deal wasn't good, as the Lamanites attacked them to try and control them. Zeniff soon passed away. His son, Noah, was a wicked king who led his people to destruction. It was only the hand of the Lord that saved them and brought them back to King Mosiah.

Zeniff had also sent a party in search of the Nephites. They ended up being lost for many days. They happened upon a nation destroyed. They discovered 24 plates which they brought back. These plates held the account of the people of Jared. Who were these people? Zeniff's group could not translate the plates, and were relieved to hear that King Mosiah could. Upon returning to King Mosiah, the records were translated and all were in shock over what had occurred. The people of Jared had fled from the Tower of Babel over 1000 years earlier! And now they were completely wiped out. What destroyed them? Wicked kings. So King Mosiah sends a proclamation out to his people to reconsider having kings ruling over them. He writes, in Mosiah 29

5 Behold, O ye my people, or my brethren, for I esteem you as such, I desire that ye should consider the cause which ye are called to consider—for ye are desirous to have a king.
6 Now I declare unto you that he to whom the kingdom doth rightly belong has declined, and will not take upon him the kingdom.
7 And now if there should be another appointed in his stead, behold I fear there would rise contentions among you. And who knoweth but what my son, to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to be angry and draw away a part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you, which would be the cause of shedding much blood and perverting the way of the Lord, yea, and destroy the souls of many people.
8 Now I say unto you let us be wise and consider these things, for we have no right to destroy my son, neither should we have any right to destroy another if he should be appointed in his stead.
9 And if my son should turn again to his pride and vain things he would recall the things which he had said, and claim his right to the kingdom, which would cause him and also this people to commit much sin.
10 And now let us be wise and look forward to these things, and do that which will make for the peace of this people.
11 Therefore I will be your king the remainder of my days; nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to judge this people according to our law; and we will newly arrange the affairs of this people, for we will appoint wise men to be judges, that will judge this people according to the commandments of God.
12 Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just.
13 Therefore, if it were possible that you could have just men to be your kings, who would establish the laws of God, and judge this people according to his commandments, yea, if ye could have men for your kings who would do even as my father Benjamin did for this people—I say unto you, if this could always be the case then it would be expedient that ye should always have kings to rule over you.
14 And even I myself have labored with all the power and faculties which I have possessed, to teach you the commandments of God, and to establish peace throughout the land, that there should be no wars nor contentions, no stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering, nor any manner of iniquity;
15 And whosoever has committed iniquity, him have I punished according to the crime which he has committed, according to the law which has been given to us by our fathers.
16 Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just it is not expedient that ye should have a king or kings to rule over you.
17 For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and what great destruction!

And his people understood exactly what he was talking about, with both the account of King Noah and the account of the people of Jared. Thus began the rule of the judges over the people of Nephi. This wasn't new to them either. They had the account from the Brass Plates (the Old Testament), and the rule of the Judges over Israel for one thousand years. The irony is that the Nephites chose to be ruled by judges whilst the Israelites chose to be ruled by a king. In both cases, men of God warned the people over the troubles of a kingship (the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel, and King Mosiah in Mosiah).

Mormon spends a great deal of his compilation on the account of Alma, the son of Alma and Ammon and his brethren. These accounts comprise about 42 chapters in the book of Alma, yet historically, the events take place over a mere 20 years. Very important doctrines and explanations, and stories of miracles take place here, which is probably why Mormon focuses so much attention here.

Mormon then spends the next 20 chapters over a major war between the Lamanites and the Nephites. This war leads to a significant degradation of both the Lamanite and Nephite society, to such a degree that the Lamanites convert to the gospel and the Nephites become wicked and allow secretive Gadianton Robbers to take hold of their society. As we approach the birth, life and death of Christ, the society within the realm of the Book of Mormon collapses to tribal groups. Christ's death has a significant effect on the geographical landscape within the Book of Mormon. The account speaks of violent destruction and significant change in the topography. Cities sink into the ocean, or are lost in landslides. A dark fog covers the land.

Part Three: The Savior and the End

Not long after this, the Savior appears to the people who survived the tumultuous destruction. We read in 3 Nephi 11

8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.
9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:
10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.
11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.
12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude fell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.
13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:
14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.
16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:
17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.

The Savior spent a good deal of time among the people, teaching them and letting them come to Him. He organizes Apostles who go and teach those who could not be at the Savior's appearance, and the Savior ascends back to heaven. The account then jumps rapidly to a period 400 years after the birth of Christ where we finally meet Mormon. For nearly 200 years after the Savior visited the people, most were very righteous and had prospered exceedingly. But soon, corruption had seeped back in and taken hold. By the time of Mormon, they had fallen to a worse state than ever in their history. In Mormon's time, he saw little peace, with the Nephites and Lamanites constantly at war with each other. Mormon laments the fallen state of his people. They had achieved something so wonderful with the visitation of the Savior of the world. Why couldn't it last? Mormon leads a final, futile battle against the Lamanites, but he and all his men lose, badly. They are wiped out. Few remain. Among them, Mormon's son, Moroni. Mormon gives his son the plates he compiled the account we are reading today and instructed him to keep it safe. Moroni was a righteous prophet who heeded the counsel of his father. Mormon also instructed Moroni to add a brief account of the people of Jared, which Moroni does. He thinks that account would complete the book, but Moroni does add 10 more chapters in the final book of the Book of Mormon. These ten chapters hold a special promise to those who read the entire book. In Moroni 10 we read

1 Now I, Moroni, write somewhat as seemeth me good; and I write unto my brethren, the Lamanites; and I would that they should know that more than four hundred and twenty years have passed away since the sign was given of the coming of Christ.
2 And I seal up these records, after I have spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you.
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

This promise is real. God does answer the prayers supplicated to Him about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

Conclusion

This commentary on the Book of Mormon is, first and foremost, for my benefit more than anyone else's. But I hope that by writing on a blog, I might be of help to others who wish to know more about the Book of Mormon. I love this book and the accounts therein. The writings of these prophets have helped me gain a deeper knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a better understanding of the Savior's sacrifice and condescension. The love that God has for us is truly beyond description, though that doesn't mean attempts shouldn't be made to describe that love. My commentary is not that of a learned theologian. I do not have a master's from Harvard's Divinity School. My commentary is solely based on my own interpretation of reading the scriptures and the commentaries of others. I begin with the Book of Mormon, but I hope that over the years I will be able to 1) actually finish commentating on the Book of Mormon, and 2) add in commentaries on the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Doctrine and Covenants. Please feel free to comment, whoever does end up reading this massively long post. :)