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More Wordplay on the Name “Joseph” in the Book of Mormon?

More Wordplay on the Name “Joseph” in the Book of Mormon?

Last updated on: March 17, 2023 at 12:57 pm by Dan Peterson

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More Wordplay on the Name “Joseph” in the Book of Mormon? 2023-03-17T12:57:54-06:00 Dan Peterson

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The Laie Hawaii Temple stands beside the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University, where Matthew Bowen teaches (Photo by Eric Guinther)

““That They Might Come Again unto the Remnant of the House of Jacob”: Onomastic Allusions to Joseph in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49,” written by Matthew L. Bowen

Abstract: The prophecies in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 are third-generation members of the same family of texts derived from Isaiah 11:11–12 and Isaiah 29:4, all of which ultimately rely on yāsap (yôsîp or yôsip) idioms to describe the gathering of Israel and the concomitant coming forth of additional scripture. Mormon, following Nephi, apparently engages in a specific kind of wordplay on the name Joseph in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 that ultimately harks back to the divine promises made to Joseph in Egypt (2 Nephi 25:21; see also especially 2 Nephi 3:4–16, Genesis 50:24–34 JST) and to his descendants. This wordplay looks forward to the name and role of the prophetic translator through whom additional scripture “[would] be brought again” and “[would] come again” in the last days.

“Interpreting Interpreter: That They Might Come Again,” written by Kyler Rasmussen

This post is a summary of the article “‘That They Might Come Again unto the Remnant of the House of Jacob’: Onomastic Allusions to Joseph in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49” by Matthew L. Bowen in Volume 55 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

The Takeaway: Bowen expands on earlier proposals related to the Hebrew word for Joseph, exploring language from Mormon in 3rd and 4th Nephi that could allude to earlier prophecies from Nephi and Isaiah, with those allusions based on the word yāsap or “to do [something] again”. These connections emphasize Mormon’s own role in preparing the Book of Mormon as a record that would be “brought again” to Lehi’s descendants.

I now share some additional still relatively new items from the website of the Interpreter Foundation. It’s easy, when on the other side of the globe in a quite different time zone, to lose track of what’s going on back at home. I apologize, for example, for being late in calling the links to below your attention. I’ve been otherwise occupied, and I’ve been sleeping while others work:

At this link, you can read one of Jonn Claybaugh’s weekly notes for students and teachers of the adult Sunday school curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Come, Follow Me — New Testament Study and Teaching Helps Lesson 13, March 20 — 26: Matthew 13; Luke 8, 13 — “Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear”

Conference Talks: “The Book of the Dead as a Temple Text and Its Implications for the Book of Abraham,” presented by Stephen Smoot

These remarks were delivered on Saturday, 25 October 2014, at the 2014 Temple on Mount Zion Conference

Interpreter Radio Show — March 5, 2023

The 5 March 2023 episode of the Interpreter Radio Show featured Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye, Stephen Smoot, and Hales Swift. Here are two of the topics from that evening:

Restoration Advocacy: Blacks and the Priesthood
Discussion: Warren Aston’s article, “Nephi’s “Bountiful”: Contrasting Both Candidates,” in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The “New Testament in Context” portion of this show, for the Come, Follow Me New Testament lesson 14, covering Matthew 14, Mark 6 and John 5–6, will be posted on Tuesday, 21 March 2023.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Original air date: March 5, 2023. These recordings have been edited to remove commercial breaks.

Interpreter Radio Show — March 12, 2023

In this, the 12 March 2023 episode of The Interpreter Radio Show, Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen join with special guest Brent Schmidt. Here are two of the topics that they discussed:

Restoration Advocacy: History of the Mark Hoffman Forgeries
Discussion: Brent Schmidt’s books Relational Grace: The Reciprocal and Binding Covenant of Charis and Relational Faith

The “New Testament in Context” portion of this show, for the Come, Follow Me New Testament lesson 15 on Easter, will be posted on Tuesday, 28 March 2023.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Original air date: March 12, 2023. These recording have been edited to remove commercial breaks.

The New Testament in Context Lesson 13: “Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear”

In the 26 February 2023 Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, Steve Densley and Mark Johnson discussed New Testament lesson 13, “Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear,” which focuses on Matthew 13, Luke 8, and Luke 13.

The other segments of the 26 February 2023 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-february-26-2023. Otherwise, the Interpreter Radio Show can be heard each and every Sunday evening from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640. Or, if there is no other option available or even if it simply floats your boat, you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Original air date: February 26, 2023. This recording has been edited to remove commercial breaks.

In this figment of Mr. Jonathan Neville’s imagination, I fantasize about the Savior entrusting the keys of the Kingdom to me while the outward “seeming” leadership of the Church looks solemnly on.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

As a follow-up to my own blog entry of yesterday (“Big News from a Small Country”), I share the latest from Neville-Neville Land: “Why the Mesoamerican photos in the 1963–1981 Book of Mormon are important.”

Mr. Neville has now responded with an indignant blast, to which Neville-Neville Land responds with substantial quotations from it (see “Jonathan Neville’s incredible self-own”). You will, I trust, be appalled at my villainy, and you will understandably want to flee in righteous disgust. Pax vobiscum.

Before you go, though: A few people out there seem to be deeply befuddled by my attitude toward the “Heartlander” movement. I’ve tried to state it clearly on multiple occasions, but they just can’t seem to follow. So I’ll try yet again: Although I think that the “Heartlander” model of Book of Mormon geography is incorrect, I have no other particular issue than that with people who choose to accept it. What I do object to, though, is the tendency of some in the movement to make acceptance of their geographical model a principal criterion, if indeed not the only one, for judging who is and who is not a faithful believer in the Restored Gospel — effectively, who is, and who is not, an apostate. (As if it were their province to judge faithfulness in the first place!) To me, Book of Mormon geography is an peripheral interesting topic, but holding the “proper” views on it isn’t even remotely essential to anybody’s salvation. And, oh yes: Of late, I’ve also been disturbed to see clear anti-Semitism and other conspiratorial thinking on the part of at least one prominent “Heartlander.” (See “Conspiracy Fantasies and Anti-Semitism in the Heartland?” and “Hijacking the Book of Mormon for the Satanic Cause of Anti-Semitism.”)

The eponymous Christopher Hitchens, speaking in Colorado in 2005. I’m grateful to him for the impetus that he provided for launching the inexhaustible “Hitchens File.”
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Finally, these materials were all found in or near the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:

“Women General Officers Discuss Humanitarian Initiatives With Cabo Verde’s First Lady: Sister Browning and Sister Craven meet with Saints in Cabo Verde, Baltics and England”

“Church Donates 332 Wheelchairs to the Mexican State of Tamaulipas”

“President Johnson Visits UNICEF Sites in Uganda”

“Women Church Leaders Observe International Women’s Day at Home and Abroad: Focus in 2023 is #EmbraceEquity and strengthen women, children and families throughout the world”

“International Women’s Day: How One Latter-day Saint Woman Is Building a Better World”

“Latter-day Saints Help Aid Snow-Stricken Residents in California”

“Interfaith Volunteers Gather Items for 48 Moms-to-Be: The Church joins interfaith organization, San Clemente Military Family Outreach to support military families in California”

“The Church Helps Give Aid to Refugees in Democratic Republic of the Congo; Funding from the Church helps Catholic Relief Services and Caritas support thousands of displaced women and girls in war-torn North Kivu”

“BYU Study: Missions Positively Impact Women’s Educational and Career Outcomes: Researchers find female students who served missions are more likely to succeed in their studies and careers”

“Humanitarian Efforts Support Education Projects in 74 Countries: The Church of Jesus Christ gave books, desks and chairs; built latrines and classrooms; and collaborated with other organizations to promote education in 306 projects worldwide”

Posted from Jerusalem, Israel