Submitted by Bryan Pocock
I am constantly amazed by the little things that can be found in the scriptures; the multiple meanings that provide various layers to the simplest of verses. These are the things in the Book of Mormon that a simple farm boy from upstate New York could never have come up with himself. He probably would have chosen a much simpler construction in many cases.
As a speaker of Portuguese and a dabbler in Spanish, I have had many opportunities to translate documents, ideas, and spoken language between various languages. One of the things that I have noticed during my linguistic journeys is the difference in uses of prepositions between languages. Because of this acquired sensitivity to the choice of prepositions, I am often struck by those used in the Book of Mormon, especially in the first and second books of Nephi. For example, in 1 Nephi 1:4 we read, “…my father, Lehi, having dwelt AT Jerusalem in all his days …” [emphasis added]. Why would Joseph Smith have written dwelt “at” Jerusalem instead of dwelt “in” Jerusalem unless he were translating from an existing document?
In English, we often use an apostrophe and “s” to turn a noun into a possessive adjective – inherited from Germanic roots. We don’t normally say, “The shoes of Mike”, but rather, “Mike’s shoes”. However, this type of construction is not common to all languages. In Portuguese and Spanish (as in many languages), the preposition “of” is used to make a possessive adjective out of a noun. This is the construction often employed in the Book of Mormon. We especially see this construction in the first book of Nephi; one needs look no further than the second verse: “Yea, I make a record in the language of my father …” (1 Nephi 1:2) Why write “the language of my father” instead of “my father’s language”, unless you are translating from a language that uses this construction?
Doing a quick electronic search of the Book of Mormon, I looked for instances of possessives using ‘s. I found a total of three occurrences in the entire book of First Nephi:
- 1 Nephi 3:16 – “the land of our father’s inheritance”
- 1 Nephi 10:8 – “whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose” (Quoting John the Baptist)
- 1 Nephi 20:9 – “for my name’s sake will I defer mine anger” (Citing
Isaiah)
When you consider that there are 22 chapters, covering 53 pages in First Nephi, it seems significant that there are only three cases of possessives using this construction. Although I am not a Semitic scholar, I would not be surprised to learn that all three of these instances are common terms in Semitic languages that don’t use the prepositional possessive forms.
However, the preposition “of” is not only used to express possession, it can also express origin. This is often common in names. For example, the name “Jesus of Nazareth” denotes that he was from Nazareth. The preposition is also used to describe the material of which something is made. This can be found throughout the Book of Mormon. One of the most common uses is referring to the Brass Plates. In fact, the term “brass plates” does not appear anywhere in the Book of Mormon. Every mention of the “brass plates” in the Book of Mormon refers to them as “the plates of brass”.
One other use of the preposition “of” can be illustrated by a verse from the New Testament, 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the Love of Money is the root of all evil…” In this case, we English speakers might substitute the preposition “for” to say that the root of all evil is the love for money.
So, as a summary to this point, we have decided that different languages use different forms of grammatical construction, and that prepositions often have multiple meanings, especially in translation. We further showed that the preposition, “of” has several different meanings in English:
- To express possession: “The language of my father” vs. my father’s language
- To express origin: Jesus of Nazareth
- To indicate the source of material used to create something: “plates of brass”
- Where we might substitute “for” in place of “of” to describe the type of love we can have: “the love of money”
With this background, let’s explore a couple of interesting verses found in the Book of Mormon that make use of the preposition “of” and see the various meanings that can be derived from them. The first is in the First Book of Nephi and the second is found in Moroni.
In Nephi’s description of Lehi’s dream (1 Nephi 8) he states that the tree in Lehi’s dream represents “the Love of God.” (1 Nephi
11:22) Applying our four definitions for the preposition “of” above, we can derive the following meaning for this verse:
- God’s love. The love that God has for us, or the type of love that God has in general. That love that belongs to God.
- That love originating from God. The love that comes from God as opposed to other places.
- The love made of God himself. In other words, the kind of love that finds it’s source material in God himself. So, plates made of brass, bows made of wood, and love made of God. This is an interesting concept to consider.
- “The Love for God”. In other words, the love we have for Him to distinguish from the other types of love we might have. The way to properly love God.
Let’s apply the same analysis to a verse in Moroni. Moroni wrote that
“Charity is the pure love of Christ.” (Moroni 7:47)
- Christ’s pure love … or rather the love that belongs to Christ, the love that is His, the way he loves us.
- The love that originates in or from Christ. The love that comes from His example.
- The love that is made of Christ himself. Like a ring made of pure gold. Charity is a love that is made of pure Christ (or perhaps pure Christianity – see James 1:27). It is the love that is created from His very existence. One could say that his atonement created this love, as if of a tangible source.
- The love we have for Christ, without any distractions. Take this definition a step further and consider John 14:15 where we read, “If you love me, keep my commandments”. By showing charity, we are keeping His commandments. This in turn shows our love for Christ. So, the way we should love Christ is Charity.
I find it remarkable how many layers these two simple verses have – and I am sure we haven’t exhausted the other interpretations possible. Yet while this construction is grammatically correct and carries so much meaning, it is not the way we normally speak nor the way we generally write. Most “modern translations” of the Bible, even change this type of construction to simplify it. So, in a “modern translation” the two verses above would likely read “God’s Love” and “Charity is Christ’s pure love.” Were this to happen, look at all the meaning and significance that would be lost.
It is hard to believe that a farm boy 175 years ago, with a limited education, would have chosen to use the construction employed consistently throughout the Book of Mormon unless translating from an existing document.
A native of Salt Lake City, Bryan Pocock graduated from BYU in Marketing, International Management, Portuguese, and Communications (ever have a hard time deciding what you wanted to be when you grow up?). He then completed both an MBA and law degree at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. At that point, an opportunity presented itself to drag his wife to live in Brazil for two years so he could work as a Journalist / Analyst / Consultant for a telecommunications analysis and consulting firm. He later moved over to work in strategic business development for Brazil’s main long distance carrier where he oversaw M&A functions.
Bryan is an avid outdoorsman, and has most recently been building a company that will manufacture outdoor products like high-end backpacks.
He is the author of numerous how-to books — some of which have even been published on a limited scale from time to time. He currently resides in Highland, Utah with his wife and his dog where he continually contemplates growing up and starting his next career.