General Comments on Mormon 8-9 In reading the text of these two chapters one cannot help but notice how depressed and negative Moroni was and how it affected what he wrote. For example, take Moroni's comments on his personal situation: ...the Nephites...were all destroyed. And my father also was killed by them, and I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people....whether they will slay me, I know not.... whither I go it mattereth not....I am alone. My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not. (8:2-5) Notice how many times he uses negatives like "no", "not", "nor" and "none" and he consistently frames his statements in the negative. Also consider the comment Mormon makes to Moroni concerning the affect all he has seen is having on him in Moroni 9:25. Moroni's condition definitely affects the text of these two chapters. The subject he is discussing is the same as that of 5:19-24 and the 2 Ne. 27 reinterpretation of Isa. 29. While both of those preceding texts are aimed at the Gentiles and are rather accusatory and harsh, they are nowhere near as negative and unrelenting as Moroni's blistering attack in 8:27-41. Where his father Mormon was quite measured in his tone in addressing the remnant of Lehi in ch. 7, Moroni completely lets loose on the Gentiles. Another point worth noting is Moroni has seen some kind of vision or had some kind of revelation concerning the purpose and importance of the plates he has been entrusted with. It is plain from 8:35 and 9:30, as well as the various very detailed descriptions from 8:26-9:29, that Moroni has had some sort of revelation. Why would the Lord grant such a thing? Moroni has been through a lot, and he still has a lot to get through yet before he deposits the plates. I would assume the Lord reveals to him the importance of the plates and the extent to which they will impact future generations. Given Moroni's depressed state as manifested in v. 2-5, it would be easy to see him just giving up and wandering off if he didn't really understand what the implications of doing something like that would be. Comments on Mormon 8 v1 Moroni identifies himself as the new author, and his intent is simply to wrap up a few things his father told him to take care of before depositing the plates. v2-5 Moroni discusses his rather bleak personal situation. After the massive battle at Cumorah, all surviving Nephites are hunted down and killed by the Lamanites (v. 2), even his father Mormon. Moroni is apparently the lone survivor and whether he will be killed by the Lamanites as well remains to be seen. Moroni's only real purpose now is to finish the record as commanded by his father (v. 3). So, he will write some more in the record, hide them, and then whatever happens doesn't really matter as far as he is concerned (v. 4). Moroni would continue the record as his father did, but he doesn't have any additional plates and no means of getting them, and his future isn't looking good so he probably isn't going to be able to write much more (v. 5). As noted above in the general comments on ch. 8-9 Moroni's comments and speech indicate he is quite depressed, and given the situation he describes it is no wonder he is. v3 "to write the sad tale", his father Mormon had prayed that he be spared to be a witness and documentor of the events, cf. Moroni 9:22 v5 "he hath written the intent thereof", i.e., the intent or purpose of the record, or in other words the substance of ch. 7. "ore I have none, for I am alone", being on the run and having to avoid populated places (cf. Moro. 1:1-3) would make it difficult for him to get his hands on ore and then fashion it into plates. However, circumstances do change sufficiently that he apparently does get more ore and make plates, hence the books of Ether and Moroni and his comments in Moro. 1:1 and Moro. 1:4. Does his getting ore and making plates mean he is not alone? Perhaps he came into the company of some other Nephites, as Moro. 1:2 suggests some other Nephites did survive. But it seems unlikely as whenever he does comment on his personal situation he is always alone and on the run. v6-11 Moroni discusses the general situation of the Nephites and Lamanites. Four hundred years have passed away since Christ's birth (v. 6) and the Nephites have been destroyed by the Lamanites (v. 7). The Lord's hand was guiding the destruction of the Nephites because of their gross wickedness, and now the Lamanites are at war amongst themselves as the whole culture spirals downward in killing (v. 8). The Nephite race is effectively extinct, leaving only the Lamanites and the Gadianton Robbers (v. 9), all of whom are godless. No Christians remain and the three translated disciples are not among the people (v. 10), but they have made exclusive appearances to Mormon and Moroni (v. 11). v6 "four hundred years have passed away", the prophetic predictions concerning the destruction of the Nephites has been fulfilled, cp. Alma 45:10, 3 Ne. 27:32. v8 "the hand of the Lord", this phrase is a Semitism having reference to the will and power of the Lord as it is manifested among mankind. Sometimes it is an overt and miraculous manifestation (cf. Exod. 7:5, Joshua 4:23-24), but more often it is a covert manifestation through social engineering (cf. Deut. 2:14-15, Judges 2:14-15, 1 Sam. 7:13, Isa. 19:16, Isa. 41:20, 1 Ne. 5:14, 2 Ne. 5-6). v12-22 Moroni next comments on the plates he is keeping and will be depositing. Verses 12-16 address those who react favorably to the record on the plates and v. 17-22 address those who react unfavorably to the record on the plates. Moroni provides a segue from the history of the plates to the future of the plates (v. 12-13). Moroni identifies himself as the final possessor of the plates and the one who will hide them up for future retrieval. The true value of the plates is the record they contain and not the metal they are composed of (v. 14) as the Lord will only permit the plates to be revealed for His own purposes (v. 15). And blessed is the one who will bring forth the record and manifest it to the world, as the record will be like a light in the darkness to Israel (v. 16). Moroni now turns his attention to those who will treat the record skeptically and find faults where there are none. Those who condemn the things of God are in danger of damnation (v. 17). Those who demand signs do so against the will of Lord (v. 18), and those who judge recklessly and attack unjustifiably will get their reward from Him (v. 19) as He is the Judge (v. 20). Those who fight against the Lord and His covenant people will be damned (v. 21) because they cannot stop the work of the Lord. All His promises to Israel will be fulfilled (v. 22). v12-13 In v. 13 Moroni explicitly states his review of current events (v. 2-11) is ended and his attention has turned to future events. To the Western reader who is used to reading text linearly, v. 13 would be better placed before v. 12. But to the Semitic reader it is plain v. 12-13 are a unity in an A-B-A-B parallelism, as follows: A - 12 And whoso receiveth this record, and shall not condemn it because of the imperfections which are in it, the same shall know of greater things than these. B - Behold, I am Moroni; and were it possible, I would make all things known unto you. A - 13 Behold, I make an end of speaking concerning this people. B - I am the son of Mormon, and my father was a descendant of Nephi. The first A in v. 12 introduces the new subject addressed in v. 14-22 while the second A indicates the former subject of v. 2-11 is completed. The B's follow the same pattern with the first B being Moroni in the present saying he will reveal the future to the reader and the second B being Moroni's father and his past lineage back to the original author of the plates. Thus, v. 12 points to the future of the record and v. 13 concludes the history of the record. v16 Clearly the verse refers primarily to Smith, but it could also be applied to those who assisted in that work as well as the missionaries who spread the BofM throughout the world. v17 "faults", those who seek to dismiss the BofM as Scripture are constantly trying to detect flaws in it so as to justify their a priori decision to reject it. Such behavior flatly contradicts Jesus' teachings (cf. Matt. 7:3-5), particularly when the faults are attacks on Smith's person. v23-25 Moroni expands on the subject of v. 22 concerning the promises to Israel which are yet to be fulfilled. Moroni refers the reader to all of Isaiah's predictions concerning Israel in the last days (which are many hence the repeated references to search Isaiah, cf. 2 Ne. 25:5, 3 Ne. 20:11). In addition to this all the prayers of all the faithful in the New World will ring in the ears of the Lord (v. 23), and these people had great faith so the Lord has heard their prayers (v. 24) requesting that this record should come forth (v. 25). v23 "those saints who have gone before me", the clearest case of this is Enos (cf. Enos 1:13-15), but there are many others who discuss the importance of keeping the record from Nephi (cf. 2 Ne. 5:29-32) to king Benjamin (cf. Mosiah 1:3-6) to Alma (cf. Alm 37:1-18) to Mormon (cf. Moroni 9:24). v24 "in his name could they remove mountains", the text doesn't actually say they did remove mountains, only that they could, hence the cross references to Jacob 4:6 and Hela. 10:9. The only explicit reference to the actual moving of a mountain in the BofM is by the brother of Jared, cf. Ether 12:30. v25 "their prayers were also in behalf of him", I would assume the "him" is referring to the Lord. In the preceding v. 23-24 the pronoun "he" is used in reference to the Lord, but it does seem odd that the prayers of the various BofM prophets would be to the Lord in His own behalf. However, Moroni may be referring to passages such as 2 Ne. 29:11-14 and Mosiah 12:8 which are prophetic quotations of the Lord. The "prayers" would then be more of a prophetic sayings wherein the Lord is bound by what He tells His prophets to say. v26-41 Moroni now addresses the real reasons why people, the target audience being the Gentiles, will generally reject the record when it comes forth. It is because they love themselves more than God. These verses are an expansion on 5:19-24 and echo the substance of 2 Ne. 27-29. Moroni's comments are a searing attack on apostate Gentiles who reject the Nephite record when it is revealed. His knowledge of these events which are some 1500 years in his future are a result of some kind of revelation, cf. v. 35. Copyright © 2001 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.