Holy Envy

Who was Enos?

• The first of the Nephite record keepers who had not sailed across the ocean, and hence had only known life in the Americas.
• Grandson, son, and nephew of three prophets (Lehi, Jacob, Nephi); but he’s the first prophet who has never met Lehi or Nephi.
• Father was a teacher and a priest who likely ministered in the temple.
• Nephew and cousin of two kings (Nephi, Nephi)
• Seemed to worship his uncle Nephi—he’s a hunter like Nephi, he patterns much of his writing after Nephi’s (see notes below), and may have been a bit self-aggrandized like Nephi (see below).
• Keeper of plates
• Father of a righteous man (Jarom 1:1)
• Possibly named after Enos of the Old Testament—the son of Seth, nephew to Cain and Abel, and grandson to Adam. Perhaps Jacob, or Enos’ mother, saw a parallel in that Enos-son-of-Seth was a nephew who inherited responsibilities that had first gone to his uncle Abel and then to his father Seth just as Enos-son-of-Jacob was a nephew who inherited responsibilities that had first gone to his uncle Nephi and then to his father Jacob. Interesting thought :).
• Seems to have had great faith and power to bind God (v12, 15-16)
• One of those responsible for us having the BofM today (v13, 15-16)
• Had visions, like grandfather (v19)
• Missionary to the Lamanites (v14, 20)
• Lived in constant war / a man of war (v20, 24)
• Farmer/tiller of land (v21) as well as a hunter (v3)
• A prophet (v26), but one of many, and he seems to have had no titles (unlike uncle Nephi, who was a king, and father Jacob, who had been declared a priest)
• Had faith in his exaltation (v27)

Importantly, Mormon intended to end his record with the small plates (WofM 1:5). He tacked them on at the end of his book, organizing his record so that these constituted his final message. [Joseph Smith actually translated them last—when the 116 pages were lost, he resumed translation with the Book of Mosiah, then after Moroni 10, he ended with the small plates.] Mormon saw these plates as incredibly powerful and significant.

What would have been different if our current Book of Mormon ended with the books of Enos, Jarom, & Omni?

For one, and it is a central theme in each of these three small books, the record would have concluded with the Covenant of the Book of Mormon. Enos explains this covenant best:

If it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might be brought unto salvation.

Enos 1:13

In our day, the Lord referred to it when speaking to Joseph Smith, 

And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written.”

D&C 84:57

Our part of the covenant then is to take this record—the Book of Mormon—to the descendants of Lehi (and to all the world) to reclaim them, and bring them to a knowledge of the Messiah. Enos and his fellows kept their part of the covenant by writing the record. The Lord kept his end by preserving it.

How are you keeping yours to share it?

God promised Abraham and Sarah that in their posterity “shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). Ultimately, the scope of the collective covenant is all the world…the Book of Mormon covenant [also] touches the entire world through its intended audiences: the remnant, the Jews, the Gentiles, and the house of Israel (see Book of Mormon title page). Just as Jacob, renamed Israel, received a restatement of the Abrahamic covenant tailored to his family and descendants, the Book of Mormon fathers Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, and Enos receive a restatement of the Abrahamic covenant modulated for them. As a specific subset of the earlier covenants, the Book of Mormon covenant knits us together and to those ancient, encompassing promises.

Sharon Harris, Enos, Jarom & Omni: A Brief Theological Introduction

1 knowing my father that he was a just man, a tribute to Jacob whose son knew of his goodness and integrity, especially when Jacob had experienced so much personal trauma. Jacob is a testament to the power and possibility of breaking family patterns and ending generational trauma. One wonders if Jacob had just died, that being the event that spawns Enos’ hunger. taught me in his language, why this statement? Jacob may have taught him the language of the Old World (Hebrew) because the Nephites are now speaking a different language. It could also refer, however, to the writing system (Egyptian, 1 Ne 1:3) that Enos would need for his record on the plates. and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, Jacob gave Enos a secular and a spiritual education. C/w King Benjamin having taught his sons the same, Mosiah 1:2. Also, Enos appears to copy Nephi in his biographical intro, who began his own record speaking of being born of a father who taught him in his language. But there’s more. The name Enos derives from a poetic Hebrew word for ‘man, mankind.’  ‘Nephi’ apparently derives from a Middle Egyptian word, nfr, meaning ‘good, fine, goodly.’  Thus, “I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father” was a play on Nephi’s name; as also “I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man for he taught me in his language” was a play on Enos’ name. Enos must have reverenced Nephi. (see BM Insights, Vol 26, 2006, No 3). This is humorous:

The typesetter for the 1911 LDS edition accidentally set ‘he was just a man’ [instead of “he was a just man”], one of the more amusing typos in the history of the text—and obviously wrong. This error in the 1911 LDS edition was corrected in the subsequent LDS edition (1920).

Royal Skousen, Analysis of Textual Variants, Critical Text of the BM, 2005

and blessed be the name of my God for it, gratitude. Dan 2:20 and 10x in the BM.

2 wrestle, it becomes evident that this wrestle is not just these initial verses, but it continues throughout the chapter. Enos’ entire book, a reflection of his life, was a wrestle. We’ll soon see with what. C/w Jacob’s wrestle in Gen 32:24-32. Poetic that Enos speaks of his father Jacob, then alludes to ancient Jacob’s wrestle. More significant is that we learn shortly that Enos’ wrestle was not only for his sins, but also with his negative feelings and prejudices towards his brethren the Lamanites; while Jacob’s wrestle was not only with his sins, but with his negative feelings towards his brother Esau. At the time of Jacob’s wrestle, he was coming home after two decades in Syria. Esau had wanted to kill him when he left (Genesis 27:41–45), but now Jacob was earnestly praying that God would preserve him from his brother (Genesis 32:9–12). In the same way, Enos devoutly prayed that God would preserve the records from his “brothers,” the Lamanites (Enos 1:13), who also had murderous intent toward the Nephites. When Enos finished “wrestling,” he was “blessed” (Enos 1:5), just as Jacob was likewise blessed directly by God (Genesis 32:26). After his experience “wrestling” and beseeching God, Jacob was finally reconciled with his brother, Esau (Genesis 33:3–4). This detail helps to explain part of the point of Enos’s account. Just as Jacob was reconciled to his brother Esau after wrestling with God, Enos was promised that his people would be reconciled to their brethren, the Lamanites, after his wrestle with God (Enos 1:12–17). before I received a remission of my sins, which comes not from baptism here but from a personal wrestle, by faith. It’s interesting that at the end of his life, Enos’ foundational event was still his initial encounter with God in the forest.

3 I went to hunt beasts, as did Lamanites. So Enos’ later description of the Lamanites’ filthiness simply because of the fact that they hunted beasts, is problematic. It’s interesting that Enos begins with a very personal story:

Enos feels like a friend. From the start he chats directly with the reader, interrupting himself twice in the first verse, and, in verse 2, writing as though he is looking straight at you: “I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God” (Enos 1:2). Then he launches into a hunting story. We might say that Enos is someone you could have a root beer with.

Sharon Harris, Enos, Jarom & Omni: A Brief Theological Introduction

often heard my father speak, not just once, but often. the joy of the saints, D&C 51:19; 52:43. The only place in the OT that explicitly pairs ‘joy’ and ‘saints’ is Psalm 132. Definitionally, those who live the gospel live “after the manner of happiness” 2 Nephi 5:27. What’s striking is that Enos learned this from his father, Jacob, who, though he had made mention of the joy of the saints in 2 Ne 9:18, ended his record so emotionally sorrowful (Jacob 7:27). sunk deep into my heart, that’s what made the difference.

How can we get the words of the Lord to sink deeper into our own hearts as we read, listen, ponder, and pray?

4 my soul hungered, but he doesn’t tell us what for. His sins? You can sense an urgency here that Enos may not have had before. Why I wonder? What is going in Enos’ life? His hunger was obviously greater than his physical hunger, for he prayed all day and night, undoubtedly skipping meals. Certain events in our lives can create that kind of hunger. I felt if after my father died, and from that difficult experience was born in me a great hunger for the things of the Lord. Could Enos have had a similar experience? Might this have begun at Jacob’s death? kneeled down before my Maker, recalls Psalm 95:6. Enos also ends his book with Psalm 95:11. Jacob had done the same with his record, beginning and ending with Psalm 95 (Jacob 1:7; 6:6). cried…in mighty prayer and supplication…all the day long, nearly a third of the uses of the phrase “all the day long” occur in the Psalms. There are also other allusions to Psalms in Enos’ book. Here we begin to get a sense of what Enos may have been struggling with. David, in the Psalms, struggles with “his enemies.” Enos, it appears, similarly struggled. The Lamanites were his brethren, and his father loved them, but they also threatened Nephite existence. Enos’ book is largely his grappling with what that means and what he needs to change about how he sees them. His hunger came from somewhere, and this is a likely source.

What creates this kind of deep longing in us? What, to you, constitutes a ‘mighty prayer’? Contrarily, what makes up a weak prayer (Alma 31:15-29)?

Here is no casual prayer; here no trite, worn phrases; here no momentary appeal. All the day long, with seconds turning into minutes, and minutes into hours, and hours into an ‘all day long.’ But when the sun had set, relief had still not come, for repentance is not a single act nor forgiveness an unearned gift. So precious to him was communication with, and approval of, his Redeemer that his determined soul pressed on without ceasing. ‘Yea, and when the night came, I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.’ (Enos 1:2–4.) Could the Redeemer resist such determined imploring? How many of you have thus persisted? How many of you, with or without serious transgressions, have ever prayed all day and into the night? Have you ever wept and prayed for many hours? How many of you have prayed for five hours? for one? for thirty minutes? for ten? …How much do you pray, my young friends? How often? How earnestly? If you should have errors in your life, have you wrestled before the Lord? Have you found your deep forest full of solitude? How much has your soul hungered? How deeply have your needs impressed your heart? When did you kneel before your Maker in total quiet? For what did you pray—your own soul? How long did you thus plead for recognition—all day long? And when the shadows fell, did you still raise your voice in mighty prayer, or did you liquidate it with some trite word and phrase?  As you struggle in the spirit and cry mightily and covenant sincerely, the voice of the Lord God will come into your mind, as it did to that of Enos, ‘… Thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blest.’ 

President Spencer W. Kimball, Prayer, BYU Speeches (Oct 11, 1961)

As a caution, though we are commanded to pray always (1 Thess 5:17), we are not commanded to spend all of our time praying, per se, but to have a prayer always in our hearts. The power of Enos’ prayer was more about his desire, what was in his heart, than it was how much time he spent doing it.

5 came a voice, are we able to discern revelation when it comes? thy sins are forgiven thee, this may give insight to his struggles. For what was he so anxious to receive forgiveness? Possibly the strong negative feelings he had towards the Laminates. Interestingly, this is the only time in the BM this phrase is used, though it appears 6x in the NT.

6 knew that God could not lie, hmm this is an interesting idea. Why didn’t he question the voice itself? Was it something more dramatic than a feeling, a voice within? The idea that God cannot lie occurs at Num 23.19; Titus 1.2; Ether 3.12. my guilt was swept away, as it should be, but not godly sorry for how we may have hurt others, or ourself. Nor does this mean we are yet made whole. Forgiveness, loss of guilt, mighty change of heart, and wholeness are all distinct, but necessary, experiences in accessing the atonement. Contrast Enos’ experience with the people of King Benjamin who were “filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience” (Mos 4:30), which seems like another level; or with Alma the Younger’s rejoicing “I…have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit…I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more” (Mosiah 27:24, 29). Every person’s conversion is unique, but Enos focuses on the removal of guilt without dwelling on the beauty of grace. As one author put it, “It sounds a little more like a therapy session than like sanctification.” [Harris] Enos’ real growth, his ‘sanctification,’ comes later, through the rest of the chapter, and the rest of his life. The phrase ‘guilt was swept away,’ incidentally, is used nowhere else in scripture.

7 Lord, how is it done?, internal dialogue. Mary asks a similar question to Gabriel, as does the brother of Jared. Enos may be wondering how he could be forgiven when he had not offered any sacrifices in the temple in the city of Nephi, as the Law of Moses would have required. Note how Jesus describes the Lamanites having received forgiveness “and they knew it not” (3 Ne 9:20) or understood it not.

8 because of thy faith in Christ, how did Enos show his faith? By “exercising it unto repentance,” as Amulek teaches in Alma 34:15-17, where he uses the phrase 4x in those three verses. Fundamentally, that is how we show faith in Christ, and that is what Enos does. Alma 34:27; 5:12; 15:6-8. whom thou hast never before seen nor heard, here we see a difference between Jacob, who had ‘heard and seen’ Jesus (2 Nephi 11, etc.) and Enos who had not. many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh, God is affirming that Christ and his atonement is already efficacious, unbound by time or space. I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to have faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, prior to his coming. go to, move on, you’re okay now, go do the work, etc. The Lord says the same to the servant in Zenos’ Allegory (Jacob 5:61-62). The rest of the chapter shows us that being forgiven and entering a covenant are followed by lots of work. thy faith hath made thee whole, similar pronouncements in the NT—Mk 10.52; Lk 17.19; Mt 9.22; Mk 5.34; Lk 8.48—though the healings there are physical while spiritual for Enos. A good example are the Ten Lepers. Ten were healed but only the one who returned to thank Jesus was pronounced “whole.” What is the difference? One idea is reflected in Jesus’ command to Peter, “when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32). Peter had been forgiven, to be sure. His guilt was likely swept away. However, something was still missing. In the way Elder Neal A. Maxwell used to speak of it, he was not yet fully “consecrated.” As here in Enos, he was not yet “whole.” To give to others we have to have something to give—we have to be fully outside ourselves, have given our wills back to God so to speak, or as young Gordon B. Hinckley was told by his father, “forget yourself and go to work.” Jesus did this in that he “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:7), completely emptying himself of all things selfish and egocentric; and only then did he have all power to bless others. In John’s words, found in D&C 93:11-17, Jesus received of the “fulness” of the father and eventually “all power.” Having a fulness of grace, he could give grace. Only when we are approaching that kind of wholeness can we really give to and bless others; otherwise our giving is tainted, impure. We could be giving and serving and loving because we want to be loved back, to be validated, to be vindicated, to feel good about our goodness, for fear of not doing it, because of scrupulosity, for hope of personal reward, because we fear God, want to be accepted by others, etc. All of these can actually damage us. Only when we are both healed and whole can we truly give of ourselves. When Enos is made whole, he ceases to worry about himself and turns outward, laboring in prayer and service to help and bless others. When we empty ourselves of our egocentricity, God reveals the true value of others to us, we see them more clearly (because it’s not in relation to ourselves in any way). We see them as He sees them, and then the work actually begins, as it did for Enos. We begin the internal work to shift our paradigms and prejudices, and then seek to bless mankind in the best way possible, again, as Enos wrestled all his life to do.

9 I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites, natural response to true conversion, more so for a prophet, as the hallmark of the prophetic call is the turning of interest from self to others. What makes them who they are is the ability to turn outwards—he is no prophet if he keeps his knowledge to himself. He must care deeply for others. Turning from self is also the natural progression of true prayer—from personal concern to concern for our loved ones, to concern for our enemies, to concern for the whole world. Alma 36:24. I did pour out my whole soul, 9x in the BM, though only Hannah does this in the OT (1 Sam 1:15). What does this look like? Just an expression for sincere and prolonged prayers? More likely a lifetime of prayer. His day-long prayer was only the beginning. The rest of the chapter witnesses a life of constant prayer (v9-12) and ‘many long strugglings’ (v15). Notably, in the previous verse he was made whole, and now he offers his “whole soul” to his brethren. He took the wholeness he received from Christ, and then offerered it to others.

How can we be made more ‘whole’ so we can offer more of our ‘whole souls’ to those around us?

10 struggling in the spirit, prayer is struggle. Rom 8:26, “groanings that cannot be uttered.” Still not sure I totally understand though. Ancient Jacob wrestled with God to secure the blessing of forgiveness, as did Enos. Is it the idea that agency moves us to want something, and then we seek it, doing everything we can, and we petition the Lord, but also struggle with whether what we are seeking is right and true? D&C 82:10; 88:63; 95:12; 130:20-21. As Soren Kierkegaard is attributed to have said, “Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.” voice of the Lord came into my mind, this is how the Spirit speaks, what Teryl Givens calls the Book of Mormon’s unique “dialogic revelation.” I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence, makes sense, but it’s cold comfort given the Nephite state. Visit in blessing or retribution (refers to both in scripture)? More likely retribution, for the Lord knows the Nephites will be destroyed. In any event, this is the general promise of the promised land already given to Lehi and Nephi (1 Ne 2:16; 2 Ne 1:11–12; 2 Ne 1:9; 26:6; Jacob 2:33). So what did Enos really learn then? For one he learned the Lord is very cautious about making commitments where the future history of the Nephites is concerned. But he says it made his faith unshaken (next verse), so there must have been something else (there was! see v11 note below). I have given them this land, and it is a holy land, he is telling Enos, look, I’ve done everything I can to help them, but in the end it’s up to them. They’ll be blessed if they keep the commandments and cursed if not. As to holy land, that’s a different description than “promised land.” (used only here, D&C 84:59; Zech 2:12). Holy suggests consecrated for something. In any event, it sounds almost like Enos may not have been very familiar at that early point with the records, as both of his requests are already found in Nephi’s writings. His understanding of the future history of the Nephites appears to come exclusively through this revelatory experience, not through Nephi’s record, again, at least at that early point..

11 my faith began to be unshaken, what? The Lord kind of shuts him down, telling him that he would visit justice on the Nephites because they wouldn’t keep the commandments. Why isn’t his response grief or anger? Maybe because he realizes he needs to come up with something better, something the Lord is actually willing to grant. Perhaps he feels the Lord shepherding him to a better request. Or, maybe his real prayer is finally being answered—he is struggling to love his enemies, his brethren the Lamanites, and now he sees them with new clarity.

Since the Nephites can’t be relied on to stay righteous by themselves, they will need the Lamanites to rejuvenate the covenant; and that newfound clarity manifests itself as faith, hope, and charity for the Lamanites…his faith becomes grounded in his awareness of God’s love, attentiveness, and promises to all his children, even the Nephites’ enemies. With this reframing, Enos finds faith strong enough to see redemption for the Lamanites…with his faith beginning to be unshaken, the Lamanites can’t be mere one-dimensional antagonists. They can’t be reduced to a caricature of bad neighbors or difficult relatives who must be put up with. Instead, they are and must be family. Enos prays for them as such, “with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites” (Enos 1:11, emphasis added). In the previous phase of his prayer Enos refers to the Nephites as “my brethren”; after the revelation of the Nephites’ destruction, he counts the Lamanites as his brethren as well.

Sharon Harris, Enos, Jarom & Omni: A Brief Theological Introduction

In one sense, he finally learns what his father knew, that for his family ‘tree’ to survive, he would need the ‘wild’ branches of his relatives to save it. prayed…with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites, note ‘my brethren.’ He now has Jacob’s love for the family. The pattern is that Enos seeks his own welfare, then that of his loved ones, then that of everyone else, even his enemies.

12 prayed and labored with all diligence, more on sincere prayer. Think of the parable of the unjust judge, who yielded to the petitioner just to get him off his back. How much more shall God answer his own, “which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?”  I will grant unto thee according to thy desires because of thy faith, this answer is different from the first about the Nephites. Here Enos gets what he asks for, specifically. But perhaps his petition developed over the course of a lifetime of prayers. His desires and requests were honed, refined, until he came up with what is in v13, which he must have considered both good and doable. Enos’ faith then, was manifested not simply by knowing the Lord would do what he asked, but in his wrestle to figure out what aligned with the Lord’s will. As to the Lord giving us according to our desires, see Alma 29:4; Hel 10:5-10.

13 this was the desire…that if it should be, etc. One would think he would have known this was already going to happen since his father and uncle also prayed for it, but apparently he doesn’t yet. that the Lord would preserve a record…brought forth at some future day, other prophets of the BM had the same desire and were given the same promise. This petition is VERY specific, and no doubt came by revelation, and was not something Enos just ‘thought up’ one day. Note then the perfect order of prayer, ie. that the very things to pray for are given to Enos. Note also that others had asked the same thing (v18), presumably, by revelation. They have figured out the things they can pray for ‘which are possible for God to grant’ see BD ‘prayer.’ C/r WofM 1:2,8,11; D&C 10:46-52. even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, may be a fulfillment of Isa 52:10; cf. 1 Ne 22:6–11. God’s ‘holy arm’ in scripture symbolizes his power.

God promises to protect this record as part of a covenant with Enos and Enos’ ancestors. Does this mean that all the Book of Mormon writers that followed took part in this covenant, similar to the descendants of Abraham, who live under the Abrahamic covenant? Does that also bring anyone who reads the Book of Mormon as scripture under that same covenant? It seems that this record exists because of the covenants of Enos and his ancestors. By reading this book as holy text, are we not all moving in the covenant of Enos?

Fatimeh & Salleh, The BofM For The Least of These

14 at the present, Enos holds out for better. our strugglings were vain in restoring them, what had they done so far? they swore in their wrath that they would destroy our records, as the records and traditions were what kept alive the narrative the Lamanites rejected—that Nephi was ruler because of L&L’s sinful behavior. C/w Morm 6:6; 2 Ne 26:17. They would erase the history that disfavors them. Likely the Nephites enjoyed some measure of prestige among the natives because of these records—prestige the Lamanites coveted. This is why Enos and all the prophets are worried about their writings. The fear that Lamanites would destroy the Nephite records persists throughout the BoM; see 2 Ne 26:17; Morm 2:17; 6:6.

From a Nephite perspective, the two objects of Lamanite hatred are the “traditions of our fathers” and “our records.” In later restatements of this conflict, only the traditions remain. For all intents and purposes, however, traditions and records are the same issue. What are the “traditions of our fathers”? It is possible, but not likely, that these traditions are the inherited religious beliefs—their Jewish traditions out of Jerusalem. Laman and Lemuel may not have been very religious, but their rebellion was not against God (in their eyes) as much as it was against the oppression of their younger brother who had usurped the right of leadership for the family. Rather, it is the tradition that Nephites are morally superior that galled the Lamanites and would continue to be a source of conflict. The very existence of the Nephites was a reminder, according to their traditions, that they had precedence over the Lamanites. The lesson of later Mesoamerica is instructive here. When the young city of Tenochtitlan began to flex its military and political muscle, it made moves to claim a Toltec heritage. This tradition established the city as legitimate. In the earlier times of the Lamanites, we may also assume that they also made appeals to legitimacy. Whereas the Lamanites probably mixed with other communities (as did the Nephites), their claim to inherent rights of leadership was diminished by the Nephites’ countering claims, handed down through the traditions established by Lehi’s blessings and Nephi’s acts of leadership within the family. In addition, the records of the Nephites established and probably sacralized those claims. In later Mesoamerican society, written maps, or lienzos, established the land rights of certain groups. Mesoamericans held documents in esteem as legal, moral, and religious proof of claims upon land or leadership, as evidenced by how rapidly the Nahuas (Aztecs) adopted the written documents required by the Spanish courts. Thus, when the Lamanites threatened the records of the Nephites, they were threatening the legitimacy of the Nephite claims to rulership.

Brant Gardner, Second Witness

15 whatsoever ye shall ask…ye shall receive it, etc. Nephi taught this in 2 Ne 4:35. I struggle with what this truth actually means. Morm 9:21,25; Mor 7:26; 3 Ne 18:20; Mark 11:24; D&C 4:7; Moses 6:52.  The principle is in all the standard works. Apostle Boyd K. Packer said, “No message appears in scripture more times in more ways than, ‘Ask and ye shall receive.” (Ens Nov ‘91, p21)

16 I did cry unto God that he would preserve the records…he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth unto the Lamanites, so interesting. God had shown Nephi that his words would be preserved and play a major role in the redemption of Israel, a prophecy Enos doesn’t seem to know, hence his urgency. The difference in Enos’ case is the covenant. God showed Nephi the future, but he covenants with Enos! own due time, as always, and this was going to be a while (2400 years later :).

17 I Enos knew…wherefore my soul did rest, this had to be late in his life; i.e. after a lifetime of struggle and prayer and refinement of his desires and petitions.

18 thy fathers have also required of me this thing, 2 Ne 3:19-21; 29:2. ‘required’ in Websters 1830 dictionary is ‘requested.’ Still, the Father is bound to honor requests when we have faith and ‘ask not amiss’ (2 Ne 4:35; D&C 82:10). This comment from the Lord could have motivated Enos to study the records. their faith was like unto thine, evidenced by what? Long and indefatigable petitioning? 

19 I…went about…prophesying…and testifying, doing what a prophet does. But was Enos a ‘prophet’ in the sense we think? He may have only been a record-keeper, and perhaps a spiritual leader only in the sense of his heritage and modest clout among the people. of things to come, he doesn’t say what, but K. Benjamin uses the same phrase and identifies those ‘things’ as the coming mission of the atoning Messiah. Mosiah 3:1, 3:18, 4:11, 5:3, 18:2. The same meaning appears in Alma 5:48, 7:6, 30:13, 58:40; Hel. 8:22–23.

20 did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites, how? The Nephites were likely still hampered by the prejudice Jacob calls them out for back in Jacob 2-3. labors were vain, there hatred was fixed, hmm, okay, this now goes contrary to what Enos has been preaching to us—faith and love and hope for the Lamanites. It gets worse in the next two verses. What’s happening? Well, this is the whole point of course. Enos is human, and this is the mighty struggle he himself admits having (see v10, 11, 12, 15). He is struggling to change his perspective of the Lamanites from blood-thirsty, wicked enemies to brethren that will restore the gospel through the BM in the latter days.

When Enos announces that he will tell us about his wrestle, he may have been signaling something larger than the struggle for his own forgiveness and even beyond the renewed covenant. Perhaps Enos is telling us about his wrestle to live up to the love that the covenant requires. Maybe this is why Enos’s account is so compelling: in a soup of his own noble and selfish desires, God’s will and God’s compromises, and the consequences of others’ agency, he models the lifelong wrestle to understand and keep covenants. Why bring up Enos’s weaknesses? What does it help? At a minimum, it shows at least two things: first, people are complicated, and second, God can handle it. It’s painful to see Enos’s blind spots on display. Yet his example—the good and the not-so-good—means that we, too, can do tremendous good in spite of our blind spots. We can receive binding, saving covenants. Our sins can be remitted, even while we are weak in ways that aren’t completely apparent to us. We can still do a lot of good and exercise a lot of love. We shouldn’t presume that the obviousness of someone’s failings and the reality of their goodness are mutually exclusive.

Sharon Harris, Enos, Jarom & Omni: A Brief Theological Introduction

evil nature…wild, ferocious, blood-thirsty, feeding on beasts of prey, dwelling in tents, wandering, short skin girdles, heads shaven… ate nothing but raw meat, do any of these really make someone evil? Ironically, these are all things specifically mentioned in Nephi’s narrative about his family’s wilderness journey to the shores of Bountiful (1 Ne 17:2, 12). How are they now signs of Lamanite degeneracy? More likely this is Enos’ bias against people he had been taught to demean and not a legitimate critique. This is classic us/them mentality and labeling—characterizing those different from us as evil and the things they do as evil, when they are not always evil. Later in the Book of Mormon, these elements remain a pejorative way to describe the Lamanites: Mosiah 9:2, 9:12, 10:12, Alma 17:14, 47:36 (apostates are more “Lamanite” than Lamanites), Hel. 3:16; and later the stereotype phrase “murder and plunder” Mosiah 2:3, 10:7, Alma 23:3, Hel. 6:23, 7:21, 11:25, 3 Ne. 4:5, Ether 8:16. Apparently this kind of stereotyping was a hallmark of the ancient near east:

The dyadic, collectivist orientation of Mediterranean societies results in the typical Mediterranean habit of stereotyping. People were not known by their psychologically unique personalities or unique character traits, but rather by general social categories such as place of origin, residence, family, gender, age, and the qualities of other groups to which they might belong. One’s identity was always the stereotyped identity of the group. This meant that social information considered important was encoded in labels such groups acquired. Thus, “Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:1). “Judeans have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9). Jesus was a disreputable “Samaritan” (8:48) or “Galilean” (7:52). “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

Bruce Molina, in Brant Gardner, Second Witness

If Enos is not stereotyping, he is then poetically differentiating the two groups—directly contrasting Nephite and Lamanite strategies for obtaining meat, for example: husbandry versus hunting, civilized animals versus wild animals. Even so, his prejudice is apparent. skill was in the bow, cimeter, ax, cimeter modern spelling ‘scimitar’, the Middle Eastern weapon of this name has not been found in Mesoamerica; however Mesoamerica did have another weapon—the macuahuitl—to which the cimeter may refer. As to the bow, there no positive proof yet in the archaeological record that it existed there, but it is found in cave art, and of course the arrow head is prolific. Some scholars note that if it was used it was likely used more for hunting than war because Mesoamerican conditions may not have suited it well for war. continually seeking to destroy us, okay there is something to worry about. The modern-day parallel here is instructive. We live in a spiritual environment that parallels what Enos describes. Evil never rests, and we must constantly be on our guard.

21 people of Nephi did till the land, raise grain, fruit, in the Nephite mind this was more righteous than hunting. This will change in Jarom 1:8. Well, it actually changes in vs23 below! So this apparent idyllic agrarian society is not quite what it seems. flocks of herds, is an odd construction. Several scholars have addressed both the translation issue and the archeaological record issue, and it is overly detailed, so I won’t include it here. In short, some scholars think this might refer to sheep. cattle, goats, horses, 1 Ne 18:25, these were all foreign to the New World—the words at least are anachronistic. Since horses in particular is controversial, I’ll include some of John Sorenson’s and Brant Gardner’s analyses (for those interested):

I recently summarized evidence suggesting that the issue is not settled. Actual horse bones have been found in a number of archaeological sites on the Yucatan Peninsula, in one case with artifacts six feet beneath the surface under circumstances that rule out their coming from Spanish horses. Still, other large animals might have functioned or looked enough like a horse that one of them was what was referred to by horse. A prehispanic figure modeled on the cover of an incense burner from Poptun, Guatemala, shows a man sitting on the back of a deer holding its ears or horns, and a stone monument dating to around A.D. 700 represents a woman astride the neck of a deer, grasping its horns. Then there is another figurine of a person riding an animal, this one from central Mexico. Possibly, then, the deer served as a sort of “horse” for riding. (That was a practice in Siberia until recently, so the idea is not as odd as moderns might think. Besides, in the Quiche languages of highland Guatemala we have expressions like keh, deer or horse, keheh, mount or ride, and so on).

John L Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon

The process of assigning familiar labels to unfamiliar animals is not only well known in cultures in contact with new conditions but also an acceptable translating strategy. Thus, we can explain the Book of Mormon “horse” by three possibilities. Science may yet determine that horses did exist pre-Hispanically in the Mesoamerican region. At the moment, that is only a possibility. Second, in documents dealing with inter-cultural data, the linguistic labeling of a new animal with the term for an old one is well known. In the case of shifting linguistic labels, this process could have occurred with the Nephites and then been accurately translated by Joseph Smith. Alternatively, Joseph could be the source of “horse” since he would have been unfamiliar with the animal named on the plates. Evidence of the translation process throughout the Book of Mormon suggests to me that this latter possibility is more likely, though Sorenson clearly favors the second option. It is significant that the Book of Mormon never describes a “horse” that is acting as we would expect a horse to act. It is never ridden. It is never described doing any work (though it is associated with a “chariot” in Alma 18:9). Even if science confirms the presence of true horses during Book of Mormon times, there is no textual evidence that they were used in the way most cultures used the horse. In fact, one of the contexts in which the word “horse” appears is that of food animals: Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one body, and having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves provisions, and horses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might subsist for the space of seven years, in the which time they did hope to destroy the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the eighteenth year did pass away. (3 Ne. 4:4) And now it came to pass that the people of the Nephites did all return to their own lands in the twenty and sixth year, every man, with his family, his flocks and his herds, his horses and his cattle, and all things whatsoever did belong unto them. (3 Ne. 6:1) Of course this is only suggestive and not conclusive. However, these verses continue to highlight the lack of horse-like use in the Book of Mormon.

Brant Gardner, Second Witness

22 exceedingly many prophets, in the biblical sense, a prophet is simply one called to preach. Nephi says Lehi was one of many prophets in Jerusalem (1 Ne 1:4). people were stiff-necked, surely then it was Enos and the prophets who sought to reclaim the Lamanites, and not the Nephites at large.

23 nothing save it was exceeding harshness…stirring them up continually…exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going down speedily to destruction, wow. Are we like this? Undoubtedly. Jarom has the same experience (Jarom 1:3, 11-12), as does King Benjamin (WofM 1:17), both Almas (Alma 4:19; 31:5), and Helaman, whose explanation is the most sobering, “Thus we see, except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.” But the prophets do what needs to be done; and so does the Lord, even today. In D&C 88:88-90 (also 43:21-23), God begins with the testimony of his servants, but when the people reject those, he sends the “testimony of earthquakes” and then, if necessary, “the testimony of the voice of thunderings” and then “the voice of lightnings,” followed by the “voice of tempests” and the “voice the the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.” Anything to get us to listen! Again, wow. It reminds me of the horse-riding sport Dressage. The rider uses the most subtle of movements to get the horse doing the most remarkable things: dancing, prancing, trotting, etc. The rider’s skill is in the subtlety of the commands, and the horse’s skill is the ability to respond to such subtle promptings. Likewise, Father in Heaven prefers subtle methods of encouragement, the most important being the “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12). As good Dressage horses, we ought to respond to those subtle promptings. However, if we do not (and we seldom do), because he loves us, he will use progressively more intense measures to encourage us to repent.

What does the Lord have to do to get you to change?

Does he have to whack you upside the head (metaphorically speaking) before you listen? The opposite is responding promptly to his subtle whisperings, being as Mormon, “quick to observe” (Mormon 1:2).  If we do, we will not only avoid the calamities that inevitably come to the stiffnecked, but we will also be led to the “still waters,” “to lie down in green pastures,” and ultimately to eternal rest.

24 I saw wars, sadly—many, many wars, likely, as Enos must have lived for so long. His brevity in writing contrasts with his longevity of life. He must have lived into his nineties and had charge of the plates perhaps as long as eighty years. (See Enos 1:1) His personal record-keeping consists of one specific event (his epiphany) and a brief synopsis. Perhaps to Enos near the close of his life, all events but one blended into the two generalizations of preaching and wars.

25 179 years…from the time our father Lehi left Jerusalem, thus approx 421 BC. Enos must have been very young when Jacob died, while his mother must also have been young. The chronology is puzzling here: since Jacob was born just a few years after Lehi’s flight from Jerusalem, the combined lifespans of Jacob and Enos must have been about 175 years, which is improbable, though not impossible. Some readers have suggested that Enos may have actually been Jacob’s grandson, who was named after his father Enos (Enos does not actually name his father in v1–3, but see Jacob 7:27), or perhaps a grandson (through a daughter) who was adopted as a son and heir. Others simply see an error in the transmission. I began to be old and I saw that I must soon go down to my grave, phrases repeated from Jacob’s farewell (Jacob 7:26–27).

Allowing for about eight years of travel through the wilderness to Bountiful, the Nephites had been about 170 years in the New World. At that point, they were no longer a transplanted Old World colony. From this point on (though probably from much, much earlier), the Nephites were surely a New World culture that had adapted to the climate and foodstuffs and had worked out relationships with the other towns & cultures around them. While the presence of other established cultures is not described explicitly, the Nephite assimilation or borrowing of physical and perhaps ideological culture from those other peoples runs under the text of the Book of Mormon, just as the religion of Canaan runs faintly but traceably under the Old Testament.

Brant Gardner, Second Witness

26 having been wrought upon my the power of God that I must preach, a personal call and ministry vs. a formal or ecclesiastical one. have rejoiced in it above that of the world, Alma 29:1-3. When we find joy in such a fundamental and important mission as blessing mankind with the gospel truths, all else that life offers, or takes from us, matters much less. There is a ‘sweetness in the fruits of the Spirit more satisfying to the soul of man than the lusts of the flesh.’

27 the place of my rest…I rejoice in the day, contrast with Sherem’s worries about the afterlife. Enos’s death occurred somewhere in 407 B.C. using January 586 B.C. as the date of the departure from Jerusalem. in him shall I rest, refers to Psalm 95:11. mortal shall put on immortality, 1 Cor 15:53-54. See Mos 16:10; Alma 5:15; Morm 6:21. then shall I see his face with pleasure, calling & election sure. D&C 131:5. Also, a possible allusion to Job 33:26 “and he shall see his face with joy.” Enos may have included this Job verse because he saw himself in it, literally. The Hebrew word for “man” used in the verse is enosh, likely the same Hebrew word from which Enos derives.  Thus, Enos may have read this verse as “and he shall see his face with joy, for he will render unto Enos his righteousness.” (See BM Central KnowWhy). come unto me, ye blessed, Alma 5:15-16. Can we imagine this? a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father, Jn 14:2; Ether 12:32–37.

Conclusion

I’ve always thought it instructive to compare Enos’ experience in prayer with that of David O. Mckay when he was young and wanted a personal testimony. He prayed often when out riding his horse. He’d stop, get off his horse, and pray with great earnestness; but he did not get an answer. He was very frustrated, and once reflected that all he had to show for it was a dry throat. It wasn’t until a couple of years later, while on his mission, at a conference when his mission president was speaking, that the witness he was seeking finally came. He learned that God does not always answer in our time, and that answers often come, “as a natural consequence of doing one’s duty.” Enos gives us one example, but it is not the only way prayers are heard and answered.

And as to Enos’ wrestle to love others—even his enemies—ponder these wise words:

Let’s think about the present. Who feels like your enemy? The person who makes fun of your child? The unreasonable neighbor? An ex? A co-worker out to get you? The one who lies and still gets prominent church callings? Or, who as a group seems to be against everything you stand for? . . . To put it in Mormon’s terms, which manner of -ites? Whoever they are and in whatever ways they are dangerous or destructive, would you engage in a spiritual wrestle over a long period of time to secure blessings for them and their descendants? Enos’ experience suggests that the same people we view as antithetical to our ideals could ultimately play a key role in our salvation, to say nothing of the commandments to love our neighbor, judge not, and pray for our enemies.

Sharon Harris, Enos, Jarom & Omni: A Brief Theological Introduction