Daily Scripture Notes
(Come Follow Me)
Mosiah 1 – Division & Unity
Notes on Mormon’s Record We jump into Mormon’s abridgement finally, in medias res (in the middle of things). We don’t have the introduction he would have given at the beginning of his…
Keep reading
Words of Mormon – The Precious Plates
WoM is not a named book in Mormon’s work. It appears to be both an introduction to the small plates (1-11) as well as a transition between the small plates…
Keep reading
Omni – Where Scripture, Jesus, & Family Meet
A lot happens in the short book of Omni, which spans 230 years of Nephite history. At the same time, much of it seems pretty cotidian. Is there some theme,…
Keep reading
Jarom – Living in the Middle of a Dispensation
Jacob and his people find themselves squarely in the middle of a dispensation, not during any particularly exciting time, at least from a religious-history perspective. What does it look like to…
Keep reading
Enos – The Covenant of The Book of Mormon
Who was Enos? 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…
Keep reading
Jacob 7 – Sherem & Jacob: Dual Witnesses of Christ
Jacob’s treatment of Sherem is unique in the Book of Mormon because, rather than silencing him, Jacob gives Sherem the opportunity to repent and to influence the Nephites for good…
Keep reading
Jacob 6 – His Arm of Mercy is Extended Toward You
This chapter is in part a coda of Zenos’ allegory; but it is also a continuation of Jacob’s message to the Nephite men in chapters 2-4, and a call for…
Keep reading
Jacob 5 – A Commentary
7 Key Takeways 1. Even God may work hard and have things not turn out the right way. 2. God never gives up, to the very end. There is no…
Keep reading
Jacob 5 – Allegory & Atonement
TAKE HOME – Those who interpret Zenos’ Allegory typically focus on how the scattering of the branches of the mother tree (the scattering of Israel, or the sprinkling of the nations, Is 52:15)…
Keep reading
Jacob 4 – Why Not Speak of the Atonement?
1 because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates, and not just because there were few plates. Regarding inscriptions on the famous Copper Scroll found among the Dead Sea…
Keep reading
Jacob 3 – Racism & Generational Legacy
Earlier Jacob had said he was going to record on the small plates “revelation which was great” (Jac 1:4). The revelation Jacob considered to be great may have been the…
Keep reading
Jacob 2 – Temple Sermon: Wounds, Wealth, & Sexual Agency
Jacob had the small plates for over 30 years, yet this is the only sermon he records. Why this one? Note what he addresses: pride, greed, social hierarchies, marriage inequality,…
Keep reading
Jacob 1 – Faith & Anxiety
Jacob The Man Jacob has a unique voice in the Book of Mormon. Born in tribulation (2 Ne 2:1), and a witness as well as a possible victim of physical…
Keep reading
2 Nephi 4 – Nephi’s Psalm
Lehi follows the example of his forefather Jacob in blessing his children before his death (Genesis 49); but he also follows Moses’ lead. Several years before Lehi left Jerusalem, the…
Keep reading
2 Nephi 3 – Four Josephs
One way to read this chapter is as a model patriarchal blessing. How would knowing his lineage back to Joseph of Egypt affect young Joseph? There are “exceedingly great and…
Keep reading
2 Nephi 2 – Agency & Atonement
“Doubtless a spectator walking into the second act of Hamlet thinking it was the first would make very different sense of the action unfolding than the person who watched Act…
Keep reading
2 Nephi 1 – Arise From the Dust, My Sons, And Be Men
This is the only place in the Book of Mormon where we have two books named after one person. Why did Nephi divide his writings into two books? Likely because…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 22 – In Him They Shall Find Pasture
1 What meaneth these things which ye have read, so we are not alone in finding Isaiah difficult to understand. And once again, we are Laman & Lemuel, not Nephi. The…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 21 (Isaiah 49) – I Will Lift Up Mine Hand to the Gentiles
1 Nephi 21 (along with Nephi’s subsequent explanation in ch 22) is one of the most important chapters in the Book of Mormon because it foretells the mission of Latter-day…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 20 (Isaiah 48)- Go Ye Forth Out of Babylon
Two notes about Isaiah. First, he speaks “messianically,” meaning from first person as if he were Jehovah/Messiah speaking. Second, some of the Book of Mormon quotations of Isaiah differ slightly…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 19 – He Suffereth It, Because of His Loving Kindness
1-2, I did make plates of ore, there is no chapter break in the 1830 edition, so this immediately follows Nephi’s comment about finding gold, silver, and copper ore (18:25). Some…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 18 – I Did Not Murmur
“Ancient Seafaring Technology: A question naturally arises as to whether vessels and nautical skills were available to account for the early voyages. Contrary to the picture we were once taught about…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 17 – If I Should Say It, It Would Be Done
“I knew I could do it because, well, I already did.” -Harry Potter, on conjuring his patronus. So it is with Nephi and his ship. He knew he could do it,…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 16 – Liahona
Chapters 16 through 18 of 1 Nephi contain some of the best-known stories in the Book of Mormon, and rightly so. The historical narrative recounts the arduous journey of Lehi…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 15 – Have Ye Inquired of the Lord?
4-6 I considered that mine afflictions were great above all…for I had beheld their fall, all previous dispensations, while yet having the gospel and trying to spread it, ended in apostasy…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 14 – A Marvelous Work & A Wonder
[Note: The notes I’m including in these daily entries are skeletal. I have a personal, verse-by-verse commentary I’ve put together over the years as I sought to read everything I…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 13 – Plain & Precious Truths
1 I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms, It stands to reason that Nephi would see a vision of the Savior and his ministry (ch 11). But why the rest…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 12 – War
1 multitudes of people, so the vision now becomes the basis for making sense of Nephite future history. As in the vision where the multitudes pressed forward toward the tree, so…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 11 – The Condescension of God
1-2, I had desired to know…Spirit said unto me, compare the personage who responds to Nephi’s desire with the one who responded to Lehi (1 Nephi 1:5–6). Are they the same…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 10 – The Scattering & Gathering Of Israel
Intro, I could not overemphasize how important this chapter is. It summarizes and applies all of Lehi’s visions and teachings, introduces Nephi’s own upcoming visions and prophecies, sums up the…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 9 – For A Wise Purpose
Intro, This is the second of Nephi’s three interludes (see ch 6 & ch 19). It also ends his summary of his father’s record (see 1:17 & 10:1), though he…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 8 – Lehi’s Vision of the Tree of Life
Intro, Latter-day saints are familiar with the vision, but how well do we really know it? How close have we actually read? Try my 10-question quiz. I’ll help with some…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 7
2-6 bring down Ishmael and his family, Why Ishmael? (1) his ancestry – While Lehi was of Joseph through Mannasseh (Alma 10:3), Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim (according to…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 6
2 For it sufficeth me to say that we are descendants of Joseph, and with that Nephi summarizes the entirety of Lehi’s record. In the 1830 edition of the Book of…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 5
1-8 Sariah…complained… did mourn… was comforted… was exceedingly glad… was filled with joy… knew of a surety, The specificity of the account suggests that Nephi and Sariah were close and that she herself…
Keep reading
1 Nephi 1
1:1 and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days It is Nephi’s ability to see God’s love and…
Keep reading
Holy Envy 