Feb 28 2025 46 mins 13
Abstract: In the book of Ether, the prophet Moroni “Christianizes” the Jaredite story, inserting extensive Christian elements into an original text that predates the house of Israel, the Nephite nation, and the Christian era. In this paper, a typological and intertextual method is used to show how Moroni uses the words of Christ in Ether 3 and 4 to exhort his Gentile readers to embrace the Nephite record when it is manifest to them that they might receive even greater things (divine truths). Specifically, Moroni uses the brief account of the brother of Jared atop Mount Shelem to illustrate how Gentiles may “rend the veil of unbelief” and gain perfect knowledge of all things ever revealed. As the Lord revealed his finger to the brother of Jared, so also the Book of Mormon, itself a portion of the word of the Lord, will come forth to try their faith. Those Gentiles who believe and come to know with perfectness of its truthfulness are positioned to lay hold of even greater things than these through Christ. The value of this reading is to clarify Moroni’s effort to adapt the early Jaredite history to a later event—the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and its implications.
Most Latter-day Saints are familiar with the account of the brother of Jared in the book of Ether. At the time of the Tower of Babel and the confusion of the languages, the Jaredites were led by the Lord through a wilderness across the raging deep and into a western land of promise. In order to light the vessels in which they would travel over (and under) these seas, the brother of Jared “molten out of a rock sixteen small stones” (Ether 3:1). With these stones, he approaches [Page 38]the Lord in prayer and obtains an unparalleled theophany of Jehovah. The brother of Jared, the spiritual leader of this pre-Israelite remnant, enters into the veil and is taught about all things pertaining to Earth and its inhabitants. This event speaks to the character of this man. The brother of Jared is an example of profound humility and mighty faith. His story is taught to our children and elsewhere rehearsed in our Sunday School classrooms. Many laymen and scholars view the account as a temple text. What may be less well understood is how Moroni creatively may use this story of one man’s efforts to obtain the help of the Lord, in order to make a significant point about the sacred record that he and his father have spent their lives preparing. Moroni uses the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in the brother of Jared’s story in Ether 3 and 4 to exhort the Gentiles (and all those who would have the record) to receive the Book of Mormon in faith that they might also come to a knowledge of the Lord and even greater divine truths than those contained in the part or portion of the word of the Lord synonymous with the Nephite record. In Moroni’s conception, the finger of the Lord, which was made manifest to the brother of Jared, may be seen as a type of the Nephite record manifest to the Gentiles.
Many persons who study and teach about the brother of Jared’s journey to the promised land like to consider his unusual faith and his mountaintop encounter with the pre-mortal Christ. Elder Jeffery R. Holland has notably written about these matters.1 Others have taken a more symbolic and devotional approach to the general story, including the mountaintop theophany.
Most Latter-day Saints are familiar with the account of the brother of Jared in the book of Ether. At the time of the Tower of Babel and the confusion of the languages, the Jaredites were led by the Lord through a wilderness across the raging deep and into a western land of promise. In order to light the vessels in which they would travel over (and under) these seas, the brother of Jared “molten out of a rock sixteen small stones” (Ether 3:1). With these stones, he approaches [Page 38]the Lord in prayer and obtains an unparalleled theophany of Jehovah. The brother of Jared, the spiritual leader of this pre-Israelite remnant, enters into the veil and is taught about all things pertaining to Earth and its inhabitants. This event speaks to the character of this man. The brother of Jared is an example of profound humility and mighty faith. His story is taught to our children and elsewhere rehearsed in our Sunday School classrooms. Many laymen and scholars view the account as a temple text. What may be less well understood is how Moroni creatively may use this story of one man’s efforts to obtain the help of the Lord, in order to make a significant point about the sacred record that he and his father have spent their lives preparing. Moroni uses the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in the brother of Jared’s story in Ether 3 and 4 to exhort the Gentiles (and all those who would have the record) to receive the Book of Mormon in faith that they might also come to a knowledge of the Lord and even greater divine truths than those contained in the part or portion of the word of the Lord synonymous with the Nephite record. In Moroni’s conception, the finger of the Lord, which was made manifest to the brother of Jared, may be seen as a type of the Nephite record manifest to the Gentiles.
Many persons who study and teach about the brother of Jared’s journey to the promised land like to consider his unusual faith and his mountaintop encounter with the pre-mortal Christ. Elder Jeffery R. Holland has notably written about these matters.1 Others have taken a more symbolic and devotional approach to the general story, including the mountaintop theophany.
