BOM 1 Nephi 10

Just a couple of quick notes about today’s reading, in 1 Nephi 10:

1.

The prophecy recorded here of the coming of Jesus is strikingly exact, including the intervening Babylonian captivity of the Jews and their return, the number of years still ahead between Lehi’s own time and the advent of the Savior, the forerunner role of John the Baptist, and so forth.

Yet it’s also struck me that some of the language is curiously tentative (e.g., referring to Christ as “a prophet,” “even a Messiah,” “or, in other words, a Savior of the world,” and so on), as if Lehi were announcing a relatively new doctrine, and perhaps formulating something that was rather new even to himself.

2.

In 1 Nephi 10:12-14, Lehi compares the House of Israel to an olive tree, a simile that will figure at great length and detail in the allegory of the olive tree at Jacob 5.  Perhaps he borrowed this comparison from the plates of brass that his sons had retrieved from Laban (see 1 Nephi 5) and which, we presume, contained the writings of the pre-Lehite prophet Zenos.  Certainly they had caused him to think; we’re told in 1 Nephi 5:10 that he read them with intense care.  Since  Zenos’s allegory offers an overview of the history of Israel, it’s not inconceivable that Lehi learned much about the prophecies he gives in 1 Nephi 10 from his reading of it, and, very likely, from revelation that he himself received during his reflection upon his reading.

P.S.  For some commentary and images relevant to Lehi’s trail, see here.