“His Secret is with the Righteous”

This article, newly published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 66 (2025): 437-486, is available at no cost online: ““His Secret is with the Righteous”: Instructional Wisdom in the Book of Mormon,” written by Alyson Skabelund Von Feldt

Abstract: This study argues that the Book of Mormon both adopts and develops the instructional wisdom tradition found in Proverbs 1–9 and other pre-exilic Near-Eastern texts. After outlining the structure, rhetoric, and themes of Hebrew instructional wisdom, it tracks those features through major Book of Mormon discourses. Particular attention is given to the personification of Wisdom, the tree-of-life and great-whore polarity, temple motifs, and the democratic invitation to pursue the “mysteries of God” through personal revelation. The analysis suggests that Book of Mormon authors preserve a strand of Israelite temple wisdom largely suppressed in the post-exilic biblical record. By reading restored scripture back into its ancient literary context, the paper offers fresh insight into both corpora: Proverbs’ “enigmas” become transparently eschatological, while the Book of Mormon’s doctrinal core takes on new depth as a deliberate wisdom inheritance. The study concludes that recognizing this shared sapiential framework clarifies the Book of Mormon’s purpose as a covenant guide and underscores its claim to recover “plain and most precious” truths lost from the biblical canon.

[Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared as Alyson Skabelund Von Feldt, “‘His Secret Is with the Righteous’: Instructional Wisdom in the Book of Mormon,” FARMS Occasional Papers 5 (2007): 49–83. As this important paper is not currently available online, it is reprinted here for the benefit of our readers. It has been updated and edited by the author.]

“Interpreting Interpreter: Restoring the Wisdom of Proverbs,” written by Kyler Rasmussen

This post is a summary of the article ““His Secret is with the Righteous”: Instructional Wisdom in the Book of Mormon” by Alyson Skabelund Von Feldt in Volume 66 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https:/interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

A video introduction to this Interpreter article is now available on all of our social media channels, including on YouTube at https://youtube.com/shorts/NrO00U5OQmU.

The Takeaway: Von Feldt documents how the Book of Mormon preserves themes, structures, and elements from pre-exilic Wisdom literature, arguing that these themes, outlined in plainness in the Book of Mormon, allow us to read back in greater theological depth to Proverbs 1-9, which presents on the surface as a more mundane and secular view of Wisdom.

I was very pleased to receive a new book in the mail today.  It’s Stephen O. Smoot, ed., The Pearl of Great Price: A Study Edition for Latter-day Saints, revised edition (Lehi and Orem, UT: Scripture Central and The Interpreter Foundation, 2025).  Apparently, there may still be some small traces of life remaining in the virtually moribund Interpreter Foundation.  Who would have guessed it?

And, speaking of the scriptures, this is important: “Minor Adjustments Made to Select Study Helps in Doctrine and Covenants, Book of Mormon:  Most changes reflect recent research from the Joseph Smith Papers Project”

In case you’re in the Greater Phoenix area or will be in the area on the evening in question, here’s something that should be worthwhile:  “Muslims, Latter-day Saints and Our Democratic Faith.”  It will run from 5:30 PM until 7:00 PM on the evening of Thursday, 13 November 2025, at the Latter-day Saint Institute of Religion that is connected with Arizona State University in Tempe.  I wish that I could attend it.  The two speakers for the event will be

• Jeff Flake, former congressman and senator from Arizona and former ambassador of the United States to Türkiye
• My friend Salam Al-Marayati, President and Co-Founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council

My wife and I participated in a session at the Orem Utah Temple this morning.  I performed an endowment on behalf of a collateral relative of mine, Fred Rosen, who was born in Wisconsin in 1884.

It’s a wonderful thing to have a temple within the boundaries of our geographically small Orem, Utah, stake.  The temple is within (long) walking distance of our home, and only a very short drive away.

Back around the time that I returned from my mission to Switzerland, I dreamed of attending every temple in the Church.  (There were, I think, fifteen of them around that time.)  As a matter of fact, I now have attended almost every one of those temples.  (Although I’ve been on its grounds two or three times, I still haven’t managed to attend the London England Temple.)  Now, though, there are 210 dedicated temples, to say nothing of the 61 that are under construction and the further 111 that have been announced but on which construction has not yet commenced.  That yields a grand total of 382.

I haven’t even attended all of the temples now in Utah.  Heck, I haven’t yet managed to attend all of the temples in Utah County.  And the Lindon Utah Temple is nearing completion and another has been announced for Lehi, a bit further to the north.  There’s no denying it: My youthful dream of attending all of the temples in the Church has been decisively and irrefutably crushed.  I’m happy to report, though, that there were almost no empty seats in our session this morning, and that the temple’s parking lot was full.  Our local community is making good use of its still-new temple.

From boredpanda: ““Mormon Backflip Theory” Goes Viral After Fans Notice Hilarious Trend Among Celebrities and Everyday Men”  Huh?  Perhaps somebody can explain this one to me?

Finally, I close with an upsetting horror that I’ve retrieved from the seemingly (and sadly) inexhaustible Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:  “Healing with Hope Brings Lifesaving Health Care to Bsaba and Beyond: Latter-day Saints work with Lebanon NGO to provide access to health care”