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***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A new article appeared today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>.\u00a0 It was written by someone too mean-spirited, nasty, dishonest, and ignorant to mention.\u00a0 (I\u2019ve been reading some anonymous online comments about the author, so I know<\/em>.)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOh, That I Were an Angel!\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Alma\u2019s conversion experience was both unusual and unusually powerful, and yet he fervently wished that he could provide others with the same experience. So much so, in fact, that he actually feared that he might be sinning in his wish by seeming to oppose the will of God. Increasingly, though, I\u00a0find myself sharing that wish. My involvement with the Interpreter Foundation can correctly be regarded as one manifestation of that fact. I\u00a0invite others to join us.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And here are links to a few articles from a prior number of Interpreter<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Val Larsen, \u201cJosiah to Zoram to Sherem to Jarom and the Big Little Book of Omni\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0<\/strong>The first 450 years of Nephite history are dominated by two main threads: the ethno-political tension between Nephites and Lamanites and religious tension between adherents of rival theologies. These rival Nephite theologies are a\u00a0Mantic theology that affirms the existence of Christ and a\u00a0Sophic theology that denies Christ. The origin of both narrative threads lies in the Old World: the first in conflicts between Nephi and Laman, the second in Lehi\u2019s rejection of King Josiah\u2019s theological and political reforms. This article focuses on these interrelated conflicts. It suggests that Zoram, Laman, Lemuel, Sherem, and the Zeniffites were Deuteronomist followers of Josiah. The small plates give an account of how their Deuteronomist theology gradually supplanted the gospel of Christ. As the small plates close, their last author, Amaleki, artfully confronts his readers with a\u00a0life-defining choice: having read the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon thus far, will you remain, metaphorically, with the prophets in Zarahemla and embrace the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, or will you return to the land of Nephi and the theology you believed and the life you lived before you read the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Steven L. Olsen, \u201cThe Latest in Chiastic Studies for Interested Scholars and Lay Readers Alike\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Review of\u00a0Chiasmus: The State of the Art<\/em>, edited by John\u00a0W.\u00a0Welch and Donald\u00a0W.\u00a0Parry (Provo, UT: BYU Studies and Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon Central, 2020). 358 pages. $24.68, paperback.<\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0<\/strong>This collection of essays represents the latest scholarship on chiasmus. They were selected from papers delivered at an academic conference at Brigham\u00a0Young University in 2017. Articles reflect both \u201cthe state of the art\u201d and the state of the technique in chiastic studies.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n John Gee, \u201cEdfu and Exodus\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0<\/strong>In this essay\u00a0John Gee draws a connection between the Egyptian \u201cBook of the Temple\u201d and the book of Exodus, both in structure and topic, describing the temple from the inside out. Gee concludes that both probably go back to a common source older than either of them.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n [Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0<\/strong>Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.<\/span><\/p>\n See John Gee, \u201cEdfu and Exodus,\u201d in\u00a0Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, \u201cThe Temple on Mount Zion,\u201d 22 September 2012,<\/em>\u00a0ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 67\u201382. Further information at\u00a0https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/books\/temple-insights\/<\/a>.]<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Matthew L. Bowen, \u201c\u201cThe Messiah Will Set Himself Again\u201d: Jacob\u2019s Use of Isaiah 11:11 in 2 Nephi 6:14 and Jacob 6:2\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0<\/strong>In sermons and writings, Jacob twice quotes the prophecy of Isaiah\u00a011:11 (\u201cthe Lord [<\/em>\u02be\u0103d\u014dn\u0101y] shall\u00a0set<\/strong>\u00a0his hand\u00a0again<\/strong>\u00a0[<\/em>y\u00f4s\u00eep] the second time to gather the remnant of his people\u201d). In 2\u00a0Nephi\u00a06:14 and Jacob\u00a06:2, Jacob uses Isaiah\u00a011:11 as a\u00a0lens through which he interprets much lengthier prophetic texts that detail the restoration, redemption, and gathering of Israel: namely, Isaiah\u00a049:22\u201352:2 and Zenos\u2019s Allegory of the Olive Trees (Jacob 5). In using Isaiah\u00a011:11 in 2\u00a0Nephi\u00a06:14, Jacob, consistent with the teaching of his father Lehi (2\u00a0Nephi\u00a02:6), identifies\u00a0<\/em>\u02be\u0103d\u014dn\u0101y\u00a0(\u201cthe Lord\u201d) in Isaiah\u00a011:11 as \u201cthe Messiah\u201d and the one who will \u201cset himself again the second time to recover\u201d his people (both Israel and the righteous Gentiles who \u201cbelieve in him\u201d) and \u201cmanifest himself unto them in great glory.\u201d This recovery and restoration will be so thoroughgoing as to include the resurrection of the dead (see 2\u00a0Nephi\u00a09:1\u20132, 12\u201313). In Jacob\u00a06:2, Jacob equates the image of the Lord \u201cset[ting] his hand again [<\/em>y\u00f4s\u00eep] the second time to recover his people\u201d (Isaiah\u00a011:11) to the Lord of the vineyard\u2019s \u201clabor[ing] in\u201d and \u201cnourish[ing] again\u201d the vineyard to \u201cbring forth again\u201d (cf. Hebrew\u00a0<\/em>y\u00f4s\u00eep) the natural fruit (Jacob\u00a05:29\u201333, 51\u201377) into the vineyard. All of this suggests that Jacob saw Isaiah\u00a049:22\u201352:2 and Zenos\u2019s allegory (Jacob 5) as telling essentially the same story. For Jacob, the prophetic declaration of Isaiah\u00a011:11 concisely summed up this story, describing divine initiative and iterative action to \u201crecover\u201d or gather Israel in terms of the verb\u00a0<\/em>y\u00f4s\u00eep. Jacob, foresaw this the divine action as being accomplished through the \u201cservant\u201d and \u201cservants\u201d in Isaiah 49\u201352, \u201cservants\u201d analogous to those described by Zenos in his allegory. For Jacob, the idiomatic use of\u00a0<\/em>y\u00f4s\u00eep\u00a0in Isaiah\u00a011:11 as he quotes it in 2\u00a0Nephi\u00a06:14 and Jacob\u00a06:2 and as repeated throughout Zenos\u2019s allegory (Jacob 5) reinforces the patriarch Joseph\u2019s statement preserved in 2\u00a0Nephi\u00a03 that this figure would be a\u00a0\u201cJoseph\u201d (<\/em>y\u00f4s\u0113p).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Jeffrey Thayne, \u201cUnderstanding Covenants Anew: Using Ancient Thought to Enrich Modern Faith\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Review of Jennifer\u00a0C.\u00a0Lane,\u00a0Finding Christ in the Covenant Path: Ancient Insights for Modern Life<\/em>, (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center at Brigham\u00a0Young University \/ Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2020). 188 pages. Hardcover, $29.99.<\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0<\/strong>In the first half of her book, Lane takes us on a\u00a0tour of ancient worlds by introducing us to ancient words, such as\u00a0b\u0115r\u00eet\u00a0(covenant),\u00a0g\u0101\u2019al\u00a0(redemption),\u00a0p\u0101n\u00eem\u00a0(presence of the Lord), and so forth, while deftly weaving linguistic and historical insights with personal narratives that ground these insights in the practical affairs of day-to-day living. In the second half of the book, Lane takes us on a\u00a0tour of medieval art and images, centering on how art has been used to portray the Savior and His mission. Throughout the entire book, Lane centers the attention of the reader on Christ, inviting us to take upon ourselves His image and likeness and to more fully appreciate the images crafted of Him by artists of prior centuries.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n