After the Book of Mormon appeared in Palmyra, NY on March 26, 1830, some of the early Saints such as Parley P. Pratt scoured the Bible looking for passages they thought referenced this new book of scripture. They considered these verses biblical "proofs" of the Nephite text.
Genesis 11:8 "the Lord scattered them abroad from thence [the Tower of Babel] upon the face of all the earth." The Jaredites who left the Tower of Babel and eventually made their way to the Americas were part of this scattering.
Genesis 48:16 "and let them [Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph] grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." "Multitude" is self-explanatory. Joseph's posterity would be numerous. "In the midst of the earth" the early Saints interpreted as the Americas, the Western Hemisphere between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Alma 10:3 verifies that Lehi was from the tribe of Manasseh while 1 Nephi 6:2 and 3 Nephi 10:17 confirm that the Nephites and Lamanites descended from Joseph. Ditto 3 Nephi 15:12-13.
Genesis 48:19 "his [Ephraim's] seed shall become a multitude of nations." Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh (Alma 10:3). Ishmael was a descendant of Ephraim and Ishmael's sons married Lehi's daughters (Erastus Snow citing Joseph Smith in Journal of Discourses 23:184). Lehi's sons took the daughters of Ishmael to wife (1 Nephi 16:7) and Nephi mentions that he had sisters (2 Nephi 5:6). Some of the "multitude of nations" descended from Ephraim, son of Joseph, were in the Americas where many indigenous nations from the Arctic to Patagonia flourished prior to European contact. Today more than 30 independent nations occupy the Western Hemisphere.
Genesis 49:22 "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall." The early Saints interpreted "the wall" as the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and "over the wall" as the Americas. 1 Nephi 15:12 confirms that Lehi's descendants were a branch of the house of Israel while 2 Nephi 10:22 clarifies the Lehites were led away and broken off from their brethren.
Genesis 49:25 Joseph's posterity would receive "blessings of the deep that lieth under." The early Saints interpreted this as the ocean the Lehites crossed to reach their promised land in the Americas. "Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb" obviously refers to a numerous posterity.
Genesis 49:26 Joseph's blessings would prevail "unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills" which the early saints identified as the mountain ranges in the Western Hemisphere. From Jacob's vantage point in Egypt, the Americas would be the "utmost bound."
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| Shaded Relief Map from NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) |
Genesis 49:26 Joseph being "separate from his brethren" the early saints interpreted as a type for the Lehites being in the Americas separate from the rest of the house of Israel.
Numbers 23:9 Israel will live alone implies the separation of the New World from the Old. Israel shall not be reckoned among the nations suggests the fact that the Old World nations were largely unaware of the Americas before Columbus.
Deuteronomy 28:64 Israel would be scattered among all people, from one end of the earth to the other.
Deuteronomy 33:13 Joseph's land in the Americas would be blessed of the Lord. It would be well-watered both by precipitation and by subterranean waters.
Deuteronomy 33:14 Joseph's land in the Americas would be blessed agriculturally. See the blog article "Food Crop Staples."
Deuteronomy 33:15 references ancient mountains which are the backbone of the Americas from Alaska to Patagonia. The precious things of the lasting hills are minerals such as gold, silver, and copper. The term "precious" is mentioned 5 times in Deuteronomy 33:13-16 as a descriptor of Joseph's promised land in the Americas. Lehi in 2 Nephi 1:10 confirms that the Americas are in fact the "precious land of promise."
Deuteronomy 33:16 Joseph being separated from his brethren is a type for the Lehites being in the New World apart from the rest of the house of Israel.
Deuteronomy 33:17 Joseph has a mission to perform to the ends of the earth. From the perspective of the Old World, the New World is the ends of the earth. From the perspective of the Church in the latter days, missionaries go to the ends of the earth. The "ten thousands of Ephraim" and the "thousands of Manasseh" allude to the large size of Joseph's posterity.
Deuteronomy 33:28 Israel dwelt in safety in the Americas, kept from the knowledge of other nations, for generations. See 2 Nephi 1:8. The "fountain of Jacob" refers to Joseph who was planted near a well and given the blessings of the waters beneath the earth. Jacob through Joseph will live in a land that is agriculturally rich and well-watered.
1 Chronicles 5:1-2 Judah received great blessings such as a) a numerous posterity, the Jews; b) a land of inheritance, Israel; c) rulers including David and Jesus Christ; and d) an important book, the Bible which chronicles the history of God's interaction with Israel and especially the Jews. But Joseph, through his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, received even greater blessings because he was the birthright son of Jacob [Israel]. Joseph was blessed with a) a numerous posterity, the children of Lehi; b) a land of inheritance, the Americas; c) the visitation of Jesus Christ as a resurrected being to his descendants, and d) the Book of Mormon which chronicles the history of God's interaction with Israel and especially the lineage of Joseph. As the birthright son, Joseph was also blessed to preside over the gathering of Israel prior to the second coming. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, led by prophets and apostles, is the strong arm of the house of Joseph in the modern world.
Job 19:23-24 A prophet wants his words written in a book made with long-lasting material that will stand the test of time. The Book of Mormon plates were a long lasting gold alloy that withstood the elements for 1,400 years.
Psalms 2:8 Columbus thought this verse about the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth applied to his discovery of the New World.
Psalms 18:43, 49 Columbus thought these verses about the heathen coming to serve the Lord applied to his effort to introduce Christianity to the New Word. On his second voyage (1493-1496) clergymen were among the settlers he carried onboard.
Psalms 85:11 "Truth shall spring out of the earth" refers to the Nephite plates of gold dug up by the prophet Joseph Smith on September 22, 1823 and transferred to his safekeeping on September 22, 1827.
Psalms 85:11 "righteousness shall look down from heaven" was interpreted by the early Saints as the Angel Moroni returning to the earth as a resurrected, glorified being.
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| William Weeks' Drawing of the Angel Moroni Weathervane Atop the Nauvoo Temple |
Psalms 97:1 Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel (1604-1657) in his Hope of Israel first published in 1650 in Amsterdam cites this passage (p. 36 of the 1651 English edition) about the isles of the sea as referring to the Americas.
Isaiah 2:2 This verse about the mountain of the Lord's house established in the tops of the mountains in the last days was cited by Columbus as one of the reasons for his voyage of discovery.
Isaiah 11:11 "the Lord shall set his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros [upper Egypt], and from Cush [Nubia], and from Elam [western Iran], and from Shinar [southern Iraq], and from Hamath [western Syria], and from the islands of the sea." The Nephites in the Americas considered themselves upon one of the isles of the sea (2 Nephi 10:20, 21). Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel in his book Hope of Israel published in Amsterdam in 1650 says in the 1651 English edition pp. 58-59 that Assyria and Egypt are known, Pathros is Parthia near the Caspian Sea, Cush is Ethiopia, Elam is Persia, Shinar is Babylon, Hamath is the land from where the sun rises (Asia, India, Sina or China), and the "islands of the sea" are the "islands of the west" or the Americas. Manasseh ben Israel says "I am" means "the west" in Genesis 28:14 and many other passages and he interprets these to mean westward from Israel or the New World.
Isaiah 11:12 Latter-day Saints interpret the "ensign for the nations" as the Kingdom of God upon the earth in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times (restored in 1830) with Ensign Peak (5,417 feet) just north of Salt Lake City as a tangible symbol of this prophecy's fulfillment. Manasseh ben Israel in his book, Hope of Israel (1651 English edition p. 60) interprets the phrase "from the four corners of the earth" to include the Americas. Ben Israel also associates Isaiah 11:13 about reconciliation between Judah and Ephraim (house of Joseph) with Ezekiel 37:22 that talks about Judah and Ephraim (Joseph) becoming one nation.
Isaiah 28:21 "that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act." We know from D&C 95:4 and D&C 101:95 that as of December 16, 1833, the Lord's strange act and strange work was still a future occurrence. The early Saints interpreted this passage as referring to the discovery of large cities and high civilization in ancient America via Stephens and Catherwood's pathbreaking 1841 book Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan. See The Times and Seasons, published at Nauvoo, Illinois under the editorship of Joseph Smith, Vol. 3 No. 22 (September 15, 1842). See also George J. Adams, "A Lecture on the Authenticity and Scriptural Character of the Book of Mormon" (Boston: J.E. Farwell, 1844).
Isaiah 29:2 "it shall be unto me as Ariel." For the early Saints, this was the Nephite nation.
Isaiah 29:3 "I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against they with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee." This was the final battle at Cumorah.
Isaiah 29:4 "And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust." The Nephite nation was brought down and the Nephite recordkeepers spoke out of the ground or the dust as their plates of gold were dug up, translated, and published by the prophet Joseph.
Isaiah 29:5 "the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly." 230,000 Nephites were destroyed in a single day at Cumorah (Mormon 6:10-15).
Isaiah 29:6 "Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire." The destruction at the death of Christ included thunder (3 Nephi 8:6), quaking of the earth (3 Nephi 8:12), tumultuous noises (3 Nephi 10:9), great storm (3 Nephi 8:5), great and terrible tempest (3 Nephi 8:6), and fire (3 Nephi 8:8). The Lord did visit the Nephites assembled at the temple in land Bountiful as described in 3 Nephi 11.
Isaiah 29:7-10 "dream of a night vision," "hungry man dreameth," "thirsty man dreameth," "drunken, but not with wine," "stagger, but not with strong drink," "spirit of deep sleep," "closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered." The early Saints interpreted these passages to :mean the great apostasy that gripped the earth during the dark ages from the death of Christ's original apostles to the opening of the heavens in the spring of 1820.
Isaiah 29:11 "words of a book that is sealed" refers to the plates of gold and their sealed portion, and to the copy of the characters on the plates that Martin had in his hand.
Isaiah 29:11 "men" refers to Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844) and Martin Harris (1783-1875).
Isaiah 29:11 "one that is learned" refers to Charles Anthon (1797-1867), Professor of Classics at Columbia College.
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| Portrait of Charles Anthon that Hung for Many Years in the Classics Library, Columbia University |
Isaiah 29:11 "Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:" Paraphrase of the conversation Martin Harris had with Charles Anthon in New York City in the winter of 1828.
Isaiah 29:12 "him that is not learned" refers to the prophet, Joseph Smith.
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| Portrait of Joseph Smith by David Rogers September, 1842 |
Isaiah 29:13 "draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:" The early Saints interpreted this as a description of the various sects of Christianity active in Joseph Smith's day.
Isaiah 29:14 "I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder:" This is the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the Kingdom of God upon the earth through the prophet, Joseph Smith. See D&C 4:1, 6:1, 11:1, 12:1, 14:1, 18:44.
Isaiah 29:17 helps establish the chronology of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. It will be at a time in world history when Lebanon [northern border of Israel] will be a fruitful field and a forest. Tad R. Callister in his book A Case for the Book of Mormon reports that more than 250 million trees have been planted in Israel since 1901. Jason Olson in his memoir The Burning Book says that Israel is the only nation on earth with more trees today than it had 100 years ago.
Isaiah 29:18 "in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness." The book, of course, is the Book of Mormon.
Isaiah 30:8 "write it before them in a table, and note it in a book." Two different forms of recordation and distribution are mentioned - one durable, the other pliable. The Book of Mormon plates were durable. Printed copies of the Book of Mormon are pliable.
Isaiah 34:16 "the book of the Lord" associates divinity with certain writings as in "the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book" 2 Nephi 27:6.
Isaiah 42:4 "the isles shall wait for his law." The early Saints read this as a reference to the Lehites in the Western Hemisphere.
Isaiah 42:10 Columbus interpreted the verbiage about the end of the earth, going down to the sea, the isles and the inhabitants thereof as referring to himself and his mission of discovery.
Isaiah 43:2 "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee." The early Saints interpreted this as referring to the transoceanic voyages of the Jaredites, Lehites, and Mulekites.
Isaiah 43:5-6 "I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth." This expansive vision of the gathering of Israel obviously includes the Lehites and Mulekites in the Americas.
Isaiah 43:7 "Even every one that is called by my name." In more than 190 countries worldwide, the children of Israel are being gathered into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días, and so on. The Church carries the name of the Lord.
Isaiah 43:8 references eyes and ears. The 3 witnesses heard the voice of the Lord and saw the plates shown to them by the angel Moroni.
Isaiah 43:9 "Who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, it is truth." When Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham, the Book of Moses, and the Joseph Smith Translation, he showed the world former things. The 11 official witnesses of the Book of Mormon saw, heard, and bore witnesses that "these things are true." The angel Moroni told the prophet Joseph that the Book of Mormon contained "an account of the former inhabitants of this continent" meaning the Americas.
Isaiah 43:10 "My servant" could plausibly refer to Joseph Smith.
Isaiah 43:16 "the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;" The early Saints saw this as a reference to the transoceanic voyages of Lehi and Mulek.
Isaiah 43:19 "Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth." The "new thing" can be interpreted to mean the Book of Mormon, in association with Isaiah 28:21 and Isaiah 29:14. The plates of gold springing forth from the earth recall Psalms 85:11.
Isaiah 44:28 Columbus interpreted this passage about rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple as an imperative he was to help accomplish by discovering silver and gold in the Americas. He had a pre-millenarian vision of restoring Jerusalem in the latter days.
Isaiah 49:1 "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far;" The Nephites and Lamanites were considered part of the house of Israel inhabiting isles (2 Nephi 10:20-21). The Americas were certainly far from the Levant. This verse also impressed Columbus.
Isaiah 49:9 "all high places" has been interpreted to mean the mountains running the length of the New World from the Rockies to the Andes.
Isaiah 49:12 Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel in his 1650 book Hope of Israel published in Amsterdam interpreted "the west" from this passage (p. 40 in the 1651 English edition) as referring to the Americas. He also interpreted the "land of Sinim" as referring to China. See the blog article "Lehites Sailed East" for an alternative interpretation of this verse.
Isaiah 51:5 "the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust." During their righteous periods, the Nephites in the Americas fit this description. This was one of the verses Columbus highlighted.
Isaiah 55:5 Columbus interpreted the phrase "nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee" to mean the native peoples in the New World converting to Christianity.
Isaiah 60:1 "thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Joseph Smith's first vision comes to mind, as well as the prophet's other angelic ministrants.
Isaiah 60:2 "darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." This can be seen as the great apostasy followed by the restoration through Joseph Smith.
Isaiah 60:4 "thy sons shall come from far" was seen as the gathering of Israel from all parts of the earth. In the early days of the Church, it was a literal gathering to Kirtland, Missouri, Nauvoo, and then Utah.
Isaiah 60:9 "the isles shall wait for me." This could refer at least in part to the Nephites and Lamanites in the Americas.
Isaiah 60:9 "the ships of Tarshish first," Many biblical scholars locate Tarshish in the Guadalquivir delta of southwestern Spain (See for example John Day, "Where was Tarshish?" in Let Us Go Up to Zion, Essays in Honour of H.G.M Williamson, Vetus Testamentum Supplements, Vol. 153 (Leiden: Brill, 2012). See also Elizabeth Knott, "New Perspectives on Phoenician Sailing" November 10, 2014 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Chapter 4 of Tartessos and the Phoenicians in Iberia (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 2016) edited by Sebastián Celestino and Carolina López-Ruiz says the association of Tarshish (Spanish Tarsis) with Tartessos is "very plausible." Manuel Fernández-Gotz called Tartessos "a kind of El Dorado whose rich mineral resources attracted the attention of Greeks and Phoenicians" in American Journal of Archaeology 123.3 (June 2019). Columbus made four voyages from southwestern Spain to the Americas in 1492 - 1502. His ships were the first to cross the Atlantic in modern times.
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| Columbus Sailed from Ports that were Part of Ancient Tartessos in Spain |
Isaiah 60:9 "bring thy sons from far" Columbus brought native Americans with him back to Spain on his first 3 voyages. Ditto many other European voyagers.
Isaiah 60:9 "their silver and their gold with them" could refer to Spanish treasure fleets that brought American silver and gold to the Old World in large quantities.
Isaiah 61:9 "And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people" Parley P. Pratt interpreted as native Americans living among European migrants to the New World.
Isaiah 65:1 Columbus interpreted the people that asked not for the Lord, that sought Him not; the nation that was not called by His name to be the inhabitants of the New World.
Jeremiah 25:22 "the isles which are beyond the sea" could refer to the Americas.
Jeremiah 30:2 "Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book" describes a prophetic imperative to record revelation as in 1 Nephi 9:3 "I have received a commandment of the Lord that I should make these plates, for the special purpose that there should be an account engraven of the ministry of my people."
Jeremiah 31:8 The scattered of Israel and Ephraim will be gathered "from the coasts of the earth" which could refer to the Americas.
Jeremiah 31:10 Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel (1604-1657) in his Hope of Israel first published in 1650 in Amsterdam cited this passage (p. 36 in the 1651 English edition) about the isles afar off as referring to the Americas.
Jeremiah 33:6 "reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth" Parley P. Pratt interpreted as the Book of Mormon which was to precede the gathering of Israel (Jeremiah 33:7).
Ezekiel 17:3-4 refers to Babylon capturing Jerusalem in the days of Zedekiah as Ezekiel 17:12 makes explicit. But, Ezekiel 17:22-23 the early saints interpreted to mean Mulek, young son of Zedekiah, would be brought to the New World where his remnant of the house of Israel would flourish.
Ezekiel 36:24 "I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries" could refer in part to countries in the Americas.
Ezekiel 37:16 "Take thee one stick, and write upon it, for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions:" The stick written upon for Judah is the Bible.
Ezekiel 37:16 "Then take another stick, and write upon it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:" The stick that came after the Bible, written upon for Joseph (Ephraim) is the Book of Mormon.
Ezekiel 37:17 "Join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand." In the hands of the Latter-day Saints, the Bible and the Book of Mormon have become a single set of scriptures. They are sometimes bound together in a single volume. The 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon was bound to look very similar to a trade Bible of the period, emphasizing the physical reality of the two becoming one in a believer's hand. This is all beautifully prophesied in 2 Nephi 3:12.
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| 1830 Bible Sold in EB Grandin's Print Shop in Palmyra Alongside Replica 1830 Book of Mormon |
