The Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 13:23

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~600–592 BC

1830 Edition

And he saith, Behold, it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew, and I, Nephi, beheld it; and he saith unto me, The Book which thou beholdest, is a record of the Jews, which contains the covenants of the Lord which he hath made unto the House of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the Holy Prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many; nevertheless, they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the House of Israel; wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles.

Influences

2 Peter 3:2 (KJV)
That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

Changes

And he saith,d: Behold, it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew,. aAnd I, Nephi, beheld it; and he saithd unto me,: The Bbook whicthat thou beholdest, is a record of the Jews, which contains the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the Hhouse of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the Hholy Pprophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many; nevertheless, they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the Hhouse of Israel; wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles.

Simple English

He said: 'It comes from a Jewish person.' I saw it. He said to me: 'This Book you see is a record of the Jewish people. It contains God’s promises that he made to Israel. It also contains many prophecies from holy prophets. It is like the writings on the brass plates, but there are not as many. But they still contain God’s promises to Israel. So they are very valuable to the Gentiles.'

Paraphrase

'It came from a Jew,' he explained. 'This book you’re seeing is the Jewish record. It contains God’s promises to Israel and many prophecies from the holy prophets. It’s like what’s written on the brass plates, though not as complete. Still, it holds God’s promises to Israel—priceless for the Gentiles.'

Notes

13:1-42

Both Joseph Smith’s father and Nephi’s father are described as having multiple dreams. In her book, Lucy Mack Smith recounts several of her husband’s visions, which were likely shared often within the family. One of these dreams is dated sixteen years before Joseph Smith obtained the plates:

"In 1811, we moved... to the town of Lebanon, New Hampshire. Soon after arriving here, my husband received another very singular vision, which I will relate..."

Readers have noted similarities between this account and the dream of Lehi in the Book of Mormon.

The following outlines parallels between Joseph Smith Sr.’s dream, as recorded in Lucy Smith's Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations, and Lehi’s dream in 1 Nephi 8, along with Nephi’s expanded description of the same vision in 1 Nephi 11-14.

  1. Both Joseph Smith's father and Lehi state they were traveling (1 Nephi 8:8; Smith, p. 58).
  2. Both mention a field (1 Nephi 8:4,9; Smith, p. 58).
  3. Both dreams compare the field to a world (1 Nephi 8:20; Smith, p. 58).
  4. Both Joseph Smith Sr. and Lehi have a guide (1 Nephi 8:5-6; Smith, p. 58).
  5. Both mention a broad road or roads (1 Nephi 12:17; Smith, p. 58).
  6. Both mention a narrow path (1 Nephi 8:20; Smith, p. 58).
  7. Both mention a stream of water (1 Nephi 8:13; Smith, p. 58).
  8. Both mention something extending along the bank of the stream (1 Nephi 8:19; Smith, p. 58).
  9. Both mention a tree (1 Nephi 8:10; Smith, p. 58).
  10. Both mention the beauty of the tree (1 Nephi 11:8; Smith, p. 58).
  11. Both trees bore fruit (1 Nephi 8:10; Smith, p. 58).
  12. Both compared the whiteness of the fruit to snow (1 Nephi 11:8; Smith, p. 58).
  13. Both Joseph Smith Sr. and Lehi ate of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:11; Smith, p. 58).
  14. Both found the fruit to be delicious (1 Nephi 8:11; Smith, p. 58).
  15. Both wanted their families to partake of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:12; Smith, p. 58).
  16. Both families came and partook of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:16; Smith, p. 58).
  17. After eating the fruit both experienced great joy (1 Nephi 8:12; Smith, pp. 58-59).
  18. Both mention a spacious building (1 Nephi 8:26; Smith, p. 59).
  19. Both indicate the building reached high into the air (1 Nephi 8:26; Smith, p. 59).
  20. Both buildings were filled with people (1 Nephi 8:27; Smith, p. 59).
  21. In both buildings the people were finely dressed (1 Nephi 8:27; Smith, p. 59).
  22. In both cases the people in the building pointed the finger of scorn at those partaking of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:33; Smith, p. 59).
  23. Both state they ignored the people in the building (1 Nephi 8:33; Smith, p. 59).
  24. Both state the meaning of the fruit is the pure love of God (1 Nephi 11:21-22; Smith, p. 59).
  25. Both state two members of the family are not present (1 Nephi 8:17; Smith, p. 59).
  26. Both mention the fall of the building (1 Nephi 11:36; Smith, p. 59)
  27. Both imply that pride was connected with the building or its inhabitants (1 Nephi 11:36; Smith, p. 59).

For a full treatment of this subject, including a side-by-side comparison of the above references, see Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, pp. 161–163.