The Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 25:18

Back to chapter
~559–545 BC

1830 Edition

Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them, which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah, which should deceive the people: for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the Prophets, and that Messiah is he which should be rejected of the Jews.

Influences

John 12:48 (KJV)
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Luke 9:22 (KJV)
Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

Changes

Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them, which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah, which should deceive the people:; for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the Pprophets, and that Messiah is he whicho should be rejected of the Jews.

Simple English

So he will bring his words to them. These words will judge them on the last day. These words are given to show them the true Messiah. They rejected him. The words will show them that they don’t need to look for another Messiah to come. No Messiah will come except false ones. False messiahs will trick the people. There is only one Messiah that the prophets spoke about. That Messiah is the one that the Jews rejected.

Paraphrase

He’ll bring them his words—words that will judge them in the last day. These words will prove to them that the true Messiah was the one they rejected. They’ll convince them they don’t need to wait for another Messiah, because anyone else who comes will be a fraud trying to deceive people. The prophets spoke of only one Messiah—the one the Jews rejected.

Notes

25:16-26

Written in approximately 550 B.C., 2 Nephi 25:16-26 provides an excellent example of a "theological anachronism."

LDS scholar, Grant Hardy observes: "In 1831, Alexander Campbell, one of the book's first critics (and certainly the first one to read it carefully), famously observed that it seemed to weigh in on all the popular religious questions of the day, including 'infant baptism, ordination, the trinity, regeneration, repentance, justification, the fall of man, the atonement, transubstantiation, fasting, penance, church government, religious experience, the call to the ministry , the general resurrection, eternal punishment, who may baptize, and even the question of freemasonry, republican government, and the right of the man.' This is a fair list, and references to these topics-or their analogous counterparts-can be found throughout the Book of Mormon." -Hardy, Understanding the Book of Mormon, p. 184

M.T. Lamb writes, "The whole Old Testament, as we have it, proceeds upon the assumption that these new Testament truths were not fully understood by the Old Testament writers. The entire system of bloody sacrifices, as found in the law of Moses, would have been the silliest nonsense to him had he understood in full the great plan of redemption to which this system looked forward in type... It would hardly seem possible for language to state more clearly or positively that the mystery of Christ's incarnation and the modus operandi or method of human salvation HAD NOT been revealed to the world until the Apostle's day. That while the Old Testament authors had presented the truth, it had been so presented in type, shadow, symbol and figure that it was not an could not be understood by them, not even by the angels of God..." -M.T. Lamb, The Golden Bible; or The Book of Mormon, Is It From God? (New York: Ward and Drummand, 1887), pp. 148.