The Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 26:4

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~559–545 BC

1830 Edition

Wherefore all they that are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble;

Influences

Malachi 4:1 (KJV)
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Changes

Wherefore, all thosey twhato are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble;.

Simple English

So all who are proud and do wicked things will be burned up on that day, says the Lord of Hosts. They will be like dry grass.

Paraphrase

So everyone who is proud and does evil—the day that comes will burn them up, says the Lord of Hosts. They’ll be like dry straw.

Notes

26:4-6

Compare 1 Nephi 22:15, 2 Nephi 26:4,6 with Malachi 4:1, and compare 2 Nephi 25:13 with Malachi 4:2. While Malachi is generally dated to around 400 B.C., the writings attributed to Nephi are said to fall between 588–545 B.C., creating a chronological tension. The Book of Mormon further complicates this issue by indicating that the Nephites did not possess the words of Malachi until after the appearance of Christ. As recorded:

"Behold other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not" (3 Nephi 23:6).

"Write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them... And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying: Thus said the Father unto Malachi-Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, ..." (3 Nephi 24:1).

Quoting from Malachi 4:1: "For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall" (3 Nephi 25:1-2).

These passages suggest that the Nephites did not have access to Malachi’s writings prior to Christ delivering them.

"According to these verses the Nephites could not have had the words of Malachi until Christ came among them. LDS writer George Reynolds stated: 'As Malachi lived between two and three hundred years after Lehi left Jerusalem, the Nephites knew nothing of the glorious things that the Father had revealed to him until Jesus repeated them.' However, if the Nephites didn't have the writings of Malachi until the coming of Christ, how did Nephi quote them in 545 B.C.?" -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 21.