The Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 31:10

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~559–545 BC

1830 Edition

And he saith unto the children of men, Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus, save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

Influences

Matthew 9:9 (KJV)
And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
John 21:22 (KJV)
Follow thou me

Changes

And he saithd unto the children of men,: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus, save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

Simple English

He tells people: 'Follow me.' My dear brothers, can we follow Jesus unless we are willing to keep the Father’s commandments?

Paraphrase

He tells us: 'Follow me.' So here’s my question: can we really follow Jesus if we’re not willing to keep the Father’s commandments?

Notes

31:6-10

An example of writing about future events in the past tense is found in 2 Nephi 31:6-10.

Other examples can be found in Mosiah 15:12, 24; Mosiah 16:6.

Wesley P. Walters observes, "In expounding Isaiah 53, he [Smith] again lapsed into the past tense for nearly two pages of text. Consequently he has Abinadi say a century and a half before Christ, 'For these are they whose sins he HAS borne: these are they for whom he HAS died' (Mosiah 15:12). Again in verse 24 Abinadi speaks of Old Testament believers in the past tense: 'these are they that HAVE DIED before Christ CAME' (Mos. 15:24). Still again in the next chapter Abinadi drops into the past tense and declares in his sermon, 'And now if Christ HAD NOT COME into the world...' Suddenly Joseph became aware of the anachronous situation he had created and he quickly covered his blunder by having Abinadi add, 'speaking of things to come as though they already had come" (Mos. 16:6). -Wesley P. Walters, "Use of the Old Testament in the Book of Mormon," (Master's thesis, St. Louis: Covenant Theological Seminary, April, 1981), p. 79.

It is reasonable to view references to Christ’s coming expressed in the past tense as potential evidence suggesting a modern composition of the Book of Mormon.