The Book of Mormon

Ether 12:14

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~AD 401–421

1830 Edition

Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi, that wrought the change upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

Influences

Acts 8:12 (KJV)
But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Matthew 3:11 (KJV)
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Changes

Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi, that wrought the change upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

Simple English

It was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that changed the Lamanites. They were baptized with fire and with the Holy Spirit.

Paraphrase

It was Nephi and Lehi’s faith that transformed the Lamanites and baptized them with fire and the Holy Spirit.

Notes

12:4-22

LDS scholar Grant Hardy writes, "Any quotations in the Book of Mormon from biblical writings composed after 600 BC are anachronistic, potentially challenging both the book's historicity and its credibility. This is all the more so when the borrowed expressions appear in the exact words of the King James Version of 1611. Nonbelievers simply view the English Bible as one of Joseph Smith's sources, while Latter-day Saints look instead for more apologetic explanations... it is difficult to explain how it is that Moroni and his father before him had access to writings attributed to the apostle Paul.... Ether 12 is written as if Moroni is as fully familiar with the text of Hebrews as he is with Nephi's or Mormon's writings."

He continues, "There can be little doubt that Moroni's discourse on faith at Ether 12 is, in some way, based on the Epistle to the Hebrews, but it is more than simply an imitation; it is a creative adaptation."

He further states, "From the perspective of believers (LDS), it would be rather ironic if Moroni, who eschewed his father's program of evidence-based faith, here inadvertently ended up providing perhaps the strongest textual validation for the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Paradoxically, though, with Ether 12's clear and thorough dependence on Hebrews 6 and 11, Moroni has simultaneously supplied some of the most compelling evidence that the book has its origins in the nineteenth century." -Hardy, Understanding the Book Of Mormon, pp. 255, 257, 260.