The Book of Mormon

Ether 12:20

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~AD 401–421

1830 Edition

And behold, we have seen in this record, that one of these was the brother of Jared: for so great was his faith in God, that when God put forth his finger, he could not hide it from the sight of the brother of Jared, because of his word which he had spoken unto him, which word he had obtained by faith.

Influences

Mark 11:22 (KJV)
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Changes

And behold, we have seen in this record, that one of these was the brother of Jared:; for so great was his faith in God, that when God put forth his finger, he could not hide it from the sight of the brother of Jared, because of his word which he had spoken unto him, which word he had obtained by faith.

Simple English

We have seen in this record that one of these people was the brother of Jared. His faith in God was so great that when God put out his finger, he could not hide it from the brother of Jared. This was because of what the brother of Jared had asked God by faith.

Paraphrase

In this record we’ve seen that the brother of Jared was one of those people. His faith in God was so extraordinary that when God extended his finger, he couldn’t hide it from the brother of Jared’s sight—because of the promise the brother of Jared had received through faith.

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.