The Book of Mormon

Jacob 5:13

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~544–420 BC

1830 Edition

And these will I place in the nethermost part of my vineyard, whithersoever I will, it mattereth not unto thee; and I do it, that I may preserve unto myself the natural branches of the tree; and also, that I may lay up fruit thereof, against the season, unto myself: for it grieveth me that I should lose this tree, and the fruit thereof.

Influences

Romans 11:21 (KJV)
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

Changes

And these will I place in the nethermost part of my vineyard, whithersoever I will, it mattereth not unto thee; and I do it, that I may preserve unto myself the natural branches of the tree; and also, that I may lay up fruit thereof, against the season, unto myself:; for it grieveth me that I should lose this tree, and the fruit thereof.

Simple English

'I will put these branches in the far parts of my vineyard. I’ll put them wherever I want. It doesn’t matter to you where. I do this to save the natural branches of the tree. I also want to store up fruit for later. I am sad that I might lose this tree and its fruit.'

Paraphrase

'I’ll place these young branches in the far corners of my vineyard, wherever I want—it doesn’t matter where. I’m doing this to preserve the natural branches of the tree and to store up fruit for the coming season. It breaks my heart to lose this tree and its fruit.'

Notes

5:1-77

In Jacob chapter 5 and 6, an allegory of the tame and wild olive trees is attributed to an ancient prophet named Zenos, who supposedly lived before Lehi’s journey to the New World. The allegory, however, closely mirrors material from multiple biblical sources: Apostle Paul’s discussion of olive trees in Romans 11:17–24, Jesus’ parable of the unfruitful fig tree in Luke 13:6–9, and imagery from Isaiah 5:1–7 concerning a vineyard. In the Book of Mormon, these sources are expanded into an allegory spanning over six pages. As Jerald and Sandra Tanner note, “It is probably the most repetitious part of the Book of Mormon. It gives the impression that the author is deliberately trying to use up as much space as possible. It is very hard to resist the idea that it is merely filler material." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 165.

Similarly, Wesley P. Walters observes, “For a grand finale of his work, however, he returned to this olive tree illustration [given by Apostle Paul] and worked it into a mind-boggling allegory, combining it with Jesus' parable about the unfruitful fig tree (Lk. 13:6–8) and working in the words from Isaiah 5:1–5 about God's disappointment with his grape vineyard. The result is a staggering conglomeration that would perplex a horticulturalist and bewilder an exegete” -Wesley P. Walters, "The Use of the Old Testament in the Book of Mormon," (Master's thesis, St. Louis: Covenant Theological Seminary, April 1981), pp. 152-153.