Jacob 5:37
1830 Edition
But behold, the wild branches have grown, and have overran the roots thereof; and because that the wild branches have overcome the roots thereof, it hath brought forth much evil fruit; and because that it hath brought forth so much evil fruit, thou beholdest that it begineth to perish: and it will soon become ripened, that it may be cast into the fire, except we should do something for it to preserve it.
Changes
Simple English
'But the wild branches have grown too much. They have taken over the roots. Because the wild branches took over the roots, the tree made much bad fruit. Because it made so much bad fruit, you can see it’s starting to die. Soon it will be ready to throw into the fire. Unless we do something to save it.'
Paraphrase
'But the wild branches have grown and overtaken the roots. Because they’ve overwhelmed the roots, the tree now produces bad fruit. It’s producing so much bad fruit that it’s starting to die. Soon it will be ripe for the fire—unless we do something to save it.'
Notes
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.