The Book of Mormon

Jacob 5:47

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~544–420 BC

1830 Edition

But what could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay; I have nourished it, and I have digged it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long; and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire, that they should be burned. Who is it that hath corrupted my vineyard?

Influences

Isaiah 5:4 (KJV)
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
Luke 13:8 (KJV)
And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
Luke 13:8 (KJV)
And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:

Changes

But what could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay;, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long;, and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire, that they should be burned. Who is it that haths corrupted my vineyard?

Simple English

'But what more could I have done in my vineyard? Did I stop working? No, I fed it. I dug around it. I trimmed it. I put fertilizer on it. I have worked almost all day long. The end is near. I am sad that I must cut down all my vineyard trees and burn them. Who has ruined my vineyard?'

Paraphrase

'What more could I have done for my vineyard? Have I held back from nourishing it? No! I’ve nourished it, dug around it, pruned it, and fertilized it. I’ve worked almost constantly, and the end is nearly here. It breaks my heart to have to cut down all these trees and burn them. Who has corrupted my vineyard?'

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.