The Book of Mormon

Jacob 5:52

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~544–420 BC

1830 Edition

Wherefore, let us take of the branches of these which I have planted in the nethermost parts of my vineyard, and let us graft them into the tree from whence they came; and let us pluck from the tree, those branches whose fruit is most bitter, and graft in the natural branches of the tree, in the stead thereof.

Influences

Hebrews 11:15 (KJV)
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

Changes

Wherefore, let us take of the branches of these which I have planted in the nethermost parts of my vineyard, and let us graft them into the tree from whence they came; and let us pluck from the tree, those branches whose fruit is most bitter, and graft in the natural branches of the tree, in the stead thereof.

Simple English

'So let’s take branches from the trees I planted in the far parts of my vineyard. Let’s plant them back in the tree they came from. Let’s cut the most bitter branches from the tree. Let’s plant the natural branches there instead.'

Paraphrase

'Let’s take branches from the trees I planted in the far corners of my vineyard and graft them back into the mother tree. We’ll remove the branches with the most bitter fruit and graft the natural branches back in their place.'

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.