The Book of Mormon

Jacob 5:60

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~544–420 BC

1830 Edition

and because that I have preserved the natural branches, and the roots thereof; and that I have grafted in the natural branches again, into their mother tree; and have preserved the roots of their mother tree, that perhaps the trees of my vineyard may bring forth again good fruit; and that I may have joy again in the fruit of my vineyard; and perhaps that I may rejoice exceedingly, that I have preserved the roots and the branches of the first fruit;

Changes

aAnd because that I have preserved the natural branches, and the roots thereof;, and that I have grafted in the natural branches again, into their mother tree;, and have preserved the roots of their mother tree, that, perhaps, the trees of my vineyard may bring forth again good fruit; and that I may have joy again in the fruit of my vineyard;, and, perhaps, that I may rejoice exceedingly, that I have preserved the roots and the branches of the first fruit;—

Simple English

'I have saved the natural branches and their roots. I have planted the natural branches back in their mother tree. I have saved the roots of their mother tree. Maybe my vineyard trees will make good fruit again. Maybe I can be happy again with my vineyard fruit. Maybe I can be very happy that I saved the roots and branches of the first fruit.'

Paraphrase

'Because I’ve preserved the natural branches and their roots, and grafted the natural branches back into their mother tree, and preserved the roots of the mother tree—maybe the trees of my vineyard will produce good fruit again. Maybe I’ll find joy in my vineyard’s fruit once more. Maybe I’ll celebrate greatly that I’ve preserved the roots and branches of the first 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.