The Book of Mormon

Jacob 6:8

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~544–420 BC

1830 Edition

Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the Prophets? and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after that so many have spoken concerning him? and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit? and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you?

Influences

Acts 2:38 (KJV)
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 (KJV)
Quench not the Spirit.

Changes

Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the Pprophets?; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after that so many have spoken concerning him?; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit?, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you?

Simple English

Will you turn away from these words? Will you turn away from what the prophets said? Will you turn away from all the words about Christ after so many people have talked about him? Will you say no to Christ’s good word and God’s power? Will you say no to the gift of the Holy Spirit and stop the Holy Spirit? Will you make fun of the great plan to save you?

Paraphrase

Will you reject these words? Will you reject what the prophets have said? Will you reject everything spoken about Christ—after so many have testified of him? Will you deny Christ’s good word, God’s power, and the gift of the Holy Spirit? Will you snuff out the Spirit and mock the great rescue plan laid out for you?

Notes

6:1-13

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.