Nephi’s Vision Begins
I, Nephi, wanted to understand what my father had seen. I believed the Lord could show me. While I was sitting and thinking about it, the Spirit took me away to an incredibly high mountain—a place I’d never been before. The Spirit asked me, 'What do you want?' 'I want to see what my father saw,' I answered.
The Spirit asked, 'Do you believe your father really saw that tree he talked about?' 'Yes,' I said. 'You know I believe everything my father says.' When I said that, the Spirit shouted with joy: 'Praise God! He is the Most High God over all the earth! You’re blessed, Nephi, because you believe in God’s Son. Now you’ll see what you wanted to see.' 'Here’s your sign: After you see the tree with the fruit your father tasted, you’ll see a man coming down from heaven. You’ll witness him yourself. Then you’ll testify that he is the Son of God.'
The Tree of Life
The Spirit said, 'Look!' I looked and saw a tree just like the one my father had seen. It was more beautiful than anything I’d ever imagined—whiter than fresh snow. After seeing the tree, I said to the Spirit, 'You’ve shown me the tree that’s more precious than anything else.' 'What else do you want?' he asked. 'I want to understand what it means,' I said. I spoke to him like I’d talk to any person—he looked like a man to me, though I knew it was the Spirit of the Lord. 'Look,' he said. But when I turned to look at him again, he was gone.
A Virgin in Nazareth
Then I saw the great city of Jerusalem and other cities. I saw the city of Nazareth, and there I saw a virgin, incredibly beautiful and radiant. The heavens opened, and an angel came down and stood in front of me. 'Nephi,' he asked, 'what do you see?' 'A virgin,' I said, 'more beautiful than any other.' 'Do you understand how God humbles himself?' the angel asked. 'I know God loves his children,' I answered, 'but I don’t understand everything.' The virgin you're seeing is the mother of God, in the flesh.
I watched as she was carried away by the Spirit. After some time passed, the angel said, 'Look!' I looked again and saw the virgin holding a baby in her arms. 'Look at the Lamb of God—the Eternal Father!' the angel said. 'Do you understand what the tree your father saw means?' 'Yes,' I said. 'It’s God’s love pouring into people’s hearts. Nothing is more desirable.' 'And nothing brings more joy to the soul,' he added.
The Son of God Among the People
'Look!' he said again. I saw the Son of God walking among people. Many fell at his feet to worship him. Then I understood: the iron rod my father saw was God’s word, leading to the fountain of living water—the tree of life. Both the water and the tree represented God’s love. The angel said again, 'Look at how God humbles himself!'
I saw the Savior my father had spoken about. I saw the prophet who would prepare his way. The Lamb of God went to him to be baptized. After his baptism, I saw the heavens open and the Holy Spirit come down like a dove and rest on him. I watched him teach the people with power and glory. Large crowds gathered to hear him, but then they threw him out. I saw twelve others following him. Then they were all carried away by the Spirit, and I couldn’t see them anymore.
The angel said, 'Look!' I saw the heavens open again. Angels came down to the people and ministered to them. 'Look!' he said again. I saw the Lamb of God walking among the people. I saw crowds of sick people—suffering from all kinds of diseases, tormented by demons and evil spirits. The angel showed me how they were all healed by the power of the Lamb of God. The demons and evil spirits were driven out.
The Cross and the World’s Pride
The angel said, 'Look!' I watched as the people seized the Lamb of God. The Everlasting God was judged by the world. I saw it and I testify to it. I saw him lifted up on a cross and killed for the world’s sins.
After he was killed, I saw crowds of people gathering to fight against his apostles—the twelve the angel had named. The crowds gathered in a huge, sprawling building like the one my father saw. The angel said, 'Look at the world and its wisdom. The House of Israel has gathered to fight against the Lamb’s twelve apostles.' I watched and testify: that great building was the world’s pride. It collapsed, and its destruction was complete. The angel said, 'This is how every nation, family, language, and people who fight against the Lamb’s twelve apostles will be destroyed.'
Influences
- 11:1 — Acts 8:39 (KJV)And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
- 11:1 — Matthew 4:8 (KJV)Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
- 11:6 — Mark 5:7 (KJV)And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
- 11:7 — Revelation 21:10 (KJV)And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
- 11:13 — Acts 7:20 (KJV)In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:
- 11:21 — Revelation 17:7 (KJV)And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
- 11:21 — John 1:29 (KJV)The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
- 11:22 — Romans 5:5 (KJV)And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
- 11:22 — Romans 5:5 (KJV)And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
- 11:27 — John 1:29 (KJV)The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
- 11:27 — Luke 3:22 (KJV)And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
- 11:28 — Matthew 13:2 (KJV)And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
- 11:30 — John 1:51 (KJV)And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
- 11:31 — Matthew 4:23 (KJV)And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
- 11:31 — Luke 4:36 (KJV)And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
- 11:33 — John 19:31 (KJV)The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
- 11:33 — 1 John 2:2 (KJV)And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
- 11:34 — Revelation 19:19 (KJV)And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
- 11:35 — Revelation 21:14 (KJV)And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
- 11:36 — Matthew 7:27 (KJV)And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
- 11:36 — Revelation 14:6 (KJV)And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
- 11:36 — Revelation 21:14 (KJV)And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Notes
- 11:1-36
Both Joseph Smith’s father and Nephi’s father are described as having multiple dreams. In her book, Lucy Mack Smith recounts several of her husband’s visions, which were likely shared often within the family. One of these dreams is dated sixteen years before Joseph Smith obtained the plates:
"In 1811, we moved... to the town of Lebanon, New Hampshire. Soon after arriving here, my husband received another very singular vision, which I will relate..."
Readers have noted similarities between this account and the dream of Lehi in the Book of Mormon.
The following outlines parallels between Joseph Smith Sr.’s dream, as recorded in Lucy Smith's Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations, and Lehi’s dream in 1 Nephi 8, along with Nephi’s expanded description of the same vision in 1 Nephi 11-14.
- Both Joseph Smith's father and Lehi state they were traveling (1 Nephi 8:8; Smith, p. 58).
- Both mention a field (1 Nephi 8:4,9; Smith, p. 58).
- Both dreams compare the field to a world (1 Nephi 8:20; Smith, p. 58).
- Both Joseph Smith Sr. and Lehi have a guide (1 Nephi 8:5-6; Smith, p. 58).
- Both mention a broad road or roads (1 Nephi 12:17; Smith, p. 58).
- Both mention a narrow path (1 Nephi 8:20; Smith, p. 58).
- Both mention a stream of water (1 Nephi 8:13; Smith, p. 58).
- Both mention something extending along the bank of the stream (1 Nephi 8:19; Smith, p. 58).
- Both mention a tree (1 Nephi 8:10; Smith, p. 58).
- Both mention the beauty of the tree (1 Nephi 11:8; Smith, p. 58).
- Both trees bore fruit (1 Nephi 8:10; Smith, p. 58).
- Both compared the whiteness of the fruit to snow (1 Nephi 11:8; Smith, p. 58).
- Both Joseph Smith Sr. and Lehi ate of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:11; Smith, p. 58).
- Both found the fruit to be delicious (1 Nephi 8:11; Smith, p. 58).
- Both wanted their families to partake of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:12; Smith, p. 58).
- Both families came and partook of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:16; Smith, p. 58).
- After eating the fruit both experienced great joy (1 Nephi 8:12; Smith, pp. 58-59).
- Both mention a spacious building (1 Nephi 8:26; Smith, p. 59).
- Both indicate the building reached high into the air (1 Nephi 8:26; Smith, p. 59).
- Both buildings were filled with people (1 Nephi 8:27; Smith, p. 59).
- In both buildings the people were finely dressed (1 Nephi 8:27; Smith, p. 59).
- In both cases the people in the building pointed the finger of scorn at those partaking of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:33; Smith, p. 59).
- Both state they ignored the people in the building (1 Nephi 8:33; Smith, p. 59).
- Both state the meaning of the fruit is the pure love of God (1 Nephi 11:21-22; Smith, p. 59).
- Both state two members of the family are not present (1 Nephi 8:17; Smith, p. 59).
- Both mention the fall of the building (1 Nephi 11:36; Smith, p. 59)
- Both imply that pride was connected with the building or its inhabitants (1 Nephi 11:36; Smith, p. 59).
For a full treatment of this subject, including a side-by-side comparison of the above references, see Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, pp. 161–163.
- 11:18
After the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon was published, editors—presumably led by Joseph Smith—made several notable revisions that appear to reflect a developing theological understanding of the Godhead.
For example, in the 1830 edition of 1 Nephi 11:18 the text reads, “Behold, the virgin which thou seest, is the mother of God….” In the 1837 edition, however, the wording was changed to: “Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God….”
A similar revision appears in 1 Nephi 11:21. The 1830 edition reads, “behold the Lamb of God, yea even the Eternal Father!” In the 1837 edition, this was changed to: “Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!”
The same pattern appears in 1 Nephi 11:32. The 1830 text reads, “yea, the Everlasting God,” while the 1837 edition changes the phrase to “yea, the Son of the everlasting God.”
Likewise, 1 Nephi 13:40 in the 1830 edition states, “the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world….” In the 1837 edition, this was revised to read, “the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world….”
Not every passage identifying Jesus as the “Eternal Father” was revised. For example, Mosiah 16:15 still retains this language. Nevertheless, the changes that were made raise several questions. Why were these particular passages altered? Were the revisions the result of new revelation? If not, who had the authority to modify the text? And if they were indeed revelatory corrections, this could raise further questions about the translation process described by the witnesses, as well as about the necessity of the golden plates themselves.
For those who believe that Joseph Smith’s theology evolved significantly—enough to prompt revisions to the Book of Mormon—there is an additional line of evidence worth considering. In Joseph Smith’s revision of the Bible, commonly known as the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (JST), he altered the wording of Gospel of Luke 10:22. In the King James Version the verse reads:
“All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.”
In the JST, however, Smith changed the passage to read:
“All things are delivered to me of my Father; and no man knoweth that the Son is the Father, and the Father is the Son, but him to whom the Son will reveal it.”
Because Joseph Smith began his revisions to the King James Bible in 1830, this reading of Luke 10 aligns chronologically with the 1830 passages in the Book of Mormon that appear to identify Jesus more directly with the Father.
By 1844, however, Joseph Smith seems to have moved away from this earlier formulation. In his famous "Sermon in the Grove," Smith taught:
“I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have selected this text for that express purpose. I wish to declare I have always, and in all congregations, when I have preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods… I have always declared God to be a distinct personage; Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father; and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit; and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods….” -History of the Church, vol. 6, pp. 473–479).
Taken together, these developments illustrate a significant shift in Joseph Smith’s later teaching about the nature of the Godhead.
- 11:21
After the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon was published, editors—presumably led by Joseph Smith—made several notable revisions that appear to reflect a developing theological understanding of the Godhead.
See 1 Nephi 11:18 for full annotation note.
- 11:32
After the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon was published, editors—presumably led by Joseph Smith—made several notable revisions that appear to reflect a developing theological understanding of the Godhead.
See 1 Nephi 11:18 for full annotation note.