The Book of Mormon
~600–592 BC

1 Nephi 11

Lehi has shared his vision and prophecies about the Messiah. Nephi desires to see what his father saw. Pondering, he is taken to a high mountain where he beholds the tree, a virgin in Nazareth, and the Lamb of God's birth. He sees the Messiah's ministry, rejection, and crucifixion, along with the spacious building representing pride.

Nephi’s Vision Begins

I wanted to know about the things my father had seen. I believed the Lord could show them to me. So as I sat thinking in my heart, I was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord to a very high mountain. I had never seen this mountain before or walked on it. The Spirit said to me, 'What do you want?' I said, 'I want to see the things my father saw.' The Spirit said to me, 'Do you believe your father saw the tree he talked about?' I said yes. 'You know that I believe everything my father said.'

When I said these words, the Spirit cried out loudly: 'Praise the Lord, the most high God! He is God over all the earth, above all. God blesses you, Nephi, because you believe in the Son of the Most High God. So you will see the things you want to see.' 'Here is a sign for you. After you see the tree that had the fruit your father tasted, you will also see a man coming down from Heaven. You will see him. After you see him, you will tell others that he is the Son of God.'

The Tree of Life

Then the Spirit said to me, 'Look!' I looked and saw a tree. It was like the tree my father had seen. It was more beautiful than anything else. It was whiter than snow. After I saw the tree, I said to the Spirit, 'I see you have shown me the tree that is more precious than anything else.' He said to me, 'What do you want?' I said to him, 'I want to know what it means.' I talked to him like one person talks to another. I could see he looked like a man. But I knew he was the Spirit of the Lord. He talked to me like one person talks to another.

Then he said to me, 'Look!' I looked to see him, but I could not see him. He had gone away from me. Then I looked and saw the great city Jerusalem and other cities. I saw the city of Nazareth. In the city of Nazareth I saw a virgin who was very beautiful and pure.

An Angel Appears

Then I saw the Heavens open. An angel came down and stood in front of me. He said to me, 'Nephi, what do you see?' I said to him, 'A virgin who is more beautiful than all other virgins.' He said to me, 'Do you know how God came down to earth?' I said to him, 'I know that he loves his children. But I don’t understand everything.'

Mary and Baby Jesus

He said to me, "The virgin you see is the mother of God. She will give birth to him as a human baby." Then I saw that she was taken away by the Spirit. After she had been taken away by the Spirit for a while, the angel said to me, 'Look!' I looked and saw the virgin again, holding a child in her arms.

The Meaning of the Tree

The angel said to me, 'See the Lamb of God! He is the Eternal Father! Do you know what the tree your father saw means?' I answered him: 'Yes, it is God’s love. His love spreads into people’s hearts. So it is the most wonderful thing of all.' He said to me, 'Yes, and it brings the most joy to the soul.' After he said these words, he told me, 'Look!' I looked and saw the Son of God going among people. I saw many people bow down at his feet and worship him.

Then I saw that the iron rod my father had seen was the word of God. It led to the fountain of living waters and to the tree of life. The waters represent God’s love. I also saw that the tree of life represents God’s love. The angel said to me again, 'Look and see how God came down to earth!'

Jesus’ Ministry

I looked and saw the Savior of the world that my father had talked about. I also saw the prophet who would prepare the way for him. The Lamb of God went to be baptized by him. After he was baptized, I saw the Heavens open. The Holy Ghost came down from Heaven and stayed on him like a dove. I saw that he went around helping people with great power and glory. Crowds of people gathered to hear him. But I saw that they threw him out. I also saw twelve other men following him. Then they were taken away by the Spirit so I couldn’t see them anymore.

Then the angel said to me again, 'Look!' I looked and saw the Heavens open again. I saw angels coming down to people and helping them. He told me again, 'Look!' I looked and saw the Lamb of God going among people. I saw crowds of people who were sick and suffering from diseases. Some had evil spirits. The angel showed me all these things. They were healed by the power of the Lamb of God. The evil spirits were sent away.

Jesus’ Death and the Apostles

Then the angel said to me again, 'Look!' I looked and saw the Lamb of God being captured by people. The Everlasting God was judged by the world. I saw this and tell you about it. I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up on the cross and killed for the sins of the world. After he was killed, I saw crowds of people from the earth gather together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb. The angel of the Lord called these twelve men apostles. The crowd of people gathered together. I saw they were in a large building like the building my father saw. The angel of the Lord said to me again, 'See the world and its wisdom. The House of Israel has gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.'

The Pride of the World Falls

Then I saw that the great building was the pride of the world. It fell down, and its fall was very great. The angel of the Lord said to me again: 'This is how all nations, families, languages, and people will be destroyed if they fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.'

Influences

  • 11:1 — Luke 2:19 (KJV)
    But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
  • 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,
  • 11:7 — John 1:34 (KJV)
    bare record that this is the Son of 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.

    1. Both Joseph Smith's father and Lehi state they were traveling (1 Nephi 8:8; Smith, p. 58).
    2. Both mention a field (1 Nephi 8:4,9; Smith, p. 58).
    3. Both dreams compare the field to a world (1 Nephi 8:20; Smith, p. 58).
    4. Both Joseph Smith Sr. and Lehi have a guide (1 Nephi 8:5-6; Smith, p. 58).
    5. Both mention a broad road or roads (1 Nephi 12:17; Smith, p. 58).
    6. Both mention a narrow path (1 Nephi 8:20; Smith, p. 58).
    7. Both mention a stream of water (1 Nephi 8:13; Smith, p. 58).
    8. Both mention something extending along the bank of the stream (1 Nephi 8:19; Smith, p. 58).
    9. Both mention a tree (1 Nephi 8:10; Smith, p. 58).
    10. Both mention the beauty of the tree (1 Nephi 11:8; Smith, p. 58).
    11. Both trees bore fruit (1 Nephi 8:10; Smith, p. 58).
    12. Both compared the whiteness of the fruit to snow (1 Nephi 11:8; Smith, p. 58).
    13. Both Joseph Smith Sr. and Lehi ate of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:11; Smith, p. 58).
    14. Both found the fruit to be delicious (1 Nephi 8:11; Smith, p. 58).
    15. Both wanted their families to partake of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:12; Smith, p. 58).
    16. Both families came and partook of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:16; Smith, p. 58).
    17. After eating the fruit both experienced great joy (1 Nephi 8:12; Smith, pp. 58-59).
    18. Both mention a spacious building (1 Nephi 8:26; Smith, p. 59).
    19. Both indicate the building reached high into the air (1 Nephi 8:26; Smith, p. 59).
    20. Both buildings were filled with people (1 Nephi 8:27; Smith, p. 59).
    21. In both buildings the people were finely dressed (1 Nephi 8:27; Smith, p. 59).
    22. 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).
    23. Both state they ignored the people in the building (1 Nephi 8:33; Smith, p. 59).
    24. Both state the meaning of the fruit is the pure love of God (1 Nephi 11:21-22; Smith, p. 59).
    25. Both state two members of the family are not present (1 Nephi 8:17; Smith, p. 59).
    26. Both mention the fall of the building (1 Nephi 11:36; Smith, p. 59)
    27. 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.

1 Nephi 101 Nephi 12