The Interpreter Foundation Podcast

During 1988, 1989, and 1990, Hugh Nibley taught Honors Book of Mormon classes for four semesters at Brigham Young University. The lectures were video-taped and audio cassettes and printed transcripts were made of the lectures. We believe these recordings will be interesting to listen to and valuable to your Come, Follow Me study program this year. Each week, we will include the lectures covering the Book of Mormon chapters being studied that week.

This week, we have lectures 18 and 19, covering 2 Nephi 3-8 and 2 Nephi 9, respectively.

Note: Nibley did not have any lectures covering chapters 10 through 24 of 2 Nephi, so there will not be a post next week.

All 112 lectures are immediately available in PDF, audio, video, and electronic formats, as well as in paperback books that are available for purchase. Links for all of the available online sources can be found in the Complete Bibliography for Hugh Nibley at https://interpreterfoundation.org/bibliographies/hugh-w-nibley/lectures/.

 

Lecture 18: Book of Mormon—2 Nephi 3—8. [repeat from last week]

Also called “Lehi’s Family: Blessings and Conflict.“ 2 Nephi 3 is a genealogical chapter, and it has strange phenomena in it which occur in genealogy all the time.

Watch on YouTubeDownload AudioDownload PDF

Lecture 19: Book of Mormon—2 Nephi 9, The Atonement and Judgment

Also called “Jacob’s Teachings on the Atonement and Judgment.“ The Book of Mormon was hand-delivered by an angel. There’s every evidence that it was, so let’s look at it.

Watch on YouTubeDownload AudioDownload PDF

 

In the January 28th Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts Steve Densley and John Thompson discuss Book of Mormon lesson 8, “O How Great the Plan of Our God!” covering 2 Nephi 6-10.

You can listen to or download the Book of Mormon in Context segment of the January 28 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). The other segments of the January 21 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-january-28-2024.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

 

Original air date: January 28, 2024. This recording has been edited to remove commercial breaks.

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.

 

 

In the February 4, 2024 episode of The Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts are Martin Tanner, Hales Swift, and Brent Schmidt. They discuss Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson 9, Church relief efforts, and temples and their relationship to Freemasonry. You can listen to or download the February 4th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. These audio tracks are also included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast).

The “New Testament in Context” portion of this show, for the Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson 9, will also be posted separately on Tuesday, February 20.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Original air date: February 4, 2024. These recordings have been edited to remove commercial breaks.

The Book of Mormon in Context Lesson 9: “His Name Shall Be Called … The Prince of Peace” covering 2 Nephi 11-19

Podcast: Download

Discussion: Church relief efforts and temples and their relationship to Freemasonry

Podcast: Download

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.

 

Abstract: Considering conventions of the ancient Near East, 2 Nephi can be understood as a legal document or legal archive. Factors supporting this view include 1) Nephi’s allusions to sealing the record and to a bar of judgment, 2) discussion of the law of witnesses and reference to Isaiah and Jacob as witnesses, 3) components and formatting consistent with Neo-Babylonian depositions and plaintiff statements, 4) uncharacteristically formal and conservative (high-fidelity) citations of Isaiah, and 5) rhetoric and vocabulary consistent with the Judean legal genre. Nephi’s inclusion of Jacob’s and Isaiah’s words as a witness and his references to judicial procedure can be readily understood. Further, the structure of 2 Nephi, consistent with legal conventions of the time, can be viewed as collated texts that contain a covenant framing the Nephite’s situation (2 Nephi 1–4), a reaction (2 Nephi 4–5), three supporting witness statements (2 Nephi 6–10, 12–24, 25–28), and finally a plaintiff statement (2 Nephi 33). Recognizing the legal implications of 2 Nephi can help us appreciate Nephi’s agenda as author and editor of his text, as well as the meaning of his document in our day.

The Book of Mormon contains an abridgment of many records from the people of Nephi. Within the Book of Mormon, there are also two unabridged books written by Nephi. These books were written in the sixth century bce, approximately one thousand years before the main corpus of the Book of Mormon. Cultural changes will invariably occur over time and some changes may have been deliberate (2 Nephi 25:2). Consideration of contemporary ancient Near Eastern customs may be critical in understanding Nephi’s text.

The second book of Nephi has confounded readers for more than 100 years. Highlighting its importance, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated that “standing like sentinels at the gate of the [Book of Mormon],” [Page 254]the writings in 2 Nephi “admit us into the scriptural presence of the Lord.”1 Some readers, however, may feel 2 Nephi is a “compilation of instructive but unrelated incidents, doctrines, and prophecies.”2 Perhaps because the book of 2 Nephi remains enigmatic, its structure has been the subject of sustained inquiry over many years.3 While there are many perspectives, few of them are mutually exclusive. Some secular scholars have opined that 2 Nephi is a collection of contextless excerpts and reflections4 or commentary interwoven with scripture.5 Brant Gardner writes that Nephi starts to write a narrative, but later his intent changes, and he includes a sermon.

Abstract: This article explores issues with past suggestions concerning the etymology of the name Cumorah and suggests a slightly updated etymology, “Rise up, O Light of the Lord.” It then suggests that Book of Mormon references to the Hill Cumorah appear to confirm the proposed etymology, thus becoming an apt description of the Restoration.

No one should be under the illusion that scholarship in the humanities is an exact science. There are rules, to be sure, with acceptable and unacceptable methodologies, with non sequiturs and sequiturs, with good data and bad data. Knowing that definitive answers in the humanities are often ephemeral is nowhere more important than in the attempt to provide an etymology for Book of Mormon names, including the subject of this essay: the geographic name Cumorah. In fact, definitive explanations of Book of Mormon names are not possible, partly because we do not know for sure what language lies behind Joseph Smith’s translation of the plates.1 Until we have access to the plates and have learned how to read them, the best we can do is to offer an etymology based on educated guesses. What follows is an educated guess about the name Cumorah.

One of the first issues to clear up is that Cumorah is a geographic name and may not follow in all aspects the patterns evidenced in personal names. Nevertheless, I have assumed that Cumorah would [Page 240]follow the same general lexical and semantic patterns I have used in preparing the majority of the etymologies of names in the digital Book of Mormon Onomasticon at https://onoma.lib.byu.edu. A major lesson of that onomasticon is that most of the entries reflect ancient Hebrew patterns.

Years ago, David A. Palmer and Robert F. Smith independently proposed that Cumorah means “Arise, O Light.”2 As these authors pointed out, the Hebrew verb qūm, “arise/rise (up),” along with the Hebrew noun ʾôr, or the feminine form ʾôrah,3 meaning “light, flame, fire,” together yield the meaning, “rise up, (O) light.” This explanation of Cumorah, “Rise up, O light” is a very tempting etymology, given the significance of the Hill Cumorah in Latter-day Saint scripture and Restoration history, and even prefigures the “glad tidings from Cumorah” of Doctrine and Covenants 128:20.

Avram Shannon spoke on “Consecration and Sacrilege in Early Rabbinic Judaism” at the fourth Temple on Mount Zion Conference, held on Saturday, November 10, 2018 in the Tanner Building at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

The presentations were filmed, and both video and audio recordings of each presentation are available. The videos are currently available both at https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2018-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/2018-temple-on-mount-zion-conference-videos/and on the Interpreter Foundation YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/theinterpreterfoundation. A YouTube playlist is also available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRMn4gyXMWLsWt34zVNC5FmTqBtFfcnxl. The audio recordings are available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2018-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/2018-temple-on-mount-zion-conference-audio/.

Presented at:

2018 Temple on Mount Zion ConferenceSaturday, November 10, 2018https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2020-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/

Conference Proceedings:

The Temple: Symbols, Sermons, and Settings at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/the-temple-symbols-sermons-and-settings/ (available first quarter, 2024)

Listen to an audio recording of this talk:

  Download audio recording

 

 

Transcript

During 1988, 1989, and 1990, Hugh Nibley taught Honors Book of Mormon classes for four semesters at Brigham Young University. The lectures were video-taped and audio cassettes and printed transcripts were made of the lectures. We believe these recordings will be interesting to listen to and valuable to your Come, Follow Me study program this year. Each week, we will include the lectures covering the Book of Mormon chapters being studied that week.

This week, we have lecture 18, covering 2 Nephi 3-8.

All 112 lectures are immediately available in PDF, audio, video, and electronic formats, as well as in paperback books that are available for purchase. Links for all of the available online sources can be found in the Complete Bibliography for Hugh Nibley at https://interpreterfoundation.org/bibliographies/hugh-w-nibley/lectures/.

 

Lecture 18: Book of Mormon—2 Nephi 3—8

Also called “Lehi’s Family: Blessings and Conflict.“ 2 Nephi 3 is a genealogical chapter, and it has strange phenomena in it which occur in genealogy all the time.

Watch on YouTubeDownload AudioDownload PDF

 

In the January 21st Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts Bruce Webster, Kris Frederickson, and Robert Boylan discuss Book of Mormon lesson 7, “We Lived after the Manner of Happiness” on 2 Nephi 3-5.

You can listen to or download the Book of Mormon in Context segment of the January 21 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). The other segments of the January 21 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-january-21-2024.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

 

Original air date: January 21, 2024. This recording has been edited to remove commercial breaks.

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.