God blackens the skin of the Lamanites (2 Nephi 1-5)

Episode 7: God blackens the skin of the Lamanites

2 Nephi 1-5

Lehi's speech

1 ¹ After I finished speaking, it was my father’s turn. Here’s what he said: ⁶ “Whoever comes to this land was brought by the Lord. ¹⁹ We alone possess this land. If we obey the commandments, no one will take it away from us and we’ll live safely here forever.”

A few words from Lehi to Jacob

2 ^1-30 And now, Jacob, I speak unto you, my first-born son in the wilderness.

Joseph and the fruit of many loins.

3 ¹ And now I'm talking to you, Joseph, my last-born son in the wilderness. ⁴ “You're the fruit of my loins. I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. ⁵ He foresaw our day, and God promised to raise up, in the latter days, a righteous people from his loins.”

⁶ Joseph said, God said to me:

^7-9 I will raise up a seer from the fruit of your loins. He'll be great in my eyes, like Moses. He'll deliver my word to the seed of your loins. And the fruit of your loins will write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah will write. And what is written by the fruit of your loins will grow together with the fruit of Judah’s loins, which will confound false doctrines and bring peace to the fruit of your loins in the latter days.

^14-15 Joseph prophesied, saying:

God will bless that seer and whoever tries to destroy him will be confounded. God promised me that the fruit of my loins would be fulfilled.

¹⁵He'll be named after me, and his father will also have my name. I'll raise up a spokesman from the fruit of your loins.

¹⁸ God said to me:

I'll raise up a spokesman from the fruit of your loins. He'll write the writings of the fruit of your loins to the fruit of your loins, and the spokesman of your loins will declare it.

^19-21 He'll write what I want him to write. It'll be read by the fruit of your loins. It'll be like he had cried to the fruit of your loins from the dust. It'll proceed out of my mouth into the fruit of your loins.

²⁴ There will be a might man among them who will do good in word and deed. He'll have exceeding faith, be an instrument of God, work mighty wonders, and do what is great in God's sight.

Lehi dies

4 ^1-35 Lehi finishes his speech before dying. This was his final warning: “God will curse you if you put your trust in the arm of flesh or make flesh your arm.”

The Nephites escape to a place called Nephi

5 ^1-3 My brothers didn't want me [Nephi] to rule over them, so they decided to kill me. ⁵ So the Lord told me to escape to the wilderness.

⁶ Zoram and Sam went with me, along with their families, and my younger brothers Jacob and Joseph, and my sisters. ^7-8 We traveled for many days and then camped at a place we called Nephi. ⁹ The people with me decided to call themselves the people of Nephi.

^10-11 We obeyed the law of Moses and prospered exceedingly. ¹² I brought the brass plates, ball or compass. ¹⁴ I also brought the sword of Laban to protect us from the people who now called themselves Lamanites. ¹⁵ I taught my people how to build buildings and work with wood, iron, copper, brass, steel, gold, and silver, all of which were in great abundance. ¹⁶ I built a temple like Solomon’s temple.

^18-19 The people wanted me to be their king. But I refused, becoming their ruler and teacher instead.

God blackens the skin of the Lamanites

²⁰ The Lord said to me, “Since they [Laman, Lemuel, and their followers] won’t obey you, they’ll be cut off from my presence.” ²¹ And he cursed them by changing their white, exceedingly fair and delightsome skin into a skin of blackness so they would no longer appeal to my people.

²² God said, “I’ll make them loathsome to your people. ²³ Whoever mixes their seed with them will be cursed with the same cursing.” ²⁴ And because of God’s curse, they became an idle people, full of mischief.

God tells Nephi to make some more plates

²⁶ I consecrated Jacob and Joseph to be priests and teachers. ^27-28 We were happy for thirty years after leaving Jerusalem.

²⁹ I kept the plates that I’d made. ³⁰ Then God came to me and said, “Make some more plates.” ³² So I make some more plates. ³³ I engraved things that pleased God and everyone else seemed pleased with them too.

³⁴ It was now 560 BCE, and we already had wars and contentions with our relatives.

A few more words about this episode

After I finished speaking, it was my father’s turn. Here’s what he said.... (1:1): Second Nephi begins with Lehi rehearsing and rehashing the same old stories from Nephi's first book.
And now I'm talking to you, Joseph. (3:1): Chapter 3 is all about Joseph. Joseph Smith, Jr., that is, along with three other Josephs and lots of loin fruit. (See the LDS Seminary Manual's section on 2 Nephi 3 to see that I'm not making this up.); Since it's easy to get them confused, here's a list of the four Joseph's in this chapter.; 1. Jacob's son, Joseph, in the book of Genesis
2. Lehi's son, Joseph
3. Joseph Smith, Sr.
4. Joseph Smith, Jr.; The Joseph Lehi is speaking to in this chapter is is Lehi's youngest son (#2), who was born in the wilderness and got hungry on the voyage to America.
I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. (3:4): Next we meet Joseph #1, the one from the Genesis in the Bible. Lehi discovered that he was a descendant of this Joseph by reading from the plates of Lehi (that Nephi stole from Laban after murdering him). So Lehi was a fruit from Joseph #1's loins.
I will raise up a seer from the fruit of your loins. (3:6): Joseph #1 (who was supposed to have lived ~1500 BCE) prophesied about another Joseph (#4), a descendant of his, who would live 3300 years later in New York State (Joseph Smith, Jr.).; He will be a choice seer, esteemed highly, and shall do "a work of great worth." He will be great in God's eyes, like Moses, and will do God's work. He will bring forth God's word, confound false doctrines, establish peace, and bring knowledge in the latter days. All those who seek to destroy him will be confounded. He will be like God and will bring God's people to salvation. He will have exceeding faith, work mighty wonders, and do what is great in the sight of God.; Don't look for these prophecies in Genesis, though, or anywhere else in the Bible. They used to be there, but they were removed by the Catholics. But, lucky for us, they were restored by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (Genesis 50:24-38).
And the fruit of your loins will write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah will write. And what is written by the fruit of your loins will grow together with the fruit of Judah’s loins, which will confound false doctrines and bring peace to the fruit of your loins in the latter days. (3:12): The fruit of Joseph's loins shall write (translate?) the Book of Mormon and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write the Bible. The Book of Mormon and the Bible will grow together confounding the false doctrines of the Catholics and other members of Satan's church.
He’ll be named after me and his father.” (3:15): And finally, Joseph #4 arrives! Joseph Smith, Jr. was named after his father, Joseph Smith, Sr. (Joseph #3), who was named after the Joseph of Genesis (Joseph #1).
There will be a might man among them who will do good in word and deed. He'll have exceeding faith, be an instrument of God, work mighty wonders, and do what is great in God's sight. (3:24): Just in case it isn't completely obvious by now, ~~Joseph Smith~~ Lehi is praising Joseph Smith here.
Lehi died. (4:12): Chapter 4 is a total waste of a golden plate. The 1350 or so words can be summed up with just two: Lehi died.
My brothers didn't want me [Nephi] to rule over them, so they decided to kill me. (5:1-3): Chapter 5 begins with Nephi's brothers rebelling against him again.; (See 1 Nephi 3:28, 7:16, 7:19, 16:34, 17:48, and 18:11 for previous rebellions.)
And my sisters (5:6): This is the first and only time that Nephi's sisters are mentioned in the Book of Mormon. (And nowhere are they named or numbered.); The mysterious daughters of Lehi have troubled Mormons from the start. Here's an interesting blog post about it.
I brought the ball or compass. (5:12): Nephi brought the magic ball or compass, which was made by God.; Compasses, God-made or otherwise, didn't exist in the 580 BCE.
I also brought the sword of Laban. (5:14): This is the sword of the drunk man who the angel commanded Nephi to murder to get his father's plates. So Nephi chopped off Laban's head with his own sword. (See 1 Nephi 4:10-13)
I built a temple like Solomon’s temple. (5:16): Nephi built a temple like Solomon's.; According to the Bible, it took 150,000 men seven years to build the temple, but Nephi's crew of a dozen or so men managed just fine.
God cursed them by changing their white, exceedingly fair and delightsome skin into a skin of blackness. (5:21): When Nephi's rebellious brothers (the Lamanites) found out that Nephi was the ruler, they rebelled against Nephi's rule. So God cursed the Lamanites (the ancestors of the Native Americans) darkening their skin and making them "loathsome" to his people (the Nephites).; The official LDS summary for 2 Nephi 5 prior to December 17, 2010:; The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple -- Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cursed, receive a skin of blackness, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.; The LDS church revised the official summary for 2 Nephi 5 on December 17, 2010 to read:; The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple--Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cut off from the presence of the Lord, are cursed, and become a scourge unto the Nephites. About 588-559 B.C.
Whoever mixes their seed with them will be cursed with the same cursing. (5:23): God forbids intermarriage between the Nephites and Lamanites. Those who mix seed with the Lamanites will be cursed by God with "the same cursing". (Their skin will be blackened.)
Because of God’s curse, they became an idle people, full of mischief. (5:24): God's curse on the Lamanites (Native Americans) also caused them to "become an idle people, full of mischief."
It was now 560 BCE, and we already had wars and contentions with our relatives. (5:34): Nephi arrived arrived in the New World with with his five brothers and the sons of Ishmael and their families. Forty years later, they were fighting wars against each other. How is that possible? Even large Mormon families couldn't produce armies of offspring. Did they enlist their infants and babies as soldiers?