The
Jaredite Exodus: A Literary Perspective of a Historical
Narrative John S. Thompson Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 1994. Pp. 104–12 The views expressed in this article are the views of the author and do not represent the position of the Maxwell Institute, Brigham Young University, or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. |
The Jaredite Exodus: A Literary Perspective of a
Historical Narrative
Alan Goff's article "Boats, Beginnings, and Repetitions" in the Fall 1992 issue of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies1 demonstrates that the Book of Mormon, as an ancient text, follows patterns of antiquity through its "repetition" of the Creation, Flood, and Exodus stories in portions of the Nephite record. Just as Goff notices imagery of these "stories of origination," particularly in the Nephite voyage, I find a similar use of imagery in the Jaredite exodus from the Tower of Babel to the promised land (Ether 1–3, 6), revealing that more than just historical facts constitute the text. Indeed, we find that the author, or at least the editor,2 skillfully chooses his topics and words in order to weave Creation, Christ, and temple imagery into the narrative. Creation Imagery In comparison, the Jaredite narrative follows the general pattern of chaos to order in the exodus from the Tower of Babel, where languages were being "confounded" and people were to be "scattered" (Ether 1:33), to a new beginning in the land of promise. A central feature of this exodus is the waters upon which the Jaredites travel (see Ether 2:2, 6, 16, 20, 22, 25; 3:3; 6:3–5, 7–8, 10–11). Narrative dialogue between the Lord and the brother of Jared describes these waters as the "great deep" (Ether 2:25), having "mountain waves" which "shall dash upon [the Jaredites]," painting a scene which is tumultuous and chaotic in nature. However, the Jaredites will be brought up "out of the depths" (Ether 2:24) of the chaotic waters and will reach the promised land for the Lord will send a wind (i.e., breath or Spirit) from "out of [his] mouth" (Ether 2:24) to blow "upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land" (Ether 6:5). The "great deep" and "wind . . . upon the face of the waters" echoes almost word for word the biblical account of creation, connecting that great event with the Jaredite exodus in the mind of the reader. Ether 2:1–3 also reflects Creation imagery in the "seed of every kind," "fowls of the air," "fish of the waters," "flocks," and even the creeping things of the earth—the "swarms of bees"—which the Jaredites take with them on their journey. The request in verse two that the Jaredites prepare a vessel for carrying fish seems odd to the modern reader, especially since the Jaredites would be traveling on water more than once (see Ether 2:6), but the imagery of Creation would not be complete without it, for every type of created being mentioned in Genesis 1–2 is represented here. These three simple verses could have been left out of the record if the writer's purpose was to report major events in the lives of the Jaredites, and, due to the difficulty of engraving on metal plates (see Jacob 4:1), superficial data would most likely be excluded. Therefore, the inclusion of this Creation-related data is a perfect example of how the selection of material gives the reader insight into the theme or themes which the author/editor tries to develop. We see another example of this principle in the writer's selection of data which he uses to report the Jaredites' arrival in the promised land. In Ether 6:13, the author/editor writes that "they went forth upon the face of the land, and began to till the earth." Tilling the ground seems like such an ordinary thing to do. Why, then, would one waste time and space writing about such things? Such an apparently superfluous piece of information becomes more meaningful when we realize that tilling the earth had symbolic significance among various ancient societies. Mircea Eliade has noticed in his studies of ancient cultures and religions that "when possession is taken of a territory, . . . rites are performed that symbolically repeat the act of Creation: the uncultivated zone is first 'cosmicized,' then inhabited."6 Although different cultures have different ways of "creating" newly acquired territory (i.e., building an altar, temple, or other structure; establishing a "center" with a pole or edifice around which all other things are organized), tilling the ground is not an uncommon method of accomplishing this purpose.7 Thus, tilling the ground may symbolize the act of creation to the author/editor of the Jaredite record and therefore warrants inclusion. Christ Imagery The stones of light play a significant role in the story, because the writer uses them to carry the imagery of Christ throughout the rest of the narrative. In chapter six, we read that the brother of Jared "did put forth the stones into the vessels which were prepared, one in each end thereof; and behold, they did give light unto the vessels" (Ether 6:2). However, in contrast to "the" stones in this verse, verse three omits any definite article in reference to stones and also "men, women, and children." The author/editor seems specifically to ignore direct reference to the stones which the brother of Jared "moltened" and the men, women, and children of the Jaredites: "And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness." The absence of the definite articles prompts the reader to broaden his view, rather than focusing in on the actual stones and Jaredites of the story, allowing the imagery of Christ—who is the "light that shineth in darkness" (D&C 11:11), giving light or truth unto all men, women, and children-to surface.9 Temple Imagery10 Another common feature of ancient temples is that they are associated with the realm of the dead, the underworld, the afterlife, the grave.13 As the Jaredites cross the ocean, the author/editor describes them as being "buried in the deep" and "[brought] forth again upon the top of the waters" (Ether 6:6–7). Being "buried" and "brought forth again" conveys the image of death and resurrection, which Lundquist states is "the unifying principle between temple and tomb."14 Covenants and other means of establishing relationships between God and man are another common temple characteristic. The Israelites symbolically demonstrate this fact through the Ark of the Covenant, which is found in the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:33). Before the Jaredites enter their barges and obtain the promised land, they establish a covenant with the Lord. The Lord says, "whatsoever nation shall possess [the promised land] shall serve God, or they shall be swept off" (Ether 2:9). In other words, the covenant is that God would give them a new land if they would serve him, otherwise the penalty is that they would have no claim upon the land and would be "swept off." A similar account is given in Genesis where Noah does not enter the ark until a covenant is established: "But with thee will I establish my covenant and thou shalt come into the ark" (Genesis 6:18). The Jaredites' action upon arriving in the promised land reflects yet another temple characteristic. The text reads, "when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down . . . before the Lord" (Ether 6:12). Menahem Haran describes the term "before the Lord" as "an indication of the existence of a temple at the site, since this expression stems from the basic conception of the temple as a divine dwelling-place."15 Although no temple structure is mentioned in the Jaredite account, being "before the Lord" certainly has temple imagery, as Haran suggests. The promised land as the divine dwelling-place is further suggested in the imagery the author/editor creates through the use of the phrases "they bowed themselves down" and "did shed tears of joy before the Lord." These phrases bring to mind the blessings of the faithful who, after overcoming the world, humbly and joyfully enter into the presence of the Lord. Conclusion Notes 1. Alan Goff, "Boats, Beginnings, and Repetitions," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 1/1 (1992): 67–84. 2. Since Moroni edited the Jaredite record from the twenty-four plates found by the Limhi expedition (see Ether 1:1–2, 6), it is difficult to ascertain which words are direct quotes from the record and thus Ether's words, and which are paraphrased sentences crafted by Moroni himself. To simplify matters, I have avoided direct reference to either writer. 3. Charles H. Long, Alpha: The Myths of Creation (Atlanta, GA: Scholars, 1963), 111. 4. James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950), 3. 6. Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Round: or, Cosmos and History (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1974), 9–10. 7. Note that the first two things Noah did after leaving the ark were (1) he built an altar and worshipped God and (2) he cultivated the ground and planted a vineyard (Genesis 8:20; 9:20). 8. Hence, God readily gives the solution for the air problem to the brother of Jared. 9. Stones of light in ancient traditions are discussed in Hugh Nibley's Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites in The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book and F.A.R.M.S., 1988), 364–79. In this discussion, Nibley points out that a Pyrophilos or stone of light in Greek tradition is identified with the Epic of Gilgamesh's "plant of life" (ibid., 435–36, n. 49), which in turn parallels the tree of life found in Eden. This parallel becomes significant when making a connection between Christ and stones of light, for in 1 Nephi the tree of life is likened to Christ. In 1 Nephi 11:4–6, the Spirit asks Nephi if he believes in the tree that his father saw, to which Nephi replies that he does. The Spirit then cries out, "Blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the most high God." The image of Christ as the tree of life is further clarified by the fact that Nephi is shown the vision of Christ's birth in answer to the question, "Knowest thou the meaning of the tree?" (1 Nephi 11:21). This tree of life in Lehi and Nephi's visions is indeed the tree of life from Eden, for when Laman and Lemuel ask the meaning of the tree, Nephi only replies, "It was a representation of the tree of life" (1 Nephi 15:22, emphasis added). More than likely, Nephi is making reference to the tree of life they are all familiar with, the one in Eden most likely mentioned in the brass plates. Thus, since stones of light may be seen as equivalent to the tree of life in ancient times (as mentioned above) and since Christ is also the tree of life, then the stones could be seen in the mind of an ancient writer as a symbolic representation of Christ. 10. The difficulty in stating that a text has temple imagery is that temples themselves are images and symbols which point to other "heavenly" things. It may be that the author/editor of the Jaredite narrative is not using imagery to point to actual temples, but rather he is pointing to the same things that temples do, thus the text and temples have similar characteristics. 11. John M. Lundquist, "The Common Temple Ideology of the Ancient Near East," in Truman G. Madsen, ed., The Temple in Antiquity: Ancient Records and Modern Perspectives (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center, 1983), 58. 14. Ibid. It is interesting to note here that the boats described in Mesopotamian flood narratives have a "roof . . . like Apsu, the Heavens" (Victor H. Matthews and Donald C. Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East (New York: Paulist, 1991), 24. Depicting the heavens or the sky on the lid or ceiling of a man-made structure is a practice usually limited to tombs and temples in the ancient world. For example, many Egyptian coffins and tombs depict the sky goddess Nut on their lid or ceiling, respectively; see A. J. Spencer's Death in Ancient Egypt (New York: Penguin, 1991), 165. Although this similarity between coffins or tombs and boats is not sufficient to draw any definite conclusions, it does support the imagery suggested by the Jaredite narrative of the barges being tomblike. 15. Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple-Service in Ancient Israel: An Inquiry into the Character of Cult Phenomena and the Historical Setting of the Priestly School (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978), 26. |