Abstract

God reveals his will through revelations. Revelations come in many distinct forms. One particular form is characterized by deity speaking in the first person. This form is known by the Latin phrase, ipsissima verba, or the very words of God. This paper identifies instances of ipsissima verba in the Small Plates of Nephi. This identification aid reader comprehension, clarifying the identity of the speaker in the scriptures. This added clarity further allows readers access to a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon, a better understanding of covenants, God's nature, and the significance of  scripture.

Introduction

God the Father communicates with his mortal children revelation. Revelation is the process of "making known [of] divine truth by communication from the heavens."⁽¹⁾ Revelations can be categorized as either personal or prophetic. Prophetic revelation for the Church of God is given solely to the President of the Church (D&C 28:2-8). These revelations come in various forms, including: epiphany, audible voice, angelic ministration, vision, dream, scripture, through the Spirit or the Urim and Thummim.⁽²⁾

This paper will examine revelations in the Small Plates of Nephi given directly to Book of Mormon prophets by deity speaking in the first person. Direct and personal revelations spoken by deity are called "ipsissima verba." This Latin phrase means "the very word of God."⁽³⁾ Ipsissima verba revelations are most commonly found in the Small plates through epiphany, voice, the Spirit, dream or vision. Thus, this paper will aim to identify instances of ipsissima verba, both quantitatively and qualitatively, within the Small Plates of Nephi.

The first section discusses the significance of ipsissima verba. The second section details the methodology used to distinguish ipsissima verba phrases. The third section presents the results of the research according to frequency and title of deity used. The final section gives a brief analysis of the results and suggestions for further study.

Significance of Ipsissima Verba

The speaker's identity in the Book of Mormon is not always clear. This confusion creates difficulty for those trying to understand both the meaning and application of the text. When the speaker is a member of the Godhead, additional problems may arise as readers fail to recognize the divine source of the message.

Failure to recognize ipsissima verba does not necessarily impede understanding. The Lord has said "his word ye shall receive if from mine own mouth," referring to the Prophet Joseph Smith specifically as well as to all prophets in general (D&C 21:5). Thus, the words of a prophet carry the same spiritual value as the words of the Lord. The Lord further stated, "whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same," thereby giving prophetic statements a semblance of divine investiture (D&C 1:38).

However, failure to recognize ipsissima verba does prevent a fuller and richer understanding of the word and will of God. First, the reader's ability to testify of God's words is hindered. Second, a correct understanding of the covenant relationship between man and God is prevented.⁽⁴⁾ Third, insight into the nature of God, his love for each individual, and the subsequent enhancement of faith may be lost. Fourth, the reader may not gain the knowledge that within his eternal and perfect  conomy, God felt the specific message important enough for personal delivery.

Testimony

"Convincing the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ," is the central purpose of the Book of Mormon (title page). In addition to the Elders of Israel, all baptized members share responsibility to testify of the gospel and "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things" (Mosiah 18:9).  earing testimony brings blessings upon those that preach the gospel (D&C 62:3). Bearing testimony also invites the Spirit, becoming an essential tool in preaching the gospel. Further, the servants of the Lord are commanded to bear testimony of him to the world. Speaking to the Twelve Apostles in the early days of the Restoration, the Lord Jesus Christ instructed them regarding their duty to testify: "These words are not of men nor of man, but of me; wherefore, you shall testify they are of me and not of man...wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice and know my words" (D&C 18:34-36). By identifying and understanding ipsissima verba in the Book of Mormon, the reader gains a stronger and more complete testimony of the Book of Mormon and the divinity of Christ.

Covenants and Promises

A covenant is a mutually agreed upon contract between Deity and mortal man. Latter-day Saints are known as a "covenant people." First, the Book of Mormon as a whole is a covenant under which members of the LDS church are bound to testify of the restoration and obey the divine precepts it contains (D&C 84:57). Contractual compliance to the spirit and letter of the law are aided when the parties to the covenant are both easily distinguished and their separate obligations spelled out.

In addition to covenants, the Lord makes certain promises throughout the Book of Mormon. These promises are conditional on the obedience of the members of the Church (D&C 130:20). Failure to understand the promises extended by God in the Book of Mormon prevents individuals from receiving greater blessings. Understanding the nature of ipsissima verba creates increased understanding about both the nature of our covenants and how to fulfill them.

God's Nature and Individual Faith

Referring specifically to the qualities of honesty and omniscience, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught "the existence of these attributes in [the] Deity is necessary to enable any rational being to exercise faith in him."⁽⁵⁾ Without faith, one cannot be saved in the Kingdom of Heaven (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore, knowledge of God's honesty and omniscience creates a foundation for both the receipt and development of faith.

The best way to observe God's behavior directly is through his previous dealings with the children of men during the history of the earth. The scriptures detail God's relationship with his children. The Plates of Brass and the revelations of Lehi and Nephi were so great that Jacob felt constrained to cry out about the "wisdom, mercy, grace, goodness, greatness, holiness, and justice" of God (2^nd Nephi 9:7-19). Faith unto salvation is only possible through a personal knowledge of God and Jesus Christ (John 17:3).

Instances of ipsissima verba contain the very words and actions of God, creating the necessary understanding of God's loving nature necessary for the promotion of faith unto salvation.

The Divine Economy and ipsissima verba

First, as discussed previously, the Lord expects the words of the prophets to be given the same respect as if had spoken them (D&C 21:5). This negative injunction prevents church members from listening to a Prophet's counsel as the advice of a man and subsequent rationalization of the consequences. In his divine economy, God has created a perfect revelatory system designed to deliver commandments and inspiration through several different methods, each of which serves a different purpose.

The reader should rhetorically ask, "Why has God himself chosen to speak here, rather than send a dream, a vision, or an angel?" The fact that God chooses to communicate with his servants on a personal level strongly suggests that this form of revelation is characterized by either very important or personal statements. While second-guessing God's motives is not completely possible, the attempt can lead to increased understanding of the scripture.

Methodology

Initially, suspect passages were identified using textual clues, primarily the presence of a colon or the introductory phrase "saith the Lord" (1^st Nephi 21:18). However, the original version of the Book of Mormon lacked grammatical markings, as "Joseph and his scribes largely ignored matters of punctuation," which were later added by the printer.⁽⁶⁾ This uninspired placement of punctuation reduces the level of confidence with which the use of the colon may be interpreted. Further, many passages, especially those where Nephi and Jacob quote extensively from Isaiah, are obtuse and often obscure the speaker's identity. "And as I live, saith the Lord..." is a good example of an ipsissima verba phrase that lacked a colon, although the introductory phrase clearly marked it (1^st Nephi 21:18).

For this paper, instances of ipsissima verba were treated to two levels of scrutiny before being positively labeled. First, they were checked against a Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) publication, The Book of Mormon Critical Text: A tool for scholarly research.⁽⁷⁾ This volume identifies both the identity of the speaker of each portion of a sentence and whether it is said in first-person or narrative style. It proved invaluable for sorting out several tangled passages, especially in Jacob's speech in 2^nd Nephi chapters nine and ten. However, its reliability in relation to the Isaiah chapters is suspect, as several passages which met the first level of criteria were not included by the FARMS text. These instances were excluded from this paper until a more authoritative result can be reached.

Next, once the aggregate numbers of ipsissima verba verses were compiled, the resulting tables were further coded by the name of deity attributed to the statement. Twelve distinct names were used to identify deity in the Small Plates of Nephi.

Table 1 contains the number of ipsissima verba instances arranged by deity name and location within the Small Plates of Nephi.

Table 1 - Names used by Deity in the Small Plates of Nephi

The second criteria for verification was a comparison of the names of deity and their frequency. This verification was made using Susan Easton Black's seminal work, Finding Christ Through the Book of Mormon, contains a frequency table of the different names used by Christ in the Book of Mormon.⁽⁸⁾ Although this measure didn't include passages attributed to the "Spirit," it did prevent over-counting of ipsissima verba verses for the other names.

Analysis: Four Areas of Interest⁽⁹⁾

Comparison of the distinct usages of ipsissima verba with the Small Plates of Nephi reveals four distinct areas of interest: dissimilarity in usage between Isaiah and Book of Mormon prophets, Eloheim's use of divine investiture through his son Jehovah, the repetition and differing quotation of the prosperity promise, and the unique interaction of the Holy Ghost with Nephi.

First, the Small Plates of Nephi show a distinct difference in the form of revelation used by God in comparison with the Book of Isaiah and the Old Testament. Both Nephi and Jacob quoted extensively from the writings of Isaiah. The average of ipsissima verba quotes within the First Book of Nephi was 9.4% and within 25.9% for the Second Book of Nephi. However, once the twenty-nine verses received by Isaiah were subtracted, only 5.1% and 13.3% remained respectively.

While not all of Isaiah's writings were written within the context of ipsissima verba, of those verses copied into the Book of Mormon, 55.6% are written as if the Lord were speaking personally to the House of Israel. While Isaiah recorded entire chapters dictated to him by the Lord, Nephi recorded only one (in 2^nd Nephi 29) and Jacob two (in 2^nd Nephi 10 and Jacob 2). This distinction is likely due to the unedited nature of Isaiah's writings, while both Nephi and Jacob were very cognizant of the limited space available to them (2^nd Nephi 5:33 and Jacob 1:2).

Second, the coding process for the different names of deity used and subsequent comparison with Black's work, reveals that Christ-Jehovah was the dominant identity of the speaker behind the ipsissima verba revelations. This dominant identity is due to the doctrine of divine investiture, wherein "God empowered the pre-mortal Jesus to represent him in all the affairs of the earth."⁽¹⁰⁾

According to Black, the titles Lord, Lord God, Lord God Almighty, and Lord of Hosts are all titles belonging to Christ.⁽¹¹⁾ The doctrine of divine investiture further reveals that Father, Father of Heaven, and God are also titles belonging to Christ, along with the more obvious titles Son, Jesus, and Lamb of God. Thus, instances of ipsissima verba represent the voice of Christ, not God the Father, speaking. While the names are in many ways similar, each bears a slightly different testimony to the role that Christ plays in the plan of salvation. Black states that through the different titles, "His character and mission and divine relationship to us are thereby more clearly revealed."⁽¹²⁾

Third, the Book of Mormon contains two separate, yet intertwined, promises given by the Lord to Lehi and Nephi. These promises are continually repeated throughout the Book of Mormon, especially in the Small Plates of Nephi. These promises are usually ipsissima verba repetitions of the original revelations, although some creative license appears.

The first half of the promise was given to Nephi, with the Lord saying "And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise" (1^st Nephi 2:20). The second half was given to Lehi, where the Lord said, "Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence" (2^nd Nephi 1:20).

Although the promises are similar, both in-text ipsissima verba and textual analysis suggest that they are separate. First, Nephi recorded the Lord saying to him "And also, that I may remember the promises which I have made unto thee, Nephi, and also unto thy father" (2^nd Nephi 29:2, italics added). Note the plural use of promise. Second, while both promises contain the same positive terms prosperity, promised land, and inasmuch, Nephi's promise contains the negative "cursed be the land for their sakes" clause for failure to obey (Jacob 2:29). Instead of being materially based, failure to live up to Lehi's promise implied a default on salvation: "Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord" (2^nd Nephi 5:20).

Different aspects of the two promises were repeated eleven times in the Small Plates of Nephi. Jarom and Amaron both repeated the promises on their ever dwindling empty space on the Small Plates. Of note, while Jarom choose to emphasize the positive clause relating prosperity to obedience, Amaron reminds the reader that his ancestors understood the promise as a negative injunction, with prosperity being withheld due to wickedness (1:9 and 1:6 respectively).

Fourth, the Small Plates of Nephi are unique in canon for the recording of direct conversation between the Holy Spirit and a prophet. While God the Father usually speaks only through Jehovah, the Holy Ghost is usually seen as a means of revelation and not a revelator. However, Nephi had two experiences where the Holy Spirit talked with him personally, meeting the criteria for ipsissima verba.

The first experience occurred as Nephi attempted to recover the Plates of Brass from Laban. Finding Laban drunk and unconscience on the street, the Spirit "constrained" Nephi to kill Laban (1^st Nephi 4:10). Unwilling to follow these promtings, the Spirit further encouraged Nephi by saying "Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands" (v11). Finally, the Spirit next urged Nephi, "Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands" which brought the ipsissima verba promise of prosperity to his mind (v12-14).

The second experience came as part of Nephi's extended vision in 1^st Nephi 11-14. Here, the Spirit of the Lord removes Nephi to a mountain peak, and then questions him for several verses before leaving an angel to finish the revelatory process (1^st Nephi 11: 2-12). When Nephi answered the questions put to him, the Spirit praised God, saying "Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all" (v6). Nephi's interaction with the Spirit provides the reader with a unique insight into the nature of the Holy Spirit and his relationship within the Godhead.

Suggestions for Further Research

Studying the use of ipsissima verba in the Small Plates of Nephi has provided greater understanding about the identity of speakers in the Book of Mormon, their relationship to one another, and the nature of the Godhead and how it reveals itself to the reader. However, the present study is only a start. The rest of the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants remain to be cataloged. This would allow comparative analysis during distinct time periods and culture as to God's revelatory economy. Also, tracking certain ipsissima verba phrases from the beginning of the Book of Mormon to the end would provide an interesting case study to test whether direct messages from deity are subject to generational re-telling and the gradual loss or change of their meaning.

Chapter     Ipsissima Verba Total     Number of Verses
 

1                                     1                             32

2                                     0                             30

3                                     14                             25

4                                       1                             35

5 3 34

6 4 18

7 3 11

8 23 25

9 0 54

10 13 25

11 1 8

12 0 22

13 11 26

14 0 6

15 0 30

16 6 13

17 7 25

18 17 22

19 0 21

20 23 34

21 0 16

22 0 6

23 20 22

24 12 32

25 0 30

26 7 33

27 11 35

28 5 32

29 14 14

30 0 18

31 6 21

32 0 9

33 0 15

Percentages
 

Total: 202 779 25.9%

Isaiah 133 261 51.0%

Without Isaiah: 69 518 13.3%

Chapter Ipsissima Verba Total Number of Verses

1 0 19

2 12 35

3 0 14

4 0 18

5 1 77

6 0 13

7 0 27

Percentage

Total 13 203 6.4%
 

Chapter Ipsissima Verba Total Percentage
 

1 6 27 22.2%
 

Chapter Verses Total Percentage
 

1 1 15 6.67%
 

Chapter Ipsissima Verba Total Percentage
 

1 1 30 3.33%
 

Chapters Ipsissima Verba Total Percentage
 

Total: 65 281 1,672 16.8%

Isaiah: 10 162 309 52.4%

Without: 55 119 1,363 8.7%
 
 

1. Talmage, James E. 1924. The Articles of Faith. 12^th ed. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints. 296-313.

2. McConkie, Bruce R. 1979. Mormon Doctrine. 2^nd ed. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft. 644

3. Glare, P.G.W. 1982. Oxford Latin Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 965.

4. Supra, at 2. 166.

5. Smith, Joseph . 1985. Lectures on Faith. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company. 4:11

6. Book of Mormon Critical Text: A tool for scholarly reference, vol I.. 1984. Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies: Provo. ix.

7. Supra, 6.

8. Black, Susan Easton. 1987. Finding Christ Through the Book of Mormon. Deseret Book: Salt Lake City.

16-28.

9. Complete results of ipsissima verba verses, broken down into book, chapter, and verse totals with

percentages can be found in the appendix. First Nephi is covered in Appendix A, Second Nephi

in Appendix B, and Jacob through Omni and totals for the Small Plates of Nephi are found in

Appendix C.

10. Ludlow, Victor L. 1992. Principles and practices of the restored gospel. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book

Company.

11. Supra at 8.

12. Ibid.