Embedded Files
Annotation of Mosiah 2 – preliminary
Mosiah 2 is a good example because it shows that a high percentage of Joseph Smith’s language is also KJV language. Few of the KJV words/phrases are not also found in Edwards, including the so-called "blended" passages.
The blue D&C words/phrases in the annotation are nonbiblical and also not found in Edwards. In some cases noted below, the nonbiblical language is close to Edwards (e.g., plural instead of singular). There are several examples in the Book of Mormon and D&C of paraphrased or misquoted passages from the KJV that are identical to paraphrased or misquoted KJV passages in Edwards' works.
The red words/phrases are nonbiblical D&C wording that are also found in Edwards' works.
Purple are biblical or nonbiblical D&C words/phrases similar to Edwards.
Passages where the Lord is speaking directly are generally not found in Edwards.
Naturally, Edwards is not the only person who ever used this nonbiblical Book of Mormon terminology. English is a common language or we couldn't understand one another. But the ready availability of Edwards' works in Palmyra during Joseph's youth indicates that Edwards was a possible source for Joseph's vocabulary that he used when translating the plates and receiving revelations. Passages with the Lord’s personal pronouns obviously are not usually found in Edwards.
Bold = KJV
Blue = nonbiblical BofM/D&C w/o JE (If unique to this instance, no footnote is given)
Red = nonbiblical BofM/D&C and JE
Purple = biblical/nonbiblical BofM/D&C similar to JE
Chapter 2
King Benjamin addresses his people—He recounts the equity, fairness, and spirituality of his reign—He counsels them to serve their Heavenly King—Those who rebel against God will suffer anguish like unquenchable fire. About 124 B.C.
1 And it came to pass that after Mosiah had done as his father had commanded him, and had made a proclamation[1] throughout all the land[2], that the people gathered themselves[3] together[4] throughout all the land, that they might go up[5] to the temple to hear the words[6] which king Benjamin should speak[7] unto them.
2 And there were a great number[8], even so many[9] that they did not number them[10]; for they had multiplied exceedingly[11] and waxed great[12] in the land.
3 And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks[13], that they might offer sacrifice[14] and burnt offerings[15] according to the law of Moses[16];
4 And also that they might give thanks[17] to the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land[18] of Jerusalem, and who had delivered them out of the hands[19] of their enemies[20], and had appointed just men[21] to be their teachers, and also a just man[22] to be their king, who had established peace[23] in the land of Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments[24] of God, that they might rejoice[25] and be filled with love[26] towards God[27] and all men[28].
5 And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents[29] round about, every man according to his family[30], consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another[31].
6 And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof[32] towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;
7 For the multitude being[33] so great that king Benjamin could not teach them all within the walls of the temple, therefore he caused a tower to be erected, that thereby his people might hear the words which he should speak unto them.
8 And it came to pass that he began to speak to his people from the tower; and they could not all hear his words because of the greatness of the multitude; therefore he caused that[34] the words which he spake should be written and sent forth among[35] those that were not under the sound of his voice, that they might also receive his words.
9 And these are the words which he spake and caused to be written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves[36] together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither[37] to trifle[38] with the words[39] which I shall speak, but that you should hearken[40] unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand[41], and your minds that the mysteries of God[42] may be unfolded[43] to your view[44].
10 I have not commanded you to come up hither that ye should fear me, or that ye should think that I of myself[45] am more than a mortal man[46].
11 But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities[47] in body and mind[48]; yet I have been chosen by this people[49], and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord[50] that I should be a ruler and a king over this people; and have been kept and preserved[51] by his matchless power[52], to serve you with all the might, mind and strength[53] which the Lord hath granted unto me.
12 I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service[54], even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches[55] of you;
13 Neither have I suffered[56] that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor that ye should make slaves one of another[57], nor that ye should murder, or plunder[58], or steal, or commit adultery; nor even have I suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness[59], and have taught you that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord, in all things which he hath commanded you—
14 And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands[60] that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne[61]—and of all these things which I have spoken, ye yourselves are witnesses this day.
15 Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might boast, neither do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse you; but I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience[62] before God this day.
16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been[63] in the service of God[64].
17 And behold, I tell you these things[65] that ye may learn wisdom[66]; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings[67] ye are only in the service of your God.
18 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another[68]?
19 And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days[69] in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit[70] any thanks[71] from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King[72]!
20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render[73] all the thanks and praise[74] which your whole soul[75] has power to possess[76], to that God who has created you[77], and has kept and[78] preserved you[79], and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace[80] one with another[81]—
21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving[82] you from day to day[83], by lending you breath, that ye may live and move[84] and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment[85] to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls[86] yet ye would be unprofitable[87] servants[88].
22 And behold, all that he requires of[89] you is to keep his commandments[90]; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land[91]; and he never doth[92] vary from[93] that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless[94] you and prosper you.
23 And now, in the first place[95], he hath created you, and granted[96] unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted[97] unto him.
24 And secondly[98], he doth require[99] that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted[100] unto him, and are, and will be[101], forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?
25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth[102]; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.
26 And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than[103] ye yourselves are; for I am also of the dust[104]. And ye behold that I am old, and am about to yield up[105] this mortal frame to its mother earth[106].
27 Therefore, as I said unto you that I had served you, walking with[107] a clear conscience before God, even so I at this time have caused that ye should assemble yourselves[108] together, that I might be found blameless[109], and that your blood[110] should not come upon me[111], when I shall stand to be judged[112] of God[113] of the things whereof he hath commanded me concerning you.
28 I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together that I might rid my garments[114] of your blood, at this period of time[115] when I am about to go[116] down to my grave[117], that I might go down in peace, and my immortal spirit[118] may join the choirs above in singing the praises[119] of a just God[120].
29 And moreover, I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together, that I might declare unto you that I can no longer be your teacher, nor your king;
30 For even at this time[121], my whole frame[122] doth tremble exceedingly[123] while attempting to[124] speak unto you; but the Lord God doth support me, and hath suffered me that I should speak unto you, and hath commanded me that I should declare unto you[125] this day, that my son Mosiah is a king and a ruler over you.
31 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should do as ye have hitherto done[126]. As ye have kept my commandments, and also the commandments of my father, and have prospered[127], and have been kept from[128] falling into the hands[129] of your enemies[130], even so if ye shall keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto you by him, ye shall prosper in the land, and your enemies shall have no power[131] over you[132].
32 But, O my people, beware lest[133] there shall arise contentions[134] among[135] you, and ye list to obey[136] the evil spirit[137], which was spoken of[138] by my father Mosiah.
33 For behold, there is a wo pronounced[139] upon him who listeth to obey[140] that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins[141], the same drinketh damnation[142] to his own soul[143]; for he receiveth for his wages[144] an everlasting punishment[145], having transgressed the law of God contrary to[146] his own knowledge[147].
34 I say unto you, that there are not any among you, except it be your little children that have not been taught concerning these things[148], but what knoweth that ye are eternally[149] indebted to your heavenly Father[150], to render to[151] him all that you have[152] and are; and also have been taught concerning[153] the records which contain the prophecies which have been spoken by the holy prophets, even down to the time[154] our father, Lehi, left Jerusalem;
35 And also, all that has been spoken by our fathers until now. And behold, also, they spake that which was commanded them of the Lord; therefore, they are just and true[155].
36 And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught[156] all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary[157] to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves[158] from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in[159] you to guide you[160] in wisdom’s paths[161] that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved—
37 I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in[162] open rebellion[163] against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness[164]; therefore, the Lord has no place in[165] him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples[166].
38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God[167], the demands of[168] divine justice[169] do awaken his immortal soul[170] to a lively sense[171] of his own guilt[172], which doth cause him to shrink[173] from the presence of the Lord[174], and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish[175], which is like an unquenchable fire[176], whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever[177].
39 And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim[178] on that man; therefore his final doom[179] is to endure a never-ending torment[180].
40 O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand[181] my words, for I have spoken plainly[182] unto you that ye might understand[183], I pray that ye should awake to[184] a remembrance[185] of the awful[186] situation[187] of those that have fallen into[188] transgression[189].
[1] OT (9) BM (17) DC (8) JE (50)
[2] OT (18) NT (1) BM (32) PBP (1) JE (5)
[3] “gathered themselves” OT (34) NT (1) BM (10) JE (5)
[4] “people gathered themselves together” OT (4) BM (1)
[5] BM (2)
[6] OT (10) NT (1) BM (12) DC (1) JE (21)
[7] OT (1) NT (1) BM (17) DC (1) JE (38)
[8] OT (2) NT (2) BM (5) JE (110)
[9] BM (4)
[10] OT (6) BM (5) DC (1) JE (1)
[11] OT (1) BM (2)
[12] OT (3) BM (1) JE (2)
[13] BM (1) PGP (1)
[14] OT (1) BM (3) JE (20)
[15] OT (83) NT (3) BM (5) JE (78)
[16] OT (1) NT (1) BM (8) JE (6)
[17] OT (28) NT (7) BM (10) DC (2) JE (39)
[18] OT (4) BM (2) JE (3)
[19] OT (3) BM (31) DC (1) JE (65)
[20] “hands of their enemies” OT (1) BM (17) DC (1) JE (13)
[21] OT (1) NT (2) BM (5) DC (2) JE (59)
[22] OT (6) NT (4) BM (7) DC (2) PGP (1) JE (35)
[23] BM (3) JE (2)
[24] OT (7) NT (3) BM (39) DC (2) PGP (1) JE (15)
[25] BM (2) JE (2) JE: “he created it that they might rejoice in his glory”
[26] BM (2) JE (10) JE: “have their hearts filled with love to God”
[27] BM (3) DC (1) JE (200)
[28] “towards God and all men” BM (1)
[29] OT (1) BM (9) JE (1)
[30] BM (3) DC (2)
[31] OT (4) NT (1) BM (5) DC (1) JE (140) NT: “ he shall separate them one from another” (Matthew 25:32) JE : “those that were on earth were separated one from another”
[32] BM (2)
[33] NT (1) BM (1)
[34] BM (30) JE (1) JE: “when God first caused it to thunder, he caused that individual sound to be made”
[35] BM (3) JE (1)
[36] BM (1) DC (8)
[37] OT (1) NT (2) BM (3) DC (4) JE (3)
[38] BM (1) DC (3) JE (15)
[39] OT (3) BM (3) JE (50)
[40] BM (1) JE (8) JE” “God expected that men should hearken to his prophets…”
[41] OT (1) NT (1) BM (3) DC (6) JE (50)
[42] NT (1) BM (8) DC (3)
[43] BM (4) DC (4) JE (30) JE: “The mysteries that are in it, and the mysteries of God's Providence, will be all unfolded” “the time is coming when these mysteries will all be unfolded”
[44] BM (1) JE (5) JE: “'tis of necessity that you have your sins in your view”
[45] NT (12) BM (17) DC (1) PGP (2) JE (70) NT : « neither came I of myself, but he sent me” (John 8:42)
[46] BM (1) JE (2) JE: “Much less a being subject to so many INFIRMITIES, as a MORTAL man.”
[47] BM (1) JE: ““Much less a being subject to so many INFIRMITIES, as a MORTAL man.”
[48] BM (1) JE (25) JE: “on the contrary, the weakness of body and mind , and distempers of body, makes persons abundantly more susceptive of such impressions.”
[49] BM (2)
[50] OT (36) NT (3) BM (26) DC (2) JE (20)
[51] BM (10)
[52] BM (6)
[53] “might, mind and strength” BM (3) DC (5) “mind and strength” BM (3) DC (5) JE (2) JE: “we should love and adore him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength” “The chief and most fundamental of all the commands of the moral law, requires us "to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our souls, with all our strength, and all our mind": that is plainly, with all that is within us, or to the utmost capacity of our nature: all that belongs to, or is comprehended within the utmost extent or capacity of our heart and soul, and mind and strength, is required”
[54] BM (3) JE (1)
[55] BM (2)
[56] OT (1) BM (3)
[57] OT (1) NT (8) BM (1) DC (1) JE (130)
[58] BM (12) JE (10)
[59] BM (11) JE (20) JE: “Everyone hopes for heaven, but if everyone that hoped for heaven ever got there, heaven by this time would have been full of murderers, adulterers, common swearers, drunkards, thieves, robbers, and licentious debauchers. It would have been full of all manner of wickedness and wicked men, such as the earth abounds with at this day.” “They are sure they should go to heaven when they die notwithstanding, because they have believed in Christ and trusted in him for salvation; and then the gospel will be nothing else but an encouragement to licentiousness, and opens a door for all manner of wickedness.” “Hosea 9:15. "All their wickedness."] I am ready to think that this is what is intended by the phrase, "All wickedness of theirs is in Gilgal," and that itבַּגִּלְגָּל כֶּל־רָעָתָם ought to have been so translated, i.e. "there is all manner of wickedness of theirs in Gilgal," the word Cōl only signifying the greatness of the wickedness they committed there.”
[60] BM (5) DC (1) PGP (2) JE (1) JE: « I have respect to the reproach your false teachers cast upon me, as though I were weak, and cowardly, and mean-spirited (Compare 1 Corinthians 2:3.), and ascribe my not taking wages, and working with mine own hands , and other parts of my conduct, to that”
[61] NT (2) BM (5)
[62] BM (2) JE (2) JE: “I have yielded to them from time to time in every thing wherein I could do it with a clear conscience.”
[63] BM (1) JE (40)
[64] OT (1) NT (2) BM (2) DC (1) JE (120)
[65] BM (4) DC (2)
[66] BM (6) DC (2) JE (1) JE : « Proverbs 27:22. "Folly is naturally so rooted and confirmed in men that if God leaves them to themselves, let what will be done with them, they will not learn wisdom ." “Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.”
(Proverbs 27:22)
[67] BM (2) DC (1)
[68] “serve one another” NT (1) BM (2) JE (8)
[69] BM (1) JE (1)
[70] BM (2) JE (480) JE: “for which you merit the thanks of all British subjects and Christians in these parts and especially of missionaries to the Indians.” “in many things we offend all and Instead of doing that Which merits thanks of God they merit his displeasure and Wrath”
[71] OT (36) NT (37) BM (24) DC (3) JE (260)
[72] BM (1) JE (4) JE : « After four thousand years, Christ left the court of the heavenly King , and visited his brethren here on earth.”
[73] OT (24) NT (9) BM (3) DC (6) PGP (1) JE (300+) JE : « I would by this, dear Sir, in particular render thanks to you.”
[74] BM (1) JE (1) JE : « If some take offense and Scoff at what you have done, many more I hope both with you and us are giving Thanks and praise to God.”
[75] OT (1) BM (5) JE (80)
[76] BM (2)
[77] BM (3)
[78] « kept and preserved » BM (10)
[79] “preserved you” BM (3) JE (10)
[80] NT (1) BM (1) JE (20)
[81] “live in peace one with another” BM (1) JE (2) JE: “Particularly, let us of this congregation and of this town do what in us lies, if it be possible, to live in peace one with another. Nothing is more dreadful than contention in any society; innumerable are the evils that are brought into a place by it.”
[82] BM (1) JE (2)
[83] OT (5) NT (1) BM (10) JE (180)
[84] NT (1) BM (1`) DC (1) JE (15) NT: « For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28)
[85] BM (1)
[86] BM (2) JE (15)
[87] OT (1) NT (6) BM (2) JE (130)
[88] “Unprofitable servants” NT (1) BM (1) JE (7)
[89] BM (1) DC (1) JE (75)
[90] OT (14) NT (4) BM (18) DC (2) JE (80)
[91] BM (21) JE (1)
[92] BM (1) JE (4) JE : « That is certain, that a man never doth anything but what he can do.”
[93] BM (3) DC (1) JE (5)
[94] OT (1) BM (2) JE (2)
[95] OT (1) BM (5) JE (260)
[96] OT (11) NT (4) BM (31) DC (4) JE (370)
[97] NT (1) BM (3) JE (60)
[98] BM (1) DC (4) JE (360)
[99] BM (1) JE (3) JE: “I lay down as a most certain rule, that when God doth require us to do what he himself doth promise”
[100] NT (1) BM (3) JE (60)
[101] OT (9) NT (1) BM (2) DC (2) Je (25+)
[102] OT (10) BM (6) DC (1) JE (60)
[103] BM (2) JE (60) JE: “the fullness of all things, without which all the world is empty, no better than nothing, yea, worse than nothing.”
[104] OT (12) BM (7) DC (1) JE (160)
[105] BM (6) JE (20)
[106] BM (3) JE (6) JE: “We are all born of the same mother earth , and thither we shall all return”
[107] OT (1) BM (1) JE (10)
[108] OT (7) BM (4) DC (5) JE (5)
[109] OT (3) NT (12) BM (7) DC (3) JE (45)
[110] OT (1) NT (1) BM (8) DC (1) JE (20)
[111] OT (3) NT (1) BM (2) PGP (1) JE (3)
[112] BM (3)
[113] “judged of God” BM (2) JE (1) JE: “Let all be exhorted to judge themselves, that they may not be judged of God hereafter.”
[114] BM (2)
[115] BM (6) JE (25)
[116] OT (1) NT (1) BM (2) JE (8)
[117] BM (4)
[118] BM (1) JE (3)
[119] BM (1) JE (3)
[120] OT (1) BM (6) DC (1) JE (15)
[121] BM (8)
[122] BM (1) JE (30)
[123] BM (3)
[124] BM (1) PGP (3) JE (70)
[125] NT (6) BM (14) DC (1) JE (4)
[126] Bm (6) JE (1)
[127] BM (1) JE (1)
[128] OT (1) BM (1) JE (5) JE: “tis more to you that you have been Kept from wounding your soul as some others have done”
[129] BM (7) JE (4) JE: “The danger of falling into the hands of cruel enemies, that will probably torture us to death, is more terrible.”
[130] “the hands of your enemies” BM (2) DC (1) “the hands of their enemies” BM (2) “the hands of our enemies” BM (2)
[131] OT (3) NT (1) BM (10) DC (3) JE (40)
[132] “have no power over you” BM (2)
[133] OT (3) NT (2) BM (2) DC (2) JE (5)
[134] OT (4) NT (2) BM (54) DC (2) JE (120)
[135] “contentions among” NT (1) BM (13) JE (10)
[136] BM (1) DC (1)
[137] OT (8) NT (2) BM (4)
[138] NT (2) BM (2) DC (1) JE (2)
[139] BM (1) JE (1) JE: “wo pronounced against him that uses his neighbours work without wages”
[140] BM (4)
[141] BM (2)
[142] NT (1) BM (2) JE (4)
[143] “damnation to his own soul” BM (1)
[144] BM (3)
[145] NT (1) BM (2) DC (1) JE (10)
[146] NT (9) BM (20) DC (6) JE (100s)
[147] BM (1) JE (12)
[148] BM (15) DC (5) JE (18)
[149] BM (6) DC (2) JE (500+)
[150] NT (6) BM (4) DC (1) PGP (1) JE (120)
[151] BM (2) JE (10) JE: “ "his reward is with him to render to every man according as his work shall be," paraphrasing “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Revelation 22:12)
[152] BM (1) JE (40)
[153] BM (2) JE (20) JE: “The gloriousness of God is the very principal thing of all that we are taught concerning God in the holy Scriptures”
[154] BM (2)
[155] NT (1) BM (6) DC (3) JE (7)
[156] NT (3) BM (3) JE (50)
[157] BM (1) JE (20)
[158] NT (1) BM (1) JE (1)
[159] BM (4) DC (1) JE (3) JE: “if they did, it would have no place in their hearts” NT: “my word hath no place in you” (John 8:37)
[160] BM (1) JE (8)
[161] BM (2)
[162] “come out in” BM (5) JE (5) “cometh out in” BM (1)
[163] BM (3) JE (6) JE: “ it was but a few months before they came to that violence of spirit, in open rebellion against God”
[164] BM (3) “enemy of all righteousness” NT (1) BM (1) JE (1)
[165] NT (1) BM (7) DC (1) JE (15)
[166] BM (4) DC (1)
[167] BM (4) JE (10)
[168] BM (6) JE (15) JE: “ they did not satisfy because the demands of justice still remained”
[169] BM (1) JE (90)
[170] BM (1) JE (12)
[171] BM (1) JE (75) JE: “Love to God tends to humility, a lively sense of our unworthiness.”
[172] BM (3) JE (20) JE: “their/our own guilt” BM: “his/their own guilt”
[173] BM (6) DC (1) JE (35)
[174] OT (13) NT (2) BM (21) DC (2) PGP (2) JE (35)
[175] BM (3) JE (4)
[176] NT (1) BM (3) DC (4) JE (10)
[177] “their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever” (Revelation 14:11)
[178] BM (2) JE (17)
[179] BM (1) JE (1)
[180] BM (2) JE: “our deliverance from most dreadful torments which shall endure forever” “They who endure the torments of hell, have, doubtless, a most lively and affecting sense of the vastness of an endless eternity”
[181] )t (2) bm (1) dc (1) je (50)
[182] BM (4) JE (1)
[183] NT (1) BM (2) JE (8)
[184] OT (4) NT (1) BM (2) JE (12)
[185] NT (1) BM (5) JE (20)
[186] BM (47) JE (500+)
[187] “awful situation” BM (2)
[188] OT (1) NT (2) BM (14) JE (70) JE: “ The great corruption men are fallen into by the original apostacy, appears in the multitude of wicked ways they are inclined to.”
[189] “fallen into transgression” BM (4)
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