Latest / Scripture Central / Why Is Jacob’s Distinctive Voice Significant? KnoWhy #725

Transcript

Why Is Jacob’s Distinctive Voice Significant? KnoWhy #725 · Scripture Central

• 0:03
  Wherefore I Jacob gave unto them these words as I taught them in
• 0:07
  the temple, having first obtained mine errand from the
• 0:10
  Lord. Hello listeners, This is Nick
• 0:14
  from Scripture Central, and today's podcast addresses the
• 0:17
  question, Why is Jacob's distinctive voice significant?
• 0:28
  The Book of Mormon, like the Bible, is a compendium of
• 0:31
  inspired writings by several authors over centuries.
• 0:34
  Thus, although Mormon is the primary compiler and editor, and
• 0:38
  although it was received through inspired translation, the book
• 0:42
  includes the individual voices of dozens of individuals.
• 0:45
  Even though God spoke through all these prophets, their
• 0:48
  linguistic identities and personality remained to a
• 0:51
  considerable extent intact, unique and recognizable to
• 0:56
  readers of the Book of Mormon. These unique voices in the Book
• 0:59
  of Mormon have been analyzed by linguistic methods known as
• 1:02
  stylometry, also called wordprint studies.
• 1:06
  These same techniques have been called upon to identify unknown
• 1:10
  authors of books, letters, and other literature, and even to
• 1:13
  apprehend criminals like the Unabomber.
• 1:16
  Stylometric studies have demonstrated that the Book of
• 1:18
  Mormon was written by multiple authors who exhibit an
• 1:21
  impressive differentiation of style compared to fictional
• 1:25
  characters in 19th century literature, long before
• 1:29
  stylometry was developed. Various scholars, including John
• 1:32
  S Tanner and John Hilton, the third, have noted that the
• 1:35
  prophet Jacob, the second author of the small plates,
• 1:38
  particularly stands out as a unique voice amongst Book of
• 1:42
  Mormon authors. Although his words only account
• 1:45
  for about 3% of the Book of Mormon text, Jacob is the 7th
• 1:50
  most frequently heard voice in the Book of Mormon.
• 1:53
  Particularly noteworthy are one, his uses of God's name, two his
• 1:58
  emotional language, and three, his unique phrases.
• 2:03
  Jacob had the name Christ revealed to him by an Angel and
• 2:06
  was thus probably intentional about his use of divine names.
• 2:11
  Hilton, drawing on John W Welch, has noted some of the titles
• 2:15
  Jacob uses and emphasizes He uses Creator more than any other
• 2:20
  author, and accounts for a third of the uses of Maker.
• 2:23
  Welch suggests that his emphasis on God's creative role, along
• 2:28
  with mentions of uncleanness, guilt, and robes of
• 2:31
  righteousness, could be a result of Jacob's priestly involvement
• 2:35
  with the Temple and its implicit creation imagery.
• 2:38
  Jacob also uses the divine title Holy One of Israel more than any
• 2:43
  other Book of Mormon author, and he uses the title God instead of
• 2:47
  Lord significantly more than Nephi.
• 2:50
  These help distinguish Jacob's priestly voice and show his
• 2:54
  consistency of style when compared to other authors.
• 2:57
  Another aspect of Jacob's voice that is apparent to the reader
• 3:01
  is his strong emotional vocabulary.
• 3:05
  Hilton has noted Jacob's varied experiences may connect with a
• 3:08
  duality in his voice, which is stern yet tender, boldly
• 3:13
  rebuking while lovingly testifying and inviting.
• 3:16
  His use of the words anxiety, delicate contempt, dread,
• 3:21
  sobbings, grieve, and lonesome all illustrate his emotional
• 3:26
  vocabulary as well as his uses of wound, Pierce, and daggers in
• 3:32
  an emotional and spiritual sense.
• 3:34
  The distinctiveness of Jacob's voice can be seen when he gives
• 3:38
  theological discussion, as Jacob's writing is also
• 3:41
  consistently focused on several favorite themes.
• 3:45
  His tender and stern nature comes through in this area, and
• 3:49
  beyond having favorite themes, Jacob also has favorite phrases
• 3:53
  and word combinations which show up repeatedly in his writings,
• 3:57
  notably some of his stern sayings.
• 4:00
  Jacob constitutes over half of the Book of Mormons 10 Usages of
• 4:04
  Fire and Brimstone, half of the Six Usages of Endless Torment,
• 4:10
  and half of the six mentions of the Devil's Angels.
• 4:13
  He uses the word awful or derivatives of it, 13 of the
• 4:18
  Book of Mormons 49 times, awful consequences, awfulness of
• 4:23
  yielding, and the awful monster of sin and death, and especially
• 4:28
  awful guilt. Jacob's vivid descriptors of
• 4:31
  afterlife punishment emphasize the positive importance of the
• 4:34
  atonement and of Jacob's desires to save others from such
• 4:38
  suffering. He uses the phrase Beloved
• 4:41
  Brethren more than the other authors, always emphasizing his
• 4:45
  love for his audience. He refers three times to the
• 4:49
  power of the resurrection and what it costs Jesus to bring it
• 4:53
  about, his great condescensions and the shame of the cross.
• 4:58
  Jacob was a powerful personal witness of the anticipated
• 5:01
  Redeemer, which was his most prominent theme.
• 5:04
  Knowing of Jesus's sacrifice for us in this light becomes
• 5:08
  pleasing, which is a word used six times by Jacob in describing
• 5:13
  the word of God and even the judgment bar of God.
• 5:17
  Recognizing the stylistic fingerprint of Jacob serves
• 5:20
  modern day readers in many ways. John Hilton has observed that
• 5:24
  the consistency of Jacob's voice is especially impressive because
• 5:28
  of the 23 chapters that stand between Jacob's speech in Second
• 5:33
  Nephi, chapter six through 10, and the beginning of the Book of
• 5:37
  Jacob. These seamless transitions of
• 5:40
  voice testify to the reality of a historical Jacob, a historical
• 5:44
  Book of Mormon, and the reality of Book of Mormon doctrine.
• 5:49
  It is particularly noteworthy when patterns for Jacob's words
• 5:53
  hold across his speech in Second Nephi chapter 6, chapters 9
• 5:57
  through 10, and the book that bears his name.
• 6:00
  Because nearly 40 pages of text separate Second Nephi 10 from
• 6:05
  Jacob one, we might expect the text from Second Nephi chapter
• 6:09
  69 and 10 to be closer to Nephi's voice in Second Nephi
• 6:15
  chapters 4 through 5:00 and 11:00, then to the book of
• 6:18
  Jacob. However, in several instances
• 6:21
  Jacob's distinctive voice can be heard in both periscopes,
• 6:26
  suggesting that in fact Jacob was a separate author from
• 6:29
  Nephi. John Tanner similarly concluded
• 6:33
  It is inconceivable to me that Joseph Smith could have invented
• 6:36
  such a subtle difference of style for Jacob and then
• 6:40
  remembered to use it so many chapters later as he rapidly
• 6:43
  dictated the translation. Moreover, hearing Jacob's voice
• 6:47
  also enhances the narrative richness of Jacob's life and
• 6:50
  personality. His distinctive use of
• 6:53
  expressions bears out the portrait of the man that emerges
• 6:56
  from the narrative. Story, style, and subject
• 7:00
  matter. All revealed Jacob Lehigh's
• 7:03
  child of tribulation to have become a sensitive and effective
• 7:06
  poet, prophet, preacher, writer, and powerful witness of Jesus
• 7:12
  Christ. It particularly becomes easier
• 7:15
  for readers to see why Jacob spoke how he did, and to feel
• 7:18
  what he spoke about by looking at the challenges he faced.
• 7:23
  Jacob was born during the wilderness travels of his
• 7:25
  family, endured abuse from his brothers while only an infant
• 7:30
  and keenly felt his identity as an exiled Israelite, He
• 7:34
  significantly outlived the days of his brother Nephi and had to
• 7:37
  watch and resist as their people fell into greed, lust, and
• 7:42
  Antichrist falsehoods. He saw wars in his days.
• 7:47
  His father, Lehigh aptly gave him a father's blessing about
• 7:50
  opposition, something that Jacob would know his whole life.
• 7:54
  Tanner has noted that long affliction seems to have
• 7:57
  rendered Jacob all the more spiritually sensitive.
• 8:00
  Yet spiritual softening through trials is by no means automatic.
• 8:05
  After the wars in Alma, because of the exceedingly great length
• 8:09
  of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites.
• 8:12
  Many had become hardened because of the exceedingly great length
• 8:15
  of the war, and many were softened because of their
• 8:19
  afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before
• 8:22
  God. Thus Jacob's sensitivity may
• 8:26
  have endured because he chose to embrace it as valuable, despite
• 8:30
  his sufferings, rather than becoming brash or cold.
• 8:34
  He said. It grieveth me that I must use
• 8:36
  so much boldness of speech concerning you where for your
• 8:40
  wives and your children, many of whose feelings are exceedingly
• 8:44
  tender and chaste and delicate before God, which thing is
• 8:49
  pleasing unto God? Readers today can strive to do
• 8:52
  likewise, helping themselves and those around them retain their
• 8:57
  spiritual and emotional sensitivity and never becoming
• 9:00
  past feeling. Jacob's repeated expression of
• 9:04
  his strong feelings and anxieties also helps us realize
• 9:07
  the universal experience of mental health challenges.
• 9:10
  Even the prophet Ammon reported being depressed.
• 9:14
  Difficulties with mental and emotional health are a
• 9:18
  ubiquitous experience throughout human history, even among God's
• 9:21
  chosen prophets. The emotional honesty of authors
• 9:25
  like Jacob helps us connect to them and understand them as real
• 9:29
  individuals. The emotional reality of their
• 9:32
  human experience makes their testimony and teachings all the
• 9:36
  more powerful. See Terry Warner said.
• 9:40
  From what we do know of Jacob, a picture emerges of a shepherd of
• 9:44
  his people who also loved us, the Saints of future years, and
• 9:48
  who by that love calls forth our love for him.
• 9:53
  As Hilton has summarized, ultimately the power of
• 9:56
  identifying Jacob's distinctive voice may not be in its
• 10:00
  apologetic value, but rather in its portrait of a faithful
• 10:04
  prophet. He knew both agony and abuse.
• 10:08
  He knew what it was like to hurt, to pray, to work, and to
• 10:13
  heal. He knew, in part, what many of
• 10:17
  us experience today. Jacob's voice speaks to those
• 10:20
  who have suffered and points to the Savior as the source of
• 10:24
  healing. Thank you for listening to this
• 10:29
  presentation from Scripture Central.
• 10:32
  For more information, please visit scripturecentral.org.