What Did the Prophet Mean? - Part III

Continued from the previous post regarding more information on interpreting what the prophet meant when writing the Book of Mormon.

We continue here with an explanation of the word Wilderness.

• Wilderness. This was defined in 1828 as: an uncultivated or unoccupied track of land

and we find the descriptions in the Book of Mormon following along this common understanding:

1 Nephi 2:2—barren hills

1 Nephi 2:5—desert wadi (dry river bed)

1 Nephi 2:6—desert plains

1 Nephi 18:25—coastal lands, including forest

1 Nephi 19:2—deserts of Arabia and unchartered lands

1 Nephi 19:10—deserts of Egypt

2 Nephi 5:24—large area of unsettled and uncultivated land

2 Nephi 24:17—desolate, uninhabited place

Omni 1:12—highlands, lowlands, and valleys

Mosiah 7:4—Wilderness here refers to this same land in reverse, between Zarahemla and the land of Lehi-Nephi which, upon leaving Zarahemla, would be valleys or plains (capital parts).

Wilderness can be most any different terrain 

 

Mosiah 87—Wilderness here refers to all the land between Lehi-Nephi and the land of many waters (land northward), which would have included mountains, valleys, canyons, ravines, plains, and the like.

Mosiah 8:8—Wilderness here refers to that area probably between the narrow neck of land and the land of many waters (land of Desolation).  This could not possibly have all been mountains, but would have included valleys, plains, forests and perhaps jungles.

Mosiah 19:18—Wilderness here refers to that land around the land of Lehi-Nephi and the land of Shilom.  Unless these cities and lands were on the side of a mountain, this wilderness refers to valleys, plains, forests, etc.

Mosiah 19:28—Wilderness here refers to that area outside the settled parts of the land of Lehi-Nephi and the land of Shilom.

Mosiah 20:4—Wilderness here refers to and area of water where women came to bathe, etc.  This is likely a meadow, valley, clearing in a forest, etc.

Mosiah 22:6—Wilderness here refers to an area surrounding the city of Lehi-Nephi, and is likely not a mountain when considering the driving of animals.

Mosiah 22:8—Wilderness here refers to that area around the land of Shilom.  Again, probably flatter land since animals were being driven through it, and since there was a secretive nature, this area was likely forest or jungle.

Mosiah 22:11—Wilderness here refers to that area around the land of Shilom, which would hardly signify mountains, otherwise the escaping Nepites would be traveling in a semi-circle around mountains that enclosed at least half or more of a rather small valley (if not very small, then the escapees were traveling a very long way in a roundabout manner -- hardly what escapees would do who feared being followed by an avenging army).  Thus, since you could see across the valleys around Lehi-Nephi and Shilom, this area of wilderness had to be more open and level, like plains or valleys (forests or jungles).

Mosiah 23:3—Wilderness here refers to numerous types of terrain for it would be difficult to flee an avenging army eight days in mountains.

Top: Plains along the Altiplano in Peru; Bottom: A typical valley in the highlands of Peru

 

Mosiah 23:35—Wilderness here refers to probably more open areas such as plains or valleys, for an army seeking its way home would hardly be content to travel up and down mountains where they could see little and where the going would be most difficult.

Mosiah 24:20—Wilderness here refers to an area somewhere between Lehi-Nephi and Zarahemla. It is unlikely that all this land was mountains, yet it is described continually as a wilderness.  Probably it was a combination of mountains, valleys, canyons, forests and jungles, or even deserts.

Mosiah 24:24—Wilderness here refers to the area Alma covered between the land he had established (Helam) and Zarahemla.  There is no indication that this was mountainous country.

Mosiah 24:25—Wilderness here refers to that land between Helam and Zarahemla.  Twelve days in mountains would hardly seem likely with women, children, and animals.

Mosiah 28:9—Wilderness here refers to traveling on more level ground before they "went up" into the Land of Nephi.  Likely this was a valley, plain, or forest area below a more noticable highland area.

Alma 18:37—Wilderness here refers to the deserts of Arabia.

Mountainous areas within the Narrow Strip of Wilderness

Alma 22:27—Wilderness here refers to a narrow strip between the land of Zarahamla and the land of Nephi.  This narrow strip was somehow set apart from the valleys of Zarahemla and the highlands of Nephi.  Mountains do not seem to fit such a narrow strip concept.

• And it came to pass. The short Hebrew wuh, pronounced “we,” must be prefixed with the word to which it applies, and means "and," as well as “so, or, but, now, that, when, then, and so forth.” In addition, combining wuh with “yehi,” the latter meaning “it was, became, existed, or happened,” the result is “wayehi” or “hatah,” הָיָה or הָֽיְתָה pronounced “wa-yuh-HEE,” a common sentence starter in Hebrew, However, “wayehi” is mostly translated as “and it was,” but the old English translators of the Bible used "and it came to pass,” 1204 times in the Old Testament,  but it was translated only 727 times as “and it came to pass” in the King James Version. Joseph Smith did not introduce such variety into the translation of the Book of Mormon. He retained the precision of “and it came to pass,” which better performs the transitional function of the Hebrew word.

As an example there are other renderings such as: “And it came about” or "and When,” or “and often,” or “and also.” Jacob Weingreen, in Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew (Oxford University Press, 2^nd Ed., 1959), suggests that it would best be given the meaning, "now it happened." Strong's Hebrew dictionary suggests "to exist" or "to become,” as possible translations of hâyâh. Royal Skousen postulates that hâyâh represents a "discourse marker" and suggests that the phrase and it came to pass "may be considered equivalent to “and then" or "and so” (Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 1994, Vol.3, No.1, p. 37).

Weyah begins a section or an idea and is a very common word but it often indicates more than a simple introduction. The ancient writers of the Book of Mormon used the phrase “and it came to pass” as a “structural marker that tells the reader to begin a new section.” This is in keeping with ancient writing practices, thus, rather than being anomalous or strange, the phrase “and it came to pass” is used exactly as it should be in the Book of Mormon as an ancient writer would have used it. It exists as a structural marker to give order to the text.

While the Nephites wrote and spoke daily in Hebrew (Mormon 9:33), the writers of the scriptural record wrote in Reformed Egyptian (Mormon 9:32). Therefore in knowing about the Egyptian language, such as Egyptian historical texts “begin in monotonous fashion” always with the same stock words; for example, at some periods every speech is introduced with the unnecessary “I opened my mouth.”

We need to keep in mind that ancient languages did not have punctuation; there were no sentences or paragraphs and required some key to knowing when one thought ended and another began. In Hebrew (and Egyptian) that phrase was “it came to pass.” In fact, dramatic Egyptian texts are held together by the constant repetition of Khpr-n, “It happened that” or “It came to pass.” In Egyptian these expressions were not merely adornments, they are a grammatical necessity and may not be omitted. Thus, the Book of Mormon, written Reformed Egyptian, which was based on Egyptian, and therefore it very appropriately repeats the connecting phrase “and it came to pass” in monotonous fashion at the introduction of a new section.  Such a device is a grammatical necessity in ancient Egyptian, although it is awkward and strange in English. It need not exactly mirror known ancient Egyptian textual use, because we are dealing with reformed Egyptian.