Was the “Great Deep” the “Sea”?

 What is the “great deep” spoken of in the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible? Some theorists mistakingly claim it is a different sea than the one the Jaredites, Mulekites and Lehi crossed; others claim it is a different sea than the Sea East and Sea West of the Nephite lands; or that it is not where the Land of Promise is located. However, it is, as many misunderstandings of theorists, that this be fully understood so that Jacob’s declaration of being on an island in the midst of the sea be equally be understood.

As an example of “Great Deep”—“And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?” {Ether 2:25, emphasis added).

Jared asks the Lord to touch the stones he had made so they could have light

 

Further showing that the "great deep" is the same as the "sea” the Brother of Jared continues with his conversation with the Lord, imploring Him to touch the stones which he had made: “O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea” so they could “go forth across this raging deep” (Ether 3:3-4, emphasis added).

Jared also said and Ether recorded “that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind” with all this water about them that they moved both on the surface of the sea and beneath the surface: “when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish…therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters” (Ether 6:6-7, emphasis added).

They were on an ocean, also called a sea, or many waters as “the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind” (Ether 7:8, emphasis added). Later, Jared’s son, Orihah, the first Jaredite king “remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them across the great deep into the promised land; wherefore he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days” (Ether 7:27, emphasis added).

The daughter of Jared, the son of Omer, in speaking to her father, stated: “Hath [you] not read the record which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old, that they by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory?” (Ether 8:9, emphasis added). Later, we have Shule to make certain we understand the meaning of the term “great deep,” when he said, “And behold, also, if he say unto the waters of the great deep—Be thou dried up—it is done” (Helaman 12:16, emphasis added). 

Waters of the Great Deep

 

“The waters of the great deep” and “across the sea,” and “the depths of the sea” and “the face of the deep…the face of the waters,” are all statements regarding the voyage of the Jaredites to the Land of Promise.

Now the Hebrew word “Tehom,” תְּהוֹם‎, which is a cognate of the Akkadian word “tamtu” and Ugaritic “t-h-m,” which have similar meanings, and that is literally the “Deep,” “Sea,” or “Abyss” (also found in ancient Greek: ἄβυσσος), it refers to the “Great Deep” of the primordial waters of creation in the Bible. In the plural form “tehomo,” in the Bible, it refers to a geographical feature which could occur in multiple places, rather than a single location—which is consistent with the sea or ocean being connected, but found around different land formations (Exodus 15:8, Deuteronomy 8:7, Isaiah 63:13, Psalms 33:7, and others)

“Tehom” is mentioned in Genesis where it is translated as "deep" “the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2, emphasis added). In addition, this word is also used for the origin of Noah’s Flood: “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11), emphasis added). It is also mentioned in Isaiah where it states: “Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?” (Isaiah 51:10, emphasis added). Also, “The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen” (Job 38:30, emphasis added).

As indicated, the many different seas (oceans) have names such as Pacific/South Pacific, Atlantic/North Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic—all ocean basins by name, but all connected. Thus, there is one ocean or water around the Earth, which also includes additional connecting bodies, called seas, like the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Arabian, Bearing, and others. In ancient times, these oceans were called seas, since the term “ocean” did not come into use until the 13^th century, and even later in some areas.

Another word, this one from an unknown Hebrew root which meant “to sink—an abyss of the sea,” is “tsulah” צוּלָה, which means “ocean-deep” or “deep ocean” or “depth of the sea,“ and found in “That saith to the deep, Be dry” (Isaiah 44:27).

While the continents are not all connected, all the oceans and seas of the world are connected (excluding inland seas, which are not salt water seas)

 

So what do all the different named seas in the Book of Mormon signify? East, West, North, South, possibly the Waters of Ripliancum, and sea Lehi called Irreantum, the latter meaning “many waters.” First, they all refer to the same thing—the major oceans of the world that all run into, or merge, with one another. As an example, the Irreantum Sea (1 Nephi 17:5) is the Arabian Sea, which runs into the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and once beyond South America, merges with the Atlantic Ocean—truly a sea of “many waters.” In the Book of Mormon this sea is also described as the "Great Sea," "Great Water," "Deep," and "Great Deep."

Sometimes people lose sight of the fact, in trying to promote a specific model, that all the world’s oceans are interconnected. Irreantum, meaning “many waters,” obviously, suggests these world oceans—as does the “Great Deep” over which the Lord led the Jaredites, Nephites, and Mulekites. Then, too, is the North Sea, East Sea, South Sea, and West Sea of the Land of Promise connected to this single connected ocean, which could be referred to as “many waters.”

As Moroni abridged the Jaredite record, he translated “He remembered what the Lord had done in bringing Jared and his brother across the Deep” (Ether 10:2, emphasis added). “And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this Great Deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come” (Ether 2:25, emphasis added).

The Nephites were also  brought across on the Great Deep: “We did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which being interpreted, is Many Waters” (1 Nephi 17:5). “Our brother is a fool for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these Great Waters” (1 Nephi 17:17). “My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the Great Deep” (2 Nephi 4:20). “Art thou not he who hath dried the sea, the waters of the Great Deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?” (2 Nephi 8:10) “And behold, also, if he say unto the waters of the Great Deep—Be thou dried up—it is done” (Helaman 12:16).

The Mulekites also crossed these waters: “And they journeyed in the wilderness and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the Great Waters into the land where Mosiah discovered them; and they had dwelt there from that time forth” (Omni 1:16, emphasis added).
Once again, Nephi shows that a single ocean was not the many waters referred to in these scriptures (covered in this article) when he was given a vision of the whole world: “And it came to pass that I looked and beheld Many Waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren” (1 Nephi 13:10;12,29).

As can be seen, it matters little what term is used to describe the oceans of the world that were involved getting to and surrounding the Land of Promise—all terms had the same meaning.