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The Tanners took on the tedious challenge of combing through the Book of Mormon for evidence of plagiarism, and once again, they discovered some unmistakable similarities. Perhaps most intriguing is the fact that “twenty-eight of the thirty-two parallels to the Apocrypha are found in the first five chapters of the Book of Mormon.”1 In fact, just two words into the Book of Mormon, the reader finds evidence of the Apocrypha’s influence in the name, “Nephi,” which also appears in 2 Maccabees 1:36 (The name “Laban” appears in Judith 9:26 and “Ezias,” the name of an elusive Jewish prophet mentioned in Helaman 8:20 but absent from the Old Testament, is found in 1 Esdra 8:2). Also in the second verse of 1st Nephi, chapter one, Nephi claims that he is engraving his record in the Egyptian language. Scholars, both critical and apologetic, have wondered at this statement. Why would the proud Jews ever voluntarily adopt the language of the enemy? It would seem that even the memory of Egyptian would be repulsive, let alone its presence in sacred Hebrew texts. But admittedly, this is conjecture. According to the Old Testament, the Jews did open diplomatic relations with the Egyptians later in their history, even collaborating in a common defense against Babylonian expansion. So while Jewish-Egyptian documents undoubtedly existed in some form or another, it’s unlikely that an entire volume of sacred scripture such as the Brass Plates or the plates of Nephi would ever be written in Egyptian. Consulting the Apocrypha, the reader discovers what may have contributed to Joseph Smith’s decision to have Nephi write in Egyptian. In the 1611 and later versions of the Apocrypha, the introduction to the book of 2nd Maccabees speaks of a “letter from the Jews at Jerusalem to them of Egypt..." Then in the first verse that follows, the reader finds, "The brethren, the Jews that be at Jerusalem, and in the land of Judea, wish unto the brethren the Jews that are throughout Egypt, health and peace." (2 Maccabees 1:1) Verse 10 of the first chapter also mentions “Jews that were in Egypt.” As Nephi inscribes his history in Egyptian he informs the reader that he is engaged in the process of condensing his father’s history: "Behold I make an abridgment of the record of my father...” (1 Nephi 1:17) The prophets Mormon and Moroni were also busy “abridging” records. In fact, the word “abridgement” is so noticeable that one finds it twice on the title page of the Book of Mormon. While no examples or variations of the word can be seen in the Bible, “abridgement” is found in abundance in the second chapter of 2 Maccabees: “All these things, I say being declared by Jason of Cyrene in five books, we will assay to abridge in one volume.... to us that have taken upon us this painful labour of abridging, it was not easy... Leaving to the author the exact handling of every particular, and labouring to follow the rules of an abridgment.... But to use brevity, and avoid much labouring of the work, is to be granted to him that will make an abridgment." (Verses 23, 26, 28, 31) Moving through the narrative to the 4th chapter, the reader will remember that Nephi was commanded to secure the plates of brass that were kept in Laban’s treasury (1 Nephi, chapter 4). Interestingly, these two elements, “plates of brass” and a “treasury,” appear together in 1 Maccabees 14:49-49: "So they commanded that this writing should be put in tables of brass, and that they should be set up within the compass of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place; Also that the copies thereof should be laid up in the treasury, to the end that Simon and his sons might have them." More evidence of the Apocrypha’s influence is seen in a list of parallels found in the respective stories of Nephi and Judith (as printed in “Joseph Smith’s Use of the Apocrypha”). Granted, some of the elements found in Judith are scattered across several chapters, but there is enough here to make a case that Joseph Smith borrowed elements from Judith to construct his story of Nephi and Laban.
Aside from these parallels, there are others that could be mentioned such as those found in Lehi’s dream of the Tree of Life (probably also influenced by the Book of Revelations and one of Joseph Smith Sr.’s dreams) and Esdra’s vision (there is quite a compelling list of words common to both accounts: tree of life, fruit, building, water, river, narrow, strait, path, broad, field). But the aforementioned examples should be sufficient to suggest the Apocrypha’s connection to many key elements in the first several chapters of the Book of Mormon. 1 Jerald and Sandra Tanner, “Joseph Smith’s Use of the Apocrypha,” Salt Lake City Messenger, Issue No. 89, Dec. 1995. |
While
detecting biblical phraseology in the Book of Mormon may be reasonably easy for
the reader familiar with the King James Bible, identifying plagiarism of the
Apocrypha may prove to be more difficult. Names like Maccabees, Judith, and
Esdras have all but vanished, but in Joseph’s day, these and others books were
still included in many Bibles. The value of these apocryphal accounts was in
question, however, and those who advocated for their removal from the sacred
canon ultimately prevailed. It is apparent that Joseph Smith had access to the
Apocrypha, and it most likely influenced him as he began to develop material for
the Book of 1st Nephi.