BOOK OF MORMON NAMES FOUND ON CLAY TABALETS
THE AKKADIAN DICTIONARY
MAHAH to MARY MOTHER OF JESUS
INTRODUCTION
There is always more information one would like to convey. More could be said about Malachi, and the doctrines cointained in his short book. A great deal more could be added to the discussion of the sons of Joseph, but certain thing in both studies introduces the reader to doctrines seldom touched upon or discussed. The objective of this web site is not to exhaust the subject but to introduce the richness of what could be said, and to invite the reader to go there, use the references given to take roads not often traveled, read books not recognized for their richness of knowledge. One is invited to look deeply into histories, geographies and the lives of real people who lived and died, some have gone onto glory, they invite us to follow. Some have had only the shortest of exposure on the horizon of history but they have contributed what they were sent to do. We are invited to do likewise.
MAHAH: A JAREDITE
When the descendants of Jared and his brother MAHONRI MORIANCUMER , had become settled, a census was taken (Ether 6:21) and Jared and Mahonri asked the people what they would have them do before “the went down to their graves.” (Ether 6:21) “And it came to pass that the people desired of them that they would anoint one of their sons to be a king over them.” (Ether 6:22) ”And now behold, this was grievous unto them. And the brother of Jared said unto them, surely this thing leadeth unto captivity.” (Ether 6:23) “But Jared said unto his brother; suffer them that they may have a king. And therefore he said unto them: Choose ye out from among our sons a king, even whom ye will.” (Ether 6:24)” And it came to pass that they chose even the firstborn of the brother of Jared: and his name was PEGAG. And it came to pass that he refused and would not be their king.” Following his father’s advice. (Ether 6:24; Pinegar pp. 116, 153)
There are very few references to descendants of the brother of Jared. Had his son Pegag been chosen the line of kings would probably have been from his family and not the descendants of the brother of Jared. Where they landed after crossing the sea they called the landing place after the brother of Jared: MORIANCUMER. (Sperry p. 465-466)
“And the people would that his father should constrain him, but his father would not: and he commanded them they should constrain no man to be their king.” (Ether 6:25)
“And it came to pass that they chose all the brothers of Pagag and they would not.” They also followed their fathers’s advice. (Ether 6:26) The number of brothers are not given, but the chance to establish a family dynasty for the brother of Jared passed.
“And it came to pass that neither would the sons of Jared, even all save it were one: and Orihah was anointed to be king over the people. And he began to reign, and the people began to prosper; and they became exceedingly rich.” (Ether 6:27-30) Both Jared and his brother passed on. (Ether 6:29) Fortunately Orihah was a righteous man and walked humbly before the Lord and he taught the people the word of God. (Ether 6:30)
MAHAH, the third son of Jared, (Ether p. 430) also declined the invitation of the people to become their king, in doing so, he was heeding the prophetic warning of the brother of Jared against a monarchy, which ultimately did lead to dictatorships and captivities.
The elements in the name include MA-, MAH-, as prefixes, and -HAH and -AH as suffixes. MAHAH is an example of Jaredite use of the theophoric name element –AH for Jehovah. This supports Joseph’s inspired change in Exodus 6:3. The –AH ending has been discussed in previous entries, it was present in the EBLA tablets, and we know that JEHOVAH was the known name of Jesus Christ from the Garden of Eden episodes and the Adamic dispensation. Abraham was told by JEHOVAH HIMSELF that that was his name. (Abraham 2:8) The ancient inscribed tablets confirm the doctrines about JEHOVAH contained in the standard works and Mormon Doctrine. The prefix MA- is also found in EBLA documents meaning ‘sovereign’ (Pagan p. 347), which means the Jaredite name MAHAH has as one of its meanings ‘JEHOVAH IS SOVERIGN’ Also from EBLA we could get from –ah as brother to get the meaning ‘the brother (JEHOVAH) is sovereign’, but that would only have meaning to a Mormon. The suffix –AH can be translated as ‘brother.’ If the Book of Mormon is fiction none of these interpretations could exist.
In the Akkadian Dictionary, there is the single entry of the name MAHAH found in the name MAHAHU(U)M; the full name of MAHAH with mimation, (Black p. 189), common to Jaredite names and in names of other languages immediately following the Jaredite period. “Mimation was still current in the Semitic dialects of Palestine and Syria, between 2100 and 1800 BC.” (Nibley Vo. 6 p. 358) The name in Old Jungbabylonisch means ‘to soak or steep,” but we know little as to what it meant in the earliest of times of the Jaredites. (Black p. 189) The above discussion provides some interesting choices, knowing the religious emphasis of the times, ‘JEHOVAH IS SOVERIGN’ is preferred. But only Mormons believe JEHOVAH goes back to the ‘Beginning.’
MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ
MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ is the name of the second born son of ISAIAH THE PROPHET (Isa. 8:1) quoted in 2 Ne. 18:1. This is the longest name in the Bible and the Book of Mormon,. It means in Hebrew ‘the spoil speeds, the prey hastes.’ (Gardner p. 277)
MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ was one of the two sons whom the prophet Isaiah had with a woman whom he called the prophetess. Mandel translates the meaning as ‘booty and shame are imminent,’ because of what was going to happen before he was born. The eldest son was called SHEAR-YASHUV, meaning a ‘remainder will return.’ (Mandel p. 339) Mandel’s translation of the meaning of the name seems more sharp and clear, so is preferred over others.
Faced with the threat of invasion by the combined forces of Israel and Syria, King Ahaz of Judah decided to make a treaty with Assyria. The prophet Isaiah objected and, in an unsuccessful attempt to convince Ahaz to trust God, gave the symbolic name MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ to his second son before the child’s conception. The treaty would be unnecessary, the name indicated, because the threat would soon end; Israel and Syria would be ‘defeated and plundered’ one of the other meanings of the name, before the prophet’s child learned to talk. And, indeed, Assyria crushed both of Judah’s northern neighbors in the Syro-Ephraimite War of 734 to 732 BC. (Gardner p. 277) In less than a dozen years these wars led to the final capture and dispersion of the Ten Tribes.
MALACHI
In Hebrew the name means ‘My Messenger.’ He was the author of THE BOOK OF MALACHI, one of the very short ones, written at the beginning of the post-Exilic period in the 5th century BC. (Mandel p. 338) The BOOK OF MALACHI has four short chapters, its content falling into six clearly marked sections, each introduced by God or the prophet, which is then challenged by the people, or the priests, and defended by God himself in words of reproach and doom. The priests are neglecting the sacrificial ordinances, offering instead deceased and blemished animals, an insult to a sacrifice that is supposed to be In ‘the similitude of the SON OF GOD, the CHRIST, the ‘LAMB OF GOD without blemish or spot,’ (Mal. 1:14). “As a part of the restoration of all things in the dispensation of the fullness of times (Ephesians 1:10), they (sons of Aaron and Moses, or Levitical-Aaronic priesthood) will then offer a literal sacrifice in righteousness as Joseph said: “These sacrifices, as well as every ordinance belonging to the priesthood, will, when the Temple of the Lord shall be built, and the sons of Levi be purified, be fully restored and attended to in all their powers, ramifications and blessing…else how can the restitution of all things spoken of by the Holy Prophets be brought to pass…those things which existed prior to Moses’ day, namely, sacrifice, will be continued.” (Galbraith STJS. pp. 197-198) The real sacrifice the Lord wants…is ”a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.” (D&C 128:24)
The people are not living according to the divine teachings, they are called to renew their faithfulness to their covenant with God. The abuses are laxity and corruption of the priesthood, intermarriage with foreign women, and mainly the people are cheating God by not paying their tithes. They would be deprived of the MALACHI MEASURE-THE HUNDREDFOLD PROMISE. President Hinckley reminded the Church that the Lord would open the windows of heaven according to their NEED, and not according to their GREED. (CR, April 1982) The phrase OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN, is a metaphor for rain. The Lord even promises he will intervene in the environment and weather. The saints today seem to fail to recognize the hand of the Lord in the weather, he uses the weather to chasten or bless the people. (Helaman 12:1-3; D&C 43:25; Amos 4:6-10; Mal. 3:10-11)
In MALACHI there is a profound appeal to observe the laws and commandments, and an announcement that the Prophet ELIJAH WILL COME BEFORE THE THREATENED JUDGEMENT. MALACHI delivered his prophetic message to the Jews around 430 years BC nearly 170 years after Lehi had left for the Americas. That message was, therefore, not in the records they had taken with them, which essentially were the PLATES OF BRASS. The message included truths about the law of tithing and the SEALING COMMISSION OF ELIJAH. The revelations contained in the Book of Malahi were given to him by the FATHER. (3 Ne. 24:1) FATHER wanted the Nephites to have this message, so they were given to the Saints in ancient America during CHRIST’S visit, (3 Ne. 24-25) including the rest of Malachi 3-4, and commanded these words should be written down because the FATHER had commanded CHRIST to give the message to them so it would be had among the people until the time CHRIST “should come in his glory.” (3 Ne. 26:2-3)
“On the evening of September 21, 1823, Moroni, the last in a sequence of historians of the word of God, appeared to Joseph Smith to lay the foundation of the coming forth of the BOOK OF MORMON [and advancing the restoration of the last days] as part of the latter-day restoration. Moroni cited the words of Malachi [differently than in the old Testament] concerning the coming of the prophet Elijah “And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.” (D&C 2:2) The great present Family History programs are accelerating these promises. “The promises made to the fathers were the promises of the Restoration and the work for the dead.” Nyman p. 147)
AUTHORITY AND POWER AT KIRTLAND
Six years after the publication of the Book of Mormon in this dispensation, the Savior appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836. This great vision was accompanied by other heavenly beings, who also appeared, to give PRIESTHOOD KEYS OF THE PATRIARCHAL ORDER, TO SEAL THE LIVING AND THE DEAD AS ETERNAL FAMILIES. The KIRTLAND temple was erected for these very purposes, especially including ELlJAH, with his all-important 0RDINANCES AND SEALING KEYS in fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi. “(D&C 110; Pinegar pp. 116-117; Nyamn p. 147). Without this “AUTHORITY to administer ALL THE ORDINANCES of the PRIESTHOOD, and without the authority is GIVEN, the ORDINANCES could not be administered in righteousness.” (TPJS, p. 172) ELIJAH could not come until the KIRTLAND TEMPLE WAS COMPLETED. (Nyman p. 147)
“Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death [translated] stood before us, and said: Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi -testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come- [dreadful for the wicked, great for the believers] To turn [bind] the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to their fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse-Therefore, the ‘ KEYS of this dispensation are COMMITTED into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.” ( D&C 110:13-16)
With the fulfillment of the words of Malachi as given to him [Joseph] by the Lord (3 Ne. 24:1) the GRAND SEALING POWERS OF THE TEMPLES were once again activated upon the earth. All those who were gathered unto the fold through the confirming message of the Book of Mormon, could therefore receive THE CROWNING BLESSING of the holy TEMPLES, THE ESSENTIAL ORDINANCES that makes all else worth- while, and continue their journey toward ETERNAL LIFE and EXALTATION. “It is one of the greatest and most important subjects that God has revealed.” (TPJS, p. 337) It is “the greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us to seek after our dead.” (TPJS, p. 356)
Moroni also quoted Malachi 4:1 differently. “For behold the day cometh that shall BURN as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall BURN as stubble, for they that come shall BURN them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” (Mal. 4:1; JS-H 1:37; 88:94) Those who escape the BURNING will be the tithe payers (D&C 64:23) After the burning and cleaning of the earth of every corruptible thing “the saints that are upon the earth who are ALIVE shall be QUICKENED and be CAUGHT UP TO MEET HIM.” (D&C 88:96) This is the first fruits of the resurrection in the beginning of the Millennium. (D&C 88:97-98) Neither Root nor Branch! What’s that? “This expression simply means that wicked and indifferent persons who reject the gospel of Jesus Christ will have NO family inheritance or patriarchal lineage-neither root (ancestor or progenitors) nor branch (children or posterity). Such persons cannot be received into the celestial kingdom of glory of resurrected beings.” (Nyman p. 144)
MALACHI is considered to a minor prophet only because of the length of his little Book. In reality it is filled with important doctrines and sets the time and place for one of the most profound and eternal doctrines of the Church: The sealing authority and by whom it is given and to whom it has been given, and who the recipients of the blessing can be!
MANASSEH
Amulek, missionary companion to Alma, stated that Lehi was a descendant of Joseph, through the Latter’s son, MANESSEH (Alma20:33) The name, MANASSEH, in Hebrew means ‘God has made me forget.’ ‘Some misfortune.’ (Buttrick p. 253) The name was given to MANASSEH because “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” (Gen 41:51; Gardner p. 279) Mandel translates it a little briefer: ‘causing to forget.’ (Mandel p. 341) But more was added later to include: “…and has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” (Gen. 41:51-52) Probably referring to the moment when their grandfather Jacob who was near death, blessed the two boys, he suddenly switched hands placing the right hand of blessing on Ephraim bestowing the first- born blessing on Ephraim instead of MANASSEH. Joseph tried to stop this action, but Jacob persisted and added that he was adopting both of Joseph’s sons (Gen. 48:5), and that Manasseh shall be greater in numbers, MANASSEH would have nearly twice as many than JOSEPH and would become a multitude of nations. (Gen. 48:19) MANASSEH received six times more land than Ephraim: land west and southwest of Galilee to the sea, and southeast from the Golan to the Dead Sea. (Douglas p. 943) As a Prophet, Jacob knew Rueben would commit adultery with Bilhah, one of his own wives, (Mandel p. 444; Douglas p. 1333) and loose de facto, but not de jure, the birthright as head of the 12 tribes. Joseph, having proved himself, would take Reuben’s place de facto and the double portion which went with birthright (Dt. 21:17) was symbolically bequeathed to JOSEPH’S two sons. Reuben was considered “unstable as water, you [Reuben] shall not have pre-eminence.” (Gen. 49:4; Douglas p. 1333). Reuben was not included in the inscriptions on the MOABITE STONE, but was mentioned by Ezekiel in the reconstructed Israel in the last days. (Ezk. 48:7, 31) The tribe of Reuben will provide 12,000 of the endowed High Priests who will be included in the ranks of the 144,000 who will accompany Christ in the Apocalypse of John at the Mt. of Olives and Jerusalem. (Rev. 7.3)
MANASSEH’S descendants played a major role in the conquest of Canaan and after the priestly tribe of LEVI was omitted in the allocation of conquered territory, Manasseh-along with the other half-tribe of Ephraim were elevated to full tribal status and Joshua said to the descendants of Joseph’s two sons ‘you shall not have one lot [between you] only.” (Jos. 17:17; Gardner p. 279) As time passed, some of the tribe of Manasseh during the Passover visit to the temple city defected to Judah in response to the religious reforms of King ASA, Solomon’s great-grandson. People of both Manasseh and Ephraim were listed with the Judahites and Benjaminites as living in Jerusalem following the return from captivity in Babylon two centuries later. (Gardner p. 279) This accounts for the family of Ishmael, being they are from Ephraim, and Lehi, from Manessah, at the time Lehi left from Jerusalem, to join by marriage at a later date as described in the Book of Mormon.
MANASSEH is mentioned along with Ephraim in one of the Messianic quotes by Nephi from Isaiah 9. (Isaiah 9; 2 Ne. 19:21)
MANASSEH was the eldest son of Joseph and Asenath. (Gen. 41:50-51; 46:20) His grandfather, JACOB, promised his posterity would become a great people. (Gen. 48:1-20) MANASSEH as a tribe of Israel was given an inheritance in the promised land west of the Jordan River, around the area of Samaria, and east of the Jordan River in the high pasture lands of BASHAN (Cedar) and GILEAD (Balm). (Num. 32:33, 39-41; Deut.3:13; Josh. 17:1-12; 22:7) So the family of Lehi were descendants of Joseph through Manasseh (l Ne 5:14; Alma 10:3) The family proliferated in the Americas fulfilling Old Testament Prophecies that a branch of Israel separated from their homeland would be ‘a fruitful bough’ and would “run over the wall’, or cross the oceans. (Gen. 49:22) The Nephites recognized this status. (l Ne. 15:12; 19:24; Jacob 2:25; Alma 36:26) Lehi’s family were to write the stick of Joseph (The Book of Mormon) prophesied by Ezekiel (Ezek. 37:15-19; 2 Ne. 3:12; D&C 27:5) Moses promised the tribes of Ephraim and Joseph would ‘push’ or gather’ the people together to the ends of the earth, (Deut. 33:17) finding fulfilment in the expansion of the restored church into most of the lands of the earth in these latter days, initiated by the descendants of those two tribes. (D&C 58:44-45) When the Assyrians conquered Israel in 721 BC and carried the northern tribes off into exile, the tribe of Manasseh disappeared from history except those listed as being in Jerusalem. (Gardner p. 279) The main members of Manesseh in the city included LABAN and LEHI.
The great biblical hero GIDEON (Jdg. 11:1) was from the tribe of MANESSEH.
MANESSEH was also the name of the son of king Hezekiah and Hehzibah. He became king at age 12 and reigned for 55 years. He started off probably as co-regent with his father and then was sole ruler from 686 to 642 BC. His reign was mostly an attempt to establish polytheistic worship in the land. His long reign was bloody and reactionary, notorious for the introduction of illegal altars into the Temple courts and sacrificing his sons by “the passing of his sons through the fire” in the valley of the son of Hinnom. (Douglas p. 843) Punishment came upon the king in the form of an Assyrian invasion of the land. Manasseh was captured and treated with humiliation and carried off in bonds to Babylon. The Chronicler narrates Manasseh’s deportation to Babylon, his repentance and release. (2 Ch. 33:10-13) In Babylon he repented and in his need called upon Yahweh who brought him back to Judah. Upon his return he built an outer wall to the city of David, strengthened his defenses and fortified his cities. He spent his remaining years in furthering the restoration of the Yahweh services. (Butttrick pp. 254-255)
MANTI
The elements in the name include M, MAN, MANT, TI. Cognates as noted below embrace the Egyptian god MONTH, IN HERMONTHIS. In Egyptain sources the name is generally MANTI, but also may be in the forms: MENTHU, MENTU, or MONTH, represented in the Hieroglyphics as a man with falcon’s head surmounted by the solar disc, with the uraesus serpent and TWO TALL PLUMES. The cult center was at HERMONTHS. (Shorter p. 134). MANT also is used, such as in HITTITE, where it can mean ‘something harming.’ (Klockhorst p. 555), or MAN (Ibid p. 551).
The ending is I or TI, which is the first person singular nominal suffix, and is a common West Semitic ending found among names from the MURASU DOCUMENTS. (Coogan p. 109) The Ti endings are also found in names from the EBLA tablets with the meaning ‘exists’ so one meaning of the name MANTI would be ‘GOD EXISTS,’ irrevocably.
The name because of its use over time by Semitic sources, ancient and to late Egyptian, was probably an Adamic name, but prevailed in use with small variations in languages that followed the Tower of Babel.
Hugh Nibley has said: “The stamp of Egyptain on Lehi’s people may be clearly discerned in the names of those people and their descendants. Hebrew and Egyptian names together make up the over-whelming majority and occur in about equal strength, which is exactly what one would expect from Mormon’s claim that both languages were used among them (and which would certainly not be the case were Hebrew the only spoken language), but Hittite, Arabic, and Ionian elements are not missing.”’ (Nibley Vol. 5, p. 25) And in these studies we have also added names from the AKKADIAN, ASSYRIAN, ELAM, LUWEIN, SUMERIAN and some other dialects from sources that were not available to Nibley, most of which have only become available since 1988, more than 30 years after he wrote some of his books.
MANTI was the name of a Nephite soldier about 87 BC. (Alma 2:22)
MANTI is also a land, the most southerily land of Nephites. (Alma 14:6),
MANTI was the name of a hill near the ancient city of ZARAHEMLA. (Alma 1:15)
MANTI was the name given to a city in the Land of Manti. (Alma 56:13)
“In the Old World, MANTI, is the Semitic form of an Egyptian proper name, e.g., MANTI-MANKHI, A PRINCE in Upper Egypt, 650 BC. It is the late form of MONTH, A GOD of Hermonthis.” (Nibley Vol.5, p. 27) MANTI appears in the Neo-Assyrian dictionary in a similar form: MANTI-ME-HE, (THE GREAT G0D) MONTH is in the lead; here it is attributed to EGYPTIAN SOURCES, which is where Nibley has been placing it. (Baker p. 701) So MANTI is a genuine Egyptian name for a diety. The consonantal elements are MN and MNT, both of these refer to deity, the first as the god MIN, (BENZ p. 349) and the second as the god MONTH a noted earlier. MIN is also an Egyptian God, found in Phoenician inscriptions. He is represented as a bearded man, ithyphallic, wearing the same head-dress as the god AMEN, HIS RIGHT HAND IS RAISED HOLDING A WHIP, HIS CULT CENTER was at Panopolis. He is the God of sexual reproduction, and another form of AMEN. (Shorter p. 11135)
“There are non–Semitic names in those found in the Book of Mormon, all come to us in an Egyptianized form, which is what one would expect in Lehi’s Palestine where Hittite names still survived even though Hittite language was probably not used. Thus the Nephite MANTI, while suggesting the Egyptian MANTI, MONTI, MENEDI, etc., also recalls the Egyptian name of a Hittite city, MANDA. A highly characteristic element of HITTITE and HURRIAN names are MANTI and –ANDI, likewise common in the Book of Mormon.” (Nibley Vol. 6, p. 289) “Himni, Korihor, Paanchi, Pakumeni, Sam, Zeezrom, Ham, MANTI, Nephi , and Zenoch are all EGYPTIAN HERO NAMES.” (Nibley Vol. 6, p. 286) So it would be expected for the form MANT to show up in Egyptian dictionaries, and it does. (Budge p. 278)
In the New World, in this country, there was at one time, in South America, the MANTA INDIANS, ON THE COAST NORTH OF THE GULF OF Guayaquil. (Reyolds p. 324) And last, but not least, it is the name of a Temple at MANTI in central Utah where I was married 63 years ago.
MARY MOTHER OF JESUS CHRIST
The name, MARY, appears as MARIA or MARIAM, in the NT. Both are GRAECIZED forms of the Hebrew name MIRIAM, she had watched as the baby in a basket was permitted to float into the sanctuary of Pharoah’s daughter, then recommended to her that she get the babies actual mother, Jochebed, to take care and suckle the child. MIRIAM was the daughter of Amran and Jochebed. She was the older sister of Aaron and Moses. She was one of the few women in the bible called a Prophetess. (Exodus 15:20) In the Biblical context the name meant ‘rebellious.’ (Mandel p. 363) The name appears in the LXX as MARIAM, and may just possibly be derived from the Egyptian MARYE, meaning ‘beloved.’ (Douglas p. 959)
MARY has a clear presence in the Book of Mormon. At the commencement of the visionary experience of Nephi, he was shown a view of the nativity some 600 years before it actually took place: “And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin and she was exceedingly fair and white. And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou? And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins. And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condenscension of God? And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things. And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God; after the manner of the flesh. And It came to [pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me saying Look! And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And I answered him, saying: yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things. And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul. (l Ne. 11:13-23)
In the vision of Mary, Nephi understood the love of God as manifested in the mission of Mary and the birth of Immanuel- ”God with us.” King Benjamin was favored with a similar view of the coming of the Lord in the meridian of time. The clear and great ENUNCIATION: “And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of god, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.” ( Mosiah 3:8) Alma, too, addressing the people of Gideon, emphasized the role of Mary in bringing forth the Lamb of God, “and behold he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers she being a virgin a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy ghost, and bring forth a son, yea even the Son of God” (Alma 7:10; Pinegar pp. 118-119)
Information about the mother of Jesus is largely confined to the infancy narratives of Mt. and Lk. When the angelic announcement of the birth of Jesus occurred, MARY was living at Nazareth, in Galilee, and was engaged to a cabinet maker named Joseph (Lk. 1:26). JOSEPH was of Davidic descent, which Mathew seems to provide, and Luke is generally considered to have provided the genealogy of Mary. The Holy Ghost overshadowed her for her conception of Jesus by the Father. In the Nag Hammadi tests Christ is said to be the son of two mothers and one father. (See the CD on Jesus in the Nag Hammadi) (Matthew l:18; Lk. 1:35)
Luke records MARY’S visit to her cousin Elizabeth, who greeted her prophetically as ‘the mother of my Lord’ with the words ‘Blessed are you among women, (l:42) and records Mary’s song of praise (l:46-55). MARY gave birth to Jesus under humble conditions at Bethlehem, towards the end of Herod the Great’s reign. (Matthew 2:1; Lk. 1:5, 2.4) Both Matthew and Luke. Record their living at Nazareth after the birth. Mathew alone mentions the flight under angelic directions into Egypt for four of five years, where several areas are still venerated for their presence there.
A single appealing glimpse of Christ’s childhood is given to us by Luke (2:41-51) where the supposedly ‘lost’ boy was found mystifying the temple priests with his insights and the well known reply: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Clark pp. 80, 82) He was “particularly engaged in Father’s business, the very work to which His Father had appointed Him.” (Talmage pp. 114-115)
Other references to MARY are few but informative. She did not seem to accompany him on his missionary journeys. But she was with him at the marriage in Cana where, as some believe was a marriage of Christ to a wife. (Jn. 2:1) Her instructions to the wedding master after conferring with her Son “whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” (Jn. 2:11) This brought a subdued rebuke: ‘O woman, what have you to do with me?” (Ibid v. 4), reveals amazement rather than harshness (Lk. 3:49). The tender use of the same word gynai, ‘woman’ in Jn 19:26; Mk. 3:31, where the Lord places spiritual fidelity above family relationship. (Lk. 5:35; 11:27; Douglas p.959) Then we see her at the foot of the Cross (Jn. 19:25-26-27) when she and the beloved John are entrusted by Him to each other’s care. Elsewhere she and the disciples are described as ‘devoting themselves’ to prayers. (Acts 1:14) John may have taken her with him in her later years to his home in southwestern Turkey where she may have passed away long before he became aged and finally translated.
There are many gaps in the record which pious legend have not been slow to fill. The Book of Mormon pressed beyond historical limits as noted above. General Church authorities, most notably, J.Reuben Clark, have also provided insights; so we notice here MARY’s humility, obedience, obvious devotion and a tender mothers care of a son she knew to be the literal son of God, she was JESUS CHRIST’s mother.
HIS FIRST PASSOVER
“It was the third day of the PASSOVER-UNLEAVENED BREAD FEAST. It was Nisan 16th.” (Clark p. 71) JESUS, now old enough, could attend the services with JOSEPH. On the first day the Paschal lamb had been killed and eaten, the necessary burnt offering had been made; on the second day, Joseph had offered his peace offering, or Festive sacrifice, and on the evening of that day, the first sheaf had been garnered and threshed and the OMER of flour waved and offered to the LORD. These were the full essentials for which personal presence was required. (Clark p. 71) Joseph and Mary were then free to return home. So on the 16th of Nisan ‘when they had fulfilled the days’ they made preparations for their return and said all their goodbys and farewells. And the caravan likely started the journey home. Their intended first stop, tradition tells us, was a Beer or El Birch, a town ten miles northwards from Jerusalem. The absence of Jesus was not probably noticed until they made the evening camp, when they found He was not “among their kinsfolk and acquaintances.” They hurriedly returned to Jerusalem to find him. After three days of frantic search they found him. (Clark pp. 71-74)
They must have returned to Jerusalem that night because a walking person can cover at least 2 miles in an hour, with ten miles to go, they could have made it back late that evening or early the next morning and began their search which lasted three days. “That Jesus deliberately planned to stay behind when the others went, can admit of little question…his failure to go with Joseph and Mary was either a matter of chance or accident…[it wasn’t either] He yet had work to do in the Temple…He knew He must now begin to be about his Father’s business. He must make his beginning.” (Clark p. 75) “Jesus was now a ‘son of the law.’ He was twelve years old. He was entitled to wear, if not wearing, the Tephillin or phylacteries. He would not be under such strict supervision as when younger. He would be given greater responsibility and allowed greater freedom…maturity came earlier in those days, besides he was already casting aside His mortality and assuming his spirituality and mission, He was …allowed many privileges that amongst us would come three or four years later. It is not strange therefore, that his absence from the group was not detected until the evening camp was reached.” (Clark p. 74)
“There can be no doubt that Jesus had been deeply stirred by what He had seen and heard and done on this His first participation in the Temple sacrifices and ceremonies of the Passover… how much [was] Jesus conscious of the past of which He was the directing power, and with what fullness did He foresee the future.” (Clark p. 74)
“He must have seen them [the temple priests and doctors] holding their interviews with visitors during the two days He was at the Temple with Joseph.” (Clark p. 75) Had he made the acquaintances of these learned men the first day after the family’s departure? Had they arranged somehow for his nightly lodging while his family searched for him? “Or did the angels care for Him?” as they would later during his temptations. (Clark p. 75) “After three days of worried search they found him in the temple area sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.” Clark p. 76) Did they first look for him among their relatives or friends, and perhaps in likely quarters in the city itself? “At any rate, the Temple was the last place they searched.” (Clark p. 76)
So as Joseph and Mary crossed the Royal Tyropoeon Bridge, went through the great arch into the Temple precincts, they would have been hard pressed by the seething, jostling multitude and crowds on this last day of the Feast. They searched under the pillared canopy of Solomon’s Porch, along the east wall of the Temple where years later Jesus parried the Jew’s demand for Him to tell them plainly if He was the Christ. (Clark p. 76) He was not there, they sought Him in the court of the women, the farthest point toward the Temple to which Mary might go except she were upon a sacrificial errand. Here was the colonnade and galleries for the women,” (Clark p. 77), and children. Here was where the widow gave her mite, her all. He was not there. Mary could not go into the Court of Israel, so they didn’t find him there, because she was with Joseph when they found him. If they were going to find him in or near the temple, it has to be a place where MARY could go. But He was not in the Court of the Priests where some of the learned were gathered. The last place to search in the Temple was the Court of the Gentiles, where the money changers had twice experienced the whipping from the Lord himself as he drove them from the Temple. Exhausted, desperate, anguished, they moved through the crowds, around the ornamental marble balustrade with the Greek and Latin inscriptions warning gentiles not to go within it toward the Temple on pain of death. Inside the balustrades were eight separate flights of fourteen steps, nine inches high each, four flights on the north side of the Temple and four on the South side, each flight leading upwards to a gate to the inner Temple Wall. But He was not there. These steps lead to a terrace that entirely encircled the inner Temple Wall. Here the Temple Sanhedrin came to teach on the Sabbaths and Feast days. They were there then. They would meet depending on the shadow of the sun, especially the north side where there was relief from the sun. In the cool shadows, the area was called the “Chel”. They would walk eastward, then northward in front of the Beautiful gate, past the entrance to the Court of Women, and the Temple proper. But, not finding Him, they then turned westward, along the “Chel” around the outside of the inner Temple wall, which would then lead to the exit from the temple. Then where would they go to try to find Him? They went forward slowly probably paying little attention to those who might be in front of them on the ’Chel’ itself, so as they entered into the shadow of the temple falling across the terrace on the north side of the building, they suddenly came upon a quiet group, straining forward with intense interest, absorbed in their eager listening to a youthful voice, speaking as they came to the group. The searchers were “amazed’ for there in the midst of the doctors was Jesus; whom they had sought for three long days, anxious days—‘Amazed,’ at finding Him in this place, in this company! in this relationship to the learned and mighty ones of the nation!. (Clark p. 79)
“Seeing Him safe and well, had uppermost in their minds only a sense of overwhelming relief and gratitude, whetted by a resentment of their needless poignant anxiety and sorrow at His long absence, and so His mother, not Joseph, broke forth in such reproof as she could offer to the hitherto perfect Son: “Son why has thou dealt with us? Behold, they father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And the Son, unabashed, unchastised, unafraid, with the calm dignity of the divinity that was His replied to this reproof with a question-- in the after years of His ministry, this answering with a question, was to be a favorite shield against His scheming, hypocritical inquisitors. To MARY the mother He said: “how is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Clark p. 79- 80) Then says the record: “And they understood not the saying which He spake unto them.” But, we today, may perceive, in part at least, the truths that lay in and behind these sayings, because the ATONEMENT and RESTORATION are behind us. But we, from what MARY said, get a glimpse in to the intimacies of the family circle at Nazareth that JESUS gave to Joseph the love and respect of a SON, and called him father. But Jesus knew that MARY KNEW and that JOSEPH KNEW better than this, and so came the saying. But there was more in the saying than was known to Joseph and Mary. There was the consciousness in JESUS, NOT ALONE OF WHO He was but of His mission here on earth. He knew that centuries before God had declared to Moses: “For behold, this is my work and my glory –to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39) This was HIS FATHER’S BUSINESS, and HE MUST BE ABOUT IT…the divinity that was in Him, told Him also, under the spur of the Mother’s mild rebuke, that His time had not yet come, that there was mortal preparation for Himself yet to make.” (Clark pp. 82) There were eighteen years yet to go for Him to make his preparations for His mission on earth wherein He would increase in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God to fulfil HIS EXALTED DESTINY.
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