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BOOK OF MORMON NAMES FOUND ON CLAY TABLETS

THE AKKADIAN DICTIONARY

MARY-THE SISTER OF MARTHA to MATHONIAH

INTRODUCTION

We continue on with the name of MARY and those women with that name who played prominent roles in the life of Jesus Christ, many of them supporting in a financial manner the activities of the Christ. One hosted the first prayer and meeting activities of the church. Some of the threads that linked the various families were followed and relationships established.  Some of the women were candidates for being wives of Christ, certainly Mary Magdalene qualified.  Encountered again was another name with rich links to history and things Egyptian, Adamic, Abrahamic, Hebrew and Jaredite. The name  MATHONI took us on a road less traveled because of its antiquity and yet links to far- a- way places and times such as the early Dynasties of Egypt that link the Jaredites, Abraham and the prophet Joseph and the restoration together, such as the great center of ON, or HELIOPOLUS, where the frightened ASENATH found the husband forced on her by the absolute leader of the land, was the great Joseph who was sold into Egypt that there might be Ephraimites today;  you are  probably one of them, or Manasseh, the descendants of these two brothers make up most of the membership of the church today.  So, I am not writing about ancient people, I am writing about my people and most likely yours.

MARY-THE SISTER OF MARTHA

This MARY appears by name only in Luke. (Luke. 10:38-42) and John.  (John. 11:1) as the MARY OF BETHANY. (Buttrick p. 288).  In Luke it is recorded that after the return of the Seventy Jesus came into a village about 1.2 miles east of the summit of the MOUNT of OLIVES, called BETHANY. Here, a family with at least one son, LAZURUS, and at least two daughters, MARY and MARTHA lived in one of the most beautiful and tranquil places on earth.  While there, on one occasion, I had a wonderful, penetrating, spiritual experience. Of all the places you conjure up or recall where Jesus stopped, rested or lived, after he began his ministry, it seems that here, in BETHANY, he was truly loved. In just thinking about it I can renew that experience again.  It is John who gives us the description of the meeting at BETHANY, between JESUS and the sisters after the raising of LAZARUS, one of his great miracles because he deliberately  arrived at the tomb of Lazarus four days after his death. (Clark pp. 340-341; John 11:17-46)

THE ANNOINTING OF THE HEAD AND FEET OF JESUS WITH SPIKENARD

MARY is described as one who anointed THE HEAD of the Lord with spikenard  and anointed his FEET  with the same costly spikenard and wiped His feet with her hair. (HURD p. 142) This anointing with spikenard was an expression of adoration, it was an act of reverential homage rarely rendered even to kings. (Talmage p. 512) MARTHA is rebuked by the LORD for complaining about her sister MARY who listened to his ‘word.’ (John 11:1, 12:1) rather than helping with the preparation for a meal. Yet it was to MARTHA that Jesus first declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (Hurd p. 140) Looking closer at the anointing of His head by MARY, JESUS reinterpreted the act in the light of his coming DEATH,  extending the meaning farther because of her ascription to Him by the anointing of His head gave royal dignity in the light of His foreknowledge of the coming demands of the ATONEMENT and His coming suffering, that he had been trying to tell them about and to expect. He declared it an anointing of HIS body, beforehand for burying. (Mark 14:8; Buttrick p. 289), which final ANNOINTING was never  accomplished, time consumed the events that soon followed, His  agony in the garden and on the cross, His  death, the sojourn in the spirit world, and resurrection.  That was the intent on the part of those heading for the tomb that Sunday morning to complete that anointing. But it was never fulfilled.

JOHN pictures MARY  as the contemplative type, indifferent to mundane matters, absorbed in the truth about the kingdom of God, and its INAUGURATOR.  JOHN pictures her as grieving inconsolably over her brother’s death. (John 11:20, 31), devoted to Jesus, cognizant of his power (vs.32), and effusively thankful for the superlatively wonderful restoration of her brother from the dead after all was lost. (John 12:l-3. Buttrick p. 289) But, again, it was to MARTHA that JESUS had declared: ”I am the resurrection, and the life.” (Deen p. 261) Deep doctrine for those who are chosen for eternal life and glory!

MARY MAGDALENE

MARY MAGDALENE,  “The name Mapia, “Mary’ is found in major manuscripts of the New Testament.  ‘Mariam’ sister of Moses, is a well known variant of MAPIA. It appears also in the form MAPIAUUN, ‘MARIAMME.(Finnegan p. 235) Review MARY in the previous entry to this web site.  MAGDELENE derives from the Galilean town of MAGDALA, her home town.  It is near the shore of Galilee.  I have visited the town and region several times.  This MARY was one of the women who was cured of possession by evil spirits, who accompanied the LORD and his disciples during His evangelistic ministry, from whom ‘seven demons had gone out.’ (MARK. 16:9) Her appearance prior to the passion narratives is confined to LUKE. 8:2. The nature of her illness is not identified.  Other churches have tried to equate her with the sinful woman of Luke  7, but the argument does not hold water. The debate is still in progress because of old and recent Coptic discoveries in Egypt, including the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Phillip, as well as other documents. Because MARY MAGDALENE is a candidate for being a wife of JESUS, on the basis that a teacher of the status of JESUS would have been required to have been or be married by the time he was thirty. JESUS was never challenged on this, it may have been taken as a given, and no criticism was ever leveled against him for the women in his entourage of which MARY was one of them.  There is much current debate over the recent publication by Karen King, Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, of the GOSPEL OF JESUS’ WIFE and THE COPTIC GOSPEL OF JOHN. (Saga of the Gospel of Jesus’Wife, BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY , MAY/JUNE 2015; and KAREN KING on “Jesus’ Wife,” BAR September/October p. 8, 2015)            

MARY was at the crucifixion in company of other women who had journeyed with the LORD from GALILEE. She had gone to the tomb, with other women bringing spices to more thoroughly anoint and embalm the body, the only loving service left to render the dead. She, with others, on the Friday before, had watched as they took the cross down [with permission from Pilate] and Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemous, removed the nails, washed the body, tenderly took the body of the Lord, washed HIM,  and hastily, because there was little  time as the Sabbath approached for them to do more than quickly wrap  HIS body in fresh linen [and the spices they had brought] and lay it in a new sepulcher, for nearby there was a garden, called Joseph’s garden, where Joseph brought  the body of THE LORD  into his own sepulcher.  (Clark pp. 439 -442; Gospel of Peter, chap. V1; Finnegan pp. 234-235)

“MARY MAGDALENE and MARY the mother of JESUS beheld where he was laid.” (Matt. 27:47) “And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.   And there came also NICODEMUS, which at the first, came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about one hundred pounds weight.” [They must have placed these around the body of Jesus at the wrapping and laying Jesus in the Sepulcher.] (John 19:38-39) 

HAVE YOU PREACHED TO THOSE WHO SLEEP?

The Jews had “asked Pilate for a guard…Pilate sent Petronius the Centurion with soldiers…they, together with the elders and scribes rolled a great stone against the entrance to the sepulcher, sealed it with seven seals, pitched a tent, and kept guard….a continuous  crowd came from Jerusalem and the surrounding country to see the sealed sepulcher. [then in the nigh] a mild earthquake occurred]…as the soldiers were keeping watch two by two there was a loud voice in heaven, and they saw two men come down in much light and enter the tomb, where the stone rolled away of itself….they saw three men coming out of the tomb, two supporting the other…From heaven a voice said: “you have preached to them that sleep?” (Finnegan p. 234), expressing a doctrine first enunciated canonically in 1 Peter [chapters 3 & 4]”…Peter 3:19—and… came the answer. “Yes.” (Finnegan p. 234)  The LDS will see this as a confirmation of their doctrine of where Christ had spent the last partial three days: IN THE SPIRIT WORLD. (D&C 138:2-6) The GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS, another Coptic Text, ”tell of two sons of SIMEON, who have themselves returned from Hades, tell in detail of seeing Christ upon his visit there.” (Finnegan p. 237)  Few people realize Enoch saw many of the earlier saints resurrected and come forth at this time. (Moses 7:56-57) Only an LDS member would recognize the significance of the content of the ancient documents Finnegan studied and wrote about, and modern revelation. Joseph got it right the first time.

THE PRIESTLY CONSPIRACY AND FALSEHOOD

It is early in the morning of the first day of the week, Sunday. MARY MAGDALENE, while it was still dark [5:30 AM] left for the tomb. Other women had agreed to meet there. On the way they expressed concern: “who was going to roll the large stone from the entrance.’  But not to worry, the earth trembled, and, as noted, two angels descended and the stone rolled away.  Pilate’s guards became as dead men, (Matthew 27:64-66; Clark pp.445-447). At the earthquake “the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone form the door, and sat upon it; His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow,; and for fear of him the keepers [guards] did shake, and became as dead men.” Matt. 28:2-4)

“When yet another man descended from heaven and entered the sepulcher, the centurion’s company          abandoned the place and went to …. Pilate, even though it was still night.” (Finnegan p. 234) Then they were bribed and told “to tell none what they had seen.” (Ibid) CHRIST as a resurrected being is lingering close by.

MARY, having left early while it was dark arrived at the sepulcher “and seeth [BLEPO], the stone taken away from the sepulcher. [but she did seem to have looked in, it being dark] Then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him….So they ran both together; and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher.”  (John 20:1-4) MARY followed behind.  Where was Peter?  Where had Peter gone when he had denied the Lord three times? He was with John, and consequently in company with John and the Virgin Mother of our Lord. “John had taken her to his home. This is the only place from which we learn where Peter went after he had denied his Lord. The last picture we have of him prior …is the man with a broken heart, going out…what became of him during the dark intervening hours between the crucifixion of the Lord and his rising? Here we find John had taken him in….blessed be… John…that he found Peter and took him in during that dark period.” (Campbell pp. 308-309) Within hours Peter would see the resurrected and living LORD.

 When JOHN  arrived he,stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying, and went he not in. (John 20:5)   That was a little more than Mary saw. She had not stopped to investigate. “He stopped and looking in saw the linen cloths lying…Peter did not stand outside, but went right in and ‘He beholdeth the linen cloths lying, and the napkin…rolled up in a place by itself…then John…went in and…he saw, and believed.”(Morgan p. 308) Just what did they see?

Peter and John turned around and left, returning to their abode. They had not even stopped to explain anything to MARY. She did not leave.

MARY,  JOHN and PETER used their eyes, but JOHN uses different words to described what they did and what they saw. John seeth the linen cloths lying, Peter beholdeth the linen cloths lying, and the napkin… rolled up in a place by itself. The hundred pounds of spices added to the wrappings were still in place undisturbed, they, like the napkin, were still in place. No human hand had touched anything. 

“It is said that MARY ‘Seeth,’ … the Greek verb, which means JUST T0 SEE, quite the ordinary word….John came…looked in…he also saw in that way, the linen cloths lying. When Peter came, he beheld. The word for Peter’s use of his eyes is theoreo,…[he was astonished at what he realized, he became the first to know the LORD WAS RESURRECTED!]. Theoreo was far more than mere seeing. It means that he looked critically and carefully…an effect was producedJohn, encouraged, went in. Now we have an entirely different word.  It is the word eido. This word while describing the use of their eyes, always conveys the idea of apprehension and understanding of the thing seen.” (Morgan p. 309) 

“When JOHN went in he saw…he understood, and therefore believed.  Intelligent  apprehension  produced absolute conviction!” (Morgan p. 309) Of what?  What had they seen?

Mary saw the stone rolled away…the entrance unguarded. She assumed it was empty.  “John saw a little more. He looked in, and saw grave cloths lying, fallen flat, but lying just as they were, except that there was evidence that the B0DY was  NOT there.  BUT EVERYTHING ELSE WAS with no sign of any kind of disturbance.  When Peter came in, he EXAMINED closely.  What did he see?  Peter saw the grave cloths as they had been wound about the BODY OF JESUS, with all the spices in the windings, undisturbed, except that those wound around the body had fallen…[collapsed in place]. THEY WERE NOT UNWOUND.  The most significant statement is that the napkin was lying by itself separately, and it was still in the folds as it had been about the head of JESUS….the wrappings of the head was never a part of the wrapping on the body, but was separate….when Peter looked, he saw the grave cloths lying. John had seen that, but that fact had no particular significance for him, except that it did prove at the first glance that the body of Jesus was not there, because they had fallen flat. He did not see the napkin. Peter saw that also. He discovered that the grave cloths had not been disturbed.  They were just as they were when Joseph of Armathaea and Nicodemus left them. The wrappings were still there; the spices had not escaped….the napkin, wrapped in a peculiar way about the head was undisturbed, folden up.’  That word does not mean smoothed out. The napkin was still in the folds that had been wound around the head…John entered…he saw…he understood. There had been no disturbance in that tomb. No rude hand had gone in and torn away the wrappings, Not even the hands of lovers had touched the dead body which Joseph of Arimethaea and NIcodemus had left there. John saw and believed. His Lord was not there. He was RISEN!  As yet they had NOT seen Jesus. He had not appeared to them, but the demonstration of the resurrection came in a STONE ROLLED AWAY, [an EMPTY TOMB], and  UNDISTURBED GRAVE CLOTHS. [the 100 pounds of spices were not scattered all over the place, they were still in the folds of the grave cloths!]  The TOMB WAS EMPTY. HE HAD GONE. THE ULTIMATE SIGN WAS COMPLETE.”  HE WAS RISEN. (Morgan pp. 309-310)  What else had JOHN SAW TO BELIEVE? The angels “who rolled the stone away did not do so for Him to leave the tomb, but to show He was gone. He had gone ….without disturbing the grave cloths. John saw that, he understood, he mentally apprehended the meaning of the sight which fell upon his astonished vision. Therefore he believed. (Morgan p. 311)

MARY had arrived back at the tomb while PETER and J0HN were still in the tomb.  She was without at the tomb weeping, but she had not understood.  Peter and John did not seem to have stopped and talked to her. A little fellowship might have been helpful, but they had gone away and left her. “Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.” (John 20:10) In their emotional condition that could be understood. What was she doing? She was weeping.  The Greek word there means sobbing.  It is not merely that tears were trickling down her face. She was CONVULSED with her WEEPING and  ANGUISH. “She stooped and looked into the tomb.” (John 20:11)

“And seeth [THEOREO] two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. [the grave cloths in between them]” (John 20:12) She knew the body was gone. She had found that out, but ANGELS were sitting there! And they say unto her, “Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” (John 20:13) When she had run to tell Peter and John what she had seen, she said: “They have taken way THE LORD out of the tomb. “  In her mind He was still for her “the Lord” using the absolute term. But with the angels she uses the personal word.  “They have taken away MY LORD. Mary was true till death, and beyond it. He was dead, she had seen them remove him from the cross, prepare him to lay in a borrowed tomb, saw where he was laid, spent the whole first night nearby, came before dawn on Sunday morning to further reverence his body only to be horrified by an empty tomb.  Do you feel rebuked at MARY’s  total devotion? He was for her MY LORD. He might be dead and buried, but for her he was still HER LORD. He was not extinguished from her deepest feeling.

THE ANGELS DID NOT ANSWER HER. “And when she had thus said, she turned herself back…”(John 20:14) The angels did not satisfy her breaking heart. They had not answered her, they had not told her anything about Him. She turned her back on them, sobbing her heart out.  But they knew someone else, HER LORD would take care of that breaking heart. She saw someone standing there. (Clark pp. 348-349; Morgan p. 313 )“…and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her Woman, why weepiest thou?”  Hadn’t the angels just said that? “Whom seekest thou.? She, supposing him to be the gardener, [at that moment he was to her a very understanding man, who knew that a woman standing  by an empty tomb, weeping, [sobbing] was seeking someone. ”….  saith unto him, SIR, [a respectful address] if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.” (John 20:14-15) MARY may have been a very strong and healthy woman, but hardly equal to carrying a dead man, but love is capable of and willing to do any difficult thing. ”Just tell me where he is and I will go get him and take him away.”

Then “Jesus saith unto her, MARY.  She turned herself, and saith unto him Rabboni, which is to say, MASTER.” (John 20:16)  She reaches out to embrace him. Jesus saith unto her, TOUCH ME NOT, for I am not ye ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God.”  (John  20:17; Morgan pp. 310-314) Which she set off to do.

JESUS SAITH: “MARY’ “I cannot interpret that, in any tone of voice of which I am capable, so as to reveal the significance of that “MARY.”  It is possible to utter a name in such a way as to call back all memories, and reveal all endearments. That is what Jesus did. He just said “MARY.” (Morgan p. 313)

“Then she said, “RABBONI.”  That may be rendered “MY MASTER.”…John is very careful to tell us what is meant in her case. “She turneth herelf and saith unto Him in Hebrew, Rabboni.”…which is to say, MASTER.” (John 20:16)  But that is not what John wrote. He used the word Didaskalos. TEACHER. That reveals how far she had gone. It was very far. It was very wonderful, but it proved her ignorance of the final facts concerning Him. Immediately she approached him to take hold of Him.”  (Morgan pp. 313-314; John 16)

“He did not say “Touch me not.”  The Revised Version, in the margin reads, “Take not hold on Me.” Our LORD did not say. You are not to touch ME. He said, MARY, not that way, you are not to take hold of Me, to cling to Me like that.” (Morgan p. 314) The Joseph Smith Inspired Version supports this; It says “HOLD ME NOT; for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them,  I ascend unto my father, and your Father, and to my God and your G0D.”  (JST John  20:17)

Nothing more is said. The insistence to go and tell the disciples she had seen Him, that He is Risen, made her go immediately to fulfil this command. “MARY MAGDALENE came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.” (John 20:18)

THE OTHER WOMEN

Mark tells us when the Sabbath was past, MARY MAGDALENE and MARY THE MOTHER OF JAMES, [ONE OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES, but not the brother of John]   and SALOME, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him.” (Mark 16:l) Luke tells us “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they [Mary Magdalene had gone ahead while it was still dark, she was not with this group of women]’ came unto the sepulcher bringing the spices which they had prepared [the day before], and CERTAIN OTHERS, with them. (Luke 24:1) Without MARY MAGDALENE, who was alone, the women included MARY THE MOTHER OF JAMES, AND SALOME. JOANNA is listed among the others, since others is plural, an unnamed woman, or women, were also present. (JST Luke 24:9) MARY THE MOTHER OF JAMES, ‘THE OTHER MARY,’ and MARY OF CLOPAS, seem to refer to the same person. Given the list in MARK 15:45, with reference to ‘many other women’ some women are not identified as participants in the events of that morning. There were many nameless women with the company “….they had followed Jesus to the cross because He had blessed them, healed them, and their gratitude was great. They did little but watch, but their watching had meaning and purpose. They showed unflinching courage and extreme faithfulness in remaining close to Jesus throughout the long hours of His suffering, His death, burial and they were singular  witnesses of the resurrection.” (Dean pp. 370-371)

“ CLOPAS, CLEOPAS or CLEOPHAS, was the brother of Joseph, husband to MARY MOTHER OF JESUS. (Douglas p. 960) CLEOPAS would have been the brother-in-law of MARY MOTHER OF JESUS, and an uncle to JESUS. CLEOPAS  and LUKE, were the two disciples Christ walked with on the road to Emmaus. (Mark 16:11; Luke 24:13, 18; Talmage p. 685)

 “And very early in the morning, the first day of the week (Sunday) they [the women] came unto the sepulcher at the RISING OF THE SUN.” (Mark 16:1)  Nearly all events discussed above had taken place. MARY MAGDALENE had left the tomb area and was heading back to tell the disciples of her experience with the resurrected Christ. “And they said amongst themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre. And when they looked they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. [they went over to the entrance] And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.” [In the Inspired Version, verse 3 of Mark 16, there are TWO MEN, in agreement with ancient documents, Finnegan p. 234],  (Mark 16:5) “And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” (Luke 24:3) “And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold TWO MEN stood by them in shining garments. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they [the angels] said unto them Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but RISEN: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words.” (Luke 24:4-8) “Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is RISEN; HE is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go on your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.” (Mark p. 16:6-7) The angels had invited the other women to see the place where HE HAD LAIN. Then they were told to go on their way.  The angels declared: HE IS RISEN; HE IS NOT HERE!  GLORIOUS! Astonished, the women seemed to have understood- JESUS WAS GONE.

“As they went to tell the disciples, behold, JESUS  met them, [was there a gate to this garden tomb area? Where did he meet them, it was nearby] saying, All hail. And they came and HELD HIM by His feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid; go tell my brethren that they go unto Galilee, and there shall they see me.” (Matthew 28:9-10) “While the women were going to tell the disciples of the resurrection, some of the watch go to the city and tell the chief priests all the things that are done.”  (Clark pp. 451-452) “They gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say Ye, His disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.” (Mathew 28:12-13) It was not a long time since MARY had departed. The women had missed her. But someone else had seen Jesus and Mary separate and what had followed next.

THE VISION OF ENOCH-ENOCH THE WITNESS OF THE ASCENTION

 JESUS  had ascended briefly to his father. On the cross his last words had been: “FATHER IT IS FINISHED, THY WILL IS DONE.” (JST Matthew 27:54) Then he spent the time from his death to his resurrection in the Spirit World. And after MARY LEFT HIM IN THE GARDEN ALONE,  for a  few moments JESUS HAD ASCENDED TO THE FATHER. JESUS WAS WITH THE FATHER. That meeting of the FATHER and THE SON, HOW GLORIOUS IT WAS. DID THEY WEEP?   The infinite and eternal ATONEMENT was now a reality. THE WHOLE UNIVERSE KNEW IT.

“And ENOCH  beheld the SON OF MAN ASCEND UP UNTO THE FATHER; and he called unto the Lord, saying:  Wilt thou not come again upon the earth….And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the day of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfil the oath which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah.” (Moses 7:59-60) JESUS had this very short encounter with Enoch before he returned to the Tomb area and to His encounter with the OTHER WOMEN.

“To a woman, to Mary of Magdala, was given the honor of being the FIRST AMONG MORTALS, anywhere, to behold a resurrected soul, the lord JESUS. Later he would show himself and let himself be held by other favored women.” (Talmage p. 681) As we noted above, Peter was the first to  know Christ was resurrected, then John saw and believed [the same evidence].. But Mary was the first to see him ALIVE, converse with him, perhaps even to have touched Him. “ … as it was through the feminine sex that the Lord had chosen to announce to man the joy of the resurrection.” (Haskins p. 217) 

MARY MAGDALENE, in her haste HAD arrived AT THE TOMB before the others. She had braved the darkness of the shadows and cruelty of the persecutors to visit the sepulcher in the dark. (Haskins p. 214)  John tells of her brief encounter with JESUS, the first to behold HIM as a resurrected being. HE had not yet ascended to the father.  HE told her not to hold HIM THAT WAY.  What can describe her feelings when she recognized him in her anguish?  (Jn. 20:17; JST John 20:17; Morgan p. 315) John tell us that she told the disciples what she had seen and heard, but Mark says  “they believed her not”           (John 20:18; Mark 16:11;  Clark pp. 448-440)  By the time the day was over, many had SEEN, HEARD AND         FELT the resurrected Lord. And they believed! (Talmage 683-689; Clark pp. 454-455; Luke 24:33))            

MARY THE MOTHER OF JAMES THE YOUNGER, JOSE AND LEVI

MARY the wife of Cleopas was discussed above under THE OTHER WOMENMARY the mother of James the younger [an apostle] and of Jose, and a third son Levi (Mark 2:14) was present at the crucifixion in the company of Mary Magdalene and Salome. (Mark 15:40, 47) And present at the tomb when he was placed in Joseph’s own sepulcher. (Mark 15:47; Matthew 27:61; Luke 23:1-7; Buttrick p. 289) . She is called Maria he Iosetos, and in Mark 16:l she reappears as Mary the mother of James with Salome and Mary Magdalene as one who brought spices to the tomb on the morning of the resurrection. Luke 24:10 adds Joanna to the list of women.  She was among those privileged to see angels, hold the Christ, and report their witness to the disciples, who didn’t believe them. (Clark pp. 449-451)  To repeat, Joanna  was the wife of the brother of Joseph, uncle to JESUS. (Douglas p. 960)                        

MARY THE MOTHER OF MARK

This MARY is the MOTHER OF JOHN MARK, the young man who fled when they tore off his garment from the Garden of Gethsemane ,The sole NEW TESTAMENT  reference to this MARY occurs in Acts. (Acts  12:12) After Peter’s escape from prison (Ibed 12:11) it is to her house in Jerusalem located on the south end of the western hill of Mount Zion, a residential section in the time of Jesus, there the overwhelming event known as Pentecost may have taken place. (Acts 2:1)  Her house was evidently a meeting place for prayers for Christians, he goes there first. (Deen pp. 211-212)  MARK  is described as the cousin of Barnabas (Col. 4:10), Barnabas was evidently MARY’s’ nephew. (Douglas p. 960)  BARNABAS was selected to replace Judas, and became one of the Apostles added to the original twelve.  He served with Paul, Luke, Mark, and Peter in the area of Tarsus, Antioch and Jerusalem. He may have been one of the Seventy before being chosen as an Apostle. The Book of Acts is full of references to him. (Buttrick p. 356) 

MARY’S  home being used for a church is the first example, of record, of a home serving as a meeting place.  She is named as the owner of the house. She was likely a widow, and a wealthy one at that for her dwelling contained an area large enough for the Christians to meet in and she had servants. (Gardiner p. 287) It appears that RHODA  was only one of the maids of Mary. (Acts 12:13; Deen p. 212) This MARY  no doubt contributed financially to the ministry of CHRIST.

MARY- FRIEND OF PAUL

A faithful convert and earnest disciple, MARY, is greeted by Paul in a communication he sent.   Her name appears among the 24 people listed in Romans 16 to whom Paul sent greeting (v. 6). There she is described as one who ‘worked hard’ in (or for) the church.  Otherwise nothing is known of her. (Douglas p. 960)

MARY- ST. PAUL’S SISTER

St. Paul’s sister (Acts 23:16) was the mother of a SON, who seems to have resided with her, probably in Jerusalem. He gave information to the chief captain of the plot to kill PAUL. It may be inferred that Paul’s sister was connected with some of the more prominent families. (Deen  p. 348)   Nothing more is known of the sister or the son.  But he did save Paul’s life. I wonder what happened to this Nephew of    one of the greatest of the servants of CHRIST.

MATHONI                          

MATHONI was one of the 12 Nephite disciples, considered as Apostles. He was the brother of MATHONIHAH, also a member of the 12.  MATHONI is an excellent example of an internal Hypocoristicon, an abbreviation for Diety, for the name of his brother.  MAHONI has an Egyptain suffix, to which the Nephites, in mixing Egyptain and Hebrew,  have added as a suffix -HAH, or -IHAH, an abbreviation for JEHOVAH

As we tear this name apart we get the elements, M, MA, MAT, MATH, for a possible prefix. For the suffix elements we find  HONI, ONI, ON, I.  The suffix –ni or just –l, is a Hebrew element frequently found in West Semitic names and has been referred to before. It represents the first person singular verbal suffix, it is present in eight Book of Mormon names.  But it is also found in the ancient MARASU  documents adding to its pre-Hebrew antiquity. (Coogan p. 109) There is very little else in the northern Mesopotamian languages, such as AKKADIAN, HITTITE, EBLAITE, MARI, ASSYRIAN, ELAMATIC, SUMERIAN LISTS on which we can hang an affirmative parallel. In some Arabic and Egyptian sources there is MAAT, but the name is feminine and represents a diety. Nibley compares the brother’s names with the names of two priests, MAITENA and MATTENA,   from the ancient Mediterranean coastal port city TYRE of the Phoenicians. (Nibley Vol. 5  p. 23)

Clearly MATHONI is a male name.  And when we look closely at the suffix elements ON, in that list of languages, we have to recall that most of them  do not have an O or use an O in their names and words
So it is unproductive to look for the name MATHONI in any of those languages.  But we can certainly recognize the ON, which stands out.  Asenath who married Joseph, was the daughter of Poti-pherah, the high priest of ON. (Gen. 41-45) We are immediately struck by the ON and ONI elements where there is obvious Egyptian connections.  Another look at the name and we find the prefix ELEMENT is MATH, and the suffix element is ON, with an -I ending, as just discussed.  MATH has two Egyptian hieroglyphics and therefore two meanings, but as we shall  see, the meanings are connected. One meaning is  ‘granite, stone,  or ‘to see.’ But the other meaning, the main meaning is ‘to proclaim or to declare.’  To  Proclaim what?  The name  MATHONI has the suffix of -ON. (HELIOPOLIS), So MATHONI literally means, as will be noted below, to PROCLAIM THE LAW AND WORD OF ON, depending on a few changes in the hieroglyphics.  (Budge p. 276)  Additionally, the suffix may bae extended to ONTIS, and therefore could have the meaning  ‘to proclaim and declare the word and law of the Great God of Light.  In light of the name MATHONIAH, which has the addition of the Hebrew abbreviation for JEHOVAH, -IAH you could get  ‘Proclaim and declare the law and word of the Great God of Light, Jesus Christ or JEHOVAH.’ (NIbley  Vol. 19, p. 120) 

On was a city in Lower Egypt (northern) center of the sun cult. Identical with Heliopolis, mentioned in Genesis 41:45, Ezekiel 30:17.   It is called Matariyeh today. It is a select suburb 5 miles north of modern Cairo. (Grollenberg p.  158, MAPS 10, 20) It was one of the foremost religious cities  of ancient Egypt. (David p. 78)

THE IMPORTANT DYNASTIES OF ANCIENT EGYPT   

In earlier entries in this series we provided charts and chronological summaries, a short review here might help in the discussion that follows: The ARCHAIC PERIOD, which included the lst and 2nd DYNASTIES, 3100 TO 2684 BC, an overlapping period of the ADAMIC  dispensation into what followed after the flood, and the OLD KINGDOM, the 3rd to 6th DYNASTIES, 2686 to 2181 BC, ,  included the time period in which the Tower of Babel was built and the rise and departure of the Jaredites occured. That time period from 2600 BC to 2300 BC is of greatest interest. The ancient Egyptian imitation of the gospel and temple ceremonies  were crystalized and developed at that time. “Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people….seeking earnestly to IMITATE that ORDER, established by the fathers in the first generations in the days of the first patriarchal reign.” (Abraham 1:26-27) “What the Egyptains were looking for was not unlike what the Mormons call an “endowment.””  (Nibley p. 30) 

 The great city State of Ebla was destroyed by 2250 BC, thousands of clay tablets of the Palace Archive were recovered during excavations after 1976, many Book of Mormon names are found on those tablets.  The city was destroyed by the third generation grandson of Sargon who established the AKKADIAN KINGDOM, the language which has so many Jaredite names in its dictionary. This period saw the development of Egypt as a powerful state with a social hierarchy, at the top of which was the KING, who from the first was regarded as divine, though a little below the Gods, but by the 5th DYNASTY he was regarded as the actual son of the sun god, with a tremendous chasm between him and his subjects. The 3rd DYNASTY saw the first great stone structure, the Step Pyramid designed for King DJOSER. By the 4th Dynasty, the kings were buried in true pyramids, the three at GIZEH, built for CHEOPS, CHEPHREN and  MYCERINUS were peak achievements. The construction of the GREAT PRYAMID was for Hemon, son of Senferu and cousin to Cheops. After the 5th Dynasty things got smaller. (David p. 13) Most of what we are interested in discussing took place in Egypt and northern Mesopotamia after 2500 BC and before 2273 BC, near the beginning of the 4th Dynasty and the middle of the 5th Dynasty.

The ancient Egyptian cultic structures were replicas of the COSMOS, UNDERWORLD, SUPPORTS OF HEAVEN AND HEAVEN itself, best known as the, mound of creation, of HELIOPOLIS.  “HAIL  ATUM…you have arisen as the Benben-stone…in the House of the Benben in HELIOPOLIS.” (NIBLEY Vol. 19, p. 118) That shrine is depicted at least twice in THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, Abraham, FACSIMLE 2, Figure 18, a greatly reduced form of the YEAR-RITE, recited by a priest in every Egyptian temple every morning. “None of the great centers existed in splendid isolation…each was part of a larger grid or system…My throne is Heliopolis, my seat is in the White Wall, my house is Hermopolis,...Revelations from heaven were received in the temple of Heliopolis, repeated in Memphis to Ptah, and written down by Thoth, and then sent [proclaim, declare] to Thebes to be deposited from there it was sent forth as the LAW by which all must live.” (Nibley Vol. 19,  p.119)

One of the greatest and oldest of all the cult centers was Heliopolis, “City of the Sun” Djoser had built at Heliopolis “a gigantic circular structure, 600 meters in diameter and 40 meters thick.  Nibley “spent months at Avebury finally concluding that the ideogram for Heliopolis was a STANDING STONE, (MATH), which gave it its Hebrew name, ON (heme).” (Nibley Vol. 19, pp. 119-120)  From a single stone, MATH, as noted above, the stone became a column of standing stones, of granite, then halls of columns. “The scale of the arrangements was sometimes colossal, pyramids and obelisks tall enough to catch the first rays of the sun while the world was in shadow, pits of appalling depth draw the mind into the underworld. Finally the temple ‘mirrors the human body in every detail’  The Point was to make everything as REAL as possible, or as the Book of Abraham says: ‘Seeking earnestly to imitate’ the real thing.”  (Nibley Vol. 19, p. 120; Abraham l:36) Also note the obelisks for Joseph and Hyrum, commemorating the years they lived are patterned after those of Egypt.  (Nibley Vol. 19,  p. 343) Also patterned after MATH.

“The most important event in the history of the Universe, according to the Egyptians, was the heliacal rising of Sirius, when Sirius, the sun, and the Nile all rose together in the morning of the New Year, the day of creation, officially proclaimed [proclaimed and declared is the meaning of MATH] “from the great observatory of Heliopolis…connected in the rites as…in the Book of Abraham…the God of Pharaoh, and also…the god of Shagreel…the sun” receiving sacrifices side by side at Potiphar’s Hill.”  (Abraham 1:9; Nibley p. 174) “Shagreel, nothing is more familiar to the student of the NEAR EAST than theophoric names ending in –el, [El-Elohim], hence SHAGRE—EL,SHAGRE-EL, is GOD”…Now the god of Shagreel was the sun.” (Abraham 1:9; Nibley Vol. 19, p. 175) 

“Essential for the production and maintenance of life…is exactly the function of the four canopic figures that comprise figure 6 of FACSIMILE 1 in the Book of Abraham.  On the Calendar Stone of Ancient Mexico, the pyramids or triangles,  each showing the sacred angle of 36o found on the pentegram marking the great circle, suggesting the repeated image of the city of Heliopolis on the RIM of the Joseph smith hypocephalus.”  (Nibley p. 202; 606-7, fig. 72; Abraham Facsimile 2) Evidence “…of the dominance of the golden section in the Pyramids of Egypt and significantly in the phi proportion which is unique to the Joseph Smith hypocephalus.”(Nibley Vol. 19, p. 202)   All this and more to come, confirms that Joseph Smith had authentic documents from which he obtained the Book of Abraham and they tie in with other ancient and modern sacred things.

“In its place at the head of the list of holy shrines… [it] launches the discourse [as] part of a larger complex of sacred structures in the great ceremonial center of Heliopolis. This great center is designated three times in the RIM inscription [of Facsimile 2 of the Book of Abraham],” (Nibley Vol. 19,  p. 340)  In his book ONE ETERNAL ROUND Nibley translates the HYOCEPHALUS beginning in Chapter 7. (Nibley Vol. 19,  p. 236) There is a chain of shrines running the length of the Nile …held together by the common name based on the root I’wn, ON…THE DETERMINATIVE for all of these shrines is a standing stone marker.” (Nibley p. 341)  A MATH, ‘a pyramidal stone of granite.’ “The rim inscription of Facsimile 3, states: I am Djebabty.,..in the Temple of the BENBEN in HELIOPOLIS…the sun-god under his earliest name, ATUM…sat high on the sacred BEN, the pyramidal symbol at HELOPOLIS, and created  the other GODS…the BENBEN stone is the earliest manifestation of solar divinity.” “two pillars [represent] the two extreme ends of the world or the course of time…They mark the extreme ends of the race course  of life…all obelisks and pyramids of Egypt were derived from the BENBEN-stone of Heliopolis, the original form of RE himself… [specialists] considered  the BENBEN-stone a sexual or procreative symbol, but it was PROCREATION IN THE AFTER LIFE.” (Nibblely Vol.19, pp. 341-445)  Think, “This is ETERNAL LIVES- to know the only wise and true God…” (D&C 132:24) “Then they shall be Gods because they have no end…”(D&C 132:20) And “as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue…”D&C 132:30)   “When they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels , and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, and hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.” (D&C132:19)  The temple going Mormon knows and expects this, those in ancient Egypt had similar expectations. But ancient Israel also expected these blessings, in a Dead Sea Scroll we find: “Those who abide the councils of the spirit have healing and abundant peace during length of days, and…bear SEED with all everlasting blessings and eternal rejoicing in the victorious life of eternity and a crown of glory, together with raiment of majesty in eternal light.” (Brownlee pp. 15-16) This is even much clearer than either the Mormons or the Egyptians enunciated or understood it “ (D&C 132:19) The term ‘temple of the BENBEN also denotes the place where the soul of Osiris [the supreme god of the funerary cult, (Shorter p. 137), dwelt, and the name was applied to the HOLY  of HOLIES  in the temple of ATUM…the place where the sun made his appearance, the name BEN perhaps coming from the root wbn, ‘to appear in glory’…the sun-god ‘conceals his secret FORM  in the BENBEN.” (Nibley p. 344)    

Heliopolis was the primal seat of kingship.  It is the king “for whom the world of HELIOPOLIS assembled in order that he might be fashioned and act as king of ETERNITY…The resurrection theme is still with us.  The high-priest of the Heliopolitan sun god in pre-dynastic times was, of course, the king of HELIOPOLIS…for kingship and priesthood are not to be separated in high office. HELIOPOLIS was perhaps the most famous shrine in the ancient world and probably the most ancient…all the cardinal doctrines at the Egyptian religion evolved in Heliopolis cannot be refuted…the daily service performed on behalf of all Egyptian divinities in historic times was based upon that performed in the HELIOPOLIS  SUN-TEMPLE.  The Temple of AMUN at Karnak, [where the columns are especially spectacular,  I was impacted by them more than anywhere else in Egypt] far to the south was an exact duplicate of the shrine at HELIOPOLIS, and its high priest had the same awesome title of….greatest of SEERS.” (Nibley pp. 344-345)  The study of Egyptian religion emphasizes that essential  details that  were in place during these early Dynasties, parallels to Mormon doctrine are more prevalent at that time than at any other time after the sixth Dynasty when things became perverted, distorted by bizarre ideas, and in general totally altered.  Even the most modern of Egyptologists recognize something drastic happened after the 5th Dyansty, the pristine doctrines were lost, for a time they were not even enscribed on the walls of funerary facilities, they were smudged on linen wrappings and when they were rediscovered, they forever changed and modified them until most of what they once knew they lost.                     

MATHONIAH

MATHONIAH like MATHONI, like his brother discussed above, was listed as one of the 12 disciples (Apostles) about AD 34. (3 Nephi 19:4).  The family, with a least two boys, elected to use the same root name, MATHONI for both of them.  But they kept the Egyptian form for one and added a Hebrew theophoric suffix referring to JEHOVAH for the other.  Everything said about MATHONI above, applies to this modified name.  One son would ‘proclaim and declare the word and the law of the sun god, god of light, at ON,’ the other would ’proclaim and declare the word and the law of the god of light, JEHOVAH.’ The same god, the true God of Light, Jesus Christ.

 

BLIOGRAPHY

BROWNLEE, William H., The Dead Sea Manual of Discipline, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 10-12, Yale Station, New Haven Conn. 1951

BUTTRICK, George A., The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, Abingdon Press, New York, 1962

CLARK, J. Rueben, Our Lord of the Gospels, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, Utah.  1954

DAVID, A. Rosalie, The Egyptian Kingdoms, Pelsevier-Phaidon, New York, 1975

DEEN, Edith, All the Women of the Bible, Castle Books, Harper Collins Pub.,  1955

FINEGAN, Jack, Hidden Records of the Life of Jesus, Pilgrim Press, Philadelphia, Boston, 1969

GARDINER, Joseph L., Who’s Who in the Bible, Readers Digest, Pleasantville, New York, 1994

DOUGLAS, J.D., The illustrated Bible Dictionary, Inter0varsity Press, Tyndale House Publishers, Sydney,1980

HASKINS, Susan, Mary Magdalen, Harcourt brace & Co., New York, 1993

HURD, Jerrie W., Our Sisters in the bible, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, Utah 1983

LARAGEY, Dennis E., The Book of Mormon Reference Companion, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, Utah,  2003

MANDEL, David, Who’s Who in Ta nakh, Ariel Books, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2004

MORGAN, G. Campbell, The Gospel According to John,  Fleming H. Revell Co., Ludgate Hill, London, 1930

NIBLEY, Hugh, Vol. 5, Lehi in the Desert, The World of the Jaredites, There Were Jaredites, FARMS, BYU, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, Uah 1988

……………………  Vol. 16, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, an Egyptian Endowment, FARMS, BYU, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake city, Utah 2005

……………………  Vol. 19, One Eternal Round, FARMS BYU, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, Utah,   2010

SHORTER, Alan W., The Egyptian Gods, Routledge & Kegan, London 1937   

TALMAGE, James E., Jesus the Christ, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, 1976