The metaphorical use of color terms echoes that of the Bible. “get around” - No one does that, excepting, perhaps the apologists to which Mr. Karanja is referring. Thus, Nephi can claim that the Lamanites are cursed because they fall under that foundational prophecy of the land which included both a blessing and a curse, according to righteousness. It echoes the promises and prophecies of Jacob in Genesis 49 to his posterity. Hence, both from proximity and from familiarity of customs, they might make attractive marriage partners except that their religion was not Yahweh’s. Another example is the dark/white pairing from the 1830 first edition of 2 Nephi 30:6: “Their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people.” This verse parallels “fair and delightsome,” since “fair” and “white” are structural equivalents. Exogamy (marriage outside of the group) and the Lamanite Curse: There is not only a geographic division between the brothers and their families, but a moral and religious chasm as well. 2 For I, Nephi, have not taught them many things concerning the manner of the Jews; ... [Nephi has explained Isaiah in reference to the geography using his knowledge of the land surrounding Jerusalem.] She noticed the elders’ countenances change and sadness come over them. This comparison of white/whiteness also occurs in Nephi’s description of the tree: “I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow” (1 Ne. And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. Humans tend to make binary-opposed sets, of which black and white form a classic set. Ezekiel 9:4–6 describes literally marking the forehead as a protection: “And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. READ: 2 Nephi 12:2-3 *SCRIPTURE INSIGHT: LeGrand Richards explained, “The word mountain is used in the scriptures in different allegorical or figurative senses. In order to remove the possibility that our assumptions are coloring our reading of the text, it is important to find locations in the text where the action of the text would create circumstances where a difference in pigmentation would be obvious. 2 Nephi 16. This is the same type of prohibition we see with the Lamanites. Indeed, it is much easier to compile a list of writers who take the phrase literally than of those who suggest an alternate reading. Malina and Neyrey continue: “When considering a person, the ancients thought that there was really nothing inside that did not register on the outside.” In this conception of humanity, the skin or face would be the logical location for spiritual characteristics to register. 2 Nephi 4. The Creation: We're created to be tried and learn of the difference between right and wrong. Fair/white is paired with dark/black in the antithetical parallel. Racism in the Book of Mormon: The Book of Mormon is, in fact, racist, although not at all in the usual sense of the term. The group was the meaning, and individuals who did not conform were considered deviant. It is not, however, an impossible task. Nephite prejudices were developed on distinctions more common to the ancient world and used reasons other than pigmentation. 2 Nephi Chapter 27. My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. The tree’s whiteness symbolizes righteousness or heavenliness. A contrasting reading is that the changed skin color does not involve a physical change in the pigmentation. As Bruce Malina (professor of theology at Creighton University) and Richard Rohrbaugh (professor of religious studies at Lewis and Clark College) point out: The problem of social context is exacerbated when a reader from one culture reads a text written in and for a different culture, and when the text includes none of the necessary explanations: What we need to know is what that phrase means in the context of the people and times in which it was written. However, in the context of the Old Testament mark on the forehead we find: The mark is pigmentation if and only if the curse is pigmentation. 12:19–20). Textual Evidence for Actual Skin Pigmentation: Does the Book of Mormon text contain events where distinguishing race by skin color becomes important? 2 Nephi 13. The before/after relationship is “fair and delightsome”/“skin of blackness.” Both conditions are structural opposites. 2 Nephi 31 . Nephites cannot be Nephites and not be “white.” “White” defines the insider. Marking the forehead with paint appears to be sufficient to create an identifying “mark” that falls significantly short of altering body pigmentation. Lamentations 4:7–8 (Revised English Version), ascribes metaphorical color to capture the before/after conditions of the Babylonian captivity: Obviously no pigmentation change occurred as the “white” faces of the princes became “blacker than soot.” Here are two other examples: The metaphor can also use “skin”: “When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. 2 Nephi 3. This assumption fails to explain (or counter) other passages in the Book of Mormon that still make a connection with “iniquity” and skin color. A color difference should have immediately been apparent to the guards, but they do not notice the discrepancy. Such unions were considered somewhat dangerous to tribal identity, and were frequently subject to either direct prohibitions or to regulations concerning inheritance. However, Jacob compares white/whiter, not white/black. As… This chapter explains the role of the Book of Mormon in the latter days. Even though skin color has come to be associated with race, the value of relative skin color was social, not racial. 11:8). This is a marvelous rhetorical device because the collectivist perspective of this ancient culture would consider such a condition unthinkable. Nephites had to be explicitly prohibited from marrying Lamanites because they would otherwise be an attractive choice. 2 Nephi 8. Reading the Text or Reading into the Text: When 2 Nephi 5:21 says, “The Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them,” the phrase has been interpreted quite literally as a change in skin pigmentation. Here is the verse from the LDS 2 Nephi 5:21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. As to each principle, explain what happened, why it happened, and what would have resulted had it not occurred. 2 Nephi 21. They were not, however, based on skin color as has been part of the more modern U.S. culture. This barrier is very clearly a religio-political one, because it specifically forbids intermarriage. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat” (Job 30:26–30). 11:35). E. A. Speiser, an archaeologist and Old Testament scholar, suggests that Cain’s mark was like other protective marks in the Old Testament, all of which were signs on the forehead. The covenant prophecies which Joseph of Egypt uttered appear in 2 Nephi 3:5-21 and in outline are as follows: Joseph of Egypt's seed would not be completely destroyed, but would be delivered through another of his descendants, Joseph Smith (verse 7-15) by means of the Book of Mormon, which would manifest the Messiah and his covenants with their forefathers, as well as this Israelite branches's true … For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon … \"What is that special form of sin which Isaiah sees? Their prejudices ran deeper and broader, as Malina and Neyrey explain: “In their assessment of their fellow human beings, elite ancients utilized a set of fixed categories, each with a limited range of descriptive, distinct features.… It is important to note that these categories were regularly presented. The Lamanites are cursed, and cut off from God’s influence. The logic of the passage relies upon the metaphorical use of the insider/outsider terminology to mean unrighteous/righteous. 2. All human populations have variations in color, and there are pigmentation differences in all populations. This barrier is similar to the explicit prohibition against marrying Canaanites. 2 Nephi 28. The phrases describe a previous condition and its succeeding condition, pivoting upon causation. All refer to identifying letters. The function of the mark is social separation, but it is the same insider/outsider barrier already discussed. 36:5–9). They are white by cultural definition. 5:21). What is the “mark” in the Book of Mormon? That situation creates the need for a comparison, but since the Nephites cannot be “dark” the Lamanites by default become “whiter” than the Nephites. Invariably, the usual way of thinking was in terms of A/not-A, either/or, for/against, true/false, in/out, heaven/earth—with no middle term. 2 Nephi 18. There is no change in the Lamanite skin color here. It prohibited a particular city or land, based on the location of the other descendants of Lehi. First, the greater fulfillment of the prophecy centers in Jesus Christ, who was Immanuel, the son of the virgin Mary. 2 Nephi 17. The possibilities range from simple description to metaphorical value judgments. The association of the presence of skin color with race is purely descriptive. And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them. We must understand how the text sees those statements. 2 Nephi 5:21 "And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. This referential gulf between intent and interpretation explains our tendency to read “skin of blackness” with modern racial overtones. 2 Nephi 1–4 contains Lehi’s final words as a patriarch to his posterity. The curse is a fulfillment of Lehi’s prophecy about the land: “If iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes” (2 Ne. The most typical reading is that there was some type of dramatic change that turned white skin into black skin. Therefore, we should see this prohibition as similar to that against the Canaanites. 2 Nephi 5:21 reads: And he had caused the cursing to come upon [the Lamanites], yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. Why should metaphorical righteousness/unrighteousness be manifest in a “color” of skin? “When asked if she understood the scripture, Sebrina confidently said she did. 2 Nephi 29. The purpose of the curse was to separate the two peoples. The Canaanites were not only the people who lived in the land before Israel conquered it, but they were also a people with a similar religion. Are these social functions metaphors or do they actually denote pigmentation? In Elizabethan England and in earlier Roman culture, the dark skin was the sign of a common laborer, and the lighter, whiter skin the sign of nobility. For example, 2 Nephi 5:21 still says: “And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. 2 Nephi 6:10 Jacob says that because of what the Jews did to Christ – they would be afflicted, scattered, smitten, and hated. (See commentary accompanying Jacob 3:3.). Douglas Campbell, a professor of computer science at Brigham Young University, examined the textual uses of “white” in the Book of Mormon and concludes that the term is used metaphorically for purity and/or cleanliness. The question of marriage is an important one, because Yahweh has now excluded a number of the potential marriage partners who might be seen as more desirable than the native populations because they are both racially and culturally similar to the Old World peoples among the Nephites. The curse’s purpose is to set a social barrier between the two peoples. 2 Ne 5:21 he had caused the cursing to come upon them...that they might not be enticing unto my people. Reading the Text or Reading into the Text: When 2 Nephi 5:21 says, “The Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them,” the phrase has been interpreted quite literally as a change in skin pigmentation. 2 Nephi 7. A representative of this school of thought is Milton R. Hunter of the Council of the Seventy: For Elder Hunter, the change in the skin color is absolutely physical and remains a distinction throughout Book of Mormon history. Thus, someone may have a “black heart,” but this descriptor is of a quality, not a pigment. Humans have certainly placed values on the color of one’s skin, but for most of history the value is social. 2 Nephi 32. 2 Nephi 33. But these are possessed by man, in his rudimental state, in a subordinate sense of the word. Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. The Lamanites do not become righteous, they become comparatively righteous because of Nephite wickedness. For example, Nephi utilized Isaiah 3:15 (= 2 Nephi 13:15) and Isaiah 5:21 (= 2 Nephi 15:21) in his commentary on the pride of latter-day Gentiles in 2 Nephi 26:20. Malina and Neyrey note: Such an idea runs counter to modern constructions of human beings as individuals, but it reflects accurately, I believe, the different social view of Nephi’s world. Note how Jacob uses the “filthy” label that accompanies “dark” in 1 Nephi 12:23 Mormon 5:15: “But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction” (Jacob 3:3). At the point Jacob addresses his people, he applies this outsider label to them directly to highlight their adoption of outsider practices. The Nephite situation says nothing about inheritance rights, but only about avoiding the curse that was upon the Lamanites. 2 Nephi 27 Isaiah 29. 2 Nephi 6:11 The phrases “driven to and fro ” is also in Job 13:25 and, “come to the knowledge of” is the same in 2 Timothy 3:7. For this reason, it was much less of a problem for men to marry “outsider” women than for women to marry outsider men. (2 Nephi 2:25) Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. 2 Nephi 15. For example, 3 Nephi 2:14–15 reads: “And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites; And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites.”. 2 Nephi 29:11-12 This is a good reminder that we should be open to revelation and truth from many geographic sources, since the Lord speaks to people in "all nations of the earth," but it seems to also be a very strong encouragement to us to write down our spiritual experiences. It represents a particular culture with a distinctive worldview. Possessing the mark cannot prove that the curse is skin color, because that would beg the very question that needs to be proved. Just as the white/black or fair/dark terms function along the insider/outsider boundary, so too does the delightsome/loathsome dichotomy describe social repercussions. 2 Nephi 9. That is a not a simple task as we don’t have a wealth of information. 2 Nephi 18:3-8 Immanuel Prophecy of 2 Nephi 17-18 is Dualistic in Nature The prophecy was a dual application, as shown by a close reading of Isaiah 7:10-16; 8:3-7; and Matthew 1:21. The condition of darkness comes with dwindling in unbelief. Even something like the Fall of Adam and Eve, which appears to be a failure and… Since the mark/curse can be removed by simply traversing that boundary, I conclude that it is unlikely that the mark or curse had anything to do with pigmentation. The first is the notion of a particular color associated with skin. Even the reversal, becoming white, is a metaphor: “And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed” (Dan. The Romans used a chalk-based compound to lighten their skins to further this perceived difference. John W. Welch Notes 2 Nephi 1 2 Nephi 1:1 — Lehi Gathers His Posterity to Teach and Bless Them. When the curse is operating and the Lamanites are outsiders, they are “loathsome” (the opposite of “delightsome”)—not desirable marriage partners. According to Speiser, this mark is the letter taw, and none of the examples he cites refer to skin color. It is not significantly different from ascribing emotion to the heart, which is an organ having no biological relevance to emotions at all. Yet as in the case with other animate beings, the shape of the individual human more than adequately reveals the type of personality he or she can be and explains his or her ‘nature.’ For humans, too, anatomical form determines behavior and reveals the nature of the human being in question.”. 2 Nephi 5. It is not intended to be a physical description. It is as accurate when described in 2 Nephi as it is prophetically at the end of Nephite culture. Underlying these biblical and Book of Mormon metaphors are the assumptions of the collectivist social world. Even metaphorically, the skin and face were legitimate locations for the “display” of these spiritual characteristics. Obviously, the writer is not describing their skin color, but their spiritual state. Book of Mormon Language about Skin Color: The curse is expressed in two antithetically parallel phrases: “as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them” (2 Ne. William Smith, a Bible scholar, notes: Because marriage dictated the flow of rights and properties, the legal problems of exogamy included regulations designed to keep land and goods inside the group. Descriptions of Lamanites repeat the same stock phrases over time: Each quotation describes “how the Lamanites are.” While there is at least a possibility that the description was true when Nephi began this traditional stereotyping of the Lamanites, it was untrue by the time of Enos if not earlier. 2 Nephi 5:21-23; “And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. This happened in 70 A.D. when the Roman Army invaded and destroyed Jerusalem. John L. Sorenson suggested: Where Rodney Turner clearly believes that the change is not metaphorical, Sorenson just as clearly declares it to be precisely metaphorical. 2 Nephi 12. 22 And thus … 5:21, 4 Ne. See pp. 2 The people (the house of Israel) that walked in darkness (spiritual darkness -- apostasy and captivity) have seen a great light (that is, they will see the Savior and hear his teachings); they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined (or upon them will the light shine). ☼ 2 Nephi 5:21–23, Jacob 3:3: And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. Alma 3:6 tells us that the mark was the curse (according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them), so the reference is circular. Before beginning with the text itself, it is important to clarify some facts that will help us sort the textual usage from our modern assumptions. …and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction. Once they are Nephites, they are fully and wholly Nephites, incorporating all of the “good” qualities of Nephites. Malina and Neyrey describe this mentality for the ancient Mediterranean cultures: “Human beings are distinctive in that they exhibit a considerable range of physical shapes, hues, and structures. Indeed, it is much easier to compile a list of writers who take the phrase literally than of those who suggest an alternate reading. In contrast, ancient society saw reality as communally related. While there is a set of people whose skin can be very black, they are not native to the western hemisphere. It is the desire to right the wrongs which man has done to his brother.\" (George Matheson… There are some keys that we should use, and the very first is to remember the dangers of reading ourselves into a text in ways that the text did not intend. Nevertheless, “white” Nephites become even whiter. Modern readers may be uncomfortable with Nephite racial prejudices, but they existed. However, there were also provisions for marriage outside of the tribe. The Nephites could not have survived without a wider range of marriage partners than the very small number of lineal Lehites who were in the city. 25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. . 2 Nephi 26. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.”. It would be seen as a prevention of apostasy, exactly like the prohibition against marrying Canaanites in the Old World. . “Fair and delightsome” contains no reference to either “skin” or “white.” It would be a mistake, however, to assume that their absence means they are not part of the oppositional pairing since they do appear in other contexts. As a result, "he was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy" (1 Nephi 5:17). 2 Nephi 24. The best explanation for needing an authentic Lamanite is that Moroni needed his language skills, not his skin color, for the ruse. The patriarchal laws of inheritance preserved lands and goods. CLICK HERE to read 2 Nephi 14.. We were meant to be happy. Asians are termed “yellow,” although they certainly do not have yellow skin. Furthermore, these descriptions of the Lamanites as the opposite of the Nephites vanish as soon as the Lamanites cross the outsider/insider boundary. Likewise, Nephi utilizes the language of Isaiah 2:8 (= 2 Nephi 12:8) in his warning against making “flesh his arm” in 2 Nephi 28:31. 3 Nephi 19:24–25 records another similar white/whiter occurrence during Jesus’s visit to the New World: The disciples’ transforming spiritual experience makes them become “as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus.” This shade is not a natural skin color nor does anything in this passage encourage a “natural” interpretation. To each of them a social value is attached, with white representing good and black representing bad (with good/bad being similar binary oppositions). When that occurs, darkness falls—on their hearts and metaphorically on their skins. It is human selfishness-the unbrotherhood of man to man....the cry which rises into his ears is the cry of stricken humanity-the cry of the poor and needy, the cry of the sad and weary...He hears God call him to lash the sins of the nation; but to him all the sins of the nation are forms of a single sin-selfishness....The burden of Isaiah is the burden of human compassion. Colors also have social meanings that are quite separate from describing the eye’s perception of light waves. The full verse: "And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity.