One biblical figure who looms large in the Book of Mormon is Moses. His influence inspires various Book of Mormon prophets as they use his example, law, and testimony to encourage others. Particularly in the early part of the Book of Mormon, Moses becomes a significant model of utilizing God’s power to accomplish great things. Not only does Moses’s law influence the worship practices of Lehi’s posterity, but his example leads Nephi and others who sometimes faced situations analogous to that of Moses to accomplish great things. This essay will not only review mentions of Moses on the surface level but also analyze how his life and example may have deeply influenced Book of Mormon prophets like Nephi. Because the figure of Moses was employed in the Book of Mormon in many situations similar to Moses’s and the Israelites’ experiences, he became an instrument to strengthen the authority and testimony of Book of Mormon prophets.

Retrieving the Brass Plates from Laban

The first explicit mention of Moses by name comes only a few chapters into the Book of Mormon, in the account of Nephi and his brothers’ attempts to retrieve the brass plates from Laban. When two initial efforts to retrieve the record failed, Nephi’s brothers were ready to give up and return to their father in the wilderness. Nephi, however, encouraged faithfulness to the Lord’s commandments by calling attention to Moses’s success in delivering the Israelites from Egypt:[1]

Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea. Now behold ye know that this is true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians. (1 Nephi 4:2–3)

Val Larsen has pointed out, “Moses was probably the greatest exemplar of prophetic and sovereign power in Hebrew history. It is significant, therefore, that Nephi links himself to Moses in this episode, both through explicit comparison and through multiple narrative parallels between the life of Moses and this episode in Nephi’s life.”[2] Both Moses and Nephi demonstrated perseverance in fulfilling their required tasks. Moses went to Pharaoh’s court multiple times, while Nephi likewise pursued his charge with new stratagems and firm resolve in fulfilling the Lord’s commandments and likely would have continued to pursue the plates if further attempts became necessary despite mounting risk. Murmuring against the Lord on Nephi’s part is absent from all the records of his life.

Nephi’s emphasis while evoking Moses is the faith in the Lord that Moses demonstrated in splitting the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through on dry ground, despite the fact that he faced an unbelieving audience somewhat similar to what Nephi was facing. After observing the pursuing Egyptian armies, the Israelites cried out to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? . . . It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:11–12). Laman and Lemuel likewise murmur, asking how the Lord could deliver Laban into their hands. After all, if Laban could command fifty, even slay fifty, “then why not us?” (1 Nephi 3:31).[3] Nephi then alludes to how Moses’s actions led to the destruction of the pursuing Egyptian army. Thus the power of Moses’s word not only delivered his people but destroyed the Egyptians. In Nephi’s situation, he confidently asserts that God will be able to deliver them and that God is able to destroy Laban. Nephi’s faith moves from the abstract to the concrete a few verses later when the Spirit confirms multiple times to Nephi that the Lord has delivered Laban into his hands (see 4:11–12).

The earlier Israelites were carried out of captivity to receive the law in the wilderness en route to the promised land. Similarly, Nephi came to realize that in order for his seed to keep God’s commandments and prosper in their land of promise, they needed the brass plates, and more specifically that same law engraved thereon, the law of Moses (see 1 Nephi 4:14–15).[4] The plates were needed because the law maintained the foundation of the people’s worship especially when they would be far away from the original covenant land promised to Abraham and his descendants.[5] The combination of people, law, and land of promise are all found together in both Moses’s and Nephi’s experiences. And while it may be difficult to understand how to connect a loving God with the destruction of others, it seems it was inevitable in both cases so that God’s plans could move forward. The preservation of God’s people physically and spiritually required the destruction of those seeking to destroy them. Laban is killed through the instrumentality of Nephi just as the Egyptian armies were destroyed by God through the instrumentality of Moses.[6] Nephi’s actions are an early example of how Book of Mormon prophets drew strength and inspiration from Moses when given extremely challenging tasks. Not only was Moses a figure evoked by Nephi to encourage his brothers’ faith in an outwardly hopeless situation, but he likely was directly in Nephi’s own thoughts as he wrestled with carrying out the Spirit’s commands. In doing so, Nephi eventually came to understand that the Lord had delivered Laban into his hands and that he needed the plates so his family and posterity could have Moses’s law.

Building a Ship

Another direct mention of Moses came while Nephi was fulfilling the command to build a ship that could reach the promised land.[7] This command came after Lehi’s family had journeyed through the wilderness, where God provided means for their sojourn there similar to how he provided manna, quail, and water for the earlier Israelites.[8] Now they had come to a large body of water and needed the Lord’s help to traverse it, just as the earlier Israelites had faced a water obstacle. The Lord promised Nephi a sign by which he would know the Lord was with him, one that recalls Ether 12:6 (“ye [shall] receive no witness until after the trial of your faith”): “After ye have arrived in the promised land, ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God; and that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destruction; yea, that I did bring you out of the land of Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 17:14). The Lord treated Moses similarly when he promised him a post-deliverance sign of the Lord’s role in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. “Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain” (Exodus 3:12). Perhaps these after-the-fact signs may not seem helpful initially, but as one proceeds with faith and trust in God’s promises, the witness and confirmation of God’s assistance along the way becomes stronger when the apparently unachievable is later accomplished.

Nephi had the faith to proceed, but once again Nephi’s brothers murmured against him and lacked the faith to assist him, so Nephi hearkened back to Moses’s experience with the children of Israel. Besides murmuring and calling Nephi a fool for thinking he could build a ship, Nephi’s brothers also proposed that it would have been better to have died in Jerusalem than be stranded in the wilderness (see 1 Nephi 17:17–20). They believed the people in Jerusalem were righteous and specifically cited their obedience to the “the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses” (v. 22), and thereby acknowledging the core Mosaic requirements of following the Lord. In response to this claim of obedience to the law of Moses, which may not have been as accurate as stated because of Jerusalem’s impending judgment, Nephi asked them two questions:

Do ye believe that our fathers, who were the children of Israel, would have been led away out of the hands of the Egyptians if they had not hearkened unto the words of the Lord? Yea, do ye suppose that they would have been led out of bondage, if the Lord had not commanded Moses that he should lead them out of bondage? (vv. 23–24)

As important as following past revealed law is, it is even more important to follow present commands from the Lord in one’s current situation. Both the Israelites and Moses played a role in their own deliverance from bondage through their obedience to God’s commands.

Nephi went on to explain that the Israelites’ bondage was “laden with tasks, which were grievous to be borne; wherefore, ye know that it must needs be a good thing for them, that they should be brought out of bondage” (1 Nephi 17:25). Even though the Israelites did not always appreciate what God did for them (e.g., they would later murmur during their wanderings in the wilderness and seemed to forget how bad their life in bondage had been), Nephi tried to show his brethren that what God had done and was doing for them were good things and that they would be better off than if they had stayed in Jerusalem and been subjected to Babylonian bondage.

Nephi also returned to Moses’s specific role in the people’s deliverance—when Moses “was commanded of the Lord to do that great work” (1 Nephi 17:26)—by mentioning four mighty acts that occurred as part of the Exodus: the waters of the Red Sea parted so the Israelites could pass through on dry ground,[9] the Egyptian armies of Pharaoh “were drowned in the Red Sea,” the Israelites “were fed with manna in the wilderness,” and Moses smote the rock to bring forth water so that “the children of Israel might quench their thirst” (vv. 26–29).

The last act of striking the rock and bringing forth water is noteworthy for two reasons. First, it is the only act that Nephi specifically connects with God’s power working in Moses as Moses accomplished it (“by his word according to the power of God which was in him” (1 Nephi 17:29). Second, in the Israelite wanderings in the wilderness, Moses strikes the rock to bring forth water two different times. The first time, Moses strikes the rock in obedience to God’s command. “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel” (Exodus 17:6). The second time, Moses is told to speak to the rock and it would bring forth water (see Numbers 20:8). Instead, Moses chides[10] the Israelites for needing him and Aaron to fetch them water out of the rock; then he smites the rock twice and the water came out abundantly (see v. 11). So instead of speaking to the rock as God commanded him, Moses smote it. As a consequence of Moses’s actions, he and Aaron would not accompany the Israelites into the promised land. “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them” (v. 12). In both cases, God allowed the miracle to proceed but was obviously more pleased with how Moses handled it the first time, not the second. Nephi seems to be recounting the first of these events because there is no negative attitude toward Moses.[11] The first event would also fit with fulfilling the meaning of the phrase “by his word” in 1 Nephi 17:26 because it seems more likely to be talking about doing it in obedience to God’s command (so his would mean God’s word, not Moses’s).

As mentioned above, instead of being constantly grateful for what God and Moses had done for them, the Israelites “hardened their hearts and blinded their minds, and reviled against Moses and against the true and living God” (1 Nephi 17:30). The word notwithstanding at the beginning of the verse is a painful reminder of how God may try to do many things for his children, but sometimes they fail to realize it and turn against him. “Notwithstanding they being led, the Lord their God, their Redeemer, going before them, leading them by day and giving light unto them by night,[12] and doing all things for them which were expedient for man to receive,” they became embittered (see v. 30).

Surely faith was required to accept Moses as a prophet and follow him into the wilderness. Certainly there were those in Egypt who asked how they were to cross the Red Sea. Others asked how they would find food. And what of water? And clothes? And what army would protect them, should Pharaoh come after them? And what of their other enemies in the desert, so anxious to attack and plunder? Could not countless questions be asked by the doubters? Yet Israel followed their prophet, and miracle followed miracle. . . . Is it easier in one day to follow a living prophet than in another? Would those who murmured against Moses and his God not also murmur against Nephi and his God? And what of our day? Should there not be unanswered questions? Should it not require faith to accomplish that which the Lord has asked of us?[13]

After a brief digression on the Israelite conquest of the land of Canaan, Nephi reminds his brothers that because of the covenants God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt (see 1 Nephi 17:40). However, because they hardened their hearts (like his brothers, Nephi reminds them), “he did straiten them in the wilderness” (v. 41) by sending fiery flying serpents among them.[14] Yet God prepared a simple way for them to be healed; but because of the easiness of it, many paid no heed and perished. Nephi then makes another summary statement about the Israelite condition and situation in the wilderness up to the conquest: “And they did harden their hearts from time to time, and they did revile against Moses, and also against God; nevertheless, ye know that they were led forth by his matchless power into the land of promise” (v. 42).

Nephi returns to talking about his own time period by stating that the Israelites around Jerusalem had since become wicked, “nearly unto ripeness,” and their day of destruction will come soon, if not already, and only some will be preserved and taken away into captivity (1 Nephi 17:43). This destruction and captivity are the reasons Lehi was told to depart into the wilderness, but rather than feeling gratitude toward their father for preserving them, Nephi’s brothers sought to take away his life (see v. 44). Nephi insinuates that his brothers are like the Israelites and are reviling against God, Lehi, and himself despite their great acts on behalf of Lehi’s family.

Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder. (v. 45)

Just as the Israelites hardened their hearts against God, so did Laman and Lemuel, prompting Nephi to ask, “Why is it, that ye can be so hard in your hearts?” (v. 46). Nephi fears that his brothers might be cast off forever (see v. 47) and lose their chance at the promised land, just as many of the Israelites had lost their chance to enter the promised land and were destroyed in the wilderness (see v. 31).[15]

Nephi’s brothers did not take his words well and became angry and intended to “throw [him] into the depths of the sea.” But Nephi forbade them from touching him lest they be smitten by the power of God. He commanded them to stop murmuring against their father and to stop withholding their labor from building the ship (see 1 Nephi 17:48–49). He confidently asserted, “If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done” (v. 50). This assertion could be another way of alluding to Moses’s actions at the Red Sea, where the water parted to reveal dry land (see Exodus 14:29).

Besides inspiring Nephi’s words and warnings, the Lord through Nephi later physically shocked (or shook) Laman and Lemuel to reinforce the fact that God’s power and spirit was with Nephi. They fell down to worship Nephi, but he would not allow it, instead encouraging them to “worship the Lord thy God, and honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee” (1 Nephi 17:55). The whole dramatic episode thus ends with some of Moses’s teachings on the Ten Commandments: to have no other gods before the Lord God (see Exodus 20:3)[16] and, almost[17] quoting directly, to honor one’s parents, including the attached blessing—“that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (v. 12)—they will need en route to a new land that the Lord was giving them. Throughout this extended dialogue with his brothers, Nephi interweaves the story of Moses and the Israelites. The stories he retells can provide faith to undertake seemingly impossible tasks—such as building a ship to cross a large ocean—but also warn about disobedience and murmuring. Given the Lehite migration’s similarity to the Exodus, it is not surprising to see Nephi turn to the Moses account not only for support in reproving his brothers but also for strength in fortifying himself to accomplish great things with God’s help and power as Moses had done.[18]

Nephi’s Writing to Future Posterity

In 2 Nephi 25, Nephi summarizes why he had quoted from many Isaiah chapters and shares some of the future happenings of his people in relation to the house of Israel. Among his teachings, Nephi alludes to Moses both for what Moses had done and for the law that he had left behind. More specifically, Nephi talks about God’s power manifested through Moses as support for the point he is making, that it is only through Jesus Christ that one can be saved:

And as the Lord God liveth that brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and gave unto Moses power that he should heal the nations[19] after they had been bitten by the poisonous serpents, if they would cast their eyes unto the serpent which he did raise up before them, and also gave him power that he should smite the rock and the water should come forth; yea, behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved (v. 20)

Within this verse, Nephi mentions three actions of God working through Moses that he has discussed earlier with his brothers (see above): Israelites brought out of the land of Egypt, healing those bitten by poisonous serpents, and striking the rock to bring forth water. The second action was conditional on their casting their eyes on the serpent that was made for their healing, perhaps reinforcing the point Nephi is making that one must look unto “this Jesus Christ” to be spiritually healed.[20] In this episode, Nephi is still referencing Moses to convince or strengthen others to believe in his words, but it lacks the same direct personal application that we saw in the first two examples above. This difference is likely because the audience is broader (his people) and the teaching horizon is long-term, not for an immediate need like obtaining the brass plates or building a ship. Additionally, the narrative focus shifts from Moses to God. Moses is mentioned secondarily as the object recipient of God’s power to accomplish these things. The key point here is that because God lives (mentioned twice in the verse), he gave Moses power to do certain things; and because he lives, Jesus’s redemption will fulfill its powerful effects.[21]

In the second half of the chapter, Nephi treats the relationship between Christ and the law of Moses. Here Moses is simply invoked for the law associated with him, but not as a distinct figure. Nephi and his people will continue to observe the law because they have been commanded to do so and it is what will reconcile them to God until Jesus comes to earth and performs the atoning sacrifice. After Jesus’s ministry and sacrifice, they will obey whatever teachings and law Jesus leaves for them.[22] Therefore there is the notion that as necessary as obedience to the law is now, it is only temporary until it is fulfilled in Christ. A couple of times Nephi mentions that this is why the law was given: “for this end was the law given” (2 Nephi 25:25, 27; see 11:4). Nephi ends his discussion of the relationship between Christ and the law with a summary statement. “Ye must keep the performances and ordinances of God until the law shall be fulfilled which was given unto Moses” (25:30). This perspective on the temporary but necessary purpose of the law is echoed in other parts of the Book of Mormon, as well as built upon in contexts showing that the law was to point to Christ (see Jacob 4:5; Jarom 1:11; Alma 25:15–16).[23] Nephi thus also taught here that “the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law” (2 Nephi 25:28).

Prophecies Associated with Moses

The figure of Moses is associated with a few prophecies recorded by Nephi. The first one is found in a dialogue between Nephi and his brothers who asked about the meaning of things engraved on the brass plates, specifically whether the prophecies dealt with temporal or spiritual matters. The citation of Moses is a reiteration of the promise given to Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15–19 that the Lord would raise up a prophet like unto him to prepare a way for the righteous to be delivered.[24]

And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people. And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness. (1 Nephi 22:20–21)

This earlier promise to Moses sees its fulfillment in the coming of Jesus Christ and the completion of his mission. Nephi was not the only one to interpret Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of Moses’s sayings in Deuteronomy. Peter referred to this prophecy being fulfilled by Jesus Christ (see Acts 3:20–23).[25] Stephen mentioned this prophecy and Jesus’s fulfillment of it during his significant speech before being stoned to death (see 7:37). Jesus identified himself as the fulfillment of this prophecy when he appeared to the Nephites following his resurrection:

Behold, I am he of whom Moses spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people. (3 Nephi 20:23)[26]

Jesus paraphrased both the prophecy and the related warning for those who did hearken to the words of this prophet (see Deuteronomy 18:19).[27] In Nephi’s setting, he mentions the prophecy and how it will be fulfilled as part of a general discussion about how the obedient will be preserved from Satan and ultimately saved through Christ. It is a significant quotation of Moses’s earlier teachings to his people, a prophecy that has had a rich reception history among Christians.[28]

Another discussion of Moses in prophecy happens in 2 Nephi 3. Here Nephi records his father Lehi’s final blessings and counsel to his son Joseph.[29] Included within this lengthy dialogue is a prophecy of Joseph (of Egypt) about his posterity (which includes Lehi and his descendants, hence the reason for Lehi’s sharing it shortly before his death). Even though the primary focus of this prophecy is on a future choice seer who would do great things for his people, Joseph of Egypt sees that Moses will also be a blessing to his posterity by delivering them from bondage. From that perspective, the work of this choice seer, usually identified as Joseph Smith’s bringing forth the Book of Mormon record as part of the great latter-day work of gathering the house of Israel, is likened to the future deliverance Moses would do for his people. “And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel. And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt” (2 Nephi 3:9–10). Later on, Joseph of Egypt shares his certainty about the future choice seer just as he knows Moses will deliver his people: “I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever” (v. 16).

Joseph of Egypt then gives a few more specific details about Moses’s future ministry among his posterity:

And the Lord hath said: I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make a spokesman for him. (2 Nephi 3:17)

Here, as in other parts of the Book of Mormon, we have repeated references to power being given to Moses to perform great things and the rod as a source or demonstration of that power. Earlier in 1 Nephi 17, the rod is described as an instrument used to straiten the Israelites in the wilderness, but here the rod’s exact function is left unstated. In another prophetic context in the Book of Mormon, the rod of Moses is used as a forerunner for the power given to the Assyrian ruler to conquer the Israelites. A quotation from Isaiah states that as God (through Moses) lifted his rod on the sea, so shall the Assyrian ruler lift it “after the manner of Egypt” (2 Nephi 20:26; Isaiah 10:26), an allusion to the bondage the Israelites felt at the hands of the Egyptians but from which they were subsequently delivered.[30] The Assyrian ruler is now an instrument of justice against the wayward Israelites “for yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction” (2 Nephi 20:25; Isaiah 10:25). The allusion to Moses’s power from God is indirect, but the rod is a concrete symbol of power used to accomplish God’s purposes.

The second part of 2 Nephi 3:17 discusses Moses’s connection to judgment and the law; hence it is not surprising that the law became known as the law of Moses. The risen Lord, quoting from the words of Malachi the prophet, told the gathered Nephites in 3 Nephi to “remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments” (25:4). God would transmit the law and judgment through Moses to the people, a law that would help deliver them spiritually.[31] Finally, the verse mentions that Moses’s strength would not be in speaking but in the written law he would transmit to the people, so God provided a spokesman for him (his brother Aaron; see Exodus 4:16). The use of a spokesman is likened to the situation of the future choice seer as well, and the rest of the chapter returns its focus away from Moses and back to the choice seer. In this prophecy Moses is not the dominant character, but in many ways he serves as a type for the choice seer who would follow him much later. Moses is granted God’s power, wields his power as needed, transmits law and judgment, and utilizes a spokesman. From a narrative perspective, this chapter is unique because it is primarily the prophecy of Joseph of Egypt through the words of Lehi to his son Joseph and at some point recorded by Nephi. Among these various speakers and writers, Moses is signaled as a figure who assuredly would bring spiritual commandments and physical deliverance to Joseph of Egypt’s descendants.

Abinadi’s Countenance

In addition to Nephi, a few later Book of Mormon writers referred to Moses. When the Spirit of the Lord was upon Abinadi in King Noah’s court, “his face shone with exceeding luster, even as Moses’ did while in the mount of Sinai, while speaking with the Lord” (Mosiah 13:5). This is the only reference in the Book of Mormon to Moses’s experience on Sinai that resulted in Moses wearing a veil before the people because they were afraid to approach him with his shining face (see Exodus 34:29–35). In Moses’s case, his illuminated face resulted from his having been directly speaking with the Lord. In Abinadi’s case, it was because the Spirit of the Lord was upon him and he proceeded to speak “with power and authority from God” (Mosiah 13:6). This parallel between Abinadi and Moses was most likely written by Alma, who had been a priest in King Noah’s court and could have witnessed this event, although potentially it could have been edited later by Mormon as part of his abridgment work on the plates. In either case, it is a simple comparison between the two figures who both had experienced and were demonstrating God’s power residing in them. For the later reader of the account, the association of these two prophets infuses Abinadi with some of the same power and authority that Moses held.

Throughout his speech, Abinadi refers to the law of Moses and criticizes the priests of Noah for not properly teaching it and especially for not living it. In Abinadi’s attempts to help them see that the law of Moses alone could not save them, he emphasized the need for a redeemer. “Salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses” (Mosiah 13:28). To further emphasize his point, Abinadi also mentions Moses’s prophecy or testimony of the future Messiah who would redeem his people. “Did not Moses prophesy unto them concerning the coming of the Messiah, and that God should redeem his people? Yea, and even all the prophets who have prophesied ever since the world began—have they not spoken more or less concerning these things?” (v. 33; see also John 5:45–46). Moses is used in this episode not only as a comparative figure for what Abinadi is experiencing but also as a source of knowledge from which to draw. The teachings of Moses go beyond just the law to include the purpose of that law—to point to divine redemption—as Abinadi exhorts, “Therefore, if ye teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to come” (Mosiah 16:14). As Joseph Spencer has pointed out in his analysis of Abinadi’s teachings, a prophet anticipates Christ’s atonement:

For Abinadi, a prophet is through and through the figure who looks forward to the coming of the Messiah, the coming of “God himself” who “shall make [atonement] for the sins and iniquities of his people.” The prophet’s task is to make clear that obedience to the Law is not, in the end, what saves the people—whether as a “Saying” or a “Said”—because, “were it not for the atonement, . . . they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses.”[32]

Alma the Younger

In one of Alma the Younger’s many great sermons, he notes how many earlier prophetic figures, including Moses, had testified of Christ (see Alma 33).[33] He specifically states that Moses spoke of the Son of God and raised a type of the Son in the wilderness to heal those bitten by the poisonous serpents. As Andrew Skinner explains, the earlier Israelite experience highlights both the negative and positive views of the serpent in the ancient Near East:

The agent of both harm and healing, death and life, is, in this instance, the serpent. The people sin, and fiery serpents bite them. Moses constructs a brass image of the harmful creatures, and the people are spared. But it is really Jehovah who is the cause working behind the image, the actual instigator of both death and life. The Israelites may already have been familiar with images of fiery serpents from their exposure to Egyptian mythology while sojourning in Egypt. But the serpent symbol is now seen in its true light—a valid and important representation of God’s ultimate power over life and death. God is the reality behind the symbol.[34]

This serpent episode is brought up earlier in the Book of Mormon as discussed above. Here the emphasis is on the episode’s role as a type of the Savior, and it reiterates how some people looked and lived while others rejected the lifesaving option given them because they lacked faith. “Few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them” (Alma 33:20).

The allusion to this episode of the early Israelites assumes that the audience knew the story well enough to draw the necessary connections since Alma does not give enough details from the story for a first-time hearer. For example, he never specifically mentions what Moses raised in the wilderness or why he had to do so in the first place. Alma takes for granted that the audience knows these facts, or he simply wants them to know that a type was raised in the wilderness and they do not need to know anything beyond that. Alma next applies this experience to his audience by encouraging them to have the necessary faith to be healed by the object of that type: the Son of God.

O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish? If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people. (Alma 33:21–22)

Moses’s earlier episode is recounted here for the spiritual model it offers and the invitation to believe. In essence, Alma is providing a subtype by emphasizing the Israelites’ reactions to the type raised in the wilderness. Will his listeners have the faith to begin to believe in the Son of God like some believed in Moses’s time, or will they harden their hearts and not believe like the others?[35] They can follow or reject the model provided for them from the earlier setting in Moses’s day. The physical lives of Alma’s audience may not be endangered, but their spiritual lives are.

Moses shows up one other time in relation to Alma the Younger: at the time of his departure. After Alma gave final counsel to his son Helaman and blessed him and his other sons, he departed from Zarahemla.

And it came to pass that he was never heard of more; as to his death or burial we know not of. Behold, this we know, that he was a righteous man; and the saying went abroad in the church that he was taken up by the Spirit, or buried by the hand of the Lord, even as Moses. But behold, the scriptures saith the Lord took Moses unto himself; and we suppose that he has also received Alma in the spirit, unto himself; therefore, for this cause we know nothing concerning his death and burial. (Alma 45:18–19)

The narrator, presumably Mormon, states that “scriptures” told how the Lord took Moses unto himself. The account in Deuteronomy 34 is somewhat ambiguous in its account of Moses’s departure, mentioning that Moses died but that the Lord buried him and no man knew of his sepulchre, suggesting no earthly burial (see vv. 5–6). Latter-day Saint theology teaches that Moses was translated so he could appear to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration,[36] so the phrase in Alma 45:19 of the Lord’s taking Moses unto himself could refer to that. Doctrine and Covenants 84:25 also mentions that God “took Moses out of [the children of Israel’s] midst.” Following this interpretation, Deuteronomy’s account of God burying Moses is symbolic. In any case, Alma’s and Moses’s departures are equated in the Book of Mormon with God directly overseeing their exits from the mortal realm.

Nephi₂ before the Corrupt Judges

In the Book of Mormon, the final explicit mention of Moses as an exemplar figure occurs in the confrontational episode when Nephi₂ condemns the corrupt judges. After being overheard praying on his garden tower, Nephi₂ teaches the gathered crowd about the wickedness of their society. He also teaches how Moses was given power from God to part the Red Sea as an analogue to his own power received from God:

Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up? And now behold, if God gave unto this man such power, then why should ye dispute among yourselves, and say that he hath given unto me no power whereby I may know concerning the judgments that shall come upon you except ye repent? (Helaman 8:11–12)

Similar to Nephi₁ at the beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi₂ is using Moses as proof that because God could grant Moses power, he could grant him (Nephi₂) power also.[37] Also like the earlier recounting, mention of the Red Sea and the subsequent destruction of the Egyptian armies was a warning that judgments could likewise come upon the Nephites for rejecting Nephi₂’s teachings.

Nephi₂ continues to draw upon Moses, echoing teachings from elsewhere in the Book of Mormon. He emphasizes Moses’s teachings of a future messiah, the raising of the brazen serpent in the wilderness to heal the people, and the promise that those who look on the analogous Son of God would inherit eternal life—all similar to what Alma taught to his audience, as discussed above.

But, behold, ye not only deny my words, but ye also deny all the words which have been spoken by our fathers, and also the words which were spoken by this man, Moses, who had such great power given unto him, yea, the words which he hath spoken concerning the coming of the Messiah. Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come. And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal. And now behold, Moses did not only testify of these things, but also all the holy prophets, from his days even to the days of Abraham. (Helaman 8:13–16)

While Nephi₂ goes on to review other prophets who testified of the future Messiah, he spends the most time on Moses and some of his teachings and actions. In summary, we see that Nephi₂ cited Moses’s example to emphasize that he had similar power given to him and to demonstrate that Moses had taught similar things to what he was trying to teach the people. Thus these allusions to Moses’s ministry were used as support for both Nephi’s teachings and authority.

Conclusion

The influence of Moses on the Book of Mormon is substantial. The law of Moses stood behind centuries of worship practice among the Book of Mormon peoples. However, beyond the law attributed to Moses was his importance as a figure of faith and power for many Book of Mormon prophets, especially Nephi₁. Moses set an example for accomplishing incredible things through God’s power, and his teachings became a meaningful source for testimony of the Messiah. Prophets such as Nephi₁ rhetorically used his example to encourage and build faith in order to accomplish great things themselves. In fact, one could alter Nephi₁’s well-known statement from 1 Nephi 19:23: “But that I might more fully persuade them to [fulfill the commands of God] I did read unto them that which was written by [and about] the prophet [Moses]; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.” Several episodes from Moses’s ministry were referred to throughout the Book of Mormon to inspire others to “be strong like unto Moses” (4:2). These episodes include the brazen serpent, the parting of the Red Sea and drowning of the Egyptian army, manna in the wilderness, being led by God with light at night, Moses’s face shining, and bringing forth water from a rock. In the Book of Mormon there is never a negative portrayal of Moses, but often there is toward the Israelites that were supposed to follow him. The Israelites’ murmurings and revilings were especially egregious and stood as models of what not to do.

For Nephite prophets, Moses thus became a familiar ideal figure to turn to because of similar settings and audiences. For example, Nephi₁ also faced an audience full of doubt and murmuring (some of his family members) while journeying through the wilderness to a promised land. He repeatedly heard the same refrain Moses had—“It would have been better if we had stayed . . . ,” a complaint that ignored all that God had already done for them, not to mention the great things yet in store for them. Nephi₁ and Nephi₂ had to face adversaries bent on destroying them, and Moses’s instrumentality in bringing God’s judgment against the Egyptians had set an inspiring precedent. The Book of Mormon does not shy away from acknowledging the judgments that came down on those who tried to destroy God’s people or on the Israelites who chose to reject God and his earthly representative, Moses.

Moses’s prophecy and teaching about a future messiah became an important type for both the content of Book of Mormon prophets’ teachings and the basis of their authority. If God gave power and knowledge to Moses, he could give power and knowledge to them as well. If Moses’s words were true, so could their words be true. If earlier Israelites were healed and delivered by heeding Moses’s teachings, Nephites could be healed and delivered by believing in and coming unto the type and substance of the prophetic teachings—the divine Messiah. Moses thus was instrumental in helping both the ancient Israelites in the Old Testament and the prophets in the Book of Mormon to do great things and lead others to the Messiah.

Notes

Special thanks to Noah Schetselaar, who worked with me on this paper as an informal faculty/student-mentored project.

[1] Others have noted the parallels between the Israelite exodus and the journey of Lehi’s family to a new promised land, but my focus here is on specific references to Moses throughout the Book of Mormon rather than on parallels between persons or experiences associated with journeys, although some similar conclusions are drawn from the Moses material. See, e.g., S. Kent Brown, “The Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon,” in From Jerusalem to Zarahemla: Literary and Historical Studies of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998), 75–98; George S. Tate, “The Typology of the Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon,” in Literature of Belief: Sacred Scripture and Religious Experience, ed. Neal E. Lambert (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1981), 245–62; and Noel B. Reynolds, “Lehi as Moses,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9, no. 2 (2000): 26–35.

[2] Val Larsen, “Killing Laban: The Birth of Sovereignty in the Nephite Constitutional Order,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 16, no. 1 (2007): 31–32.

[3] For a more in-depth comparison between the murmuring of the Israelites and Laman and Lemuel, see Terrence L. Szink, “To a Land of Promise (1 Nephi 16–18),” in Studies in Scripture, vol. 7, 1 Nephi to Alma 29, ed. Kent P. Jackson (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1987), 60–72.

[4] Lehi’s possession of the commandments and law of Moses while journeying to the promised land is similar to Moses’s counsel to his people who had seen “the great acts of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 11:7), including “how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day” (v. 4): “Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it” (Deuteronomy 11:8).

[5] A more immediate need for the brass plates is demonstrated in this very episode, for Nephi is using the story of Moses for his own family’s benefit, as insightfully argued by Val Larsen. “By recounting how he used this episode recorded in the brass plates to inspire his brothers and himself to be faithful to God’s command that they get the plates, Nephi gives us an artful reminder of why it is so important for Lehi’s family to have the plates they are about to acquire.” “Killing Laban,” 32.

[6] Charles Swift’s carefully thought-out discussion on Laban’s slaying emphasizes this point. “According to the text, it is the Lord who is ultimately committing the act of slaying. Just as the sword acts as an instrument in the hands of Nephi, Nephi acts as an instrument in the hands of the Lord.” “‘The Lord Slayeth the Wicked’: Coming to Terms with Nephi Killing Laban,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 28 (2019): 162.

[7] There are many parallels between Nephi’s and Moses’s ministries. “Like Moses, Nephi fled into the wilderness after slaying an official of an oppressive regime, and he then led his people through that wilderness, over the water, and to the promised land. Like Moses, he constantly had to overcome the murmuring and faithlessness of his people. Like Moses, he secured divine assistance to feed his people in the wilderness. And like Moses, he was caught up into a mountain to receive the word of God.” Noel B. Reynolds, “The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon,” BYU Studies Quarterly 44, no. 2 (2005): 7. Reynolds goes on to list twenty-one parallels between Nephi and Moses that he has identified. In another article, Reynolds proposes a chiastic structure for the stories of retrieving the brass plates from Laban and building the ship. In both cases, he finds Nephi’s only allusions to Moses as deliverer of the Israelites to be structurally central points of each chiasmus. See his essay “The Political Dimension in Nephi’s Small Plates,” BYU Studies Quarterly 27, no. 4 (1987): 29. Reynolds also states, “The comparison between Moses and Nephi is not hard to draw and carries obvious political as well as religious implications.” However, it is also good to keep in mind Charles Swift’s point that there can be a difference between parallels we may make and parallels the text is trying to make. “Some might wonder if Nephi saw himself in a situation similar to Moses, who killed a man and fled (Exodus 2), yet Nephi never compares himself to Moses in this manner. The context of each death further separates Nephi from Moses: Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating one of Moses’s brethren, while Nephi killed a defenseless man who was passed out in the street.” Swift, “‘Lord Slayeth the Wicked,’” 140–41.

[8] King Limhi drew this same parallel as he prepared his people for their escape from bondage. “Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them. And again, that same God has brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved his people even until now” (Mosiah 7:19–20). Alma the Younger looked back on additional examples of God’s deliverance of his forebears. “Yea, I have always remembered the captivity of my fathers; and that same God who delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians did deliver them out of bondage” (Alma 29:12). See “I will praise him forever, for he has brought our fathers out of Egypt, and he has swallowed up the Egyptians in the Red Sea; and he led them by his power into the promised land; yea, and he has delivered them out of bondage and captivity from time to time. Yea, and he has also brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem; and he has also, by his everlasting power, delivered them out of bondage and captivity, from time to time even down to the present day; and I have always retained in remembrance their captivity; yea, and ye also ought to retain in remembrance, as I have done, their captivity” (36:28–29). The emphasis on captivity in Lehi’s wilderness experience may be due to a period of domination by desert tribesman as proposed by S. Kent Brown. Brown points out several features of the desert account as possible support: the eight-year length of time, sojourn as a term of servility, and descriptions of toiling and sorrow. See his study “Sojourn, Dwell, and Stay: Terms of Servitude,” in From Jerusalem to Zarahemla: Literary and Historical Studies of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998), 55–74.

[9] Nephi states that “by his word” (1 Nephi 17:26) the Red Sea divided. By whose word, God’s or Moses’s? The specific agent of this act is ambiguous in the text in Exodus. “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided” (Exodus 14:21). Ultimately they are working in concert, so it does not really matter, but it is interesting that even Nephi’s retelling of the episode leaves it ambiguous because “Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great work” (1 Nephi 17:26). So was it Moses’s actual word at the moment that divided the sea, or was it God’s previous command to him that was “his word”? As discussed below, the later, second use of the phrase “by his word” in verse 29 in reference to another episode seems more probable to be God’s word, making it more likely Nephi is specifically referencing God’s word or command at the Red Sea moment as well.

[10] They called the name of the place “Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel” (Exodus 17:7). Moses is now chiding them back.

[11] The miracle of water coming out of the rock is mentioned positively in several other scripture passages (e.g., Deuteronomy 8:15; Nehemiah 9:15; Isaiah 48:21//1 Nephi 20:21; 2 Nephi 25:20).

[12] The Lord likewise promised Nephi earlier in the chapter that he would lead them by light: “I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you” (1 Nephi 17:13). Compare with the Lord’s guidance during the Exodus: “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night” (Exodus 13:21).

[13] Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1987), 1:133.

[14] Numbers 21:6 mentions fiery (poisonous) serpents but not “flying” serpents (Deuteronomy 8:15 also mentions fiery serpents, as well as scorpions). “Fiery flying serpents” does show up later in the Book of Mormon in a quoted passage from Isaiah 14:29 in parallel with cockatrice (see 2 Nephi 24:29). Wallace E. Hunt Jr. explores possible reasons for why “flying serpents” may be an accurate depiction of venomous serpents in this region and how the adjective flying could have been dropped in the transmission process. He also wonders whether “flying serpents” might have had an effect on the common Mesoamerican belief in feathered-serpent gods. See his essay “Moses’ Brazen Serpent as It Relates to Serpent Worship in Mesoamerica,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2, no. 2 (1993): 121–31.

[15] See Numbers 26:65. Only Caleb and Joshua were spared and allowed to enter the promised land.

[16] This command shows up in Abinadi’s rehearsal of some of the Ten Commandments where it is specifically tied to “the Lord thy God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Mosiah 12:34).

[17] Instead of the present tense giveth in Exodus 20:12, Nephi employs the future tense shall give (1 Nephi 17:55), but the meanings are basically the same.

[18] S. Kent Brown comes to a similar conclusion about “another way in which the Exodus account was read by Nephite teachers and prophets. Plainly, they cited it as a proof of God’s ability to fulfill his promises.” “Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon,” 81. Noel Reynolds states that “Nephi practically likens himself to Moses, as a leader chosen by God.” “Political Dimension in Nephi’s Small Plates,” 22.

[19] It is interesting that Nephi refers to “the nations” being healed rather than to “the Israelites.” Perhaps from his perspective several centuries after the event, Nephi sees how the tribes had become nations or had the potential to spread even further and grow large enough to become nations.

[20] Matthew Scott Stenson puts forth the case, as summarized by three points, that Nephi viewed his record as typologically fulfilling the same role as the brass serpent did in Moses’s experience: “1) the messianic record would be lifted or raised as an ensign to the nations; 2) it would heal those nations and peoples who would look unto it; and 3) it would ‘hiss forth’ to the nations, gathering all who would hearken to its urgent Christological message.” See his essay “‘Wherefore, for This Cause’: The Book of Mormon as Anti-type of the Brass Serpent,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 43 (2021): 293.

[21] This verse is the only place where the phrase “as the Lord God liveth” shows up in the Book of Mormon, but the phrase “as the Lord liveth” shows up multiple times from different speakers/writers. It has a sense of an oath—making a promise because the Lord exists, swearing upon or to him (see, e.g., 1 Nephi 3:15; 4:32; Alma 44:11; 54:10)—but it also has a sense of demonstrating power: that God is able to accomplish great things because he exists (see, e.g., Alma 10:10; 23:6; Mormon 8:23).

[22] See the fulfillment of this perspective in 4 Nephi 1:12.

[23] Sherem opposed this view of the law of Moses and claimed that Jacob and other leaders did “pervert the right way of God, and keep not the law of Moses which is the right way; and convert the law of Moses into the worship of a being which ye say shall come many hundred years hence” (Jacob 7:7). The priests of Noah also emphasized salvation coming through the law of Moses, so Abinadi corrected them by emphasizing that salvation did not come through the law of Moses alone (see Mosiah 13:27–28).

[24] Neal Rappleye argues that Lehi used Moses here to try to convince Laman and Lemuel to accept his teachings since they likely held Moses in high esteem and discounted their father’s visionary authority. See his study “The Deuteronomist Reforms and Lehi’s Family Dynamics: A Social Context for the Rebellions of Laman and Lemuel,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 16 (2015): 87–99, esp. 97–98.

[25] As part of his night visit to Joseph Smith, Moroni quoted this passage to Joseph Smith, but with an important qualifier: “He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when ‘they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people,’ but soon would come” (Joseph Smith—History 1:40).

[26] For more on the typological connection between Moses and Jesus, see S. Kent Brown, ‘‘Moses and Jesus: The Old Adorns the New,” in The Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 9–30, This Is My Gospel, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 89–100.

[27] Jesus repeats the paraphrased warning of Moses that those who reject his words “shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant” (3 Nephi 21:11; see Doctrine and Covenants 133:63). If Jesus is not referring to this specific context recorded in Deuteronomy 18, he could be repeating the oft-used punishment found throughout the law of Moses that the sinner would be cut off from among his people (see, e.g., Exodus 31:14; Leviticus 7:20–21, 25, 27; Numbers 9:13).

[28] For a thorough discussion of the reception history of this prophecy and whether it refers to a single individual or to the institution of future prophets, see David R. Seely, “A Prophet Like Moses” (Deuteronomy 18:15–18) in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 41 (2020): 265–80. For an examination of its use and interpretation in the Book of Mormon specifically, see Joseph M. Spencer, An Other Testament: On Typology (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2016), 149–53.

[29] The chapter begins with several repetitions, almost in typical Hebrew parallelistic fashion, even though the chapter is not in poetic form (e.g., repetition of “wilderness of my afflictions,” “choice seer,” “great like unto Moses”).

[30] Other modern English versions of Isaiah are a little clearer on what the “manner of Egypt” means. It is basically that in the time of the Assyrians God would again do as he did in the time of the Egyptians. For example, the New International Version states: “and he [the Lord Almighty] will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt” (Isaiah 10:26).

[31] Abinadi also acknowledges the direct connection of the law to Moses: “I know if ye keep the commandments of God ye shall be saved; yea, if ye keep the commandments which the Lord delivered unto Moses in the mount of Sinai” (Mosiah 12:33). Besides the law of Moses, books of Moses are referred to a couple of times in the Book of Mormon: “books of Moses” (1 Nephi 19:23) and “five books of Moses” (1 Nephi 5:11). This last reference to five books may seem anachronistic because the Bible was not yet formatted at this time in the way we have it now with the “five books of Moses” at the beginning of our Old Testament. We do not know whether the formatting on the brass plates had five writings of Moses, but if not, it is possible that Joseph Smith referred to Moses’s writing as the five books of Moses in his translation because of his familiarity with their later collection.

[32] Spencer, An Other Testament: On Typology, 149. For a fuller discussion of Abinadi’s rhetoric vis-à-vis the law of Moses and the priests of Noah, see chapter 5 therein (pp. 141–72).

[33] In the next chapter, Amulek confirms that Alma drew upon the words of Zenos, Zenock, and Moses to prove that redemption comes through the Son of God (see Alma 34:7).

[34] Andrew C. Skinner, “Serpent Symbols and Salvation in the Ancient Near East and the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10, no. 2 (2001): 49. Skinner later claims, “The scriptures give us a fairly inclusive perspective on serpent dualism. Clearly, Satan is well represented as a serpent. But so is the Savior, as the Book of Mormon unequivocally proclaims. Coming together in the person of Jesus Christ is a wide array of the positive powers and attributes of all those ancient Near Eastern deities ever associated with the image of the serpent. . . . A review of the evidence leads me to the conclusion that the intensely positive and powerful serpent symbols and images from ancient non-Israelite, non-Christian cultures of the Fertile Crescent and Mediterranean basin represent echoes of divine truth once known in the very beginning of this earth’s temporal existence but corrupted early on. That is to say, the foreknown and long-awaited Messiah of the world, the great Jehovah of the Old Testament and primordial creator of the heavens and the earth, was originally and legitimately represented by the image or symbol of the serpent—evidently before the ancient and renowned civilizations of the Fertile Crescent and Mediterranean region developed. It is apparent that this symbol came to be applied to other important deities of various pantheons as the serpent symbol was handed down from culture to culture. Effectively, the true knowledge of God and the representative symbols that were attributed to him were lost through apostasy and cultural diffusion” (53–54).

[35] As mentioned earlier, Matthew Stenson sees Nephi typologically connecting his record with the brass serpent. He sees Alma doing the same thing, building upon Nephi’s earlier work. “So, although Nephi’s typological teaching in 1 Nephi 17 does not refer to a book, Alma’s deployment of it refers his reader to the word of Christ and demonstrates that he reads Nephi (and Moses) in textual terms. But the argument is that Nephi’s typological project is taken up by Alma, and not vice versa.” “Anti-type of the Brass Serpent,” 299. Later, Stenson states, “Alma, as indicated, fuses the ‘word of Christ,’ the brass ‘compass,’ and the narrative from Numbers 21 in the context of typology in his record (Alma 37:44). Alma seems to adapt the typological tradition established by Nephi even as he persuades his audience to ‘believe in’ Jesus Christ, ‘the Son of God’ (see Alma 33:18–22). In his message, he accentuates the healing properties of Jesus Christ who would ‘come to redeem his people,’ or all those who would look to him and believe on him” (315–16).

[36] In the Encyclopedia of Mormonism’s entry on the Mount of Transfiguration, Dale C. Mouritsen states that Moses and Elijah “had been translated so that they could appear with physical bodies to bestow priesthood keys by the laying on of hands, which made possible, among other things, the preaching of the gospel throughout the world (Matt. 18:19–20) and performing saving ordinances for the living and the dead.” “Mount of Transfiguration,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 2:969.

[37] Perhaps this similarity with the earlier Nephi is due to this Nephi following his father’s counsel to remember his namesake by remembering his works (see Helaman 5:6).