it must needs be that there was an opposition even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life the one being sweet and the other bitter wherefore the
Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself wherefore man could not act for himself save it should be that he were enticed by the one or the other
If one interprets this passage as a strict parallelism, it implies that the forbidden fruit was sweet while the tree of life was bitter. This seems strange because elsewhere in the text,
sweet lines up with positives, bitter with negatives:
- 2 Nephi 15:20 (Isaiah 5:20)
- woe unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for
darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter
- Alma 36:21
- yea I say unto you my son that there can be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as was my pains yea and again I say unto you my son that on the other
hand there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy
In the first example, we have the words evil, darkness, and bitter opposed to good, light, and sweet. In the second example, the words bitter and pains are set against
sweet and joy.
As far as 2 Nephi 2:15 is concerned, readers would normally assume that the tree of life was sweet and the forbidden fruit was bitter. One could imagine switching the word order; there are two
possible emendations:
- switch the noun phrases:
- even the tree of life in opposition to the forbidden fruit the one being sweet and the other bitter
- switch the adjectives:
- even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life the one being bitter and the other sweet
These two emendations presume that the order of reference must be preserved. Ultimately, the question is whether one and other necessarily maintain order. There is only one
example for which the order is clearly maintained:
- Alma 41:4–5
- raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil the one on one hand the
other on the other the one restored to happiness according to his desires of happiness or to good according to his desires of good and
the other to evil according to his desires of evil
Yet this passage continues by using other a second time, but this time in reference to the first of the pair (that is, in reference to righteousness and happiness):
- Alma 41:5–6
- for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh and so it is on the other hand if he hath repented of his
sins and desired righteousness until the end of his days even so shall he be rewarded unto righteousness
Another example of a reversal is in a Matthew quotation:
- 3 Nephi 13:24 (Matthew 6:24)
- no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the
other
In this last example, we see that “the one” is followed by “the other”, even if the referent switches. One could therefore interpret 2 Nephi 2:15 so that “the one” refers to the tree of life and
“the other” refers to the forbidden fruit, thus preserving the use of sweet with positives and bitter with negatives.
It should also be noted here that for all other uses of “(the) one … (the) other”, no specific order is implied or even necessary. In all these instances, we get simply a contrast or an unordered
opposition:
- 1 Nephi 12:2
- I beheld multitudes gathered together to battle one against the other
- 1 Nephi 14:7
- a work which shall be everlasting either on the one hand or on the other either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal or unto the
deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts
- 1 Nephi 14:10
- behold there is save it be two churches the one is the church of the Lamb of God and the other is the church of the devil
- 2 Nephi 2:16
- wherefore man could not act for himself save it should be that he were enticed by the one or the other
- 2 Nephi 9:12
- and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other
- 2 Nephi 26:28
- but all men are privileged the one like unto the other
- 2 Nephi 28:3
- the churches which are built up and not unto the Lord when the one shall say unto the other behold I / I am the Lord’s and the
other shall say I / I am the Lord’s
- Jacob 2:21
- and the one being is as precious in his sight as the other
- Alma 32:20
- behold I say unto you that it is on the one hand even as it is on the other
- Alma 52:31
- they were surrounded by the Nephites by the men of Moroni on one hand and the men of Lehi on the other
- Helaman 7:23
- I will not shew unto the wicked of my strength to one more than the other save it be unto those who repenteth of their sins
- 3 Nephi 26:5
- if they be good to the resurrection of everlasting life and if they be evil to the resurrection of damnation being on a parallel the one on the one hand
and the other on the other hand according to the mercy and the justice and the holiness which is in Christ
- Moroni 8:15
- for awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism and the other must perish because he hath no baptism
