“A Messiah, a Savior and This Redeemer”

Alan C. Miner

Lehi prophesied that "a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews--even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the World. He also spoke of how many prophets had testified of this Messiah, this "Redeemer of the world" (1 Nephi 10:4-5)

As Christians we refer to Jesus as "the Christ." This comes from the Greek Christus meaning "the anointed one." Christus was the Greek translation of the Hebrew word also meaning "the anointed one." The Hebrew word is Meshiach, or Messiah as we have anglicized it. Therefore, it is proper that Lehi would refer to this prophet as "the Messiah," the Savior, or "the Redeemer" (1 Nephi 10:5). [Church Educational System, Book of Mormon Student Manual, Religion 121-122, 1981, p. 26]

“He Also Spake Concerning the Prophets Testified of These Things, Concerning This Messiah, or This Redeemer of the World”

According to Brant Gardner, perhaps as no other verse, 1 Nephi 10:5 indicates the quantity of material which has been excised from the report of Lehi's sermon: "And he also spake concerning the prophets, how great a number had testified of these things, concerning this Messiah, of whom he had spoken, or this Redeemer of the world."

It is hard to imagine Lehi expounding on the great number of prophets which had predicated the coming of the Messiah without naming them, and probably citing their clearest prophecies. Nephi chooses not to repeat this information, and suffices himself with only the briefest of mentions. It is not clear from the available information how much of the plan of life Lehi expounded. Clearly he made explicit the connection of the Messiah to the Fall of Man (see 1 Nephi 10:6), but again Nephi only records this very brief synopsis of what must have been a much larger original text. [Brant Gardner, Book of Mormon Commentary, 1Nephi/1Nephi10.htm, p. 3]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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