Jacob knew death was near and his frail body would soon go down to the grave. Therefore he handed over the sacred records to Enos, who was his son. He told Enos to maintain the records in accordance with the instructions of Nephi. Jacob acknowledged that his writings on these plates had been small; nevertheless, he hoped that his brethren would read these records.
Jacob closed his farewell with a word which Joseph Smith was inspired to translate as adieu. The word is from the French, meaning "to God," or "with God." It carries the same connotations as the English phrase, "God be with you." Early critics of the Book of Mormon ridiculed the fact that a French word would appear in this text which is supposed to be taken from Hebrew and Egyptian. However, their point was groundless. Joseph Smith simply used a very common term of that day to capture the meaning of the original word used by Jacob to commend his readers "to God." And that is exactly what the word, "adieu," means.