“In the Body He Shall Show Himself”

Brant Gardner

Textual analysis: Verse 5 presumes an intimacy of subject with Jacob's audience. In none of the previous verses has he clearly mentioned the Messiah. The sole introductory material by which his audience is supposed to be able to understand the referent for the phrase "ye know that in the body he shall show himself" if found in verse 4:

2 Nephi 9:4: For I know that ye have searched much, many of you, to know of things to come; wherefore I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God.

The only textual introduction to the person of the Savior in verse 5 is the reference to the renewal of the bodies in verse 4. This suggests that Jacob's audience is quite familiar with the mission of the Savior. Certainly they would have had opportunity, for Nephi had seen a vision that was quite explicit, even naming the Messiah:

2 Ne. 25:19 For according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

While it appears unusual that the phrasing should be "his name shall be Jesus Christ" (Christ being the title, not the name) Nephi did understand the difference:

2 Ne. 26:12 And as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews, that Jesus is the very Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God;

In the phrase Jesus is the Christ, the word "Christ" is used more appropriately as a title. Nevertheless, 2 Nephi 25:19 is still somewhat awkward not only in proclaiming it a name, but in using the title Messiah in the same verse. It is hard to understand what underlying text would have yielded the anglicized form the Hebrew term and the anglicized form of the Greek form of the Hebrew term in the same sentence. In this case, it appears much more as an addition by Joseph Smith than an exact translation of the text.

Scriptural analysis: In this single verse, Jacob demonstrates a detailed knowledge of the mission of the Savior (undoubtedly learned - at least initially - from Nephi's vision of the Savior). Jacob mentions that the Messiah will be born in Jerusalem, and that the person of the Creator will become a man "subject unto man in the flesh" and that he will die for men.

The reference to the Creator is to Jehovah in his role as the creator, and should not be confused with the Father.

Literary analysis: Jacob has a very nice parallel opposition in his phrasing which emphasizes the role of the Savior. The literary phrase turns on the idea of subjection, and the death (and implied resurrection of the Savior.

This phrasing works better as literature than as theology, for the meaning must be extracted. It is certainly correct, but once again requires a fair amount of previous knowledge on the part of the audience to both understand the poetry and the theology it references.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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