“The Lord Will Judge with the Ancients of His People and the Princes Thereof”

Monte S. Nyman

The conditions of the Jewish people, described in the verses above, will remain, to one degree or another, until the Second Coming of Christ, when he comes to judge them (v. 13). His entering “into judgment with the ancients of his people and the princes thereof” (v. 14), is probably referring to the prophets and patriarchs who will stand as special witnesses, along with the apostles of Jesus’ day, of the things they had taught the people. The people are accountable for those teachings. Mormon wrote:

18 Yea, behold, I write unto all the ends of the earth; yea, unto you, twelve tribes of Israel, who shall be judged according to your works by the twelve whom Jesus chose to be his disciples in the land of Jerusalem.
19 And I write also unto the remnant of this people, who shall also be judged by the twelve whom Jesus chose in this land; and they shall be judged by the other twelve whom Jesus chose in the land of Jerusalem. [Mormon 3:18–19]

Jesus told his apostles in Jerusalem that “when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28; see also D&C 29:12).

Book of Mormon Commentary: I Nephi Wrote This Record

References