“The Golden Wedge of Ophir”

Brant Gardner

Continuing the reversals of expected order from the previous verses, the Lord notes a man will be worth more than gold. The very presence of this statement n this context assures us that a man was not so considered in those ancient times.

The literary reference to "the" golden wedge of Ophir is not now known. Ophir was a gold producer, and the "golden wedge" would have been a large quantity of gold. In the context of the verse, it appears that the contemporaneous reader would have understood this to be an extravagant amount of gold, thus highlighted the new found value of a man. Once again, this contrast absolutely presumes an understanding that man at that time would never be considered to be so valuable.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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