According to Alan Goff, there is a simile curse advanced by Abinadi regarding king Noah: "the life of king Noah shall be valued even as a garment in a hot furnace" (Mosiah 12:3) Since the Book of Mormon is supposed to be a product of an ancient Israelite culture, we might look to the Bible to see some meaning of this passage. The faithful Book of Mormon student should realize that both Hebrew narrative and biblical narrative relish repetition.
Six biblical king/prophet narratives demonstrate that even kings are obligated to obey the law. In many, the garment is rent to indicate symbolically that the kingdom is taken from the unworthy king:
(1) King Saul (1 Samuel 15:28; 24:3-5)
(2) King David
(3) King Solomon (1 Kings 11:11-12, 28-31)
(4) King Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:14)
(5) King Ahab (1 Kings 21:21)
(6) King Josiah (2 Kings 22:19)
These stories follow a pattern to demonstrate that the king must also obey the law:
(1) The king's crimes are recounted.
(2) The prophet indicts the king for his crimes.
(3) The king repents (in the Jeroboam story remorse does not occur).
(4) God determines a punishment to be imposed in the next generation.
In the Book of Mormon, the confrontation between the prophet Abinadi and king Noah follows this pattern:
(1) Noah's crimes are recounted (Mosiah 11:1-15)
(2) The prophet indicts the king for his crimes (Mosiah 11:20-28; 12:1-13:35)
(3) The king attempts to repent, but his priests talk him out of releasing Abinadi. (Mosiah 17:11-12)
(4) A punishment is imposed (Mosiah 17:18; 12:5-7)
Noah's life is to be valued as a garment in a fire (Mosiah 12:3). Perhaps in isolation, this analysis stretches Noah's garment in the fire too far in alluding to these stories of garments being cut (indicating the covenant that was cut with the kings now being torn). But taken with the preponderance of allusions to the interrogation of kingship in the books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings, we ought to give some weight to the notion that Noah's garment is an invocation of these earlier king's garments. [See the commentary on Mosiah 11:27; 12:1; 12:2; 12:11] [Alan Goff, "Uncritical Theory and Thin Description: The Resistance to History," in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 7, Num. 1, F.A.R.M.S., 1995, pp. 204-205]
“As a Garment in a Hot Furnace”
John Tvedtnes notes that in Mosiah 12:3, Abinadi prophesied "that the life of king Noah shall be valued even as a garment in a hot furnace." Noah's priests reported the words a little differently, "thy life shall be as a garment in a furnace of fire" (Mosiah 12:10). This prophecy was fulfilled when King Noah was burned to death (Mosiah 19:20).
Mark Morrise has shown that Abinadi's words fit the pattern of a simile curse (Mark J. Morrise, "Simile Curses in the Ancient Near East, Old Testament, and Book of Mormon," in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 2/1, 1993: 133)
It is interesting that we find mention of both a garment and a king in a simile curse in Isaiah 14:19-20:
All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet.
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Hugh Nibley (The Prophetic Book of Mormon, 1989:305) suggests that Abinadi borrowed from the simile curse in Isaiah 50;90, 11 (cited in 2 Nephi 7:9,11) . . . but this Isaiah parallel is only a partial one, for verse 11 (which mentions fire) has nothing to do with the garment, which is consumed by the moth, not the fire. . . .
The law of Moses provides that a garment visibly tainted by the plague is to be burned (Leviticus 13:52,57; cf. Jude 1:23). . . .
A ceremonial burning of worn-out priestly clothing took place in the Jerusalem temple of Christ's time during the Feast of Tabernacles. Located above the court of the women were huge cups in which olive oil was burned; these garments served as wicks. (Mishnah, Sukkah 5:2-3). Just as priests who developed bodily infirmities were disqualified from performing priestly functions under the law of Moses (Leviticus 21:17-23), so, too, their worn clothing became unsuited for temple service. . . .
Tvedtnes suggests that Abinadi's curse of King Noah, with the specific mention of fire, was intended to indicate the very serious nature of Noah's sins. Like the diseased garment in Leviticus 13:52,57), and the useless garment in Isaiah 14:19-20, he is not to be honored with burial. Instead, he will suffer death by fire, which is the ultimate punishment of the wicked. [John A. Tvedtnes, "As a Garment in a Hot Furnace," in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, pp. 76-79]
“The Life of King Noah Shall Be Valued Even As a Garment in a Hot Furnace”
The servants of king Noah took Abinadi before the king and they accused him of false prophecy. According to Hugh Nibley, this is a very interesting study in textual criticism because this is what he said:
The life of king Noah shall be valued even as a garment in a hot furnace; for he shall know that I am the Lord . . .[verse 11] And again, he saith that thou shalt be as a stalk, even as a dry stalk of the field, which is run over by the beasts and trodden under foot. And again, he saith thou shalt be as the blossoms of a thistle, which, when it is fully ripe, if the wind bloweth, it is driven forth upon the face of the land." (Mosiah 12:3, 11)
These passages are very interesting because they are found in another place--a parallel case of the Teacher of Righteousness in the Dead Sea Scrolls, who goes through the same routine--the same persecution, the same hiding, and everything else--as Abinadi. And it happened about the same time, but it was in the Old World. He prophesied, too, and he used the same expressions. We see that these expressions come from a common source. There are references in chapter 50 of Isaiah. This is what it comes down to. First, put down Isaiah 50:9-11. This is the prophet speaking, just as Abinadi is speaking, just as the Teacher of Righteousness is speaking. They both quote Isaiah, and they quote it in a very interesting way for an older text. We find the parallel texts not in Joseph Smith and the Bible, which he could have used, but in Joseph Smith and the Dead Sea Scrolls, which he couldn't have used because they are a recent discovery. They quote it in the same way that Joseph Smith quotes it. If you can keep this straight, it is a neat example of textual criticism. So Isaiah says, "Who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment [he is not talking about the garment being burned]; the moth shall eat them up [that's what happens to garments] . . . . Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled," you people that play with fire. These irresponsible priests in their wickedness are playing with fire, and they will be burned up by it.
Bearing that in mind, what does the Dead Sea Scrolls man say? "For those who stubbornly oppose God, there shall be violence and overpowering and a flame of fire. They are playing with fire and throwing sparks around." I suppose he got that from Isaiah. This is from the Damascus Covenant 5:13. Then the next verse is interesting. "Their weaving is a flimsy thing, the weaving of spiders." Notice how Abinadi combined them. If you play around with flimsy old garments and put them in the fire, they will be burned in a hurry. Here he says they are playing with sparks and throwing fire around, and their weaving (their arguments, etc.;) is flimsy, as the weaving of spiders. Then he says another thing, "Thou scatterest the remnant of the men who fight against me, like chaff before the wind." Now Abinadi "saith that thy life shall be as a garment in a furnace of fire. . . . And again he saith that thou shalt be as the blossoms of a thistle, which, when it is fully ripe, if the wind bloweth, it is driven forth upon the face of the land." Well, I guess they got that from the first Psalm about the wicked man. He shall be "like chaff which the wind driveth away." but the thing is that Abinadi put them in the same combination that the Teacher of Righteousness did n the Old World. They both used the same old text is the point. It's an older text. Remember, we have the Isaiah text from the Dead Sea Scrolls, which is a thousand year older than our Old Testament Isaiah. Ours comes from the ninth century and this is the first century B.C. This is the older text, and Abinadi cites the older text. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2, pp. 63-64]