“Aminadi Who Interpreted the Writing Which Was Upon the Wall of the Temple”

George Reynolds, Janne M. Sjodahl

We know no more about this writing than what is stated here. But the fact to note is that the ancient Americans, as did the ancient Egyptians, recorded important historical events on the walls of their public buildings. At some time the Lord, himself, had written on the temple walls erected by Nephites, presumably, and Aminadi had been given the gift of interpretation. Is it impossible that this miraculous writing was the starting point of the strange American hieroglyphs, which were developed gradually and which survived after the records of the Nephites had been hidden and their alphabet and speech forgotten?

We gather that the Ammonihahites, who otherwise were a godless and a selfseeking people, nevertheless, took great pride in telling of their progenitors. To them, from whom they sprang was a topic of keen delight, and a source of inexhaustible pride which established the weaker of them in the places of the strong. We have a likely counterpart in American tradition today. Sons and daughters of those who came to the New World in the Mayflower are held in high repute. Just so, we imagine it was among the Ammonihahites. Those who could trace their ancestry back to the noble sires who first begat their race were in no way to be cast out. Else, for why did Amulek declare his descent?

This Aminadi whose interpretation of the writings made by the finger of God upon the temple wall was undoubtedly a singular person in the annals of the Nephites. Amulek needed only to mention the name of Aminadi as one of his forefathers, and thereby he expected, and probably received the acclaim of those who heard him so testify. Amulek's opening statement in his own behalf reminds one of Paul's defense before King Agrippa in Caesarea. There, the great Apostle noted to the king "my manner of life from my youth"; also that he had been brought up after the straitest sect of the Jews, the Pharisees. And besides that, Paul recognized all the time "mine own nation at Jerusalem." (Acts 26:1-26) Amulek's defense was in many respects comparable to Paul's notable one before the Roman rulers in Judea about 125 years later.

Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 3

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