“Sift You as Wheat”

Brant Gardner

Jesus again speaks to the multitude, reminding them of the same need for vigilance as he had the twelve (v. 15).

Reference: The vocabulary here comes from Luke: “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31). Because wheat was not a Mesoamerican crop, Joseph was obviously translating the plate text into the King James image that would have been more familiar to his nineteenth-century readers. Without the need to separate the husk from the kernel, the sifting of wheat and chaff would not have been a Mesoamerican process.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 5

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