“I Will Consecrate Their Gain Unto the Lord”

Brant Gardner

Jesus continues his paraphrase of Micah, expecting his listeners to both recognize the text and also recognize how he is modifying its meaning. The message is that the Gentiles will lose their dominance, a repetition of the previous day’s message (3 Ne. 16:15).

Translation: Joseph’s translation shifts awkwardly at the point of adding the quotation. The first clause is: “For I will make my people.… ” “Make” requires a direct object, but this clause has none. The object of “make” thus becomes the entire citation—the description of what Yahweh will make the Israelites do. The meaning is discernable, but the translation itself is weak. This passage provides further evidence Joseph did not simply read off text seen in the interpreters so that this scribe could copy it down. Rather, it required Joseph’s mental participation. Here, he began a complex construction but could not complete it gracefully. The results should be construed as resulting from the translation, not from the grammar of the plate text.

Reference: This verse contains language from Micah 4:13: “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.”

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

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