“Turn the Right Hand of the Lord Unto the Left”

Brant Gardner

“Therefore ye need not suppose that ye can turn the right hand of the Lord unto the left” is an idiomatic expression from the Old Testament. In this context, it means that Yahweh does not change. As we see it in Deuteronomy, the emphasis is on not deviating from God’s law and statutes:

And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel. (Deut. 17:19–20)

We are deluding ourselves if we think that God “may not execute judgment unto the fulfilling of the covenant.” Yahweh will be undeviating in fulfilling his covenant with Israel. (See commentary accompanying 3 Nephi 13:3–4.)

Text: This is the end of a chapter in the 1830 edition.

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

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