- PROVO, Utah — There are two "seals" on the Book of Mormon, according to Julie Frederick, adjunct faculty at Brigham Young University. One seal is what is commonly called the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. Another seal is on the book as a whole.Frederick spoke on Wednesday, April 15, at the Mormon Theology Seminar's "Reading Nephi Reading Isaiah" conference at BYU. She explored the prophecies of Isaiah and Nephi that explain the seals, their relationship to the prophecies about the "learned man" and the physical realities of the symbolism.The Book of Mormon discusses the seals in 2 Nephi 27:6-22, a passage in which Nephi relies heavily upon the wording of Isaiah 29 to construct his own prophecy. Frederick said that it is clear in verses 7 and 10 that there are two seals."The first seal is on the entire book," Frederick said. 2 Nephi 27:7 describes that seal: "And behold the book shall be sealed." Verse 10 describes it this way: "(T)he book shall be sealed by the power of God." "The second seal is on a specific part of that book, namely apportioned as a revelation of all things. We often call this the sealed portion of the plates," Frederick said. 2 Nephi 27:10 says that "the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book." Or, as Frederick described it, "So we have a sealed book (and in it) ... is a sealed revelation."In her discussion of 2 Nephi 27, Frederick defined her terms:The gold plates: The small plates, Words of Mormon, Mormon's abridgment of the large plates, the plates of Mormon, the abridgment of the plates of Ether and the plates of Moroni.
- The sealed portion: The specific portion of the plates with an additional seal.
- The Book of Mormon: The portion of the plates we now have published in English.
- The transcription of characters: What Martin Harris took to Charles Anthon.
- Seal one: The seal over the entire gold plates.
- Seal two: The seal over the sealed portion of the gold plates.
During her presentation at BYU, Frederick used color-coding to show her identifications of the various words in 2 Nephi 27. In this article, her identifications are inserted with parentheses into the scripture text. Where she was less sure about identification, a question mark is also inserted:6. And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words (Book of Mormon) of a book (gold plates), and they shall be the words (Book of Mormon) of them which have slumbered.7. And behold the book (gold plates) shall be sealed (Seal One); and in the book (gold plates) shall be a revelation (sealed portion) from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof.8. Wherefore, because of the things (gold plates) which are sealed up (seal one), the things (sealed portion) which are sealed (seal two) shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore the book (gold plates?) shall be kept from them.9. But the book (gold plates) shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall deliver the words (transcription of characters) of the book (gold plates), which are the words of those who have slumbered in the dust, and he shall deliver these words unto another;10. But the words (sealed portion?) which are sealed (seal two?) he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book (gold plates). For the book (gold plates) shall be sealed (seal one) by the power of God, and the revelation (sealed portion) which was sealed (seal two) shall be kept in the book (gold plates) until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof.11. And the day cometh that the words (Book of Mormon?) of the book (gold plates?) which were sealed (seal one) shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth.12. Wherefore, at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the world, that the eyes of none shall behold it save it be that three witnesses shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein.13. And there is none other which shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God, to bear testimony of his word unto the children of men; for the Lord God hath said that the words of the faithful should speak as if it were from the dead.14. Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to bring forth the words of the book; and in the mouth of as many witnesses as seemeth him good will he establish his word; and wo be unto him that rejecteth the word of God!15. But behold, it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book (gold plates): Take these words (transcription of characters) which are not sealed (seal one?) and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying: Read this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say: Bring hither the book (gold plates), and I will read them.16. And now, because of the glory of the world and to get again will they say this, and not for the glory of God.17. And the man shall say: I cannot bring the book (gold plates), for it is sealed (seal one).18. Then shall the learned say: I cannot read it.19. Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book (gold plates) and the words (gold plates? sealed portion?) thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say: I am not learned.20. Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.21. Touch not the things (sealed portion) which are sealed (seal two), for I will bring them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work.22. Wherefore, when thou hast read the words (Book of Mormon) which I have commanded thee, and obtained the witnesses which I have promised unto thee, then shalt thou seal up (seal one "being reimposed") the book (gold plates) again, and hide it up unto me, that I may preserve the words (sealed portion) which thou hast not read, until I shall see fit in mine own wisdom to reveal all things unto the children of men.But what types of seals are being described? Frederick looked at Isaiah for clues. The original Hebrew word is associated with sealing documents or scrolls. Seals can be wax or clay and keep the document closed — but it is not a strong physical barrier. A sealed document is inaccessible until the seal is broken.Frederick quoted from the Anchor Bible Dictionary about how seals are meant to identify the sender of the document and to protect its contents from tampering. "The (seal) provided authentication of the origin," Frederick said. "Kind of like our seals on bottles of medicine that say, 'Do not use if seal has been broken.' ... don't trust this if the seal has been broken — we can't verify the contents."Frederick thinks that Nephi may have used the term "seal" as a metaphor. Nephi also equates it with hiding the record. "Part of the seal on the plates is the hiddeness and the silence which surround it," Frederick said.The seal on the Gold Plates may also, according to Frederick, be more like the seal on a cave (such as the lion den in Daniel 6:17 and Christ's tomb in Matthew 27:63-66) than a seal on a document. The plates were sealed, in a sense, in a "cave" when they were in the stone box.The seal on the sealed portion is not clear. Joseph Smith gave no description of the way the sealed portion was sealed. "The historical evidence is surprisingly sketchy on that," Frederick said. "Whether it was a metal band or a physical marker, we simply don't know."The general seal on the Book of Mormon could be a metaphorical version of a seal on a scroll, a literal seal on the stone box or perhaps a wax seal on the plates.But these descriptions don't answer all the questions raised in 2 Nephi 27, according to Frederick, because the plates remained hid from the world because of a seal. How did the seal keep them hid? How could a seal prevent Harris from bringing them to Anthon?Frederick speculated that perhaps the seal on the plates was not broken but replaced by another seal. This new seal had power to bring forth the words of the plates. This new seal also restricted access to the plates. This new seal had a name: Joseph Smith Jr.
E-mail: mdegroote@desnews.com