3 Nephi 23

3 Nephi 23:1

1 And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.

Jesus now begins a transition into the next task of his stay with the Nephites in Bountiful. The previous message dealt with the events of the end of times, and now the next message will deal with record keeping. Jesus is aware that the Nephites are a record-keeping people. He is aware that they have the record of Isaiah with them. As a transition, he keys on the fact that he has just cited a major section of Isaiah to shift the emphasis away from the message of that chapter of Isaiah to the fact that they have a chapters from Isaiah available. The command is repeated that they “ought to search these things.” This command was given earlier in the day with specific connection to Isaiah as well:

3 Nephi 20:11

11 Ye remember that I spake unto you, and said that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled—behold they are written, ye have them before you, therefore search them—

In addition to the citations of Isaiah in his discourse, the Savior explicitly brackets his discourse with the command to search the written words of Isaiah in their possession.

3 Nephi 23:2

2 For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.

The specific reason for reading Isaiah is that it contains answers to questions that the Nephites are asking. They are interested in the house of Israel, particularly in the gathering. That is a theme in Isaiah, so the Nephites are told to read Isaiah for their answers. Since the Gentiles are involved in those future events, the Savior does note that Isaiah is also of value to the Gentiles.

3 Nephi 23:3

3 And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.

Jesus gives his testimony that the words of Isaiah will be fulfilled. Although this is implicit in asking them to read Isaiah, it is nevertheless explicitly given as a promise.

3 Nephi 23:4

4 Therefore give heed to my words; write the things which I have told you; and according to the time and the will of the Father they shall go forth unto the Gentiles.

Interestingly, Jesus places his teachings to the Nephites on this occasion on a parallel with Isaiah. The argument was developed as follows:

(verse 2) Isaiah spoke of Israel, and his words will go to the Gentiles.

(verse 3) Isaiah’s words (which were written) will come true.

(verse 4) Therefore (!) the Nephites should write what Jesus says so that it too will “go forth unto the Gentiles.”

It is hard to imagine that it would not occur to the Nephites to write down this experience with their Messiah, so the message must be directed to the future use of those writings rather than just the act of writing them down. The Savior is encouraging them to write for a future purpose, just as Isaiah’s writings serve a future purpose.

3 Nephi 23:5

5 And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things.

The value of the scriptures is again underscored. The words of the Savior are certainly before the Nephites in this sacred occasion, but they will be with them always in the things that have been written down from the prophets. The Savior notes that the essentials of the gospel are contained in the scripture.

3 Nephi 23:6

6 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he said unto them again, after he had expounded all the scriptures unto them which they had received, he said unto them: Behold, other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not.

The focus of this entire section of Jesus’ experience with the people is on the written texts. He expounds the scriptures that they do have, and now focuses on the importance of the living record. It is easy to presume that scriptures are things that were written a long time ago. In this particular instance, the Lord tells the Nephites that there are scriptures that are recent, and within the lifetime and memory of those present. The scriptures are not the words of the past, but they are the words of the living oracles as well.

3 Nephi 23:7

7 And it came to pass that he said unto Nephi: Bring forth the record which ye have kept.

3 Nephi 23:8

8 And when Nephi had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said:

3 Nephi 23:9

9 Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?

Certainly the Lord knew what he was looking for before they brought the scriptures to him. He did not have the time to understand the organization of the records, nor to exhaustively read what was brought to him. He was able to go to the record in question, and note that there was something that was not written. He points this out.

First, the fact that he calls for the records, knowing what he was looking for beforehand, tells us that his purpose in doing this is to highlight the importance of the record of the living oracles. By reading the recent scriptures, Jesus emphasizes them as conceptually equivalent t to the writings of Isaiah he has recently been citing. Not only are the words he is currently speaking important to write down, but those of recent prophets, such as Samuel.

It is not clear from this statement whether only the fulfillment of the Samuel’s prophecy, or the entirety of the prophecy was missing from the record. In this verse we have the Savior only noting that it was the fulfillment of those arising from the dead that was not included.

While we cannot tell precisely what is missing, we can note that the general prophecies were included in Mormon’s text, but neither this prophecy nor its fulfillment made it into Mormon’s plates, save for this mention. For Mormon, at least, the point of the value of the written scriptures was more important than making certain that the record of Samuel was complete.

3 Nephi 23:10

10 And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.

3 Nephi 23:11

11 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?

3 Nephi 23:12

12 And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.

3 Nephi 23:13

13 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.

The command to write appears to be directed to this particular fulfillment. At least this fulfillment does not appear to have been written in any text. We know that there are at least two records available for the material we have in 3 Nephi. The first is the official large plate text, and the second is the personal record of Nephi. Mormon tells us that he is using Nephi’s record as the basis for Mormon’s text, not the official plates he could have used (3 Nephi 5:9-10). Since the response to the Lord is that they remembered that it had not been written, this would suggest that it had not been written at all, in either (or any) of the available accounts.

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

3 Nephi 23:14

14 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had expounded all the scriptures in one, which they had written, he commanded them that they should teach the things which he had expounded unto them.

The ending of this section on the value and importance of the written scriptures is the command that the people be taught from that which was written. This returns to the emphasis on the words of Isaiah, and the need to write down what was happening in this visitation of the Messiah to the people. These words would become the same as those of Isaiah, and they were to teach each other from them, for they had the same value. The value in the scriptures is in the truth they hold, not in their relative age. Even the “new” scriptures from Samuel were important to be written.

Textual: The Book of Mormon, in its original chapter configuration, demonstrates an interesting trait in that what would appear to be concluding statements come at the beginning of subsequent chapters rather than at the end of chapters as we expect them. In this case, the following chapter begins a citation of a full chapter from Malachi. In order to preserve the versification as it is in the KJV, this verse was moved to the end of this chapter.