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“They Shall No More Be Confounded”: Moroni’s Wordplay on Joseph in Ether 13:1-13 and Moroni 10:31

Title“They Shall No More Be Confounded”: Moroni’s Wordplay on Joseph in Ether 13:1-13 and Moroni 10:31
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsBowen, Matthew L.
JournalInterpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture
Volume30
Pagination91-104
KeywordsEther (Prophet); Jerusalem (Old World); Joseph (of Egypt); Moroni (Son of Mormon); New Jerusalem; Onomastics; Prophecy; Wordplay
Abstract

In two related prophecies, Moroni employs an apparent wordplay on the name Joseph in terms of the Hebrew idiom (lōʾ) yôsı̂p … ʿôd (+ verbal component), as preserved in the phrases “they shall no more be confounded” (Ether 13:8) and “that thou mayest no more be confounded” (Moroni 10:31). That phraseology enjoyed a long currency within Nephite prophecy (e.g., 1 Nephi 14:2, 15:20), ultimately having its source in Isaiah’s prophecies regarding Jerusalem/Zion (see, for example, Isaiah 51:22; 52:1– 2; 54:2–4). Ether and Moroni’s prophecy in Ether 13 that the Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem would “no more be confounded” further affirms the gathering of Israel in general and the gathering of the seed of Joseph in particular.

URLhttps://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/they-shall-no-more-be-confounded-moronis-wordplay-on-joseph-in-ether-131-13-and-moroni-1031/

Scripture Reference

Ether 13:1-13
Moroni 10:31