Reading: 1 Nephi 11:21-23
By Wm | 6.29.05
A reading from the Book of Mormon. From Nephi’s vision:
“21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?
“22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.
“23 And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.”
Why:
Because it by seeing the birth of Christ that Nephi comes to be able to interpret the meaning of the fruit of the tree.
Because ’sheddeth’ is a way cool verb to use in inprepreting the imagery of a tree that represents the love of God and the fact he extends it to all of his children.
Because ‘wherefore’ is a great conjunction that should be used more in modern discourse so that it loses its stuffy reputation.
And most of all because the way the angel gently shifts the emphasis from desire to joy. Yes, desire can be a positive word, but the meaning moves from the desire a person has for the fruit to what the fruit offers.
6.29.05 | 9:31 pm | comment permalink |
I find myself using “wherefore” a lot in my school papers and sometimes in my everyday speech. People usually don’t notice or they look at me askance.
Posted by Dallas Robbins
7.04.05 | 3:49 pm | comment permalink |
Pity it’s not used correctly here. “Wherefore” means “Why.” (Thus, Juliet in the balcony scene is lamenting that Romeo had to be Romeo, i.e., a Montague.) Joseph was under the erroneous impression that it was synonymous with “therefore,” and misused in consistently throughout his entire translation.
Posted by The Only True and Living Nathan
7.04.05 | 4:46 pm | comment permalink |
TOTAL Nathan,
OED definition II,5: Introducing a clause expressing a consequence or inference from what has just been stated: On which account; for which reason; which being the case; and therefore.
Or, more simply, definition 2 here .
Posted by Eric Russell
7.06.05 | 8:42 pm | comment permalink |
That desire-joy shift is a good point. Thanks.
Posted by Adam Greenwood