Annotated Book of Mormon
Evaluated According To My Current Knowledge

Chapter 2

1 And it came to pass that Jared and his brother, and their families, and also the friends of Jared and his brother and their families, went down into the valley which was northward, (and the name of the valley was Nimrod, being called after the mighty hunter) with their flocks which they had gathered together, male and female, of every kind.

2 And they did also lay snares and catch fowls of the air; and they did also prepare a vessel, in which they did carry with them the fish of the waters.

3 And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind.

4 And it came to pass that when they had come down into the valley of Nimrod the Lord came down and talked with the brother of Jared; and he was in a cloud, and the brother of Jared saw him not.

5 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should go forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel.

6 And it came to pass that they did travel in the wilderness, and did build barges, in which they did cross many waters, being directed continually by the hand of the Lord.

7 And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people.

8 And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them.

Ether 2:8-10

Supposedly Moroni is making an abridgement in part because he has little room on the plates he’s using, and as Jacob told us, “I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates” (Jacob 4:1). Here’s my attempt to be a little more succinct than these three verses.

“And God swore in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time, should serve Him, or they should be swept off when they are ripened in iniquity” (Me).

Moroni: 164 words
Me: 37 words, only 22.6% as verbose

9 And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.

Annotation for Ether 2:8-10 above

10 For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.

Annotation for Ether 2:8-10 above

11 And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.

12 Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.

Notice who the God of the land is. This seems Trinitarian.

Some defend some seemingly Trinitarian Book of Mormon references as not contradicting current Mormon godhead doctrine (see  The Doctrine of God the Father in the Book of Mormon), but in context of doctrine taught in the “Lectures on Faith” how sound is this defense?
 
From the “Lectures on Faith” that used to be in the Doctrine and Covenants until the 1921 edition:
  “The Father being a personage of spirit, glory, and power, possessing all perfection and fulness. The Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, is a personage of tabernacle . . . He is called the Son because of the flesh . . . He, possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit that bears record of the Father and the Son.”
  “Questions and Answers for Lecture 5​
 3. Q—How many personages are there in the Godhead?
 A—Two: the Father and Son (Lecture 5: 1).
 13. Q—Do the Father and the Son possess the same mind?
 A—They do . . .
 14. Q—What is this mind?
 A—The Holy Spirit”
 (Lecture 5).

13 And now I proceed with my record; for behold, it came to pass that the Lord did bring Jared and his brethren forth even to that great sea which divideth the lands. And as they came to the sea they pitched their tents; and they called the name of the place Moriancumer; and they dwelt in tents, and dwelt in tents upon the seashore for the space of four years.

14 And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and talked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.

15 And the brother of Jared repented of the evil which he had done, and did call upon the name of the Lord for his brethren who were with him. And the Lord said unto him: I will forgive thee and thy brethren of their sins; but thou shalt not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my Spirit will not always strive with man; wherefore, if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And these are my thoughts upon the land which I shall give you for your inheritance; for it shall be a land choice above all other lands.

16 And the Lord said: Go to work and build, after the manner of barges which ye have hitherto built. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did go to work, and also his brethren, and built barges after the manner which they had built, according to the instructions of the Lord. And they were small, and they were light upon the water, even like unto the lightness of a fowl upon the water.

17 And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish.

18 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou hast directed me.

19 And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish.

20 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air. And if it be so that the water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole, that ye may not perish in the flood.

This would not solve the problem of ventilation. Since one hole would be under the water line and could not be opened, only one hole could be open at a time. Later we are told they could not have windows (verse 23), so it would be only the one hole at a time. One hole open at a time would provide almost no air movement.

We are told there are people and animals aboard, all of which would consume oxygen and produce CO2. In addition, the aerobic bacteria decomposing the animal feces would consume oxygen and give off CO2 (Chapter 1, The Decomposition Process).

21 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did so, according as the Lord had commanded.

22 And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?

23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.

Critics often say this verse refers to glass because the Lord talks about the windows being dashed to pieces and that glass was not used for windows until about 100 CE. Apologists rightly point out that a shutter or apparatus used to stop the windows could be made of another material such as wood which can also be said to dash in pieces. The apologists however fail to acknowledge the context provided in verse 20 where the Lord directs the Jaredites to have a hole in the bottom as well as a hole on top of the barges which could be stopped up to prevent the flow of water into the vessel. If the material used to stop up the holes would not be dashed to pieces, then it could have been used in the windows without dashing to pieces. It seems quite clear that Joseph Smith was referring to glass windows here.

24 For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.

25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?