Mosiah 18

(September 4, 2013)
I always get a treat out of insights that the scriptures give us into the personalities of the people.  These are things that we wouldn’t necessarily see, but when we do see them they only serve as a reminder that the scriptures are the writings of real people – disciples of God, to be certain, but real people nonetheless.  I find these moments build my testimony, as they represent things that it is unlikely that an author would think to add, but which makes perfect sense in a translation.

For example, this chapter contains countless references to Mormon.  The water of Mormon, Mormon, Mormon, Mormon.  This would make little sense except for one key fact – the abridger of this record was Mormon.  This was where he took his name from, and thus the “Mormon” in this chapter had particular meaning to him.  That is why he made reference to it over and over again.