Book of Mormon Commentary - 1 Nephi 8

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 8 Lehi sees a vision of the tree of life—He partakes of its fruit and desires his family to do likewise—He sees a rod of iron, a strait and narrow path, and the mists of darkness that enshroud men— Sariah, Nephi, and Sam partake of the fruit, but Laman and Lemuel refuse. [Between 600 and 592 B.C.]	Lehi sees a vision of the Tree of Life (a symbolic representation of the atonment mission of Christ]— [About 592-591 B.C.]
1 AND it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of ^aseeds of every kind^a, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind. We Had Gathered Seeds Seeds of every kind of grain and of fruit just do not grow spontaneously in a desert wilderness. The immediate need for Lehi's group was food and 'camping' gear and such supplies. But Lehi's party would not just be seasonal campers. They would come to live, dwell, in a tent for a number of years and their temporary food supplies would need to be replenished. And in a 'fruitful' valley, which Lemuel was, one answer was to begin to plant and harvest food crops over the years they stayed there. And there they could test many types of seeds if only they could 'come by them', but from where? The answer was all too simple and logical. They were located but a 3 day's journey from an international seaport of trade and commerce. Along with the durable goods of copper, tin and gold, there were also such aggricultural commodities of all sorts of 'seeds of every kind' both of grain and of fruit coming and going, in and out of the seaport trade, to Egypt, to Israel, to Damascus and all via the 'King's Highway'. That was the land route that would pass through and then the sea trade was from all the destinations of the world, including such as hemp and tobbaco from the west, spices from the east, gold from Ophir and other products and tin from about the Mediterranean and Cornwall.	1^a we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind Where in a desert wilderness would Lehi and his family have been able to gather seeds of every kind, both of grain and of fruit? Such domestic plants and seed would not have grown spontaneously in a desert wilderness such as was about the valley of Lemuel. The obvious answer would appear to be that Lehi had gained contact with the trade caravans which would travel the King's Highway from Egypt to Damascus, stopping at the international seaport which was once called Ezion-Geber. Lehi's encampment was but tree days journey from that region about that international seaport. And most reasonably, Lehi would have began to seek trade and essential supplies by trading with these international merchants as the process of months and then years would have depleated what Lehi first brought from Jerusalem. Interestingly enough, this seaport, was also a associated with the great mining and smelting industry of copper and iron as eveidenced by such remains as are found there today. This gives Nephi a great source for obtaining a 'steel bow'. And it would also be where Nephi could have observed ships being built after the manner of man, to which he would not have been exposed living in Jerusalem.	1^a 1 Ne. 16:11 Ezion-geber — Elath At the north end or fountain of the eastern arm of the Red Sea known as Aqaba, has resided an age long international seaport. By various names and perhaps of varying locations due to both changing conditions of the land and of the occupying civilizations, there seems to have been a long time international seaport anchorage at the north end of the Aqaba. Whether of a world-wide sea trade, an 'African' based seaport and/or a Orient based seaport, it has long existed and has long dealt in mining and smelting of metals, primarily copper, but with other metals as well. The famous Timnah mines were there and by some thought to be associated with the Mines of Solomon. Both mining by the Egyptians and later other groups as well and even the smelting and manufacturing of the metal ore abounded in the area. And the goods for which it was traded very well could have ranged to all the interests of trade with the entire world.
2 And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness^a he spake unto us, saying: Behold, I have ^adreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have ^bseen a ^cvision. 3 And behold, because of the thing which I have seen, I have reason to rejoice in the Lord because of ^aNephi and also of Sam; for I have reason to suppose that they, and also many of their seed, will be saved. 4 But behold, ^aLaman and Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you; for behold, methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness.	2^a my father tarried in the wilderness Lehi's stay in the wilderness of the valley of Lemuel was for a number of years. It became their home as they dwelt there, planting and harvesting their crops, testing out the seeds which they had obtained in their trade with the international caravans, likely at the port city which would have been associated with Ezion-Geber, under the control of the Syrians and their alliance with the kingdom of Ephraim/Israel when so taken, though at the later recording date it would have been under the dominion of the Empire of Babylon at the time when Lehi's party was within 3 days journey of the trade center (2 Kings 16:6 NOTE: In verse 6 when it states 'unto this day', that is an editorial note of the compiler of the scripture, which was 'added' during the Babylonian captivity and so it would be timely with Lehi's stay in the valley of Lemuel.).	2^a 1 Ne. 1:16; 1 Ne. 10:2; TG Dream TG Revelation; TG Vision ^b 1 Ne. 14:29 ^c 1 Ne. 10:17 3^a 1 Ne. 8:14-18 4^a 1 Ne. 8:35
		At a time in his life when Joseph Smith Sr. needed insight and comfort in respect to his life, the world and the decessions that one must make; he was given a dream not dissimilar to Lehi's tree of life. We all have come to comtemplate what life has in store for us, what we are about and what sense there is in it. The dream of the tree of life viewed from each individual's own perspective is such which does aid in man's perspective and understanding of life and making sense of it.
The Platform of the Tree of Life Vision [A Teleportaion Through a Vision of All Things] The platform of the Tree of Life Vision is a universal vision upon which the Plan of Salvation, the Plan of Happiness, the Plan of God, may be unfolded from its beginning to its end. Many through out time has been given this vision and the entire religious history is able to be presented upon it. From the beginning to the end, from the creation to the final judgment, 'ALL MAYBE PRESENTED UPON ITS PLATFORM'. In fact 'the' 'VISION OF ALL' is so presented upon and built upon it from beginning to end. Mahonri Moriancumr (the brother of Jared) did view that 'VISION OF ALL' upon it in its entirety. The story of Adam and Eve may be built upon it. various prophets have been given to see it in various forms and extents upon such a platform, including Isaiah, Daniel, Lehi, Nephi, Moroni (and perhaps Mormon). Joseph Smith Sr. did have such a dream/vision in his preparation to accept and receive the 'fulness' of the Gospel as contained in the Book of Mormon when that would come and be given to his prophet son. The prophet Joseph Smith Jr. would have seen it both verbally in text form in the covers of the Book of Mormon and even perhaps the fuller actual vision itself. The Apostle John, the Revelator' was given to see it. Each of these persons recieved various deals of the vision as a learning tool. Consider just what is in that vision. There is a great field/land representing the earth/world. There is the placement of the Tree of Life central to the design of it to which men are to come and seel the gift of live from. When one is given the vision, there is always an accompanying 'angel guide' who specifically points out, calls attend to specific items, says 'look' / 'see', gives direction, asks leading question and gives explanations and information from it specifically fitted to the receiver of the dream/vision as the reciever of the vision is given their own particular guided tour through the vision. In scripture it speaks of the 'sea of glass' upon which and/or through which God himself sees all things from beginning to the end. Consider it a very special three dimisional virtual reality 'tele-vision' wherein a person is actually transported through the visionary sequence by the power of the spirit, being carried away through it. It seems that once such is implanted in one's conscience mind, one can even recall and review through it and even bring to mind and understanding things which they may not have previously paid so much attention to. And once it has been given and implanted in its various extents and levels of understanding, it becomes subject to the processing of the individual mind of each person and they begin to use their own words and backgrounds in describing just what and how they themselves have personally viewed and possibly even personally interpreted the vision. Such seems to be the case of the dream/vision via Lucy Mack Smith when she retales her husband's dream version of it. When Nephi first relates it from Lehi's experiences of the vision it becomes subject to 'Lehi's version'. But when Nephi himself is given the vision and guided through it, it then becomes Nephi's own personal version with its own seemingly added and perception details embedded in it, or so particularly given to Nephi by the 'angel guide' that leads him through it. Certainly if man can give such relatived types of experiences such as a simple stage play, a film movie, a televised televisionary experience, a virtual reality type of experience via a computer or electronic virtual digitized simulator; certianly if man can do such as these things, the power of God can present a much better visionary experience. Lehi's elder sons accused him of being a 'visionary man'. The Bible tells of many such 'visionary' and visitation types of experiences. It is all part of the powers and abilities of God. Some deep thinking 'philosophical' innovations have come up with the concept that perhaps we are not really living our life's our selves, but only being pasted through such by a 'mind dream experience'. Practical science would laugh at such. But what is 'reality'. A film producer makes a single movie which maybe viewed over and over again by any number of various persons. And depending upon one's age, present mind set, experience background and intelligence level and understandings, each individual view gets out of that 'same experience' of watching the same movie any number of differing impressions and understandings. As a child I recall watching the old 'black and white movies' of A Christmas Carol and Scrooge. I've seen them many times and each time as I've been older and more experienced and at different levels of understanding it is as though it really isn't the same movie to the scared timid 5 year old as it is to the learned aged mind of a 40 or even 60 year old. We always seem to get different things out of each various viewing of it. To the young child it is not so much a Christian Christmas Story of Charity as it is just a scary ghost story. To some who are not faith oriented, it still may not be a Christian story of Jesus and life as it is to them more about 'humanity'. Such is the Tree of Life visionary dream. To one it is recieved at that level of life and preparation at which they stand. Some mock at it as the souls caught up in the great and spacious building. Other see all various depths of meaning and understanding built into it and more. When someone says they are 'bored', that really seems to state more about their own level of life than really anything about the actual situation and circumstance that they themselves are in. To one reading scriptures can be boring. To another it can be a gift of life and tremendous enlightenment, excitement and understanding. The book isn't so much different. It is the one who is reading it that is different. To me it seems that people that are 'bored' are just 'boring people'. You get out of something relative to what you put into it. To one Opera is boring. To another 'Opera' is life! What's the difference? The Opera? At one time Disneyland has a 360 degree projection simulator where you would stand on the flour of the exhibit and the 'movie screen' was 360 degrees all around you and you could 'pretend' that you could look out at your surroundings in all directions. Movie theaters had 'Cinemascope' screens that took three camara projectors to show the movie on the three massive curved sections of an enormous movie screen. Even flat screen TVs have gone to 3D effects and curved screens. Our local panatarium has a domed ceiling upon which the night sky is simulated and you sit in the 'theater' and view such as the starry heaven above. There are motion and projection 'ride' simulators where you sit and the projection takes you on such as a flight in a spaceship, on a rollercoaster, in a speeding car, or on an ET bike ride; and all the time you are just sitting relatively in the same place but just wiggled about, tilted and given various sensory stimulous with sound, vibrations and other tactal stimulation such a 'wind' from a fan or water mist from a spray or even the smell of the sea; or sound, feel, smell and other senses of a steam engine. If man can do such, certainly an all powerful God can do infinitely better.
5 And it came to pass that I saw a ^aman, and he was dressed in a white ^brobe; and he came and stood before me. 6 And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him^a. 7 And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste.	6^a bade me follow him 'Come follow me.' These are the words which Jesus says as he leads us in the strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life. In deed, he is that 'way', that 'light' which leds and shows the way, that 'truth' of word which defines the course, that example which we all are to follow (John 14:16). And by such emulation of taking the image and countenance of Christ uopn us, we may become one with him, an heir unto the Kingdom of God, one with Jesus Christ and the Father. Thus it must well be considered, that he who was dressed in a white robe, who stood before Lehi and who did bid him to follow him in that path which led to the tree of life seems quite symbolic of the Savior leading all men in that path represented in Lehi's dream as the path which leads to eternal life. Now whether the messenger dressed in white was the Savior of did merely represent him, we may look perhaps to Nephi's vision of Lehi's dream to determine, for Nephi did see in vision what his father saw in a dream as it were.	5^a Dan. 10:5 (2-12) ^b JS-H 1:31 (30-32)
8 And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have ^amercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies. 9 And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious ^afield. 10 And it came to pass that I beheld a ^atree, whose ^bfruit was desirable to make one ^chappy.		8^a TG God, Mercy of 9^a Matt. 13:38 10^a Gen. 2:9; Rev. 2:7 (1-7); Rev. 22:2 (1-16); 1 Ne. 11:4, 8 (8-25) ^b 1 Ne. 8:24 (15, 20, 24); Alma 32:42 (41-43) ^c TG Happiness
11 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the ^afruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the ^bwhiteness that I had ever seen. 12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great ^ajoy; wherefore, I began to be ^bdesirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was ^cdesirable above all other fruit. 13 And as I cast my eyes round about, that perhaps I might discover my family also, I beheld a ^ariver of water; and it ran along, and it was near the tree of which I was partaking the fruit.		11^a 1 Ne. 15:36; Alma 5:34 ^b 1 Ne. 11:8 12^a TG Joy ^b Enos 1:9; Alma 36:24; TG Family, Love within ^c Gen. 3:6; 1 Ne. 15:36 13^a 1 Ne. 12:16-18; 1 Ne. 15:27-29
14 And I looked to behold from whence it came; and I saw the head thereof a little way off; and at the head thereof I beheld your mother Sariah, and Sam, and ^aNephi; and they stood as if they knew not whither they should go. 15 And it came to pass that I beckoned unto them; and I also did say unto them with a loud voice that they should come unto me, and partake of the fruit, which was desirable above all other fruit. 16 And it came to pass that they did come unto me and partake of the fruit also.		14^a 1 Ne. 8:3-4
17 And it came to pass that I was desirous that Laman and Lemuel should come and partake of the fruit also; wherefore, I cast mine eyes towards the head of the river, that perhaps I might see them. 18 And it came to pass that I saw them, but they would ^anot come unto me and partake of the fruit.		18^a 2 Ne. 5:20-25
19 And I beheld a ^arod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood. 20 And I also beheld a ^astrait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood; and it also led by the head of the fountain, unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a ^bworld. I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life Jn 14:6 The Way is the Strait and Narrow Path, the Truth is the Iron Rod which is the WORD of God, and the 'Light of' Life is the Tree of Life. They are a representation in relation to Jesus Christ in his performance under the Condescension of God and a simplification of the Plan of Salvation and the Work and Atonement mission of Jesus [HEB. Jehoshua] Christ [Anoited Messiah] who is Jehovah.		19^a Ps. 2:9; Rev. 2:27; Rev. 12:5; Rev. 19:15 (also JST Rev. 19:15); 1 Ne. 8:30; 1 Ne. 11:25; 1 Ne. 15:23-24 20^a Matt. 7:14; 2 Ne. 31:18 (17-20) ^b Matt. 13:38 JST Rev. 19:15 And out of his mouth proceedeth the word of God, and with it he will smite the nations; and he will rule them with the word of his mouth; and he treadeth the wine-press in the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Cp.; Isa. 11:4)
21 And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were ^apressing forward, that they might obtain the ^bpath which led unto the tree by which I stood. 22 And it came to pass that they did come forth, and commence in the path which led to the tree. 23 And it came to pass that there arose a ^amist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were ^blost.		21^a D&C 123:12 ^b TG Objectives; TG Path; TG Way 23^a Matt. 13:19 (18-19); 2 Pet. 2:17; 1 Ne. 12:17; 1 Ne. 15:24 (23-24)
24 And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, ^aclinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the ^bfruit of the tree. 25 And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ^aashamed.		24^a TG Diligence; TG Perseverance ^b 1 Ne. 8:10 25^a Rom. 1:16; 2 Tim. 1:8; Alma 46:21; Morm. 8:38
26 And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the ^aother side of the river of water, a great and ^bspacious building; and it stood as it were in the ^cair, high above the earth. 27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the ^aattitude of ^bmocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit. 28 And after they had ^atasted of the fruit they were ^bashamed, because of those that were ^cscoffing at them; and they ^dfell away into forbidden paths and were lost.		26^a Luke 16:26 ^b 1 Ne. 11:35-36; 1 Ne. 12:18 ^c Eph. 2:2 (1-3) 27^a TG Haughtiness; TG Pride ^b Matt. 9:24 (20-26); TG Mocking 28^a 2 Pet. 2:20 (19-22) ^b Mark 4:17 (14-20); Mark 8:38; Luke 8:13 (11-15); John 12:43 (42-43); Rom. 3:3; TG Faithfulness ^c TG Peer Influence ^d TG Apostasy of Individuals
29 And now I, Nephi, do not speak ^aall the words of my father. 30 But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the ^arod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron^a, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit^b of the tree. I, Nephi Do Not Speak All the Words of My Father Many have but presented Lehi's Dream as a little self-contained, complete, compact, symbolic dream without any further diminsions, explanations and understanding on the part of Lehi other than those which Nephi has chosen here in chapter 8 to convey. Now Nephi may have had purpose in this for Nephi does give such further information in connection to his also seeing the vision of the tree of life. And for quick memory reference, Nephi's shortened rendition of Lehi's dream does make it easy to recall. Let it also be here emphasized, as Nephi states here and elsewhere concern the words of his father specifically applied to this vision, That, Nephi does state that he 'does not include all of his fathers words' (1 Nephi 8:29) and that to the end 'to be short in writing' (1 Nephi 8:30). That is Lehi's actual live delivary of his dream/vision of the tree of life contained much more detail and information than that which Nephi has given in chaper 8. Since Nephi's compacted 'abridged' vision is relatively short compared to Nephi's four chapter version, some have jump to the conclusion that when Nephi sees the vision and gives his account in 1 Nephi 11-14, that Nephi has received more than what Lehi had been given in Lehi's initial dream/vision. That is a quick and premature premise that by the facts cannot up hold. There are further hints and out right statements which will be pointed out concerning this matter in this commentary. One additional one in this chapter is in verse 36 which implies that Lehi's presentation of his dream or vision was actually quite lengthy and comprehensive. "As it came to pass after my father had spoken all the words of his dream or vision, which were many, he said unto us ... " (1 Nephi 8:36). Lehi was the prophet leader though Nephi was also coming into his own as well. Lehi's foundational preparation of the Lord was extensive from having dreams and vision in Jerusalem, to teaching the word of God unto the Jews and calling them unto repentance in the name of God, to receiving many other such dreams and vision in the valley of Lemuel and also 'searching', reading and studying the scriptues of the plates of brass from beginning to end. Lehi had written his own book of which Nephi did write a further, but still not complete account of such in his large plate record. In short, it is left to be in all likelihood that what Nephi sees and reports in his four chapters is in truth more completely representative of all that Lehi also saw and was given as well. And even what may or may not have been in Lehi's tree of life vision experience, is those items which Lehi had already been given knowledge of in prior visions and readings. One possible item is that of Christ and his 12 apostles descending out of heaven (1 Nephi 1:9-10) to minister to the earth in his vision back in Jerusalem and he had also actually lived first hand such events as be 'mocked' by those of the symbolic large and spaciouos building (1 Nephi 1:19). So Lehi would have even had additional insights into the his vision which Nephi did not due to Lehi's prior experiences.	30^a continually holding fast to the rod of iron Of the various groups, only this particular group was successful and did obtain eternal life. The key here can be easily missed yet is is quite simple. It is found in the word 'continually'. We are told to pray always or continually, we are told to repent always or 'continually', we are told to always read the scriptures, daily, we are told to continually live the commandments and so forth. The key is to 'continue' in the gospel always. We are to persist and endure, not just until some particular attainment such as a mission, temple marriage or church position, but unto the end, continually walking in the path, praying, repenting, seeking the word of God, living the commandment and loving God. There is no half or even particle matters. The Lord requires it all, 100%, continually. And there in lies the key and the matter of successfuly obtaining eternal life. 30^b fell down and partook of the fruit Though Nephi does not give further of Lehi's explanations concerning this odd behavior of 'falling down' to 'partake of fruit,' it would seem to be implied that such behavior was expected in one's worship of Jesus Christ and the process of accepting and applying the gospel of Jesus into one's life.	29^a 1 Ne. 1:17 (16-17) 30^a 1 Ne. 8:19; 1 Ne. 15:24 (23-24)
31 And he also saw other ^amultitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building. 32 And it came to pass that many were drowned in the ^adepths of the ^bfountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads. 33 And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of ^ascorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.		31^a Matt. 7:13 32^a 1 Ne. 15:29 (26-29) ^b 1 Ne. 8:14 (13-14) 33^a Neh. 2:19; Alma 26:23; TG Persecution; TG Scorn; TG Scorner
34 These are the words of my father: For as many as ^aheeded them, had fallen away. 35 And ^aLaman and Lemuel partook not of the fruit, said my father. 36 And it came to pass after my father had spoken all the words of his dream or vision, which were many, he said unto us, because of these things which he saw in a vision, he exceedingly feared for Laman and Lemuel; yea, he feared lest they should be cast off from the presence of the Lord.	Izapa Stela 5	34^a Ex. 23:2; Prov. 19:27; Mosiah 2:37 (33, 37) 35^a 1 Ne. 8:4 (4, 17-18); 2 Ne. 5:20 (19-24)
37 And he did ^aexhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off; yea, my father did preach unto them. 38 And after he had preached unto them, and also prophesied unto them of many things, he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord; and he did cease speaking unto them.		37^a TG Family, Children,- Responsibilities toward

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