Acknowledgments: My starting point for this analysis was "What is Malachi doing in 1st and 2nd Nephi?," a Reddit post by someone using the handle stisa79, which Bill Wright brought to my attention; and "Samuel the Lamanite, Christ, and Zenos: A Study of Intertextuality," an Interpreter article by Quinten Barney, which was brought to my attention by a commenter using the handle jason (who, I should probably mention, strongly disagrees with Barney and calls his theory "blasphemy"). My earlier analysis, "Zenos was quoted by Joel, Nephi, Alma, Malachi, and Paul," was published in 2024 but failed to include two key secondary texts.
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1. The Zenos fragments in 1 Nephi 19
The first reference to Zenos in the Book of Mormon is in 1 Nephi 19, where Nephi quotes or paraphrases him extensively.
[10] And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel.[11] For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.[12] And all these things must surely come, saith the prophet Zenos. And the rocks of the earth must rend; and because of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: The God of nature suffers.[13] And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.[14] And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations.[15] Nevertheless, when that day cometh, saith the prophet, that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their fathers.[16] Yea, then will he remember the isles of the sea; yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in, saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, from the four quarters of the earth.[17] Yea, and all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord, saith the prophet; every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall be blessed.
In v. 10, Nephi cites, in rapid succession, an angel, Zenock, Neum, and Zenos. In the remained of the passage, he alternates between citing "the prophet" and "the prophet Zenos." I think the most reasonable assumption is that all these references to an unnamed "prophet" also refer to Zenos. However, I do not think 1 Ne. 19:10b-17 represents a single extended quotation. The repeated interpolation of "saith the prophet" and similar expressions suggests that Nephi is stringing together bits and pieces of Zenos material, perhaps with some paraphrasing. Just after this Zenos material, Nephi will go on to quote two whole chapters of Isaiah (1 Ne. 20-21 = Isa. 48-49), introducing it with "Hear ye the words of the prophet" (1 Ne. 19:24) but then never interrupting Isaiah to say "saith the prophet" or anything similar. Nor do the Book of Mormon's other extensive quotations from Zenos (Jacob 5, Alma 33:4-11) contain any such interruptions.
If the Zenos quotations in 1 Ne. 19 are fragmentary, is there any way of reconstructing more of the original text (the hypothetical "1 Zenos") from which Nephi was drawing?
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2. An example of reconstruction from partial quotations
For the purposes of a thought experiment, I used the BYU Scripture Citation Index to find four talks by Mormon leaders in which they quoted or paraphrased parts of Matthew 5:11-12.
Now imagine that, centuries in the future, the original Sermon on the Mount has been lost, and all we have are these talks. Imagine further that the talks have come down to us without the quotation marks and ellipses and footnotes, so that we are left to infer what is a direct quotation, what is a paraphrase, and what is the speaker's own words.
Hanks cites his source as "the Sermon on the Mount" but appears to be summarizing it rather than quoting it in any detail. However, we notice that Lee and Andersen have some of the same language as Hanks, in the same order, and infer that they are referencing that same sermon. Hanks doesn't say anything about being "blessed" or about the persecution of "The prophets which were before you," but since Lee and Anderson share this language, and juxtapose it with language we have already identified as coming from the Sermon on the Mount, we can conclude that this other shared language is from the Sermon as well.
Notice that Packer doesn't use any of the language that Hanks does -- Hanks being our only source that explicitly claims to be referencing the Sermon on the Mount. Nevertheless, by noticing a parallel between Packer and Andersen, after having already concluded that the Andersen passage is quoting the Sermon, we can infer that Packer is likely quoting the Sermon as well.
In our efforts to reconstruct as much as we can of the Sermon on the Mount, we can call Hanks a primary text because we know for sure that it comes from the Sermon. Lee and Andersen are secondary texts, whose connection to the Sermon we infer from their similarity to a primary text. Finally, Packer is a tertiary text, considered to be possible Sermon material because of its parallels with a secondary text.
We could summarize our conclusions about the likely content of the Sermon on the Mount as follows:
The P column is from a primary text, so we are highly confident that it reflects the Sermon. The S + S column contains material that is not in a primary text but occurs in two different secondary texts and is thus also very likely to be from the Sermon. The third column has material that only appears in one secondary text and thus may or may not be from the Sermon. Is "for my sake" something Andersen added himself, or is it Sermon material only he quoted? We can't be sure.
Note that, though "for great is your reward in heaven" appears in two of our texts, we put it in the S column and not an S + T column. That's because this line is our only reason for considering Packer to be a tertiary text in the first place, so it would be circular reasoning to take its presence in Packer as additional evidence that it is from the Sermon.
Finally, the T column has material which only occurs in one tertiary text. If these four talks were really all we had, I would not be at all confident in concluding that this T material came from the Sermon -- unless it filled a conceptual gap, that is, unless the reconstructed text just made more sense with it included, which I don't think is true in this case.
In fact, of course, everything in the tables above does come from the Sermon on the Mount. This has just been a thought experiment to show how we might reconstruct parts of a lost Sermon, and how our confidence in the inclusion of various lines might vary.
The Zenos fragments in 1 Nephi 19 are our primary text, our Hanks. The next step is to look for potential secondary texts -- other passages in the Bible or Book of Mormon that closely parallel the primary text.
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3. Secondary texts
Much of the language in 1 Nephi 19 (P, our primary text) has parallels elsewhere in the Bible and Book of Mormon. Four secondary texts emerged as potentially informative: Joel 2 (S1, our first secondary text), Matthew 23-24 (S2), 2 Nephi 25-26 (S3), and Helaman 13-15 (S4).
3.1. Joel 2 (S1)
First, we have this brief but fairly specific parallel with Joel 2:
by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness (P: 1 Ne. 19:11)fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness (S1: Joel 2:30-31)
We have the three elements fire, smoke, and darkness in the same order. Also, where the Hebrew text of Joel has וְתִֽימֲר֖וֹת "pillars," the Septuagint (a third-century Greek translation, possibly reflecting an ancient variant Hebrew text) has ἀτμίδα "vapor," matching the 1 Zenos text (but also matching the Septuagint quotation from Joel in Acts 2:19, so this isn't a "How could Joseph Smith have known that?" moment).
3.2. Matthew 23-24 (S2)
A more extensive parallel is found with the words of Jesus in Matthew. First, the two texts refer to the necessity of what they predict in nearly the same language:
all these things must surely come (P: 1 Ne. 19:12)
all these things must come to pass (S2: Matt. 24:6)
Second, they each juxtapose signs with power and glory:
signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel (P: 1 Ne. 19:13).And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man . . . and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (S2: Matt. 24:30).
Third, they each predict that the Jews will be killed and hated by all nations:
they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, . . . and be hated among all nations (P: 1 Ne. 19:14).Then shall they . . . kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations (S2: Matt. 24:9).
Fourth, they each talk about people being gathered from "four" places (meaning, figuratively, from all over):
all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in . . . from the four quarters of the earth (P: 1 Ne. 19:16).they shall gather together his elect from the four winds (S2: Matt. 24:31)
The Joel and Matthew secondary texts share the specific detail of the sun being darkened and something also happening to the moon:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood (S1: Joel 2:31)shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light (S2: Matt. 24:29)
This detail is not in the 1 Nephi 19 fragments, though it is implied by the general prediction of "darkness." The specific reference to the sun, at least, will prove to be important when we bring in the tertiary texts.
3.3. 2 Nephi 25-26 (S3)
Another secondary text is found in 2 Nephi 25-26. Chapters 12-24 comprise an extended quotation from Isaiah, and Chapter 27 is also an Isaiah commentary, it is not surprising that Chapters 25-26 should also include quotations from and commentary on a prophet, in this case possibly Zenos.
First, each text talks about a divine figure being in a sepulchre, and this is juxtaposed with a reference to a period of three days. The details in the two texts complement one another. 1 Ne. 19 says there will be three days of darkness at his death, and 2 Ne. 25 he will only be dead for three days and then rise from the dead. Neither text by itself says that it will be dark while he is in the sepulchre and light again when he comes out, but that seems to be what the original 1 Zenos text was saying. As we will see later, this is connected with the one in the sepulchre being metaphorically a "sun."
to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death (P: 1 Ne. 19:10)and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead with healing in his wings (S3: 2 Ne. 25:13)
Second, each passage describes the Lord "visiting" people with thunderings, lightnings, fire, storms, the earth opening up, and mountains moving. The parallels are very extensive here.
The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice . . . and others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, . . . and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up (P: 1 Ne. 19:11).And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away . . . . And they shall be visited with thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquakes . . . for the fire of the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them (S3: 2 Ne. 26:5-6).
Third, each predicts that the Jews will be "scourged" by other peoples, and this is associated with their rejection of God or Christ. Again, the details are complementary. In 1 Ne. 19, we are told that this punishment comes because they rejected and crucified God. In 2 Ne. 25, we are told that the punishment will continue until they accept Christ, which would make sense if their rejection of Christ was the reason for the punishment.
And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel (P: 1 Ne. 19:13).And after they have been scattered, and the Lord God hath scourged them by other nations . . . until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ (S3: 2 Ne. 25:16).
3.4. Helaman 13-15 (S4)
Probably the most extensive parallels of all are found in Helaman 14. This is part of Samuel the Lamanite's Sermon on the Wall, which comprises Chapters 13-15. This raises some question marks, since the brass plates were kept by the Nephites, and we would not normally expect a Lamanite to be familiar with them.
First, both texts give three days of darkness as a sign of the death of God/Jesus. Both texts specify that the sign is intended for distant isles, not for those in Jerusalem. In 1 Ne. 19, the sign is for those who "inhabit the isles of the sea"; in Hel. 14:20, it is only "upon the face of this land" -- i.e. the Nephites' land, said to be "upon an isle of the sea" in 1 Ne. 10:20 -- that there will be no light.
concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea (P: 1 Ne. 19:10)concerning another sign, a sign of his death, . . . there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead (S4: Hel. 14:20)
However, Samuel later seems to say that the darkness will be worldwide:
darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days (S4: Hel. 14:27)
Second, the two texts give a similar list, in the same order, of natural phenomena that are to occur at the time of his death:
with the thunderings and the lightnings . . . by tempests . . . and by mountains which shall be carried up (P: 1 Ne. 19:11)there shall be thunderings and lightnings . . . there shall be great tempests . . . and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great (S4: Hel. 14:21, 23)
Third, they both refer to rocks rending, with Samuel going into some detail:
the rocks of the earth must rend (P: 1 Ne. 19:12)the rocks which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass,shall be broken up; yea, they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath (S4: Hel. 14:21-22)
It was specifically Matthew 24 and Helaman 14 that we identified as having clear links to 1 Nephi 19. For those two secondary texts' links to each other -- which are very extensive -- we will have to go beyond chapter boundaries (which are artificial anyway and not part of the original documents) and compare Jesus' discourse in Matt. 23-24 with Samuel's in Hel. 13-15.
First, both discourses refer to "blind guides," an expression found nowhere else in scripture:
Woe unto you, ye blind guides (S2: Matt. 23:16)
Ye blind guides (S2: Matt. 23:24)Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides? (S4: Hel. 13:19)
Second, they condemn the people's killing and mistreatment of past prophets, hitting the main points in the same order:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets . . . And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. . . . Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city . . . thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee (S2: Matt. 23:29-30, 34, 37)
Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them . . . ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; . . . if a prophet come among you . . . ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him . . . O that I had repented, and had not killed the prophets, and stoned them (S4: Hel. 13:24-26, 33)
It is plausible that Zenos would deliver such a diatribe, since he himself was a prophet who was persecuted and ultimately killed: "the prophet Zenos did testify boldly; for the which he was slain" (Hel. 8:19). Samuel and Jesus faced similar threats, and their quoting Zenos would add a layer of irony: You say you wouldn't have killed the prophets like your ancestors did, but your ancestors who killed the prophet Zenos said the same thing about their prophet-killing ancestors! Both discourses specifically mention the stoning of prophets. Zenock, who is never mentioned without Zenos and may have been an associate (cf. Elijah and Elisha), was stoned to death (Alma 33:17).
Third, both discourses speak of houses being left desolate, in almost identical language:
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate (S2: Matt. 23:38)your houses shall be left unto you desolate (S4: Hel. 15:1)
Finally, both pronounce woes on pregnant and nursing mothers:
And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! (S2: Matt. 24:19)your women shall have great cause to mourn in the day that they shall give suck. . . . and woe unto them which are with child (S4: Hel. 15:2)
The parallels between the Matthew and Helaman texts are so extensive and specific that some sort of textual relationship is undeniable. To skeptics, of course, it's just Joseph Smith plagiarizing the New Testament. Postulating that Jesus and Samuel were both quoting some hypothetical earlier prophet, whose works have conveniently disappeared, would be pure special pleading were it not for the Zenos links. But these links are not obvious, as nothing in the text draws attention to them, and it seems extremely unlikely that Joseph Smith would have worked them in on purpose to give himself an out if accused of plagiarism -- an out which he never used and which was never even discovered until the Internet age. (This is not an attempt at an apologetic. The basic validity of the Book of Mormon is assumed here, not argued for.)
The Helaman text also has links to 2 Ne. 25-26, as both prophecy destruction after the fourth generation from the coming of Christ.
and many of the fourth generation shall have passed away in righteousness. And when these things have passed away a speedy destruction cometh unto my people (S3: 2 Ne. 26:9-10)Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come except ye repent, saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generation shall visit your destruction (S4: Hel. 13:10)
First, both texts condemn the mistreatment of the prophets, listing the same three actions in the same order.
they perish because they cast out the prophets, and the saints, and stone them, and slay them (S3: 2 Ne. 26:3)Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them (S4: Hel. 13:24)
Second, both speak of choosing darkness rather than light:
they yield unto the devil and choose works of darkness rather than light (S3: 2 Ne. 26:10)how long will ye choose darkness rather than light? (S4: Hel. 13:29)
Third, both refer to the anger of the Lord being kindled against people:
the fire of the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them (S3: 2 Ne. 26:6)the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you (S4: Hel. 13:30)
Fourth, both mention signs of Jesus' coming and of his death:
And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of his birth, and also of his death and resurrection (S3: 2 Ne. 26:3)this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming (S4: Hel. 14:3)And behold, again, another sign I give unto you, yea, a sign of his death (S4: Hel. 14:14)
Fifth, both mention the Lamanites dwindling in unbelief and being smitten, but ultimately being shown mercy. Samuel explicitly references Zenos at this point:
After my seed and the seed of my brethren [the Lamanites] shall have dwindled in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles; yea, after the Lord God shall have camped against them round about, and shall have laid siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them; and after they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not, yet the words of the righteous shall be written, and the prayers of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten (S3: 2 Ne. 26:15).Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth -- Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them (S4: Hel. 15:11-12).
Zenos lived before there were any such people as the Lamanites, but one of his prophecies must later have been interpreted as referring to them.
4. Tertiary texts
To summarize so far, our primary text for 1 Zenos is 1 Nephi 19 (P). Secondary texts include Joel 2 (S1), Matthew 23-24 (S2), 2 Nephi 25-26 (S3), and Helaman 13-15 (S4). Each of these has links both to the primary text and to at least one of the other secondary texts.
We now come to tertiary texts, which are linked to one or more of the secondary texts, and perhaps also to each other, but not directly to the primary text. The tertiary texts identified so far are Malachi 4 (T1), 1 Corinthians 3 (T2), 1 Nephi 22 (T3), and Alma 45 (T4).
4.1. Malachi 4 (T1)
Malachi 4 has links to two of our secondary texts: Joel 2 and 2 Nephi 25-26. With Joel it shares this distinctive expression ("terrible" and "dreadful" being alternate translations of the same Hebrew word):
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come (S1: Joel 2:31)Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord (T1: Mal. 4:5)
Note that the two texts differ on what will happen before the great and terrible day.
The parallels with 2 Ne. 25-26 are more extensive. First, they both represent someone or something rising with healing in his wings. Second, if we assume that "Son" in the Book of Mormon is a scribal error for the homophone "Sun," both texts identify this healing figure as the Sun of righteousness.
he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings (S3: 2 Ne. 25:13)
But the Son of righteousness shall appear unto them; and he shall heal them (S3: 2 Ne. 26:9)
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings (T1: Mal. 4:2)
Third, we have these very closely parallel passages about the proud and wicked being burned as stubble by the coming day:
Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble (S3: 2 Ne. 26:4)and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts (T1: Mal. 4:1)
4.2. 1 Corinthians 3 (T2)
Both 2 Nephi 26 and Malachi 4 are linked to 1 Corinthians 3 via "the day" that shall burn things, including "stubble":
Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble (S3: 2 Ne. 26:4).
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch (T1: Mal. 4:1).
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss (T2: 1 Cor. 3:12-13, 15)
4.3. 1 Nephi 22 (T3)
There are extensive links connected 1 Nephi 22 to several secondary and tertiary texts. Nephi also repeatedly cites "the prophet," confirming that he is quoting or alluding to someone else's words.
Otherwise unique language about something being "poured out" "upon all" occurs in Joel 2 and 1 Ne. 22. What is poured out is very different, though:
I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh (S1: Joel 2:28)the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men (T3: 1 Ne. 22:16)
This use of the same expression to express both a curse (pouring out wrath) and a blessing (pouring out the spirit) is in fact typical of the biblical prophets. As Rachel Margalioth writes:
As this study proves, each prophet expresses praise and blessing by converting derogatory phrases of his own to the good, employing phrases characteristic of his book alone. Consequently, even if we did not know the authorship of a prophecy of comfort such as "Then will I build you, and not break you down, and will plant you and not pluck you up" (Jeremiah XLII:10), it would still be ascribed to Jeremiah -- for only in his book are to be found these very phrases in the contrary meanings: "Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up" (Jeremiah XLV:4; and also XXIV:6). . . . This mode of converting prophecies from doom to solace, and vice versa, with the same verbiage for both, proven customary in the prophetic books -- is never the case with two different prophets. We have no example of one prophet expressing good or evil by inverting the expressions of another (The Indivisible Isaiah, pp. 38-39).
Actually, I think we do have one example of a prophet inverting the expressions of another: Joel writes "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears" (Joel 3:10), inverting Isaiah's "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks" (Isa. 2:4; also Micah 4:3). Conveniently, it is Joel that is the one exception to Margalioth's generalization. Either Zenos is inverting his own expression, as prophets are known to do, with one version quoted by Nephi and the other by Joel; or else Joel is inverting Zenos, as Joel is known to do. Either way, Joel is evidence that Nephi is in fact quoting Zenos.
Both Matt. 24 and 1 Ne. 22 juxtapose "power and great glory" with a gathering from four places:
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds (S2: Matt. 24:30-31)and the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion, and might, and power, and great glory. And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth (T3: 1 Ne. 22:24-25)
Very similar language is used in 2 Nephi 26, Malachi 4, 1 Corinthians 3, and 1 Nephi 22 to describe the proud and wicked burning as stubble. An additional link between 1 Cor. 3 and 1 Ne. 22 is the reference to being "saved . . . as by fire."
Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble (S3: 2 Ne. 26:4).
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch (T1: Mal. 4:1).
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire (T2: 1 Cor. 3:12-13, 15)
For behold, saith the prophet, the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men; for the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned . . . Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire (T3: 1 Ne. 22:15, 17).
Given the parallels, we can assume that "the prophet" cited in 1 Ne. 22:15 is Zenos and that the part about Satan having no more power over human hearts is also from Zenos.
Both 2 Ne. 26 and 1 Ne. 22 speak of being brought low in the dust and destroyed. The latter text attributes this language to "the prophet":
they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not (S3: 2 Ne. 26:15)they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet (T3: 1 Ne. 22:23)
Mal. 4 and 1 Ne. 22 use similar language about "calves of the stall":
and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall (T1: Mal. 4:1).the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall (T3: 1 Ne. 22:24).
4.4. Alma 45 (T4)
Alma 45 uses the "great and dreadful day" language of Joel 2 and Malachi 4:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come (S1: Joel 2:31)
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord (T1: Mal. 4:5)
But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day, shall be numbered among the Lamanites (T4: Alma 45:14)
Both 2 Nephi 26 and Alma 45 juxtapose works of darkness with the passing away of the fourth generation.
and many of the fourth generation shall have passed away in righteousness. And when these things have passed away a speedy destruction cometh unto my people; . . . for because they yield unto the devil and choose works of darkness rather than light, therefore they must go down to hell (S3: 2 Ne. 26:9-10)
Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of darkness, and lasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities; yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light and knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come (T4: Alma 45:12)
Both Helaman 13 and Alma 45 prophecy war, famine, and pestilence 400 years after the coming of Christ, ending in the extinction of the Nephites before the fourth generation has passed away. One problem with attributing this commonality to Zenos, though, is that both prophets explicitly present this as something that was revealed to them personally (highlighted in blue). My interpretation of this would be that, since Zenos obviously didn't prophesy specifically about "Nephites," it is through their own revelations that Alma and Samuel know to what time and people Zenos was referring.
And he said unto them: Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart; and behold he hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the sword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people. . . . And four hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence. Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction (S4: Hel. 13:5, 9-10).Behold, I perceive that this very people, the Nephites, according to the spirit of revelation which is in me, in four hundred years from the time that Jesus Christ shall manifest himself unto them, shall dwindle in unbelief. Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct . . . I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come (T4: Alma 45:10-12).
5. Summary
This diagram shows the nine texts considered here (1 primary, 4 secondary, 4 tertiary; 2 Old Testament, 2 New Testament, and 5 Book of Mormon) and how they are interrelated. As can be seen, each of the texts is linked to between three and six of the others
The next step after this preliminary analysis is to look at the major themes of these texts, try to harmonize the details in each of them, and reconstruct as far as possible the content of the hypothetical 1 Zenos document on which they all draw.
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