CHOICE ABOVE ALL OTHER
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Book of Mormon Covenant Lands
According to the Best Sources
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Israelite Compass |
NOT FAR FROM CUMORAH
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Were Directions in the Book of Mormon Confused in
Translation?
In
The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A
Source Book, by John L. Sorenson, the arch Mesoamerican setting apologist cites
William Hamblin. Hamblin proposes that Book of Mormon directions are "distorted"
because the Nephites used Egyptian like terms with Hebrew intent:
"If Nephi
used Egyptian terms with Hebrew meanings in mind, and if Joseph Smith translated
these terms literally, you end up with ... Hebrew (and modern) "land west ward"
(Heb. behind) would be written in Egyto-Nephite characters as "land northward,"
(Eg. behind) while the conceptual Hebrew (and modern) "land eastward" (Heb.
front) would have been written in Egypto-Nephite as "land southward" (Eg.
Front) ... In other words, you find the conceptual geography of the Hebrew universe
must be "distorted" in relation to the Egyptian vocabulary ..." (William Hamblin,
"Which Way Did He Go?" Some Notes on Book of Mormon Geography, unpublished
manuscript in possession of John Sorenson; summarized in F.A.R.M.S. Update for
May 1990; see also "Directions in Hebrew, Egyptian, and Nephite Language")
So, according to Hamblin, the Semitic minded Nephites
meant land
westward, but it got translated "land northward" in the English Book of
Mormon. They intended land eastward, but it got translated "land
southward". They tried to indicate south sea, but it got translated "west sea",
and they tried to designate north sea, but it got translated "east sea". Hamblin is trying very hard to
excuse the screwed directions of
a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon set near the Mexican
Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
But Hamblin's argument does not
account for the fact that directions described by
Nephi (translated by Joseph Smith) fit perfectly the biblical, or common sense coordinates in
the following
verses:
"AND it came
to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel
nearly eastward from that time forth ..."
(1 Nephi 17:1 - Bold emphasis
added)
The
above verse was also ostensibly translated from "the reformed Egyptian". Are we to
understand, using Hamblin's argument, that Nephi was actually saying that, "we did travel nearly
northward from that time forth"? This translation contradicts the account
placing Nephi in the wilderness, south of Jerusalem. The southward
journey near the "Red Sea" is consistent with:
"And it came
to pass that we traveled for the space of four days, nearly a south-southeast
direction ..."
(1 Nephi 16:13
- Bold emphasis added)
If Hamblin's
logic is followed, we should interpret that Nephi was saying that
they had traveled "nearly an east-eastnorth direction". This doesn't make sense with their having previously "traveled
in the wilderness in the borders which are nearer the Red Sea ..."
(1 Nephi 2:5)
It does not fit the setting of the narrative. The directions in Joseph's
translation, taken as is, fit perfectly the Hebrew coordinate system of the Book of Mormon, and common sense!
The Book of
Mormon informs us that its quotations from Hebrew Scripture (e.g. Isaiah), were also written in
"the language
of the Egyptians" upon the "plates of brass".
(Mosiah 1:3-4)
The Hebrew directions cited in the
Isaiah portions of the Nephite record, translate without problem into English.
Of particular interrest are the following verses:
"Therefore, O
Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be
replenished from "the east ..."
(2 Nephi 12:6,
Yesha'Yahu 2:6
- Bold emphasis added)
"But they
shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines towards the west; they shall
spoil them of the east ..."
(2 Nephi 21:14,
Yesha'Yahu 11:14
- Bold emphasis added)
The original Hebrew word translated "the east" in the above passages, literally means "front" - as in facing sunrise. Hebrew scripture is replete with examples. (E.g. Ezekiel 8:16; 11:1) Directions in the Isaiah portions of the Book of Mormon were translated by Joseph Smith without the least distortion.
Had there been a problem with representing Hebrew directions with Egyptian styled characters, the Semitic minded Nephites could have simply "reformed" their characters so that they represented what they wanted to convey. (Mormon 9:32-34) Moreover, had there been some difficulty in communicating the meaning of a Nephite expression or symbol in English, the inspired translation could have simply inserted a familiar English substitute. Take for example the familiar King James Bible term "Red Sea", which is not the Hebraic original, and which replaces the actual Semitic term behind 2 Nephi 19:1 (Yesha'Yahu 9:1). You may notice that there is a problem with this translated Nephite verse. See Matthew 4:13-18. Other references to "Red Sea" in the English Book of Mormon are really the equivalent of reed sea in Hebrew.
Sorenson's
discussion of Book of Mormon directions is a mass of confusion, which he seeks
to excuse, perhaps even dodge by insisting that the subject is complicated and
culturally sensitive.
"East" is
East,
"West" is West in the Promised Land
The Central American Isthmus of Tehuantepec is far too wide to be the Book of Mormon's "small neck of land" (Alma 22:32) The distance across the Mesoamerican isthmus is comparable to the distance across the Yucatan Peninsula. In fact, the distance across Tehuantepec is about 3/4 as far as the distance across the narrowest breadth of the Yucatan.
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec, lies between the Gulf of Mexico to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The "narrow pass" mentioned in the Book of Mormon is described as having water "on the west and on the east" of it. (Alma 50:34) In order to accept a Central American setting featuring the wide, lateral, Isthmus of Tehuantepec as the Book of Mormon's "small neck of land", one has to consider that ancient peoples of that region used outrageously skewed definitions of "west" and "east". Or was it that translation by Urim and Thummim was sometimes less than perfect? One would think that the Nephite seers, who used the sacred interpreters, would have discovered whether it were possible to confuse Hebrew and Egyptian directions. (Mosiah 28:13-14)
It is true that various cultures around the world have different ways of coordinating directions, but ancient Israelites coordinated their east and west according to sunrise and sunset. For instance, the Hebrew expression translated "westward" (in the direction of the Great inland sea) in Joshua 23:4, literally means "going down of the sun". (Yehoshua 23:4)
Can we trust that "west" plainly means in the general direction of sunset, and that "east" faces sunrise when the Book of Mormon tells us of a "sea on the west and on the east" relative to a point "by the narrow pass ..."? (Alma 50:34)
The Hebrew word "qĕdĕm" (קֶדֶם) means front or before, it is sometimes translated east or before sunrise. As one stands before the rising sun, "west" is behind or in back. Therefore, the Hebrew word "ahor" (אָחוֹר) meaning back, after or hinder can in some instances be interpreted to mean west. See Yesha'Yahu 9:11 in the Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 9:12 in the KJV.
The Dead Sea is sometimes referred to as the
"former sea" or
"eastern
sea"
, while the
The
LORD said to Joshua, "...unto the great sea toward the going down
of the sun, shall be your coast."
(Joshua 1:4)
It makes sense in the
The English word east
relates to the Greek eos
meaning dawn.
The Hebrew word for west,
"maarav" means from evening or place of sunset.
(Isaiah 45:6;
59:19)
This
Hebrew word for west
appropriately applies to places beyond the confines
of the land of
Click on Broad Neck to find an article titled The Tehuantepec Smoke Screen - Obscuring the Truth about Israelite Directions in Order to Sell Mexican / Mesoamerican Cumorah Theory. This article discusses in greater detail how the Central American theory fails to follow LDS scripture and actually misplaces Book of Mormon lands.
Click on
American Land of Israel
for Olive's Near Cumorah Setting by Deduction and Best Fit!
Click here for Phyllis Olive's
The Lost Lands of the Book of Mormon