3 Nephi 19:4 34 AD
“And it came to pass that on the morrow, when the multitude was gathered together, behold, Nephi and his brother whom he had raised from the dead, whose name was Timothy, and also his son, whose name was Jonas, and also Mathoni, and Mathonihah, his brother, and Kumen, and Kumenonhi, and Jeremiah, and Shemnon, and Jonas, and Zedekiah, and Isaiah—now these were the names of the disciples whom Jesus had chosen—and it came to pass that they went forth and stood in the midst of the multitude.”
Ohio Makes Sense as the Land of Bountiful
There is a temple mound situated above the Ohio River near Cincinnati. “Fragments of burnt limestone may still be seen on the top. The mound is a rectangle two hundred and twenty-five feet long by one hundred and twenty feet broad, and seven feet high.” In contrast to the hewn stone buildings and altars of Mexico, the Ohio mound has the right dimensions to have accommodated a timber and burnt lime plaster (“cement”) building of the size and proportions of Solomon’s Temple.” J. P. Maclean, The Mound Builders – Archaeology of Butler County, Ohio, 1904, pp. 222-223.
“Few realize that some of the oldest, largest and most complex structures of ancient archaeology were built of earth, clay, and stone right here in America, in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. From 6,000 years ago until quite recently, North America was home to some of the most highly advanced and well organized civilizations in the world – complete with cities, roads, and commerce.” Dr. Roger Kennedy, former director of the Smithsonian’s American History Museum
“This painting [Left by Kendra Burton], shows Christ descending in a shaft of light to visit multitudes of Nephites who are streaming up a ramped earthen platform mound reminiscent of other earthen monuments made by the civilization now known as the Hopewell Mound Builders. The background is a vast plain with interspersed massive grass-covered mounds, wooden homes with thatched roofs and hardwood forests, while the foreground shows a large wooden temple atop a monumental ramped earth structure. The scene is one that is true to the Book of Mormon record, without stone pyramids or thick jungle vegetation since nowhere in the text is there any mention of stone buildings, palm trees, monkeys or a tropical climate.
The Heartland geography research has overwhelmingly demonstrated through Book of Mormon prophesies, Joseph Smith’s writings, DNA, archaeological, linguistic and cultural evidences that the most likely location for the setting of the Book of Mormon was in America’s Heartland. This painting is consistent with Joseph Smith’s known and historically documented statements and actions in such accounts as the those found in D&C 28, 30, and 32, the Wentworth Letter, the American Revivalist account, the Zelph accounts, Joseph’s hand-written letter to his wife while on Zion’s camp, and many additional sources.” Rod Meldrum, Author “Exploring the Book of Mormon in America’s Heartland
“Contrasting the works of the mound builders with Mesoamerica stone ruins, Hugh Nibley observes: “A closer approximation to the Book of Mormon picture of Nephite culture is seen in the earth and palisade structures of the Hopewell and Adena culture areas than in the later stately piles of stone in Mesoamerica… Though such piles as the great pyramid-temple of Chichen Itza are surpassed by few buildings in the world in beauty of proportion and grandeur of conception, there is something disturbing about most of these overpowering ruins… The great monuments do not represent what the Nephites stood for; rather they stand for what their descendants, mixed with the blood of their brethren, descended to…” Hugh Nibley, The Prophetic Book of Mormon, pp. 272-273
Blog here about Ohio as a good location for Bountiful in the Book of Mormon
Names of the 12 Disciples
| From Book of Mormon Onomasticon | |
| Nephi | The most likely derivation of the name is EGYPTIAN nfr “good, beautiful.” (JG)[1] The final r in EGYPTIAN had dropped out of pronunciation about a thousand years earlier,[2] and it is attested as a personal name at the time of LEHI.[3] An equally or even more promising derivation would come from EGYPTIAN nfw (later nfy), “captain, skipper, chief of sailors” (Coptic ne(e)f,neeb), from meaning “breathe, blow at” (RFS, JH, JAT).[4] Nibley wrote that “Nfy was the name of an EGYPTIAN captain,” implying a PNrather than a word meaning “captain” |
| Timothy | derives from the Greek timotheos, “honoring God” or “honored by God.” |
| Jonas | The PN JONAS may be the Greek form of the OT name Jonah, from the HEBREW yonah, “dove.”[1] Alternatively, JONAS may be from the HEBREW yo (=Yahu) + nes, “the Lord is a standard, banner.” |
| Mathoni | From the root ntn, “to give,” this name would mean “gift.” The biblical PNs Mattan, Mattanah, and Mattaniah (whose name was changed to ZEDEKIAH and who served as the last king of JUDAH during LEHI’s prophetic career in the Old World) are substantive forms from this root,*mantān>mattān . Notice that Mattanah is no doubt a hypocoristicon from a longer name meaning the child was a gift from a god (JH), just as Mattaniah means “Gift of Jehovah.” |
| Mathonihah | This is the expanded form of the name MATHONI (see above). See the introduction for the element “-hah.” |
| Kumen | Several North-west Semitic etymologies are possible, though none of them are convincing. HEBREW kmn, meaning “to hide, to hide up,” might give a translation “Hidden-away.” Other possibilities include EGYPTIAN kmn, “blind one” (EHA); EGYPTIAN k3mn, “the Bull is established” (Coptic kemēn), a place near Ihnasya in central EGYPT (RFS); and Akkadian kummu, “holy place, shrine, sanctuary” (RFS). |
| Kumenonhi | This name appears to be an expanded form of the previous name, KUMEN, for which see the same. The element -onhi remains unexplained. Nibley, ABM, 238, suggested reading Kumen-onhi, an EGYPTIAN-Hittite city name for Kumani. |
| Jeremiah | OT JEREMIAH is HEBREW yirmiyyāh(û) “YHWH exalts,” or yarēmay, from the causative jussive 3rd sgl middle weak verb[1] = NT KJVJeremias, Jeremy (Matthew 16:14; 27:9) = LXX Greek ieramei(m). “YHWH founded.”[2] The form that appears in the Book of Mormon is the English form of the Greek. |
| Shemnon | Perhaps this name could be derived form the HEBREW root šmn that forms the basis for “oil, fat, fatness,” etc. (JAT). The HEBREW femininePN Mashmannah “fat, stout, lusty, fertile” (1 Chronicles 12:10) seems to be built on this root (JH).[1] The Arabic cognate, musmin, means “nobleman.”[2] Therefore, it is possible that SHEMNON consists of the root “fatness” and by extention, “importance” and the common Semitic ending on PNs and GNs -ōn, for example, as in the PN GIDEON. |
| Jonas | The PN JONAS may be the Greek form of the OT name Jonah, from the HEBREW yonah, “dove.”[1] Alternatively, JONAS may be from the HEBREW yo (=Yahu) + nes, “the Lord is a standard, banner.” |
| Zedikiah | Apostle, ca. 30 A.D., perhaps named after the king of JUDAH (3 Nephi 19:4) The name ZEDEKIAH is from the HEBREW ṣidqîyāhû “the Lord is (my) right, righteousness, justice, salvation” or “right, righteousness, justice, salvation of the Lord” (cf. Köhler–Baumgartner 3:1007). |
| Isaiah | Apostle, ca. 30 A.D. (3 Nephi 19:4) The PN ISAIAH is from the HEBREW yʿešaʿyāhû, “salvation of Yah” (see Köhler–Baumgartner 2:449). |
What we Know about the 12 DISCIPLES
About 600 years before the birth of the Savior, the prophet Nephi saw in a vision that the Savior would choose twelve apostles to serve with Him during His mortal ministry (1 Nephi 11:29, 34-36). He also saw that, following the Savior’s death and resurrection, He would visit Nephi’s descendants, and that He would choose twelve disciples to minister to the people (1 Nephi 12:7-10). The angel who narrated the vision called the twelve in Jerusalem “apostles,” but he referred to the twelve on the American continent as “the twelve disciples” or “the twelve ministers.
When Jesus descended from heaven, He announced who He was, He invited the people to examine His wounds, and then He called twelve men forward and gave them authority to baptize (3 Nephi 11:8-22). He told the people that they would be blessed if they would “give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants” (3 Nephi 12:1).
What do we know about these twelve men? We know their names (3 Nephi 19:4). We know that two of them—Nephi and Timothy—were sons of the prophet Nephi, who had earned God’s trust and received the sealing power (Helaman 10:4-11). Another—Jonas—was Nephi’s grandson. Two of the other disciples—Mathoni and Mathonihah—were brothers. Another was named after the prophet Isaiah, which suggests that his parents were believers.
We know that they taught and baptized the people before the Savior’s return on the second day of His ministry, and that when the people were baptized, they received the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 19:5-13). We know that they assisted the Savior in providing the sacrament to the people (3 Nephi 18:1-10, 3 Nephi 20:3-7).
We know that they received instruction from the Savior about how to keep records (3 Nephi 23:6-13). We know that they asked Him questions about how to administer the church (3 Nephi 27:1-3).
We also know that nine of them lived to the age of 72 years, and that the other three were permitted to remain on the earth until the Second Coming of the Savior (3 Nephi 28:1-7). About 400 years later, the prophet Mormon and his son Moroni met them and interacted with them (3 Nephi 28:24-26, Mormon 8:10-11).
Today, I will be grateful that God chooses mortal people to help Him accomplish His work. I will be grateful for the apostles on the earth today. I will also be grateful for the opportunities He has given me to assist with His work. Book of Mormon Study Notes
Who are the 3 Nephites
Mormon and Moroni said that they had seen the Three Nephites who they said had “ministered unto them”. Many others also report having been ministered to by Three Nephites. The ministration of the Three Nephites typically involves instances when a person is in trouble, a mysterious person appears in their life that helps them or a brief encounter with a person to say something or do something that changes the course of their entire life.
Mary Whitmer Visited by Nephi, One of the Three Nephites
“Mary Whitmer (mother of David Whitmer) saw the plates at her farm in Fayette, New York, when a divine messenger she identified as “Brother Nephi” showed them to her. This messenger, whom Joseph Smith had previously identified as one of the Three Nephites, picked up the abridged plates from Joseph in Harmony, Pennsylvania. He met Joseph, Oliver and David Whitmer on their trip from Harmony to Fayette. He told them he was going to Cumorah. Later, he brought the plates of Nephi to Fayette so Joseph could translate them there. That’s when he showed the plates to Mary, presumably to reassure her that the translation work was important despite the extra burdens Mary assumed by feeding and housing Joseph and Oliver.
There are several accounts of Mary’s experience. Her grandson said that although Mary identified the messenger as “Brother Nephi,” she must have been mistaken because (in his opinion) it must have been Moroni. This has led to confusion about the identity of the messenger, but David Whitmer clarified that Joseph Smith identified the messenger as one of the Three Nephites. David related his conversations with both the messenger and Moroni and knew they were different people.
This makes sense because the messenger was a heavy-set, short, older man. Moroni was a resurrected person who was taller than average. There is no doctrinal or logical reason why a resurrected being would be able to change his body size, age, and appearance.” Jonathan Neville at MOBOM.org
Original Sources.
One original source for the Mary Whitmer witness of the plates is the interview of David Whitmer by Joseph F. Smith and Orson Pratt (see the link here: https://www.mobom.org/resources-fayette-trip). They asked David to describe the messenger, which he did. Shortly prior to that question, though, they asked David if he really saw the angel who showed him the plates. He affirmed that he did, that the angel stood just a few feet away, etc. Oddly, they didn’t ask David to describe the angel, or if they did they didn’t mention it in their account. But David clearly distinguished between the angel and the messenger because they were not the same person.
3 Nephi 28:1-12
Nine of the twelve disciples desire and are promised an inheritance in Christ’s kingdom when they die—The Three Nephites desire and are given power over death so as to remain on the earth until Jesus comes again—They are translated and see things not lawful to utter, and they are now ministering among men. About A.D. 34–35.
1 And it came to pass when Jesus had said these words, he spake unto his disciples, one by one, saying unto them: What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?
2 And they all spake, save it were three, saying: We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry, wherein thou hast called us, may have an end, that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom.
3 And he said unto them: Blessed are ye because ye desired this thing of me; therefore, after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest.
4 And when he had spoken unto them, he turned himself unto the three, and said unto them: What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father?
5 And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired.
6 And he said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts, and ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews, desired of me.
7 Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven.
8 And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father.
9 And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand.
10 And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one;
11 And the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and the Father giveth the Holy Ghost unto the children of men, because of me.
12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he touched every one of them with his finger save it were the three who were to tarry, and then he departed. 3 Nephi 28:1-12
