“If He Should Command Me That I Should Say Unto This Water Be Thou Earth It Should Be Earth”

Alan C. Miner

Terrence Szink explains that Nephi proclaimed the power that the Lord had given him ("If He should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth" -- 1 Nephi 17:50) in a way that brings to mind Moses' power over the Red Sea (And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea -- Exodus 14:16). At the conclusion of this sermon, Nephi reported that his brothers were so humbled by his speech and fearful that they "durst [not] . . . lay their hands upon [him] nor touch [him] with their fingers, even for the space of many days" (1 Nephi 17:52). This situation recalls the return of Moses from speaking to the Lord on Sinai: "When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him" (Exodus 34:29-30). [Terrence L. Szink, "Nephi and the Exodus," in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon, pp. 47-48]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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