In these verses, Jacob issues one of the most trenchant sayings in scripture about wealth. Remember back in 2 Nephi 9:29, Jacob had famously said, "To be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God." And he followed that statement by placing a wo upon the rich who "despise the poor and persecute the meek" (2 Nephi 9:30). True to form, here in Jacob 2:18, he similarly said, "before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God," and in 2:19, "after ye have obtained a hope in Christ, ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted." Placing God ahead of seeking worldly things, and using riches or knowledge to bless those in need, were consistent and persistent admonitions of Jacob.
Never in Jacob’s young life had he had opportunities to obtain either higher education or worldly fortunes. But he had seen the corrosive influence that these things can have on people if they seek them for the wrong reasons. He probably sensed this most acutely from his reading of the book of Deuteronomy on the plates of brass. Deuteronomy talks a lot about being blessed with prosperity in the land, and it raises the question, how can we become truly rich?
One of Hugh Nibley’s books, called Approaching Zion, talks at length about this very question. He was invited once to go down to St. George to speak to a very wealthy ward or stake. They wanted to bring him down and have him enlighten them about all kinds of esoteric things. But, after thinking the matter through, he said to them, "Advertise my talk this way—I will talk about ‘How to Get Rich." The title drew a large crowd, expecting something quite different than what they got.
But indeed, it is a profound talk on that very subject. It offers one of the best commentaries on the Book of Deuteronomy that I have ever read. It really captures the sense of fairness, goodness, and concern for humanity that you get in that inspired Old Testament document. You can’t even muzzle your ox under the Law of Deuteronomy. And if you have someone who has worked for you for seven years and then you let them go as you must, you don’t just turn this person out and say, "Thanks for the hard work." You have to be liberal and set them up so they can have a place to live. Anyway, that is how you get rich, and that talk eventually found its way into Nibley’s book.
You must be free with your substance so that others may have what they need, "that they may be rich like unto you" (2:17). This kind of equality is important within a covenant community. In regard to what makes a society good and wealthy and just, Lindon Robison, an economist and a member of the Church, wrote an article several years ago about what maximizes wealth in a nation. His findings were that if you have got a top-heavy society (with a few very wealthy people at the top and lots of people who are very poor at the bottom), the total wealth is likely going to be less than if you have a society where there is nearly equal distribution among all people. Of course, the economy in Jacob’s day was very different from complex industrial and financial economies. But fundamentally, what Jacob is teaching is economically sound as well as morally and religiously desirable. True riches come from having satisfaction of the heart, knowing that you have done what is good, righteous, and socially justifiable.
When we think about paying our tithing and making offerings, the Lord invites us to test him. He says, "prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven" (Malachi 3:10). The "you" in that verse is plural. It is a little hard to tell in English, but in the Hebrew it is clearly plural. So, anyone who pays tithing can expect to be blessed. But so will those nearby. The rains from heaven will fall on their backyards as much as their neighbors’, and that is a great principle of consecration and community.
Book of Mormon Central, "Why Does the Book of Mormon Warn Against Seeking after Riches? (Jacob 2:18)," KnoWhy 518 (May 30, 2019).
Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Volume 9 (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1989), 178–201.
Thane Robson, "Attitudes Toward Wealth," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992), 1551–1553.
Lindon J. Robison, "Economic Insights from the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 1, no. 1 (1992): 35–53.