The Last Words of Cenez (or Zenez)

John W. Welch

Another one of the chapters in the Allegory of the Olive Tree book, "The Last Word of Cenez," refers to a book that is not in the Bible. It has come to be known as Biblical Antiquities, not to be confused with Josephus’ work of a similar title. In this early Christian-Jewish text (which dates to around the first century BC) there is an alternative history of the Jews from the time of the creation of the world to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, which happens to be the time that is said to have been covered in the history section on the plates of brass. In Biblical Antiquities, the grandson of Joshua is a prominent figure, and he gives a speech as they are establishing themselves in the new conquered land of Canaan. His name is Cenez, but in some texts his name is Zenez. Guess what he talks about? Olive trees, and how Israel is an olive tree and has been planted and so forth. That is interesting especially because the Biblical Antiquities book was not discovered until the 1880s, fifty years after the Book of Mormon was in print.

Further Reading

Book of Mormon Central, "Is Anything Known of the Prophet Zenos Outside of the Book of Mormon? (Jacob 5:1)," KnoWhy 67 (March 31, 2016).

John W. Welch, "The Last Words of Cenez and the Book of Mormon," in The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch (Provo and Salt Lake City, UT: FARMS and Deseret Book, 1994), 305–321.

John W. Welch Notes

References