Ether 8:6-12

Brant Gardner

These verses easily conjure up the biblical passages about Salome dancing to entice a man to bring another man’s head to her father. There are clearly superficial similarities, but Dr. Nicholas Frederick (BYU Professor of Ancient Scripture) took a careful look at the two stories and found that the differences outweigh the similarities. An important difference is the nature of the role that the daughter of Jared plays compared to that of Salome. Salome acts at her mother’s behest. The daughter of Jared is the instigator in Ether.

The reasons for the inclusion of the stories also differ. In the New Testament, Salome explains the death of John the Baptist. In Ether, the daughter of Jared is the initiator of secret oaths and combinations. Those are two different concepts, and secret combinations are, for Mormon and Moroni, the most important message given in the book of Ether.

Book of Mormon Minute

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