Book of Mormon Evidence: Prepare/Clear the Way

A Hebrew idiom that occurs multiple times in the Old Testament is pinnâ derek, or occasionally pannû derek.1 This is often translated in the King James version of the Bible as “prepare the way” or similar variant phrasing. However, as Matthew Bowen has explained, “The basic meaning of the Hebrew verb pānâ is ‘to turn.’ In its Piel stem (pinnâ), it means ‘to clear away, remove,’” that is, make a path free of obstacles.2 

Although this meaning is never explicitly translated in the King James Bible, it can sometimes be inferred, as seen in Isaiah 57:14: “Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.” In this verse, pinnâ derek is translated as “prepare the way,” but the surrounding context suggests that the preparation involves the removal of some type of obstruction. 

Much like this Hebrew idiom, an Egyptian phrase (Ἰr wꜣ.t n) is often translated as “prepare a way for.”3 Bowen proposes that as “a Hebrew speaker taught in the ‘learning of the Jews,’ Nephi surely would have been familiar with the former [Hebrew idiom], and as one whose education also included the ‘language of the Egyptians’ (1 Nephi 1:2), he was plausibly familiar with variations of the latter [Egyptian idiom].”4 As can be seen in the following list, this type of phrasing (whether derived from Hebrew or Egyptian or both) was used extensively by Nephi, so much so that Bowen suggests it “constitutes a stylistic marker in his personal writings.”5

• “I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them” (1 Nephi 3:7)
• “But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works” (1 Nephi 9:6)
• “I also beheld the prophet who should prepare the way before him” (1 Nephi 11:27)
• “at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants” (1 Nephi 14:17)
• “I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you” (1 Nephi 17:13)
• “He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed” (1 Nephi 17:41)
• “And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses” (1 Nephi 22:20)
  

Variations of the phrase are also used by other writers throughout the Book of Mormon.6 Interestingly, the connotation of clearing a path, which is inherent in the idiom’s underlying Hebrew meaning, is also sometimes present. This can readily be seen in Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree, where the twice-used phrase “prepare the way,” is followed repeatedly by the notion of clearing or sweeping away obstacles (in this case, bad branches):

Wherefore, go to, and call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard, that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious above all other fruit. … Then shall ye prepare the way for them, that they may grow. And as they begin to grow ye shall clear away the branches which bring forth bitter fruit, according to the strength of the good and the size thereof; and ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof should be too strong for the graft, and the graft thereof shall perish, and I lose the trees of my vineyard. For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard; wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, and the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard; and thus will I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard. (Jacob 5:61–66)

As Bowen explains, “The Lord of the vineyard states that the grafted-in branches need room to grow. The ‘way’ will be ‘prepared’ or cleared for their growth by ‘clear[ing] away’ the bad branches. Zenos uses a verb translated ‘clear away’ (perhaps the Piel verb pinnâ as in Zephaniah 3:15) three times in direct connection with branches and the idiom ‘prepare the way’ (pinnâ derek) to emphasize the type of work required to ‘prepare the way’—or clear the way.”7 Thus, it seems plausible that the author of this text understood the more nuanced meaning of “prepare the way” in Hebrew.

A separate but related passage, found in Nephi’s psalm, is particularly interesting: 

O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way — but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy. (2 Nephi 4:33)

In this verse, the idiom pinnâ derek or some variation on it appears to be used multiple times, most notably near the end when Nephi invokes the phrase “clear my way.” The phrase “hedge … the way” refers to placing obstacles in one’s path, as it is used in Hosea 2:6 and Mosiah 7:29. According to Bowen, “2 Nephi 4:33 appropriately reflects the clearest sense of the Hebrew idiom pinnâ derek or pannû derek (cf. Egyptian Ἰr wꜣ.t [n]) vis-à-vis the more abstract and usual English phrasing ‘prepare the way’/ ‘prepare a way’ at a point in his psalm where he attempts to convey intense personal distress.”8

Conclusion

Variations of the phrase “prepare the way” are used extensively throughout the Nephite record and are especially prevalent in the writings of Nephi, which may help establish him as an independent or distinctive author within the Book of Mormon.9 In 2 Nephi 4:33 and Jacob 5:61–66, a context of clearing various sorts of obstructions or impediments is also present, which help reveal the idiom’s ancient “semantic range.”10 

One might argue that Joseph Smith simply inferred this association from Isaiah 57:14 or Isaiah 40:3–4, which offer a similar connotation. This possibility can’t be disproven, but it should be noted that such passages are not prevalent throughout the Bible. If Joseph Smith picked up on this nuanced meaning from that source, he derived it from a very limited number of references.

Moreover, the explicit use of the phrase “clear my way” in 2 Nephi 4:33, in a passage that may feature several other variations of pinnâ derek, appears to be unparalleled in biblical texts. As concluded by Bowen, the specific usage of these idioms (“prepare the way” / “clear my way”) in the Book of Mormon “reflect the subtlety and beauty of an ancient text translated by the gift and power of God.”11