Love and Hate

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Abstract

The Book of Mormon’s use of the terms “love” and “hate” accords well with biblical patterns of thought and ancient Near Eastern covenant language.

The terms love and hate are used with some regularity throughout the Book of Mormon. In a variety of ways, the text’s usage of these terms corresponds to biblical patterns of thought, as well as to covenant language found throughout the ancient Near East. In each section below, love and hate will be explored in an ancient Near Eastern context, and then a discussion of related usage in the Book of Mormon will follow. Two supplemental appendices have also been included, which together provide a detailed and comprehensive survey of the relevant textual data.¹

Covenant Contexts

As explained by Françoise Mirguet,

The use of the vocabulary of “love” and “hate” in political treaties is well attested throughout the Near East, a case that has first been argued by Assyriologist William L. Moran [in 1963]. These treaties, from the eighteenth to the seventh centuries BCE, written in Akkadian, Hittite, and Aramaic, use the vocabulary of love to designate loyalty among kings and between sovereigns and vassals.²

As for hate, when utilized in these types of covenantal settings, it “functions as the opposite of love, in its two meanings of divine patronage and human obedience.”³

This conceptual love/hate framework underlies a number of Old Testament passages, such as the injunction to not seek after other gods in Exodus 20:3–5 and the famous covenant obligations and relationships outlined in Deuteronomy.⁴ For instance, Deuteronomy 7:7–10 directly connects the Lord’s love for Israel with the covenant or “oath” that he had made with their fathers: “But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you.”⁵

As the divine ruler of Israel, God had a covenant obligation to protect his faithful subjects, even unto the destruction of their enemies if need be, which in turn obligated the Israelites to show loyalty, obedience, and faithfulness to God. In contrast, those outside of the covenant were seen as hating God, and in turn God hated them.⁶ Yet rather than referring to strong personal emotions, as modern readers might assume, the use of love and hate in such contexts primarily conveyed covenantal loyalties, associations, and obligations.⁷

Love and hate arise in similar covenant contexts in the Book of Mormon. Nephi declared that God “loveth those who will have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our fathers, and he covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he remembered the covenants which he had made” (1 Nephi 17:40). Likewise, in a discussion about the Lord’s covenantal promises to Nephi and his father, the Lord rebuked the Gentiles: “O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them” (2 Nephi 29:5).⁸

Kingship

Building off the previous section, another area where covenantal love can be seen in the Book of Mormon pertains to kingship. In reference to Nephi (the first king among the Nephites), Jacob declared that his people “loved Nephi exceedingly, he having been a great protector for them” (Jacob 1:10). In other words, like a typical ancient Near Eastern ruler, Nephi had a covenant obligation to protect his people, and they in turn showed covenantal love for him as he faithfully carried out that duty. In a similar way, later Nephites “did wax strong in love towards Mosiah,” who had likewise been a righteous king (Mosiah 29:40).

This type of love also arises in the story of Ammon confronting King Lamoni’s father. After having been disarmed and threatened by Ammon, the Lamanite overking “saw the great love [Ammon] had for his son Lamoni” (Alma 20:26). It should be remembered that Ammon had willingly submitted to be Lamoni’s servant (Alma 17:25). As a vassal of a Lamanite king, Ammon would have been obligated to show covenantal love by protecting Lamoni with his life, which he did.⁹

King Lamoni's Father, by Minerva Teichert

One final example leaves little doubt about the intentionality of this language. After the deceitful Amalickiah secretly assassinated the Lamanite king during his day, he drew upon the people’s covenant loyalty as a motivation for pursuing the king’s servants (whom Amalickiah had framed for the murder):

… and when they had come to the spot, and found the king lying in his gore, Amalickiah pretended to be wroth, and said: Whosoever loved the king, let him go forth, and pursue his servants that they may be slain. And it came to pass that all they who loved the king, when they heard these words, came forth and pursued after the servants of the king. (Alma 47:27–28)

Chosen/Favored vs. Rejected/Cursed

According to Mirguet, love in the biblical corpus is “closely related to choice.”¹⁰ In Deuteronomy 15:15 we read, “Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.”¹¹ Thus, at least in part, God’s love for Israel was associated with the covenantal promises made to their fathers that rendered them as a divinely favored, elect, or chosen people.

Yet the terms and obligations of the covenant also played a crucial role in divine favor. As articulated in Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” In contrast, hatred was connected with rejection, disfavor, or being cursed, often in relation to people rejecting the covenants or commandments. This is illustrated well in Hosea 9:15: “All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more.”¹²

The association of love/hate with favor or rejection is especially pronounced in some documents from the communities responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls. When addressing the Lord, one text proclaims that a true servant of the Lord will bless “all who choose what pleases you, [that he might walk in all whi]ch you love (אהכתה), and abhor (זלתעכ) all that which [you hate]. … For you are righteous and all your chosen ones are trustworthy.”¹³ According to Ari Mermelstein, “Love and hate are not simply emotions, beliefs that insiders are indispensable and outsiders detrimental to their wellbeing, but rather are vehicles through which the [Qumran] sectarian can demonstrate that he has been divinely elected.”¹⁴

When recounting Israelite history to his brothers, Nephi explained that even though “the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God” (1 Nephi 17:35). Just a few verses later, Nephi added that the Israelite’s chosen status was also due to the covenants made to their fathers: “And he loveth those who will [i.e., desire or choose to] have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our fathers, and he covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he remembered the covenants which he had made” (v. 40). A related awareness was manifested by Samuel the Lamanite, who declared of the Nephites, “for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved” (Helaman 15:3).

Similar associations—involving being chosen, favored, or blessed on the one hand, or being rejected, cursed, cut off, or destroyed on the other—arise in many other Book of Mormon passages where the language of love and hate are used. In most cases, these occur either in relation to the covenants made to the fathers or to the keeping or rejecting of the covenants by the people.¹⁵

Commandments and Statutes

As mentioned in the previous section, the observance of commandments and statutes was connected to love in ancient Israelite thought. Exodus 20:6 states that God shows “mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Deuteronomy 7:9 echoes this idea: “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.”

Deuteronomy 10:12 likewise implores the Israelites “to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and … To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?” The next chapter pronounces a similar blessing upon those who “shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 11:22).

Depiction of the Ten Commandments. Attribution unknown.

Book of Mormon authors appear to have been aware of this correspondence. Lehi declared, “I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love. And I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and the judgments of the Lord” (2 Nephi 1:15–16). The prophet Jarom contrasted the Nephites’ diligence in keeping the “law of Moses” and also the strictness of their “laws of the land” with the Lamanites, who “loved murder and would drink the blood of beasts” (Jarom 1:5–6).¹⁶

King Benjamin taught his people “to keep the commandments of God, that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men” (Mosiah 2:4). Not many years later, Alma taught his people to “trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments. Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself” (Mosiah 23:14–15). And when contrasting the Nephites with the Lamanites, Samuel pointed out that even though the Lord had previously “hated” the Lamanites for their wickedness, they now observed “to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses” (Helaman 15:4–5).¹⁷

Walk in the Ways of the Lord

Deuteronomy 10:12 connects the need to “walk” in the “ways” of the Lord with the obligation to “love” him: “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him.” This sentiment is echoed throughout the Old Testament and even resurfaces in 2 John 1:6: “And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.”¹⁸

The Book of Mormon also repeatedly makes this association. Concerning the instruction of children, King Benjamin taught, “But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another” (Mosiah 4:15). Alma the Elder likewise taught that no one should be a teacher or minister “except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments. Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself” (Mosiah 23:14–15).¹⁹

Knowledge

According to RoseAnn Benson and Stephen D. Ricks, “many ancient Near Eastern treaties repeat the verb to know in the technical sense of ‘to recognize a legal relationship’ and ‘to recognize treaty stipulations as binding.’”²⁰ Furthermore, Biblical texts regularly invoke forms of the word know in relation to love and hate, often in the same types of covenantal contexts discussed previously. This can readily be seen in Deuteronomy 7:9: “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them.”²¹

Divine knowledge played a particularly integral role in the love/hate dialogue at Qumran. As summarized by Mermelstein, “Since divine love and hate manifested itself in the selective revelation of knowledge, sectarian love and hate required the unselfish disclosure of knowledge to other group members and the concealment of the same knowledge from outsiders.”²²

Fragments of jars that contained stolen scrolls, found in a cave in cliffs near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea in Israel. Image by
Casey L. Olson and Oren Gutfeld (via npr.org).

Turning to the Book of Mormon, Jacob mentioned that his people sought to “restore the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; but it all was vain, for they delighted in wars and bloodshed, and they had an eternal hatred against us, their brethren” (Jacob 7:24). Similar ideas—emphasizing the Lamanites’ lack of knowledge in close connection with their hatred of the Nephites—are articulated in several other passages.²³

Interestingly, this language is reversed once the Lamanites come to know God, as illustrated by the words of a converted Lamanite king named Anti-Nephi-Lehi: “God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children” (Alma 24:14). King Benjamin likewise spoke of those who had “come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or … have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love” (Mosiah 4:11). As Nephi put it, “I know in whom I have trusted. … He hath filled me with his love … and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time” (2 Nephi 4:19–23).

Giving or Withholding of Chastisement

Leviticus 19:17–18 declares, “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” This duty—to rebuke, correct, admonish, or chastise those whom one loves—is also reflected in Proverbs 13:24, which outlines proper discipline of children: “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”

Generations later, the connection between love/hate and chastisement was echoed in several New Testament passages (Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 3:19) and was also present in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls texts. Concerning the sectarian community at Qumran, Mermelstein explains, “Reproof of insiders and the conscious withholding of reproof from outsiders was a ‘socially dictated performance’ of either love or hate that demonstrated the sectarian’s commitment to communal beliefs about covenant, knowledge, divine will, and relations with outsiders.”²⁴

This mandate to either give or withhold reproof based on one’s covenantal relationship is reflected well in the words delivered by Samuel the Lamanite to the people of Zarahemla. In what appears to be a three-layer chiasm comparing the Nephites and Lamanites, he emphasized that the Lord chastened the Nephites whom he “loved,” but this is followed by a noticeable absence of chastening for the Lamanites, whom he “hated”:²⁵

A	yea, the people of Nephi
	B	hath he loved,
		C	and also hath he chastened them;
		C	yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them
	B	because he loveth them.
A	But behold my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated (Helaman 15:3–4)

Kinship and Brotherhood

Several biblical stories use love or hate to describe relationships between brothers or kindred tribes. In Genesis 27:41 we read that “Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him.”²⁶ Likewise, when Joseph’s “brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him” (Genesis 37:4). This type of brotherly hatred was expressly prohibited in Leviticus 19:17: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart.”²⁷

Following the work of Frank Cross, Jacqueline Lapsley has suggested that “the language of love,” as found in covenantal discourse in the ancient Near East, was “imported into the political realm from family life, where it originated.”²⁸ For instance, in the Amarna letters, “alliances between rulers are phrased as brotherhood and love (râmu/ra’āmu).”²⁹

Throughout the Book of Mormon, the phrase “beloved brethren” is used more than seventy times.³⁰ Love and hatred are also frequently employed when expressing the relationship between the Nephites and Lamanites. When Nephi fled from his brothers, he recorded that “I knew their hatred towards me and my children and those who were called my people” (2 Nephi 5:14). This hatred, which the Lamanites perpetuated among their children, is referenced more than a dozen times throughout the Nephite record.³¹ At times the Nephites returned the favor, as can be seen in Jacob’s words to the early community of Nephites in his day: “Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you” (Jacob 3:5).

This theme of perennial hatred, mostly described as being held by the Lamanites and directed toward the Nephites, helps explain the pronounced theme of brotherly love that is sometimes emphasized when groups of Lamanites were converted unto the Lord. As Ammon declared, “For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God” (Alma 26:9). Ammon mentioned these Lamanites’ newfound love at least nine times throughout his speech in this chapter.³²

The Anti-Nephi-Lehies Burying Their Swords. Image via churchofjesuschrist.org

Clustering

The presence of just one or two of these correspondences wouldn’t be all that impressive. When looked at altogether, however, this textual data becomes much more meaningful. It shows that the multifaceted conceptualization of love and hate in the Book of Mormon is remarkably similar to the range of associations found in the Bible.

Not only is this true in the aggregate, but it is sometimes on display in individual textual units. The following chart helps identify such instances of clustering, in which multiple elements can be found in a single chapter or short span of verses. In addition to the sections covered above, the chart includes three more topics (Marriage, Heart, Mercy) that frequently arise in conjunction with love and hate in both the Bible and Book of Mormon.

After presenting several biblical texts which contain concentrations of these elements, their presence is tracked in numerous Nephite texts. Chapters with four or more elements have been highlighted in gray for easier identification. For a more detailed presentation of these noteworthy textual units, showing specifically where and how frequently these elements cluster together in these chapters, see Appendix 2.

Conclusion

As the preceding textual data attests, the Book of Mormon’s discussions of love and hate are consistent with patterns of biblical and ancient Near Eastern thought. Especially intriguing are the instances where the Book of Mormon’s use of love and hate appear to hold a nuanced technical meaning that is often lost on modern audiences.

For instance, how many readers today have noticed the emphasis on “love” for kings or rulers in various Book of Mormon passages (Jacob 1:10; Mosiah 29:40; Alma 20:26; 47:28)? Even for those who have, how many have recognized that this pattern is consonant with the language of covenantal fealty shown towards rulers, as manifested throughout the ancient Near East? The typical modern reader will naturally assume that “love” simply denotes a subjective personal affection for the king, not recognizing that a specialized ancient meaning is most likely driving the term’s consistent usage in these passages.

Likewise, today’s readers may be concerned by Samuel the Lamanite’s statement that the Lord “loved” the Nephites but “hated” the Lamanites (Helaman 15:4). How could a God who loves all of his children single out a particular group and express outright hatred for them? The technical nuances of ancient covenantal terms helps resolve this seeming inconsistency. When compared to passages in Deuteronomy and ancient covenant treaties, the Lord’s hate for the Lamanites can be better understood as covenantal disassociation. The Lamanites were technically cursed or cut off (i.e., “hated”) because of the incorrect traditions of their fathers and because of their own wickedness. But on an emotive personal level, the Lord still clearly loved them, as a significant theme in the Book of Mormon is about God’s efforts to redeem and restored them to a loving covenantal status.³³

When viewed collectively, this data suggests that whoever authored the Book of Mormon was intimately familiar with the biblical use of love/hate language and that they likely understood the ancient technical meanings of these terms when employed in covenantal contexts. While this degree of familiarity makes sense for authors like Nephi, Jacob, and their prophetic progeny (who were direct inheritors of ancient Israelite culture and language), it is harder to ascribe to Joseph Smith in 1829.³⁴

RoseAnn Benson and Stephen D. Ricks, “Treaties and Covenants: Ancient Near Eastern Legal Terminology in the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14, no. 1 (2005): 48–61, 128–129.

John A Tvedtnes, Testaments: Links between the Book of Mormon and the Hebrew Bible (Toelle, UT: Heritage Press, 2003), 193–195.

David E. Bokovoy, “Love vs. Hate: An Analysis of Helaman 15: 1–4,” Insights: A Window on the Ancient World 22, no. 2 (2002): 2–3.

See Appendix 1.

Appendix 1: A Categorical Analysis of Love and Hate in the Book of Mormon

Introduction

This chart provides an extensive list of love/hate passages in the Book of Mormon and organizes them into various categories, based on similar associations found in biblical texts. For convenience, all instances of “love” have been bolded and highlighted in blue, while all instances of “hate” are bolded and highlighted in red. Categorical elements have simply been bolded.

This chart significantly expands upon the selected samples of categorical data provided in the evidence summary itself. It should be recognized that not all proposals are of equal weight or significance. Factors such as topical relevance, textual distance, rhetorical function, and clustering of relevant data should all be considered when attempting to determine if the thematic material is truly connected to the identified instances of love and hate.

Generally speaking, this chart errs on the side of inclusivity, meaning that even potentially tenuous connections have sometimes been included for consideration. That being said, many other possibilities have been excluded from this list due to a lack of supporting evidence (such as major disjunctions in topic, significant textual distance, or rhetorical irrelevance).

Just because a proposal is lacking in one area, however, doesn’t mean it should be discounted. For instance, in the Marriage category, Nephi’s mention of his brothers’ “hatred” towards him and his people (2 Nephi 5:14) is quite textually distant from his mention of a curse that would come upon those who “mixeth with their seed” (v. 23). Yet the prohibition against intermarriage in verse 23 is still on topic, rhetorically relevant, part of a cluster of elements that start in verse 14, and is related to another cluster of elements in Deuteronomy 7 that likewise prohibits intermarriage (see Appendix 2). Thus, substantial textual distance alone doesn’t seem enough to discount it as a valid associated theme.

Since providing these types of nuanced reasons for the exclusion or inclusion of textual data in all instances is beyond the scope of this article, readers are invited to exercise their own discretion in evaluating these many proposals. Those that have been included reflect the best judgment of the Evidence Central staff responsible for this article.

Chastise

1 Nephi 17

40 And he loveth those who will have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our fathers, and he covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he remembered the covenants which he had made; wherefore, he did bring them out of the land of Egypt.

41 And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.

Helaman 15

3 Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.

4 But behold my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the iniquity of the tradition of their fathers. But behold, salvation hath come unto them through the preaching of the Nephites; and for this intent hath the Lord prolonged their days.

Ether 12

33 And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men.

34 And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.

35 Wherefore, I know by this thing which thou hast said, that if the Gentiles have not charity, because of our weakness, that thou wilt prove them, and take away their talent, yea, even that which they have received, and give unto them who shall have more abundantly.

Commandments and Statutes

1 Nephi 17

22 And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us.

2 Nephi 1

15 But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.

16 And I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning.

18 Or, that a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the devil.

19 O my sons, that these things might not come upon you, but that ye might be a choice and a favored people of the Lord. But behold, his will be done; for his ways are righteousness forever.

20 And he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.

2 Nephi 5

14 And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords, lest by any means the people who were now called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us; for I knew their hatred towards me and my children and those who were called my people.

19 And behold, the words of the Lord had been fulfilled unto my brethren, which he spake concerning them, that I should be their ruler and their teacher. Wherefore, I had been their ruler and their teacher, according to the commandments of the Lord, until the time they sought to take away my life.

Jacob 3

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.

Jarom 1

5 And now, behold, two hundred years had passed away, and the people of Nephi had waxed strong in the land. They observed to keep the law of Moses and the sabbath day holy unto the Lord. And they profaned not; neither did they blaspheme. And the laws of the land were exceedingly strict.

6 And they were scattered upon much of the face of the land, and the Lamanites also. And they were exceedingly more numerous than were they of the Nephites; and they loved murder and would drink the blood of beasts.

Mosiah 1

11 And moreover, I shall give this people a name, that thereby they may be distinguished above all the people which the Lord God hath brought out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I do because they have been a diligent people in keeping the commandments of the Lord.

14 For I say unto you, that if he had not extended his arm in the preservation of our fathers they must have fallen into the hands of the Lamanites, and become victims to their hatred.

Mosiah 2

4 And also that they might give thanks to the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, and who had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, and had appointed just men to be their teachers, and also a just man to be their king, who had established peace in the land of Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments of God, that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men.

Mosiah 4

14 And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.

15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

Mosiah 10

4 And also that they might give thanks to the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, and who had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, and had appointed just men to be their teachers, and also a just man to be their king, who had established peace in the land of Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments of God , that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men.

Mosiah 23

14 And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments.

15 Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them.

Alma 5

25 I say unto you, Nay; except ye make our Creator a liar from the beginning, or suppose that he is a liar from the beginning, ye cannot suppose that such can have place in the kingdom of heaven; but they shall be cast out for they are the children of the kingdom of the devil.

26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

Helaman 15

3 Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.

5 And I would that ye should behold that the more part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk circumspectly before God, and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses.

Moroni 8

25 And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;

26 And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.

Covenant Contexts

1 Nephi 17

40 And he loveth those who will have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our fathers, and he covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he remembered the covenants which he had made; wherefore, he did bring them out of the land of Egypt.

1 Nephi 19

14 And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations.

15 Nevertheless, when that day cometh, saith the prophet, that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their fathers.

1 Nephi 22

5 And since they have been led away, these things have been prophesied concerning them, and also concerning all those who shall hereafter be scattered and be confounded, because of the Holy One of Israel; for against him will they harden their hearts; wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations and shall be hated of all men.

6 Nevertheless, after they shall be nursed by the Gentiles, and the Lord has lifted up his hand upon the Gentiles and set them up for a standard, and their children have been carried in their arms, and their daughters have been carried upon their shoulders, behold these things of which are spoken are temporal; for thus are the covenants of the Lord with our fathers; and it meaneth us in the days to come, and also all our brethren who are of the house of Israel.

2 Nephi 1

20 And he hath said [i.e., covenanted] that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.

2 Nephi 6

11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance.

12 And blessed are the Gentiles, they of whom the prophet has written; for behold, if it so be that they shall repent and fight not against Zion, and do not unite themselves to that great and abominable church, they shall be saved; for the Lord God will fulfil his covenants which he has made unto his children; and for this cause the prophet has written these things.

Jacob 3

2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.

4 And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance [land covenant], and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you.

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.

Mosiah 3

19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit [covenant fealty] to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

Mosiah 18

21 And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism [covenant], having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.

Alma 43

11 Yea, and they also knew the extreme hatred of the Lamanites towards their brethren, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, who were called the people of Ammon—and they would not take up arms, yea, they had entered into a covenant and they would not break it—therefore, if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites they would be destroyed.

Alma 53

11 And because of their oath they had been kept from taking up arms against their brethren; for they had taken an oath that they never would shed blood more; and according to their oath they would have perished; yea, they would have suffered themselves to have fallen into the hands of their brethren, had it not been for the pity and the exceeding love which Ammon and his brethren had had for them.

Helaman 15

12 Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them.

3 Nephi 7

11 And it came to pass that they were not so strong in number as the tribes of the people, who were united together save it were their leaders did establish their laws, every one according to his tribe; nevertheless they were enemies; notwithstanding they were not a righteous people, yet they were united in the hatred of those who had entered into a covenant to destroy the government.

Mormon 3

10 And they did swear by the heavens, and also by the throne of God, that they would go up to battle against their enemies, and would cut them off from the face of the land.

11 And it came to pass that I, Mormon, did utterly refuse from this time forth to be a commander and a leader of this people, because of their wickedness and abomination.

12 Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts.

14 And when they had sworn by all that had been forbidden them by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that they would go up unto their enemies to battle, and avenge themselves of the blood of their brethren, behold the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying:

Ether 12

33 And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world [a covenantal obligation to protect subjects with one’s life], that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men.

Moroni 7

13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him [like a vassal serves a suzerain], is inspired of God.

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God [new covenantal identity]; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

Moroni 10

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

Favored vs. Cursed

1 Nephi 17

22 And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us.

33 And now, do ye suppose that the children of this land, who were in the land of promise, who were driven out by our fathers, do ye suppose that they were righteous? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.

34 Do ye suppose that our fathers would have been more choice than they if they had been righteous? I say unto you, Nay.

35 Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God. But behold, this people had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity; and the fulness of the wrath of God was upon them; and the Lord did curse the land against them, and bless it unto our fathers; yea, he did curse it against them unto their destruction, and he did bless it unto our fathers unto their obtaining power over it.

37 And he raiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked.

38 And he leadeth away the righteous into precious lands, and the wicked he destroyeth, and curseth the land unto them for their sakes.

1 Nephi 19

13 And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.

14 And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations.

2 Nephi 1

17 My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever;

18 Or, that a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the devil.

19 O my sons, that these things might not come upon you, but that ye might be a choice and a favored people of the Lord. But behold, his will be done; for his ways are righteousness forever.

2 Nephi 4

21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.

22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing them to quake before me.

2 Nephi 5

21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

23 And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.

2 Nephi 6

11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance.

12 And blessed are the Gentiles, they of whom the prophet has written; for behold, if it so be that they shall repent and fight not against Zion, and do not unite themselves to that great and abominable church, they shall be saved; for the Lord God will fulfil his covenants which he has made unto his children; and for this cause the prophet has written these things.

2 Nephi 9

40 O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.

2 Nephi 29

5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.

Jacob 3

2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.

3 But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction.

4 And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you.

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.

6 And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people.

7 Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their unbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?

Mosiah 1

13 Yea, and moreover I say unto you, that if this highly favored people of the Lord should fall into transgression, and become a wicked and an adulterous people, that the Lord will deliver them up, that thereby they become weak like unto their brethren; and he will no more preserve them by his matchless and marvelous power, as he has hitherto preserved our fathers.

14 For I say unto you, that if he had not extended his arm in the preservation of our fathers they must have fallen into the hands of the Lamanites, and become victims to their hatred.

Mosiah 2

4 And also that they might give thanks to the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, and who had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, and had appointed just men to be their teachers, and also a just man to be their king, who had established peace in the land of Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments of God, that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men.

Mosiah 10

13 And again, that they were wronged while in the land of their first inheritance, after they had crossed the sea, and all this because that Nephi was more faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord—therefore he was favored of the Lord, for the Lord heard his prayers and answered them, and he took the lead of their journey in the wilderness. …

17 And thus they have taught their children that they should hate them, and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred towards the children of Nephi.

Alma 26

9 For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God.

34 For behold, they would take up arms against their brethren; they would not suffer themselves to be slain. But behold how many of these have laid down their lives; and we know that they have gone to their God, because of their love and of their hatred to sin.

36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.

37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

Helaman 15

3 Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.

3 Nephi 7

11 And it came to pass that they were not so strong in number as the tribes of the people, who were united together save it were their leaders did establish their laws, every one according to his tribe; nevertheless they were enemies; notwithstanding they were not a righteous people, yet they were united in the hatred of those who had entered into a covenant to destroy the government.

3 Nephi 16

6 And blessed are the Gentiles, because of their belief in me, in and of the Holy Ghost, which witnesses unto them of me and of the Father.

8 But wo, saith the Father, unto the unbelieving of the Gentiles—for notwithstanding they have come forth upon the face of this land, and have scattered my people who are of the house of Israel; and my people who are of the house of Israel have been cast out from among them, and have been trodden under feet by them;

9 And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword among them—

Moroni 8

17 And I am filled with charity, which is everlasting love; wherefore, all children are alike unto me; wherefore, I love little children with a perfect love; and they are all alike and partakers of salvation.

Moroni 9

4 Behold, I am laboring with them continually; and when I speak the word of God with sharpness they tremble and anger against me; and when I use no sharpness they harden their hearts against it; wherefore, I fear lest the Spirit of the Lord hath ceased striving with them.

5 For so exceedingly do they anger that it seemeth me that they have no fear of death; and they have lost their love, one towards another; and they thirst after blood and revenge continually.

Hearts

1 Nephi 11

22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.

1 Nephi 17

41 And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.

42 And they did harden their hearts from time to time, and they did revile against Moses, and also against God; nevertheless, ye know that they were led forth by his matchless power into the land of promise.

1 Nephi 19

13 And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.

14 And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations.

1 Nephi 22

5 And since they have been led away, these things have been prophesied concerning them, and also concerning all those who shall hereafter be scattered and be confounded, because of the Holy One of Israel; for against him will they harden their hearts; wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations and shall be hated of all men.

2 Nephi 1

17 My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever;

2 Nephi 5

21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

2 Nephi 6

10 And after they have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks against the Holy One of Israel, behold, the judgments of the Holy One of Israel shall come upon them. And the day cometh that they shall be smitten and afflicted.

Jacob 3

2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.

3 But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction.

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.

Mosiah 4

10 And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.

11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

Mosiah 10

14 And his brethren were wroth with him because they understood not the dealings of the Lord; they were also wroth with him upon the waters because they hardened their hearts against the Lord.

Mosiah 18

21 And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.

Alma 5

26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

Alma 11

24 Believest thou that there is no God? I say unto you, Nay, thou knowest that there is a God, but thou lovest that lucre more than him.

25 And now thou hast lied before God unto me. Thou saidst unto me—Behold these six onties, which are of great worth, I will give unto thee—when thou hadst it in thy heart to retain them from me; and it was only thy desire that I should deny the true and living God, that thou mightest have cause to destroy me. And now behold, for this great evil thou shalt have thy reward.

Alma 13

29 Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest.

Alma 24

8 And behold, I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to soften our hearts, that we have opened a correspondence with these brethren, the Nephites.

10 And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son.

11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain

14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.

Alma 26

22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.

24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity;

Helaman 15

7 And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them

3 Nephi 16

9 And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword among them—

10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.

4 Nephi 1

15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.

Mormon 3

12 Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts.

Mormon 8

36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

Moroni 7

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

Moroni 8

25 And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;

26 And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.

Moroni 9

4 Behold, I am laboring with them continually; and when I speak the word of God with sharpness they tremble and anger against me; and when I use no sharpness they harden their hearts against it; wherefore, I fear lest the Spirit of the Lord hath ceased striving with them.

5 For so exceedingly do they anger that it seemeth me that they have no fear of death; and they have lost their love, one towards another; and they thirst after blood and revenge continually.

Moroni 10

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

Kings and Vassals

Jacob 1

9 Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw that he must soon die; wherefore, he anointed a man to be a king and a ruler over his people now, according to the reigns of the kings.

10 The people having loved Nephi exceedingly, he having been a great protector for them having wielded the sword of Laban in their defence, and having labored in all his days for their welfare—

Mosiah 29

40 And they did wax strong in love towards [King] Mosiah; yea, they did esteem him more than any other man; for they did not look upon him as a tyrant who was seeking for gain, yea, for that lucre which doth corrupt the soul; for he had not exacted riches of them, neither had he delighted in the shedding of blood; but he had established peace in the land, and he had granted unto his people that they should be delivered from all manner of bondage; therefore they did esteem him, yea, exceedingly, beyond measure.

Alma 20

26 And when he saw that Ammon [Lamoni’s servant] had no desire to destroy him, and when he also saw the great love he had for his son Lamoni [a king of the Lamanites], he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would release thy brethren, and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom, behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever; and I will govern him no more—

Alma 47

27 And it came to pass that Amalickiah commanded that his armies should march forth and see what had happened to the king; and when they had come to the spot, and found the king lying in his gore, Amalickiah pretended to be wroth, and said: Whosoever loved the king, let him go forth, and pursue his servants that they may be slain.

28 And it came to pass that all they who loved the king, when they heard these words, came forth and pursued after the servants of the king.

Mormon 3

11 And it came to pass that I, Mormon, did utterly refuse from this time forth to be a commander and a leader of this people, because of their wickedness and abomination.

12 Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts.

Kinship

Note: In addition to the following passages, the phrase “beloved brethren” occurs more than 70 times throughout the Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 5

14 And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords, lest by any means the people who were now called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us; for I knew their hatred towards me and my children and those who were called my people.

Jacob 3

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.

Jacob 7

26 And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old; and the record of this people being kept on the other plates of Nephi, wherefore, I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days.

Enos 1

20 And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors were vain; their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us.

Mosiah 1

14 For I say unto you, that if he had not extended his arm in the preservation of our fathers they must have fallen into the hands of the Lamanites, and become victims to their hatred.

Mosiah 10

17 And thus [the Lamanites] have taught their children that they should hate them, and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred towards the children of Nephi.

Mosiah 11

17 And king Noah sent guards round about the land to keep them off; but he did not send a sufficient number, and the Lamanites came upon them and killed them, and drove many of their flocks out of the land; thus the Lamanites began to destroy them, and to exercise their hatred upon them. …

Mosiah 28

2 That perhaps they might bring [the Lamanites] to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them.

Alma 20

26 And when he saw that Ammon [a Nephite prince] had no desire to destroy him, and when he also saw the great love he had for his son Lamoni [a Lamanite king], he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would release thy brethren, and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom, behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever; and I will govern him no more

Alma 24

2 And their hatred became exceedingly sore against them, even insomuch that they began to rebel against their king, insomuch that they would not that he should be their king; therefore, they took up arms against the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi [their brethren].

Alma 26

9 For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God.

13 Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice?

15 Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.

26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.

31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.

32 For behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have buried their weapons of war deep in the earth, because of their love towards their brethren.

33 And now behold I say unto you, has there been so great love in all the land? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, there has not, even among the Nephites.

34 For behold, they would take up arms against their brethren; they would not suffer themselves to be slain. But behold how many of these have laid down their lives; and we know that they have gone to their God, because of their love and of their hatred to sin.

Alma 43

7 Now this he did that he might preserve [the Lamanites’] hatred towards the Nephites, that he might bring them into subjection to the accomplishment of his designs.

11 Yea, and they also knew the extreme hatred of the Lamanites towards their brethren, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, who were called the people of Ammon—and they would not take up arms, yea, they had entered into a covenant and they would not break it—therefore, if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites they would be destroyed.

Alma 53

11 And because of their oath they had been kept from taking up arms against their brethren; for they had taken an oath that they never would shed blood more; and according to their oath they would have perished; yea, they would have suffered themselves to have fallen into the hands of their brethren, had it not been for the pity and the exceeding love which Ammon and his brethren had had for them.

Alma 60

32 Behold, can you suppose that the Lord will spare you and come out in judgment against the Lamanites, when it is the tradition of their fathers that has caused their hatred, yea, and it has been redoubled by those who have dissented from us, while your iniquity is for the cause of your love of glory and the vain things of the world?

Helaman 5

51 And as many [of the Lamanites] as were convinced did lay down their weapons of war, and also their hatred [towards the Nephites]and the tradition of their fathers.

Helaman 15

3 Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.

11 Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth—

12 Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them.

3 Nephi 3

4 And I, knowing of [the Lamanites’] unconquerable spirit, having proved them in the field of battle, and knowing of their everlasting hatred towards you [the Nephites] because of the many wrongs which ye have done unto them, therefore if they should come down against you they would visit you with utter destruction.

4 Nephi 1

39 And it was because of the wickedness and abomination of their fathers, even as it was in the beginning. And they were taught to hate the children of God, even as the Lamanites were taught to hate the children of Nephi from the beginning.

Ether 12

38 And now I, Moroni, bid farewell unto the Gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood.

Moroni 1

2 For behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of [the Lamanites’] hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ.

Knowledge

1 Nephi 11

16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?

22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.

1 Nephi 17

22 And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us.

25 Now ye know that the children of Israel were in bondage; and ye know that they were laden with tasks, which were grievous to be borne; wherefore, ye know that it must needs be a good thing for them, that they should be brought out of bondage.

26 Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great work; and ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither, and they passed through on dry ground.

27 But ye know that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, who were the armies of Pharaoh.

28 And ye also know that they were fed with manna in the wilderness.

29 Yea, and ye also know that Moses, by his word according to the power of God which was in him, smote the rock, and there came forth water, that the children of Israel might quench their thirst.

2 Nephi 4

19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.

21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.

23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.

2 Nephi 6

11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance.

Jacob 7

24 And it came to pass that many means were devised to reclaim and restore the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; but it all was vain, for they delighted in wars and bloodshed, and they had an eternal hatred against us, their brethren. And they sought by the power of their arms to destroy us continually.

Mosiah 1

5 I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct.

14 For I say unto you, that if he had not extended his arm in the preservation of our fathers they must have fallen into the hands of the Lamanites, and become victims to their hatred.

Mosiah 4

11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

Mosiah 10

11 Now, the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own strength. Yet they were a strong people, as to the strength of men.

Mosiah 28

2 That perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them.

Alma 11

24 Believest thou that there is no God? I say unto you, Nay, thou knowest that there is a God, but thou lovest that lucre more than him.

Alma 24

14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.

Alma 26

21 And now behold, my brethren, what natural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is none that knoweth these things, save it be the penitent.

22 Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.

24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.

Helaman 15

3 Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.

6 Yea, I say unto you, that the more part of them are doing this, and they are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily.

7 And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them

11 Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth—

13 And this is according to the prophecy, that they shall again be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep.

Love/Hate Things

2 Nephi 9

40 O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.

Alma 1

16 Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor.

Alma 11

24 Believest thou that there is no God? I say unto you, Nay, thou knowest that there is a God, but thou lovest that lucre more than him.

Alma 26

Alma 37

32 And now, my son, remember the words which I have spoken unto you; trust not those secret plans unto this people, but teach them an everlasting hatred against sin and iniquity.

Alma 60

32 Behold, can you suppose that the Lord will spare you and come out in judgment against the Lamanites, when it is the tradition of their fathers that has caused their hatred, yea, and it has been redoubled by those who have dissented from us, while your iniquity is for the cause of your love of glory and the vain things of the world?

Helaman 15

4 But behold my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the iniquity of the tradition of their fathers. But behold, salvation hath come unto them through the preaching of the Nephites; and for this intent hath the Lord prolonged their days.

3 Nephi 3

4 And I, knowing of their unconquerable spirit, having proved them in the field of battle, and knowing of their everlasting hatred towards you because of the many wrongs which ye have done unto them, therefore if they should come down against you they would visit you with utter destruction.

Mormon 8

36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

Marriage

2 Nephi 5

23 And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.

Jacob 3

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.

7 Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their unbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?

Mercy

Jacob 3

6 And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people.

7 Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their unbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?

2 Nephi 6

11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance.

Alma 24

14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.

15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us clean thereby.

Alma 26

16 Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

Helaman 15

12 Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them.

Walking, Ways, Paths

2 Nephi 9

40 O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.

41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

2 Nephi 31

19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Jarom 1

7 And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the Nephites, to battle. But our kings and our leaders were mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever place of our inheritance.

Mosiah 4

15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

Mosiah 23

14 And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments.

15 Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them.

Alma 5

26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

27 Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?

Alma 26

24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.

Helaman 15

3 Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.

5 And I would that ye should behold that the more part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk circumspectly before God, and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses.

Mormon 8

36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

Appendix 2: Clustering of Ancient Love/Hate Elements in the Book of Mormon

Introduction

This appendix presents verses from selected chapters in the Bible and Book of Mormon that manifest clusters of related elements in conjunction with instances of “love” and “hate.” The biblical textual units are provided first, followed by those in the Book of Mormon. Note that not every relevant biblical chapter has been included. What has been provided here is just a sampling of relevant textual units from the Pentateuch, sufficient to provide a clear bases for similar clustering in the Book of Mormon. In each instance, a chapter reference is given, followed by a total count of the separate categories of elements (which are listed out in parenthesis). These are followed by the textual data from the relevant verses.

For the sake of convenience, each instance of “love” has been bolded and highlighted in blue, while each instance of “hate” has been bolded and highlighted in red. Whenever a relevant element has been identified in a passage, it is followed by the element’s categorical title, which has been bolded and placed in brackets. In many instances, a single categorical element surfaces multiple times in the presented textual units.

Appendix 2 is meant to help readers appreciate the extent of clustering that can be found in certain textual units in the Book of Mormon, showing how they relate to similar clusters of concepts surrounding love and hate in the Bible. It also acts to flesh out the most important data points in the chart presented in the main body of the article.

The Bible

Exodus 20

Total Elements: 3 (Favored/Cursed, Mercy, Commandments)

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me [Favored/Cursed];

6 And shewing mercy [Mercy] unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments [Commandments].

Leviticus 19

Total Elements: 3 (Kinship, Heart, Commandments)

17 ¶ Thou shalt not hate thy brother [Kinship] in thine heart [Heart]: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

18 ¶ Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

19 ¶ Ye shall keep my statutes [Commandments]. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

Deuteronomy 4

Total Elements: 5 (Chastisement, Favored/Cursed, Know, Heart, Commandments)

36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee [Chastise]: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them [Favored/Cursed], and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

39 Know [Knowledge] therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart [Heart], that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day [Commandments], that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.

Deuteronomy 6

Total Elements: 4 (Commandments, Covenant, Heart, Walk)

1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you [Commandments], that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:

2 That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee [Commandments], thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

3 ¶ Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it [Commandments]; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee [Covenant], in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:

5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart [Heart], and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart [Heart]:

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way [Walk], and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Deuteronomy 7

Total Elements: 7 (Marriage, Favored/Cursed, Covenant, Know, Mercy, Commandments, Heart)

3 Neither shalt thou make marriages [Marriage] with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God [Favored/Cursed]: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth [Favored/Cursed].

7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you [Favored/Cursed], because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath [Covenant] which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 Know [Know] therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant [Covenant] and mercy [Mercy] with them that love him and keep his commandments [Commandments] to a thousand generations;

10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face [Favored/Cursed].

11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them [Commandments].

12 ¶ Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments [Commandments], and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant [Covenant] and the mercy [Mercy] which he sware unto thy fathers:

13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee [Favored/Cursed].

14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people [Favored/Cursed]: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.

15 And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest [Know], upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee [Favored/Cursed].

17 If thou shalt say in thine heart [Heart], These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;

Deuteronomy 10

Total Elements: 4 (Walk, Heart, Commandments, Chosen/Favored)

12 ¶ And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways [Walk], and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart [Heart] and with all thy soul,

13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? [Commandments]

14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

15 Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day [Chosen/Favored].

16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart [Heart], and be no more stiffnecked.

17 For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 11

Total Elements: 5 (Commandments, Know, Chastisement, Walk, Favored/Cursed)

1 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, always [Commandments].

2 And know [Knowledge] ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known [Knowledge], and which have not seen the chastisement [Chastise] of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,

22 ¶ For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them [Commandments], to love the Lord your God, to walk [Walk] in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

23 Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves [Favored/Cursed].

24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

26 ¶ Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse [Favored/Cursed];

27 A blessing [Favored/Cursed], if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day [Commandments]:

28 And a curse [Favored/Cursed], if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God [Commandments], but turn aside out of the way [Walk] which I command you this day [Commandments], to go after other gods, which ye have not known [Know].

Deuteronomy 13

Total Elements: 4 (Know, Heart, Walk, Commandments)

2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known [Know], and let us serve them;

3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know [Know] whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart [Heart] and with all your soul.

4 Ye shall walk [Walk] after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments [Commandments], and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded [Commandments] thee to walk [Walk] in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

6 ¶ If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known [Know], thou, nor thy fathers;

Deuteronomy 30

Total Elements: 4 (Heart, Favored/Cursed, Commandments, Walk)

6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed [Heart], to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart [Heart], and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

7 And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee [Favored/Cursed].

8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day [Commandments].

9 And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers [Favored/Cursed]:

10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law [Commandments], and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart [Heart], and with all thy soul.

11 ¶ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways [Walk], and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments [Commandments], that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it [Favored/Cursed].

17 But if thine heart [Heart] turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it [Favored/Cursed].

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live [Favored/Cursed]:

20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

The Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 17

Total Elements: 6 (Know, Favored/Cursed, Commandments, Covenants, Chasten, Heart)

22 And we know [Knowledge] that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people [Favored/Cursed]; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses [Commandments]; wherefore, we know [Knowledge] that they are a righteous people [Favored/Cursed]; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us.

25 Now ye know [Knowledge] that the children of Israel were in bondage; and ye know [Knowledge] that they were laden with tasks, which were grievous to be borne; wherefore, ye know [Knowledge] that it must needs be a good thing for them, that they should be brought out of bondage.

26 Now ye know [Knowledge] that Moses was commanded [Commandments] of the Lord to do that great work; and ye know [Knowledge] that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither, and they passed through on dry ground.

27 But ye know [Knowledge] that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, who were the armies of Pharaoh.

28 And ye also know [Knowledge] that they were fed with manna in the wilderness.

29 Yea, and ye also know [Knowledge] that Moses, by his word according to the power of God which was in him, smote the rock, and there came forth water, that the children of Israel might quench their thirst.

33 And now, do ye suppose that the children of this land, who were in the land of promise, who were driven out by our fathers, do ye suppose that they were righteous [Favored/Cursed]? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.

34 Do ye suppose that our fathers would have been more choice than they if they had been righteous [Favored/Cursed]? I say unto you, Nay.

35 Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God [Favored/Cursed]. But behold, this people had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity; and the fulness of the wrath of God was upon them; and the Lord did curse the land against them, and bless it unto our fathers; yea, he did curse it against them unto their destruction, and he did bless it unto our fathers unto their obtaining power over it [Favored/Cursed].

37 And he raiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked [Favored/Cursed].

38 And he leadeth away the righteous into precious lands, and the wicked he destroyeth, and curseth the land unto them for their sakes [Favored/Cursed].

40 And he loveth those who will have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our fathers, and he covenanted [Covenants] with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he remembered the covenants [Covenants] which he had made; wherefore, he did bring them out of the land of Egypt.

41 And he did straiten them [Chasten] in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts [Heart], even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them [Chasten] because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.

42 And they did harden their hearts [Heart] from time to time, and they did revile against Moses, and also against God; nevertheless, ye know that they were led forth by his matchless power into the land of promise.

2 Nephi 5

Total Elements: 5 (Commandments, Kinships, Favored/Cursed, Heart, Marriage)

10 And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the law of Moses [Commandments].

21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity [Favored/Cursed]. For behold, they had hardened their hearts [Heart] against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

23 And cursed [Favored/Cursed] shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed [Marriage]; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing [Favored/Cursed]. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.

2 Nephi 6

Total: 5 (Heart, Favored/Cursed, Mercy, Knowledge, Covenants)

10 And after they have hardened their hearts [Heart] and stiffened their necks against the Holy One of Israel, behold, the judgments of the Holy One of Israel shall come upon them. And the day cometh that they shall be smitten and afflicted [Favored/Cursed].

11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh [Favored/Cursed], and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated [Favored/Cursed]; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful [Mercy] unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge [Knowledge] of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance.

12 And blessed are the Gentiles [Favored/Cursed], they of whom the prophet has written; for behold, if it so be that they shall repent and fight not against Zion, and do not unite themselves to that great and abominable church, they shall be saved; for the Lord God will fulfil his covenants [Covenants] which he has made unto his children; and for this cause the prophet has written these things.

Jacob 3

Total Elements: 7: (Heart, Favored/Cursed, Covenants, Kinship, Commandments, Marriage, Mercy)

2 O all ye that are pure in heart [Heart], lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.

3 But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart [Heart], that are filthy this day before God [Favored/Cursed]; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction [Favored/Cursed].

4 And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance [Covenants], and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you.

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren [Kinship], whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins [Favored/Cursed], are more righteous than you [Favored/Cursed]; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord [Commandments], which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife [Marriage], and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.

6 And now, this commandment they observe to keep [Commandments]; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment [Commandments], the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful [Mercy] unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people [Favored/Cursed].

7 Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands [Marriage]; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their unbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?

Mosiah 1

Total Elements: 4 (Knowledge, Commandments, Favored/Cursed, Kinship)

5 I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing [Knowledge] concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct.

11 And moreover, I shall give this people a name, that thereby they may be distinguished above all the people which the Lord God hath brought out of the land of Jerusalem [Favored/Cursed]; and this I do because they have been a diligent people in keeping the commandments of the Lord [Commandments].

13 Yea, and moreover I say unto you, that if this highly favored people of the Lord [Favored/Cursed] should fall into transgression, and become a wicked and an adulterous people, that the Lord will deliver them up, that thereby they become weak like unto their brethren; and he will no more preserve them by his matchless and marvelous power, as he has hitherto preserved our fathers [Favored/Cursed].

14 For I say unto you, that if he had not extended his arm in the preservation of our fathers they must have fallen into the hands of the Lamanites, and become victims to their hatred [Kinship].

Mosiah 4

Total Elements: 4 (Heart, Knowledge, Commandments, Walk)

10 And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart [Heart] that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.

11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge [Knowledge] of the glory of God, or if ye have known [Knowledge] of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge [Knowledge] of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge [Knowledge] of that which is just and true.

14 And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God [Commandments], and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.

15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways [Walk] of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

Mosiah 10

Total Elements: 5 (Favored/Cursed, Commandments, Knowledge, Heart, Kinship)

4 And also that they might give thanks to the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, and who had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies [Favored/Cursed], and had appointed just men to be their teachers, and also a just man to be their king, who had established peace in the land of Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments of God [Commandments], that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men.

11 Now, the Lamanites knew [Knowledge] nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own strength. Yet they were a strong people, as to the strength of men.

14 And his brethren were wroth with him because they understood not the dealings of the Lord; they were also wroth with him upon the waters because they hardened their hearts [Heart] against the Lord.

17 And thus have taught their children that they should hate them [Kinship], and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred towards the children of Nephi [Kinship].

Alma 24

Total Elements: 4 (Kinship, Heart, Mercy, Knowledge)

8 And behold, I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to soften our hearts [Heart], that we have opened a correspondence with these brethren, the Nephites.

11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts [Heart], for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain

14 And the great God has had mercy [Mercy] on us, and made these things known [Knowledge] unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known [Knowledge] unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy [Mercy] he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known [Knowledge] unto us as well as unto future generations.

15 Oh, how merciful [Mercy] is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us clean thereby.

Alma 26

Total Elements: 7 (Kinship, Mercy, Knowledge, Heart, Walk, Love/Hate Things, Favored/Cursed)

9 For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren [Kinship], who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God.

13 Behold, how many thousands of our brethren [Kinship] has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice?

16 Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy [Mercy], and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

21 And now behold, my brethren, what natural man is there that knoweth [Knowledge] these things? I say unto you, there is none that knoweth [Knowledge] these things, save it be the penitent.

22 Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know [Knowledge] the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.

24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge [Knowledge] of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts [Heart] delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways [Walk] of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.

26 But behold, my beloved brethren [Kinship], we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren [Kinship], but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.

33 And now behold I say unto you, has there been so great love in all the land? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, there has not, even among the Nephites.

34 For behold, they would take up arms against their brethren [Kinship]; they would not suffer themselves to be slain. But behold how many of these have laid down their lives; and we know that they have gone to their God, because of their love and of their hatred to sin [Love/Hate Things].

36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people [Favored/Cursed], who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us [Favored/Cursed], wanderers in a strange land.

37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people [Favored/Cursed], whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy [Mercy] are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

Helaman 15

Total Elements: 10 (Favored/Cursed, Chastise, Love/Hate Things, Walk, Commandments, Knowledge, Heart, Kinship, Covenant, Mercy)

3 Yea, wo [Favored/Cursed] unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord [Favored/Cursed]; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened [Chastise] them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened [Chastise] them because he loveth them.

4 But behold my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the iniquity of the tradition of their fathers [Love/Hate Things]. But behold, salvation hath come unto them through the preaching of the Nephites; and for this intent hath the Lord prolonged their days.

5 And I would that ye should behold that the more part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk [Walk] circumspectly before God, and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses [Commandments].

7 And behold, ye do know [Knowledge] of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge [Knowledge] of the truth, and to know [Knowledge] of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart [Heart] unto them

9 And ye know [Knowledge] also that they have buried their weapons of war, and they fear to take them up lest by any means they should sin; yea, ye can see that they fear to sin—for behold they will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain by their enemies, and will not lift their swords against them, and this because of their faith in Christ.

10 And now, because of their steadfastness when they do believe in that thing which they do believe, for because of their firmness when they are once enlightened, behold, the Lord shall bless them and prolong their days [Favored/Cursed], notwithstanding their iniquity—

11 Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren [Kinship], the Lamanites, again to the knowledge [Knowledge] of the truth—

12 Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord [Covenant] have been extended to our brethren [Kinship], the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful [Mercy] unto them.

13 And this is according to the prophecy, that they shall again be brought to the true knowledge [Knowledge], which is the knowledge [Knowledge] of their Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep.

¹ Appendix 1 organizes relevant love/hate passages in the Book of Mormon into different categories. Note that due to a lack of space, several of the categories in the appendix (Heart, Love/Hate Things, Marriage, Mercy) are not covered in this evidence summary. Appendix 2 then provides textual data involving the clustering of love/hate elements, in conjunction with the chart presented near the end of the evidence summary.
² See Françoise Mirguet, “Love and Hate in Deuteronomy,” in The Oxford Handbook of Deuteronomy, ed. Don C. Benjamin (online edition, Oxford Academic, 2020), 3. For Moran’s original research, see William L. Moran, “The Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Love of God in Deuteronomy,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 25 (1963): 77–87.
³ Mirguet, “Love and Hate in Deuteronomy,” 3; the Hebrew word for love has been silently omitted. For more on the concept of patronage, see Raymond Westbrook, “Patronage in the Ancient Near East,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 48, no. 2 (2005): 210–233.
⁴ See Mirguet, “Love and Hate in Deuteronomy,” 3.
⁵ In this passage love is reciprocal, with the Lord expressing covenantal love and loyalty for Israel, and with Israel being expected to manifest loyal love and obedience in return.
⁶ It should be noted, however, that God’s hatred was often directed not just towards individuals or groups of people, but also towards their sinful behaviors and thoughts—in other words, towards their breach of commandments or covenantal obligations. In Exodus 20:5 the Lord prohibited Israel from worshiping false gods, declaring, “for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” See also Isaiah 61:8: “For I the Lord love judgment [i.e., justice], I hate robbery for burnt offering.” In ancient Near Eastern treaty texts, we find that pronouncements of hate similarly served “to denounce acts betraying the loyalty that treaty partners have sworn to each other.” A sovereign in one text labeled his “his vassals’ acts of insurrection as hate” and in another hate was imputed to “those who have not concluded an alliance or who are pushing the vassal to break the treaty.” Mirguet, “Love and Hate in Deuteronomy,” 3–4. For examples of this language in Nephite texts, see the section in Appendix 1 entitled “Love/Hate Things,” as well as the section of this evidence summary entitled “Commandments and Statutes.”
⁷ The precise extent to which love may have conveyed personal emotion in covenantal contexts in the Bible, such as those found in Deuteronomy, is a matter of ongoing debate. See Mirguet, “Love and Hate in Deuteronomy” 1–14; Bill T. Arnold, “The Love-Fear Antinomy in Deuteronomy 5–11,” Vetus Testamentum 61, Fasc. 4 (2011): 551–569; Jacqueline E. Lapsley, “Feeling Our Way: Love for God in Deuteronomy,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 65 (2003): 350–369; Susan Ackerman, “The Personal Is Political: Covenantal and Affectionate Love ('āhēb, 'ahăbâ) in the Hebrew Bible,” Vetus Testamentum 52, Fasc. 4 (2002): 437–458. For Latter-day Saint publications on this topic, see David E. Bokovoy and John A Tvedtnes, Testaments: Links between the Book of Mormon and the Hebrew Bible (Toelle, UT: Heritage Press, 2003), 193–195; David E. Bokovoy, “Love vs. Hate: An Analysis of Helaman 15: 1–4,” Insights: A Window on the Ancient World 22, no. 2 (2002): 2–3.
⁸ In other words, the Gentiles were being rebuked for the hate that they had shown toward the people whom God favored with covenantal love (2 Nephi 19:1–2).
⁹ Lamoni’s father apparently found it remarkable that a Nephite prince would manifest such a strong sense of covenantal loyalty for a Lamanite ruler. For further insight into this episode, see Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Tiered Kingship,” Evidence# 0385, December 20, 2022, online at evidencecentral.org.
¹⁰ Mirguet, “Love and Hate in Deuteronomy,” 2.
¹¹ For additional examples of love expressing favor, see 2 Samuel 12:24; Isaiah 41:8; 48:14.
¹² For additional examples of hate expressing rejection, see Genesis 29:31–33; Deuteronomy 21:15–17. For further discussion of both love and hate in relation to election and rejection, see Lapsley, “Feeling Our Way: Love for God in Deuteronomy,” 359–360; Elie Assis, “Love, Hate and Self-identity in Malachi: A New Perspective to Mal 1:1–5 and 2:10–16,” Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 35, no. 2 (2009): 110–111.
¹³ Ari Mermelstein, “Love and Hate at Qumran: The Social Construction of Sectarian Emotion,” Dead Sea Discoveries 20 (2013): 246–247. The translation comes from lines 21–22 and 26 in a manuscript designated as 1QS and closely follows (with some modification) the translation provided in Elisha Qimron and James H. Charlesworth, “Rule of the Community (lQS),” in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations, Volume One: Rule of the Community and Related Documents (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1994).
¹⁴ Mermelstein, “Love and Hate at Qumran,” 237–263.
¹⁵ See the section of Appendix 1 entitled “Favored vs. Cursed.”
¹⁶ Drinking the blood of beasts was explicitly prohibited in the Law of Moses. See Leviticus 17:13–14.
¹⁷ The list of law-related synonyms found in several of these passages is consistent with biblical usage. See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Words for Law,” Evidence# 0317, March 8, 2022, online at evidencentral.org.
¹⁸ For additional Old Testament passages, see Deuteronomy 11:22; 19:9; 30:16; Joshua 22:5; 1 Kings 3:3; Jeremiah 8:2; Micah 6:8.
¹⁹ Alma the Younger later asked his people, “if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now? Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God?” (Alma 5:26–27). And concerning those Lamanites who converted unto the Lord and no longer “hated” (Helaman 15:4), Samuel declared, “ye should behold that the more part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk circumspectly before God” (v. 5).
²⁰ RoseAnn Benson and Stephen D. Ricks, “Treaties and Covenants: Ancient Near Eastern Legal Terminology in the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14, no. 1 (2005): 50.
²¹ Similar language is expressed in Deuteronomy 11:1–2: “Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm.” See also Deuteronomy 13:3; Psalm 91:14; Ecclesiastes 9:1; Ezekiel 35:11; John 5:42; 13:25; 15:18; 17:23; 21:15–17; Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 8:3; 2 Corinthians 2:4; 2 Corinthians 11:11; Ephesians 3:19; Philippians 1:17; 1 John 2:5, 11; 1 John 3:1, 14–15; 4:7–8, 16; 5:2; 2 John 1:1; Revelation 3:9.
²² Mermelstein, “Love and Hate at Qumran,” 237.
²³ See Mosiah 10:11, 17; 28:2; Alma 26:15–24; Helaman 15:3–13.
²⁴ Mermelstein, “Love and Hate at Qumran,” 237.
²⁵ Chiastic structure proposed by Evidence Central staff. Another expression of this idea can be seen in Mosiah 23:1: “the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.” This language shows up just a few verses after it is reported that Alma taught “his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them” (v. 15; cf. Leviticus 19:18).
²⁶ See also, Genesis 37:5, 7–8; Genesis 50:15.
²⁷ Many generations later, during the reign of King David, we learn that one of his sons hated the other for raping his sister: “Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad: for Absalom hated Amnon” (2 Samuel 13:22). And, in a more general sense, Isaiah prophetically spoke of “Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake” (Isaiah 66:5).
²⁸ Lapsley, “Feeling Our Way: Love for God in Deuteronomy,” 355.
²⁹ Mirguet, “Love and Hate in Deuteronomy,” 3. One exchange between rulers states, “Forever will I do what my brother wants, and my brother shall do what I want. Just as men love the sun, so may we as now—may the gods grant us!—forever maintain love [in] our [heart]s.” William L. Moran, ed. and trans., The Armarna Letters (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), 48. Similar designations are prevalent throughout this corpus.
³⁰ This count was derived from a wordsearch utilizing WordCruncher. It appears that the prevalence of this phrase in Nephite texts is likely due to its frequent use by Nephi himself (it is used 29 times throughout 2 Nephi). Considering the extensive conflicts that he had with his own brothers, the fostering and maintenance of brotherly love through formal greetings may have been a priority for Nephi. While brotherly love is certainly a thematic element in several Old Testament passages, Nephi’s usage of this phrase appears to be rather unique, at least when compared to other Old Testament writings. While Nephi’s emphasis on this phrase may be somewhat innovative, it is possible that he derived it from texts written upon the plates of brass or from other writings or social customs from his day. The phrase is also found with some frequency in New Testament writings, but more research would be required to trace its likely origins and development over time in each corpus.
³¹ See Jacob 7:26; Enos 1:20; Mosiah 1:14; 10:17; 11:17; 28:2; Alma 26:9; 43:7, 11; 60:32; Helaman 5:51; 3 Nephi 3:4; 4 Nephi 1:39; Moroni 1:2.
³² See Alma 26:9, 13–15, 26, 31–34. See also Alma 53:11; Helaman 15:1.
³³ See Daniel M. Belnap, “The Inclusive, Anti-Discrimination Message of the Book of Mormon,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 42 (2021): 195–370.
³⁴ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Joseph Smith’s Limited Education,” Evidence# 0001, September 19, 2020, online at e

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Intertextuality (External)

Love and Hate

Book of Mormon

Evidence #402 | April 24, 2023

Love and Hate

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The Book of Mormon