Evidence #402 | April 25, 2023

Book of Mormon Evidence: Love and Hate

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Scripture Central

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

Further Reading
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Endnotes
Complexity
Intertextuality (External)
Love and Hate
Book of Mormon

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