“For Their Good Have I Written Them”: The Onomastic Allusivity and Literary Function of 2 Nephi 25:8
Keywords
Nephi, Book of Mormon, Isaianic material, goodness
Abstract
Nephi’s writings exhibit a distinctive focus on “good” and divine “goodness,” reflecting the meaning of Nephi’s Egyptian name (derived from nfr) meaning “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair.” Beyond the inclusio playing on his own name in terms of “good” and “goodness” (1 Nephi 1:1; 2 Nephi 33:3–4, 10, 12), he uses a similar inclusio (2 Nephi 5:30–31; 25:7–8) to frame and demarcate a smaller portion of his personal record in which he incorporated a substantial portion of the prophecies of Isaiah (2 Nephi 6–24). This smaller inclusio frames the Isaianic material as having been incorporated into Nephi’s “good” writings on the small plates with an express purpose: the present and future “good” of his and his brothers’ descendants down to the latter days.
Recommended Citation
Bowen, Matthew L.
(2022)
"“For Their Good Have I Written Them”: The Onomastic Allusivity and Literary Function of 2 Nephi 25:8,"
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Vol. 53, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/interpreter/vol53/iss1/8
