ALMA 3 - DARKNESS; MARKS; AND CURSE

One of my favorite Come Follow Me resources found at Book of Mormon Central are the Church videos, the Know Whys, and the John W. Welch* notes.  They, along with prayer and the scriptures themselves, open my understanding and often help me see a particular word or verse in a new light. 

This week, I have been reading the Welch notes on Alma 3. Here are the verses directly from the Book of Alma.  I will highlight words and phrases we need to address if we want to understand the true context of the Mesoamerican/Hebraic references.  We tend to read it with our modern interpretation of those words and miss the real connotation in which they were written.

 And the Amlicites were distinguished from the Nephites, for they had marked themselves with red on their foreheads like unto the Lamanites. (v. 4)

And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon theirs fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their . . . rebellion. . . (v. 6)

. . . and the Lord God set a mark upon them . . . that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people that they might not mix and believe in incorrect traditions which would prove their destruction. (vs.7, 8)

Therefore, whosoever suffered himself to be led away by the Lamanites was called under that head, and there was a mark set upon him. (v. 10)

. . .  [the Amlicites] had a mark set upon them; yea, they set the mark upon themselves, yea, even a mark of red upon their foreheads. (v.13)

Now the Amlicites knew not that they were fulfilling the words of God when they began to mark themselves in their foreheads; nevertheless they had come out in open rebellion against God; therefore it was expedient that the curse should fall upon them. . . they brought upon themselves the curse; and even so doth every man that is cursed bring upon himself his own condemnation. (vs. 18, 19)

WELCH ON INTERPRETTING WITHIN CONTEXT

In the words of Dr. Welch:
Alma 3 is often cited as evidence of racism in the Book of Mormon. However, when reading ancient historical texts, such as the Book of Mormon, it is absolutely essential not to impose modern ideas of race and cultural identity onto the people of the past.**

Mormon appears to couch the issue of the Lamanite curse in terms of religious and cultural identity, not merely skin pigmentation . . . He records that any person who was “led away by the Lamanites” had the same “mark set upon him.” . . .  the curse of the Lamanites included the ultimate outcome that they would believe "in incorrect traditions which would prove their destruction."**

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The first mention of a mark placed upon a person by God is the mark placed upon Cain after he slew Abel. (Genesis 4: 13) But if you read the story carefully, Cain's punishment was to be cast out from his family. Cain said to God, My punishment is greater than I can bear. He was afraid others would try to slay him, so God set a mark upon Cain, least any finding him should kill him. (See Genesis 4: 13-15) From this it appears that the marking, whatever it was, was for Cain's protection.

A BLACK MEMBER'S PERSPECTIVE***

In Meridian Magazine (Feb. 3, 2020), Latter-day Saint Marvin Perkins, himself of African heritage, wrote:

I grew up using the term black in reference to people of African descent, because it was widely accepted [as such] by all cultures. It's understandable that many would read the scriptures and associate the word "black" . . . in reference to race, nationality, or color of skin.

Brother Perkins then went on to say that a study of Hebrew idiom shows that black is a reference to an emotional or spiritual state of an individual, not his skin color.  Blackness is defined as gloomy, dejected, spiritually dark and spiritually blind, cut off from the presence of God.  In the same way, the "darkness" or "blackness" in the Book of Mormon references to the Lamanites makes use of this Hebrew idiom.  Perkins pointed out that verses such as Alma 55: 1-9, give evidence to this interpretation.  In the war chapters, the Nephites were able to infiltrate the Lamanite camps without being detected.  According to Perkins the Lamanites did not have their skin color changed; the passages are referring to spiritual darkness."

As to the use of the word curse, we think of curse such as a witch's curse or the like.  In Hebrew idiomatic use curse meant a separation from God, His path, and His way, due to our choice to sin. . .  Distance from God, due to transgression, cannot impact skin color. (Perkins)***

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Another LDS scholar noted that Modern notions of "race" are and artificial social construct dating only to the late 18th Century in Western . . . It was certainly foreign to ancient Hebrew and Mesoamerican culture.****

Toni Morrison - a well known and respected author of many books and articles relating to  the black experience -  came to the same conclusion. It is a social construct designed to promote enmity.

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One final note that impressed itself upon my mind as I read this verses 7 and 8 was God's  apparent motivation in so marking the Lamanites and any others who willingly joined them: that they might not mix and believe in incorrect traditions which would prove their destruction.

Solomon and his pagan wives

 God was more concerned with the spiritual state of His people than in their skin color.  Likewise, other Book of Mormon words such as white, light, and delightsome was a reference to their spiritual state in relationship to God than a reference to skin color.  Thus, when Nephi said that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was fair,  he was referring to her purity and not her physical appearance. (1 Nephi 11: 15)

There are certainly precedence in Israelite history for an entire kingdoms polluted by the introduction of one evil person.  Ahab was bad on his own, but by taking Jezebel to wife, his entire kingdom was wicked.  Both David and Solomon married wives outside the covenant.  Solomon even allowed his foreign wives to bring images of their own "gods" and place them in the temple!  

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The bottom line is that none of us is God.  I can but scratch the surface as I try to understand His mind and will.  He can see what is in a man's heart; I can't.  Therefore, I have no accurate context in which to discriminate against any person of group of people. I love to study and research the words and ideas of good men and women, but I make any final decision based upon prayer and the Spirit.  I don't know how and why God marked Cain; I am only beginning to understand why He marked the Lamanites and I certainly don't know how.  I loved Toni Morrison's comment that the only reason we have a social construct of race is to promote racism, a sad excuse to divisiveness  and hatred. God always tries to protect His children from each other and themselves.  

As the cartoon character, Pogo, said: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

© May 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

* Dr. Welch is a renowned Book of Mormon scholar and one of the founders of Book of Mormon Central.  When he was a young man on his mission in the early 1960s he discovered the ancient Hebrew poetic form called chiasmus in the Book of Mormon.  Since then, dozens and dozens of poetic forms and other Hebraisms have been noted throughout the Book.
** All Welch quotes are to be found at https://bookofmormoncentral.org/
*** All Perkins quotes are from https://www.ldsliving.com/How-We-Misinterpret-Black-and-Curse-in-the-Scriptures-Insights-from-a-Black-Convert/s/88562
**** https://www.christopherrandallnicholson.com/the-lamanite-curse-in-the-book-of-mormon.html