Perhaps one of the greatest deterrents to effective scripture study is the pattern of reading verses in the same order, focusing on the same insights, and asking the same questions. When I have considered a different perspective in scripture study, I have nearly always discovered new insights, almost as though supplemental verses had been added since my last reading. I found myself asking questions I had not considered and seeing connections I had not recognized. Camille Fronk Olson
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1252&context=jbms
1 Nephi 11:1 - "Here, both Mary and Nephi join a very short list of people in our scriptures who we’re explicitly told, “pondered in their hearts." Adam Miller, Seven Gospels.
1 Nephi 11:8-9, 13-15 - What do you make of the fact that verses 13 and 15 describe the virgin in the same language used in verses 8–9 to describe the tree?
“The goddess Asherah, worshipped among Israel's Canaanite neighbors as the wife of the supreme god, El, was also revered by many Israelites as the consort of El(ohim) and the (in some accounts, virginal) mother of his children. She was symbolized by a tree, and, in fact, a representation of such a tree stood within the temple at Jerusalem during the time of Lehi.
An early Hebrew like Nephi, however, would immediately have understood the representation, by a tree, of a virginal mother of a divine son.”
Daniel Peterson
The notion of a divine mother goddess strongly resonates with Latter-day Saint belief in a Heavenly Mother. While Mary is not to be identified as Heavenly Mother, the ancient Israelite and Egyptian cultural backgrounds shed light on Nephi’s vision and how he made sense of imagery.
"People everywhere can appreciate the beautiful force and effect of Nephi’s revelation. Samuel Zinner, a non-LDS scholar of Enoch studies, has remarked that the symbolism in Nephi’s vision, “implies a theological … continuity between the tree of life, Lady Jerusalem, Lady Nazareth, and the Virgin Mary. These are all ultimately specializations or refractions of Asherah.” Margaret Barker, another non-LDS Old Testament scholar, has marveled that Nephi’s vision “is the Heavenly Mother, represented by the tree of life, and then Mary and her Son on earth. This revelation to Joseph Smith was the ancient Wisdom symbolism, intact, and almost certainly as it was known in 600 BCE.”
First, Nephi tells us that the tree of life is exceedingly beautiful, white, and precious above all. And then Nephi tells us that Mary is exceedingly beautiful, white, and fair above all. In sum, Nephi is shown the tree of life and then, when he asks for the interpretation of the tree, he’s shown Mary. What is the meaning of the tree of life Or, better, who is the meaning of the tree of life?
While the tree of life is a powerful symbol with a complex history and many possible meanings, it seems to me that, in this instance at least, Mary is herself among the possible meanings of the tree. Here, Mary is linked with the tree of life. And as “the mother of the Son of God,” she will bear in her womb—and in her arms (and on her hip)—the fruit of that tree, the man who will, after the manner of her flesh, descend from heaven to be with us and heal us and save us.
We might, then, offer the following reading. Mary is the tree of life. The tree of life is the love of God. The fruit of that tree is the Son of God. And this chain of carefully forged links describes the condescension of God.
Adam Miller, Seven Gospels, pages 22-23
Iron Rod - 1 Nephi 11:25 & 1 Nephi 15:23, 24
Is there more than one meaning of the iron rod? Holding the rod is individual and communal —lift and carry and hold the rod together - covenants.
Sarah Winegar, Rod of Hands and Feet, 2020. The Book of Mormon Art Catalog.
“Nephi learned the meaning of the dream when he saw a mother and her child. Likewise, it is through loving relationships that a child comes to know the meaning of the love of God. The rod that leads us home is one made of flesh, not iron.” Sarah Winegar.
Condescension
Q: What does the word condescending mean in the Bible? 1 Nephi 11:16–17
When Nephi responded to the angel that he did “not know the meaning of all things,” the angel proceeded to show Nephi “the condescension of God” (1 Nephi 11:16–17). When the Book of Mormon was translated, the English word condescension meant “voluntary descent from rank, dignity . . . submission to inferiors in granting requests or performing acts which strict justice does not require.” Nephi was shown how the Savior voluntarily descended from His position of superior dignity, submitted to the will of His Father as well as the designs of evil men, and performed merciful acts for the benefit of all people.
Adam Miller: "In our scriptures, Nephi is the only person with whom an angel uses the term “condescension” to narrate the meaning of Christ’s atoning work. To talk about the condescension of God is to talk about God’s coming down to be with us. As another angel tells Mary’s Joseph: “And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). This is how he saves us, by being with us." Seven Gospels.
President Emily Belle Freeman: “His is a mission of condescension. Jesus Christ will meet us where we are as we are. This is the why of the garden, the cross, and the tomb. The Savior was sent to help us overcome. But staying where we are won’t bring the deliverance we seek. Just as He didn’t leave Jacob there in the dirt, the Lord doesn’t intend to leave any of us where we are.”
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/10/42freeman?lang=eng
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