I remember the very first talk I had to give at an LDS
Church was on the topic of Latter-day Saints being a “Peculiar People,” terminology
based on Exo 19:5 (KJV). When consulting the Hebrew (I have always been a
biblical studies nerd, what can I say . . . ), one finds that the Hebrew of the
text does not mean “peculiar” in our modern sense of the word, but instead,
means “treasured.”
Exo 19:5 (KJV) reads (emphasis added):
Now therefore, if ye
will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar
treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine.
The Hebrew of Exo 19:5 reads (emphasis added):
וְעַתָּ֗ה אִם־שָׁמ֤וֹעַ
תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ בְּקֹלִ֔י וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֑י וִהְיִ֙יתֶם לִ֤י סְגֻלָּה֙
מִכָּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים כִּי־לִ֖י כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
The term translated as “peculiar treasure” is the
Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה֙. Brown-Driver-Briggs
offers the following definition of the term (emphasis added):
6453 ] סְגֻלָּה6454) [Hebrew) (page 688) (Strong 5459(
† סְגֻלָּה n. f. possession, property )on format. v. Ba:NB § 95 b Kö:ii. 1, 168(;—abs. ס׳ Ex 19:5 + 5 t.; cstr. סְגֻלַּת Ec 2:8; sf. סְגֻלָּתוֹ Psalm 135:4; —1. valued property,
peculiar treasure, which י׳ has
chosen (בחר) and
taken to himself; always of people of Israel, first Ex 19:5 (E; LXX λαὸς περιούσιος = Tit 2:14; 1 Pet 2:9 λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν = περιποίησις Eph 1:14 cf. Br:MP 102; MA 52, 235(; then עַם ס׳ Dt 7:6 , 14:2, 26:18; later ס׳ alone, Mal 3:17, Psalm 135:4. 2. treasure (very
late), of kings 1 Ch 29:3 (gold and silver), Ec 2:8.
What is interesting is that the covenant people in the
Book of Mormon are said to be a “highly favoured people of the Lord,” a
locution not too dissimilar in meaning to the underlying Hebrew of Exo 19:5 and
related texts (Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18):
Yea, after having
been such a highly favoured people of the Lord; yea, after having been
favoured above every other nation, kindred, tongue, or people; after having had
all things made known unto them, according to their desires, and their faith,
and prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and which is to come. (Alma
9:20 [emphasis added])
And thus they were a
zealous and beloved people, a highly favoured people of the Lord. (Alma
29:30 [emphasis added])
