A popular “proof-text” cited in favour of the
Book of Mormon from the Old Testament is that of Ezek 37:15-20:
The
word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take
one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his
companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick
of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one
to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when
the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us
what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I
will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes
of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah,
and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mind hand. And the sticks
whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
Historically, Latter-day Saints have understood
this pericope to be speaking of the Bible (“Stick of Judah”) and the Book of
Mormon (“Stick of Joseph”), and how, in the end-times, they would become “one”
(אֶחָֽד ) with one another.
LeGrand Richards in his book, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, in a chapter discussing biblical prophecies
of the Book of Mormon, offers the following interpretation:
In ancient times it was the custom to write on parchment and roll
it on a stick. Therefore, when this command was given, it was the equivalent of
directing that two books or records should be kept. A careful reading will
indicate that it would be in coming generations (verse 18), when their children
would ask the meaning of this commandment, that the Lord would "take the
stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his
fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make
them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand."
Note that the Lord said he would do this and
would make them one in his hand. Now, granting that the
Bible is the stick of Judah, where is the stick of Joseph? Can anyone answer?
God commanded that it should be kept to record the fulfillment of his greater
promises to Joseph. It would naturally be a record kept in another land, since
Joseph was to be "separate from his brethren." It is plain from the
reading of this scripture that the record of Judah, or the Holy Bible, would
remain with this people, that the record of Joseph would be joined unto it, and
that the two would become one.
Should anyone object to God's doing exactly what
he promised Ezekiel he would do? Could this promise be fulfilled in a simpler
and more perfect manner than it was through the coming forth of the Book of
Mormon? God led a branch of the house of Joseph to America and commanded them
to keep records of all their doings. He then commanded his prophet Moroni to
hide this sacred record in the Hill Cumorah in the western part of the American
state of New York. Centuries later he sent Moroni back to deliver the record to
Joseph Smith, and gave Joseph power to translate it with the assistance of the
Urim and Thummim. The two records have now been joined together, constituting a
complete fulfillment of another great prophecy. Again, who could object to
God's doing the thing he promised to do? Until someone can explain where the
record of Joseph is, the Book of Mormon stands unrefuted in its claim to be
"the stick of Joseph."
There are problems with the popular
LDS interpretation of Ezek 37, not the least is that the text is not about the
coming together of two scriptural records, the Bible and the Book of Mormon,
but the restoration of the two kingdoms, which comes out when one continues
reading the chapter. However, there is another issue that is rarely discussed
in LDS circles, and that is how the Doctrine and Covenants precludes the
identity of the “stick of Joseph” with the Book of Mormon. In D&C 27:5, we
read the following (emphasis added):
Behold,
this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will
drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, and with Moroni, whom I
have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fullness
of my everlasting gospel, and to whom I have committed the keys of the record
of the stick of Ephraim.
In this text, the Book of Mormon is
identified, not as the “Stick of Joseph/Ephraim,” but as the record
thereof. There is a clear differentiation between the record (the Book of
Mormon) and the stick; instead, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon can be
understood as being a requisite part of the restoration of Israel, but not that
it is a direct fulfilment of Ezek 37:15-20. It appears that the Doctrine and
Covenants itself, as well as a careful exegesis of Ezek 37, precludes the
popular identification of the Book of Mormon with the “Stick of Joseph.”
This is not to say the Book of
Mormon is the not Word of God (it is!), but that this common “proof-text” should not
be used to support the Book of Mormon from the Old Testament.
Notwithstanding, many anti-Mormon
authors, when attempting to counter LDS use of this text in favour of the Book
of Mormon, make a number of arguments that show very shallow understanding of
Hebrew and scholarship. One such example comes from Ron Rhodes and Marian
Bodine, in their book, Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Mormons
(Eugene, Oreg.: Harvest House Publishers, 1995), 102, where they write:
[In] ancient times,
when parchments were wrapped around sticks, they were called scrolls, not sticks. The Hebrew word for
“sticks” (`es) is typically used to refer simply to
wood tree, or timber, not scrolls (Numbers 15:12; see also 1 Kings 17:10; 2 Kings 6:6; Lamentations
4:8). If Ezekiel had meant to talk about two scrolls in Ezekiel 37, there was a
perfectly good word he could have used (Hebrew: saipher). But he chose a different word, and for a reason: He wasn’t talking about scrolls or books.
Some scholars think עֵץ alludes to “sceptre” in line with the LXX
rendering ραβδος (“stick”) which can refer to a sceptre (e.g., Allen 2:193; cf. Zimmerli
2:273). The Hebrew word however also allows for the Targum interpretation as
“tablet” (לוחא) The
allusion would also be more obvious had a different word been used, such as מַטֶּה as
in 7:10, 11; 19:11, 12, 14 (2x) (cf. Num. 17:17ff), or שֵׁבֶט as
in 19:11, 14; 20:37 and 21:15, 18 (cf. Gen 49:10) which would make a nice play
of words with “tribes of Israel” in 37:19, or מַקֵּל as in 39:9 (cf. Zech. 11:7). Furthermore, the sign act is
easier to picture with two tablets rather than two sticks (cf. Maarsingh 3:88).
J.W. Mazurel argues that עֵץ in
37:15ff was chosen in view of עֲצָמוֹ in 37:1-14, see “Het Woord עֵץ in
Ezechiel 37:16-20,” Amserdamse Cahiers voor Exegese en Bijbelse Theologie
12 (1993): 116-21.
For a well-thought-out article arguing in favour
of the traditional interpretation of Ezek 37, see Ronnie Bray’s article, “'Take Thee a Stick': A Consideration of what 'stick' means in this context'"
For a view similar to my own, see the blog post
by Kevin L. Barney entitled, “OT: Ezekiel’s Sticks” that understands the LDS
use of this passage within the sense of a pesher.