Verily, verily, I say unto you,
that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them. And whoso shall declare
more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of
evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation,
and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the
winds beat upon them. (3 Nephi 11:39-40)
Commenting on these verses, Reynolds and Sjodahl noted the following:
Eternal Rock. This expression seems
to be one application of that familiar Christian theological term, "And
who shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for My doctrine, the
same cometh of evil, and is not built upon My rock. (verses 37-40) Our Lord
here explains the meaning of the "rock" upon which His Church
stands. It is the doctrine of Christ concerning Repentance and
Baptism. "This," He says, "is My doctrine," My
rock. (Compare Matthew 16:18; III Nephi 18:12-13) It is the doctrine of Christ that is the "Rock" and
not the Apostle Peter as some declare. The expression "the rock" is
used in the scriptures with different meanings that must be interpreted
according to the context. There are times when it refers to the gospel and
other times when the reference is to revelation and again to the Church. The
Apostle Paul says, in speaking of the Children of Israel when they journeyed in
the Wilderness of Arabia: "And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for
they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was
Christ." (I Corinthians 10:4)
The Lord did not call Peter a stone, which in meaning is the same
as rock, upon which He would build His Church. The Savior
recognized that Peter was steadfast, and could be relied upon to carry forth
the work of the ministry to which he was to be assigned. Peter was immovable,
firm, and unwavering in keeping the commandments of God. The Lord
called him a stone in that sense.
Nowhere in the Standard Works of the Church is revelation directly
called a rock. It is a means whereby a truth is made known and is not that
truth itself. Christ told Peter that the knowledge Peter had that "Thou
are the Christ, the Son of the living God," was given (revealed) to him by
"My Father which is in Heaven," and upon this truth, that is (this
Rock) that I am Christ, will I build My Church. (Matthew 16:18) "The Church is built upon My Gospel"; (III
Nephi 27:10) this is My Gospel...that I came into the world to do
the will of My Father, because My Father sent Me." (Ibid., 27:10; See, particularly
verse 40)
The Hebrew language contains many words the meaning of which is
determined by that to which they refer. The Rock of Horeb which
Moses struck with his staff, and from which water burst forth to slake the
thirst of the Children of Israel on an occasion as they wandered in the Arabian
Desert is a perfect example. Rock here refers to a solid mass of stony
material, or to a mass of concreted pebbles, sometimes called a conglomerate.
Also, "The Lord is my Rock," refers to something entirely different.
(Psalm 18:2) Further on in the same Song of King David, we read:
"For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?" The
first sentence of the Hebrew Scriptures is what we have said before, perhaps
the most sublime words ever written: "In the beginning God (the Hebrew
Rock) created the Heaven and the Earth." (Genesis 1:1) Rock, here, refers to the Creator. Certainly, the Savior did not
refer to Peter as the Creator. Yet, in fine, that is just what some people
would have them believe who do not understand the Gospel in its fulness.
.
. .
The Gates of Hell. The gate and gateway
of an ancient city were important parts of every community. There, the people
gathered to hear the news. (Genesis 19:1; 23:10; 34:20) There, justice was administered. (Deuteronomy 21:19; 25:7; Joshua
20:4; Ruth 4:1-11) There, ambassadors were received. (Judges
9:35; Job 29:7-10; Jeremiah 17:19) On account of the importance of the gate the term sometimes
referred to the entire city, as in Genesis 4:60; or to the people of the city, as in Samuel 15:2. In Assyria the
gates were elaborate architectural works of art; lofty, magnificent, and
guarded by symbolical figures. The Gates of Hell means the
entire powers of Sheol. (George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book
of Mormon, 7 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976], 7:143, 145)
On p. 144, we find the following illustration:
The footnote for the above image reads thusly:
Targum,
the translation of the Old Testament Scriptures into Aramaic. This version originated
at a time when Hebrew had given way to Aramaic as the popular language of the
Jews. The need of explaining the Old Testament Scriptures to the people after
their subjugation by the Persians is suggested by Nehemiah 8:8, where we read
that Ezra read the Law to the people, while it was interpreted by his
assistants, interpreters—Meturgemans—as they were called. As the Targum was not
committed to writing, little of it has survived. There are, indeed, three
Targums of the Pentateuch and one of the Prophets, as well as of the Psalms,
Job, Proverbs, the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, and Ecclesiastes.
The Targum is not of much critical value, but throws considerable light on the
life of the Jews at the time it was composed. (Encyclopedia Americana,
1952). (Ibid., 145 n. 2)