George M. Peacock wrote the following about the term “remember” and its application to D&C 117:12:
“remember them no more”
The word remember
with its various forms of tense and sense, appears in the scriptures well
over five hundred times. The definition for the word remember is not the
same each time it is used. Like so many words, remember has multiple
definitions. It can mean to:
a) recall,
b) keep in
remembrance,
c)
mention,
d) make a
memorial, or
e) record
. . .
A
scriptural example of “mentioning” would be: “And again, I say unto you, I remember
my servant Oliver Granger; behold, verily I say unto him that his name
shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation,
forever and ever, saith the Lord” (D&C 117:12; emphasis added). (George M.
Peacock, Unlocking the Idioms: An LDS Perspective on Understanding
Scriptural Terms [Springville, Utah: CFI, 2009], 86, 87)
Webster’s 1828 dictionary’s entry for “Remember” helps
supports this reading of the text:
REMEM'BER, verb transitive [Low Latin rememoror; re and
memoror. See Memory.]
1. To have in the mind an idea which had been in the mind
before, and which recurs to the mind without effort.
We are said to remember any
thing, when the idea of it arises in the mind with the consciousness that we
have had this idea before.
2. When we use effort to recall an idea, we are said to
recollect it. This distinction is not always observed. Hence remember is
often used as synonymous with recollect, that is, to call to mind. We say, we
cannot remember a
fact, when we mean, we cannot recollect it.
Remember the days of
old. Deuteronomy 32:7.
3. To bear or keep in mind; to attend to.
Remember what I warn
thee; shun to taste.
4. To preserve the memory of; to preserve from being
forgotten.
Let them have their
wages duly paid, and something over to remember me.
5. To mention. [Not in use.]
6. To put in mind; to remind; as, to remember one
of his duty. [Not
in use.]
7. To think of and consider; to meditate. Psalms 63:6.
8. To bear in mind with esteem; or to reward. Ecclesiastes 9:15.
9. To bear in mind with praise or admiration; to
celebrate. 1 Chronicles 16:12.
10. To bear in mind with favor, care, and regard for the
safety or deliverance of any one. Psalms 74:2. Genesis 8:1. Genesis 19:29.
11. To bear in mind with intent to reward or punish.
12. To bear in mind with confidence; to trust in. Psa 20.
13. To bear in mind with the purpose of assisting or
relieving. Galatians 2:10.
14. To bear in mind with reverence; to obey.
Remember thy Creator
in the days of thy youth. Ecclesiastes 12:1.
15. To bear in mind with regard; to keep as sacred; to
observe.
Remember the sabbath
day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8.
To remember mercy,
is to exercise it. Habakkuk 3:2.
Further Reading: