Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw
that he must soon die; wherefore, he anointed a man to be a king and a ruler
over his people now, according to the reigns of the kings. (Jacob 1:9)
Translation: The phrase “began to be old” occurs six more
times in the Book of Mormon, but not in the Bible or any other scripture. In each
case, the phrase is used in a context that suggests that the person who “began
to be old” is near death. For example (italics added):
And it came to pass that I began to
be old, and an hundred and seventy nine years had passed away from the time
that our father Lehi left Jerusalem. (Enos 1:25)
And it came to pass that I began to
be old; and, having no seed, and knowing king Benjamin to be a just man
before the Lord, wherefore, I shall deliver up these plates unto him. (Omni
1:25)
And it came to pass that when we had
gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold, I, Mormon, began
to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having
been commanded o the Lord that I should not suffer the record which had been
handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the
Lamanites (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record
out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records
which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few
plates which I gave unto my son Moroni. (Morm. 6:6)
And the brother of Jared began to
be old, and saw that he must soon go down to the grave; wherefore he said
unto Jared: Let us gather together our people that we may number them, that we may
know of them what they will desire of us before we go down to our graves.
(Ether 6:19)
In each of these examples, the person
who “begins to be old” appears to be on his deathbed. The single exception to
this interpretation might be Ether 9:14: “And it came to pass that Omer began
to be old; nevertheless, in his old age be begat Emer; and he anointed Emer
to be king to reign in his stead.” Certainly Omer is not on his deathbed if he
begets Emer and is able to anoint Emer to reign after him. Even in this case,
however, we are dealing with the final acts of a man who is about to leave this
earth. While it appears that begetting Emer follows “began to be old,” that is
not necessarily so. Omer does beget Emer when he is “in his old age”; rather,
the begetting may differentiate the official “end of life” events from those
associated with “began to be old.”
It appears that a possible “translation”
for began to be old might be “on his deathbed,” with connotations of
setting one’s affairs in final order. (Brant A. Gardner, Second Witness:
Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 6 vols. [Salt
Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 2:473-74)