Scripture
often uses terms and names in a proleptic manner. For instance, note Jer 46:2:
Concerning Egypt, about the army of Pharaoh
Neco, king of Egypt, which was at the river Euphrates near Carchemish, and
which was defeated by King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, in the fourth year of
King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah. (1985 JPS Tanakh)
Nebuchadrezzar
was not king at the battle at Carchemish; instead, the author of this verse is
projecting the title back.
This may be
what is going on in the Book of Mormon in 1 Nephi 12:18. The 1830 edition of
the Book of Mormon reads differently than the 1837 and subsequent editions:
And the angel spake unto me, saying, Behold .
. . Jesus Christ, which is the Lamb of
God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world
until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever. And while the angel
spoke these words, I beheld and saw that the seed of my brethren did contend
against my seed, according to the word of the angel; and because of the pride
of my seed, and the temptations of the devil, I beheld that the seed of my
brethren did overpower the people of my seed.
Some believe
this is a contradiction in the Book of Mormon, based on the belief that the
name/title “Jesus Christ” was first revealed to Jacob, per 2 Nephi 10:3. While
I do not believe 2 Nephi 10:3 necessitates this being the first time that Nephi
et al were made aware of the name of the then-future Messiah (all Jacob states
is that an angel told him the future name/title of the Messiah), even taking
this to be the case, what we have in 1 Nephi 12:18 (in the earliest printings of
the Book of Mormon) is Nephi adding the name “Jesus Christ” to the words of the
angel in a proleptic and editorial manner, something we find in Jer 46:2 as
well as various editorial changes to the text of the Torah itself (see Biblical
Prophets Changing their Words and the Words of Previous Prophets).
On the topic
of changes in the Book of Mormon itself, be sure to check out Royal Skousen’s
6-part Analysis of Textual Variants of
the Book of Mormon, all 4,000+ (!) pages of text are readily available for
free on the Interpreter Website here.
