Customer Reviews

King Benjamin's Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom"

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That Ye May Learn Wisdom is the best commentary so far available for this incredible speech. It provides information from a variety of topics: the temple, coronation, widsom literature, doctrine and also a chapter on the use of King Benjamin's speech in the words of the latter-day prophets and apostles. An invaluable resource on those seeking a more scholarly look at the LDS scriptures.

Thius collection of essays is an invaluable tool for all serious students of the Book of Mormon, focusing on King Benjamin's farewell speech as contained in Mosiah 1-6 of the text, such as providing exegesis of certain pericope and showing the ancient background of the speech, such as the speech's roots in ancient kingship rituals.

In chapter 4, "Benjamin's Sermon as Traditional Ancient Farewell Address" by John W. Welch and Daryl R. Hague, shows that King Benjamin's farewell address may qualify as the best existing example of an ancient farewell speech rooted in early biblical tradition. Non-LDS scholar William S. Kurz has examined numerous ancient farewell speeches and identified 20 elements that appear commonly (no one speech has all 20). Sixteen of the elements are directly present in Benjamin's speech, and two others are implied. No other ancient farewell speech has a greater number of these elements. Further, Benjamin's speech is well focused on the most important elements typical of Old Testament traditions.

Overall, this book provides very stong evidence conducive to the ancient roots of the Book of Mormon volume, something that Joseph Smith could not possibly have hoped for if it were all a fraud.

High recommended.