Mahijah

God communicates to us through fairly ordinary means. He does not usually shout. Instead, God usually whispers and make deep impressions. A good illustration of the former comes from the Book of Moses “translated” in 1830-31 by Joseph Smith:

Moses 6: 26-40
26 And it came to pass that Enoch journeyed in the land, among the people … .
27 And he heard a voice from heaven, saying: Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people, and say unto them--Repent, for thus saith the Lord: I am angry with this people … ;
28 And for these many generations, ever since the day that I created them, have they gone astray, and have denied me … .
29 … they have brought upon themselves death; and a hell I have prepared for them, if they repent not;
30 And this is a decree, which I have sent forth in the beginning of the world … .
31 And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed … , saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?
32 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance … .
33 Say unto this people: Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you.
34 Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify … .
35 And the Lord spake unto Enoch, and said unto him: Anoint thine eyes with clay, and wash them, and thou shalt see. And he did so.
36 And he beheld the spirits that God had created; and he beheld also things which were not visible to the natural eye … .
37 And it came to pass that Enoch went forth in the land … and cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works; and all men were offended because of him.
38 And they came forth to hear him, upon the high places, saying unto the tent-keepers … behold the seer, for he prophesieth, and … a wild man hath come among us.
39 And it came to pass when they heard him, no man laid hands on him; for fear came on all them that heard him; for he walked with God.
40 And there came a man unto him [Enoch], whose name was Mahijah, and said unto him: Tell us plainly who thou art, and from whence thou comest?

I bolded the last verse on purpose. Note the name “Mahijah,” which is the only non-Biblical name in the Book of Moses.

Hebrew was a language without vowels and without an exact equivalence to English letters. For example, a common alternative spelling to the Old Testament’s Jehovah is Yahweh, which is a perfectly acceptable (in fact, preferable) alternative form of that name. Note that the name Mahijah has the Hebrew root “Jah” or “Yah” in reference to Jehovah. An alternative spelling for Mahijah is “Mahway.” All of this will become important in a moment.

In the verses quoted above, note that Mahijah or Mahway is intimately linked to the prophet Enoch. Is this linkage verified in ancient literature? The answer is yes.

Discovered in the late 1940s was the Dead Sea Scrolls, which contained the Enoch story called “The Book of Giants.” In the story 450 feet tall giants, half man and half angel, asked Mahway to approach the prophet Enoch and ask him to interpret some of their dreams.

As a sidenote, Fragment 1 of 6Q8 indicates that Mahway’s father was Barakel. Interestingly, one of Joseph Smith’s codenames (given in D&C 103: 21 pre-1981) was “Baurak Ale.” Another codename was “Enoch” (given in D&C 78:1 pre-1981). Are all these connections coincidence?

Back to our story: 4Q530-Fragment 7 Column 2 says: “Mahway … flew with his hands like an eagle … and Enoch saw him and hailed him, and Mahway said to him … I was sent hither … to you. … The giants await your words.” [All quotations from the Dead Sea Scrolls are from the Wise, Abegg, & Cook translation, 2005, with minor changes in punctuation for readability].

Well, the message of Enoch to the giants was to REPENT or be destroyed. Fragment 8 of 4Q203 describes how Enoch wrote a letter to the giants saying, “Let it be known to you that … the things you have done … by your licentiousness on earth … [and] the harm that you have done to it … . Behold, destruction is coming, a great flood, and it will destroy all living things… . But now, loosen the bonds … and pray.”

So, how does the Book of Moses connect to this story. Reads for yourself:

Moses 7: 13-15 [emphasis mine]
12 And it came to pass that Enoch continued to call upon all the people … to repent;
13 And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and … spake the word of the Lord … ; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.
14 … so great was the fear of the enemies of the people of God, that they fled and stood afar off … .
15 And the giants of the land, also, stood afar off; and there went forth a curse upon all people that fought against God;

Are the two versions an exact match? No. But, in the Dead Sea Scrolls we find coherence among the terms Enoch, Mahway, giants, and Barakel. In the Book of Moses we find Enoch connected to Mahijah and giants, and in the D&C (pre-1981) we find the term Baurak Ale.

No one can be sure what all these connections mean. “The Book of Giants” was not available to Joseph Smith, but it is possible (although not likely) that he had access to an early 1821 translation of the Book of Enoch. What would he learn from that book? The Book of Enoch describes how a group of angels impregnated human women giving rise to giant children. The giants devoured humans and began to destroy all animals. The name “Mahway” is not found in the book and neither is the message from Enoch to the giants.

So, I am left with the question: How did Joseph Smith know these things and get the story basically right?

Revelation involves study and prayer. I do not know exactly what Joseph Smith studied, but he seemed to know more than was what at his ready disposal. The renowned scholar Richard Bushman said in his book Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (p. 452) that Joseph “had an uncanny ability to recover long-lost traditions for use in modern times.” Maybe there were times God did shout at him. We may never fully know.

[For an extended analysis of "Mahijah" see: Hugh Nibley (1978). Nibley on the timely and the timeless, Ch. 8. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, p. 155 - 186].

*****

Copyright 2008 S.Faux (Email: foxgoku54 [at] gmail [d0t] com; URL: http://mormoninsights.blogspot.com). Readers may distribute this post for noncommercial purposes provided such distributing is of the entire post, including author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.




Please feel free to give my blog site a "Blogged.com" rating and review by clicking here.

*****