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Bookstore Home > Scripture Studies > Book of Mormon
King Benjamin's Speech: 'That Ye May Learn Wisdom'
This volume began to come together over a decade ago. The work of gathering and refining these materials eventually culminated in a FARMS symposium, held in Provo and repeated in Oakland, California, in April 1996. All the contexts of this book are related to the speeches presented at that symposium, drawing together and expanding the research that stood behind those studies about Benjamin's speech. It is the most substantial collection of studies ever to focus exclusively on King Benjamin's speech. The first essay, by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, discusses the main spiritual messages and personal character of Benjamin and sees the speech as a manual for discipleship. Essays by Hugh Nibley and other LDS scholars explore Benjamin's place in Nephite history and the qualities of the speech that make it a masterful oration and consummate work of sacred literature. The complete text of Benjamin's speech is presented with detailed notes, cross-references, and textual commentary. Also included is a comprehensive bibliography of LDS writings about the speech. Contents: King Benjamin's Sermon: A Manual for Discipleship Benjamin, the Man: His Place in Nephite History John W. Welch Benjamin's Speech: A Masterful Oration John W. Welch Benjamin's Sermon as a Traditional Ancient Farewell Address John W. Welch and Daryl R. Hague Assembly and Atonement Hugh W. Nibley King Benjamin's Speech in the Context of Ancient Israelite Festivals Terrence L. Szink and John W. Welch Benjamin's Speech as a Prophetic Lawsuit John W. Welch Kingship Coronation and Covenant in Mosiah 1-6 Stephen D. Ricks Benjamin and the Mysteries of God M. Catherine Thomas Benjamin's Covenant as a Precursor of the Sacrament Prayers John W. Welch Parallelism and Chiasmus in Benjamin's Speech John W. Welch The Use of King Benjamin's Address by Latter-day Saints Bruce A. Van Orden Appendix: Complete Text of Benjamin's Speech with Notes and Comments Introduction - With the exception of the words of Christ himself, no speech in sacred literature, in our opinion, surpasses that of King Benjamin. Delivered at the temple in the city of Zarahemla around 124 B.C., this text is a treasure trove of inspiration, wisdom, eloquence, and profound spiritual experience and insight. Little wonder that Mormon saw fit to include this speech as he compiled the most significant Nephite records into the Book of Mormon. Mormon abridged many Nephite sources, but not Benjamin's speech. Mormon may well have copied the text directly from Benjamin's original or from one of the copies that Benjamin caused to be "written and sent forth among those who were not under the sound of his voice" (Mosiah 2:8). That oration was a landmark in its own day, and it still stands as a shining beacon of truth and goodness in our day. In this lengthy collection of studies, we approach this classic text from many angles. What kind of a text is Benjamin's speech? Is it a prophetic text? A coronation text? A covenant renewal text? A farewell speech? Is it religious exhortation? A doctrinal discourse? A judgment speech? A temple text? Is it a royal confession? A personal testimony? It is all of these things, and more. Professor Hugh W. Nibley was likely the first scholar to sense the extraordinary historical and literary richness of the words found in Mosiah 1-6. Nibley's discussion of Benjamin's speech in the 1957 Melchizedek Priesthood manual opened many doors and invited multifaceted studies of the ways in which these chapters reflect Old World ritual and experience. Many students over the ensuing forty years have pursued various avenues of research that radiate from this ancient text. Review Excerpt: "At the end of the book is the important appendix: "Complete Text of Benjamin's Speech with Notes and Comments." This I consider to be the most important section of the book, at least in terms of helping readers look much more closely at the text." --Keith H. Lane, FARMS Review of Books, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1999 Title: King Benjamin's Speech: 'That Ye May Learn Wisdom' Retail Price: Your Price: Only $19.95
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John W. Welch and Stephen D. Ricks (Editors), Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research & Mormon Studies (FARMS), 1998, 6.5x9.5" hardbound, 663 pages. ISBN: 0934893306 