Click to Listen: Episode 74: Ether 1-3
The long awaited “Book of Ether” is finally here! Frankly, it starts out a little slow, although some of the names are a bit funny. But then all the sudden it just happens… prehistoric people start building submarines! Its just amazing! I have to be honest, I’m starting to like this Book of Ether.
“Drink” Count – 22
Close to four beers
![1f37b[1]](https://mybookofmormonpodcast.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/1f37b1-e1405272752631.png)
My Book of Mormon 
April 6, 2015 at 4:38 am
Behold, the Brother of Jared and his sixteen magic stones, courtesy of our friend, Arnold Friberg (by the way, this will be our last Friberg, so drink it in):
I was wondering if the time had come to reveal the name of the brother of Jared, but you directly asked for it. It’s not to be found in the Book of Mormon itself, so this shouldn’t count as a spoiler. Ready?
Mahonri Moriancumer
No kidding. Mahonri Moriancumer.
So, if it’s not in the Book of Mormon, how do we know it? Apparently, the Lord “revealed” the name to Joseph Smith at a later time, explained as follows:
“While residing at Kirtland, Elder Reynolds Cahoon had a son born to him. One day when President Joseph Smith was passing his door he called the Prophet in and asked him to bless and name the baby. Joseph did so and gave the boy the name of Mahonri Moriancumer. When he had finished the blessing, he laid the child on the bed, and turning to Elder Cahoon he said, the name I have given your son is the name of the Brother of Jared; the Lord has just shown it to me. Elder William F. Cahoon, who was standing near, heard the Prophet make this statement to his father; and this was the first time the name of the brother of Jared was known in the Church in this dispensation.”
The most important thing I take from this story is never ask a busy Joseph Smith to name your baby for you. I wonder how Mrs. Cahoon felt about all this, but she’s a woman, so we don’t find out.
Why isn’t this name given in the text (other than the place name Moriancumer)? Your guess is as good as mine. And why is he wearing a fez in the painting? It’s a mystery.
April 9, 2015 at 3:58 pm
It’s been so long since pronunciation was an issue, that I forgot this name was a tongue-twister:
Ma-HON-rye Morrey-ANK-uh-mur
Maybe we do need an easier name for him. How about Wedge Antilles? Is that name taken?
October 2, 2016 at 2:03 am
April 6, 2015 at 5:04 am
For anyone wondering how Nimrod, the name of the mighty hunter, came to be used as our modern epithet meaning idiot, or dumbass, or what have you, apparently in some old Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bugs ironically referred to Elmer Fudd as “poor little Nimrod”, and the connotation of a dim-witted Elmer Fudd stuck to the name. Yes, most people of my generation owe their entire knowledge of Classical education to Looney Tunes.
And when is this supposed to be taking place? One semi-official chronology used by the LDS seminary program (back in my day, at least) places Adam and Eve around 4000 BC, with the Tower of Babel at somewhere around 2300 BC.
April 6, 2015 at 1:30 pm
Once again, great comments, Duke. I still have that chronology bookmark somewhere, too. It’s just too cool to throw away. (I think I kept all four.) Now I’m getting excited for David to tackle D&C, with the benefit of your commentary. It’s like attending seminary all over again, but without getting up at 5:00 a.m.
April 6, 2015 at 2:14 pm
There is also a Nimrod, son of Cush, in the Old Testament, and extra-biblical sources associate him with the Tower of Babel. BOM names occasionally mirror Biblical names (possibly to give them more credence?), but then again, sometimes not. You never know what to expect name-wise in this book. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod_(king)
April 6, 2015 at 12:22 pm
If I was “the brother of Jared” I’d also be asking god for a magic toilet. “Oh lord, as thou has touched these stones to give us light, will thou also touch this pottery bowl so that we and our animals may crap and piss, and it will all then disappear, so we won’t have to wade in shit while being tossed about by the waves”
April 9, 2015 at 2:41 pm
So i would propose that we name jared’s brother Steve. Steve seems to be a fairly major player in the Book of Mormon, possibly the mormon god’s all time favorite. Steve was so righteous and faithful that the mormon god pretty much granted his every wish. But the real disturbing part was Steve’s reward when god insisted on flashing him the “Full Monty”. What’s up with THAT???
April 6, 2015 at 2:05 pm
The gasp when you realized it really was a submarine was absolute gold. I was laughing so hard when it hit you I almost fell out of my chair. Welcome to Ether.
April 6, 2015 at 4:24 pm
I should have consolidated my comments, but there’s one more big thing I meant to mention in this episode. I totally forgot that this is where the word “deseret” gets introduced. (It’s pronounced “dez-ER-ett.”)
The beehive and honeybee are a BIG symbolic deal in Mormonism. The beehive symbolizes industriousness, perseverance, and working together for the greater good of building a united society, represented by the hive. Utah is nicknamed the “Beehive State.” Its state flag has a beehive on it with the word “Industry” above it. The Church’s clothing company that makes Mormon temple garments is called “Beehive Clothing.” Mormon-printed materials are replete with the symbol of the beehive. The girls’ youth group for 12- and 13-year-old girls is called “the Beehive class.” Beehives are even embossed on the doorknobs of the Salt Lake Temple with the words “Holiness to the Lord” around them. You’ll find beehive emblems in carvings and stained glass throughout historical Mormon buildings.
“Deseret” is the Book of Mormon word for “honeybee,” and there is even a famous Mormon children’s hymn called “In Our Lovely Deseret,” which made its way to the adult hymnal in 1985, due to its historical value and popularity. As with many Mormon hymns, the tune is from a popular Civil War song (“Tramp! Tramp! Tramp” or “The Prisoner’s Hope”) with new lyrics written by Mormon Pioneers. Here’s a link to it: https://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/in-our-lovely-deseret?lang=eng
April 7, 2015 at 6:08 am
Don’t forget about the proposed State of Deseret: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Deseret
And Deseret Industries, the church’s version of Goodwill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_Industries
And The Deseret News, a popular newspaper in Utah County: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_News
And then to get even stranger, we have the phonetic Deseret Alphabet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_alphabet
April 7, 2015 at 6:27 pm
Correction to my pronunciation. I realized after I typed it… DEZ-er-ett. (Emphasis on first syllable.)
And Deseret Book is the Church’s bookstore and publishing house for all sorts of books related to Mormonism and CDs by the Tabernacle Choir.
April 8, 2015 at 6:06 am
Interestingly, the Book of Mormon pronunciation guide places the stress on the final syllable. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/pronunciation
But you’re right that it is consistently said with the stress on the first syllable, and that would have to be considered standard today.
Also interesting is that the Deseret Alphabet rendering of the word is ‘dess-ee-ret’ rather than ‘dez-uh-ret.’ http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/9/1/S00012-50be4433853e512Huchel.pdf
April 6, 2015 at 4:45 pm
I’ve always found it interesting that the beehive was a Freemasonic symbol long before it became a Mormon symbol. Most of the relationships between Mormonism and Freemasonry surfaced after Joseph Smith became a Freemason in 1842, but this one surfaced back in 1830 before JS was a Freemason (back when he was at least anti-secret-combination if not anti-masonic).
I wonder if anybody has published anything on the beehive in mormonism before the masonic influences.
April 6, 2015 at 4:48 pm
You joke, David, but Joseph Smith actually did teach that The Garden of Eden/Adam was in America, specifically Missouri.
April 6, 2015 at 5:05 pm
Yes, he did.
Joseph ran across a bunch of boulders in Missouri and declared that it was THE alter that Adam offered his sacrifice to the Lord after they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. The name of the place was Adam-ondi-Ahman, which is the pure Adamic language that God speaks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam-ondi-Ahman
April 11, 2015 at 2:30 pm
Until I saw that they gave the real name for Jared’s Brother, I was about to give a suggestion. I’ll give the suggestion anyway – but I would prolly go with his actual name (or some variation on it).
My suggestion was based on a recurring SNL sketch from Jimmy Fallon’s tenure. He played a college kid named Jarod who had a web show. His best friend (not brother unfortunately) was his cohost – his name was Gobi. He was a stoner, so that would mesh well with him always hanging around with a cloud and seeing weird, profound stuff.