Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
1 Nephi Chapter 3
When Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were working on the Book of Mormon, they discussed
the meaning of John 21:20-24, about John's desire to "live and bring souls unto" his Lord.
Doctrine and Covenants 7 quotes Jesus' reply as, “Thou shalt tarry until I come in my glory."
Tertullian relates that John, during the reign of Domitian, was taken to Rome and thrown into a
cask of oil, but that he was miraculously saved from death and exiled to Patmos. Domitian died in
A.D. 6.5, and the exile must have taken place before that year. On the accession of Emperor Nerva
he was liberated, and returned to Ephesus. The last years of John, as far as recorded history goes,
are lost in obscurity.
When John's book was written the things presented "were plain and pure, and most precious and
easy" to understand (245). It must have been edited later for fear of its effect on the saints who
were undergoing Roman persecution. It is often called "the Apocalypse," from the Greek meaning
"hidden," because of the symbolism and concealment of its message.
Nephi saw some things which were to come on the earth in the time of the end which he was not
to write, but John would write them (248, 252). Then he testified that what he had written was
only a small part of what he had seen, and that "the things which I have written are true." (See also
3: 191, 192)