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

Book of Mormon Commentary
1 Nephi Chapter 5
century they were exiled from Alexandria, where they for centuries had had great influence. The
emperor Justinian deprived them of their synagogues, and prohibited their use of any place
whatever for religious purposes. He denied them the right to testify in court and to dispose of any
property they might have, by a will or testament. In Spain, at one time, they were given the choice
between apostasy, imprisonment, and exile. The same conditions were imposed on them in France.
In Mohammedan countries they found equally bitter enemies. The head of the Roman Catholic
world has, at sundry times, cursed all who befriended the Jews, as well as the Jews themselves.
Christian holidays were sometimes made occasions of persecution. During the crusades, the hatred
of the Jews increased. At Verdun, Treves, Mainz, Speier and Worms thousands of the Jews were
robbed and murdered. At York, in England, it is said, on one occasion, 1500 Jews, including
women and children, were captured, and when they were not permitted to ransom themselves, they
murdered each other, in order to escape the fate prepared for them by the mob. In some countries
the burning at the stake of a Jew was considered a great and noble "show." Even the women
rejoiced when they witnessed the agony of the victim in the flames. For, was not the death of a
Jew a victory of the faith? Neither high nor low, neither sex nor age was spared when the flames
of persecution were burning. Among the victims who perished in the flames was the great
Portuguese dramatist, Antonio Joseph de Silvia, whose only crime was that he was a Jew.
The so-called "pogroms" of 1881, 1903 and 1905 are recent history. And the Jewish problem of
the present day in some countries indicates that the prophetic word is still in force.
Jacob said that the Jews who crucified Christ were among those who were "the more wicked part
of the world” (II N. 7:5-7).
1 Ne 5:253 Nevertheless, when that day cometh, saith the prophet, that they no more turn aside their
hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their
fathers;
5:253 Even the wicked whose spirits are sent to the prison house were visited by Christ, who
preached the gospel to them that they might "live in the Spirit according to the will of God” (I Pet.
3:18-20; 4:6).
About A.D. 1830 one of the original tenets 0£ the Restoration was that the remnant of Israel and
particularly the Jews shall be gathered again to Jerusalem and the Holy land (D. and C. 45:3f,
9;108:4b, 5f; I N. 4:32,33; 2 N. 11:25-28).