Question
Dear Gramps,
In 2 Nephi 6:6-7, it says that Kings will be their nursing fathers and Queens will be their nursing mothers. It also says that they will bring thy sons in their arms; and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. What is this referring to?
Pam
Answer
Dear Pam,
This allegorical expression indicates that nations will assist and benefit scattered Israel in their return and establishment. Jacob, in 2 Nephi 6:6-7, suggests that it applies not only to the Jews who were taken captive after Lehi and his family left Jerusalem, but also to his own people, as they were part of scattered Israel. Reynolds and Sjodahl suggest that one application of this prophecy refers specifically to the Jews and has been fulfilled.
“This prediction was literally fulfilled when, in November, 1917, Lord Balfour declared that the British government would look with favor upon the restoration of Palestine as the Jewish homeland, a declaration that was ratified later by a conference of statesmen at San Remo, and, on July 22, 1922, by the League of Nations, when that world organization assigned to Great Britain the mandate for the country” (Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1., p.281).
James E. Talmage, however, suggests that the prophecy will be more fully fulfilled as the Jews accept the Savior as the Messiah
“It is evident from these and many other scriptures that the time of the full recovery or redemption of the Jews is to be determined by their acceptance of Christ as their Lord. When that time comes, they are to be gathered to the land of their fathers; and in the work of gathering, the Gentiles are destined to take a great and honorable part, as witness the further words of Nephi: ‘But behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance. And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth; and the nations of the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God, carrying them forth to the land of their inheritance. Yea, the kings of the Gentiles shall be nursing fathers unto them, and their queens shall become nursing mothers; wherefore, the promises of the Lord are great unto the Gentiles, for he hath spoken it, and who can dispute?’”(Articles of Faith, Ch.18, p.334 – p.335).
Gramps