Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Are there any Hebrew and Biblical Greek Scholars in the Mormon church today? I know that Joseph Smith was really into studying Hebrew to get to know the Bible better.

Sara ______________

Sara, You’ll be pleased to know that we’ve had several well-versed biblical scholars publishing from a Latter-day Saint perspective for over half a century. One scholar Mormon Hugh Nibleywho paved the way for our current generation of scholars is Hugh Nibley. Dr. Nibley was proficient in several dead languages (and a number of living ones, as is typical for someone in his field) and was known for providing his own translations in his scholarly works. He found parallels between the restored Church and the primitive Church, citing early Church Fathers as well as newly discovered books rejected from biblical canonization. He was a key part of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), an organization of scholars approaching LDS apologetics from a historical, literary, and archaeological perspective. He and his colleagues were greatly excited at the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and included them in his works cited. Speaking of the DSS, Donald Parry shares the copyright on a translation of the Isaiah scroll. He has contributed to the organization that consumed FARMS – the Neal A Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. In fact, you can search for key contributors to the Institute and find highly qualified scholars. John Welch(studied in Latin and Greek) first published the use and significance of chiasmus in The Book of Mormon. John Tvedtnes and Daniel Peterson both specialize in the ancient Near East and have compared their traditions with Latter-day revelation. And we also have scholars expert in Egyptian, like John Gee and Michael Rhodes, who have defended the Book of Abraham. As blessed as we are to have scholars who can read Isaiah and Paul’s writings in the original language, we are so much more blessed to have Apostles and other members who hear the original message from the original Source. If Greek and Hebrew are the languages of the original writers, the Spirit alone is the original Speaker and Author of these words. How blessed is the speaker who consults with such a Source. -Gramps

Copyright © 2024 Ask Gramps - Q and A about Mormon Doctrine. All Rights Reserved.
This website is not owned by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. The views expressed by individual users are the responsibility of those users and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. For the official Church websites, please visit churchofjesuschrist.org or comeuntochrist.org.

Pin It on Pinterest