2 Nephi 5:20-23

[pam]

Reference Search: 2 Nephi 5:20-21

20 Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence.

21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

22 And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.

23 And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.

Quotes for Discussion

How are the wicked “cut off from the presence of the Lord”?

The Spirit of the Lord will not argue with men, nor abide in them, except they yield obedience to the Lord’s commandments.

…The Spirit of the Lord cannot dwell in unclean tabernacles….There are members of the Church who take no time to inform themselves by study and faith….When this is the case, those who are guilty are easily deceived and are in danger of turning away to false doctrines and theories of men.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Answer to Gospel Questions, 3:29

Elements of Lamanites’ Curse

This is the only reference in the entire Book of Mormon where a definite color adjective is used to refer to this mark. All other references call it a “skin of darkness” or a “dark skin.” It is of interest to note that the terms “blackness” and “darkness” are interchangeable in the Hebrew. Even in modern Hebrew it is not unusual for some skilled translator to render a word black whereas other equally skilled translators select dark as the best translation.

Daniel H. Ludlow, Companion, p. 132

The dark skin was placed upon the Lamanites so that they could be distinguished from the Nephites and to keep the two people from mixing. The dark skin was the sign of the curse. The curse was the withdrawal of the Spirit of the Lord and the Lamanites becoming a “loathsome and filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.” The Lord commanded the Nephites not to intermarry with them, for if they did they would partake of the curse.

At the time of the Savior’s visit to the Nephites all of the people became united, and the curse and the dark skin which was its sign were removed. The two peoples became one and lived in full harmony and peace for about two hundred years.

After the people again forgot the Lord and dissensions arose, some of them took upon themselves the name Lamanites and the dark skin returned….

The dark skin of those who have come into the Church is no longer to be considered the sign of the curse.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers, 3:122-23

Because of their iniquity the Lamanite peoples were cursed with “a skin of blackness.” Our text tells us that they were so cursed in order that they would not be enticing to the Nephites. The Old Testament contains ample evidence that when the children of Israel married outside the covenant that were dissuaded from the worship of the true and living God and quickly embraced the idolatry and whoredoms of the Canaanites.

R. Millet and J. F. McConkie, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 1:224

To be cut off from the Lord’s presence in this life means to lose the Holy Ghost. The reader must take care here to understand who was cursing whom when the Lord set the skin of blackness on the Lamanites. The Lamanites cursed themselves when they chose to reject the Spirit of the Lord. The Lord, as a result of that choice, set the dark skin upon them to separate them from those who had not rejected the Spirit. (2 Ne. 5:21-23.) The sore cursing was not the dark skin, but the loss of the Holy Ghost, of which the skin coloring was but a mark. The result of losing the Spirit was that the Lamanites became “an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety,” “a scourge” to the Nephites, serving as a reminder of the Lord to a people whose prosperity would always be a mixed blessing. (2 Ne. 5:24-25.) The scriptures repeatedly illustrate that the loss of the Spirit in those who have formerly enjoyed it propels them down a path to misery and self-destruction.

M. Catherine Thomas, A Great Deliverance