Jewish Mysticism and Glowing Stones
Some time after I published that original post (I recommend reading that if you haven't yet as this post will add upon some of what was talked about) I came across an idea that comes up in some Jewish legends that all Latter-day Saints can get excited about. And with its relationship with this week's Come, Follow Me, I thought now would be a good time to write about this.
For this post, I will draw extensively from Howard Schwartz's Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism (1) that draws from various Midrashim and the Talmud. (BYU Studies has a review of this book available here).
"A Stone Which Shall Shine Forth"
To Alma's son, Helaman, Alma tells his son that "the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light." (Alma 37:23). As I wrote about in the previous post, there was a very real connection between Gazelem and Joseph Smith in the minds of early Saints, Joseph Smith included. (2) While the meaning of Gazelem is still open to interpretation, the fact of a stone shining out of darkness and unto light is clearly taught in this scripture.
This is not the only mention of shining stones in the Book of Mormon. King Benjamin and King Mosiah both possessed at one time "two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow" that "whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer" (Mosiah 28:13 and Mosiah 8:13) (3). As the Brother of Jared approached the Lord on Mount Shelem, the Lord stretched forth His finger and touched sixteen small stones that shone with a brilliant light. On this same occasion, the Lord gave to the brother of Jared two more stones that he would seal with his record that could be used to interpret hidden things (see Ether 3:23-24).
The fact that Book of Mormon prophets used seer stones is no surprise given the nature of their origins and worldview. Stones similar to seer stones were used in both the Old and New Worlds in ancient times, and have roots found among the Hebrews and Maya. One Jewish legend in particular links a shining stone to direct revelation with the Divine.
The Tzohar
When God created the heavens and the earth, His first command was "Let there be light," and there was light (See Gen. 1:3). Only on the fourth day did God create the sun, moon, and stars (Gen. 1:14-19). The first light God made was a primordial light that shone in His presence, and through this "miraculous light... Adam [could] see from one end of the world to the other" (1).
Upon Adam and Eve's fall and expulsion from the paradisaical garden, "the first thing they lost was that precious light. Without it, the world seemed dark to them, for the sun shone like a candle in comparison." (1) However, God gave them a small stone called the Tzohar that shone with a small portion of this primordial, celestial light to Adam as a reminder of what he lost and, perhaps, looking at things from a Latter-day Saint's perspective, a reminder of what they could one day receive again.
This stone, as will be shown, could be used to receive revelation and was passed down through the prophetic line. In fact, like the garments made by God in the Garden, this was a token of the prophetic office. Adam gave it to Seth, who gave it to Enoch, who in turn gave it to Methuselah before his translation into Heaven. Methuselah is said to have slept with the stone around his neck, and as such he "slept in its glowing light, and some say that is why he lived longer than anyone else" (1).
It found its way to Noah, where a mention of the Tzohar can possibly be found in the Bible. In Genesis 6:16, the word tzohar is translated as "window" in the King James Version, though a more proper translation could be a bright light and is maintained as such in other, modern translations. Many Rabbis believe, as noted in footnote a of this verse in the Church's publication of the Bible, that the tzohar in question was a precious stone that shone in the darkness. Noah hung this stone in the ark, and it provided light for the sojourners during the Flood, either "dim during the day, [or] it shone brilliantly at night" (1).
Eventually this stone came into possession of Abraham and his posterity. It is said that "whoever was ill and looked into that stone soon healed, and it also served as an astrolabe to study the stars" (1). When it was given to his grandson Jacob, Jacob would receive revelation through means of this stone. It is also said that Jacob wore the Tzohar at night around his neck, and "[he] was wearing [it] when he dreamed of the ladder reaching to heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it" (1).
The Tzohar was given to Joseph when Jacob gave him the special garments. By what could be called divine intervention, his brothers thought the stone was worthless and did not take it away from Joseph as they threw him in the pit and sold him into Egyptian slavery.
In my last post, I talked about how Joseph used a divine tool to receive revelation, that is, his silver cup "whereby indeed he divineth" (Gen. 44:5). I talked about the Egyptian practice of scyphomancy, or the process of looking into a liquid and seeing images reflected off of the water, and how Joseph may have been influenced by that process of communion with the Divine in his own search for understanding. And I do maintain that that is a very real possible interpretation, however, this is simply another possible interpretation that will strike a resonant chord with Latter-day Saints. I, myself, am open to accepting either interpretation.
After being thrown into prison, the Pharaoh's baker and butler are both thrown into prison alongside him. Both have troubling dreams and Joseph offers his aide in interpreting them. In order to do so, Joseph put the stone in his cup and put the cup to his face to block out all external light. When he did so, Joseph found he could see not only the interpretation of dreams, but the future as well. Joseph used the same manner of divine communion in order to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh, granting him the position he could use to save his family and the rest of the country during the seven-year famine. And it was "that same cup that Joseph hid in the saddlebags of Benjamin, about which his servant said, 'It is the very cup from which my master drinks and which he uses for divination'" (1, see also Gen. 44:5. Italics in original).
Eventually the stone would be buried with Joseph and, during the Exodus, removed from Joseph's sarcophagus and hung in the Tabernacle. While the Tzohar seems to be lost to time after the destruction of the first temple, legends of glowing stones continued to abound well past the era of the New Testament. One source that two good friends, V. Garth Norman and Cheryl Norman, pointed out to me regarding the continued use of glowing stones in Jewish and Christian texts of the Medieval Ages is from a FARMS publication by John Tvedtnes. (4) Legends of glowing stones in addition to the Tzohar are especially linked to the twelve stones on the priestly ephod worn in the Temple, and eventually found their way into the folklore linked to royalty or religious leaders, especially in mainstream Catholicism. As Tvedtnes notes:
Though the idea of stones that glow in the dark may seem strange to the modern mind, such beliefs were widespread in earlier times... The Book of Mormon account attributes their light to divine influence. This is the same explanation given in many of the early texts [that the author has surveyed in the aforementioned work] (5).
Such folklore lasted well into the 1800s, and many believed in seeing-stones, divining rods, and other tools that they believed could be used to find treasure, see hidden things, and more. It was into this culture that Joseph Smith was born, who would go on to discover a few shining stones himself.
The Book of Mormon: "Out of Darkness Unto Light"
Joseph Smith, as many Latter-day Saints are well aware, was entrusted with ancient treasures from the once-great Nephite nation, including a set of interpreters (made by wrapping two seer stones in a silver bow) that later came to be known as the Urim and Thummim. He also found at least two seer stones of his own, one brown and one white, and these also came to be known as the Urim and Thummim (in fact, as I wrote about earlier, it would not be a stretch to say that the term Urim and Thummim was applied to any tool that incorporated a seer stone as the method for receiving revelation in antiquity).
Joseph could use either the Nephite seer stones or his own to translate the Nephite record. What is striking is the similarities between how an ancient prophet named Joseph and Joseph Smith both used these stones to receive divine revelation. Here are a few references to Joseph Smith 's work of translation, keeping in mind Joseph of Egypt's use of the Tzohar in these Jewish legends:
From David Whitmer:
Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man. (6)
From Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Cowdery:
Richmond, Ray Co., Mo. Feb 15, 1870⸻I cheerfully certify that I was familiar with the manner of Joseph Smith’s translating the book of Mormon. He translated the most of it at my Father’s house. And I often sat by and saw and heard them translate and write for hours together. Joseph never had a curtain drawn between him and his scribe while he was translating. He would place the director in his hat, and then place his face in his hat, so as to exclude the light, and then [read the words?] as they appeared before him. (7)
From Emma Hale Smith:
I know Mormonism to be the truth; and believe the Church to have been established by divine direction. I have complete faith in it. In writing for your father [speaking to her son, Joseph Smith III] I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us. (8)
And finally, from Martin Harris, who once served as a scribe for Joseph Smith himself:
The two stones set in a bow of silver [here referring to the Nephite Interpreters] were about two inches in diameter, perfectly round, and about five-eighths of an inch thick at the centre; [sic] but not so thick at the edges where they came into the bow. They were joined by a round bar of silver, about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and about four inches long, which, with the two stones, would make eight inches. The stones were white, like polished marble, with a few gray streaks. I never dared to look into them by placing them in the hat, because Moses said that “no man could see God and live,” and we could see anything we wished by looking into them; and I could not keep the desire to see God out of my mind. And beside, we had a command to let no man look into them, except by the command of God, lest he should “look aught and perish” (9).
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| Artist's rendition of the Nephite interpreters based on Lucy Mack Smith's account (10) |
From these accounts it can be shown that in addition to using the Nephite interpreters on the breastplate, Joseph could also take these stones out of their frame and place them in his hat in addition to the other stones Joseph had acquired. In fact, it would not be a stretch to say that each seer stone had been blessed to hold a portion of the "primordial light" that shines in God's presence that is mentioned in the Jewish legends in connection with the Tzohar and later medieval texts.
[Joseph] obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom. For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins (2 Nephi 3:5-6, emphasis added).
Not only did Joseph Smith expand on the biblical narrative of Joseph of Egypt, but Abraham as well. Though we do not know many details of how Joseph translated the Egyptian papyri, through them he restored a knowledge that Abraham was well-versed in astronomy and even taught it in Pharaoh's courts, agreeing with multiple ancient manuscripts, many of which would not have even been translated into English by 1835 when Joseph began the translation of the papyri. The legend of the Tzohar also potentially gives new light into what Abraham's Urim and Thummim looked like mentioned in Abraham 3:1, that is, Abraham's Urim and Thummim was the same Tzohar that was given to Adam outside the Garden of Eden, a white stone shining with divine light.
Conclusion
The legend of the Tzohar has clear ties to latter-day revelation and revelation in antiquity. John the Beloved spoke of a white stone to receive revelation (Rev. 2:17), Joseph Smith spoke of a similar stone that would be given to the faithful in the world to come (D&C 130:10-11), and prophets of all ages used a similar stone to receive revelation.
As Latter-day Saints, however, we should still remember the Lord's caution in D&C 91 to study non-canonical texts with caution and rely on the Holy Spirit's guidance while reading them. (11) While it may be an easy assumption to draw conclusions to every similar legend in early Judaism, many of the legends presented in Tree of Souls are meant to be read as metaphorical from what I can base off of the text; however, others (including the legend of the Tzohar) do seem to refer to actual, literal sacred objects that were had in Judaism and seen as a literal historical artifact, regardless of whether or not the history itself was to be regarded as literal or metaphorical. Whether or not the legends of the Tzohar are indeed meant to be read as regarding a literal object or as a metaphor for the Priesthood and revelatory power, however, Latter-day Saints can circle around the fact that this legend does have distinct ties to our theology that are hard to ignore or pass off as coincidence.
Still, the legend of the Tzohar can show us one thing if nothing else — God, in His infinite mercy and grace, provided something to Adam and Eve, that is, a way for them to be reminded of His watchful care and receive divine revelation from Him. God our Father is not a heartless being who does not look after His children, he is the opposite. He is a loving Father, and will do everything in His power to help us. As Nephi once testified, "[God] doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world" (2 Nephi 26:24, emphasis added), and as then-President Uchtdorf similarly testified:
And while we may look at the vast expanse of the universe and say, “What is man in comparison to the glory of creation?” God Himself said we are the reason He created the universe! His work and glory—the purpose for this magnificent universe—is to save and exalt mankind. In other words, the vast expanse of eternity, the glories and mysteries of infinite space and time are all built for the benefit of ordinary mortals like you and me. Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters.
This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. (12)
NOTES
1. Howard Schwartz, Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism (New York: Oxford Press, 2004), 85-88.
2. One account comes from William W. Phelps' funeral address for the Prophet Joseph Smith, quoted in the previous post mentioned. In addition to Phelps' ideas, the name Gazelem was used as a code name for Joseph Smith in early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, showing that Joseph himself recognized a connection between Gazelem and the shining stone and his own ministry and the shining stones he used.
4. John A. Tvedtnes, The Book of Mormon and Other Hidden Books: "Out of Darkness Unto Light" (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000), 195-225.
5. Tvedtnes, 215.
6. David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ (Richmond, Mo. 1887), p. 12. Emphasis added.
7. William E. McClellan to "My Dear Friends," February 1879, Miscellaneous Papers and Documents, Community of Christ Library-Archives, Independence, MO. Cited in Grant Hardy, ed., The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ: Maxwell Institute Study Edition (2018), 619. Emphasis added.
8. Joseph Smith III, “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” Saints’ Herald, 1 Oct. 1879, 289. Emphasis added.
9. “Martin Harris Interview with Joel Tiffany, 1859,” in Early Mormon Documents, 2:305. Cited in Roger Nicholson, "The Spectacles, the Stone, the Hat, and the Book: A Twenty-first Century Believer’s View of the Book of Mormon Translation," Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 5 (2013): 121-190. Emphasis added. The two scriptures Martin Harris appear to be quoting are Exodus 33:20 and Mosiah 8:13, respectively.
10. In Lucy Mack Smith's manuscript history, she wrote: "upon examination [I] found, that it consisted of two smoothe [sic] three-cornered diamonds set in glasses, and the glasses were set in silver bows, which were connected with each other in much the same way, as old-fashioned spectacles." See "Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845," p. 107, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 19, 2020, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1845/114. As an alternative, Don Bradley included another rendition of the interpreters drawn by Jody Livingston based on Lucy Mack Smith's account in his book The Lost 116 Pages. See Bradley, 49-50.
11. The revelation in question came as a direct response to Joseph's question about the Apocrypha — a set of fourteen books of the Bible not accepted by most Protestant churches — and whether or not he should translate them in his inspired revision of the Bible. However, the same revelation can be used in light of any ancient text that is not accepted in the Church's canon.
12. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "You Matter to Him," The Ensign, November 2011, 20.
I would like to especially thank V. Garth Norman and Cheryl Norman for helping with this post. They helped review it, give suggestions to improve it (I wouldn't have included Martin Harris's statement or the picture of the Nephite Urim and Thummim without their advice), and pointed me to the source from John Tvedtnes. They are great friends, great scholars, and have great faith.
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