[Page 287]Abstract: A careful examination of the Abrahamic covenant, as contained in Leviticus 26, and the covenant established with the Lehites during their exodus to the New World, found in 1 Nephi 2, shows deliberate similarities. These similarities are important to understand, as the role of covenant is central in both ancient Israelite practice and current Latter-day Saint theology.

For some time, I have been researching the language and textual cues associated with the Abrahamic Covenant as used in the Old Testament. It is clear that covenant consciousness was an important part of the identity Israel assumed and God assigned to them throughout the Old Testament.¹ There is no doubt the covenant was a constant presence in Israelite thought, that it evolved over time, and that it was used differently in differing specific circumstances.² Even knowing all this, as I wrote a verse-by-verse commentary on portions of the Old Testament,³ I was surprised at how pervasive and powerful I found the theme to be. As I explored the meaning of each verse for the chapters covered in the Old Testament Gospel Doctrine manual and several other chapters, I ended up writing about the Abrahamic Covenant more than 1300 times. Clearly this is an important topic to the Lord and His people! As a result, I have begun a large study of how the theme is used in the Old Testament and how that should impact Latter-day Saints.

In the meantime, because that covenant is so important to Latter-day Saints,⁴ I have also begun to investigate how that theme is developed in other books of scripture. It is a major component in the Book of Mormon,⁵ the title page of which states that covenant is an important theme of the book.⁶ Furthermore, Professor Victor L. Ludlow notes that a form of the word covenant is employed at least 154 times in the Book of Mormon text.⁷ While the role of covenant in the Book of Mormon as a whole will also become a larger study in the future, it is worth noting a striking similarity between the establishment of the Abrahamic Covenant during Israel’s Exodus and its (re)establishment with Lehi’s family during their exodus.

The Abrahamic Covenant is most fully outlined for Israel when it was reestablished with them during their journey from Egypt. This is presented in Leviticus 26.⁸ Here, the Lord outlines the Covenant in the following way:

1. Israel’s obligation is to keep the statutes and commandments of the Lord (Leviticus 26:3).
2. If Israel keeps these commandments, the Lord will provide a land and rain in that land, which will yield bounteous production of both trees and crops planted in the ground (Leviticus 26:4).
3. They will have peace and protection from enemies in the land (Leviticus 26:6).
4. They will conquer their enemies (Leviticus 26:7–8).
5. They will be fruitful and multiply (Leviticus 26:9).
6. They will have plenty to eat (Leviticus 26:10).
7. God will establish His house among them and His presence will be with them, and they will be His people (Leviticus 26:11–12).
8. It is God who has delivered them and given them freedom (Leviticus 26:13).

Leviticus 26 represents the end of what scholars refer to as the “Holiness Code,” which is comprised of chapters 17–26 and which outlines a series of laws regarding rituals, sexual conduct, family relations, priestly conduct, regulations of religious festivals and the tabernacle, blasphemy, and redemption.⁹ The statues and commandments that Israel is told to keep as part of the covenant most directly apply to the laws found in this section of scripture.

As is typical of covenant pericopes in the Old Testament, the promise of blessings for keeping the covenant was immediately followed by a presentation of the cursings that would follow if Israel did not remain faithful.¹⁰ These are outlined thus:

1. If Israel does not keep the commandments, judgments, and statutes of God, they will have broken the Covenant (Leviticus 26:14–15, 18, 21, 23–24).
2. Sickness will then come from the land instead of crops (Leviticus 26:16).
3. Their enemies will have power over them (Leviticus 26:16–17).
4. No efforts will bring forth the produce of the land (Leviticus 26:19–20).
5. Beasts will kill them (Leviticus 26:22).
6. Their enemies will have power over them (Leviticus 26:25).

As can be seen, aspects of covenantal cursing are repeated in this list, e.g., no crops and no protection. They continue to be repeated through verse 38, after which God tells Israel that if their punishments eventually lead them to repent, they can still be forgiven, at which point the blessings of the Covenant will be restored (Leviticus 26:39–45). This last idea seems to represent a summation of the availability of the covenant outlined in such detail throughout the chapter.

There is a striking similarity between this Leviticus 26 covenant explication and the much more succinct version recorded by Nephi as he and his family left Jerusalem. As they departed, Nephi sought to learn God’s will concerning them. In answer, he received a promise that can be outlined thus:

1. Nephi and his seed need to keep the commandments (1 Nephi 2:20).
2. Nephi and his seed will then prosper (1 Nephi 2:20).
3. Nephi and his seed will have a promised land (1 Nephi 2:20).
4. If Nephi’s brothers rebel against God, they will be cut off from God’s presence (implying that Nephi and his seed will enjoy God’s presence) (1 Nephi 2:21).
5. Nephi will rule over his brothers if they become enemies to God and Nephi (1 Nephi 2:22).
6. Nephi’s enemy brothers will have no power over him or his seed (1 Nephi 2:23).

In language that mirrors the Leviticus emphasis on how breaking the covenant would lead to punishment that would force Israel to return to God, Nephi is then told that if his people do not keep the commandments (rebel against God), that God will use their enemy brethren to bring them back to Him.¹¹

There is an important addendum to this promise. When Lehi’s family arrived at Bountiful, Nephi used language that echoes the promises made when the covenant was established with him as he left Jerusalem. At both the beginning and the end of this iteration, Nephi makes it clear that he is referring to an earlier instance when God had spoken to him about these promises. Towards the end of this discourse, Nephi adds that God had insisted that they would know they had been delivered and led to the promised land by Him (1 Nephi 17:13–14). Perhaps Nephi was expanding upon the promise he had received in 1 Nephi 2 (the covenant outlined above), suggesting that he had only recorded an abbreviated version of the full promise given him, but at the very least, Nephi was providing an expansion on that promise that God had made at some point early in the Nephite Exodus. Thus, it seems reasonable to assume that the Nephites understood that recognizing God’s delivering power was part of the covenant.

It is not uncommon for scriptural authors to quote, paraphrase, or allude to earlier scriptural authors. We often refer to this as intertextuality.¹² What I am proposing here is similar to but importantly different from such a practice. If we were to propose that Nephi was drawing on Leviticus, we would need to demonstrate things such as the availability and applicability of the Leviticus text to Nephi.¹³ Yet, what I am proposing here is that the same being who established the covenant with Israel, namely Jehovah, (re)established that same covenant with Lehi and Nephi. Thus, the issue is not whether Nephi was aware of and employed the language of Leviticus (which is an interesting topic on its own), but rather that the Lord established the same covenant and thus used similar language and ideas.¹⁴ It would follow that, based on Lehi and Nephi’s being familiar with the written Law of Moses (1 Nephi 5:11), they would recognize the language and therefore its significance. Studying that is another topic. Here, we address only the similarity in language and concept of the covenant that God (re)established with Israel and then again with the Lehites. It seems clear that this is the same covenant.

The following chart of verses helps make the comparison clearer:
 

Many have noticed the presence of the Abrahamic Covenant in the Book of Mormon before, even from the earliest days of the Church.¹⁵ Some have focused on the way the Book of Mormon makes the covenant more universally available and is part of fulfilling how the world is blessed by Abraham.¹⁶ Others have analyzed how the Savior taught the Nephites about the Abrahamic Covenant (most notably Victor Ludlow).¹⁷

Still others have emphasized the Book of Mormon’s role in fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant¹⁸ or even the various ways the covenant is presented in the Book of Mormon¹⁹ and how covenant renewal in the Book of Mormon is similar to Old Testament patterns.²⁰ Yet it seems that all studies of covenant in the Book of Mormon will be better founded if we recognize that when the covenant was first established with the Nephites, it closely mirrored its establishment among the Israelites. This covenant parallel, established so early in the Lehite journey, likely influenced Nephi’s recognition of the parallels between his family’s exodus and that of ancient Israel’s.²¹ Furthermore, the Book of Mormon’s thematization of the covenant is surely affected by the precise parallel inception of that covenant. Thus, I believe that when we recognize the clear consciousness of a mirrored covenant identity that informed Nephi, Jacob, their followers, and their descendants, we will be better able to understand how they used and adapted covenant consciousness in their specific circumstances over time and how they used prophetic utterances about the covenant as they grappled with the role of the covenant in those circumstances.