Personal Study - Monday, 21 December, 2020

What Does It Mean To Be Goodly - Part 2

 

 I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

- The Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1:1

 

Still pondering 1 Nephi 1:1 and left off with the question...

"What does it mean to be goodly?"

Webster's American dictionary of the English Language - 1828 defines "goodly" for our purposes here:

-    adjective: being of handsome form; beautiful; graceful; as a goodly person; goodly raiment; goodly houses.

1.    pleasant; agreeable, desirable, as in goodly days

 

In seeking understanding from other translations off The Book of Mormon, all that I checked being Russian, French, German and Hebrew use the word, "good."

These translations from English are less pure than the translation that Jospeh Smith received directly from the plates.  While Nephi may have considered his parents pleasant to look upon, this would not be contextually consistent with the narrative of The Book of Mormon.

It is notable that translating from the plates to English, the Prophet Joseph Smith does not come up with the word "good."

"And Jesus said unto them, Why callest thou me good?  There is none good but one, that is, God."

- Mark 10:18 (see also Matthew 19:17)

So, if Christ Himself eschewed being referred to as "good," it was unlikely that Nephi would refer to his parents as "good."    What say ye?  That Nephi did not have the New Testament?  Of course not.  Yet Nephi and the contributors to The Book of Mormon had something more.  They were inspired by the Spirit of the Lord.  There is not place in the entire Book of Mormon that I have found, after a brief search, where the Lord refers to the term, "good man" at any time.  Indeed, there are several places we are told...

"...there is none that doeth good..."

• Psalms 14:1
• Roman 3:12
  
• Moroni 10:35
• Doctrine & Covenants 35:12 (has an exception)

 S0... what does it mean to be "goodly?"  It was probably the best approximation that Joseph could be given for translation at the time.

Let's submit, then, a definistion of goodly that may better fit the meaning Nephi is striving to convey.

Goodly: striving to please God

                   striving to know God

                   striving to be god-like; godly

With this definition, "goodly" fits the account more accurately - it seems - and offers an example to follow.