< Mosiah 21 >
v. 26 Nevertheless, they did find a land which had been peopled; yea, a land which was covered with dry bones; yea, a land which had been peopled and which had been destroyed; and they, having supposed it to be the land of Zarahemla, returned to the land of Nephi, having arrived in the borders of the land not many days before the coming of Ammon.
Dry Bones
Because the Nephites never had Ezekiel, the phrase: “a land covered with dry bones” in Mosiah cannot be a quote from Ezekiel.Instead, this tells us: The imagery of “dry bones” existed in older Israelite tradition. Ezekiel was not inventing the metaphor — he used a well-known Hebrew image for: total destruction, abandonment, hopeless death, need for divine revival
So Zeniff’s “dry bones” is independent Israelite imagery. It fits the ancient world perfectly.
Lehi leaves Jerusalem: ≈ 597–600 BC Most LDS and biblical scholars place Lehi’s departure in the first year or two of Zedekiah’s reign — about 597 BC. Ezekiel’s writings: ≈ 593–571 BC. Ezekiel begins prophesying after he was taken to Babylon in the deportation of 597 BC (same time Lehi left). He then records the famous “valley of dry bones” vision in: Ezekial 37.
Dry Bones
Because the Nephites never had Ezekiel, the phrase: “a land covered with dry bones” in Mosiah cannot be a quote from Ezekiel.Instead, this tells us: The imagery of “dry bones” existed in older Israelite tradition. Ezekiel was not inventing the metaphor — he used a well-known Hebrew image for: total destruction, abandonment, hopeless death, need for divine revival
So Zeniff’s “dry bones” is independent Israelite imagery. It fits the ancient world perfectly.
Lehi leaves Jerusalem: ≈ 597–600 BC Most LDS and biblical scholars place Lehi’s departure in the first year or two of Zedekiah’s reign — about 597 BC. Ezekiel’s writings: ≈ 593–571 BC. Ezekiel begins prophesying after he was taken to Babylon in the deportation of 597 BC (same time Lehi left). He then records the famous “valley of dry bones” vision in: Ezekial 37.