I am a Mormon and know the book of Mormon is true but would like to know what this one verse in Ehter means?

Question

Ether 12: 24
24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the aawkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in bwriting like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he cwrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.

What do you think awkwardness refers to?

Answer 1

If you read on to verse 25, 26, it explain further.
keep in mind that the brother of Jared's language were not mixed like other poeple, so I believe it must be more pure than other languages.
The"awkwardness' mean in the sense that, they are unable to fully express the spiritual side of things with the language or writing that Moroni has at that time.

I enclose the following verse, hope it helps. The above opinion is my only, it is not an official interpretation of LDS church.

24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.

25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our bweakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall cmock at our words.

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;
(Book of Mormon | Ether 12:24 - 26)

Answer 2

The awkwardness of writing in the gold plates. You didn't pick up a pen and write then.
There is a problem though because they were so wordy inspite of it.
Did they write on gold plates? That is a whole other question that would take some time to answer. Suffice to say that they did not.

Answer 3

Just on a first response, I would say that Moroni here is referring to how after spending years in defending the Nephites against the Lamanites in battle, his hands have probably become muscular and callused. I don't know if you have met anyone who spends most of their time outdoors, but sometimes their hands get so thick and callused that it is hard for them to work with tiny or delicate utensils or tools - or a stylus of any kind to write cuneiform-type characters on metal plates - which is why, for example, most doctors or dentists aren't manual laborers in their spare time. Because Moroni and the other prophets who wrote on the gold plates were writing in reformed Egyptian but in their spoken Hebrew, I imagine Moroni and the others often felt like whatever they said was going to be a little awkward, because they were writing in their second language although they wished they could be writing in their first language.
I also found this commentary by W. Cleon Skousen in his marvelous 4-volume commentary series about this exact verse you have posted, from "Treasures from the Book of Mormon" - "Then Moroni goes on to tell us something highly significant about the Jaredite language. It will be recalled that the language of the Jaredites was not confounded (Ether 1:35), and we also know that they brought records with them which were written in that language (Ether 1:3, 8:9). This would therefore lead us to assume that the Jaredites had brought with them the original language of Adam, which is described in the scriptures as being "pure and undefiled" (Moses 6:6). We also know that in the absence of written records, any language tends to corrupt itself very rapidly, but the fact that the Jaredites did bring records, to which they could constantly refer, would lend credence to the possibility that the Jaredite language remained relatively unpolluted clear down to the days of Ether. In any event, when Moroni was translating the prophetic history of the world recorded by Mahonri Moriancumer, he noted that the "unconfounded" language of that day was "overpowering" when a man read it. Apparently the original Adamic langauge permitted a writer to literally transfer his emotions and feeling to his reader through the written word. This is most difficult to achieve in any modern language." (page 4319 in Volume 4, 1973 edition.)
Hope this helps you out, and by the way, Skousen's commentary series is still available if you go to Deseret Book or Seagull Book and Tape. Skousen was a remarkable scriptural scholar who only died just this last January, and he had a remarkable life with a career in the FBI and law enforcement as well. My father used to work for him doing research. Another awesome commentary on the Book of Mormon is Hugh Nibley's "Lehi in the Desert." If people who post on this site would make an effort to read these books in addition to the Book of Mormon, I believe most of their doubts and concerns would be resolved. Happy reading! And thanks for asking this question.

Answer 4

Sounds like he means "I do not write well, but the brother of Jared was an awesome writer who wrote things that touched people's souls."

Have you ever read a book or poem that made you cry? That's what he is referring to in regards to the brother of Jared.

It sounds like he had shaky or misshapen hands (Which would have kept him out of that war) which kept him from writing, and helped prevent him from developing those skills. Which would contribute both to his feeling incompetent next to the Charles Dickens of his time, and explain the awkward phrasing.

Answer 5

I am also LDS. I think that this refers to the difficulty the Jaradites had with the writing process. Remember they did not have paper and pens, they had to be very particular and engrave onto plates which would have required intense concentration and they could not make any mistakes with it. Perhaps they had big hands?

Answer 6

Mormon and Moroni had to keep their records on the golden plates. I think it would be difficult to write on those, They probably had to use a hammer and a chisel to write. That's how I've always though of it.

Answer 7

Writer's block. They are saying that they aren't as good of writers as the brother of Jared was. I don't think it's an actual physical awkwardness that's being referenced in this verse.

Answer 8

I think it just means he feels he is not as good at writing as others, like the Brother of Jared and whomever...
Don't worry too much about it.

Answer 9

I'd guess one of two things:

1) Physically etching into the plates themselves.

or

2) Just not as eloquent in his writing skills.

I'm not sure which though.

Answer 10

It refers to a book that came from the imagination of a false prophet, Joseph Smith.

Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Grace and Peace