Skins as Garments in the Book of Mormon

There are basically six passages in the Book of Mormon that deal with “skins” in a way that have racial overtones in the Book of Mormon. They are the following:

1 Nephi 11.13 – Mary, the mother of Jesus, is described as “exceedingly fair and white.”

1 Nephi 13.15 – The Gentiles, portrayed as “white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful.”

2 Nephi 5.21 – The Lamanites had a “skin of blackness” come upon them so that they would not intermarry with the Nephites.

Jacob 3.5, 8-9 – The Lamanites are discussed in these passages, where they have “darkness of skins” and Jacob instructs his listeners that “their skins will be whiter than yours” dues to the Nephite rejection of their covenants.

Alma 3.5-6 – Lamanites have “the mark” and “a curse” upon them due to their transgression.

3 Nephi 2.15– The curse was taken from the Lamanites and “their skin became white like unto the Nephites…”

I have already posted on this subject before, but want to reiterate that I do not believe the Book of Mormon is talking about skin the way that modern readers do today. Most of these passages are in a temple related context, where the issue of the right to rule, keeping covenants, and temple themes are abundant. For this reason, another way to read this text is in order, for the context always matters when analyzing ancient texts. The “setting in life” will help us as moderns understand the passage.^[1]The concept of Sitz im Leben, or “setting in life,” is crucial in the study of ancient texts, including the Book of Mormon. This term, originally coined by Hermann Gunkel, a pioneer in … Continue reading Ethan Sprout proposes that we analyze these texts through this lens – that of temple and kingship.

He writes,

“Ultimately, the text of the Book of Mormon lends itself in many ways to the interpretation that the skins of various colors have nothing to do with flesh pigmentation but are rather ritual garments of some sort that can accommodate a whole range of textual data. Not only are there textual motivations for thinking that marks associated with curses were self-applied and removable in a nonbiological sense, it is also possible to explain strictly in terms of comparable biblical narratives how such marks and curses might have been passed from generation to generation in the form of ritual garments or authoritative clothing made of animal skin.”^[2]Sproat, Ethan (2015) “Skins as Garments in the Book of Mormon: A Textual Exegesis,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 24 : No. 1 , Article 7, p. 163.

Earlier he makes the point that:

…it is difficult to overstate the importance of the Nephite temple in everything that follows… textual evidences suggest that the Nephite temple served not only as a physical metaphor for “the presence of the Lord” (2 Nephi 5:17–20), but also as the ideological backdrop to the deep cultural and religious conflicts between the Nephites and their various enemies. Indeed, the Nephite temple emerges as the central theme in the question of the various-colored skins in the Book of Mormon.

Such realizations begin with a basic textual observation: four of the six ambiguous passages related to skin color or skin curses have the Nephite temple as their context. For instance, 2 Nephi 5:21–25 is bookended by the building of the first Nephite temple (see 2 Nephi 5:16) and the consecration of Jacob and Joseph as priests (see 2 Nephi 5:26). The next three ambiguous passages appear in Jacob 3:5, 8, 9 within the context of a discourse delivered in the first Nephite temple. A fifth passage, Alma 3:5–6—while not explicitly referring to the temple—notes that certain skins were darkened because of the conflict that took place at the time of the first Nephite temple as described in 2 Nephi 5:16–26. This overarching temple context suggests that garment-skins may somehow have been associated with the Nephite temple and (more specifically) that the Nephites may have used skins as an item of temple clothing.^[3]Ibid., p. 150.

To read the full scope of Sproat’s arguments, go here.