In Mosiah 7.30-32, Limhi talks about the results of his people’s iniquity, one of the results being that they “reap(ed) the east wind” (Mosiah 7.31). What is this east wind that Limhi speaks of? And how did it apply? To me this is an example of Limhi quoting the Brass Plates, as the “east wind” probably did not mean the same thing to this group of displaced Israelites on the other side of the world from which this curse was addressed anciently. This shows a careful reader of the text that the colony of Zeniff had their own scripture record that contained things from the Brass Plates (see also Mosiah 12.20 where they quote Isaiah 52 also).
Brant Gardner has observed that this quotation offered by Limhi in Mosiah 7.29 is not found anywhere in the Old Testament, illustrating for the careful reader of the Book of Mormon that Limhi had access to scripture that was on the Brass Plates but that was eventually edited out of our current scriptures. His conclusion is that this is probably a quotation from Zenock, a northern prophet. 1 Whoever it was that wrote this down originally, I would also put forth the idea that this was a northern prophet of the Elohist tradition. Small clues like this indicate to me clear evidences of the editing of the Old Testament, showing that variations did exist prior to our earliest sources.
The East Wind
That the Hebrews recognized the existence of four prevailing winds as issuing, broadly speaking, from the four cardinal points, north, south, east and west, may be inferred from their custom of using the expression “four winds” as equivalent to the “four quarters” of the hemisphere. (Ezekiel 37.9, Daniel 8.8, Zechariah 2.6, Matthew 24.31) The north wind, or, as it was usually called “the north,” was naturally the coldest of the four (Ecclesiastes 43.20), and its presence is hence invoked as favorable to vegetation… It is described in Proverbs 25.23 as bringing rain… The east wind crosses the sandy wastes of Arabia Deserts before reaching Palestine and was hence termed “the wind of the wilderness.” (Job 1.19, Jeremiah 13.14) It blows with violence, and is hence supposed to be used generally for any violent wind (Job 27.21, 38.24; Psalms 48.7, Isaiah 27.8; Ezekiel 27.26). In Palestine the east wind prevails from February to June. The south wind, which traverses from the Arabian Peninsula before reaching Palestine, must necessarily be extremely hot (Job 37.17, Luke 12.55). The west and southwest winds reach Palestine loaded with moisture gathered from the Mediterranean, and are hence expressly termed by the Arabs “the fathers of the rain.” Westerly winds prevail in Palestine from November to February. 2
Notes
- Brant Gardner, Second Witness,Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, volume 3: Enos through Mosiah, p. 211-213.
- William Smith, Smith’s Bible Dictionary, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 1884, p. 803.