"Encircled About Eternally in the Arms of His Love": The Divine Embrace as a Thematic Symbol of Jesus Christ

by Matthew L. Bowen

Overview

Abstract: This study builds upon Hugh Nibley's insightful observation that several Book of Mormon passages reflect "the ritual embrace that consummates the final escape from death in the Egyptian funerary texts and reliefs" as expressing the meaning of Christ's Atonement. This study further extends Nibley's observations on Jacob's "wrestle" as a divine "embrace" to show that Lehi's, Nephi's, and their successors' understanding of the divine embrace is informed by their ancestor's "wrestle" with a "man" (Genesis 32:24–30) and reconciliation with his brother (Genesis 33:4–10). Examples of the divine embrace language and imagery throughout the Book of Mormon go well beyond what Nibley noted, evoking the Psalms' depictions of Jehovah whose "wings" offered protection in the ritual place of atonement. Book of Mormon "divine embrace" texts have much to teach us about Jesus Christ, his love, the nature of his Atonement, and the temple.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940186046998
Publisher:	Interpreter Foundation
Publication date:	11/09/2023
Series:	Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship , #59
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	948,215
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Matthew L. Bowen was raised in Orem, Utah, and graduated from Brigham Young University. He holds a PhD in Biblical Studies from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and is currently an associate professor in religious education at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. He is also the author of Name as Key-Word: Collected Essays on Onomastic Wordplay and the Temple in Mormon Scripture (Salt Lake City: Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books, 2018) and, more recently,
Ancient Names in the Book of Mormon: Toward a Deeper Understanding of a Witness of Christ (Salt Lake City: Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books, 2023). With Aaron P. Schade, he is the coauthor of The Book of Moses: From the Ancient of Days to the Latter Days (Provo, UT; Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book, 2021). He and his wife (the former Suzanne Blattberg) are the parents of three children: Zachariah, Nathan, and Adele.