Book of Abraham as Autobiography
Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:00 am
Going over some old notes on the Book of Abraham today, I ran across some observations that I thought I would share with you here. It's well-known that Joseph Smith included in the Book of Mormon a number of autobiographical elements. Lehi's family mirrors Joseph's own, as does the Brother of Jared's. Many of the Smith family's relationships and struggles find their way into the Book, as does the prophet's conversion and miraculous ability to receive revelation through sacred stones. I'd like to suggest that there are some similarly autobiographical features in the Book of Abraham. There aren't many, since the book is so short, but the extant text is suggestive in several respects.
Take for example Abraham's journeys. Now, I don't want to make too much of this, because the Book of Abraham account of Abraham's journeys are largely based on the Bible. Nevertheless, Joseph may have selected this particular biblical narrative precisely because it was suggestive of his own life, and some of the ways he modifies the biblical narrative are suggestive. In the Book of Abraham, Abraham starts in Chaldea and then moves to Haran, where he stops and settles for a time on the way to the promised land of Canaan. In Haran, Abraham gathers followers; these followers come with him when he finally travels on to Canaan. When Joseph stops translating in 1835 at Abr. 2:18, Abraham has just entered the land of Canaan. When Joseph resumes translating in 1842, the Nauvoo period, he has Abraham almost immediately fall upon hard times in Canaan and choose to flee to Egypt. The prophet died before he could tell the story of Abraham's return to the promised land.
The stages of Abraham's journey correspond roughly with the stages of Joseph's.
Joseph was born in Palmyra, New York, his "Chaldea". His "fathers" are in apostasy, but he is a seeker of greater righteousness, and so miraculously receives the priesthood. Like Abraham, Joseph's contemporaries refuse to listen to his message. Like Abraham, Joseph undergoes a traumatic event (in his case, leg surgery) in which he is held down on a table while someone cuts him with a knife. Joseph's anger at the surgeon is perhaps expressed in the narrative by the fact that the idolatrous priest Elkenah is smitten and dies. Just as Abraham's father repents and Abraham preserves the ancient records in Abr. 1:30-1, so Joseph Smith's own father repents and Joseph reveals the Book of Mormon.
The Prophet soon moves to Kirtland (his "Haran"), a sort of waystation on the road to the promised land of Missouri. Here he does much of the work of revelating, just as Abraham receives visions during the same period. Promises are made to him about a promised land. The translation of the Book of Abraham ends during this period at a point roughly corresponding to Joseph's own point in his journeys.
Joseph doesn't take up the pen again until after the expulsion from Missouri. He of course intends to return there to reclaim the promised land someday. He has Abraham almost immediately forced from the land of Canaan by famine, and go to sojourn in Egypt. Here God tells Abraham to lie about his marital relations for safety's sake, and commands that he ask Sarah to do the same. Similarly, safety required that Joseph lie about the practice of polygamy, and that he ask his wives-- notably Emma-- to do the same. Unlike in the biblical narrative, where Abraham does this on his own initiative, the Book of Abraham represents this as a command directly from God. It is also in Egypt that Abraham has visions about the cosmos, pre-existence, and creation; these things first come into Smith's theology during the same period. I will just briefly add here that the structure of the cosmos-- described most fully in the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar-- mirrors the structure of the LDS priesthood. Like the Abraham narrative, Joseph's life was cut short before a return to the Promised Land could be effected. Neither return was ever completed, for Brigham Young set his sights past Egypt/Nauvoo, to the vast and unknown frontiers beyond.
Take for example Abraham's journeys. Now, I don't want to make too much of this, because the Book of Abraham account of Abraham's journeys are largely based on the Bible. Nevertheless, Joseph may have selected this particular biblical narrative precisely because it was suggestive of his own life, and some of the ways he modifies the biblical narrative are suggestive. In the Book of Abraham, Abraham starts in Chaldea and then moves to Haran, where he stops and settles for a time on the way to the promised land of Canaan. In Haran, Abraham gathers followers; these followers come with him when he finally travels on to Canaan. When Joseph stops translating in 1835 at Abr. 2:18, Abraham has just entered the land of Canaan. When Joseph resumes translating in 1842, the Nauvoo period, he has Abraham almost immediately fall upon hard times in Canaan and choose to flee to Egypt. The prophet died before he could tell the story of Abraham's return to the promised land.
The stages of Abraham's journey correspond roughly with the stages of Joseph's.
Joseph was born in Palmyra, New York, his "Chaldea". His "fathers" are in apostasy, but he is a seeker of greater righteousness, and so miraculously receives the priesthood. Like Abraham, Joseph's contemporaries refuse to listen to his message. Like Abraham, Joseph undergoes a traumatic event (in his case, leg surgery) in which he is held down on a table while someone cuts him with a knife. Joseph's anger at the surgeon is perhaps expressed in the narrative by the fact that the idolatrous priest Elkenah is smitten and dies. Just as Abraham's father repents and Abraham preserves the ancient records in Abr. 1:30-1, so Joseph Smith's own father repents and Joseph reveals the Book of Mormon.
The Prophet soon moves to Kirtland (his "Haran"), a sort of waystation on the road to the promised land of Missouri. Here he does much of the work of revelating, just as Abraham receives visions during the same period. Promises are made to him about a promised land. The translation of the Book of Abraham ends during this period at a point roughly corresponding to Joseph's own point in his journeys.
Joseph doesn't take up the pen again until after the expulsion from Missouri. He of course intends to return there to reclaim the promised land someday. He has Abraham almost immediately forced from the land of Canaan by famine, and go to sojourn in Egypt. Here God tells Abraham to lie about his marital relations for safety's sake, and commands that he ask Sarah to do the same. Similarly, safety required that Joseph lie about the practice of polygamy, and that he ask his wives-- notably Emma-- to do the same. Unlike in the biblical narrative, where Abraham does this on his own initiative, the Book of Abraham represents this as a command directly from God. It is also in Egypt that Abraham has visions about the cosmos, pre-existence, and creation; these things first come into Smith's theology during the same period. I will just briefly add here that the structure of the cosmos-- described most fully in the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar-- mirrors the structure of the LDS priesthood. Like the Abraham narrative, Joseph's life was cut short before a return to the Promised Land could be effected. Neither return was ever completed, for Brigham Young set his sights past Egypt/Nauvoo, to the vast and unknown frontiers beyond.
