I'm talking about the 12 listed in Matthew 10: 1-4 . > 1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. > >2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; > >3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphæus, and Lebbæus, whose surname was Thaddæus; > >4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. So, what I expect as an answer would be any scriptures that provide evidence that any or all of the 12 were Jewish. Also any other good sources that address this topic would be appreciated. Why do I care? Trying to shed more light on these verses in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 14: 20-27 . In those verses, it uses the phrase "the book proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew".

In 1 Nephi 8, in the Book of Mormon, the prophet Lehi has a dream/vision in which he sees a Tree of Life. This dream is retold to his family. His son, Nephi, was particularly interested and desired to know not only if what his father said/saw was true, but what the interpretation of the "Tree of Life" was. In chapter 11, the interpretation is revealed -- it is symbolic of the love of God. Also, the fruit of the tree is symbolic of eternal life. Elder Jeffrey R . Holland (modern apostle) taught that the tree of life is a symbol of Jesus Christ. He said: “The images of Christ and the tree [are] inextricably linked. … At the very outset of the Book of Mormon, … Christ is portrayed as the source of eternal life and joy, the living evidence of divine love, and the means whereby God will fulfill his covenant with the house of Israel and indeed the entire family of man, returning them all to their eternal promises” (Christ and the New Covenant , 160, 162). Anyway, is the Tree of Life antidote common in other Near Eastern mythologies?

The other day I overheard a professor briefly mention an ancient Hebraic document known as the "Narrative of Zosimus" that wasn't known to Western scholars until the late 1870's. As his reference was tangential, I didn't gather much information beyond the fact that the story line/narrative concerned a "righteous" family that was instructed by God to leave Jerusalem before the Babylonian destruction, and that they were led to a land preserved for them. Additionally, their journey to the "blessed" land involved: a dark mist, an ocean, a great tree that bears sweet fruit, etc. (I can't remember all of it exactly, I apologize). Also, the account detailed that the family supposedly recorded their history on metal plates. 1. **Is there more information about this ancient text?** 2. **Where can I find an English translation of the text so I can read for it myself?** While I realize that this is an ancient text that predates Christianity (supposedly, I don't have information on it), what struck me as particularly interesting was that it seemed to contain many, many parallels to Lehi's "Tree of Life" dream in 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. 3. **Is there a correlation between these two texts? Are the parallels remarkable or just coincidental?** 4. **What have non-LDS scholars researched and stated about the Narrative of Zosimus?** 5. **Have any LDS scholars noted the extreme similar nature of these texts and conducted research on them? Have they proposed any theories to explain why they are so similar?**

The question https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/35704/to-what-point-in-time-can-the-bible-be-proven-accurate made me wonder: Is the common interpretation of 1 Nephi 13:26-28 that something was physically omitted from scripture? I am aware of the Joseph Smith Translation, but is the point to bring back physically removed parts? In at least one instance I know of, the "translation" is just a commentary, with no changed text, that makes it clear what is meant. This makes me wonder whether the goal was a corrected understanding, not so much a corrected text. An other interpretation I can come up with is that, without requiring much change to scripture, doctrines that are introduced (e.g. Trinity) became basis for further theology, scripture translation (translation is always also in part interpretation) and so on. That also "[take] away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious". So, is the official position as of now that there were things physically omitted from scripture, or that the cause is rather false doctrines themselves that became the spiritual basis for later generations? Or is there no "official" interpretation?

The original 1830 Book of Mormon contained statements *to the effect* that "Jesus Christ ***is*** God the Eternal Father" in three separate places (1 Nephi 11:21, 32, 13:40, source ). Only recently did I discover that all later printings have this statement edited. I verified this fact with cover and page photos on the 1830 Book of Mormon website. Translation of the plates was claimed to be inspired, and when complete it was confirmed by God to be correct. The official LDS view was that in 1837 the Book of Mormon was "versified" from paragraph form for convenience and corrected only in grammar and spelling. Why then was this statement edited by adding three words in the 1837 (and subsequent) editions to read "Jesus Christ is ***the Son of*** God the Eternal Father" thus changing its meaning in those same three places? --- 1 Nephi 11:21: 1 Nephi 11:32: Read 1 Nephi 11:21, 32 on LDS.org. --- 1 Ne. 13:40: Read 1 Nephi 13:40 on LDS.org. --- See other pages from the original 1830 edition.