“That They May Once Again Be a Delightsome People”: The Concept of Again Becoming the Seed of Joseph

Abstract: In Words of Mormon 1:8, Mormon declares, “And my prayer to God is concerning my brethren, that they may once again come to the knowledge of God, yea, the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people.” The expression “that they may once again” plausibly reflects the Hebrew idiom wayyôsipû. Mormon’s apparent double-use of the wayyôsipû idiom in Words of Mormon 1:8, recalls language in the Joseph story (Genesis 37:5, 8). The original Lamanite covenant, an extension of the Abrahamic covenant, involved the complete abandonment of fraternal hatred and the violent means through which they had given expression to it. Mormon declared that a similar commitment would again be necessary when the descendants of Lehi were restored to the covenant in the future (Mormon 7:4–5). Thus, Mormon’s prayer is that the descendants of the Lamanites would regain their covenant identity as the seed of Joseph and partakers of the Abrahamic covenant.