Back to Mormonism Researched Page

The Bar Kochba Documents Shows BofM Ancient Patterns

Research by Kerry A. Shirts

As more research has come out on the BofM showing it is a genuine ancient text, we have seen how critics continually fail to account for it and instead regurgitate the same old shop worn idiotic arguments against the BofM such as Spaulding, View of the Hebrews and many of the Tanner's silly arguments. But the BofM is stronger than critics make us to believe. The Bar Kochba documents are some of the prime examples of showing how the BofM is most clearly an ancient text coming from the ancient Near East. Why the critics continually ignore these will become quite obvious as we see what we have in favor of the BofM. Will the critics deal with this? It is doubted, but that does nothing to refute the new archaeological confirmations on the ancient patterns in the BofM. It is time to take the critics to task for their laziness and unwillingness to see only the obvious.

Yigael Yadin wrote about his archaeological expeditions with the Bar Kochba texts in his major archaeological text, *Bar Kochba: The rediscovery of the legendary hero of the Second Jewish Revolt Against Rome", New York: Random House, 1971.

When we read about Yadin's discoveries and the Israeli scholars and archaeologists reactions to what they found, we see convincing confirmations of the BofM thesis that these new findings were meant to be. They were understandably moved by the one thing that makes these documents of supreme importance to them: the fact that they belonged to their own ancestors! "We found that our emotions were a mixture of tension and awe," writes Prof. Yadin, "yet astonishment and pride at being part of the reborn state of Israel after a Diaspora of 1,800 years." (p. 253). Now what does Nephi say in the BofM? "And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried out unto them from the dust, for I know their faith. And they shall cry from the dust... even after many generations have gone by them..." (2 Ne. 3:19f).

Their own people after all those years! How often has it happened that ancient documents - 2,000 yrs old - have been dug up in their own homeland by the very descendants of the men who wrote those documents and, what is still more marvelous, who could still read them on the spot? We know of no other such instance in history of scholarship. But note also how Nephi continues:

"For those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground: and their speech shall whisper out of the dust." (2 Ne. 26:16ff).

All this talk about dust. As one pursues the pages of Yadin's book there are pictures of the very dusty caves and descriptions of the difficulty in working in the thick choking clouds of dust. You have got to wear a dust mask. Nephi does not overdo the dust issue at all!

These writings have not survived accidentally, but were hidden away on purpose to come forth later, a perfect BofM theme, now archaeologically verified. The people who left these records died soon after they buried them and died on the spot the victims of a savage religious war. "...for those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground." (2 Ne. 26:16).

What do the Bar Kochba records contain? Accounts of contemporary affairs in private letters, legal documents, military and civil correspondences, or, in the words of the BofM, "For thus saith the Lord God: They shall write the things which shall be done among them... Wherefore, as those who have been destroyed have been destroyed speedily..." (2 Ne. 26: 17-18).

Not only all their letters and legal papers, but their household effects and their bones were left behind in the caves, for the simple reason that they did not have time to escape. As to their destroyers, Yadin writes, "Nothing remains here today of the Romans save a heap of stones on the face of the desert, but here the decendants of the besieged were returning to salvage their ancestor's belongings." (p. 235). Again, the BofM: "...and the multitude of their terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away..." (2 Ne. 26:18).

Interestingly, the future of the BofM is fittingly the subject of prophecy by the first man and the last one to write it. Moroni ends and seals up the book with the prophecy that when its words shall be "like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking from the dust" (Moroni 10:27), then shall the invitation go forth to the Jews: "Awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem... enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded." (Moroni 31). Which is exactly what the Jews are doing today!

When reading Yadin's book where he finds the ancient artifacts and documents in the cave cliffs, we seem to shift back and forth between the refugees and the fighters under Bar Kochba, or, in the BOfM terms, between Lehi, the refugee in the desert, and Moroni the hero, fighting against fearful odds to save his people.

Lehi's dream tells him of the imminent fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, so, fleeing in the night with his family to the south desert, he intends to found a community there. His sons, go back to the city to botain valuable records and family documents, which after fleeing Laban, the sons flee and hide in caves to make their plans. The caves where the Bar Kochba documents were found were such places of hiding, and the people who wrote them and owned them had brought them from home, for they too were refugees from the approaching armies of a mighty world-conquering power destined to hold Palestine and to subdue the Jews for that purpose.

We find that at 600 B.C., Lehi's day, the Jews were putting their trust in Egypt and finally fleeing thither when things got too hot in Jerusalem. The same sort of thing meets us in the letters of a rich lady named, Babata, found in the Cave of Letters: she was ready to flee to Egypt, where she had property, but unfortunately, she didn't make it. (Yadin, p. 248).

Lehi burned his bridges behind him, and didn't expect to return to Jerusalem, but to find a "promised land" in the desert; nothing was further from his mind than crossing the ocean - Nephi was simply bowled over when he was commanded to build a ship, and his brothers laughed their heads off at him. On the other hand, there is nothing strange about Lehi's taking to the desert, or even of preparing a colony once in the desert, which is what they were accused of doing, with Nephi as the leader, becuase this sort of thing was done all the time.

Lehi's story occurred 700 years before Bar Kochba, and yet the two tales show astonishing points of resemblence which, we think, are more than coincidental. The same cave that yielded the Bar Kochba materials also brought forth evidence of much earlier occupations according to Yadin.

When the diggers found ancient vessels in the cave, they reminded them of temple vessels and they broke out in singing temple songs and hymns. (p. 218). But Yadin found after carbon dating them that they dated to 3,000 B.C.! They were no less than 5,000 years old! Yadin notes that the most plausible explanation of how they got their in the cave was that people fleeing from the advances of the first Kings of Egypt into Palestine, and they brought the vessels with them and hid them in the cave (p. 211) On pp. 218f you can see the exquisite workmanship of these weird and wonderful objects. This practice of people fleeing to the caves with their sacred and profane treasure is far older than Lehi's day. The same cave also yielded objects from the Iron Age of the 8th and 7th centuries B.C., i.e., Lehi's time, making it quite clear, according to Yadin, "that these remote caves served as places of refuge for people who were forced by circumstances to flee the rulers of the land." (p. 30). This reminds us of Lehi's sons who were impressed by the "precious steel" of a sword, that being a time when the stuff was available (iron could not be smelted without a carbon mixture, which made it steel) but was still very costly, (1 Ne. 5:9, 16:18).

The most welcome aspect of the new findings to the archaeologists, were of course the collection of writings which they found - legal documents, correspondence, family records, scripture - quite in the manner of Lehi.

Unfortunately looters had beat the tems to the caves and had trashed them, but the scraps of writing they dropped in their hasty departure happened to be passages of scripture which peculiarly fitted the situation of the people in their desert hiding places. This reminds us of Nephi in the desert who made it a point to read to his people just those scriptures which applied to their present situation: "And I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning." (1 Ne. 19:23).

This practice of applying ancient stories and prophecies to their own peculiar situations was found to be a special practice among the Dead Sea Scrolls people as well, who also compared themselves to Israel in the wilderness who were sorely afflicted by Gentile armies in ages past. This is exactly what Nephi in the BofM did to hearten his people wandering in the sands, and it was the BofM that first pointed out the practice back in the 1830's!

Now the most interesting and important of the documents that were found was of course, the personal letters, including an autograph of Bar Kochba himself, not copies of copies of copies, but the original signature of Bar Kochba! These letters take us into the world of General Moroni.

We find that Bar Kochba's people reissued Roman coins with a new stamp upon them bearing slogans of liberty resembling those on the trumpets of the armies in the Battle Scroll in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Such slogans as: "Year 1 Redemption of Israel", "Year 2 Freedom of Israel", or simply "Freedom of Jerusalem". These slogans were to inspire the people to resistance, inscription maney, having long been used in the ancient world, especially by the Romans, as a convenient means of spreading governement propaganda. Compare this with Moroni's standards in the BofM: "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children." (Alma 46:12). And he took the pole, which had the end thereof his rent coat (and he called it the Title of Liberty) (Alma 46:13).

The parallel is only too obvious, and what's more, the talk of liberty doesn't necessarily smack of 19th century America, but rather that of ancient Israel with the constant recurrence of the word liberty (Kherut) in the Dead Sea Scrolls, to say nothing of these Bar Kochba coins, show that it is entirely in order in Moroni's world.

And this banner of liberty in the BofM is completely explained as being an ancient tradition which the people had brought with them to the New World. "... let us preserve our liberty as a remnant of Joseph, yea, let us remember the words of Jacob [when]... he saw that a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved..." (Alma 46:24-27). He then tells the story of how the garment of Joseph was preserved in two parts, which the aged Jacob recognized on his deathbad. He wept for the one part which was defiled and rejoiced at the other part which was miraculously preserved. This was a story from the Old Country which the people were expected to remember. It is not in the Bible, but is preserved in the pages of Tha'labi from Persia in the 10th century. The point is Moroni based his military practices on the customs of the Jews in the homeland. Moroni's remnant of the garment is another variation on the Exekiel 37 theme of the two sticks which were separated for a time and then brought together in one in the hand of God.

And of course, the name Alma, as a male Jew was also found by Yadin in the Bar Kochba documents. Now, certainly, Yadin, the Jew, would know how to read the Hebrew, and he clearly translates the name Alma, SON of Yehudah. A picture of the actual document is on Yadin's page 179.

Not only did Bar Kochba's people reissue Roman coins with their patriotic inscriptions on them, they gave the coins new names and denominations, (Yadin, p. 176). This same freedom is found in Alma where his people invented new names and denominations of money. (Alma 11).

Bar Kochba's war was a religious and holy war, as was Moroni's in the BofM. It was even a Messianic war, with fanatical concern for the temple (p. 27). In the struggle for liberation, the hero found his hands full dealing with all kinds of people and problems. Bar Kochba found that some of the wealthier citzens of a city were evaders of national duties (p. 125). Specifically they were "desregarding the mobilization orders of Bar Kochba", who became exceedingly angry and issued dire threats against them, including the death penalty. Compare this with Moroni's no less dire situation:

"And it came to pass that whomsoever of the Amalickiahites would not enter into a covenant to support the cause of freedom... he caused to be put to death; and there were but a few who denied the covenant of freedom." (Alma 46:35).

And who were the Amalickiahites? A coalition of the wealthier citzens who opposed government controls (Alma 45:24). They considered themselves part of the aristocracy "who professed the blood of nobility." (Alma 51:18ff), who sought for power (Alma 46:4; Alma 10:4, 3 Ne. 6:27, etc.) Many even dissented from the church (Alma 46:7). These were no pacifists or evaders, but men armed to the teeth who would not take up arms in the defense of their country, but who would fight against it (Alma 62:9-11). These Alma put to death.

Bar Kochba had to deal with just such characters and he did so in the same way. "The brothers" (for so he calls them, as Moroni does all to whom he writes) in the city of En-Gedi he personally wrote a letter to in Hebrew that survives to this day: "To Masabala and to Yehonathan: bar Be'ayan, peace. In comfort you *sit* eating and drinking from the property of the house of Israel and *care nothing for your brothers.* (Yadin p. 133).

The words emphasized compare astonishingly with Moroni's letter in the BofM: "To Pahoran, in the city of Zarahemla... and also to all those who have been chosen by this people to govern and manage the affairs of this war." (Alma 60:1) "... can you think to *sit* upon your thrones in a state of *thoughtless stupor*, while your enemies are spreading the work of death around you? Yea, while they are murdering thousands of your *brethren*?" (Alma 60:7). Moroni threatens these people, "And I will come unto you... behold I will stir up insurrection among you, even until those who have desires to usurp power and authority shall become extinct." (Alma 60:27).

Now while this sounds severe, the provocation was terrible! Moroni, like Bar Kochba, was barely holding on. "Whatever we may think of Bar Kochba's harsh tone, it is quite clear that Yehonathan (an important leader) was not the most loyal of subordinates," and there were others like him in high office, especially as things grew worse. (Yadin, p. 134).

When Galgoula was taken to task for holding out supplies, including a cow, he wrote to his superiors to explain: "Were it not for the Gentiles [the Romans] who are near us, I would have gone up and satisfied you concerning this lest you say that it is out of contempt that I did not go to you" (Yadin p. 136). In the BofM, Moroni ran into just such a misunderstanding, when he accused Pahoran of withholding supplies, to which Pahoran replies just as Galgoula did: "It is those who have sought to take away the judgement seat from me that have been the cause of this great iniquity... they have withheld our provisions, and have daunted our freemen that they are not come unto you. in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart." (Alma 61:4,9).

These patterns are clearly Jewish patterns found in ancient Jewish history, to be sure, as they are in the ancient Jewish BofM. The familiar theme is that of prophets - rebellion, punishment, repentance, the same old cycle round and round, and it is found certainly in the BofM, as it is in every ancient text.

Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the constant theme of ancient Jewish history is that of fleeing into the wilderness of pious souls from Jerusalem or any other place destined for destruction, in which wilderness they build up communities and carry on in the manner of Israel in the wilderness under Moses. Lehi is a classic example of this tradition and it is carried right over into the New World.

Alma's church in the wilderness in a desert spot called the Waters of Mormon, is such a community. They were engaged in pious activites, self-supporting and industrious attitudes. He initiated members into the water of baptism, and even down to details his organization resembles that of Qumran. Yadin points out that the presence at Qumran of numerous cisterns and ritual baths (p. 189).

The letters of the lady Babata belonged to a type known as tied deeds, a very old and used practice anciently. (p. 229). It was an arrangement by which a legal agreement was written twice on the same piece of papyrus or parchment; the first time very small at one end of the paper which was then rolled into a tight cylinder, sewn closed, and signed over to the participants signatures; the rest of the sheet, the greater part of it, then received the same writing in bolder letters; it was not sealed, so that it could be freely consulted while the other copy of the text, though on the same sheet, remained tightly sealed until the time came to settle the contract; then it was unrolled and compared with the other writing, and if the two were exactly the same, all would be in order. The purpose, of course, was to safeguard the original deed from falsification, while at the same time, to enable its holder to use the lower exterior half for daily reference as required. (Yadin, p. 230).

This is an elaboration of the old tally-stick technique, where strips of parchment or cloth were attatched to the sticks and wrapped around them since there was not enough room on the stick for writing a lengthy contract. This was the origin of the Jewish scroll wrapped around a staff resembling a scepter. The original tally-stick was a staff on which the contract and names of the contracting parties were written; the staff was then split down the middle and one half, the stock, was kept by one party, while the other, the bill, was held by the other contracting party. When the time came to settle the contract, the two parties would bring their sticks together in the presence of the king, and if they matched perfectly, it was plain that neither party had attempted to manipulate and change the contract.. The two sticks were then bound as one in the king's hand and laid away in the archives. The Bar Kochba documents have now yielded 23 examples of this ancient practice, and this is another direct archaeological bullseye for the BofM. The BofM claims to be "The STICK of JOSEPH" which in the last days after the dry bones have lain around for awhile (the apostasy in other words! - Ezekiel 37!) would be joined with the "STICK of Judah" (the Bible) so that the two would become one stick in the hands of God! The parallel is absolutely *p-e-r-f-e-c-t*. Now, there are many sticks but no more significant joining of sticks than now taking place between the Jewish and Nephite records!

"And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Isreal... And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever. (2 Ne. 29:13-14).

So here is the task of critics who contend that the BofM is merely a 19th century book. Refute all the many hundreds of ancient themes, customs, parallels, traditions, words, concepts, ideas, practices, prophesies, etc., in not only the BofM, but between the BofM and the Lachish Letters, the Bar Kochba documents, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Ras Shamra texts, the Elephantine Papyri, El Amarna Letters, etc., etc., etc.

It won't do to just cite a few 19th century parallels, since this does nothing to refute the ancient parallels. As I have been at some pains to note, one can find parallels with just any book, but when documents by the tens of thousands from the ancient Near East and from 600 B.C. start showing hundreds and thousands of patterns with the BofM, then this needs addressing. The critics ignore all of this, which clearly shows the BofM fits rather comfortably into ancient history, as it is obviously an ancient text.