According to the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

, Zenos () was an

old world The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

whose pre-Christian era writings were recorded upon the

plates of brass Laban () is a figure in the First Book of Nephi, near the start of the Book of Mormon, a scripture of the Latter Day Saint movement. Unlike many of the other Book of Mormon characters, Laban neither ends up in the New World, nor is he a Biblical ...

. Zenos is quoted or paraphrased a number of times by writers in the ''Book of Mormon'', including Nephi,

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

Alma, son of Alma According to the Book of Mormon, Alma, the son of Alma () was a Nephite prophet often referred to as Alma the Younger to distinguish him from his father, who is often referred to as Alma the Elder. These appellations, "the Younger" and "the Elder ...

Nephi, son of Helaman According to the Book of Mormon Nephi ( ), along with his brother Lehi, was a Nephite missionary. His father was Helaman, and his sons include two of the twelve Nephite disciples at the time that Christ visited the Americas. Known genealogy ...

,Helaman 8:19

Samuel the Lamanite According to the Book of Mormon, Samuel the Lamanite is a prophet who lived in the ancient Americas, sent by Jesus Christ around 5 BC to teach and warn the Nephites just before his birth in the Old World. The account is recorded in Helaman 13-16 ...

, and

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

. Zenos is reported to have written on a variety of topics, including the signs to accompany the death of the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

, the

Atonement Atonement (also atoning, to atone) is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ex ...

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

, and the scattering and gathering of Israel. According to one Book of Mormon writer, Zenos was killed as a result of his preaching.

Dead Sea Scrolls connection

Outside of the Book of Mormon, there is no direct evidence that Zenos existed. However, Some LDS scholars argue that Zenos' Book of Mormon hymn of thanksgiving and praise, which elaborates upon prayer, worship, and mercy, compares favorably in style and content with Hymn H (or 8) and Hymn J (or 10) of the Thanksgiving Hymns of the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...

Additionally, there is evidence that writings of, and references to several ancient Israelite prophets were destroyed by the ruling class of the ancient Jews. The best known example of this is a reference in the Dead Sea Scrolls to an ancient prophet known as the

Teacher of Righteousness The Teacher of Righteousness (in Hebrew: מורה הצדק ''Moreh ha-Tzedek'') is a figure found in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, most prominently in the Damascus Document. This document speaks briefly of the origins of the sect, proba ...

who was driven out of Jewish society because he preached of the coming of a Messiah. Outside of the Dead Sea Scrolls, there is no other reference to this person, and until 1950, there was absolutely no record of his existence. However, certain identical components exist between allegories found within the Book of Mormon and those contributions found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls state that the Teacher of Righteousness was descended from

Zadok Zadok (or Zadok HaKohen, also spelled Ṣadok, Ṣadoc, Zadoq, Tzadok, or Tsadoq; he, צָדוֹק הַכֹּהֵן, meaning "Righteous, Justified") was a Kohen (priest), biblically recorded to be a descendant from Eleazar the son of Aaron (). H ...

, which some LDS scholars have argued might have been a transcribed or altered version of the name

Zenock In the Book of Mormon, Zenock () is a nonbiblical prophet whose described life predates the events of the book's main plot and whose prophecies and statements are recorded upon the brass plates possessed by the Nephites. In the narrative, Zenock i ...

, another prophet referenced only in the Book of Mormon. Non-LDS scholars identify this Zadok as the priest who anointed Solomon (1 Kings 1:39, 2:35) and whose dynasty officiated in the office of High Priest around 1,000-700 BC.See generally: Thus, being descended from Zadok more likely meant that the Teacher was a member of, loyal to, or teacher of doctrines espoused by this Zadok.

References

{{reflist, 40em Book of Mormon prophets

Dead Sea Scrolls connection

See also

References