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Climate in the Book of Mormon
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Contents
Question
In 1 Nephi 11:8, Nephi says Lehi describes the Tree of Life by saying "the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow."
Since Nephi and Lehi were desert folk from Jerusalem, and then likely lived in tropical Central America, why would they have used "snow" as a description?
Answer
Contrary to popular belief, snow is not unheard of in Israel and Jerusalem.
It is perhaps significant that only Old World inhabitants (Lehi and Nephi) use "snow" as a description in the Book of Mormon; perhaps other writers were not familiar enough with it for it to be an effective metaphor for them or their audiences.
It should be noted too that many Old Testament scriptures which pre-date the Lehi colony's departure also use the term "snow," which means it is not surprising that Lehi and Nephi (who knew Israelite scripture well) would use the term.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
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