Moses 1; Abraham 3
Wherefore, no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth. Moses 1:5.
Summary
The word “glory,” understood through biblical and linguistic lenses, encompasses the ideas of weight, honor, splendor, and the presence of the divine. The LDS Guide to the Scriptures explains, “In the scriptures, glory often refers to God’s light and truth. It may also refer to praise or honor and to a certain condition of eternal life or to the glory of God”. We read in the Doctrine and Covenants that there are kingdoms of glory. In another place, we read that the glory of God is intelligence. Also, we frequently quote that God’s work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
What is glory? What did it mean in the Hebrew Bible?
Hebrew (Oriental) vs. Greek (Occidental)
Before defining glory, it’s important that we get our arms around the ancient Hebrew mindset. It’s natural to see history through our modern lens. As Latter-day Saints, we often try to connect our current practices and beliefs to those of earlier covenant peoples. While God’s plan of salvation is similar, combining eras would reveal surprising cultural differences.
The Greeks saw the world through the lens of abstract thought. Understanding the Greek way of thinking is tough for two reasons: First, it’s what we do in our society and it’s everywhere, so we don’t even notice it. Second, trying to define it is, in itself, a very Greek thing to do.
When Pilate asked Christ, “What is truth?” Jesus just stayed quiet. Jesus wasn’t about philosophical debates, like Socrates. No, His mission was to reveal God through His life.
On the other hand, Jesus, before dying as God’s Passover Lamb, told his followers in concrete terms, “I am the way, the truth, the life…” This wasn’t meant in a Greek way, as that would’ve been foolish, but in a Hebrew way to show His identity and God’s plan of salvation.
Ancient Hebrew uses our senses to express concepts and ideas. When using Hebrew, our senses are engaged through speaking, hearing, writing, and reading. Psalms 1:3 illustrates this. This text uses tangible terms to represent intangible concepts: a tree for righteousness, water for grace, fruit for character, and a leaf for prosperity.
In contrast, translators used abstract words for a Western audience in translating Psalms 103:8. They state abstract concepts like compassion, grace, anger, and love in this Hebrew text. The translators often did it this way because a literal English translation of the original Hebrew would make no sense to us because of our worldview.
One Hebrew scholar notes, “Let us take one of the abstract words above to demonstrate how this works. Anger, an abstract word, is actually the Hebrew word אף (awph) which literally means “nose”, a concrete word. When one is very angry, he begins to breathe hard and the nostrils begin to flare. A Hebrew sees anger as “the flaring of the nose (nostrils).” If the translator literally translated the above passage “slow to nose” it would make no sense to the English reader, so אף, a nose, is translated to “anger” in this passage” (Benner, “Ancient Hebrew Thought)”.
Hebrew Roots
What does this have to do with glory? The Hebrew word for glory is kabod (כבוד). It is a very concrete word and literally means “heavy” or “weighty”. In the ancient world, value was often judged by weight (such as gold), and thus kabod came to represent that which is significant, important, and worthy of honor. For example, we speak of someone whose word “carries weight”.
Let’s look at a concrete example. In Hebrew, both the word for liver (kaved) and the word for glory (kavod) are derived from the same triliteral root: K-V-D (כ-ב-ד). This organ is named from this root because it is literally the heaviest of the internal organs. Ancient Semitic cultures saw the liver, the heaviest internal organ, as the core of human will and emotions, man’s glory. Just as modern English might use the “heart” to describe feelings, ancient texts (such as those from Ugarit) described the liver “swelling with laughter” or being “filled with joy”. In Biblical poetry, the word kavod (glory) is occasionally used to refer to the human soul or spirit, representing the “noblest part” of a person.
Another aspect of glory is its relationship to a shield. The ancient Hebrews linked kavod to the heavy weapons and defenses used in combat. In ancient warfare, the most significant and “heavy” items a soldier carried were his defenses, such as his shield and body armor. Because these items were the weightiest part of a warrior’s equipment, the word for “heavy” became synonymous with the strength and protection they provided. Therefore, kavod symbolized the strength and protection given by God. For example, in Psalm 3:3, this verse explicitly pairs shield and glory, stating, “But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory”.
There were other manifestations of this heavy divine shield or protection over Israel. During the Exodus, God’s kavod showed up as a heavy cloud shielding them during the day and fire protecting them at night.
Ramifications
Responsibility: Hebrew scholars have also equated kabod to a “heavy” responsibility; it is a weight one must “carry” or act upon faithfully. The relationship between responsibility and kavod (glory/honor) is rooted in the concept of stewardship, authority, and accountability. In the biblical tradition, the “weight” of a person’s glory is directly tied to the “weight” of the charge they have been given.
Imagine the crown worn by a monarch: while the crown represents the “glory” and splendor of the position, its literal and symbolic weight serves as a constant physical reminder of the king’s heavy responsibility to protect and lead his people.
Seeing glory as a responsibility sheds a different light on Moses 1:39. God’s work and heavy responsibility are to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
On the other hand, Satan wanted the honors of men but not the glory or responsibility of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice. “Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor” (Moses 4:1).
Honoring covenants arms us with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.
Elder David A. Bednar
Protection: As mentioned above, glory (kavod) is a shield and a protection. Anciently, a garment of glory as a symbol of kavod was placed on an individual. For example, Enoch was “clothed upon with glory” (Moses 7:3). In 2 Enoch we learn more, “The Lord spoke to me with his own mouth: . . . ‘Take Enoch and remove his earthly garments and anoint him with holy oil and clothe him in his garment of glory’” (Nibley, Temple and the Cosmos).
When Moses encountered God in Moses 1, God’s glory or kavod shielded Moses from destruction. It represented His “heavy” presence and when the glorious shield was removed, Moses “fell unto the earth” (Moses 1:9).
Moses contrasts that experience with his encounter with Satan, in which he doesn’t need a shield. “Behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me. And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee? For behold, I could not look upon God, except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I can look upon thee in the natural man. Is it not so, surely?” (Moses 1:12–14).
Latter-day Witness
I’ve tried to paint a picture of the multifaceted nature of glory in ancient Hebrew. However, I want to underscore that God’s glory is literal and not metaphorical. It’s hard for us to understand God’s glory without experiencing it.
Joseph Smith is our best latter-day witness to His glory. He wrote, “When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—‘This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!’” (Joseph Smith History 1:17).
Truman Madsen wrote, “Joseph described the descending light. In dictating the account, he sought the proper word. He first used the word fire. That is crossed out in favor of spirit or light. The word he finally settled on and used most often was glory. It refers to the emanating and radiating spirit and power of God. But the word fire is important to notice. Orson Pratt, in his book Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions—published in 1840, two years before the Wentworth letter, and circulated widely in the missions in Great Britain and Europe—says that the young prophet expected to see ‘the leaves and boughs of the trees consumed.’ In other words, he thought he was seeing descending fire, the kind that burns and consumes. Was that detail something Orson Pratt had learned from conversation with the Prophet? Or was it an inference from the statement Joseph makes that the ‘brightness and glory defy all description’? The Prophet indicates in the 1835 account that he was filled with that light, but also surrounded by it, that it filled the Grove. Then he adds, ‘Yet nothing consumed,’ perhaps indicating that he expected it to be. The Prophet was not harmed by the experience; he was hallowed by it” (“Joseph Smith Lecture 1: The First Vision and Its Aftermath”).
Like Moses, Joseph Smith was exhausted after the glorious shield was taken away. When the light departed [God’s glory], “I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength” (Joseph Smith History 1:20).
