Brief Biography
The prophet Enos was the son of Jacob, the brother of Nephi. After the death of his father, he continued the record on the small plates of Nephi. In his brief account, he wrote of how he sought and received forgiveness of his sins and the promise of future blessings for his own people and his enemies, the Lamanites.
Insights into the Words and Phrases
Enos
Did you know that Enos, the son of Jacob, frames his life story in the language of the biblical patriarch Jacob and his brother Esau?
When Enos uses the word "power," he refers specifically to the power of God. The words and phrases "kneeled," "nurture and admonition," "reminding," "shaven," "struggling," and "wrestle" are only used by Enos.
Many of the words in the Enos account seem to evoke the biblical story of Esau and Jacob. Esau and Jacob were twins. Before their birth, they "struggled together" in their mother’s womb, pointing to the future conflict between them (Genesis 25:22). Esau became a skilled hunter (Genesis 25:27). One day, when he came in from the field exhausted and hungry, Jacob pressured him to sell his birthright (Genesis 25:29-34). Later, Jacob tricked his father into giving him Esau’s blessing (Genesis 27:1-40). When Esau learned of this, he "hated Jacob" and planned to kill him, forcing his brother to flee to another land (Genesis 27:41-45).
Years later, when Jacob returned, he was afraid that his brother might still be angry and want to kill him and his family. Throughout the night, Jacob "wrestled a man" (an unidentified divine being) until he received a blessing (Genesis 32:24-25). After his encounter, Jacob said, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:30). The following day, instead of trying to kill him, his brother Esau embraced him, kissed him, and reconciled with him. In relief, Jacob said, "I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me" (Genesis 33:10).
The name Enos means "man." Enos’ father’s name was Jacob, so it makes sense that he would frame his own story in light of the biblical Jacob. The Lamanites believed that Nephi and his people had robbed them of the plates of brass and their right to rule. During Enos’ life, efforts to bring the gospel to the Lamanites were a failure. "Their hatred was fixed" and "they were continually seeking to destroy us" (Enos 1:20-21). They hunted the Nephites like they hunted wild beasts, but the Nephites were also naturally prone to do evil (Enos 1:23).
Enos writes of the "wrestle which [he] had before God" before he received forgiveness for his sins. He writes of "struggling in the Spirit" in his prayers for the Nephites and of "many long strugglings for my brethren the Lamanites" (Enos 1:10-11). Enos, before his conversion, was a hunter like Esau (Enos 1:3). As he pondered the words of his father, his soul "hungered" (Enos 1:4). He wrestled against his natural inclinations until he received blessings. He prayed to God all day and into the night. "The man Enos wrestle[d] with [was] himself."1 Once converted, he was a new Enos, a new man.
Having seen God, Jacob marveled at the preservation of his life. Enos sought the preservation of the Nephite records so that the Lamanites could one day read them, come to know God, and receive eternal life (Enos 1:13-15). Having looked back at the old Enos, he looked forward to his future reunion with his Redeemer: "I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure" (Enos 1:27).
Key Insights
We, too, can become new people, if we are willing to put forth the effort to seek out our Savior and His Atonement.
1 Matthew L. Bowen, Name As Key Word: Collected Essays on Onomastic Wordplay and the Temple in Mormon Scripture (Salt Lake City: Eborn Books and Interpreter Foundation, 2018), 84.