The Sabbath and the Fulness of the Earth

One short revelation puts two things next to each other that are not usually adjacent: a day of restraint, and a catalogue of physical goods given “to please the eye and to gladden the heart” (D&C 59:18). The second is stated as the consequence of the first, which is the reason this page treats them together rather than separately.

What this page maps. Modern revelation, reported as the text gives it. Dates, places, and occasions are not in this wiki’s source text and are not stated.

Account

The commandments restated, then extended

The section opens with a blessing on the arrived and the dead — “For those that live shall inherit the earth, and those that die shall rest from all their labors, and their works shall follow them; and they shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father, which I have prepared for them.” (D&C 59:2) — and then gives a commandment list that begins with the two great ones.

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () - D&C 59:5: “Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him.” - Matthew 22:37: “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

Divergences reported: the faculties listed differ — “with all thy might, mind, and strength” (D&C 59:5) against “with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37) — and the revelation adds a clause the gospel verses have no counterpart for, “and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him” (D&C 59:5). “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart” stands at four distinct frozen verses in the corpus: this one, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27; Mark’s and Luke’s are disclosed, not paired, both carrying four faculties where Matthew’s and the revelation’s carry three.

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () - D&C 59:6: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it.” - Leviticus 19:18: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.”

Divergences reported: spelling — the revelation reads “neighbor” where every other carrier in the corpus reads “neighbour”, which is why the two spellings must be counted separately: “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” stands at exactly one distinct frozen verse in the corpus (D&C 59:6), and “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” at seven — Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, and James 2:8. Leviticus is paired as the commandment’s first carrier in the corpus’s order; the six others are disclosed. The revelation also compresses three further prohibitions into the same verse and closes them with a catch-all, “nor do anything like unto it” (D&C 59:6), which none of the seven has.

The list then extends past the decalogue into two commandments about disposition rather than conduct: “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.” (D&C 59:7), and a commanded sacrifice whose content is interior.

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () - D&C 59:8: “Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” - 3 Nephi 9:20: “And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost…”

Divergences reported: the record’s verse attaches a promise to the sacrifice — baptism with fire and with the Holy Ghost — which the revelation has no counterpart for; the revelation instead adds “in righteousness” (D&C 59:8), which the record’s verse lacks. “a broken heart and a contrite spirit” stands at six distinct frozen verses in the corpus: these two, 2 Nephi 2:7, 3 Nephi 12:19, Ether 4:15, and Moroni 6:2 — the last of these treated on The Order of the Church. 3 Nephi 9:20 is paired because it is the only other carrier that states the phrase as the content of an offered sacrifice; the four others are disclosed.

The day, and what is done on it

The sabbath commandment arrives attached to a purpose clause taken from an epistle.

[Textual] — distinctive shared phrasing. () - D&C 59:9: “And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;” - James 1:27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

Divergences reported: the epistle names two things pure religion consists of — visiting the fatherless and widows, and keeping unspotted — and the revelation takes only the second, making it the purpose of a different practice, sabbath attendance, which the epistle’s verse does not mention at all. “unspotted from the world” stands at exactly two distinct frozen verses in the corpus — these two.

The day’s own content is stated positively rather than as a list of prohibitions: “verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High” (D&C 59:10); “But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.” (D&C 59:12). “the Lord’s day” stands at exactly two distinct frozen verses in the corpus — this one and Revelation 1:10, where the phrase locates a vision rather than commanding anything, and is disclosed rather than paired. “thine oblations” (D&C 59:12) stands at exactly one, and “upon my holy day” (D&C 59:9) at exactly one.

Two clauses then guard the day against being made either lax or grim. On the one side the day is exclusive — “on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full” (D&C 59:13) — and on the other the exclusivity is immediately reinterpreted: “Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer.” (D&C 59:14). The manner required is cheerful with one exception named: “with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance—” (D&C 59:15). “not with much laughter” stands at exactly one distinct frozen verse in the corpus. The day is also stated not to exhaust the obligation: “Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times” (D&C 59:11).

The consequence: a catalogue of goods

What follows is stated as the reward of the foregoing, and it is a list of physical things: “inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth” (D&C 59:16); “Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards” (D&C 59:17); “Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart” (D&C 59:18); “Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.” (D&C 59:19). “the fulness of the earth is yours” stands at exactly one distinct frozen verse in the corpus.

The permission is then bounded in a single verse that gives three limits and no more: “it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion” (D&C 59:20). And the section names the one offence that overrides the whole catalogue: “in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments” (D&C 59:21). It closes by refusing further argument: “Behold, this is according to the law and the prophets; wherefore, trouble me no more concerning this matter.” (D&C 59:22).

Significance

The structure is the point. A reader arriving at a sabbath commandment expects restriction, and this section supplies it — one day, one place, one set of offerings, and an instruction to do “none other thing” (D&C 59:13). What is unusual is that the section immediately glosses its own severity twice, first turning fasting into rejoicing in the next verse (D&C 59:14), then attaching to the whole a catalogue of goods justified partly on grounds of pleasure — “both to please the eye and to gladden the heart” (D&C 59:18), “for taste and for smell” (D&C 59:19) — with exactly three limits placed on their use (D&C 59:20). The borrowings are all in the commandment list at the front, and each is quoted above beside its counterpart with divergences listed.

Key references

D&C 59:1–4 — the blessing on the living and the dead
D&C 59:5–8 — the two great commandments; thanksgiving; the broken heart as sacrifice
D&C 59:9–15 — the holy day, its offerings, its manner
D&C 59:16–21 — the fulness of the earth, and the three limits on its use

The Sacrament · The Law of the Church · The Order of the Church · Riches and Pride · The Gathering to Zion · Index · Connections

Sources

Doctrine and Covenants section 59 throughout (verse text only; headnotes excluded). Cross-references quoted from Matthew 22, Leviticus 19, 3 Nephi 9, and James 1; Mark 12, Luke 10, Matthew 19, Romans 13, Galatians 5, James 2, Revelation 1, 2 Nephi 2, 3 Nephi 12, Ether 4, and Moroni 6 are cited, not quoted, inside disclosures.

Every quote is verbatim from the frozen source text, cited to its exact reference and checked character-for-character; no quote crosses a verse boundary. Four connection records are registered on this page, all [textual] and all submitted asserted_by: wiki. Phrase distributions are counts of distinct frozen verses in the corpus, derived by script at the time of writing; the basis is stated at the head of this draft.