One of the most controversial passages in the Book of Mormon is found in 2 Nephi 5:21, a verse that describes a “skin of blackness” coming upon a group of people because of their iniquity. Read without its broader context, the passage can understandably raise difficult questions about race, scripture, and the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
So what is the passage actually saying? Is the Book of Mormon teaching that black skin is a divine punishment? A closer examination of the language, surrounding passages, and biblical context offers a different interpretation.
The Passage in 2 Nephi 5
2 Nephi 5:21 describes a curse that came upon a group of people after they “hardened their hearts” against God:
“Wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people, the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.”
Taken in isolation, the wording can appear to connect physical skin color directly with divine judgment. However, the passage needs to be considered alongside the way terms such as blackness, darkness, and white are used elsewhere in scripture.
How Does Scripture Use “Blackness”?
Biblical language frequently uses darkness and blackness metaphorically to describe mourning, suffering, calamity, or spiritual conditions. For example, Jeremiah 8:21 says, “I am black,” in the context of grief and distress. Jeremiah 14:2 similarly describes Judah as “black” while portraying widespread mourning.
Lamentations 4:8 uses even stronger imagery, describing people whose appearance had become “blacker than a coal” while also explaining that their skin had withered and their bodies had wasted away. The surrounding chapter describes famine, thirst, suffering, and calamity.
These examples illustrate an important feature of biblical and ancient Near Eastern language: descriptions of darkness or blackness can communicate a person’s condition rather than simply identifying their racial appearance.
Spiritual Darkness in the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon repeatedly uses similar imagery to describe spiritual conditions. One important example appears in 2 Nephi 30:6, where people are described as having “scales of darkness” that begin to fall from their eyes.
The imagery is significant because the passage connects the removal of darkness with turning toward God. If “darkness” in this context referred exclusively to literal skin pigmentation, the metaphor of scales falling from someone’s eyes would be difficult to understand. In the broader passage, however, the imagery functions naturally as a description of spiritual change.
Other passages reinforce this pattern. In Jacob 3:8, for example, repentance and standing before God are described using contrasting imagery of whiteness and darkness. The larger message is about sin, repentance, and one’s spiritual relationship with God.
“Black and White” in 2 Nephi 26:33
Perhaps the clearest statement about the Book of Mormon’s teaching on human equality appears in 2 Nephi 26:33:
“And he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness. And he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female. And he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”
The verse explicitly teaches that God invites everyone to come to Him and that people are alike before God regardless of their social or ethnic background. Within the Book of Mormon’s broader theology, sin is repeatedly associated with spiritual darkness, while repentance and faith in Christ are associated with Light.
Does This Resolve Every Question?
Understanding the language as spiritual and metaphorical addresses an important part of the question, but it does not eliminate every historical or interpretive difficulty surrounding these passages.
Readers also need to consider the history of race and the priesthood restrictions that existed within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Those historical questions are related to, but distinct from, the question of how 2 Nephi 5:21 should be interpreted.
Consequently, a responsible discussion should distinguish between the meaning of the Book of Mormon’s language, later interpretations of that language, and the Church’s broader racial history.
The Central Message
When 2 Nephi 5:21 is read by itself, the reference to a “skin of blackness” can sound like a straightforward statement about race. When it is read alongside the Book of Mormon’s repeated use of darkness and whiteness as spiritual imagery, however, a different picture emerges.
The text repeatedly connects darkness with sin and separation from God, and light with repentance and divine grace. Most importantly, the Book of Mormon explicitly teaches that God “denieth none” and that “all are alike unto God.”
That context is essential when asking what the Book of Mormon teaches about black skin. Rather than treating one controversial verse in isolation, readers should examine the language within its biblical, literary, theological, and historical contexts.
