Born of Wealthy Parents?

Yesterday someone presented me with a novel reading of 1 Nephi 1:1. They told me that they were told that in Joseph Smith's day goodly meant wealthy. Therefore,

I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father (1 Nephi 1:1)

would mean that Nephi was able to be educated because his father was rich. This is, of course, intriguing. We know that Lehi was wealthy (1 Nephi 3:22-25), but in pre-exilic Israel education was largely a family affair. Hiring tutors is better known in the later Greco-Roman world.

Unfortunately, the premise of the argument is flawed. According to the 1828 Webster's dictionary, goodly meant:

GOOD´LY, adj. ‎1. Being of a handsome form; beautiful; graceful; as, a goodly person; goodly raiment; goodly houses. – Shak.
‎2. Pleasant; agreeable; desirable; as, goodly days. – Shak.
‎3. Bulky; swelling; affectedly turgid. [Obs.] – Dryden.

The Oxford English Dictionary lists the following usage from Joseph Smith's day:

1. Of good appearance; good-looking, well-favoured or proportioned; comely, fair, handsome.
2. Notable or considerable in respect of size, quantity, or number (freq. with mixture of sense 1).
3. Of good quality, admirable, splendid, excellent. Also, well suited for some purpose, proper, convenient (often with implication of sense 1).

So, in Joseph Smith's day, goodly did not mean wealthy. Yes, Lehi was wealthy but Nephi does not seem to be addressing that issue in his first verse, at least not based on English usage.

Friday the Thirteenth

I am not a triskaidekaphobe by any means, nevertheless, a friend of mine had a very bad Friday the thirteenth. This is for my friend:

1. Oh, what songs of the heart
   We shall sing all the day,
   When again we assemble at home,
   When we meet ne'er to part
   With the blest o'er the way,
   There no more from our loved ones to roam!
   When we meet ne'er to part,
   Oh, what songs of the heart
   We shall sing in our beautiful home.
    
2. Tho our rapture and bliss
   There's no song can express,
   We will shout, we will sing o'er and o'er,
   As we greet with a kiss,
   And with joy we caress
   All our loved ones that passed on before;
   As we greet with a kiss,
   In our rapture and bliss,
   All our loved ones that passed on before.
    
3. Oh, the visions we'll see
   In that home of the blest,
   There's no word, there's no thought can impart,
   But our rapture will be
   All the soul can attest,
   In the heavenly songs of the heart;
   But our rapture will be
   In the vision we'll see
   Best expressed in the songs of the heart.
    
4. Oh, what songs we'll employ!
   Oh, what welcome we'll hear!
   While our transports of love are complete,
   As the heart swells with joy
   In embraces most dear
   When our heavenly parents we meet!
   As the heart swells with joy,
   Oh, what songs we'll employ,
   When our heavenly parents we meet!

 A beautiful arrangement of this can be found here (unfortunately the audio is not the best).