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WATCH: Hebrew Evidence in the Book of Mormon!
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Post contributed by Scripture Central
September 19, 2018
Joseph Smith and Books
Joseph Smith and Books

Some critics have disparaged the Book of Mormon’s language for being too repetitive. This may lead readers to wonder if it has any literary merit at all. The following video demonstrates that the Book of Mormon’s redundancies are actually sophisticated literary features which, in many cases, are similar or identical to literary techniques used by ancient Hebrew authors. A number of other Hebrew features can also be found in the text. These traits provide remarkable evidence that the Book of Mormon is indeed a masterful work of literature. It just follows ancient, rather than modern literary standards.  

 

 
Click on references below to view all of the amazing scholarship behind this video.

References

Synthetic Parallelisms

Gradation

Chiasmus

Quantity of Parallelisms

  • Donald W. Parry, Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon: The Complete Text Reformatted (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2007), 565–567.
  • [Note: Viewers should be aware that the numbers presented in the film were derived solely from the above source and that they represent proposed, rather than absolute quantities. While the instances of these parallelisms are cited in this source, the numeric totals were tallied by Book of Mormon Central researchers.]

Repeated Conjunctions

If/And Conditionals

Repetitive Resumption

Simile Curses

Typological Narrative

Scriptural Allusions

Wordplays

“And it came to pass …”

Conclusions

Further Reading

Parallelisms

Chiasmus (a type of parallelism)

Hebrew Grammatical Features

Hebrew Idioms and Literary Devices

Typological Narratives

Scriptural Allusions

Wordplays, Etiologies, and Metonyms

Egyptian

Deseret
Giddianhi
Irreantum
Mary
Mormon
Nephi
Paanchi
Rod/Sword

Hebrew

Abish
Abraham
Amalickiah
Aminadab
Amulon
Alma
Benjamin
Cain
  • Matthew L. Bowen, “Getting Cain and Gain,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 15 (2015): 115–141.
Cezoram
Ephraim
Enos
Esau
Garb of Secrecy
  • John A. Tvedtnes and Matthew Roper, “One Small Step,” FARMS Review 15, no. 1 (2003): 147–99.
Giddianhi
Gad[d]ianton
Heshlon
Irreantum
Isabel
Ishmael
Jacob
  • Matthew L. Bowen, “Jacob’s Protector,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 27 (2017): 229–256.
Jershon
Judah/Jews
Joseph
Laban
Mosiah
Nahom 
  • Alan Goff, “Mourning, Consolation, and Repentance at Nahom,” in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon: Insights You May Have Missed Before, ed. John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1991), 92–99. 
Noah
Rameumptom
Rabbanah
Sebus
Seezoram
Shilom
Word/Things
Zarahemla
Zedekiah/Lord
  • John W. Welch, “Chiasmus in Helaman 6:7–13,” Reexploring the Book of Mormon: A Decade of New Research, ed. John W. Welch (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992), 130–132.  
Zeezrom
Zoram

 

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