Our Journey of Faith-The manner of Language of Lehi- Praising and ProphesyingHebraisms, Internal Literary insight, Chiasmus etc.

• Doctrines and Evidences of the Book of Mormon

Book of Mormon Evidences1. Lehi’s Theophany2. Jerusalem at the time of Lehi3. Nephi’s Theme-Deliverer and Messiah4. Lehi’s Family5. The Exodus Patterns & Promises6. Tree of Life concept and Pattern7. Hebraisms Internal Literary insight,

Chiasmus etc

1 Nephi 1:2-15

• After this manner was the language of my father...What Manner?

I make a record in the language of my father... (1 Nephi 1:2)

• Hebraisms• Names with Egyptian

and Semitic roots• Chiasmus• The Dead Sea Scrolls

and Other Ancient Writings

• Pseudepigrapha

Hebraisms- plural amplification• One of the most distinct characteristics of the language in the Book of Mormon is the

somewhat literal translation of what is now obvious are Hebraisms. As Professor Donald W. Parry asserts,

• “Because some form of Hebrew was used among the Nephites, the Book of Mormon reads like an ancient Hebrew book—even in its English translation.”

• Parry gives us just one of many examples with what is termed plural amplification. He explains that “in order to amplify or emphasize an idea, biblical Hebrew sometimes uses a noun in the plural when a singular is expected.” Here are some examples

• there shall be bloodsheds (2 Nephi 1:12)• the understandings of the children of men (Mosiah 8:20)• great condescensions unto the children of men (Jacob 4:7)• labor with their mights (Jacob 5:72)• great slaughters with the sword (1 Nephi 12:2)

Hebraisms

• In his work on the Original and Printer’s Manuscripts, Royal Skousen has uncovered one frequent expression that does not ring true in English, but makes perfect sense in Hebrew: In the original text of the Book of Mormon we find a number of occurrences of a Hebrew-like conditional clause. In English, we have conditional clauses like “if you come, then I will come,” with then being optional. In Hebrew this same clause is expressed as “if you come and I will come.” In the original text of the Book of Mormon, there were at least fourteen occurrences of this non-English expression.

Seven examples of this are found in one passage in the Original Manuscript, Helaman 12:13–21

• 13 yea and if he sayeth unto the earth move and it is moved• 14 yea if he sayeth unto the earth thou shalt go back that it lengthen out the day for many

hours and it is done . . .• 16 and behold also if he sayeth unto the waters of the great deep be thou dried up and it is

done• 17 behold if he sayeth unto this mountain be thou raised up and come over and fall upon

that city that it be buried up and behold it is done . . .• 19 and if the Lord shall say be thou accursed that no man shall find thee from this time

henceforth and forever and behold no man getteth it henceforth and forever• 20 and behold if the Lord shall say unto a man because of thine iniquities thou shalt be

accursed forever and it shall be done• 21 and if the Lord shall say because of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off from my

presence and he will cause that it shall be so.

Names used in the Book of Mormon, some of which have Egyptian as well as other Semitic roots

- (Alma 2:37)

• There is one name that always gave this writer a jolt: Hermounts. What a name! Like nothing you ever heard before. . . . What is Hermounts? It is not a person; it is the name used to designate wilderness country, “which was infested by wild and ravenous beasts” (Alma 2:37). Right away we thought of Min (good old Book of Mormon Ammoron) of Hermonthis, the Egyptian Pan, the God of wild places and wild animals. Some explain the name Hermonthis as meaning “House of Month” (good old Book of Mormon Manti!), referring to the shrine of the southern frontier. “Month” is the patron of war and colonization, and next to Ammon, Manti is the most common name of the persons and places in the Book of Mormon. Whatever the real explanation, Hermounts does not offend the ear anymore. If the Egyptians want to designate their wild country as Hermonthis and the Nephites as Hermounts, that is their business.[

Names: “The Holy one of Israel”Doctrine & Covenants 0New Testament 0Old Testament2 Kings 19:22 1xPsalms 3x Jeremiah 2x Isaiah 25x

31xBook of Mormon: SMALL PLATESNephi & Jacob 38xOmni 1x3Nephi 22:5---Savior quoting Isaiah 54

OT 153x mostly sacrifices

NT 35x John 32/35 John 29/32 in one Book can you guess which one???The “Lamb Chapter” is now Chs.10-14

Luke 2xPeter 1x

DC 16x

BOM 76x 64x in 1N and 2N 57x in one chapter

—1830 edition Chapter 3--- “Lamb chapter” Nephi uses 62/76

The “Lamb”

Ether 13:9-13; Phillippians 3:8-9; Romans 5:19-21

OT 0 xDC 1x– 88:95,106NT 2x Jn. 1:29, 36BOM 35 x

28/35 x in 1N Chapters 10-14Note: 1Ne. 10:10; 11:27; 2Ne.

31:4- 6 (Al. 7:14)

Nephi’s farewell; 33:14 Moroni’s warning in Mormon 9:2-3

“LAMB OF GOD”

“ Robe(s) of Thy Righteousness”2 Nephi 4:30,33; 9:14

• Only once in OT-- Isaiah 61:10, and 2 Nephi 4:30• D&C 29:11-12 (Sept. 26, 1830), • D&C 109:73-76 (Mar. 27th , 1836)

The Purpose of Poetic repetitious parallelistic writing’s like Nephi’s Psalm

• A vitally significant perspective to bear in mind when reviewing the forms of this book is this: there is no poetic, parallelistic, repetitious form or figure of speech that should become more important than the Book of Mormon’s chief message, which is to convince “the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God” (Book of Mormon title page). Rather, all of these forms and figures are designed to present this message regarding Jesus Christ and his gospel in an unforgettable, understandable, artistic, and fascinating way. The forms and figures gave writers of scripture unique methods of expression as they set forth religious doctrines, tenets, and principles. Apparently, the prophets and writers of the scriptures employed the repetition of alternating parallel lines for the purpose of reinforcing their teachings and doctrines. By hearing something repeated twice, albeit in different words, the hearer or reader is more apt to understand and remember the doctrine being taught.

Nephi's Psalm 2 Ne. 4:15-35Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon-

D o n a l d W. P a r r y

• ...the forms and figures are no more than a means to an end, and that end is to impart truths regarding Jesus Christ, his atoning sacrifice, and his plan of happiness. The form of the message should never become of greater consequence than the message.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader- Eustace• He had turned into a dragon while he was

asleep. Sleeping on a dragon's hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself. (6.32)

Voyage of the Dawn Treader- Eustace

In spite of the pain, his first feeling was one of relief. There was nothing to be afraid of any more. He was a terror himself now and nothing in the world but a knight (and not all of those) would dare to attack him. He could get even with Caspian and Edmund now.... But the moment he thought this he realised that he didn't want to. He wanted to be friends. He wanted to get back among humans and talk and laugh and share things. He realised that he was a monster cut off from the whole human race. An appalling loneliness came over him. He began to see the others had not really been fiends at all. He began to wonder if he himself had always been such a nice person as he had always supposed. (6.34-35)Becoming a dragon gives Eustace the ability to see himself for who he really is: an unpleasant, selfish person who is a burden and blight to everyone around him. Once he recognizes this, he is better able to understand his companions and their motivations.

Eustace the Dragon Meets Aslan

• “The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg. but the lion told me I must undress first. Mind you, I don’t know if he said any words out loud or not.

• I was just going to say that I couldn’t undress because I hadn’t any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. Oh, of course, thought I, that’s what the lion means.

Eustace the Dragon Meets Aslan

• So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and , instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I just stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.

Eustace the Dragon Meets Aslan

• But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. Oh, that’s all right, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I’ll have to get out of it too. So I scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.

Eustace the Dragon Meets Aslan

• Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg. So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.

• Then the lion said – but I don’t know if it spoke – ‘You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it

Eustace the Dragon Meets Aslan

• The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know – if you’ve ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.

Eustace the Dragon Meets Aslan

• Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off – just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt – and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I was smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me – I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on – and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I’d turned into a boy again.”

• -C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Brothers and sisters, I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other

I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone ; “robes … made … white in the blood of the Lamb.” May we encourage each other in our effort to win that prize is my earnest prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, The Other Prodigal, Ensign (CR), May 2002, p.62

3:4-5;19:8-14

3:7-8

3:12;19:12

5:9

GARMENT

DOOR

NEW NAMESING THE

SONG

REVELATION

3:11; 19:12

3:21

12:11

WEAR THE CROWN

SIT UPON THE THRONE

OVERCOME/VICTORY

An interesting comment regarding the original meaning of the terms “Keep or Break” the Commandments”

Another Testament of Jesus Christ

The Hebrew word for "keep" is שמר (shamar) and literally means "to guard, protect, and cherish" while the Hebrew word for "break" is פרר (parar) and literally means "to trample underfoot".

6565 parar {paw-rar'}; Usagea primitive root; TWOT - 1829,1830,1831; v1) to break, frustrate1a) (Hiph)1a1) to break, violate1a2) to frustrate, make ineffectual1b) (Hoph)1b1) to be frustrated1b2) to be broken1b3) to break1c) (Pilp) to break to bits, shatter2) to split, divide2a) (Qal) to split, crack through2b) (Poel) to break apart2c) (Hithpo) to be split, be cracked through

Duet. 31:16; Judges 2:1; Zechariah 11:10; etc.

1 Nephi 19:7For the things which some men esteem to be of great worth, both to the body and soul, others set at naught and trample under their feet. Yea, even the very God of Israel do men trample under their feet; I say, trample under their feet but I would speak in other words—they set him at naught, and hearken not to the voice of his counsels.

… The Hebrew word Parar is closely related to its parent root "par" which means a "bullock" which was used on the threshing floor to trample upon the grain to break open the hulls in the threshing process. Another closely related word is "purah" which is the winepress where grapes are trampled upon. 

With these clues we can see that words coming from the PR root have to do with trampling upon to split/crush which is why they translate parar as "break" but with the fuller meaning of "to throw something on the ground and break it by trampling."

The ancient Hebrew understanding of these words is not about obedience and disobedience of his commands, but ones attitude towards them. Will you cherish his teachings or throw them on the ground and walk (trample) on them?

Mosiah 29:22 For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, … and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God;

Alma 60:33 Ye know that ye do transgress the laws of God, and ye do know that ye do trample them under your feet.

Helaman 4:22 And that they had altered and trampled under their feet the laws of Mosiah, or that which the Lord commanded him to give unto the people;

Helaman 6:31 … insomuch that they had become exceedingly wicked; yea, the more part of them had turned out of the way of righteousness, and did trample under their feet the commandments of God.

This is especially remarkable because the KJV translators NEVER provide this connection in their translation—while the Book of Mormon makes it explicitly nine times.

Matthew 5:22 3 Nephi 12:22

REFORMED EGYPTIAN

“Behold, I speak unto you as though I spake from the dead; for I know that ye shall have my words.

Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.

“And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech. And if our plates had beensufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and ifwe could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record.”

Mormon 9:32-33

An abjad...is a type of writing system where each symbol always or usually stands for a consonant, leaving the reader to supply the appropriate vowel. It is a term suggested by Peter T. Daniels to replace the common terms "consonantary", "consonantal alphabet" or "syllabary" to refer to the family of scripts called West Semitic

All known abjads belong to the Semitic family of scripts. These scripts are thought to derive from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet (dated to about 1500 BC) which is thought to derive from Egyptian hieroglyphs. The abjad was significantly simpler than the earlier hieroglyphs. The number of distinct glyphs was reduced tremendously, at the cost of increased ambiguity.

The first abjad to gain widespread usage was the Phoenician abjad. Unlike other contemporary scripts, such as Cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Phoenician script consisted of only about two dozen symbols. This made the script easy to learn, and Phoenician seafaring merchants took the script wherever they went.

Phoenician gave way to a number of new writing systems, including the Greek alphabet, the first "true" alphabet, and Aramaic, a widely used abjad. Greek evolved into the modern western alphabets, such as Latin and Cyrillic, while Aramaic became the ancestor of many modern abjads and abugidas of Asia.

Aramaic spread across Asia, reaching as far as India and becoming Brahmi, the ancestral abugida to most modern Indian and Southeast Asian scripts. In the Middle East, Aramaic gave rise to the Hebrew and Nabataean abjads, which retained many of the Aramaic letter forms. The Syriac script was a cursive variation of Aramaic. It is unclear whether the Arabic abjad was derived from Nabatean or Syriac.

1993 issue of BAR, Mar/Apr p. 28.

Carved in Phoenician style, the seal incorporates such Egyptian elements as the ankh, upper left, a sphinx, and the winged disk. Four mirror image paleo-Hebrew letters, 2 just below the winged disk and 2 at lower left and right, spell out `yzbl', Jezebel ()

Tel Arad (Hebrew: ערד or (תל"old" Arad

....is located west of the Dead Sea, about 10 kilometres (6 miles) west of modern Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the Arad Plain. The site is divided into a lower city and an upper hill which holds the only ever discovered "House of Yahweh" in the land of Israel.

Tel Arad demonstrates that Jews and Egyptians were hopelessly mixed in Lehi's day of 700-600 B.C. In fact, there is ostraca showing a combination of Hebrew and Egyptian Hieratic writing together. In fact, Hebrew characters are written in Egyptian. The Egyptian values are given their Hebrew equivilants as a sort of jargon

When the decision at hand was to banish or exile a certain member of society, citizen peers would cast their vote by writing the name of the person on the piece of pottery; the vote was counted and if unfavorable the person was put out of the city, thus giving rise to the term ostracisim. Ostracism was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which a prominent citizen could be exiled from the city-state of Athens for ten years....

Over 100 ostraca inscribed in biblical Hebrew (in paleo-Hebrew script) were found in the citadel of Arad. This is the largest and richest collection of inscriptions from the biblical period ever discovered in Israel. The letters are from all periods of the citadel's existence, but most date to the last decades of the kingdom of Judah

suggesting a differentiating Egyptian, or as the Book of Mormon would put it, Reformed Egyptian. The person who wrote this ostraca obviously was familiar with both languages and hence throws support on the Book of Mormon with Lehi teaching his sons at least Hebrew and Egyptian.

Nephi says the language of his father was that of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians. Tel Arad produces evidence showing us that the combination of Hebrew and Egyptian writing exists and is strangely enough -----a type of Reformed Egyptian!!

In the 7th century B.C. there were close connections between Egypt and the Jews - as the Book of Mormon correctly notes, but was unknown in Joseph Smith's day. There were persons in Judah in the late 7th century B.C. who knew both the Hebrew and Egyptian scripts and systems of writings.

Obviously an ignorant man-----------or an individual who has chosen to attack the “Farmboy” with an unsubstantiated claim------one wonders if he himself has done any serious research on this topic ?

Uninformed attacks continue – Jacob Weisberg's 2006 Slate column I wouldn't vote for someone who truly believed in the founding whoppers of Mormonism. The LDS church holds that Joseph Smith, directed by the angel Moroni, unearthed a book of golden plates buried in a hillside in Western New York in 1827. The plates were inscribed in "reformed" Egyptian hieroglyphics -- a nonexistent version of the ancient language that had yet to be decoded. ... He was an obvious con man. Romney has every right to believe in con men, but I want to know if he does, and if so, I don't want him running the country.

Book of Mormon Evidences

Reformed Egyptian(i.e. Moses Maimonides Arabic language book written in Hebrew

Script.)

Arabic Scholar story....

Book of Mormon Evidences

Alma’s name... in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Chiasmus or poetic parallelismForm and Content Coincide- Mosiah 5:11

• “And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God. And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore,” and this word marks a turning point, “take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts. I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Writings

• The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has had a major impact on Bible studies. It has changed many views about religion in ancient Palestine and has given credibility to many Book of Mormon claims. The idea of finding New Testament concepts and practices such as ...

• baptism in Old Testament times is no longer ridiculous. LDS scholars have been very active in promoting research into the Dead Sea Scrolls and have been an important part of the academic community dealing with the texts.

• Fascinating insight into the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Book of Mormon and LDS religion in general is offered by two non-LDS writers, Carl Mosser and Paul Owen, who presented a paper at the 1997 Evangelical Theological Society Far West Annual Meeting, April 25, 1997. They warned the evangelical community about the impressive efforts of LDS scholars.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Writings

• Mormons have taken a keen interest in the scrolls for several reasons. Foremost among these, they want to support a portrait of early Christianity which is firmly rooted in apocalyptic Judaism.... Nibley feels that there is a line of continuity between the desert sectarians represented by Lehi and his family (cf. 1 Nephi 2), the community at Qumran, earliest Christianity, and second-century gnosticism. The argument being put forth is not that the Qumran Essenes were proto-Mormons, but simply that Mormonism has more in common with the apocalyptic belief system represented at Qumran than with that of Hellenized Christianity. Nibley continues:

• "Now with the discovery and admission of the existence of typical New Testament expressions, doctrines, and ordinances well before the time of Christ, the one effective argument against the Book of Mormon collapses."(1)

• Elsewhere he points to ten parallels between the Qumran literature and the Book of Mormon....

The Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Writings

• Nibley is not alone in pointing out parallels between the Qumran texts and Mormon scripture. William J. Hamblin complains that "the critics [of Mormonism] have never explained why we find close linguistic and literary parallels between the figure Mahujah in Dead Sea Scrolls Aramaic fragments and the Book of Enoch and Mahijah questioning Enoch in the book of Moses (Moses 6:40).“

• (2) ... Stephen E. Robinson points to numerous similarities between the Qumran community and the Latter-day Saints. He notes that the Qumranites wrote important information on metal, they believed in baptism(s) by immersion,

The Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Writings

• (3) their community was led by a council of twelve men with three governing priests, they had sacred meals of bread and wine administered by priests,

• (4) and they believed in continuing revelation through a prophetic leader. He writes, "All of this leads to the conclusion that in many ways the Essenes may have been closer to the [Mormon] gospel than other Jewish sects.“

• (5) As with defenses of the Book of Mormon, more examples could be listed. In light of the growing participation of LDS scholars in Scrolls research we can be sure that many more will be brought to our attention....

Pseudepigrapha• Mosser and Owen go on to discuss other Jewish writings (the

pseudepigrapha) that have more specific similarities with LDS scriptures. These writings are used to LDS scholars to establish an ancient milieu for the Book of Mormon. Among several examples, they cite work of Stephen E. Robinson on the Narrative of Zosimus (or History of the Rechabites)

• "which contains an interesting tradition about Jews leaving Jerusalem in Jeremiah's time, and traveling across the ocean to a land of promise."

• There are impressive parallels between LDS scriptures and ancient Semitic writings that were generally unknown in Joseph Smith's day. Mosser and Owen explain that Latter-day Saints are not the only ones who have noticed this:

"Messianism in the Pseudepigrapha and the Book of Mormon,"

• LDS writers are not alone in noting various parallels between these ancient texts and Mormon literature. James H. Charlesworth, in a lecture delivered at Brigham Young University entitled, "Messianism in the Pseudepigrapha and the Book of Mormon," points to what he describes as "important parallels . . . that deserve careful examination."

• He cites examples from 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, Psalms of Solomon and the Testament of Adam.(1) If the world's leading authority on ancient pseudepigraphal writings thinks such examples deserve "careful examination," it might be wise for evangelicals to do some examining. [italics in the original] ...

Theurgy (/ˈθiːɜrdʒi/; from Greek θεουργία)

• ...describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself

• Henosis (Ancient Greek: ἕνωσις) is the word for mystical "oneness," "union," or "unity" in classical Greek. In Platonism, and especially Neoplatonism, the goal of henosis is union with what is fundamental in reality: the One

Cognate accusative

• A Students’s Dictionary for Biblical and Theological Studies defines the cognate accusative as,

• “A noun, derived from the same root as the verb, that defines, explains, or strengthens (emphasizes) the verbal idea” (Huey and Corley 1983:45).

• It is on of the easiest forms of the internal accusative to identify; it is called a “cognate accusative” because the noun in the accusative case uses a same linguistic stem or root as (in other words, it is cognate with) the stem or root of the verb.”

Old Testament

...cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry (Genesis 27:34)...we have dreamed a dream (Genesis 40:8)...vowed a vow (Judges 11:30)...thundered with a great thunder (1 Samuel 7:10)...lamented with this lamentation (2 Samuel 1:17)...devise devices against Jeremiah (Jer. 18:18)

Book of Mormon

...curse them with a sore curse (1 Ne. 2:23)

...I have dreamed a dream (1 Ne. 8:2)

...yoketh them with a yoke (1 Ne. 13:5)

...work a great and marvelous work (1 Ne. 14:7)

...desire which I desired (Enos 1:13)

...succor those that stand in need of your succor (Mosiah 4:16)...taxed with a tax (Mosiah 7:15)

Merismus - 2 Nephi. 33, 3Nephi 11, 27

Once the pattern is established it is implied If only one of the pattern characters is present you must know that the rest will be there.

Mortal messiah 3 :287 ...a day of vengeance will come and the righteous pleas will be taken care of.

HEBRAISMS

The name Heshlon, attested once (in Ether 13:28), as a toponym in the Book of Mormon most plausibly denotes “place of crushing.” The meaning of Heshlon thus becomes very significant in the context of Ether 13:25–31, which describes the crushing or enfeebling of Coriantumr’s armies and royal power. 

This meaning is also significant in the wider context of Moroni’s narrative of the Jaredites’ destruction. Fittingly, the name Heshlon itself serves as a literary turning point in a chiastic structure which describes the fateful reversal of Coriantumr’s individual fortunes and the worsening of the Jaredites’ collective fortunes. Matthew L. Bowen and Pedro Olavarria Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 14 (2015): 227-239

“AND IT CAME TO PASS” AND THE HISTORY OF THE MANUSCRIPTS and TRANSLATION ERRORS

We now know that the Lowland Maya did not invent writing in Mesoamerica. They simply adopted it from an earlier culture period between 600 BC and 50 AD. The great Maya scholar, Eric Thompson, writes, “Middle America is the only part of the new world in which a system of embryonic writing developed.” (Thompson 1966:189)This writing system was developed during the Preclassic period (600BC-200AD—a time period that correlates directly with the Book of Mormon time period. 

1404 x in BOM

Egyptian historical texts “begin in monotonous fashion” always with the same stock words; for example, at some periods every speech is introduced with the unnecessary “I opened my mouth.”Dramatic texts are held together by the constant repetition of Khpr-n, “It happened that” or “It came to pass.”In Egyptian these expressions were not merely adornments, they are a grammatical necessity and may not be omitted. Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah. The entire section above was quoted directly from Nibley. Nibley quotes Grapow, Das Hieroglyphensystem, 23-25, 31

The phrase in ancient Maya is used for the same functional reason as for the BoM, to control the flow of action, or to mark a new section.See Michael D. Coe and Mark Van Stone, Reading the Maya Glyphs (London: Thames & Hudson, 2001), 33.

The Hebrew form of the expression “and it came

to pass” (wayehi) is found in the Hebrew Bible 1204 times, but

only translated as “and it came to pass” by the KJV

727 times. In other instances it is translated as a variation with the same meaning, or not

translated at all

In both the Bible and The BoM, the expression is rarely found in poetic, literary, or prophetic writings. Most often, it appears in narratives, histories, and chronologies. The BoM has more histories, chronologies, etc. than the OT relative to its size

“The frequency of the phrase is not anomalous or strange for a book with ancient Hebrew roots. Joseph translated the Semitic phrase “and it came to pass” more consistently than the KJV translators did.

Dr. Don Parry

Had Joseph simply observed the usage of the phrase in the bible, it is doubtful (to me) that he would have used it with greater frequency than the bible does, or that he would have properly identified the appropriate genre in which to focus its use.”

“Had Joseph simply observed the usage of the phrase in the bible, it is doubtful (to me) that he would have used it with greater frequency than the bible does, or that he would have properly identified the appropriate genre in which to focus its use.”

The phrase “and it came to pass” is attested for in all of the languages most closely linked to the Book of Mormon. In these ancient writing systems, the phrase is used for a similar or for the exact same purpose as it is used in the Book of Mormon. It is also used with the same frequency as in the Book of Mormon.

Instead of being a bad attempt at sounding “biblical”, the phrase “and it came to pass” in the Book of Mormon is used precisely as it should be. In fact, were the phrase not used in this way our critics would have something bigger to complain about. The Book of Mormon fits nicely into the ancient world from which it claims to be derived.

Most have heard Twain's quip that removing "and it came to pass"

from the Book of Mormon would reduce it to a

pamphlet

All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the “elect” have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so “slow,” so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print.

If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle—keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate. If he, according to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and mysteriously-engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out-of-the-way locality, the work of translating was equally a miracle, for the same reason.

The book seems to be merely a prosy detail of imaginary history, with the Old Testament for a model; followed by a tedious plagiarism of the New Testament. The author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint, old-fashioned sound and structure of our King James’s translation of the Scriptures; and the result is a mongrel—half modern glibness, and half ancient simplicity and gravity.

The latter is awkward and constrained; the former natural, but grotesque by the contrast. Whenever he found his speech growing too modern—which was about every sentence or two—he ladled in a few such Scriptural phrases as “exceeding sore,” “and it came to pass,” etc., and made things satisfactory again. “And it came to pass” was his pet. If he had left that out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet.

(Chapter 16, Roughing It)

“The Book of Mormon is one of those books where it is not universally assumed you have to have read it to have a sound opinion of it.”

Mark Twain’s joke about Wagner’s

music can be likened to Twain’s

own clueless dismissal of the

Book of Mormon, Twain writes: “It is better than it

sounds.”

While it might not have been the pamphlet Twain suggests, it is obvious to any reader that “and it came to pass” recurs frequently, a total of 1297 times in the Book of Mormon. Although the phrase appears in both the Old and New Testaments, it is

unquestionably most frequent in the Book of Mormon. In the scriptural texts, the next highest number isOld Testament, with 457 occurrences (59x Pearl of Great Price).(61XNewTestament)(5x Doctrine and Covenants--??What??

Is there a legitimate reason this phrase is repeated so many times? 

1674 Total

SONIA JAFFE ROBBINS, A PROFESSOR AT THE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, GIVES A BRIEF HISTORY OF PUNCTUATION: THE EARLIEST WRITING HAD NO PUNCTUATION, IN FACT, OFTEN HAD NO SPACE BETWEEN WORDS, UNTIL AROUND THE 9TH CENTURY A.D. SOME ROMAN MONUMENTS MIGHT HAVE CENTERED DOTS BETWEEN WORDS. . . .

ANCIENT GREEK MANUSCRIPTS SEPARATED UNITS OF TEXT BY A HORIZONTAL LINE CALLED A PARAGRAPHOS, SO THOSE UNITS CAME TO BE CALLED "PARAGRAPHS." THE POLICY OF INDENTING THE BEGINNING OF PARAGRAPHS WAS STANDARD BY THE 17TH CENTURY; THE GREEKS SOMETIMES BEGAN PARARAPHS WITH AN OUTDENT, SOMETIMES CALLED A HANGING INDENT. . . .

All forms of punctuation became standardized with printing, but early punctuation was more related to speaking than to reading. Rhetoric, as the study of speech, needed marks to indicate when the speaker should pause to give emphasis, and that was what early punctuation was based on, rather than being related to the logical structure of written sentences.

This phrase also occurs 457 times in the KJV of the Old Testament. There, it's the English translation of the single Hebrew word, hâyâh. We tend to read this phase as indicating a passage of time. However, J Weingreen, in Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, suggests that it would best be given the meaning, "now it happened." Strong's Hebrew dictionary suggests "to exist" or "to become" as possible translations of hâyâh.

Transliterated Word TDNT Entry

Hayah TWOT - 491

Phonetic Spelling Parts of Speech

haw-yaw     Verb

 Definition

1.to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out1. (Qal)

1.----- 1a2. to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a3. to come about, come to pass

Royal Skousen postulates that hâyâh represents a "discourse marker" and suggests that the phrase and it came to pass "may be considered equivalent to and then or and so."  The Hebrew Old Testament has 1114 occurrences of the word hâyâh. Most of these have either been ignored or reduced to simply "and.“Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 3 No. 1, p. 37

Many Old Testament examples could be given of similar construction which would result from a literal

translation of the Old Testament Hebrew. One

will suffice. The current KJV of Genesis 35:16-18

contains two instances of "it came to pass," but, there are three in the

Hebrew (the omitted text is shown in [ ]):

"And they journeyed from Bethel; and [it came to pass that] there was but a little

way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt

have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she

died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called

him Benjamin."

In his editing for the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon Joseph Smith removed 46 occurrences of "it came to pass," rendering them as "and," just as was done by the King James translators. If Mark Twain was reading the 1830 edition he would have encountered passages like this:

2 Nephi 4:10: "and it came to pass that when my father had made an end of speaking unto them behold it came to pass that he spake unto the sons of Ishmael . . ."

Alma 8:18-19: "now it came to pass that after Alma had received his message from the angel of the Lord he returned speedily to the land of Ammonihah and it came to pass that he entered the city by another way yea by the way which was on the south of the city Ammonihah and it came to pass that as he entered the city . . ."

a Mayan language element has been translated "and it came to pass." The function of this element in Mayan texts is rather well defined. Depending on context, it references the reader either forward or backward to a specific date or event. An analysis of the Book of Mormon has shown that many of the instances of "and it came to pass" are reasonably consistent with this Mayan meaning of this expression.John Welch, Ed, Reexploring the Book of Mormon. "Words and Phrases," p. 284

This glyph is found in the Temple Of Inscriptions, in the Mayan ruins of Palenque. It is composed of three symbols: UT, CH, and I. The phrase "And it came to pass" appears in the Old Testament 526 times, 87 in the New Testament and The Book of Mormon 1297 times -- . In 1985, David Stuart, a Mayan scholar, interpreted the sound of the glyph as "Ut" in the Chol language and "Utchi" in Mayan, meaning "to happen" or "to come to pass."

A phrase used to join consecutive

events in historical narrative. In the

Old Testament, the phrase “and it came to pass”,

reflects the Hebrew expression way-yehee, which

means “and it was”.

In the Book of Mormon as in the Old Testament, it is often followed by a time phrase:“Now it came to pass that not many days after the battle (Alma 3:20)“And it came to pass in the same year” (Alma 50:37)

Although “and it came to pass” is the most well-known phrase in the Book of Mormon, it is not the only structural marker for paragraphs. It has a companion in the phrase “and now” (with 250 variants—and thus we see, and we see, for I see, nevertheless we see, now we see, thus, we, ye etc.).

“And it came to pass” is a conjunctive phrase used when the text is explicitly describing past events. It is frequently followed by a time phrase. The phrase “and now” moves the narrative in the textual present. Both phrases perform the function of marking paragraphs, but they mark different types of paragraphs, depending upon the verbal sense of time.

While it is possible that Joseph Smith invented these two structural markers to substitute for his missing punctuation, it would be rather unusual in a world that was well accustomed to punctuation in written texts.

It is much more likely that we see in those phrases remnants of the verbal markers used by the plate text to mark the divisions that we now mark with punctuation.

This proposed system of verbal markers as punctuation has a historical precedent in the New World. The recent translation of Maya glyphic writing provides corroboration of a very similar paired set of verbal markers. Maya texts use these two verbs to create

sense on their written monuments. As described in the glyph dictionary put together by Michael D. Coe and Mark Van Stone, we have direct parallels to the Book of Mormon’s  “and now” (or “and thus”) and “and it came to pass

The Maya texts use these verbs to indicate the flow of action. The glyph reading “it happens” corresponds in function to “and now/thus” in the Book of Mormon text, with “it happened” being the functional equivalent of “and it came to pass.” Of course, this is not to suggest that the plates were written in Maya glyphs. It suggests, however, that there is a structural function that was filled by these glyphs in Maya texts

and by the two phrases in the translation of the plates. What it tells us is that the plate text from which the Book of Mormon was translated followed the conventions of ancient documents prior to the invention of punctuation. It fulfilled the function of punctuation through verbal markers rather than symbols such as dots or indentations.

By Brant A. Gardner Meridian Mag. June 12, 2009

Why is this phrase so common in the Book of Mormon? The answer is simple: Because Joseph was translating a Hebrew text. If "it came to pass" were not prominent in the Book of Mormon, the Hebrew claims for its origin would be absurd. Hâyâh is an integral part of Hebrew expression. Thus, "it came to pass" must be found as a common expression in any document that claims to be a translation from Hebrew to English.

Many Book of Mormon statements defining the concept of “Gospel” are elliptical (extreme or excessive economy; relieved of irrelevant matter), taking the form of a Merismus----a classical rhetorical device in which an entire topic or statement is represented by some of its parts. (Liddell and Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. meris, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1968 ) also Honeyman, “Merismus in Biblical Hebrew:, Journal of Biblical Hebrew 71 (1952):15

"Plates brass" and "Book Mormon"?Where English uses possessives, Semitic languages like Hebrew and Arabic use what is called the construct state. Instead of saying David's city, the Hebrew literally says city David. This is, of course, translated "city of David." This word order also applies to descriptions. While the normal English phrasing would be brass plates, the Hebrew word order would

be plates brass, translated "plates of brass," the "of" being supplied by the translator. The phrase "brass plates" does not occur in the Book of Mormon, while "plates of brass" occurs 27 times. Both possessives and the normal English descriptive statements (like brass plates) are nearly absent from the Old Testament and Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is full of these Hebraisms like:

Descriptives Possessives

night of darkness rod of iron   sword of Laban record of Jared

words of plainness

land of promise   plates of Nephi Brother of Jared

mist of darkness skin of blackness   Book of Mormon language of Jacob

state of probation altar of stones   army of Moroni people of Ammon

HEBREW CONDITIONAL clause --if/then AND “STUFF”

“And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, and he will manifest the truth in you, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and by the power of the Holy Ghost . . .

1 Nephi17:50

And I saith unto them, If God had commanded me to do all things, I could do it. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, Be thou earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.

Page 440 in original Book of Mormon Hel. 1213. yea, and if he saith unto the earth, Move, and it is moved; 14. yea, if he saith unto the earth, Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours, and it is done; 15. and thus according to his word, the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for sure it is the earth that moveth, and not the sun. 16. And behold, also, if he saith unto the waters of the great deep, Be thou dried up, and it is done. 17. Behold, if he saith unto this mountain, Be thou raised up, and come over and fall upon that city, that it be buried up, and behold it is done.

18. And behold, if a man hideth up a treasure in the earth, and the Lord shall say, Let it be accursed, because of the iniquity of him that hath hid it up, behold, it shall be accursed; 19. and if the Lord shall say, Be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time henceforth and forever, and behold, no man getteth it henceforth and forever. 20. And behold, if the Lord shall say unto a man, Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be accursed forever, and it shall be done. 21. And if the Lord shall say, Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be cut off from my presence, and he will cause that it shall be so.

Alma 8:24 And behold, I have been called to preach the word of God among all this people, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy; and I was in this land and they would not receive me, but they cast me out and I was about to set my back towards this land forever.

4 And then began these men to call upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord blessed them;5 And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration;6 And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled.

Moses 6

And, and, and; Too Many "ands"In Hebrew, words, phrases, and sentences are generally connected by a single character, usually translated "and." Thus, in a literal translation of Hebrew into English "and" appears in many places where English would have a punctuation mark. In this literal translation, many sentences would begin with "and," as in

Alma 11 where 20 of the 23 verses begin with "And." Lists in this literal translation would have each item set off by "and," as in "all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of precious ores“ (2 Nephi 5:15). Many other strange uses of "and" might also be expected to occur. The following paragraphs illustrate some of these.

"And" or "But"This Hebrew conjunction translated and really has many possible meanings in English. In the Old Testament it has been translated: "or," "then," "certainly," "perhaps," "in order to," "like," "therefore," "so," "thus," and "but." This last, but, leads us to an interesting observation in the Book of Mormon. Consider this sentence from Moroni 9:4, "and when I speak the word of God with sharpness they tremble and anger against me; and when I use no sharpness they harden their hearts against it." Obviously, the sense of this "and. ." would, in English, be better expressed by the word "but. 

.." However, if Joseph was making a near literal translation Hebrew, "and" is a correct rendering. Another example provides and even better illustration. A promise from the Lord is quoted by Lehi in 2 Nephi 1:20. In 2 Nephi 4:4, this same passage is again quoted, with one interesting difference: the "but" appearing in the first passage is replaced by an "and. ." in the second. The Hebrew for each of these passages would be identical and both renditions are fully acceptable translations of that Hebrew.

"And also"Another unusual construction using "and" is the Hebrew use of "and also." In this case, English also uses "and" but Hebrew must add "also." In Hebrew this construct, "and also," is used to denote a strong link between two things. Again, this structure is common throughout the Book of Mormon (it occurs 447 times).

For example, in 1 Nephi 8:3 "and also" appears twice:"And behold, because of the thing which I have seen, I have reason to rejoice in the Lord because of Nephi and also of Sam; for I have reason to suppose that they, and alsomany of their seed, will be saved."

"If . . . . and"Here is yet another place where the Hebrew "and" shows up in a strange place. The Hebraic equivalent of the English if-then clause is the Hebrew if-and clause. This is not found in the current editions of the Book of Mormon, nor is it found anywhere in and English Old Testament. But, it was in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon. For example, this is how Helaman 12:13-21 appeared in that edition:

". . . yea, and if he sayeth unto the earth Move and it is moved; yea, and if he sayeth unto the earth, Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours, and it is done; . . . And behold, also, if he sayeth unto the waters of the great deep, Be thou dried up, and it is done. Behold, if he sayeth unto this mountain, Be thou raised up, and come over and fall upon that city, that it be buried up and behold it is done. . . . and if the Lord shall say, Be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time henceforth and forever, and behold, no man getteth it henceforth and forever. And behold, if the Lord shall say unto a man, Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be accursed forever, and it shall be done. And if the Lord shall say, Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off from my presence, and he will cause that it shall be so."

"Who" / "Which" / "Where"In Hebrew, the relative "pronoun" 'aser, which might be translated "which" in English, is used for both human and nonhuman references. This same pronoun is used in place references. The most common correction to the 1830 Book of Mormon grammar has been the change of which to who (891 times).

In an additional 66 case, which has been changed to whom. This is another instance where the Hebrew structure of the first edition resulted in unacceptable English sentences. For example, Alma 46:34, in the 1830 edition read, "Now, Moroni being a man which was appointed by the chief judges . . . "

That's Just Too MuchThere have been 188 instances of the word that removed from the Book of Mormon since its 1830 publication. Even a casual reference to the original edition would confirm the need for this drastic revision. Yet, many instances of this Hebraic phrasing still remain in the current text. Here are two examples:

"And because that they are redeemed from the fall" (2 Nephi 2:26)"because that my heart is broken" (2 Nephi 4:32)John Tvedtnes explains that Hebrew "begins subordinate clauses with prepositions plus a word that translates into that in English." This "that" is generally totally redundant in English. But, if the translation is literal, and the translator just doesn't know any better, that's what happens.

Why Not Adverbs?The Book of Mormon often uses a prepositional phrase in place of an adverb. This is not good English, but then the book does not claim to be English. Joseph said he was translating from Hebrew and Hebrew has very few adverbs. In Hebrew, a preposition is used instead. Consider the following Book of Mormon Hebraisms:"with harshness" instead of "harshly""with joy" instead of "joyfully""with gladness" instead of "gladly""with patience" instead of "patiently""with diligence" instead of "diligently"

"in diligence" instead of "diligently""in abundance" instead of "abundantly""in righteousness" instead of "righteously""in the spirit" instead of "spiritually""of worth" instead of "worthy""of a surety" instead of "surely"John Tvedtnes makes this further observation about Hebrew adverbs: "At least one adjective (harebeh, 'many, exceeding') is used adverbially, but more often a prepositional phrase is used. The Book of Mormon is replete with adverbial usage of the adjective 'exceeding' (as in 'exceeding great joy'--instead of 'exceedingly'--in 1 Nephi 8:12)." Just another thread in our tapestry.

What's with These Crazy Pronouns?Pronouns in Hebrew are frequently overused by English standards. The following are two examples of this Hebraism which are common to both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon.

Redundant Pronouns: Hebrew often uses a pronoun in a subordinate clause which refers to the same person or object referenced in the main clause. For example, Nephi says, "I beheld, and saw thepeople of the seed of my brethren that they. . had overcome my seed." (1 Nephi 12:20).

Possessive Pronouns: In Hebrew, pronouns used for possession are attached as suffixes to the noun. This is similar to the "plates brass" construction. For example, the literal Hebrew of his house would be equivalent to house-his. Just as in the case of the translation of "plates brass" the translator may supply an "of" resulting in a sometimes strange English expression in the form "house of him." An example of this is found in Jacob 5:2, where Jacob says, "hear the words of me." (Check it out, that's the way it's still written in the latest edition.) More often, this will be translated "his house," or "my words." Even this good English translation results in a strange construction when there is more than one object referenced. Since the pronoun is attached to the noun, a literal translation must repeat the relative pronoun. This is illustrated in 1 Nephi 2:4. Nephi, describing his father's departure from Jerusalem says. "And he left his. . house, and the land of his. . inheritance, and his. . gold, and his. .silver, and his precious things. . . ."

"From before"?The expression "from before" occurs 78 times in the King James translation of the Old Testament. These are expressions like: "from before thee," "from before them," "from before thy presence," and "from before thy face." This is a Hebraism and does not occur in the New Testament. This form of expression appears 21 times in the Book of Mormon. Some might say that Joseph just copied this from the Old Testament. With this in mind, one example is interesting. The Hebrew phrase mil-li-phnêcan be literally translated "from before the face of." or "from before my face," or "from before the presence of." Of the 21 Book of Mormon occurrences of "from before," thirteen are closely related to "from before my face." This is exactly the wording of six of these. Only once does "from before my face" appear in the KJV of the Old Testament.

"In" or "To"?The Hebrew words translated into English as "in" and "to" are sometimes interchangeable in Hebrew sentence structure. Could this explain an interesting "error" in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon? In that edition, 1 Nephi 7:12 read, "Let us be faithful in him."Neither "more" Nor "er" ???In Hebrew there is no equivalent for the normal English phrasing of comparisons. In English we might say, "He is more. . handsome," or "She is taller. .." Neither this use of more nor the addition of the suffix er, is possible in Hebrew. Instead of more, Hebrew uses above all. This should be very familiar to Book of Mormon readers as this "above all" comparison occurs 35 times in the current Book of Mormon text. There are many familiar examples: "choice above all other lands"; "sweet, above allthat I ever before tasted"; "the tree which is precious above all. .." And in 1 Nephi 13:30, it occurs twice: "and have been lifted up by the power of God above all. . other nations, upon the face of the land which is choice above all other lands."

Taxing TaxesThere exists in the Semitic languages a construction called the "cognate accusative." It consists of a verb immediately followed by a noun derived from the same root, and is often used for emphasis. The Book of Mormon has many excellent examples:"they are cursed with a sore cursing" instead of sorely cursed"work all manner of fine work" instead of do fine work"and he did judge righteous judgments" instead of judge righteously"Behold I have dreamed a dream" instead of I had a dream"taxed with a tax" Instead of taxed

Name that NameIn 1 Nephi 2:8, the following appears: "And it came to pass that he called the name of the river, Laman. . . . " In English, we would ordinarily expect to read "he called the river Laman," or "he named the river Laman." However, in both Hebrew and Arabic the construction of this phrase would be similar to the cognate accusative: "he named. . the name." This construction is seen throughout the Book of Mormon. Almost always it's the name that is named.NumeralsIn English compound numbers are hyphenated. We write twenty-five. In Hebrew the conjunction "and" is always used to express this compound (twenty and five). The Book of Mormon always uses this Hebrew form for expressing compound numbers.

Compound SubjectsIn proper English, when a person speaks of themselves and another, the reference to the speaker should always come last. In Hebrew, this is reversed. Thus, "my brother and I" would be "I and my brother." The Book of Mormon consistently uses this Hebrew form.Compound PrepositionsWhile rare in the English Bible, the Hebrew compound preposition is found throughout the Book of Mormon. Here are some examples:by the hand of your enemies instead of "by your enemy's hand"by the mouth of all the prophets instead of "said by all the prophets," or "by the prophet's mouth"down into the land of Nephi instead of "down to Nephi," or "down to the land of Nephi"fled from before my presence instead of "fled from me," or "fled from my presence"

Repeated PrepositionsIn Hebrew when a preposition refers to multiple objects, it is usual for the preposition to be repeated with the mention of each object. In English we might say, "I was pleased with the work of Tom, Dick, and Harry." In Hebrew this would be: "I was pleased with the work of Tom, and of Dick, and of Harry." It might even be: ". . . the work of Tom, and the work of Dick, and the work of Harry." This can be seen in 2 Samuel 6:5, where we read, "Even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals." This construction is also common in the Book of Mormon. For example, in Lehi's instruction to his son, Jacob (2 Nephi 2:5), he says:"And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever."

When Orson Pratt restructured our Book of Mormon in 1879, he added verses where the original had paragraphs like any other book. He also recut the chapters, typically breaking them up into smaller sets. The result is our current chapter and verse arrangement that makes the Book of Mormon appear much more similar to the way we are used to seeing the Bible, and makes it much easier to find specific verses. Unfortunately, the process also covered up certain structural arrangements in the text

At first, the 3,913 changes you cite sound rather significant. But if you recheck your source you will find that even the anti-Mormons Jerald and Sandra Tanner admit that the 3,913 changes were not really significant at all:

"As we stated earlier, most of the 3,913 changes which we found were related to the correction of grammatical and spelling errors and do not really change the basic meaning of the text." Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism, Chicago: Moody Pres., 1980, p 131

When the Prophet Joseph dictated the translation from the plates, a scribe copied down his words. Since only Jesus Christ was perfect, it is not surprising that the scribes made some minor errors. In addition, the non-Mormon typesetter that the Church hired to take the handwritten manuscript to book form was forced to decipher the scribe’s handwriting to set the type. Also, consider that the printing process in 1830 was much more manual and cumbersome than the ones we use today

Neither the original manuscript, nor the printer’s manuscript had any punctuation. There were no paragraphs. There were no sentences. All of those important aspects of a modern text were added by John H. Gilbert, the compositor. How did Mr. Gilbert decide where to create a paragraph? It is obvious that he used “and it came to pass” as a clue to the beginning of a new paragraph. It is less obvious that he recognized that the phrase began a new paragraph because that was the function it performed.

The original manuscript has not survived intact; it became water-soaked while stored in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House, and about two-thirds of it rotted away.

The 144 remaining pages, in the Church vaults in Salt Lake City, contain most of 1 Nephi; a portion of 2 Nephi 1; portions of Alma 11 and 19; Alma 22-63; parts of Helaman 1-3; and part of 3 Nephi 26.4 The printer's manuscript, on the other hand, is in good condition. It is a part of the collection of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Independence, Missouri.

A page from the original Book of Mormon manuscript, covering 1 Nephi 4:38-5:14. It shows how fluent Joseph Smith's dictation was. He did not change or revise the text as he dictated.

As one might expect, any handwritten copy will differ in some ways from its original. The printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon differed from the original for two principal reasons. First, unintentional variations are impossible to avoid in a transcription of 464 pages. Second, there is evidence of some deliberate editing, such as smoothing out phrases, substituting one word for another, correcting spelling errors, adding of punctuation, and other intended improvements. It was this "emended" manuscript that was taken to the printer for typesetting for the first edition of the Book of Mormon.

Seven years later, the second edition- a minor revision- of the Book of Mormon was printed in Kirtland, Ohio, by O. Cowdery and Company for P. P. Pratt and J. Goodson. Brothers Pratt and Goodson served as editors and caretakers and made the following explanation about the efforts of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to prepare this revised edition (spelling and punctuation are original):

"Individuals acquainted with book printing, are aware of the numerous typographical errors which always occur in manuscript editions. It is only necessary to say, that the whole has been carefully reexamined and compared with the original manuscripts, by Elder Joseph Smith, Jr. the translator of the book of Mormon, assisted by the present printer, brother O. Cowdery, who formerly wrote the greatest portion of the same, as dictated by brother Smith. "Parley P. Pratt,"John Goodson"Kirtland, Ohio 1837."

Over the next 140 years, various other editions containing adjustments and refinements were published, resulting in considerable format change but not in many textual revisions. Then, in 1981, the Church published an edition with approximately 160 corrections. Although most are grammar and spelling improvements, several significant corrections and additions to the text were made. A detailed account of these corrections may be found in the Ensign (Sept. 1976, pp. 77-82; Oct. 1981, pp. 8-19) and in BYU Studies (Fall 1982, pp. 387-423). Two examples follow.

In Alma 16:5 two words sound similar, but the spelling is slightly different, and the meaning is vastly different. The Lamanites had taken Nephite prisoners of war. Zoram, chief Nephite army captain, went to Alma the prophet and asked him to inquire of the Lord concerning the prisoners. Until 1981, all printed editions read, "therefore they went unto him to know whether the Lord would that they should go . . . in search of their brethren." (Italics added.)

The original manuscript reads whither rather than whether, and it was corrected to read so in the 1981 version. For years the interpretation had been whether (if) the Nephites should go in search of their brethren. The true meaning is, rather, whither (where) they should go. The printer's manuscript contains a rather awkward correction from whether to whither, showing that this had been discovered long ago, but the correction was not assimilated into the scripture until the 1981 edition.

An interesting correction has been made in Alma 57:25, which deals with the remarkable preservation of 2060 young soldiers: "And to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish." Until 1981, all editions of the Book of Mormon read foes; however, careful examination of the printer's manuscript shows that the correct word is joy. The error occurred in earlier editions because the handwriting on the manuscript is peculiarly formed at this point, and typesetters and proofreaders simply misread it. The word foes does make sense as used in the passage, but it is not as appropriate as joy.

The same kind of editorial effort that has been exerted to correct and refine the Book of Mormon over the past 158 years has been occurring for centuries with the Bible. Students familiar with biblical research know that the reason there are several versions of the Bible in print today is that there are literally thousands of biblical manuscripts available, none of them originals, and all differ in various ways. They are grouped in "families" because they appear to come from several major textual ancestors. Hence, the Catholic Vulgate Bible represents a different textual lineage than the New English Bible. The King James Version represents still another.

Typographical errors have occurred in many editions of the Bible, especially in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, when typesetting was done by hand. Since the first printing of the King James Version in A.D. 1611, many revisions and modifications have been made by British scholars. This process has resulted in an increasing number of words being set in italics, which indicates an editorial attempt to enlarge or round out a thought that was poorly expressed in the manuscripts or was difficult to translate exactly. Readers of today's King James Version may think that it is an exact duplicate of what was printed 375 years ago, but it is not. The number of italicized words in Matthew alone increased from 43 in 1611 to 583 in 1870 because of revisions to the text.

Most readers would agree that the really vital things in the Book of Mormon are its teachings and testimonies on spiritual matters and that one's reading of that book should be done prayerfully and with the Spirit. It is no matter of great concern, then, that the Book of Mormon, like all scriptures, has undergone a certain amount of grammatical improvements and textual change in successive editions. At the April 1974 general conference of the Church, Elder Boyd K. Packer commented on the changes made in our Latter-day Scriptures:

"Some have alleged that these books of revelations are false, and they place in evidence changes that have occurred in the texts of these scriptures since their original publication. They cite these changes, of which there are many examples, as though they themselves were announcing revelation. As though they were the only ones that knew of them. "Of course there have been changes and corrections. Anyone who has done even limited research knows that. When properly reviewed, such corrections become a testimony for, not against, the truth of the books."

The names of two of the most sacred ordinances in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have no adequate equivalents in the Japanese language, an illustration of the problems sometimes inherent in teaching religion across cultures, a BYU professor said Friday. Van C. Gessel, a professor of Japanese at BYU, said in Japan, members of the LDS faith use the created words, "baputesma" and "endaumento" for the ordinances of baptism and endowment, along with the words "sute-ku" and "wa-do" for stake and ward.

Missionaries and priests have struggled for centuries to teach Christian concepts to a polytheistic society that has no underlying concept of Jesus Christ.Despite no direct translation for God, Japanese members of the LDS church use the commonly accepted term Kami sama, which means, "the honorable Mr. Spirit, essence that resides in the trees, the streams and our deceased ancestors.“Van C. Gessel, Professor of Japanese at BYU, 50th BYU Studies symposium March 12, 2010

THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST

JACOB 7

Names of Christ

God's name Jehovah/Yahowah appears in the original Hebrew text about 7000

times,

The NameJesus

appears:1,285 TimesIn Scripture

165 times in the Book of Mormon

and100 times

in the D&C

In the King James version

the word - devil - appears 61 times

the word - devilish - appears once

the word - devils - appears 55 times

the word - Lucifer - appears once

the word - Satan - appears 55 times

the word - Satan's - appears once

Name Devil or devils mentioned only FOUR times inthe Old Testament:

Lev. 17:7 Deut. 32:17 2 Chron. 11:15 Psalms 106:37

The name “Satan” appears 19X in the Old Testament----

14 of those in one book- the Book of Job

So----19 satans plus 4 devils= 23 times in the O.T.

Devil, (Devils, Devilish), or Satan appears”New Testament:Devil 113 X + Satan 36 X = 149Bible Total = 167xPearl of Great Price:Devil 4X + Satan 32X = 36X all Moses in 8 chpts. JSH has one Satan and one Devil

Doctrine and CovenantsDevil 30X + Satan 35X = 65XBook of Mormon 114XDevil 99x, 9 Devil, 6 Devilish + Satan 26X = 140XRestoration Scripture Total =

241 X