Chiasmus in the book of mormon judaicaworld archives. Greg welch how chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon part 1 duration. Bmaf criticismmy response the book of mormon in north america. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. The loose translation theory is the theory that most lds apologists favor to explain why there are problems in the book of mormon text, such as anachronisms, kjv mistakes, etc. Chiasmus is a sophisticated literary device that ranges from the most simple, as illustrated above, to complex examples. For it is expedient that an atonement should be made. The use of chiasmus is popular in greek, latin and english languages, especially in shakespeares works, the hebrew texts of the bible, analects of confucius and the book of mormon.
A preliminary survey, brigham young university studies 11 autumn 1970. Since that time, several other examples of chiasmus have been found in the book of mormon, and both lds and nonlds scholars have come to better understand how chiasmus was used in the bible, the book of mormon, and. Possible evidence of authenticity let us turn now to the book of mormon. Is the writing in the book of mormon characteristic of the.
If chiasmus is evidence of hebrew style in the bible, it must be evidence of hebrew style in the book of mormon. This literally translates from the greek khiasmos which means simply, cross. Large portions of the book of isaiah are quoted by the nephite scribes in the book of mormon. For the sake of retaining a remission of your sins w. Welch published the first study of chiasmus in the book of mormon,1 hundreds of additional book of mormon chiasms have been proposed. Book of mormon 1879 lds versification title page simmons, letter, a 1 2 b 1 2 b 1 2 a 1 2. Dec 06, 2015 examples of improperly finding meaning from randomness coupled with serious methodological flaws include computerassisted database searching among thousands of texts for short phrases found in common with the book of mormon or allegedly pointing to implausible sources for the book of mormon such as the the late war between the united states.
Instead, it often uses prepositional phrases with the preposition meaning in or with. Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by joseph smith jr. Sep 12, 2009 the focal point or thesis statement would be placed as the central argument in this poetic form. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and. The problem of book of mormon authorship has challenged historians and theologians since the book was published in 1830. Chiasmus was particularly popular in the literature of the ancient world, including hebrew, greek, ancient kiche maya, and latin, where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text.
Chiasmus in the book of mormon brigham young university. Sep 04, 2009 chiasmus in the book of mormon among the distinct evidences of the book of mormons relationship to ancient hebrew we find its unique literary structure the chiasmus. A covenant record of christs people book of mormon. This form is known as chiasmus and the book of mormon is loaded with chiasmus. This release comes on the tenth anniversary of donald parrys poetic parallelisms in the book of mormon 2007, first edition 1999.
The better chiasmus in the book of mormon than even the beautiful one in alma 36 is king benjamins speech. Here is an great example of chiasmus in a passage in which he persuades his brothers to gather their precious things from the land of their inheritance in an effort to get the plates. May 14, 2018 his book contains myriads of new ways of justifying the north american setting for the book of mormon, claiming that when readers look at this new way new revelation, see p. A more detailed discussion will be found in the references. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center.
Browsing category writing literature and libation page 8. Joseph smith had been dead ten full years before john forbess book was published in scotland. For example, many long and complex chiasmi have been found in shakespeare. False positives mormanity a blog for those interested in. A full bibliography of publications about chiasmus is available from f. Chiasmus in alma 36 handouts for alpine north stake book. Chiasmus chiasmus is essentially the same as reverse parallelism repeating words or ideas in reverse order. It is claimed that the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon is either coincidental, an artifact of the observer, or not impressive since examples of chiastic patterns have been found in the doctrine and covenants or other 19th century writing. It was also seen in sanskrit, mesopotamian, chinese and egyptian texts. It also comes on the fiftieth anniversary of my discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon as i was serving as a missionary in germany. Both chiasmus and antimetabole can be used to reinforce antithesis. Notwithstanding the fact that most recent scholarly attention has dealt with the occurrence of chiasmus in ancient near eastern languages and literatures, a significant amount of chiasmus is to be found in ancient greek and latin literatures as well. Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which the order of words in one of two parallel clauses is inverted in the other. It is found extensively in the bible and is also to be found in the book of mormon, ipso facto, etc.
It was alma the younger whose conversion to the lord was so powerful and rich that it affected an entire generation at the time it happened and has since become one of the most inspirational stories recorded in the book of mormon. They claim that such findings support claims of hebrew origins in the text on the basis that. Now, lets take a closer look at what mormon apologists are saying when they try to connect the chiasmus in the book of mormon with those found in the bible. The ancient hebrew and greek texts of the old and new testaments are rich in chiasmus, as is the book of mormon. For many additional examples of chiasmus from the writings of nephi, see the article, nephis convincing of christ through chiasmus. In 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies. Chiasmus in ancient greek and latin literatures john w. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking.
Holland said, we have an everlastingly rich source of doctrinal ore here to mine, especially in the book of mormon, and i encourage all of us to participate. Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus on august 16, 1967 while on his mission in germany, and since that time, chiasmus has served as a profound witness for the beauty and complexity of the book of mormon. Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon. Sep 09, 2009 the focal point or thesis statement would be placed as the central argument in this poetic form. Alma remembers one jesus christ while joseph smith translated the book of mormon into his own words, its obvious that both the choice and order of those words were frequently very specifically boo, by the source from which he received the. Chiasmus in the book of mormon 3 i didnt give examples of alliteration or paronomasia in this post because like i mentioned earlier these poetic elements can only be identified by reading passages in the original language, so we cant pull examples from the book of mormon or the. All 33 authors were used in this analysis, with one replication per author which consisted of all blocks combined for that author. Youll find common figures of speech, plus references to works of classic and pop culture. The bible, old and new testaments, abound with examples and it is accepted that it is typical of one form of hebraic. Chiasmus is essentially the same as reverse parallelism repeating words or ideas in reverse order. Chiasmus is often used in latin poetry as an alternative form of the golden line, but it can be found in prose as well. Welch, chiasmus in the book of mormon, byu studies 10 autumn 1969. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon.
For example, the book of mormon prophet might have meant tapir and joseph described it as horse. For this article i am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. Chiastic analysis displays the orderliness of the text, proving that the text is not chaotic, random, or devoid of form. Alma makes this spiritual turning point the literary focal point of this entire chapter, one of the finest examples of chiastic composition anywhere in world literature. It is also found in ancient greek and latin, and some english, but not developed as highly as in the hebrew. Chiasmus in the book of mormon 73 name he used for chiasmus in 1854 however john forbesforbes4forbess completed a much more extensive study the symmetrical structures of scripture with the publication of this book it is possible to begin speaking of relatively widespread awareness of chiasmic forms in the bible a wave of other writers fol lowed forbes and in 1860 a section on chiasmus. The king james quotations in the book of mormon, the history of the text of the book of mormon. A chiasmus is a form of poetry in which a principle or concept is repeated in reverse order in the same or a modified way. The strength of the argument that the book of mormon is a remix of the late war rests on the cumulative improbability of finding all of these phrases somewhere else. Examples of chiasmus have been found in sumerian, akkadian, and ugaritic literature, as well as both the old and new testaments.
Chiasmus was particularly popular both in greek and in latin literature, where it was used to articulate. Many latterday saints point out that the use of chiasmus in the book of mormon is proof that joseph smith translated a script that was hebrew in origin, since the chiasmus had not yet been discovered when the book of mormon was translated in 1829. Our journey of faiththe manner of language of lehi praising and prophesying hebraisms, internal literary insight, chiasmus etc. Now, 50 years since welchs discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon, we see that his find is still reverberating in scholarly publications on the book of mormon. Book of mormon commentary alma 36 page 1 of 12 chiasmus in alma 36 my son give ear to my words v. Perhaps welch could have strengthened his premise by demonstrating that the parallel members in the book of mormon consist of semitic word pairs, the basis of ancient hebrew poetry. The first article here is a short, relatively nontechnical response to this claim. Chiasmus in the book of mormon is both a necessary and a natural way of explaining some things in. The following examples are indented to show the parallel structure of the text. Chiasmus in the book of mormon the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. Jan 10, 2008 otherwise, there is only one plausible answerthe very existence of such parallelisms in the book of mormon reinforce very strongly that the book of mormon is exactly what it purports to be.
The idea is that joseph had literary license to kind of wing it as he translated. Jonathan neville page 47 moronis america the north. Video on the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon. But in the case of the chiasms from the book of mormon, these objections can be tossed aside as unconvincing, unsatisfactory, unimaginative, and unintelligent. Smith proposes larger chiastic structures for portions of the book of abraham, one of numerous evidences of antiquity he discusses for the book of abraham 99, but the redundancy that chris smith sees as a telltale sign of fabrication from clumsy cobbling of phrases from the gael may reflect. Those who were not so credulous insisted that it obviously read like anything but a hebrew text. Another famous author of the book of mormon who creatively employed the principles of chiasmus to great advantage was alma the younger. Do hebraisms in the late war undermine the ones in the book. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. Chapter 15 chiasmus in the book of mormon reachout trust. If chiasmus can be convincingly identified in the book of mormon, it will testify of the book s ancient origin.
This is a form that is prevalent throughout spiritual texts like the bible and the book of mormon as well as political speeches and public announcements. As a popular example, many long and complex chiasmi have been found in shakespeare and the greek and hebrew texts of thebible. Bishop lowth, whose lectures on hebrew poetry in 1741 first introduced the name parallelism for the hebrew poetic style, pointed out that this structure, based as it is on meaning, survives translation into the prose of any language with. Plain and precious persuading from a prophet of god by david e. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Mar 07, 2017 the unawareness of any external evidence relevant to the book of mormon is unfortunate, and if he wishes to update his work, i hope beshears will consider the significance of, say, the many hard evidences nonlds archaeological evidence included from the arabian peninsula described in, for examples, warren astons lehi and sariah in arabia. Like other kinds of figurative language, oxymorons or oxymora are often found in literature. As before, 9 selected words were used for the distance calculations. Ralph pew was an attorney in mesa, arizona, when this was published in his concluding comments during the second annual book of mormon symposium, president jeffrey r. Chiasmus or or chiasmus as it may also be pronounced is named after chi, the ancient greek word for the letter x. Stereotype is nothing but those assumptions that have become common knowledge.
Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus on august 16, 1967 while on his mission in germany, a steady stream of publications since that time has thrown much light on this matter. No other book, aside from the first book of napoleon, approaches the density of rare phrases 4grams, specifically that are shared by the book of mormon. In the early, stilldark hours of the morning, august 16, 1967, a young john w. Hebraisms in the book of mormon judaicaworld archives. Sep 23, 2015 5 our journey of faith hebraisms, internal literary insight, chiasmus etc. The presence of chiasmus in a book of mormon text reveals several things about the english text itself. Some have argued chiasmus is evidence of the texts historical authenticity, suggesting it reflects the semitic background of nephi and other authors of the book of mormon. The more lines in a chiasmus, the more likely it is the result of composition and not extemporaneous off the cuff speech or streamofconsciousness writing. The english translation of the book of mormon contains more of these prepositional phrases in place of adverbs than we would expect if the book had been written in english originallyanother hebraism. However, a recently recognized phenomenon in the book of mormon has now made it possible for us to cite many specific examples of passages in the book of mormon which bear the distinct stamp of an ancient hebraic literary form. The book of mormon includes many more hebraisms, such as extrapositional pronouns and idioms such as by the hand of and by the mouth of to denote instrumentality.
Indeed, the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon may be evidence of joseph smiths own literary style and genius. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon would have a profound impact on academic efforts to study of the book of mormon as an authentic ancient hebrew text. A they humble themselves b and become as little children, c and believe that salvation. Welch was a missionary serving in regensburg, germany, and chiasmus was an ancient literary technique he had only recently learned about. Chiasmus in the book of mormon lds church is true blog. No one in america, let alone in western new york, fully understood chiasmus in 1830. If you analyze its structure, it is a massive chiasmus with mosiah 3. What is chiasmus and why is it so important in the book of. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. Definition, usage and a list of chiasmus examples in common speech and literature. The key is that the sentence is grammatically the same, just reversed. The following paragraphs examine some of the facets of a text revealed by the presence of chiasmus. Invariably, alma 36 is included as a shining example of chiasmus at work in the book of mormon, so lets use that one for our example. Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect.
Chiasmus in the book of mormon philosophies of men. Wednesday was the fiftieth anniversary of welchs discovery. Aug 07, 20 chiasmus was particularly popular both in greek and in latin literature, where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text. Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. Chiasmus is the term for a rhetorical device in which a sentence or phrase is followed by a sentence or phrase that reverses the structure and order of the first one in chiasmus, the words do not have to be repeatedthe second sentence does not just reverse the words of the first sentence. Chiasmus in the book of mormon is both a necessary and a natural way of explaining some things in the book of mormon that go unaccounted for otherwise.
A literary structure known as chiasmus exists in the book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon the mormon chapbook. Sloan, journal of book of mormon studies, volume 6, issue 2, 1997. Stereotypes examples whenever we dont have a good understanding of a subject, say, of people or countries, then we tend to make assumptions about them. The english translation of the book of mormon contains more of these prepositional phrases in place of adverbs than we would expect if the book had been written in. The north american setting for the book of mormon, i erroneously claims that mesoamericanists look under the wrong light of the 1842 articles in the times and seasons for their light and knowledge of the geography of the book of mormon. Explorations in critical methodology see other formats. And it came to pass most have heard twains quip that removing and it came to pass from the book of mormon would reduce it to a pamphlet. More impressive are words that have a different range of meaning in hebrew than in english. Cluster analysisbook of mormon and nonbook of mormon authors combined. Apr 18, 2016 in the book of mormon, this is written. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it.
Sep 28, 2012 this paper will examine a number of hebraisms that are found in the book of mormon. Many of these have become lost in translation, but hundreds of others remain. The most famous example of this is chapter 36 of the book of alma. The book of mormon as hebrew written in egyptian characters.
Oct, 2016 the psalms found in the book of mormon are just one structure of writing found. A complex chiasmus consists of several lines that extend the parallelism beyond two pairs of parallel elements. For the sake of retaining a remission of your sins book of. In chiasmus, the clauses display inverted parallelism. How a young missionary discovered chiasmus in the book of. Mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. Oct 27, 20 adverbials hebrew has fewer adverbs than english. The second article is a long, technical response with full documentation. Because mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. John welch discovered chiasmus in the book of mormon in 1967, and it has since been touted as evidence of authenticity. The discovery of apparent instances of complex chiasmus in the book of mormon. Despite sorensons assertion of the existence of a number of ancient palestinian hebrew documents written in egyptian characters, defenders of the book of mormons claims have been unable to produce an authentic parallel. Practically since the day the book of mormon rolled off the press in 1830, those who believed in the book asserted that it obviously read like a hebrew text. Welch was just a young missionary on germany at the time.
The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. Chiasms within the book of mormon are also quite similar to those written in the old testament as well. Mormons commonly cite alma 36 as the supreme example of a long, complex chiasmus in the book of mormon. Opponents of the book have claimed that joseph smith wrote it himself, or that an accomplice such as solomon spaulding or sidney rigdon penned it and somehow transferred it to joseph smith. This modern research corroborates the prophet joseph smiths testimony of the origins of the book of mormonand is all the more stunning since joseph smith had not received any training in hebrew or its cognate languages at the time he translated the record. Again, poetry in the book of mormon does not provide evidence for the book s authenticity as an ancient document. Where these agree with the king james version of the bible, we are inclined to believe that the prophet joseph smith merely employed the language and text known to the people of his time. Since that time, several other examples of chiasmus have been found in the book of mormon, and both lds and nonlds scholars have come to better understand how chiasmus was used in the bible, the book of mormon.
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