A Covenant Record of Christ s People

Transcription

1 Step by Step through The Book of Mormon A Covenant Record of Christ s People Alan C. Miner

2 Alan C. Miner 341 N E. Springville, Utah (January 6, 2016) 2016 by Alan C. Miner All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, whether by graphic, visual, electronic, filming, microfilming, tape recording, or any other means, without prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles. This book is not an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All opinions expressed herein are the author's and are not necessarily those of the publisher's or of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Illustrations: Cover: lds.org Title & Artist: Page 4: supportingevidences.net Title & Artist:

3 Table of Contents Table of Contents.. Introduction Part 1.. Part 2. Volume 1: The Lord Leads His Covenant Children Through the Wilderness to the Promised Land First Nephi. Volume 2: The Lord Provides A Covenant Plan of Salvation Second Nephi... Jacob... Enos... Volume 3: The Lord Delivers His Children Out of Bondage through Covenants Jarom... Omni... Words of Mormon... Mosiah... Volume 4: The Lord Redeems His Covenant Children Alma.. Chapters Volume 4b: The Nephite/Lamanite Wars: Defending the Covenant Way Alma Chapters Volume 5: The Lord Confirms the Covenant Way Helaman... Third Nephi... Chapters 1-10 Volume 6: Covenant Obedience Brings Peace; Disobedience Brings Destruction Third Nephi... Chapters Fourth Nephi... Mormon... Chapters 1-7 Volume 7: Two or More Bear A Confirming Covenant Witness Mormon... Chapters 8-9 Ether... Moroni... Appendix 3

4 A Covenant Record of Christ s People Introduction supportingevidences.net 4

5 Introduction A Covenant Record of Christ s People is my attempt to give better structure and understanding to the prophetic covenant-centered and Christ-centered text of the Book of Mormon. The Title Page emphasizes this by declaring the two primary purposes of the book to be: #1: that they may know the covenants of the Lord..., and #2: to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God... By attempting to satisfy these purposes, I propose that the message and veracity of the text will be brought out as never before. In my previous dealings with the text of the Book of Mormon, I was motivated to highlight various words and phrases that had to do with people, places, culture, geography, chronology, covenants and the names of Deity. I also inserted my own headings to emphasize that the Book of Mormon is a covenant text between Christ and His people, especially those of the tribe of Joseph, the son of Jacob (Israel). In recent years, however, I have come to the realization that what I also needed to do was to structure the text in a parallelistic manner and highlight the various word forms similar to ancient Hebrew. As one might expect (myself included) to attempt to structure the text of the Book of Mormon in this manner is a very lofty goal. I fully realize this. But I believe it has been, and will be worth doing. In order to acquaint the reader with a text that I now consider to be more understandable as to the language and structure of the Book of Mormon, I have divided this Introduction into two parts: Part 1: In this section I will discuss the methods that I have used to make the text more understandable and the message more valid. This Part 1 should be sufficient to give the reader a basic understanding of what this book is all about. Thus after completing Part 1 of the Introduction, you will see the words: (TEMPORARY END). At this point you can skip to the Book of Mormon text and begin reading with a basic knowledge of what my highlighting and structure means. However, for those willing to seek out more understanding into the method of ancient Hebrew writing, they can proceed to the lengthier Part 2. Part 2: This section is more scholarly, and as such is more subject to revision and editing. As a result, Part 2 could be delayed somewhat in publication. The average reader should not be alarmed as Part 1 will be sufficient for you to understand the basics of the text. In Part 2, I will provide detailed explanations and illustrations relative to the history and variety of parallelistic structures and literary word forms that are contained in both the Book of Mormon and the Bible. 5

6 Part 1 Methods I Have Used to Make the Text More Understandable and the Message More Valid Given the facts that: (1) the original language (and thus structure also) of the Old Testament was Hebrew; and that (2) the translators of the King James version of the Bible relied heavily on the ancient Hebrew (and the subsequent Greek translations that were patterned after the Hebrew); and that (3) the words and style of the King James Bible became popularized to such an extent that people identified those words and style with the words of Scripture. And given the facts that: (4) the Book of Mormon record keepers thought in Hebrew, although they wrote with characters of Reformed Egyptian (Mormon 9:33); and that (5) Joseph Smith was inspired to use the King James language in his translation of the Book of Mormon. Then I would assume that the Lord desired the Book of Mormon (and the Bible) to be understood and validated in these Latter-days by the words and structure of the ancient Hebrew language, and patterned after the King James translation. In other words, if the Book of Mormon record keepers were accustomed to recording scriptural messages in Hebrew form; and if the Lord subsequently guided the translation of the Book of Mormon according to the language found in the King James Version of the Bible; and if the King James Version of the Bible has been found to be full of Hebrew word forms and parallelistic patterns in writing; then I would expect the Book of Mormon to be full of these Hebrew word forms and patterns as well. But why? There are a number of reasons: 1. To fit the form of revelation. Scripture should look and sound like scripture. The Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament Hebrew books was the popular version quoted in the New Testament. Thus it is no surprise that the New Testament was written in Greek, according to the same language patterns. 2. To communicate more fully. When words are repeated and patterned, the message is better understood. 3. To validate the writing. When words are structured in a complex but ordered manner, it becomes a proof in itself of the text. For example, if a line of people was in the process of forming for entrance into an event, someone might reasonably think that they could butt in the front part of the line and that no one would notice or be capable of proving that he or she was out of place. However if, unknown to that person that butted in, the content of that line was required to be organized in such a way that every person in that line was required to speak English, and every other person in line was 6

7 required to be short, and every third person in line was required to be male, and every fourth person in line was required to wear running shoes, and every fifth person in line was required to wear a long sleeve yellow shirt or blouse, and every sixth person was required to have red hair, and every seventh person was required to be skinny, etc., --- then it would be very easy to detect the fact that the person who had butted in line was out of place and didn t fit with the order of the line. Furthermore, it would be easy to tell whether anyone in the line was missing. Thus the structure of this line would not just help to validate the order of the line, but to validate (or understand something about) the people who were in that line. So also is the case with the words found in Hebrew writing patterns in scripture. The patterns (structure and language) validate the order and character of the words. 4. To help begin, connect, and end a thought. Although in modern English we have a system of capitalization and punctuation to help us begin and end a thought, ancient Hebrew record keepers did not use our system. More to the point, when Oliver Cowdery recorded the translation of the Book of Mormon, he did so in almost one continuous flowing line of words with no standard system of capital letters, commas, periods, or paragraphs. Punctuation was added later--- by the printer! The chapters and verses we are accustomed to were added in 1879 by Parley P. Pratt. Thus the modern structure given to the text of the Book of Mormon, while seemingly correct by our modern way of thinking, might have disrupted the ancient Hebrew structure of thought that was originally intended. Thus we might not be reading the text with the full perspective given to it by the original Nephite record keepers. 5. To promote a testimony of the Lord s words. When someone s appearance is ordered and they are nicely dressed, when someone s physical form is admirable, when someone s speech is clear and understandable, when someone s words are carefully chosen in meaning and style, the impact can be impressive and powerful--- even a beautiful experience. Such an experience sparks emotions such as admiration, respect, friendship, dedication, romance, love, etc. Such is the case with the Lord s words. People need but to remember the feelings they have received when they have read the scriptures or the Lord s words. What is important to note here is that those words become all the more beautiful and powerful when they are given a form that is ordered, admirable, carefully chosen, and clearly understandable. Now, this brings us to my version of the Book of Mormon: A Covenant Record of Christ s People. With this version I have found a simple style, patterned after the Hebrew method of arranging the text, a style that seems to accommodate both continuous structure and increased understanding of the words. While nobody (including me) would claim that what I have assembled is the final structure of the text, what I can propose to the reader is that what I have assembled will not only facilitate greater understanding of the text, but will more fully confirm the idea that the text was indeed meant to be structured. A Covenant Record of Christ s People is designed to be read in a manner similar to reading the lines of a poem, but with the poem having a somewhat more advanced (although not overwhelming) structure. In my view, the fact that the entire text can be presented in any continuous poetic structure is remarkable considering the fact that the Book of Mormon text was dictated orally and recorded by scribes onto paper in a manner represented on the Original Manuscript as almost one continuous line without proper punctuations marks, and without proper capitalization. And as I said before, the printer then became the one responsible for the structure and emphasis of the words. 7

8 Thus in order to facilitate and illustrate the ancient Hebrew style of textual structure and understanding, I have incorporated some simple, yet significant techniques in highlighting the content. These are as follows: (1) Headings: Original / Covenant / ~~~Geographical: [Preface] If the heading is original to the text, it will remain non-italicized and I will usually make note of it with the word Preface, or Comment at the beginning in bracketed orange font, and place three orange asterisks (* * *) at the end. (see Part 2-Structural Forms) Centered, Capitalized and Italicized. In addition to the original headings, I have also added some of my own italicized headings to help guide and direct the reader toward the covenant theme of the text. However, though the words in my headings are my own words (i.e. not part of the original text), I have NOT enclosed my headings in brackets as is usually customary. Instead my own headings are Centered, Capitalized and Italicized. ~~~ Lehi Takes His Family into the Wilderness There are roughly two hundred movements in the Book of Mormon text that seemingly require some sort of geographical orientation. I have identified each one of these sections connected to the geographical movements with a geographical heading. These headings will be preceded by infinity signs; they will be centered, capitalized, italicized, and in red font. (2) Initiating Phrases: I have found that some phrases repeatedly initiate a statement in the Book of Mormon text, or connect statements. In other words, rather than being guided by capitalization and punctuation in sentences, or the content of paragraphs, I believe the text, or the structure of the text, is guided by what I call initiating words or initiating phrases and connecting words. Some examples of these initiating phrases are: And it came to pass, Now, And, Wherefore, Therefore, Yea, Behold, He said, etc. Thus you will see something similar to the following format in my version: Therefore, and I have bolded these initiating words I have kept these initiating words close to the left margin of the line in order to emphasize the indented structure of the lines which follow and in order to emphasize the stated parallel thought in the lines which follow (3) Indentation: As has just been illustrated above, I have placed the first line with parallel words at normal indentation and I have placed the next line with matching parallel words at the same indentation. 8

9 and I have then indented the next line of thought I have placed a similar or parallel line of thought at that same indentation. As one reads the text in this indented format, it soon becomes apparent that one can identify the indented lines with parallel words or phrases (termed a couplet ) as if it were an outline form. Thus: [A] [A] [B] [B] [C] [C] This indentation process allows the bulk of simple parallelisms in my version of the text to go unmarked, yet recognized. While indentation is not always simple, or not always in couplets, the indentation process does allow the pattern of more complex parallelism to be understood more readily. For example, a relatively more complex chiastic or inverted form of parallelism would be represented as follows: [A] [B] [C] [D] [D] [C] [B] [A] While the outline letters in brackets are convenient, the reader can readily see that a chiastic structure can sometimes be seen by the indentation pattern even without the letters. In the same manner, other parallelistic structures can be recognized just by the indentation pattern. (4) Parallel underlined words and phrases: I have tried to keep things simple in what I term parallel underlined words and phrases. I have underlined these parallel words and phrases not only to help identify couplets, but to facilitate understanding, to increase appreciation for the import of the message, and to continually emphasize the authenticity and veracity of the text. That is, with each passing couplet the text proves to the reader that it really is what it claims to be an ancient Hebrewinfluenced prophetic text. (5) Color-coding: I have colored certain words in order to emphasize various significant things: 9

10 Blue` The descriptive titles of Deity and references to heavenly beings are highlighted in blue. Many times Godly actions and attributes are also highlighted in blue. This highlighting facilitates the view of the Book of Mormon as a Christ-centered and covenant-centered book, Purple The first time mention of a person or people is highlighted in purple. This provides a nice alert for the reader. At rare times the frequent mention or significant mention of the same name is also highlighted in purple. Brown The mention of Satan, the Devil, Hell or people who represent them are highlighted in brown. Sometimes various forms of rebellious behavior or actions leading to Hell or situations that mimic Hell are also highlighted in brown. Red~ The geographical and cultural terms and phrases are highlighted in red and italicized. The first time mention of a place is bolded. These terms and phrases are important for understanding the historical, cultural and geographical setting. Green # The phrases that are significant to chronology are highlighted in green. These phrases are useful for understanding the chronological setting of the story and also the prophecies. Orange* The words, the phrases and the structures that are related to ancient biblical Hebrew writing are highlighted in orange or marked with an orange asterisk (*). These literary devices help give added understanding to the text. However, because there are many different types of structures and word forms, the names of these types will be written in small orange letters towards the right margin so that the types can be more easily identified and can be more easily searched. (The different types will be explained later in Part 2 ) (6) Ancient Hebrew Parallelistic Structures [A] [B] : There are multiple types of ancient Hebrew parallelistic structures in the text. I will mostly identify the simple forms by just indenting the text to signal a shift from thought A to thought B. However, with the more varied and complex forms I will try to label them by using a small orange alphabet letter in brackets at the left front of the line. I will also write the name of the parallelistic form towards the right margin in brackets in small orange font (see previous illustration on #3). (For definition and examples of the various forms see Part 2) While there are multiple forms of structure, it is sufficient for the basic reader to know that most parallel forms in my version of the text can be appreciated by the simple indentation. (7) Ancient Hebrew Language Forms (Hebraisms): Many times the phrasing in the Book of Mormon reflects ancient biblical Hebrew language forms. While a word or a phrase might seem strange in modern English, it can be quite normal in ancient Hebrew. When this happens it is called a Hebraism. The existence of Hebraisms in the Book 10

11 of Mormon text represents another evidence of the veracity of the text. Indeed, ancient Hebrew was a language or thought-pattern that the Book of Mormon record keepers were quite familiar with (Mormon 9:33), although they wrote in characters called reformed Egyptian. I will identify these Hebraisms in the text by mostly highlighting the words in orange. But at times when the phrases are too long I will mark them with an orange asterisk (*). I will identify the type of Hebraism in brackets in small orange font at the right margin. Example: plates of brass instead of brass plates (1 Nephi 3:24) [Hebraism] While multiple types of Hebraisms are labeled in my version of the text, it is more important for the basic reader to know that a word is a Hebraism rather than what type of Hebraism. (8) [Putting Back what has been Left Out]: There are some literary terms that are used to describe an ancient Hebrew method of writing. The method is called ellipsis, or leaving out which comes from the Greek meaning a leaving out. Understanding this method has been a KEY for me in allowing me to see and put back the seemingly redundant text (from my modern perspective) that has been left out. The result has given me an increased awareness of the structure and parallelism of the text of the Book of Mormon. According to the method of leaving out, an author intentionally omits words or phrases that the sentence would ordinarily include, but in a way that still allows for the author s thought to be understood. As one might already conclude, this method fits perfectly with the style and purpose of an abridger such as Mormon, or his son Moroni, or even Nephi and Jacob, who were condensing many years of history, and laboriously inscribing the words of that history on metal plates. A couple of examples are worth discussing here: (A) Pronouns: One example of leaving out is found in the use of pronouns. Routinely in the text I have inserted the proper noun or proper phrases defining various pronouns like it, they, he, them, etc., in brackets. I have also added words in brackets that are assumed (and thus left out) from previous parallel lines and statements. For example, we find the following in Alma 48:1-4: 1 And now it came to pass that, as soon as Amalickiah had obtained the kingdom he began to inspire the hearts of the Lamanites against the people of Nephi; yea, he did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers, against the Nephites. 2 And thus he did inspire their hearts against the Nephites, insomuch that in the *latter end of the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges, he having accomplished his designs thus far, yea, having been made king over the Lamanites, he sought also to reign over all the land, yea, and all the people who were in the land, the Nephites as well as the Lamanites. 3 Therefore he had accomplished his design, for he had hardened the hearts of the Lamanites and blinded their minds, and stirred them up to anger, insomuch that he had gathered together a numerous host to go to battle against the Nephites. 11

12 4 For he was determined, because of the greatness of the number of his people, to overpower the Nephites and to bring them into bondage. By substituting the noun for the pronoun and highlighting the text we now get the following perspective: 1 And now it came to pass that, as soon as *Amalickiah had obtained the kingdom [like beginnings] *he [Amalickiah] began to inspire the hearts of *the Lamanites [like endings] against the *people of Nephi [like endings] yea, he[amalickiah] did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers against the Nephites. 2 And thus he [Amalickiah] did inspire their hearts [or the hearts of the Lamanites] against the Nephites, insomuch that in the latter end of the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges, he [Amalickiah] having accomplished his designs thus far, yea, having been made king over the Lamanites, he [Amalickiah] sought also to reign over all the land, yea, and [he Amalickiah sought also to reign over] all the people who were in [all] the land the Nephites as well as the Lamanites. 3 Therefore for and and he [Amalickiah] had accomplished his design, he [Amalickiah] had hardened the hearts of the Lamanites [he Amalickiah had] blinded their minds, [he Amalickiah had] stirred them up to anger, insomuch that he [Amalickiah] had gathered together a numerous host [of Lamanites] to go to battle against the Nephites. 4 For he [Amalickiah] was determined, [to go to battle against the Nephites] because of the greatness of the number of his people [the Lamanites] to overpower the Nephites and to bring them [the Nephites] into bondage. Notice how the repeated mention of Amalickiah now stands out in the text. 12

13 I should note that in order to avoid misinterpretation of the pronoun or antecedent words on my part, I have carefully inserted only those words from previous phrases that are identical. These restored proper nouns and defining phrases not only facilitate a greater understanding of the text, but more importantly they enhance and clarify the parallelistic structure of the text. (B) Omitted phrases that go unnoticed in modern English. Observe verse 3 above, in which I have inserted the phrase, to go to battle against the Nephites in brackets. Note how it completes the parallelism. Also observe verses 3 & 4 above, in which I have inserted a pair of matching ending phrases ( Lamanites ) in brackets. Once again, the structure and parallelism of the text can be seen and understood more clearly. (9) Covenant words and ideas: The Book of Mormon is a covenant text. I have put covenant words and phrases in bolded letters to help the reader become familiar with their importance in conveying the covenant theme of the Book of Mormon. Some of the covenant words and phrases are: keep my commandments, prosper in the land, pray, know, father(s), children, my people, knowledge, record church, land of promise, mysteries, diligence, judgment, covenants, faith, baptize, servant, master, Lord, hear, preach, teach, words, hearken, brethren, disciple, friend, believe, said or spake, establish, etc. [Note* In order to avoid confusion, I will remind the reader that I have bolded initiators, but they are at the left margin. At rare times I will also bold routine parallel words when multiple underlining would overly dominate the text.] (10) [Interpretation of hard-to-understand language]: Many times there is a need, especially in the writings of Isaiah, to interpret what is being said in the text right at the moment of reading. I have done this by inserting a simple italicized interpretation or comment in brackets sometimes within the text and sometimes following the text. I will usually reduce the size of the font on these interpretations or comments. (11) [Note:] : I will routinely write a Note in italics and brackets at the end of a verse to help clarify certain things within the verse and also to focus the reader on the covenant theme of the text. These will always start with the word Note. As with interpretations, I will also reduce the size of the font. (12) Archaic Language {AL}: 13

14 Because the King James Bible was translated in the early 1600s, and the translators used previous translations as source material, some of the Early Modern English words used in the translation had a different meaning than in our present day modern English. According to Royal Skousen and Stan Carmack (see Part 2 Hebraisms), some of these words are found in the Book of Mormon. Example: to throw arrows rather than to shoot arrows (Alma 49:22) Example: Our *women [wives] did bear children (1 Nephi 17:1) Example: when I speak the word of God with sharpness they tremble and anger against me; and [but] when I use no sharpness they harden their hearts against it (Moroni 9:4) I will usually highlight these words in orange or mark them with an asterisk in orange. I will follow with the definition in italics and brackets, and then identify them in the margin with {AL} or {EME}. If there is an example in the King James Bible I will try to cite a scriptural reference. {AL} (13) Changes made in the text: I have used as my base text that which appeared in the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon, or that text which appears on the website lds.org. However I have included many of the words that appeared in the Original Manuscript or Printers Manuscript that have been changed. For readers that want to get back to the full original text, they should consult The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text edited by Royal Skousen. In the text of A Covenant Record of Christ s People, I will NOT include or reference all the changes Skousen noted relative to nonstandard grammar that were taken out by Joseph Smith in his editing of the 1837 edition. However, I WILL identify what Skousen considers to be the most significant changes to the Book of Mormon text and which are listed in his book (see pp ). I do not claim to have authority; I only have my perspective. The reader is free to evaluate the word choice for himself or herself. However, I think the reader will be surprised at how insignificant the few significant changes are to the message and structure of the text. What follows below is an example of the format I will use to mark textual changes: ^word / changed word in the text [^Om / 1837 ] Note that my preferred word is marked with a small pink vertical carot (^). Where I have found that a significant change has occurred, the original word or phrase will appear in pink, then a pink slash will follow indicating the word was changed, and then the replacement word or phrase. In the margin the corresponding original manuscript or edition will be written in pink, and after the slash the manuscript or edition in which the change was made. I will once again use a pink carot to mark the manuscript or edition that seems to me to be most compatible with the text (and relying in most instances on Skousen s work). 14

15 I might note here also that according to Royal Skousen, the word chapter is never used by any writer within the Book of Mormon. However, Joseph Smith would apparently mark certain breaks in the text while translating. For the 1830 edition these breaks were labeled as a chapter. Thus while I have used the present-day chapters, I have also marked the {Chapter Breaks} and {Chapter #} written into the 1830 edition. (14) Questions still outstanding: Despite all that I have categorized, there are a few places in the text that I have marked in yellow because the grammar, the construction or the meaning still remains a question to me. For these places marked in yellow I have delayed a permanent resolution pending further input. In some places I have written a note of explanation. Summary: In summary, I have employed multiple and varied techniques to help the reader understand and appreciate the sacred structure and language of the Book of Mormon. Keep in mind (as I have) that each ancient literary device that has been or will be highlighted is evidence that the Lord is going to show and even convince the remnant of the house of Israel and also Jew and Gentile of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon (see the Title Page). The only thing I ask of you is to study the text as I have prepared and structured it. Observe the multiple ways the message is conveyed. If you will do this, I promise you an increased understanding of the book s message of covenants and of Christ. And hopefully, you will also gain an increased belief in the veracity of the whole message of the Book of Mormon. Alan C. Miner (TEMPORARY END) 15

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