And it shall come to pass that
the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall
have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words
of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall
have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.
(2 Nephi
29:13)
Chiasmus
There is an ancient Hebrew literary form
found throughout both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon. It was relatively unknown in America in 1830,
so it is all but impossible that Joseph Smith could have even known about it,
much less used it, in his translation for the gold plates. It is called Chiasmus
after the Greek letter, chi, which means X, because the completed poem follows
a pattern that creates an X. It tells
one thing, then follows with another thing parallel to the first but in the
reverse order. The key concept is always
found in the middle.
·
Concept A -The Jews shall have the words of the Nephites
·
Key idea: Words of God
·
Concept B- The Nephites shall have the words of the Jews.
This section goes on to draw parallels
between concepts A and B with concept C:
·
Concepts A and B – The Jews and the Nephites shall have the words
of the lost tribes of Israel
·
Key idea: Words of God
·
Concept C: The lost tribe of Israel shall have the words of the
Jews and the Nephites.
The addition of Concept C tells me that
there are yet words of God that are unknown to us!
Chiasmus is a very complex form of Hebrew poetry. It was written in order to be read to others (most of whom did not read) so that the pattern or form of the poem is easy for the listener to remember. This selection is actually a fairly straight forward example. There are far more complex examples of chiasmus. This knowledge is yet another testament to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph’s testimony of its origins.
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