Continuing
from the previous post regarding the difficulty with the English grammar in Joseph
Smith’s translation, but how, unbeknownst to most, excels in Hebrew grammar. We have
pointed this out and continue to point it out in this post that not only is the
Book of Mormon an authentic book of what it proclaims to be, an English
translation of an ancient work by Hebrew-speaking and Hebrew-writing people (recorded in Reformed Egyptian),
but it should convey to those who try to bend or alter its meaning from
north-south to east-west, or from other alterations that the way the book is
written and its many meanings are verifiable with a certain knowledge of Hebrew
adding to our better understanding of Mormon’s abridgement of the several
ancient writers.
As
an example, in Hebrew there is no equivalent for the normal English phrasing of
comparisons, such as “she is more beautiful,” “he is stronger,” “Joey is much
shorter,” or “they are better suited, richer, or kinder,” etc.
Instead,
of using more, or better, taller, smarter, etc., Hebrew uses the term “above all” (מעל הכל) a phrase that is quite familiar to Book of Mormon
readers since it appears 35 times in the current edition. Phrases such as:
"choice above all other lands" (2 Nephi 1:5); "sweet, above all
that I ever before tasted" (1 Nephi 8:11); “desirable above all other
fruit” (1 Nephi 8:12,15), and “for he is God over all the earth, yea, even
above all” (1 Nephi 11:6), as well as “shown unto me the tree which is precious
above all” (1 Nephi 11:9), and “most beautiful and fair above all other
virgins” (1 Nephi 11:15). It is used even in the negative, “formation of a
church which is most abominable above all other churches” (1 Nephi 13:5). There
are numerous verses which state that this land is choice “above all” other
lands (2 Nephi 1:5; 10:19). In 1 Nephi 13:30, “above all” occurs twice in one
sentence: "and have been lifted up by the power of God above all other nations, upon the face of the land; and in Alma 32:42, it occurs three
times in one sentence: “sweet above all that is sweet…white above all that is
white…pure above all that is pure.”
Also, in Hebrew, the 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."
In addition, Hebrew,
unlike English, consists of verbs immediately followed by a noun derived from
the same root, called “cognate accusative.” In English it would be like saying,
“He helped me a with a great deal of help,” but such repetition is considered
poor grammar, and would be more proper to say, “He gave me a great deal of
help,” yet in Semitic languages it is considered good style, as in: “The watch
ticked twice,” “Be patient, a beautiful patience,” “the thief was whipped ten
whips,” or “his head inclined a full inclination.”
In
the Book of Mormon, we find numerous uses of “cognate accusative” language,
such as "they are cursed with a sore cursing," instead of “sorely
cursed”; "work all manner of fine work" instead of “do fine work”; “he
did judge righteous judgments" instead of “judge righteously”;
"Behold I have dreamed a dream" instead of “I had a dream”; and
"taxed with a tax" Instead of “taxed.’ In Hebrew, such use is for
emphasis—after all, “I have had a vision,” simply does not convey as much
emphasis as, “Behold, I have dreamed a dream.”
In
English, we create emphasis on a word by stressing the first syllable of a key
word; lowering the pitch on a word from the previous level; speaking a key word
more slowly; stretching a vowel sound; pausing after the word is spoken; or
accompanying a word stated with body language. However, none of these work in
written language, and other than italics, bolden, or all caps, there are few
ways to emphasize a written word other than stating it as such, while in
Hebrew, the cognate accusative accomplishes that fact quite easily. All of
which adds to the case for authenticity of the Book of Mormon and that it is
what it claims to be, an authentic work of an ancient Hebrew text and there are
so many Hebraisms to point that out if you know what you are reading.
Consider
these other Hebraisms that point out the correctness of the Book of Mormon,
which holds consistently true to the Hebrew method in all things:
•
Numerals: we hyphenate numbers in
English as in twenty-five, sixty-two, but in Hebrew, the word “and” is used as
the joiner, such as “twenty and five,” sixty-and two.”
•
Compound subject: when one speaks of himself or others in proper English, 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,” “my uncle,
aunt and me ate together,” would be “Me and my uncle and my aunt ate together,”
or “My mother, brother and I went to the
store, and she bought a dog for my brother and me," would be “I and my
mother and brother went to the store and she bought a dog for me and my
brother.”
• Repeated prepositions: in 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." “And I
did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and
of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver,
and of precious ores, which were in great abundance“ (2 Nephi 5:15).
• Compound
prepositions: while 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."
•
Name the name: in 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.
• Prophetic Perfect: in Hebrew there is no past, present or future—an action
is either completed or uncompleted, thus they have only called the perfect
(when speaking of the past) and the imperfect (when speaking of the future)
tense. Yet in Hebrew, there is an exception to this rule and that involves
prophetic matters, which has been labeled “prophetic perfect.”
This occurs when a prophet will describe a future
event as if it had already occurred, such as when Isaiah said: "For unto
us a child is born. In the Book of Mormon this pattern is followed from
beginning to end as Nephite prophets continually speak of Christ as if he had
already come. They continually speak of the atonement as if it had already
occurred. They continually speak as if they were Hebrew prophets.
• In Hebrew, two nouns alone can form a complete
sentence, such as “Jesus God,” “Moses man,” “David king.” However, in English
an indefinite article (a coupler or determiner) is required, such as “Jesus is
God,” “Moses is a man,” “David is king.” So while “Moses man,” is good Hebrew,
but poor English, “Moses is a man” is good English but unnecessary Hebrew.
(See
the next post, “It’s Very Good Hebrew – Part V,” for more on how the Book of
Mormon fails in English but excels in Hebrew.
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“The watch ticked twice”. Would the semitic form instead read as "The watch ticked two ticks"? I understand the other examples, but can't wrap my mind around this one.
ReplyDeleteThe watch ticked with two ticks
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