Continuing
with this final article on Hebrew forms of grammar that are never or seldom found in English.
The Book of Mormon also uses conjunctions to mark
parenthetical phrases. In the Book of Mormon examples listed below, we have
added parentheses to illustrate:
"After I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the
things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the
power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God
(and the Son of God was the Messiah which should come) and it came to pass that
I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these
things" (1 Nephi 10:17, 1830 edition).
"When Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had been
called, (now the number of them who had been called, and received power and
authority to baptize, was twelve) and behold, he stretched forth his hand…"
(3 Nephi 12:1).
Another example of this, which sets apart the important part of a statement that is within parenthesis is found in 1 Nephi when he states: "For it came to pass in the commencement of the first yer of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, 9my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days); and in that same year there came many prophets..." (1 Nephi 1:4). in this case, Nephi is not only setting apart an important comment of explanation, it is an important issue all together, that is, lehi lived at Jerusalem, not in Jerusalem.
A special use in Hebrew of this kind of parenthetical
phrase is also the introduction of a name. In English, we usually say something
like, "there was a man named Sam," or "there was a man whose
name was Sam." While the Book of Mormon has many such examples, it often
reflects the Hebrew usage, which is, "there was a man (and his name was
Sam.)" In the examples which follow, parentheses have been added where
necessary:
"Zoram did take courage at the
words which I spake (now Zoram was the name of the servant) and he promised . .
. " (1 Nephi 4:35).
"They took him (and his name
was Nehor) and they carried him . . . " (Alma 1:15).
Another Hebrew-like use of the conjunction in the
Book of Mormon is the expression “and also.” In Hebrew, it is used to emphasize
the close links between two things, as in this biblical passage: "Both
drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels" (Genesis 24:44). Here are
some examples from the Book of Mormon that seem to reflect the Hebrew usage:
"They…worshiped the Father in
his name, and also we worship the Father in his name" (Jacob 4:5).
"The Lord hath heard the
prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma" (Mosiah
27:14).
"…What the Lord had done for
his son, and also for those that were with him…" (Mosiah 27:21).
"Now the sons of Mosiah were
numbered among the unbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma was numbered
among them" (Mosiah 27:8).
• More on Hal-Clauses
(Circumstantial Clauses): The string of hal-clauses evident in Alma
2:1-2 is perfectly acceptable in Hebrew, yet an editor or English teacher would
not spare red ink on a similar structure found in written English.
The Book of Mormon is
replete with similar examples, the Bible also. John Gee ("La Trahison des
Clercs: On the Language and Translation of the Book of Mormon," in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon,
6/1, pp. 51-120), discloses a choice example from the Jewish Publication
Society's translation of Genesis 1:1-3:
"When God began
to create heaven and earth—the earth being unformed and void,
with darkness [being] over the surface of the deep and a wind
from God sweeping over the water—God said, 'Let there be light';
and there was light."
In the Hebrew text,
everything between the dashes consists of three hal-clauses (also known
as circumstantial clauses) that begin with wa- (and) + noun/pronoun; the
three nouns heading the three hal-clauses are earth, darkness,
and wind/spirit, respectively. Ignoring semantic disagreements, the
above is structurally a nice translation of hal-clauses: three verses
into one sentence, no less. The three being participial phrases add
background information or accompanying circumstances and are thus a prime
language environment for hal- clauses in Semitic.
In stark contrast, the King
James Version makes separate sentences or independent and-clauses of the
three parenthetical hal-clauses:
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let
there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3 KJV)
The fact that the King
James translators left many of the Hebrew circumstantial clauses inconspicuous
by translating them as and-clauses quite undermines the accusation that
Joseph Smith was simply mimicking the King James biblical style, because the
Book of Mormon employs -ing participial expressions much more frequently
than does the King James Old Testament. [Brian D. Stubbs, "A Lengthier
Treatment of Length," in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol
5/2, pp. 82-84,96] [See the commentary on Mosiah 7:21-22)
• Repetitions:
Hebrew also repeats related elements such as prepositions, articles, and
possessive pronouns. Here is another example from the Book of Mormon:
"And it came to pass that he
departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his
inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took
nothing with him, save it were his family and provisions, and tents, and he,
departed into the wilderness" (1 Nephi 2:4, 1830 edition).
"And it came to pass that we
went down to the land of our inheritance, and we did gather together our gold,
and our silver, and our precious things" (1 Nephi 3:22).
"…All mankind were in a lost
and in a fallen state…" (1 Nephi 10:6).
" …My gospel…and my rock and
my salvation…" (1 Nephi 13:36).
“The city of Laman, and the city of
Josh, and the city of Gad, and the city of Kishkumen, have I caused to be
burned with fire" (3 Nephi 9:10).
“…All their men and all their women
and all their children…" (Mosiah 24:22).
Such repetition seems to be a waste of precious
space on the plates, except for the fact that it is required by the Hebrew
language.
The
purpose of this eight-part series on the differences between Hebrew and English
grammar was to serve three purposes:
1. Show the authenticity of the Book of Mormon being a translation of an ancient
text written by Hebrew-speaking and Hebrew-writing people (albeit translated from Reformed Egyptian);
2.
Show that the critics views of the many changes in the first several editions
was based not on errors in the doctrines being discussed and the Lord’s
inspiration and involvement in the original writings, but of making the awkward Hebrew grammar more compatible with English;
3.
Show members that “first-blush” views are often wrong in trying to
understanding the scriptural record beyond the initial views that Mormon’s
words bring to mind.
Further,
it should be noted that for whatever reason, the Book of Mormon is full of
these translations that reflect the Hebrew grammar and not the English, whether
by design or by Joseph Smith’s lack of translation expertise at the time, the
original text of the Book of Mormon and even our current edition, contain many
expressions that are not characteristic of English.
While
this use of awkward Hebrew expression in English seems to embarrass some who work with the scriptural record, and has been
a source of criticism by uninformed critics, either Joseph Smith was unable to
go far beyond the liberal representation of the text before him, or working
through the Spirit, it was intended. If the latter, and thankfully for these
differences, we have a perfect testimony of the accuracy and authenticity of
the translation of the Book of Mormon. If we remove all of these incidences (as some LDS scholars want to do), at
some point we will have removed the very factors that prove the Book of Mormon
is exactly what it purports to be, a modern translation of an ancient record
written by Hebrew-speaking and Hebrew-writing people.
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Del- Thank you for this very interesting series on the Hebrew writing style showing forth in the Book of Mormon. I found it fascinating and a further testament of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is, and so is all that I did not cover. The references of the Book of Moron to the ancient Hebrew is so compelling, and has been known since Hugh Nibley's work in the late 1960s, it is remarkable that it is so ignored by the professional linguists.
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