Nephi s purpose in writing his psalm is to express his sorrow that his actions are falling so far short of his expectations. It no longer contains current data and will be sunset by april 30, 2020. The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. Textual evidences for the book of mormon religious. Chiasmus was popular in the ancient languages like greek, latin, and especially hebrew. Such simple examples of chiasmus are well known in english speech. This article provides an introduction to chiasmus, explaining what it is and why mormons think it is evidence for the book of mormon, giving examples from the bible, and discussing whether the book of mormon contains clear instances of chiasmus. Literary structure chiasm, chiasmus of psalms chiastic structure and concentric structure and parallel of each pericope. Knowhys knowhys on 2 nephi 11 knowhys on 2 nephi 12 knowhys on 2 nephi 15. Here is a fun twist to a very familiar book of mormon story that i recently learned. A watermark, seen by holding quality paper up to the light, may serve to identify the manufacturer of the paper, and may even indicate the date or period of manufacture.
The early writings of nephi contain multiple examples of chiasmus. An example of a very simple chiasmus is found in psalms 124. By comparing each emphasized word in the first half of this psalm with the corresponding emphasized word in the second half, you can see the interesting chiastic order and the contrasting intensifications that have been written into this psalm. Reynolds, nephi s outline, in book of mormon authorship. 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. Yet, the complicated chiasm of alma 36 can leave little doubt that a vorlage of ancient near. Dusting off a famous chiasmus in the book of mormon, alma 36. The books of nephi contained chiasmus that is a little more complex and a differing style than mosiah.
The various analyses offer ample evidence that the psalm of nephi was carefully and meticulously crafted. Joseph smiths plagiarism of the bible in the book of. Nephi was the fourth of six sons of lehi and sariah. Understand nephis pattern in selecting isaiah chapters. Bible and book of mormon chiasmus and hebrew poetic. Moreover, we have several specific reasons for expecting chiasmus there. Due to covid19 concerns, our stores are closed to customers. Ive known about chiasmus in the book of mormon for a long. As one looks at 2 nephi with chiasmus in mind, it suddenly becomes more evident how central christ is to the book of 2 nephi. It has been accepted for inclusion in byu studies quarterly by an authorized editor of byu scholarsarchive. Joseph smiths plagiarism of the bible in the book of mormon. As proverbs advocates that a wise man cherishes the word of god, so nephi cherishes the words of the wise. This passage forms a messianic hymn within nephis commentary. I began working on this text over 60 years ago when i was encouraged by my angel mother to read hugh nibleys lehi in the desert, and as one thing has then led to another, i still dont feel like im anywhere close to noticing, appreciating.
Be sure to read john welchs chapter, chiasmus in the book of mormon. This morning i was doing my sunday school reading in 2 nephi, chapter 4, sometimes referred to as the psalm of nephi. Bible and book of mormon chapters arranged according to chiasmus and hebrew poetic parallel forms. Welch claims that it is unlikely, although not impossible, that smith knew about chiasmus at the time of the book of mormons publication, which implies that chiasmus could only be present in the text if indeed the text is a translation and not a fabrication. Discussions of book of mormon issues and evidences, plus other topics related to the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. In the early, stilldark hours of the morning, august 16, 1967, a young john w. Are the two ishmaels one from the book of mormon and the other from the bible related in any way. The books of 1 and 2 nephi include eighteen chapters of the book of isaiah.
Chiasmus is an elegant literary device where parallel phrases are inverted. It is found in the bible and other ancient middle eastern poetry book of mormon. One such passage occurs in the fourth chapter of 2 nephi, verses 16 though 35, a passage that is often referred to as the psalm of nephi, at least since sidney sperry provided this formulation in his commentary on the book of mormon. Lehi is obviously quoting the passage from proverbs, train up a child in the way he. The opening books in todays printed book of mormon, 1 nephi through omni, come from this record. This year marks 50 years since the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon on august 16, 1967. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book of. Dusting off a famous chiasmus in the book of mormon, alma 36 executive summary in exploring noel reynolds hypothesis that some material in the book of moses may have been present on the brass plates that nephi used, i wondered if nephi or other authors might have referred to chains of darkness in moses 7.
Some other useful resources include the video of john welchs lecture, chiasmus in the book of mormon a masterful 54minute lesson that could be a valuable resource for a class or any serious student of the book of mormon. Chiasmus appears in many languages, including english, ugaritic, biblical hebrew, aramaic, greek, latin. And furthermore, with a little luck, the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon just might help to explain its repetitious, roundabout way of saying things, which has made it hard for many people from mark twain on down to read and enjoy the book of mormon. This repetition form appears throughout the bible and the book of mormon yet it is not well known. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. Stylistic devices, especially the frequent repetitions which have often been seen as ignorant and redundant, will be appreciated in. Richard dilworth rust has noted the strength and lyricism in the parallelism and chiasmus that are present in nephis psalm. Nephi and his family lived in jerusalem, circa 600 bc, during the reign of king zedekiah, until lehi was commanded by god to take his family and flee into the wilderness. In an analogous way, chiasmus dates his book to ancient times. Stylistic devices, especially the frequent repetitions which have often been seen as ignorant and redundant, will be appreciated in the light in which they originally shone. Chiasmus makes this poem harmonic, complete, and brilliant. For example, why nephi divided his writings into two books, instead of leaving them all in one, will be explained by chiasmus. The psalms in israels temple worship in the old testament and in the book of mormon salt lake city, eborn books, first hardback edition. Nephi s revelations and inspired teachings shaped the religious understanding of his followers, the nephites.
Chiasmus, chiastic, or chiasm form is a beautiful parallel hebrew writing pattern used in ancient scripture. The reason for this has now become obvious in view of his desire to organize one book in chiastic style. A simple example of a chiasm in the bible is mark 2. Welch, chiasmus in the book of mormon, byu studies. Ishmael in the book of mormon and ishmael in the bible. Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. The book was republished in 1992 and the preface written by two academics summarises the reception of the original book. Besides the extensive list of parallels between the bible and the book of mormon, this book examines many other possible sources used to create the text, i. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon.
If chiasmus is evidence of hebrew style in the bible, it must be evidence of hebrew style in the book of mormon. In this chapter, nephi exclaims in poetic form chiasmus the afflictions and temptations that have befallen him in his life, but also the glorious blessings that the lord has given him. Chiasms in scripture church of christ tl audio visual. Like first nephi, the entire book of isaiah in the bible is chiastic. I just read an insightful essay by matthew nickerson entitled nephis psalm. Nephis record begins with a declaration of his upbringing in the wisdom tradition and his authenticity and reliability as a wise son and scribe 1 nephi 1. The isaiah chapters in the book of mormon 2 nephi 1224. They were collected and used very early in israels history, and some of them were recited quite often. Jan 20, 2012 book of mormon commentary 2 nephi 20 page 2 of 8 ahazs successor was the faithful king hezekiah, who vainly tried to turn his people back to god after his father had led them astray see isa. The digital book download link is sent to your email address used to place the order, usually within 24 hours or next business day. Feb 01, 2011 nephi poured out his heart after his father died. Parallelism and chiasmus in the psalm of nephi dates. Rather than using the term chiasm, some theologians refer to this structure as a chiasmus. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center.
This revised and expanded edition also includes covering up the black hole in the book of mormon. Others argue that chiasmus is not necessarily evidence of hebrew origin. Serious study of the book of mormon by latterday saints is flourishing today as never before. So to celebrate the discovery of chiasmus fifty years ago, we at book of. Nephi is the prototypical wise son of the wisdom tradition. In the new testament, bible scholars have also found examples of the chiastic approach in every book, but some books are more known for them than others.
Nephi included these passages in order to help readers understand important revelations from the lord regarding his dealings with his children. Explanation about parallel literary structure revised presentation slide at society of biblical literature 2010 frequently asked questions literary structures between the books of the bible. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon. Knowledge of chiasmus will clarify questions of structure within shorter passages and of unity within whole books. Literary structure chiasm, chiasmus of each pericopes of. Sondrup the book of mormon, like the bible, is far from a generically uni. Some 58 are paraphrased and 11 others are variants and or paraphrases. If chiasmus can be convincingly identified in the book of mormon, it will testify of the book s ancient origin. Literary structure chiasm, chiasmus of the bible introduction what is literary structure. Nephi was familiar with the biblical psalms, and since this psalm follows the patterns of those, it is likely a psalm is exactly what he intended to write. The academic study of chiasmus in modern times can be dated to the work of nils wilhelm lund who published articles in 1930 and 1931 and then a book entitled chiasmus in the new testament in 1942. It is to the variants that we will give our attention here.
The book of nephi the son of nephi, who was the son of helaman third nephi and helaman was the son of helaman, who was the son of alma, who was the son of alma, being a descendant of nephi, who was the son of lehi, who came out of jerusalem in the first year of the reign of zedekiah, the king of judah. Parallels between psalms 2531 and the psalm of nephi. Literary structure chiasm, chiasmus of psalms correspondence table of pericopes and literary structure though the number of poems in psalms is generally thought to be 150, the number is. For this article i am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. Sondrup because by far the greatest portion of the book of mormon is narrativethough admittedly in several different waysother literary modes embedded in the narrative flow are less obvious and consequently less easily identified and read in terms of their own unique generic conventions. The book of mormon, like the bible, is far from a generically unified work.
The setting of the psalm occurs as nephis father lehi is giving blessings to his sons just prior to his passing. For instance, because chiasms abound in the king james bible, chiasms in the book of mormon provide necessary evidence, by the definition used above. The psalm of nephi as a postlehi document book of mormon. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it was most highly developed in hebrew. The examples in mosiah are the most straight forward. Actually, chiasmus provided nephi with a type of a watermark. Lds scholar john welch has analyzed this passage as a chiasmus and has argued that within this chiasmus there is one and perhaps two smaller instances of chiasmus 1. It is found in the bible and the quran and other ancient documents.
A chiasm is a writing style that uses a unique text repetition pattern for clarification and emphasis. Interestingly, nephis psalm shares many parallels, in both style and wording, with psalms of the old testament. Nephis use of chiasmus is that of a sophisticated literary technician. Although the narratives, the epistles, the sermons, the exhortations, and the poems may well constitute a specialized encyclopedic form with a thoroughgoing. Chiasmus in the scriptures biblical chiasm exchange. 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. Nephis psalm ancient prophet nephi instructs us how to be surrounded by the robe of the lords righteousness. If this was the only sort of chiasmus to be found in the book of mormon, then it would be weak evidence, at best, of any sort of ancient origin for the text.
After attending a lecture in which the presence of a compositional feature called chiasmus in matthew was mentioned as an example of its hebraic style, welch began looking for chiasmus while he was reading the book of mormon in german. Also examined is the solomon spalding theory, common phrases, chiasmus hebrew poetic form, influence of freemasonry and folk magic, and the problems with the loss of the first 116 pages of the book of mormon manuscript. The focus here being on the dangers of transgressing once someone has taken. One is to see it as an immediate response to his confrontation with his brothersa soul purging experience where he laments his own reaction to their desire to murder him. No one in america, let alone in western new york, fully understood chiasmus in 1830. If you want this digital book download link sent to a different email, please indicate in the comments section at checkout purchasing grants one user license for the digital book. Wherefore, by the words of three, god hath said, i will establish my word. Aug 29, 2017 in august 1967, fifty years ago this month, john welch was a young latterday saint on his mission in germany. Isaiah variants in the book of mormon religious studies. To celebrate this 50th anniversary, throughout july and august book of mormon central will publish one knowhy each week that discusses chiasmus and its significance and value to understanding the bible, the book of mormon.
What is chiasmus and why is it so important in the book of. Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the lord. As welch pointed out, nephi is the only author in the book of mormon with two books. How did biblical and ancient near eastern authors use. Nephi was frustrated, not only with them but also with his own response to them 2 nephi 4. Joseph smith had been dead ten full years before john forbess book was published in scotland. This example from mark is a very simple chiasm, but there are many occurrences of chiasmus throughout the bible and in the literature of the broader ancient near east that vary greatly in their length and complexity. A few people refer to it as inverted parallelism, and still others use the term. He teaches us how to access the power of the atonement and how the atonement changes our perspectives. Thomasson sees center of this overarching chiasm as the atonement at alma 34. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the lord. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. 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. These are points that the modern reader could easily miss if they failed to notice the chiasmus in the chapter or were unaware of how chiasmus worked.