![FairMormon Logo](https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021_fair_logo_primary.png)
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
(→{{Endnotes label}}) |
|||
Line 89: | Line 89: | ||
=={{Endnotes label}}== | =={{Endnotes label}}== | ||
#{{note|peterson.1}} {{FR-18-1-18}} | #{{note|peterson.1}} {{FR-18-1-18}} | ||
− | #{{note|colophon1}} {{rediscovering|author=John A. Tvedtnes|article=Colophones in the Book of Mormon|start=32 | end=37}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/ | + | #{{note|colophon1}} {{rediscovering|author=John A. Tvedtnes|article=Colophones in the Book of Mormon|start=32 | end=37}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/document/35371?}} |
#{{note|updown1}} {{GlimpsesLehiJerusalem|author=Jeffrey R. Chadwick|article=Lehi's House at Jerusalem and the Land of His Inheritance|start=81|end=130}}{{link1|url=http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/bookschapter.php?bookid=2&chapid=23}} | #{{note|updown1}} {{GlimpsesLehiJerusalem|author=Jeffrey R. Chadwick|article=Lehi's House at Jerusalem and the Land of His Inheritance|start=81|end=130}}{{link1|url=http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/bookschapter.php?bookid=2&chapid=23}} | ||
== Critics claim that the Book of Mormon does not contain Hebraic or Semitic language elements, as one should expect if it is truly an ancient record.
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]
==== The Book of Mormon does indeed have authentic Semitic constructions in it, but LDS need to tread cautiously in establishing them. Each must be evaluated on its own merits. Hebraisms that could have been known to Joseph Smith may still be authentic, and may still enhance our appreciation of the text, but they are weaker evidence for Book of Mormon antiquity since Joseph could have gotten them from his contemporary environment.
====
A hebraism is a way of speaking or writing that uses the grammatical or rhetorical styles of Hebrew. For example, if originally written in English, the Book of Mormon would speak about "brass plates" instead of "plates of brass." However, "plates of brass" matches how a Hebrew writer or speaker would express themselves.
Therefore, Book of Mormon scholars look for evidence of the Book of Mormon's ancient Hebrew origins by identifying phrases or expressions which are not typical for an English speaker of Joseph Smith's day which may reflect a 'direct translation' of the underlying Semitic-style language of the Book of Mormon.
The presence of hebraisms does not prove the Book of Mormon is an ancient record, but they suggest that the translation was (at times, at least) relatively 'tight,' and require the critic to explain where Joseph Smith would have picked up such expressions in rural New York of the 1820s.
Many LDS sources argue that Hebraisms exist. Some have been overly enthusiastic or operated using problematic methodology. For example, Hebrew and other Semitic languages frequently give give a verb a cognate direct object for emphasis, eg. "he dreamed a dream" or "He hit him a hitting." Since the KJV translators were frequently literal in rendering the Hebrew, the Old Testament contains many English examples of this. Thus, the presence of the cognate accusative throughout the Book of Mormon, though a valid Semiticism, cannot be used as strong evidence for the Book of Mormon. (An appreciation of such devices can enhance our appreciation of the text, however.)
For a Semiticism to be strong evidence it must be
Several such constructions exist.
Dan Peterson wrote:
These forms are included for interest's sake, or because their role as Hebraisms has not yet been established. They are included here because they may make difficult passages more easily understood.
Alma 36:9 reads in part "If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God."
This is a rhetorical device called anapodoton. The technical term is Greek, meaning "without the main clause." (The prefix ana- means "without," and apodosis means "main clause.")
Anapodoton is a figure in which a main clause is suggested by the introduction of a subordinate clause, but the main clause never occurs. It is an intentional sentence fragment. Here the fragment, archaically put, means "even if you have no care for your own soul...."
As is obvious from the context, it does not mean (as a native English speaker might read it) "if you want to be destroyed, stop trying to destroy the church"!
== Notes ==FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We are a volunteer organization. We invite you to give back.
Donate Now