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*As a verb, the word "compass" occurs frequently in the King James Version of the Bible{{ref|kjvcompass}}; and it generally suggests the idea of surrounding or encircling something. Note the following usages: | *As a verb, the word "compass" occurs frequently in the King James Version of the Bible{{ref|kjvcompass}}; and it generally suggests the idea of surrounding or encircling something. Note the following usages: | ||
− | **Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits ''did compass it round about''. {{s||chronicles|4|2}} | + | **Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, '''round in compass''', and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits ''did compass it round about''. {{s||chronicles|4|2}} |
− | **They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. {{s||psalms|118|11}} | + | **They compassed me about; yea, '''they compassed me about''': but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. {{s||psalms|118|11}} |
− | **And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. {{s||joshua|6|3}} | + | **And ye shall '''compass the city''', all ye men of war, and go '''round about the city''' once. Thus shalt thou do six days. {{s||joshua|6|3}} |
− | **From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. {{s||psalms|17|9}} | + | **From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who '''compass me about'''. {{s||psalms|17|9}} |
*In a few cases (e.g. [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/ex/27/5#5 Exodus 27:5]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/prov/8/27#27 Proverbs 8:27]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/isa/44/13#13 Isaiah 44:13]) it is used as a noun, and suggests something which encircles another thing. | *In a few cases (e.g. [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/ex/27/5#5 Exodus 27:5]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/prov/8/27#27 Proverbs 8:27]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/isa/44/13#13 Isaiah 44:13]) it is used as a noun, and suggests something which encircles another thing. |
== Critics charge that the description of the Liahona as a "compass" is anachronistic because the magnetic compass was not known in 600 B.C.
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here
==== To use the word compass as a name for a round or curved object is well attested in both the King James Version of the Bible and the Oxford English Dictionary. The Book of Mormon refers to the Liahona as "a compass" not because it anachronistically pointed the way to travel, but because it was a perfectly round object.
1 Nephi 16:10, 30
This object did give directions, however this object was referred as "a compass" because it was a perfectly round object.
Alma2 explained why the director the Lord gave to Lehi was called the Liahona:
Believing it was called a compass because it pointed the direction for Lehi to travel is a natural interpretation by the modern reader.
In every case, it is clear that, at least in Jacobean England, the word was regularly treated as meaning either a round object, or something which moved in a curved fashion.
Further evidence of the archaic meaning of the word comes from a study of the rather lengthy listing for the word in the Oxford English Dictionary. It includes definition 5.b.:
If critics insist on reading this as a "mariner's compass," even this may not be as anachronistic as they have assumed.
Naturally-occurring magnetic ore was being mined by the 7th century B.C., and its magnetic properties were first discussed by the early philosopher Thales of Miletos around 600 B.C.[3]
Non-LDS astronomer John Carlson reported finding a Olmec hematite artifact in Mesoamerica, which was radio-dated to 1600 to 1000 B.C. If Carlson is right, this usage "predates the Chinese discovery of the geomagnetic lodestone compass by more than a millennium."[4] Other researchers have suggested the metal is simply part of an ornament,[5] though Mesoamericanist Michael Coe has suggested the use of such ores as floating compasses.[6] Such examples demonstrate how a single find can radically alter what archaeology tells us is "impossible" with regard to the Book of Mormon text.
== Notes ==
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