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Book of Mormon hebraisms
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Contents
Question
What is a 'hebraism'? What can these help us learn about the Book of Mormon?
Answer
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.
Book of Mormon hebraisms
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
- FAIR Topical Guide: Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon *
- FAIR Topical Guide: Textual issues in the Book of Mormon *
- Ben Spackman, "Negative Questions in the Book of Mormon *
External links
- John Tvedtnes, "Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon: A Preliminary Survey," Brigham Young University Studies 11 no. 1 (Autumn 1970), 50–60.*
- John A Tvedtnes, "Little Known Evidences of the Book of Mormon," FARMS Review of Books 2/1 (1990): 258–259.*
Printed material
- John A. Tvedtnes, "The Hebrew Background and the Book of Mormon," in John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (eds.), Rediscovering the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Co. ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 77–91. ISBN 0875793878.GospeLink