Pronouns in the Book of Mormon

Parent page: Book of Mormon/Anthropology/Language/Hebraisms

Repetition of the Possessive Pronoun

In lists the Hebrew language repeats the possessive pronoun (e.g., their, our, your, thy, his, her) before each of the nouns to which it refers, a convention that is uncommon in English usage. The Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) preserves many examples of this Hebrew usage. For instance, the pronoun our is used six times in the King James Version of Exodus 10:9: "And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go" (emphasis added). Other biblical examples include the repetition of our five times in Deuteronomy 26:7, their four times in Genesis 10:20, your five times in Exodus 12:11, your four times in Leviticus 26:30, and our six times in Nehemiah 9:32.

Many examples of this usage appear in the Book of Mormon. For instance, the possessive pronoun your is used twelve times in 3 Nephi 30:2:

Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. (emphasis added)

Other examples of the repeated possessive pronoun in the Book of Mormon include your four times in Mosiah 4:30, their eight times in Mosiah 11:3, your three times in Alma 32:42, our nine times in Alma 44:5, thy four times in Alma 38:3, and their twelve times in Helaman 3:14.^[1]

Emphatic Pronoun

For purposes of emphasis, biblical Hebrew sometimes repeats the personal pronoun. This usage, termed the "emphatic pronoun," occurs when the pronoun is the subject, as in Genesis 6:17, where the Lord states, "Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth" (emphasis added); or when the pronoun is the object, as in Genesis 27:38, where Esau implores his father to "bless me, even me also, O my father" (emphasis added). Some translators do not translate the emphatic pronoun, perhaps considering it unnatural or simply redundant in English.

The Book of Mormon also has examples of the emphatic pronoun. King Benjamin, speaking to a Nephite multitude, says, "And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are" (Mosiah 2:26; see v. 4).^[2]

Hebrew influence on Book of Mormon text: Possessive Pronouns

In Hebrew, a possessive pronoun is added to the end of the noun. Thus my book would be the book of me. This Hebraic usage is reflected in several examples from the Book of Mormon:

"hear the words of me" (Jacob 5:2)

"the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me" (2 Nephi 10:8)

"how unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him" (Jacob 4:8)

"they are delivered by the power of him" (2 Nephi 9:25)

"setteth at naught the atonement of him and the power of his redemption" (Moroni 8:20)^[3]

Hebrew influence on Book of Mormon text: Extrapositional Nouns and Pronouns

Hebrew often uses a noun or pronoun as the direct object of the verb in one clause and a pronoun referring to the same person or thing in the following clause in a way that seems unnecessary or redundant in English. For example in Genesis 1:4, we read, "God saw the light, that it was good." In this case, the King James Bible reflects the Hebrew wording, despite the fact that in English the normal way of saying this would be, "God saw that the light was good." This Hebraic usage is also found in the Book of Mormon:

"I beheld, and saw the people of the seed of my brethren that they had overcome my seed" (1 Nephi 12:20).

"I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren" (1 Nephi 13:14).

"And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles" (1 Nephi 13:15).

"I . . . beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended" (1 Nephi 14:14).^[4]

Notes

1. ↑ Donald W. Parry, "Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities in the Book of Mormon," in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), Chapter 7, references silently removed—consult original for citations.
2. ↑ Donald W. Parry, "Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities in the Book of Mormon," in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), Chapter 7, references silently removed—consult original for citations.
3. ↑ John A. Tvedtnes, "The Hebrew Background of the Book of Mormon," in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon, edited by John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), Chapter 8.
4. ↑ John A. Tvedtnes, "The Hebrew Background of the Book of Mormon," in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon, edited by John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), Chapter 8.