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Source:Rediscovering the Book of Mormon:Ch:8:9:Hebraisms:Extrapositional nouns and pronouns
Hebrew influence on Book of Mormon text: Extrapositional Nouns and Pronouns
Parent page: Book of Mormon/Anthropology/Language/Hebraisms/Pronouns
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).[1]
Notes
- ↑ 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.