Why does the Book of Mormon include examples of anapodoton?

In Alma 36:9 we read a curiously worded imperative:

And he said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.

This scripture does not seem to make sense in English but reflects the Hebraism anapodoton as explained by FAIR Latter-day Saints:

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.

– FAIR Latter-day Saints – Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon

Incomplete positive if-clauses (with a negative meaning) are characteristic of imperative statements in Hebrew, but it is likely Joseph Smith would have had no idea of this, so why are they found in the Book of Mormon?

See:

• FAIR Latter-day Saints – Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon

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