If Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon wouldn’t he have probably used the phrase “sorrows of death” rather than “bands of death”?

The phrase “bands of death” is mentioned five times in the Book of Mormon, by Abinadi and Alma the younger. 

Interestingly this phrase does not appear in the King James Version of the Bible but it does appear in the underlying Hebrew of the Old Testament.

The underlying Hebrew “heveli-mot” appears in Psalms 18:4 and 116:3 but is translated in the King James Version as “sorrows of death”, however other translations translate it as “cords”, “ropes” or “snares” of death.  

How would Joseph Smith have arrived at “bands of death” from reading about “sorrows of death” in his Bible? Where would Joseph have learned these other translations? 

See:

• Evidence Central – Book of Mormon Evidence: “Bands of Death” and “Chains of Hell”

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